It Doesn't Make Sense

My heart is a jumble of mixed emotions right now.  I have gone from peaceful at the sight of the beautiful snowfall we received on Friday to purpose at the list of creative projects I had on my weekend schedule to now complete sorrow as I received news this morning that my cousin, Michael died suddenly yesterday.  He was only 31 years old and had been married for a little over three years to the love of his life, Lindsay. 

Michael lived life to the fullest and it was not until he met Lindsay did I see total joy on his face.  He and Lindsay were embarking on their life together, having purchased a home two years ago, adopting a dog, Baxter, to their family and planning for a family at some point.

From what we know now, Michael and Lindsay were skiing yesterday and were waiting for the chair lift when Michael collapsed.  Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful and an autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow, but the thought is that he died of either a heart attack or a blood clot (both conditions that ran in his family).

My heart is sad knowing I won't see his smiling face, or hear his voice, but I am even sadder for his wife, and my cousin Sarah (his sister) and my Aunt Chris.  My aunt was planning a visit to see Michael and Lindsay in less than two weeks.  It isn't fair that a parent has to bury their child, no matter the age.

It's eerie that my creative projects listed for this weekend involved making Sympathy cards.  I realized last weekend when I sent such a card to a co-worker when her father had died after a long illness, that my inventory of sympathy cards was running low.  I didn't think that I would be creating cards to be used immediately for my cousin's death.

What gives me comfort is that Michael is now with our Grandma Koch as well as his mom's best friend Diane.  The three of them will look over my aunt, my cousin and Lindsay and will be their guardian angels.

Monday Monday!

Ugh!  How do you come off of such a fun, crafty weekend and land right back into a Monday surrounded by meetings, spreadsheets, analysis and stress???  I know it's no different than any other Monday, but I had such a great time "playing" with my hobbies that it was hard to get out of bed and face the day.

One thing that I have been doing this year is a 2012 Scarf.  This was a suggestion from another Knitting friend of mine (Mardi the Yoga Guru) and several of us Knitters thought it was a brilliant idea.  The concept is to knit two rows of the scarf each day of 2012 and by the end of the year you will have a scarf roughly 5 feet long.  Who can't find the time to knit two little rows each day?  Some days the thought of being able to knit the scarf is what gets me out of bed (aside from the meowing of cats and wheaking of guinea pigs for their breakfast). I love being able to sit with my first cup of coffee knitting two rows either in complete silence of while listening to an audiobook.  It definitely helps get the work day started in the right direction.

So of course, my knitting cronies and I have taken different approaches to this project which I love.  There's Bookie (check out her blog at:  http://hookingbookie.blogspot.com/) who has dedicated her scarf to the beautiful tree in her front yard.  Her yarn choices change almost daily to reflect how the tree appears to her as she is knitting.  BRILLIANT!!!    Don't forget about Skully who has opted for a 2012 afghan.  She makes great progress until her dog Maggie (aka Rain Mag) chews up the squares she has completed.  Arrgh!!!  But Skully keeps on crocheting despite her curious canine.  Good for you girlfriend!!!

Here's a picture of my 2012 scarf as of Monday, February 27th.  I'm using a Fair Isle effect yarn with a Knit 2, Purl 2 stitch. 

In addition to the 2012 scarf, I also have started a Weekend Repeat Scarf.  I am in LOVE with cables but find that unless I have the time to sit down and knit a pattern stitch from start to finish, I forget where I left off and then end up ripping out the entire piece.  (Don't even bother to offer me recommendations on how to remember or fix the issue....I've tried them all!). 

So here's my Irish Hiking Scarf.  Each day of the weekend I sit back and stitch all 8 rows of the pattern.  This not only gives me the time to learn a new stitch pattern, but I'm using up some of the yarn I HAD TO HAVE a few years ago before I even had a project in mind.

So there you have it...two of the MANY knitting projects I have on needles at this time. 

UFO's are not just items in space, they are also Un - Finished - Objects!

Sundays are for Sewing!

Man, I'm having fun this weekend!  Yesterday was a nice mix of card making and knitting (and some organizing or my knitting bags!) while I finished watching Mad Men on Netflix in preparation for Season 5 at the end of March.  Today I stuck to my plan and tackled making some place mats and matching napkins (with rings!).

My friend Skully and I found the fabrics at Joann's while we were waiting for our friend Bookie to finish walking her Grand-dog Porter on Friday night.  (For those of you how don't know my "street name", I'm Cookie - named after the fact that all of my pets are named after brands of cookies).

So I took this afternoon to sew my heart out and here's the outcome - two placemats with two sets of napkins to change up the theme as my mood changes.  I'm pretty happy with the results, but think I need to find some cute buttons to top off the napkin rings.  I probably should machine quilt the place mats, but haven't built up my confidence to do that yet.  (Maybe next weekend!).

Welcome to My Blog!

Hello there and welcome to my blog!  I'm Jennifer, owner of Green Pepper Greetings (website under construction). 

My mission for this blog is to provide an outlet for my creativity, whether it be words, cards, things made with yarn, beads or fabric.  I love having creativity in my life and I want to share my creativity with others.

So, a little about me.....I'm 43 years old and have lived my entire life in Wisconsin.  I am the mother of three handsome cats and two darling guinea pigs.  All of my pets are male, so I'm basically outnumbered.  During the week I'm a Project Manager for a large health insurance company, but during my free time I love to knit, bead, sew, make greeting cards and hang out with my friends.  (Who knew that at 43 I would be having the time of my life with such wonderfully, crazy friends).

I had a wonderful time yesterday designing greeting cards.  I don't design cards enough as I fall into my other hobbies but when I do design cards, I'm pleased with the outcome.

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back from time to time sharing what I love with the people that I love!