Eagerly Anticipating the Onsen

In preparation for my trip to Japan, I did the dreaded bikini wax.

There is no way I'm going to an onsen in my birthday suit, looking like the missing link. So, it's t-minus-5 days till take off, time to do some grooming. It's bad enough that I'll be a giant in the onsen, a giant, blond American, but a hairy one would just be nasty.

Yes, of *course* I'm going to go! Onsens are relaxing and quintessentially Japanese. I travel internationally to step out of being American for a while, to leave the comfort zone and remind myself that there are many good ways to live in the world.

An onsen is a public bath, although the term translates to "hot spring." Often they are built on or near natural hot springs (it is a volcanic nation, remember), and you go there to soak in the tub. There is a specific etiquette to using an onsen, and it's not as gross as an American might think. You must bathe before you get in the shared tub. You bathe at these little shower stations (called sento) in full view of everyone, so there is social pressure to do a good job. You scrub yourself well from top to bottom and then rinse off. Now, you can go in the tub, which is something like a hot tub in the US.

Everyone's nude, but yes, they do separate the boys from the girls. Children end up with the women. In my limited experience, there aren't too many children.

The tub is hot, like, really hot. You can't soak for too long or you'll overheat. Some onsens have cold pools, you can heat up, then cool off, and repeat. It's quite a shock stepping into the cold after the hot. I think the Japanese think this is healthy. It's exhilarating.  Some onsen have mineral baths of various types. Some have little waterfalls.

I don't think an onsen would work in America. The necessary social conventions are not present. We Americans are slobs, and yet at the same time, we are rampantly germophobic.

I wonder if our obesity problem would change if we regularly saw each other nude, in a non-sexual community context. I think everyone might end up with better body images and self esteem if we had something like this, because people would know what real human bodies look like. Not the over sexualized, corrected, buffed bodies we are only allowed to see here in America.

Secretly, I would like to have a Japanese soaking tub in my house. Either that or a Swedish sauna. Anything to relax and warm up on a cold winter day.

Coming up

So, our next big vacation is coming up. We are going back to Japan on another tour with Intrepid Travel. This one doesn't seem so exotic, but I am hoping there will be some surprises....the good kind.  We will go a few days before the tour starts to visit friends and also see Tokyo Disney.

At the moment, I'm a bit melancholy. A repeat is nice, but now I'm wondering if we shouldn't have chosen another country this time, just for something different. I'm interested in Portugal, Croatia, Iceland, Germany, Scotland, or even Norway, although, I don't want to go to Norway until June.

Eh, I think it's pre-travel stress.

I need some time away from my husband though, so I'll be able to enjoy our time together on the plane, in Tokyo, etc.

I will bring my Aunt Millie's garden applique work to keep me busy. That, and my Kindle and my iPod. That should keep me occupied during the long flight, in addition to the movies, meals, and hopefully sleeping.

Anyway, I'll have a hiatus from my blogs while I'm traveling.  We leave on 9/21.

Shop Hop Frenzy

I'm becoming more Internet savvy.

Whoa, wait a minute. How is that possible? I've been on the Internet forever (so it seems) and I think I know everything about it. Yeah, right! It's not humanly possible to know everything, with all the decentralized development at the corporate and grassroots level.

This is not a dissertation about the net. The fact is, I don't always use all that's out there, mainly because of my casual use of the net. That, and my ego that thinks I surely know it all.

Somehow, and I can't remember exactly how, I stumbled upon the fabshophop, a virtual shop hop through online quilting shops. Fabshophop is consolidator site. It connects hundreds of small quilt shops around the United States that have a web presence, and provides promotional services for them.

It's all about eyeballs. The more eyes see your site, the more sales you get (roughly).

They have been running a promotion that imitates a live shop hop. You go to each of the participating shop/sites and find the bunny icon. When you click on it, you register for prizes. Most shops have a shop-hop icon on their home page and give a fairly obvious hint where the bunny is located.

Here, I thought I was so cool and wouldn't find anything new in the shops when looking for the bunny icon. Well, no! A few shops totally delighted me - particularly the one called Wilson's Calico Corner that has a Penn State affiliation. Not only do they have Penn State fabric and themed kits, they offer some adorable quilting gifts.

Did I mention I'm a Penn Stater? I do, in fact, bleed blue and white, in a subtle but very loyal way. "For the glory of old State..."

I found a few shops that featured designs I like. And I actually built a favorites list on FabShopHop.com to save all these special shops.

An old dog learns new tricks.

And now I'm in a quilting frenzy. Looking at all the projects, patterns, fabrics, accessories, I've gotten a little dizzy with the excitement of all these projects. I want to quilt, right now!! And, in this treasure hunt you can also find downloadable patterns for a nine-patch sampler. I love nine-patch.

Despite my feverish desire to sew the day away, the weather is awesome today in Kansas City, and dear husband and I really should get out of the house. We'll spend the afternoon at Powell Gardens and having lunch out. It's good practice in the care and feeding of a healthy husband.

Posting because it's time

The new job has totally jumbled my schedule and I'm still learning how to live in an 8-5 world. I don't know when to take relaxation time, when to work on chores, or when to work on projects. I don't know when to post to my blogs. I'm trying, but life hasn't quite fallen into a regular in rate and rhythm.

My life is in atrial fibrillation.

At least it's not in a fast re-entrant ventricular rate. It's just irregularly irregular.

That's nursing humor. Heh.

I finished quilting the first kids quilt and it came out very nice. Now, I'm working on the second one and I hope to get it done over this weekend....or at least the quilting part. For my quilting, I stitched in the ditch along a few lines to stabilize it, and now I'm adding vertical lines of loops.

A little bit of hand applique got done and that's good. Soon I will post a picture of my latest Aunt Millie's Garden  block, which I call "Liberty Flower and Tulip."  After I'm done with this block, I will certainly be good at acute angle points and oval leaves!

Oh, and I just realized! This is my 200th post!

More on the new job, and a few ramblings

I started the new job last week and I survived the first week. It's actually very nice and I like it a lot so far. Change, for me, is difficult, so I'm trying to be kind to myself during this transition - not too much pressure to be productive in my non-work hours. I may not be able to post as much as I'd like.

And now, the ramblings...

I saw the movie Eat, Pray, Love this weekend. I totally enjoyed it and I think they did a nice adaptation of the book. I started rereading the book....and I'm addicted again. I'm so into self-awareness and self-actualization.

I participated in a quilt workday on Saturday in which I made two tops. I was a total goof when I attempted to make one of my quilts in the "simple" manner by stitching around the edges and turning it inside out. When I turned it inside out, the batting was on the outside and the backing was on the inside!

So, I thought I'd do the right thing and rip out the stitching and do over. 

And then....I did the same damn thing! I stitched, turned, and ended up with the batting on the outside AGAIN. What a dork.

Since then, I took it home, fixed it for real, and I've been quilting it in a pleasing zig zag pattern. It has come out quite nice. The fabric selection in the kit was very contemporary - mauve, plum, orange, pink and white in retro-modern . It sounds strange, but it really works!

Here I am with a four patch, part of the second quilt top I made.

A New Job

Today I started my new job. It's a desk job. It's back in my comfort zone.

I think it will be awesome. No, really! The positive energy in that office is palpable. There's enthusiasm, even if they're over worked. They're friendly and relaxed, and they do team builder things.

I was nervous about the job - will I like it? Will it end up frustrating me? Will I be happy? Is it too much?
Oy, I'm responsible for 16 units - more than any of my coworkers have assigned.  I will serve on committees. I will attend meetings. I have a pager and I have my own phone number.  Back to professional-land.

I'm glad my first day went well. My new boss even hugged me - now that's something else.

Maybe, just maybe, I've found it....where I belong.

What does a quilter do in Charlottesville, VA?

I visited some family in Charlottesville for the past 4 days. Naturally, as a quilter, I can't stay away from the fabric shops entirely, and indeed, I got a lot done on my Aunt Millie's Garden applique. I'm starting on block number 5, can you believe it?!?!

The main quilt shop in Charlottesville is called Cottonwood. It is located across Emmet St from Barracks Road shopping area, more towards the north end.

In a town where Talbot's clothing might be considered a little too edgy, Cottonwood toes the conservative line on traditional style quilts and fabrics. Their fabric selection is extensive, focusing on traditional colors and patterns. They have a small but well-chosen selection of children's prints.  Moda is well-represented in their collection. I was impressed by their tasteful Holiday selections for Christmas and Halloween, and they featured some nice fall themed bolts at the front of their store.

They connect to a Bernina store, and I assume that is where they hide the thread. I didn't see any in the main shop.... and I didn't venture to the Bernina side. Didn't want to risk being accosted by a lonely salesperson, then I'd be forced to confess I'm a Pfaff user.

Cottonwood offers a well-curated selection of patterns and books, including some fabric purses and non-quilt projects. They have a little, but well-stocked section containing wool for felting, hooking, and applique. Their notion section has the essentials, but it should be noted for the excellent selection of needles for hand work (betweens for quilting, applique needles, all in the better brands). There is a spacious room for classes in the back.

I've stopped in this shop on previous visits to Charlottesville. I like it, and you never know what you're going to find. One time I found an adorable purse pattern by Lazy Girl Designs, and I've made that purse three times already. (It's the Veronica Pocketbook.) This time, I bought two fat quarters of green to add to the greens in my applique. Additionally, I was intrigued a display they had including some Moda canvas fabric in black, gray, white, and chartreuse, accented in fuschia pink. I think this color combination might be  "the next big thing."

If I lived in C'ville, likely I wouldn't shop there exclusively, since it's not precisely in my taste. It's one of those quilt shops you count on being there - while you might not find the latest trend, you will be sure to find high quality fabric and something in every color. But you know, I bet you could put together a thoroughly modern color pallette / pattern grouping if you chose from among their collection with an innovative eye and unconventional spirit.