the hour draws nigh.

have you come up with your resolution(s) yet?

i haven't. last year my resolution was to be amused. (and i have been. in part, thanks to many of you bloggers.)

this year...

the only thing i can muster "umph" about is resolving to practice loud and obnoxious behavior. like the cranky ninety year old cuss that i sometimes feel i am.

but i'm still thinking.

in case i can't come up with anything else, i'm sorry for 2008 in advance.

p.s. i found this post about old people and liked it.
p.p.s. i really really like old people who do whatever they want. like they EARNED freedom of expression. and i really like when multiple generations live in the same household. and i really love that my abuelita has very nicely manicured hands and she always pats the seat next to her for me to sit down so she can scratch my back. oh and my other grandma? she collects expensive perfume and comments about the good looking men she hires to work in her yard. and O'lover's grandma Lillian? She tried to teach us how to play bridge last week. She has a lifetime of strategy up her sleeve. She's also a bird watcher. And anyone trying to mess with their natural habitat...may they be forewarned. 'cause Lillian, the daughter of the late honorable Judge Young, has connections and will direct the righteous lawsuits to hail down from heaven. and clobber the greedy bastards.

PART 2:reunited with gorgeous Wenderful at long last! when we first got there, everyone was on the dance floor. then the evening entertainment graduated to the talent night after party. we're talkin' about the kind of talent that makes your jaw drop (and made me strangle-hold the couch pillow in a fit of awe and utmost jealousy.)
I met Wenderful (btw, not her real name) when she was in the rock star betties. Then we lived together at the Art Front warehouse. here Wenderful and her sister Mel (also a good friend) are jerryrigging a capo for Wenderful's groom, B-Dunn.Wenderful is part of the Mormon Von Trapp family (note: they would never call themselves that, but i just want you to understand!) these guys write their own music. and switch instruments like my sister and i switch outfits, anytime, anywhere. Mel (to the right) and her cute husband Jason (not pictured) were in the band Desmo.- this is a link to the song "temporary baby".

we were listening to their amazingness and requesting favorite songs until we finally left well after 1 am.

And since this post needs a pic of Wenderful in her wedding dress... i love her! thanks to Wenderful and all for the great FUN!

when we got back to the lime green cottage O'lover felt renewed to work on projects, like installing can lights. i felt renewed to watch. and think about how my man looks like a 70's cop. with those sunglasses. and the side burns. sigh.
xo,
quel

PART 1:

the sniffling, sneezing, sore throat, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, sleep better to feel better medicine...has nothing to do with this post.

But O'lover was sick. and i was tired. Which meant...cringe...we missed out...shudder. we sorely missed her solstice party, and his solstice party, and Tom and Faye Parker's solstice party, and their Christmas party. all of these festivities were on the same night and we had been so excited to make the rounds. ah well.

the next day slick roads and general malaise would again conspire against us but we were not going to miss out on Wenderful's St. George wedding reception as I had already missed her New York city nuptials. So after shaking my fists at the snow falling from the sky and jutting out my chin in defiance of all that would keep us cozily in bed, the O'lover and I downed some cod liver oil cure-all - the essence of fisherman's wharf in a bottle - and got in the volvo.

on the way south we stopped at this charming place. (you must see the inside, full of art!) we chatted with owner Bob (organizer of the Mt. Pleasant rhubarb festival) and also bought two crates of spirits and gourmet vinegar. then we visited our eyes were dazzled by... this is where we purchased Wenderful's wedding gift. the must have for every kitchen, a Joe Bennion honey pot. with no more delay we made it to the reception.

when we bought our pioneer house we thought the first thing we'd do was paint the exterior. we collected every color sample from home depot, lowe's, kwall's, jones paint and glass.

and then we bought this book.
and this book.
and this one.
and...
yup.
even after road trips to collect grasses and take pix of the mountains in certain light, and jenny n, (our neighborhood's resident interior designer) driving me all over trying to trigger a "YES!" and ollie and i taking pics in the avenues and sugarhouse...

our house is still this color.i call it lime sherbet.

A lovely 97 year old woman named Florence Curtis lived here before us. She was a bridge player, on the beautification committee for downtown provo, her birthday was the same day as our anniversary, she went skydiving when she was in her eighties. her husband passed away in this house. and seven years ago when "paint your heart out" offered to paint her house she refused to let anyone select a new color.

it has always been the same shade.

and bless Florence, it might always remain. the truth is it's grown on me.

anyone need to borrow some paint books??

On what I don't normally talk about

we're using the holidays and family coming into town as an impetus to get things done around here. while ollie is doing electrical work, which involves repeatedly turning the power on and off, i've had to take a break from my construction projects. i've lit the house with candles. and i've lounged in the hot tub three times already.

and now my pores are open.

maybe the steam has gotten to my head.

because i'm going to talk about religion. which is a matter that I DO NOT DISCUSS openly, much.

first let me say, i am a product of "this" culture (whatever that means...). i am a product of provo. i love the concept of "zion". know that concept? then i'm talking mostly to you.

as a kid (and beyond) i always wanted to have my oil ready in my lamp. just in case. i lived at the edge of my seat, an automaton for God. and then it gets weird...when everyone else was living the high life during their teen age years...i was volunteering to restock library books and help clean academy square on saturdays. when everyone else was going to parties and experimenting with life, i was reading about the dead sea scrolls, i had already read the old testament, every single word (several times as i kept wanting to get more out of it when it was just inducing deep sleep), i had read the BOM (and mostly enjoyed it) six times by the time i was 19, and of course hungered and thirsted after all hugh nibley, everything about polygamy and polyandry, journals of zina huntington smith young, journals of other early pioneer women, much of the journals of discourse, anything about the school of the prophets, richard bushman, fawn brodie, leonard arrington, YOU CAN SKIM OVER THIS LIST, miracle of forgiveness, the teachings and writings of spencer w. kimball, wilford woodruff's prophesies of doom, Jesus the Christ, of course the doctrine and covenants, the pearl of great price, and then i got a hold of software with the entire LDS library on it. i did topic research. i loved righteousness and mysticism and prophets. some of what i found had me in tears. i tried to bend my will to the doctrine as best as i could understand the law of sacrifice, etc. etc.

because i wanted that oil. for my lamp.

i cried when peers would take up smoking. i would argue with patricia anana krakoviak, the only polish catholic at provo high. i was a member missionary and really really really wanted her to convert. she entertained my arguments but never caved. she later became the youngest graduate from BYU, still a catholic.

i gave people spices for their food storage as presents. because people tend to overlook the spices.

and during much of this time...I ONLY LISTENED TO THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER'S PLAN over and over and over.

oh and some Erasure. because i wasn't completely crazy.

all these years later, after continually feeding my obsession with mormon history classes, a stint in the mormon history association, rubbing shoulders with many great teachers. having michael quinn to my house for dinner. having janice allred lend me her book about heavenly mother (it was too dense for me). Missing my favorite history professor who was fired from BYU, because he only went to church every other week making him less than fully active (as the story goes). having more than half of my friends leave the church...and i argued and pleaded with them to stay.

my heart has been broken. in several directions. because i LOVE conviction. I'm most comfortable being in conviction.

but i've since mostly put things aside. and wonder.

now i'm practicing listening to myself. instead of deferring to what an "authority" says, i ask myself "what do you think about this or that?" And then i get to find out!

i am blessed to have a hugely supportive husband. who trusts my process. even when i haven't trusted it, when i've been in the absolute thick of IT, he doesn't worry or try to correct. or even worse get hurt and defensive.

enough.

wow, i feel authentic. many of you already know all of the above. but, i steer clear of all "this", still sensitive subject. and anyway when i do tell you you don't believe i was ever this hyper religious (and way more....you can ask amy or my sister, use the code word "abbey").

soooo much love and BEST WISHES for you & your process,

quel, off to nurse a tequila...JUST KIDDING, gosh.

We're all busy, no? Introducing a new concept...abbreviated blogging! Perfect for the hectic holidays. It's a snap! The idea is to post pix with minimal commentary. yay for off the hook easy!
Advent tag at Susan KB's house.
Susan B Awesome and i went to the Brian Kershisnik lecture at the BYU MOA. Funkalicious at Cherie's house.
Alex Caldiero at Gallery OneTen.
Susan KB. love love love her! i need more of her please...so here's more!
The Big A pretends he's Max (Reo and Liz's cat).
Christmas party at Ashley Sander's house in SLC. my heart is still warm...

This post is dedicated to Teresa, who sometimes gets tired of words because she proofreads all day, and who I really wish would start her own blog.

xo,
quel

Mr T, aka the LIGHT OF MY LIFE, just celebrated
birthday numero uno!

The kickoff party was with a bunch of med students. (I don't recognize this lot.) He went from lap to lap opening gifts. Then the next day Mr T chilled at the dinosaur museum. Notice the man in the background. I have nicknamed him "peter" as in pan as in i never want to grow up and am way too intently diggin' up some pretend dino bones.
In a mere five days Mr T will be having yet another birthday shindig...HERE! in Provo, Utah. in our cozy lime green cottage, next door to sir whistler and across the street from the man who hikes the Y everyday, and just over the alley from the guy who's married to his upteenth wife, and around the corner from the bonnie lady whom we call "the treatmeister" because she just won't stop giving us TREATS (once she left an antique swiss spinning wheel on our back step).

love,
Mr. T's auntie quellie who can't hardly wait

p.s. thanks for the pix Chris!