crafty Keli

I made mittens out of sweaters with the "big kids" that I watch in Ashburn,VA.. or correction.. I tried to make mittens out of sweaters...here is a list of what to do.. and what not to do..

DO
 go to a thrift store and ask if they have any sweaters that they don't want that they are just going to give away anyway.. smaller thrift stores have to donate their stuff to bigger thrift stores that have the means to send that stuff to other countries or dispose of it..
so I went to a thrift store in Leesburg and they gave me two large sweaters that they were not going to sell..

DO
Have scissors that will actually cut through a heavy sweater.. I did not.. and well.. that was a problem

DO
have one of those fabric pencils that will mark on fabric.. I did not and that was a problem


Do
make a mitten pattern on a piece of paper and pin it to the sweater and cut it out.. I did not and that was a problem..

Do
have a needle and thread that the kids and you can use that will actually sew through heavy fabric.. I did not and that was a problem

DO NOT
try and hot glue the sweater mittens together.. because they might not fit you and well I did and it was a problem

DO
let the kids continue to think that this project is succesful and let them cut as many things out of the sweater and try and sew as many things for as long as they want to.. I did this and it was not a problem!
 

reading Keli

Almost every Saturday night I baby-sit some "big kids" in Ashburn, VA. I have two choices.. I can let them bounce off the walls and shout and carry on.. or I can plan activities for them..
............I plan activities for them.. some of my activities go really fast.. so I thought what else can I do.. so I thought that I could read out loud to them..

I started with reading to Lena age 13, Corey age 12 and Ari who just turned 9 at the end of December.

Ari is the only one that stayed of the whole book..

I decided to read them the Little House books they were and are some of my favorite books.

We started with Little House in The Big Woods.. and Ari LOVED it so much .. when she has questions we look up things on google images to explain what they are so that she can picture it..

We now want to visit Pepin, WI for Laura Ingalls Wilder days in September and we want to make Charlotte rag dolls... we are really into it..

Next week when I go over we will be starting Little House on The Prairie.

Dating Keli

A little over a year ago my friend Linda's daughter, Amber who is 18 and a senior in HS started dating a guy named Cody. They are such a cute couple. I often see pictures of them on FB looking cute, smiling being happy. Cody is 18 or 19 and graduated HS in 2012.

I celebrate some of the holidays with Linda's family so I was looking forward to meeting Cody after seeing so many pictures of him on FB I felt like I already knew him. ... I also felt like he was such a cute teen! I thought he is so cute, I would love a guy my age that looked like him.. like if I had to draw a picture of a guy that is my type then that would be it..

but I am not into teens.. and I am not into people that already have girlfriends that they are going to marry and have their name tattooed on them.. ( yes Cody has Amber's name tattooed on him)

So when I walked in on Thanksgiving 2012 and saw Cody I said " is that Luke Bryan!" even though the only thing that he has in common with Luke Bryan is dark hair and dresses the same and has the same sort of body.. and is country..

As the day progressed I got to talking to Cody and Amber and at one point.. Cody said something about how they had to go to his dad and his moms house that day...

WAIT a minute his dad AND his mom's house.. like they have different houses.. like they are not MARRIED...

I said "is your dad single?" He said yes.. I said " um how old is he?" He said "42" I said " does he look like an older version of you?" He said " yes" I said like have people ever said " you look just like your dad?" he said " yes" I said " OMGOSH I NEED TO MEET HIM!!!! "

so I basically admitted I think a TEEN IS HOT.. hahahahahhahahaha but no he is a cute BOY.. if his dad is a 42 version of that.. well then that is a MAN.. like a man MY AGE.. that I could go on a date with !!!!

My friend Linda was like " you don't want his dad!!!" You would be inheriting three kids, Cody and he has a brother in HS and a sister in middle school .. I said .. EVEN better.. because Cody is already out of he house and the other two are not far from it.. I mean they are big.. that is fine.. and besides I have nothing against dating guys that have kids and I have several times in the past...

then Linda was like "well 42 is too old for you isn't it?" I mean.. how old are you.. I said that I was 38.. I said 42 is not too old for me.. Cody said " she is definitely not too young for my dad because my mom is 38....

I said "well where does your dad work?" I forget where he said but he said that he makes " a lot of money " AND  he said he drives a jeep.. I said that is good. I love jeeps and trucks and stuff like that..

Linda said don't you want a guy that drives a BMW or a Mercedes or something.. and I said no.. no no.. that is not my type.. I want a guy that drives a truck, or a SUV or a jeep something like that.. that is my type.. I like country guys...

Linda said well you need to come up to Faquier County where we live and you will find one.. I said WHERE.??? finding a guy my age that is SINGLE is hard enough to find.. I said what am I supposed to do just STAND in the tractor supply and HOPE that someone sees me and asks me out???

She said that was an idea...

I said that I did not need to do that because I already found one.. Cody's dad...hahahhaahah

I told Cody can you please tell your dad that you have found a girlfriend for him.

I also asked more about him.. he said that his dad drank.. I said " does he get drunk every night" he said "no but he might have a beer every night"

whatever that is fine.. I mean no one is perfect..

then he said his dad used to get really mad at him and one time he beat his butt with a hair brush..

I said "well he probably just needs the love of a good woman..." I said " when we were coming up that was called disciplining your child" that is now called "child abuse"

so people at the table started giving me suggestions.. like

"isn't there anyone at your church that you could date"

....um they obviously don't read this blog.. because I continue to TRY and date guys at my church..

and
" have you thought about going on the Internet"

and " have you thought about not being so picky"

ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE AT THE TABLE EITHER
1. got married when they were between 18 and 20
or
2. are around that age and have a serious BF..

I said listen I did not expect to be this age and single and it sucks and YES I have tried everything.. and I keep trying.. I can't tell you why it is not working...

and they did not get it.. I was not looking for anyone.. like I was not so desperate that I am just picking up on anyone.. Cody is a cute, nice kid... and if his dad is a 42 year old version of that then I would like to go on a date with him!!!!!

So I dropped it..then that night I called my friend and told her this story and she said " Keli, leave that poor boy alone! and I said " look him up on FB" and she did and then she said .. " never mind, I see why you were bothering him.. I could see you with an older version of him.." I said SEE.. I know!
 
so Christmas came and I walked in and there was Cody and he said," I talked to my dad for you".. I said
"WHAT!!! what did he say???"
He said that he as kidding that he had not talked to his dad...
I said well you need too.. 
Cody said " you don't want him he is like a troll in a dungeon" and Linda said " Keli, I have seen Cody's dad he is not an older version of him"

I said " well you may not have seen some of the guys my age and what I have to choose from"...

I said "let's settle this right now, do you have a picture of your dad on your phone and I can make a choice if I want to meet him or not.. and Cody looked but did not have one..

Cody and Amber said that they were going over to his house that day .. and I CONSIDERED GOING.. but .. I did not.. I mean it was Christmas I did not want to bust up in this guys house .. HELLO!!!

then the day after I saw that Amber posted on her FB that her and Cody and and her dad were at Fair Oaks Mall and I was like " oh his dad is there ... I better head over" hahahahahhaha

but I didn't ...

BUT I do feel like this needs to be settled..that I need to at least MEET THIS MAN.. and then well we could go on a date.. or whatever.. but yeah I need to at least meet him and make a choice..

because it is hard to date when you are this age.. and I will go for almost any sliver of a chance that I might meet a cool man that I can...

besides I already spend holidays with his son.. he can just join.. hahahahhahah

Holiday- Black Friday 2012

I think that I worked a Black Friday way back when I was like nineteen .. that was almost twenty years ago.. I don't remember even how that WAS.. was Black Friday crazy back then?? Did It start on Thanksgiving?? Did it go all night?? I don't remember...Then another time when I worked at the hardware store in Utah I worked a Black Friday.. but the owner there just opened on time and closed on time.. and we were busy.. but yeah we did not have any crazy hours or anything..
THIS year though.. this year..omgosh.. I worked the real deal a Black Friday RETAIL.. at A MALL...
I worked at the Guess store and my manager said that we were going to call it a "green friday" because we were going to make "that much money"
So my boss hired all sorts of extra people to work.. and we had a meeting for what it was going to be like the Sunday BEFORE Black Friday.. they told us we had to wear red shirts.. and that there was going to be "crowd control" and all this other stuff..like that we could not park at the mall we had to park at a middle school or an elementary school and take a shuttle bus over.. and that we could not tell people that they looked "good" or "cool" we were given a booklet with all these words that we were supposed to tell customers instead..
one of those words was "sexy" I said I am NOT telling male customers that they look sexy because if that is not inappropriate IDK what IS.. ( I would tell a female customer that because we sold clothes to MAKE women look sexy.. )

So I went to bed on Thanksgiving night at about seven PM and I woke up at 2 something.. and headed over to where I needed to park... I got in the shuttle bus with some lady that worked at BCBG and her daughter that was home for the holidays and going to work there..

When we arrived over at the mall it was hopping .. it was crazier than it is in the middle of the day in good weather.. they let us off and we had to walk in some back.. way

there were SO MANY PEOPLE it was crazy.. like I mean CRAZY.. I bumped into someone before I even got to Guess and this lady was like " WATCH WHERE YOU ARE GOING"... like um I am sorry since it is like 3:30 AM and I am not totally ALERT...

I got to Guess early because I did not want to be late so I did not know what the traffic would be like..

My boss said that she would have " all sorts of stuff for breakfast for us there".. she had NOTHING for breakfast unless you consider two boxes of cheap granola bars all sorts of stuff...

I then worked from 3:45 AM to 4:15 PM.. I still don't know how I made it through that day I really don't.. I guess I can attribute it to the fact that I was wearing a cute outfit and leggings.. there was NO WAY I was going to wear tight jeans that day..also we were allowed to wear whatever shoes we wanted that day.. so I got to wear my really comfortable flip-flops so that was nice too...

and people bought and bought and bought.. and then people returned and returned and returned.. I had no idea about this but apparently people impulse buy on Black Friday...we had returns starting that day.. at one point my boss said NO MORE RETURNS TODAY...!

and it was so surreal people out and about in the early EARLY morning hours like it was the afternoon.. just chatting on their cell phones like it was completely normal to be chatting on your cell phone at four AM..

Burberry did not open to six.. they had a huge line..a couple people got cold standing in the line and came in and bought coats from us..so that was good..

My boss said she would have a "huge lunch for us" and it would be " all the left overs that she had from Thanksgiving and a ton of other food"
I guess the for Thanksgiving her family ate regular and BBQ Lays Chips and cheap hamburger buns and cheap lunch meat and provolone cheese because that is all we had back there .. and some Coke and some water...I was grateful for that though...

I only got a break long enough to sit down and eat a sandwich and that is it.. It was that crazy.. I only got that long of a break all weekend.. anytime that I worked...
 
My one boss worked from 3 to 3 so every hour I counted down the hours that we had left to work.. he did not like that I did not.. because he said that it made the day seem longer.. but well it made it seem SHORTER to me..

I am so grateful that I was at the register.. I for real don't think I could have dealt with it if I were on the floor that whole time..I really don't ..

and if you think all of that sound tiring and crazy.. well my brother worked seventeen hours at Sports Authority!!

Dating Keli

For several weeks my friend had told me about a guy at institute that she thought was "really hot"...

I don't even listen to my friends when they say that anymore because I have realized that my friend's version of "really hot" and MY version of "really hot" are two very different things..

Which is OK because we are all different people.

So I go to institute and this guy is teaching and my friend is like "THAT IS HIM!!!" I said "who?" She said" that guy I was telling you about!! " She said "all the women want him here"

I said "um..OK"

so this guy was teaching and it was possibly one of the most boring lessons I have ever sat through..he talked at an octave that I was straining to hear him .. and I felt like raising my hand and saying " can you please speak up" .... I have become that old that I almost made the comment "can you please speak up" but seriously this guy talked SO QUIET.. he for real needed a microphone or needed to project or do SOMETHING besides talk in a quiet monotone..

Plus he never even got to the subject of the lesson he spent so much time building up to what it was supposed to be about that he never got to the actual SUBJECT

So after institute this guy, the teacher called ME over.. and said  " Hello, I just wanted to introduce myself, are you new here, I have never seen you? " I said.. "um I just have not been here for awhile" and he was like "well I know that you were listening to my lesson and it was just so nice to be teaching and looking out and seeing you look back at me and know that you were taking it all in and listening..."

I was thinking... OH NO!! I was sitting by my friend that thinks he is hot and he is talking to me.... OH NO!!!

So I said "well thank you"

He asked me where I worked " I said at  a retail store"

He was standing with a friend and the friend is on my FB and I said " I am sure he sees my updates about it on FB.. I update about it frequently"

His friend smiled and said " you got to watch out for Keli" she will give you a hard time:) " and he smiled....

I then said to the guy.. "everyone knows me on FB because I update like 25 times a day..except when I have to work.. then well that work is just such a PAIN! it totally gets in the way of my social media!!!"

the teacher guy started to back away and he was like " why do you update your FB 25 times a day"

omgosh he thought I was serious.... ( Ok maybe some days..I do)

so there you go I had two strikes
1. I work retail
2. I apparently am addicted to social media...(OK I am)

....................I am sure that this guy has NO VICES at all...

so I tried to make small talk with him.. I found out that he is a lawyer and he works in DC.. but he was clearly NOT interested in talking to me.. ANYMORE...just like that.. that quick.. he was not interested in talking to me anymore...

my friend however was interested in talking to him.. she came up to him and had a conversation with him...

so later my friend and I were talking about getting my record expunged ( I have a record you all!!) and she said to go ask this guy because " he is really nice" and he is a lawyer...I said he is not that kind of lawyer he has never been in a  court room.. I would need someone that has been in a court room.. that is not him.. My friend is like "No, he will know.. he is a lawyer" I was hesitant.. because I felt like no, he is not that kind of lawyer

but I went up to this guy and I was like " my friend ( right my friend) has a record and needs to get one thing she did a "long time ago" off it .. do you know anything about that...he said well...


and looked away.. and looked over at another man.. and said...well I am waiting to talk to that man.. and I don't want to miss him ... this other man was deep in a conversation with yet ANOTHER man.. and they were joking and laughing and carrying on..I said well that man is IN a conversation.. with that other man .. and they seem to be enjoying themselves talking.. so you can talk to me...

he said I know .. but I am to worried that if I start talking to you that, that man will be available.. and then I will miss him and I will be sad if I miss him because he is a cool man and I really need to talk him...

I said HE IS IN A CONVERSATION WITH THAT OTHER MAN!!! you are STANDING RIGHT HERE.... YOU DON'T NEED TO INTERRUPT THEM!!!

he said well if I just stand quietly then I can wait...He then said he was not that kind of lawyer.. and that I would have to go before a judge... and he started to say a bunch of other stuff but I realized that was all fluff and filler and I could get more information by GOOGLING this so I said thanks anyway...

and the whole time he could not take his eyes off this conversation that these other two men were having.. and he could not focus on talking to me..

I said " you know what, if I was a single man in my .. what are you ? mid- to late 30s??"  and I drove here after working ALL day from DC.. and someone of the opposite sex wanted to talk to me... I would totally turn her down.. so I could WAIT to talk to someone of the same sex... that is ENGAGED IN A CONVERSATION WITH SOMEONE ELSE!!!!!

that makes perfect sense to me"

I said " oh well I am basically like the most boring person you will ever meet .. so you didn't miss anything..."

He said " well I don't know if you are boring or not" I just really need to talk to that man" I said well... I guess you wont find out if I am boring or not.."

and I walked off....

 

Holiday- Christmas Eve 2012

I did not quite know what to do with myself Christmas Eve because
1. I planned to shop.. and one of my jobs did not pay me.. so that was basically OUT...:(
2. I planned to work.. but I quit my job at Guess.. so well I was kind of at a loss..
so I just stayed home and read my book.. and cleaned and shopped a TINY bit with the TINY bit of money that I had..

My friend Amy brought me an amazing bag of cookies..My Bishop and his wife brought me an amazing plate of cookies..

Then in the evening I headed over to my friend Elaine's parent's house in Leesburg, VA I called Elaine from Sterling,VA and she said to " drive safe" I thought um.. OK?? Then when I got to Ashburn. VA I saw a little bit of snow on the ground then when I hit Leesburg there was a lot of snow on the ground...

Elaine's neighborhood was on the verge of needing to be plowed..it was super slippery.. It was a white Christmas in Leesburg,VA!...I thought THIS IS WHY SHE TOLD ME TO DRIVE SAFE!!

We ate some antipasto with her parents and her brother Tim. We then enjoyed some fish and some broccoli and lots of other yummy things..

Then I settled in for my annual watching of It's a wonderful Life.. This year one line that stuck out to me was at the beginning when they are telling the angel Clarence about George Bailey and he says " Is he sick and they say, no worse.. he is discouraged" .. that part really got me.. I know so many people that seem discouraged.. and they are right sometimes that is worse than being sick.. and that was really poignant to me..

Other than the movie, and the great food the most amazing part of my night was that Elaine's dad had this HUGE nutcracker that was bigger than me..I had a lot of fun taking pictures with him and posting them on FB.. My friend Tami commented .. " I love a man in uniform.. especially one that comes bearing CANDY"

awesome..

I left Elaine.. and once I got out of her neighborhood the roads were OK.. and once I got out of Leesburg there was no issue at all.. it was like it had never snowed..

It was a great Christmas Eve and I am grateful that Elaine invited me over and her family were gracious hosts.

Field Trip

Last night I went the Washington DC LDS temple and saw the Christmas Lights..
THEY WERE SO BEAUTIFUL!!!! I am so glad that I was able to go. We got there early and were able to see all the Nativities with out there being a line.
Then we stood in line and got tickets to see the Pachecho Family, a musically talented family from Chantilly,VA one one side of us was a family from the Chantilly Ward and on the other side of us was a family from the Herndon ward.. It was Oakton Stake's night to REPRESENT I guess!!!
The Pachecho family did a little variety type Christmas show...beautiful piano music..bassoon music and lots of fun singing..
We also watched Mr. Kruger's Christmas. I have not seen that in years and I really enjoyed it I mean who does not like Jimmy Stewart at this time of year.
After the temple, we went and saw The National Christmas tree.. well we drove by it.. I was glad to finally see that.. and then we drove home..
GREAT NIGHT LOOKING AT LIGHTS!!!!