My other favorite hobby

As many of you know my other favorite hobby is to make blankets – wonderful, warm, cozy fleece blankets that require not a stitch of sewing. That is because I still do not know how to sew – someday I will learn – it is goal. These blankets just require a scissors and tying. I love to make them and actually have it down to a science. Over the past almost 4 years I think I have made over 100 of these - I will admit I have lost count. The initial batch consisted of over 30 blankets that I gave to pretty much everyone I knew one Christmas – everyone but one of my closest friends who lives in a warmer climate – I am not sure why I didn’t make one for her – I think it was a year we decided not to exchange Christmas gifts – but for some reason I still have not made one for her – Hmmm… Anyway, since that point I have made them for wedding gifts, graduations gifts, and countless baby gifts. Today I attended a graduation open house for the girl I took care while I was in college, who somehow grew up and is now headed off to collage, and her best friend who I used to have on Thursdays when I would bring them to dance lessons. The friend is headed off to MSU and she is off to Loyola, Chicago. She also has the distinct honor of being the first person outside of my immediate family who has received a 2nd blanket from me. Here are a couple of blankets I made for some children along the way….

Hey Hey HockeyTown

1 down, 3 to go!!

Det 4 - Pit 0

Sesame Street Cake #2

A dear friend of mine asked if I would be able to make a birthday cake for her adorable daughter’s 2nd birthday today. With work being so crazy right now, I have not been able to do much when it comes to Erinn’s Edibles, but thanks to a series of meetings that was moved from Wednesday to Tuesday this month; I was able to make the cake. She requested the Ernie, Elmo, Cookie Monster cake I had made for my niece’s second birthday. I think it turned out pretty cute. And I found out that making a design a 2nd time is so much easier then the first time.

Here is the original... Which one do you like better?

Long over due update

Yes I am still alive.
Yes I do remember I have a blog
No I have not been away or ill
No I do not have any big or exciting news to report

So what have I been up to – in a nut shell – working! I have mentioned my day job a few times in passing, but without going into a ton of details. About a year ago I started working for an organization putting together a cross continent bike tour for the summer of 2008. As with any time of an event things start out slow and pick up speed until you are just plain crazy. That is where I am now, 9 weeks before the start of the tour. I am pretty much working all the time. Just ask anyone who has emailed me over the past several weeks, my response time is very very slow, if at all. A brief overview of the tour – it is called Sea to Sea, the tour begins June 30th in Seattle, WA and ends in Jersey City, NJ on August 31st. Over those 9 weeks 218 cyclists will be riding close to 4000 miles. No I am not riding. Each participant is raising money to end the cycle of poverty, one person at a time. In the end we hope to raise 1.5 million dollars. I am the project manger of this tour and have just been swamped with work and will be until June 26th when I leave for Seattle. While I am not staying with the tour the full 9 weeks I will be traveling to several of the locations and will end up being with them 2 – 3 weeks. So on top of the work stuff I am also preparing for my personal travel which includes having 4 registration points on the route. For more information check out our website.

In addition I have been planning my post bike tour vacation. I am so excited and can’t wait for a week away. This will be the first time since my 1999 trip to London that I will be with out my laptop (or access to my email) and unreachable by cell phone for a whole week. It can not get here soon enough! I am going on an Alaskan cruise! I have had so much fun learning about this area I don’t know much about and can’t wait to see it in person.

But before that happens I have 9 weeks of planning, 9 weeks of a bike tour and 2 weeks of wrap up. UGH!

What does that mean for Erinn’s Edibles…. That is a really good question. I have renewed the license for the kitchen which is an essential part of the operation. But it is becoming more and more evident that I am not going to be able to do the Farmers Market as much as I had thought, if at all. So stay tuned for further updates.

I’m dreaming of a white Easter?

Hmm… something does not sound quite right there, might it be the six inches of snow we got Friday. I know Easter was early this year, but come on!

Some fun facts about the date of Easter –

The dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people use to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar. Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon that follows the Spring Equinox which is March 20th. Only the most elderly, 95 years or older, of our population have ever experienced an Easter this early, and it will be the last time living person walking the earth today will see it happen again. The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 which is 220 years from now. The last time it occurred on March 23 was 1913. Furthermore, it will happen one day sooner, on March 22, but not until the year 2285 (227 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. No one alive today has ever seen, or will ever see an earlier East than this year!

Due to the weather, the Good Friday service at my church was cancelled on Friday and I have to I was pretty disappointed. I understand it was terrible out, I was driving in it, but if there is one day I want to be in church it is Good Friday. To me, Easter is just not the same.

I do hope you had a blessed weekend and understand the wonderful day we celebrate today.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

While I don't think I am techincally Irish (I am a little fuzzy on some my genealogy) One day each year I find it hard to escape the notion. When asked if I am Irish, I answer with "In name only" So today I thought I would share this connection with you.

Erin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ErinGiven Name

A topographic map of Ireland, which Erin is named after

This article is about the meaning of Erin.
Erin is a Hiberno-English derivative of Irish Gaelic Éirinn, the dative case - and also locative case - of Éire, the Irish word for "Ireland".[1] Poets and also nineteenth-century Irish nationalists also used Erin in English as a romantic name for Ireland, as shown in the catchphrase (when speaking of Ireland's experiences with Britain), "Let Erin Remember". Erin has also been used as a poetic name for peace and love. According to Irish mythology and folklore, the name was given to the land by the Milesians after the goddess Ériu. Erin Go Bragh (Éirinn Go Brách, in standard orthography), often heard during St. Patrick's Day, means "Ireland Forever". The etymological history of the word as it drifted throughout the Gaelic region gave rise to its use by the early Scots to both mean "Ireland", as well as "West", as Ireland lay to the geographic west of Scotland. [2]
Erin is a given name sometimes for both sexes, although it is essentially and foremost a female name.
Erin has been used as one of the many spellings of the name of the Scottish Clan Irwin, which has been involved in the Scottish Plantations of Ireland.[3] However, their name was originally derived from the place of the same name near Dumfries, and means "green water", from Brittonic ir afon. [4] [5]

Beware the ides of March

Ever since reading Shakespeare's Julius Caesar my sophomore year of high school, I have enjoyed this phrase. I don’t put a whole lot of credence into it, but maybe I should be alarmed since a friend called the other day to see if I was still alive. I know it has been a while since I have updated, not because nothing has gone on, but I have just been overly busy with my day job.

Last weekend I was asked by three separate people about what my plans were for this summer and the farmers market. I have firmly planted on the fence when it comes to deciding what I am going to do. On one hand it is not a necessity this summer as it was last summer and the thought of keeping up the pace of doing it every week again makes me a bit nauseous. Plus I will be traveling for work quite a bit this summer so every week is not possible. But on the other side, I don’t want to give up/lose all momentum I built up last year. It was profitable and my Christmas season rocked. So I don’t want to lose that. Plus another friend called this week to see if I wanted to go on vacation with her this fall and I have to say that is quite an incentive. So I am leaning towards doing the farmers market every other week? Or as much as I can? I have a little bit of time before I have to decide. I will keep you posted.

Finally – I made my first batch of Strawberry Shortcake of the season a couple weeks ago. It was just what I needed to start thinking about spring.