Boston and Back... and other things

So a few weeks ago my husband, two sons and I drove across the country to Boston so we could set up my oldest son in his family’s new apartment. My son will be attending Babson University and he and his wife have three children (a two year old and newborn twins) so it was out of the questions that they try to do this move on their own. It was also a nice way for us to spend some time with our oldest son before his new life starts across the country.

So we knew we were going to need to drive 10-12 hours a day to be able to get to Boston and start setting up the apartment before my son’s wife flew in with the babies and her mom. The first day across Wyoming seemed to be endless miles of rolling green velvet hills.

Seriously it looked like velvet to me!

We ended day one in Lincoln Nebraska, hot and muggy and limitless corn fields was all I can remember about Nebraska.

The next day was a blur I can’t even remember the name of the city we spent the night at. The only thing I remember is that I went for a run that night and there was a large cemetery by our hotel. I love running around cemeteries! They are always well maintained… clear of traffic… and come to find out what ever town I was in the runners that live there like to run around cemeteries also J The really cool thing was seeing fireflies in the cemetery!! I love them!!

I think I have a very romantic image of farms, I know the reality would not be an easy life.

So on we went… the next night was spent in Schenectady NY, and I feel in love with this city!! I can’t really put my finger on exactly why this city felt so nice, but it was lovely and quaint and felt very pleasant. I told my husband I would like to retire there and open a sweet little book store. I don’t think he has bought into the idea.

On to Boston… my son loves in Norwood and it was about a 4 hour drive from Schenectady to Norwood. The next couple of days were a whirl wind of moving furniture, unpacking, repacking and moving. (You don’t need to know that whole story). Then after all that we rode the subway into Boston and had a few hours to look around Boston.

What a fun place with tons of history, I can’t wait to visit my son and his family while they are there. We had dinner in Little Italy, and OMG!!! It was so yummy! It was wonderful to relax and enjoy dinner with my sons and husband.

The next day Emily (my son’s wife) the kids and her mom flew in and I got to spend a couple of days with all of them before we flew back to Utah. Like I said… it was a whirlwind! But nice to have them settled a bit before we left and good to know where they will be.

As for the “other thing” well I am still working on the flying fairy. I can’t believe how long it has taken me to finish this doll….Aughh my heart is just not into this project the way it needs to be. But I really need to get her done so I can move on to something new….nice segway LOL I have started a sculpting class at the BDAC. It is crazy that I have to drive all the way to Bountiful (30 or so miles) to take a sculpting class, but I am excited to learn and try some new processes and work with some different clays then I am used to working with. I am nervous that I won’t be ready for this, but after months of feeling stagnant I think this class will be good to shake some of that feeling. I guess we will see.

And one last thing and this is a gripe! What is happening to all the doll magazines? For the past little while every time I go to get a new doll magazine I can’t find them. The ones that I used to gobble up and anticipate every month are not there. Oh but I can find 6 different woodworking magazines, and I can’t even count how many scrapbooking/paper craft magazines there are. It makes me feel like my hobby/art is not valued…I am a bit miffed. I guess I am going to have to see if I can get a subscription.

Christmas Vacation

I’m so excited to have my Christmas vacation from work… today is my last day! I don’t have to be back to my desk until January 4th! I have a massive list of all the things I want/need to do here is what I have so far.
Get some good running done in the morning
Work on and hopefully finish the doll that I’m working on
Start a new doll
Sew
Read, finish the book I’m currently reading
Spend some time with my grandkids
Spend some time with my children and husband
One day is already set up to help my sister organize her sewing room. I will try to get some photos of this process because I think/hope the transformation will be amazing
I would like at least two pajama days… I will settle for one, but I’m hoping for two. These are days when I don’t get out of my jammies (duh) it can be combined with the reading/sculpting or sewing sometimes it is just combined with a movie or two.
So there is my list so far, I may add or subtract from it as needed.
I hope that you have some wonderful plans for yourselves and for you families, during the holidays.

Almost Christmas!

It’s that time of year when time seems to fly even faster than normal. Christmas is fast approaching and I am almost ready! Party dates are forthcoming with all the fun festivities they involve. I am looking forward to spending time away from my day job and hope to be able to work on the newest doll project that I have in process. I will try to get some pictures soon, but don’t hold your breath waiting… it might be a while.

Over Thanksgiving break I was able to go snowshoeing with my brother and I hope we can do it again over Christmas break, I had a wonderful time. I don’t get to spend that much time with him so it really made it special! Also I hope I can spend some time with my grandkids that is always wonderful!

So I hope that you are all getting ready for your own Christmas/Holiday festivities and enjoying this wonderful time of the year. To me the best part is getting to spend time with the ones you love.

California Trip - Getty Museum

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Southern California. It started as a trip to take my Mom to see her oldest brother, but it happened that the week that Bill had off for vacation was the week that my siblings could take Mom to California. So for my family it was also a family vacation! One day my cousin took us all to the Getty museum. What a treat!!

I took some pictures with my phone of a few of my favorite paintings and sculptures. I missed a few that I loved, and I should have taken some pictures with my family members in them... oh well :)

It was a fantastic vacation getting reacquainted with family we had not seem in years. Relaxing on the beaches and of course going to Disneyland :) Wow what a great time!!

The Nutcracker

This past Saturday my sisters, mother, brother, sister-in-law, nieces, and my daughters, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, all went to see the Nutcracker. We have been going to the Julie Moffit ballet schools performance. The only down fall of the day was that I was a bit late due to parking issues. Besides that it was a beautiful performance, and lots of fun for me to be with my lovely daughters, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. I hope we can continue this tradition for many years.

Bear Lake 2009

This past weekend was my families annual Bear Lake camping trip. This trip consists of 4 generations of my family camping out together. Thanks to my dear daughter-in-law Emily, I took these pictures off from her facebook. Thanks Em! This first picture is my oldest son and his son Lincoln. It was Linc's first camping trip, he was a trooper and seemed to have a great time. I love this picture!

Here is sweet Lincoln again sitting in the froggy pool early in the morning.

Silly Kaitlyn playing cards with Connor... I'm sure there were a few other people playing cards but I don't remember who it was... and you can't see them in the picture.

This is my oldest daughter's darling daughter September. You can't tell by this picture but she is a sweet little redhead girl. She was pretty good at keeping the hat on her head to protect her from sunburn. She pretty shy too, so I wonder if she was purposely hiding.

My oldest daughter family had already left when we took this picture. But this is the rest of us... plus my Mom and my cousin's son Connor. We were all happy to have him stay with us for the weekend.
Most of the trip consists of relaxing in and by the water. We also usually have some art/craft project to do. This year we brought colored t-shirts and bleach and had a fun time making unique shirts. You can see in the picture that Mom, Nickolas and Connor are wearing theirs.

Our Gidget

Yesterday was a sad day when I had to say good-bye to our family dog, Gidget. She had been a part of the Metcalf clan for about 13 years, I don't think my youngest daughter remembers life without her. Our oldest daughter had "found" her on the way home from school and begged to be able to keep her. She was so small she could not even get up the stairs of our house. For me it was not love at first sight. I knew she would get big and having a dog was a big deal for our small home. I wish I had more pictures of her when she was that small... but that was before we owned digital camera's so all I have are the hard copies. Maybe one day I will scan them into the computer.

My children quickly fell in love with Gidget, and she and her ever shedding fur became a permanent fixture in our home. She was the best running partner when I ran the trails of the mountains close to our home. Never venturing too far from me... keeping a good pace.
She was a smart dog... many times I would find big bags of dog bones in the back yard, I'd ask my husband why he left the entire bag in the yard after he bought them. He would say... he never purchased them. One day our neighbor came over to explain that Gidget had been escaping our back yard... going into his garage when it was open and stealing the bag of dog bones! What a crazy dog!

Kaitlyn and Gidget

I was hoping that she could make it through the summer, but it became painfully clear that this was not going to happen. It was evident the last few weeks we had her that her ability to move was fading. The stairs to get to the yard were too much for her. I feared she would fall when we were not around and be hurt. Gidget always seemed happier in the winter. She would roll in the snow and chase it when we snow blowed... summer was not her season, too hot with her big black coat.
Bill and I drove her to the vets... he had us lay her under a tree by the office. He didn't want her scared, and Bill and I agreed. She laid her head on my lap and slowly feel to sleep. After she was gone, we covered her with a blanket. I will miss her so much.
We had fireworks last night in the neighborhood, our city's founders day. Gidget hated fireworks. It was weird to not have her barking and whining, I'm sure at the next thunderstorm I will feel the same, she hated them too.

She will be missed

Love

I found this quote somewhere I can't remember now; and had saved it to post. I forgot about it, then found it again, so I'm posting it now. I have been married for almost 29 years, my oldest daughter has been married for 10, and now my oldest son will be celebrating his first year of marriage this weekend. So to all of you I dedicate this quote.... Love you all!

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are.
Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.

- Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

"Love is the beauty of the soul." --St. Augustine

Sister Date

I have three of the best sister anyone could ask for! We have a great time when we get together. This year we have made a commitment that we will have sister dates as much as our schedules can do. I didn't get any good pictures from our first sister date... we made scarves with different textiles and sovly (I water soluble product) you stitch the fibers between the solvy, then wash it out... lots of fun! I will try to be better so that I can post all the projects that we do. So we had a great time doing this altered art project... I think most of us have added some other bits and pieces to our projects after this picture, but this picture was taken after a few hours of working on them.

Lincoln Tyler Metcalf

Lincoln Tyler Metcalf

Well my new grandson was born December 19, 2008. He arrived at approximately 12:40 in the afternoon, weighing in at 7 pounds 13 ounces, 21 inches long. He is healthy and handsome. Mom and Dad are doing well also. I have to say that being a grandma is probably one of the funnest things in my life. You get all of the fun without nearly as much work or worry. It is a different experience being the grandma on the fathers side, it's not bad just a different perspective. So far I think my son is shaping up to be a very good father. I know it is less than a week and really it doesn't get hard for at least 15-17 more years, but it's fun to see what a proud papa he is. Also his lovely gentle side.


The New Metcalf Family :)

Happy Daddy!!

Lincoln getting weighed.

Emily - so happy to finally met Lincoln!


Grandma Lori Finally getting to hold him :)

Thanksgiving, Family and all the Crazy Stuff

I was able to get up and do the Thanksgiving Day turkey run at the hospital in South Ogden. It was fun and I got to see my running friend Phil at the race. He was nice enough to run most of the race with me.
Thanksgiving was wonderful, I had most of my family over to my house, and some that didn’t have dinner with us showed up to have pie later in the day. I cooked a 20 pound turkey and a 10 pound ham and the sisters, sister-in-law and daughter brought all the other things that make Thanksgiving so wonderful. It’s fun to just relax and chat with family… see what everyone has been up to and give thanks that we are all healthy, happy and doing relatively well.
I got to spend the rest of my Thanksgiving break catching up on a lot of the things I have been putting off then I started getting the house ready for Christmas. My youngest daughter and I got the tree up and the lights on, and then she finished doing all the decorating of the tree. I have to say it looks real cute she did a great job! I need to finish some of the other decorations but for now it’s beginning to look a bit like Christmas at the Metcalf house!
I was able to work for a good amount of time on a new baby. So far I have the head completed and I have started one leg. I need to work on her more if I’m going to make the January 1st deadline for the contest. I will try to get some pictures posted of her.
http://www.audrey-kawasaki.com/
Check out this artist... I love her work! Gives me lots of ideas for BJDs!!!

Homecoming 2008

Well my baby girl was invited to homecoming at Weber High School, where she is a sophomore. I have to say this was difficult for me, she is my baby AGHHHH! But she looked beautiful and had a very fun time. Her date seems like a very nice young man. But I wish he would brush the hair out of his eyes a bit more. I guess my age is showing LOL. We were able to find a pretty cute and fairly modest dress for homecoming so I was OK with her look. Yes the ends of her hair are blue :), and Brady check out her wrist... she did wear Ember's bracelet.

NAMI - Our Families Walk for Scott

My family is participating in the NAMI walk in Salt Lake City on September 27th, Franklin Covey Field at 9:00 am. This will be our second year participating in this walk in remembrance of Scott .
I will probably blog a few times before and after this walk about Scott. He was someone that made an impact on my life and the lives of my husband and kids. Scott was married to my cousin. Bill and Scott became good friends shortly after he married into the family, we had kids close to the same ages so we spent lots of time together, and they were the couple when we wanted to go out with others were the ones we would call first.
Scott and I work for the same company for many years, we were also on the same team in that company, and were able to spend time together there. I can remember people spreading rumors until they realized that we were family. But Scott was almost like having another brother for me, and another father figure for my kids. Bill considered him his best friend.
I'd like to share one memory about Scott in this post. I have been having so many things happen with my dolls recently and Scott would have been so happy for me. I'm bless to have many people in my family that are supportive, it was different with Scott, maybe because he was married in to the family I felt that his opinion was a bit more objective.
Scott and I never ran too much together because he was much faster them me. But there were a few times, once we ran along the Ogden River Parkway. At the top, in the mouth of Ogden Canyon is a gift shop, as we approached he asked if I had been in there in a while because they had some cool dolls. I hadn't so he talked me into going in. It was nice to have a break any way because I was tired. When we got to the dolls, he was right, they were very cool. He looked at me and said, this can be you Lori... you are talented enough. He was very sincere with his praise and I have to say I was surprised at the time that he would feel that way. It felt so nice to have someone think that because it was so early on in my doll making. I think he would be so happy with all the recent things happening with my dolls.

Minnie Milestones

So yesterday was one of my minnie milestones in my life. Not a major milestone like a century birthday. But a minnie one, it was my 45th birthday. I had a very nice time , my sweet husband and two youngest kids took me shopping for some new jeans, not real fun, but found some that they said made me look much more hip?! I guess I needed some updating.

Then all my children, their spouses, and grandchildren came over for a BBQ. My grandkids had made me the most wonderful birthday cards and so did my sweet son-in-law. My son and his wife bought me his standard gift for me. New running socks :) I know that it might be predictable, but I love new running socks! I love anything to do with running and dolls. But yesterday is really what makes me happy!! Being a mom and grandma has been the most rewarding part of my life so far, and I can't imagine anything being better.

Sister Dates

For a few years now, my sisters and I try to make sister dates. We are all creative, artistic people with different talents, but enjoy each other's company and love to share something artistic together. At the University of Utah had a wonderful exhibit here is a link to see some of it. http://umfa.utah.edu/monettopicasso

So all the sister's my Mom, Annette and my youngest daughters all spent the day at the museum. It was fantastic and being a hobbyist sculptor you can imagine how I felt looking at the sculptures of Rodin and many other's.

My sister Annette is a painter and loved the Modigliani, beside of course the Monet and Renoir. I have to say I gained a new appreciation for Dali, not usually one of my favorites. If you are in Utah and have a chance to visit this exhibit I highly recommend it!

This picture was from Picasso's blue period. I was listening to the narrator talk about how after the suicide of his friend he went into his blue period. And this picture is considered the peak of the period. As I listened it made me think of Scott's suicide, I could understand why someone would go through such a bleak period. Not wanting to paint with any bright or happy color's. This picture is defiantly how you feel after loosing someone you love.

Bear Lake 2008

Every year my family spends a few days together at Bear Lake. We have been doing this family trip since before I was born, but now it has become more, we have four generations of our family staying together. Bear Lake for us is a time to unplug and unwind, one family has a boat but for most of us we just enjoy time together in the quite breeze of the lake. Since my family is very artistic we always seem to have some sort of craft to do while we are there. Some of the years we have tie dyed t-shirts. This is quite a site to see, everyone from my 80 year old mother to the newest great grandchild wearing tie dyed shirts, it's a cross between some sort of hippy commune, or grateful dead concert, we do create quite a site.
This year some of us made vision boards. Mine is now hanging in my doll room. You create a vision board to help stimulate positive changes in your life, things you would like to see happen, or just pictures, words that feel positive to you.
It was also my youngest granddaughter's 1st birthday while we were there. She is such a sweet little girl! Being a grandma has been a complete joy, and this youngest granddaughter is as great as they come. She has beautiful red hair that looks like it might get some curl to it, and lovely green eyes. I just wish I could sculpt babies as beautiful as she is. I could make a killing in the doll world if I could.
I have to say I think Bear Lake 2008 went very well, I personally had a great time. It was relaxing, beautiful, and refreshing.

Father's Day

Yesterday was Father's Day. We had a nice day, my oldest daughter and her husband and kids came over to have dinner with us. Our daughter made a wonderful German chocolate cake for my husband because that is his favorite. It was delightful to have them over.
This is the second Father's Day without my Dad. I still miss him very much. Time helps soften then hurt of missing him, and we are left with the wonderful memories of all the things and time we had together. No matter how old I get I think in my heart I will always be a Daddy's girl.

Weekend Wishing

We just got done with my oldest son’s wedding. It was very beautiful, but I’m happy that it is over. We had two graduations, one bridal shower, Mothers Day, wedding rehearsal and wedding all within 6-7 weeks. And my sisters and I did all the flowers for the wedding. More my sisters then me :) So, I’m very happy the craziness has at least slowed down.

I long for the slow and lazy days of my summer as a young girl. Do you remember those times, before work, kids and responsibility? Hmmm lying around in the hot sun in our swimming suits reading trashy romance novels and drinking cold drinks. Just the slow moving days of our youth. Probably late junior high or high school. I see it now with my youngest daughter. The contentment that she dose not have much to worry about. Only responsible to do a few things, she has time to read, hang with friends, and relax. Her days move by at the slow summer pace I remember. Then I see the contrast with my oldest son. He is just starting a new life with more responsibility then he has had in the past. More bills, more obligations, more, more, more. His days of slow lazy summers are a thing of the past.
The life scale baby that I had posted in the previous post is about to send me over the wall. I have had to repair her at least 6 times, and even now she sits on my table with her eyes about dug out so that I can again, repair the cracks that keep forming in the corners of her eyes. I don’t know what to do. If she keeps this up I think she will end up in the trash. So keep you fingers crossed and hope that this weekend will have a different outcome. Let’s all pray that she decides not to crack any more. I’m also hoping that I finish Jen Printy’s fairy. She needs her wings and hair… then I will mail her off to Jen. Keep your fingers crossed that all this can get accomplished.

Time is flying

Wow been a few to many days since I have posted anything. I have been working on my BJD and mini baby, but I have not taken any pictures of the progress yet. It has been rather frustrating working on the BJD. I bet I have wasted at least 1/2 a block of clay trying to get her hip socket right. I think I have finally got them now. I went and bought wooden balls the size I needed for the ball joint of the socket. Then when I sculpted the hip I took the wooden ball and pushed it into the clay to form the socket. So far I think it will work, but the real test will be when I try to string her. Well I will try to get some pictures posted of the progress soon.
My running has been a struggle, I ran about 91/2 miles Saturday and it felt OK but not great. I have a 30K in two weeks and I hope I will do better then I did at the 1/2 marathon. I'm having some serious reservations about running the marathon.
My oldest son graduates from Utah State University in a few weeks. I can't believe it, time has gone by so fast. It just seems like yesterday he was just starting.
My youngest son will graduate High school so it is a time of transition for both of them. For me it is very exciting to see them grow and develop into such wonderful young men.

My Daughter Birthday

My oldest child, daughter, turns 27 today. She was such a sweet baby, always happy and never fussy, even when she needed to be changed or was hungry. She rarely ever cried. I remember my Mother commenting on what an easy baby she was, and telling me that this was not normal behavior for babies. I didn’t really believe her until I had my second child. As my daughter grew up we had many growing pains within our family. A few months back I found this comment on a blog and it fit so much of what my oldest child means to me that I wanted to post it here.

“This child made me a mother. I have learned from her, tested my ideas on her, figured out what works, what was a good theory, what failed in the real world, and to ultimately throw all the parenting books away.

Sometimes I feel bad, since she is, and will continue to be, at the cutting edge of my parenting skills. Her brothers and sister reap the benefits of her trailblazing. By the time they get around to things, Tara had whacked her way through the parenting-ignorance-jungle and we’ve managed to make a little clearing.

There was a time I wondered why she was so headstrong, and what I could do about it. I know now, she needed that head full of concrete and stubbornness so we could all learn to be a family. A gentler, meeker child would never have had the strength to wield the machete needed to create parents from the raw materials she was given.

I will be eternally grateful for the wild, strong, obstinate, fiery, brilliant spirit that is my oldest child. She made me a mother.”

With my realization of time passing I reflect back on all the experiences that I had with my daughter, I’m honored to be her Mom. She has grown in to a wonderful young woman, wife and mother. As much as I miss the time I had with her at home. I also enjoy what our relationship has developed into, and hope that it will continue to grow and evolve into an even better connection.