Korean Patchwork

I got up at 7:30 to shower, dress and eat. I quickly checked e-mail and made Chris a sandwich (since I didn't get up at 6 to do it). I walked to post where Chris was supposed to meet me, but he was delayed in a meeting. So I started walking. He met me along the way and drove me to Gate 19. Instead of having our regular meeting, we had a Korean patchwork class at Sungshin University. The group was already assembled. So we walked into the subway and attempted to put a gift basket together. But we had too much. So we took our stuff and headed out to Sungshin. They did not meet us at the station like usual. So we went on foot and uphill. In the main building, we stopped again and this time got everything in to the basket. To say thank you, we put in chocolates and stuffed ornaments. Then we walked more and up steps. Lots of steps. We went to the room we'd gone to before and there we were met and taken to another room. Our teacher Mr. Kim (go figure) was buff and had long hair. He is considered a Korean intangible treasure for his hand sewing skills. He taught us to sew stiff poly squares together in the manner of English paper piecing. See pic. Then we sewed a backing on in the same manner - no batting. All materials were provided and they gave us the leftover yardage to take home. Then we followed them upstairs for lunch. I should have asked how many stairs before going up. I think it was 5 or 6 flights. Well, we ate well. Miso soup, fried tofu, rice, chicken(?) and veggies, and kimchi. Then we went back to the subway and came home, Although Carina and I stopped off at E-Mart for some groceries. I got kimchi and eggs (30 to a pack). Carina drove me to my gate. At home, I hardboiled the eggs and made mayonaise. I put the kimchi in jars in the fridge. I attempted to clean the kitchen afterwards. I cleared out my e-mail. I finally found a piece of paper someone had written their e-mail on. But there is a big pile of presents that need to be wrapped and sent. I can't believe that Christmas is less than two weeks away. I havne't written a single card. Oh, there's an ANT. Anxious Negative Thought. I imagine myself flicking them back to their anthill when they assail me. They have been swarming lately.

8th Army Band Concert

Shortly after 6am, I heard the door open. It was Chris, returning from his class in the states. I also heard him talk to Michele. It seems she got up before 3am to play an on-line game with others from the U.S. Then he came to bed, not wanting to wake me. Ha. Well, I did finally get back to sleep, because I awoke at 9. Jumped in the shower and had a quick breakfast before heading out to church. The pastor talked about Advent not being about Christmas. Nancy played her cello in a cello trio for some of the hymns and communion. It was very nice. After church I asked several people at the fellowship hour if they were going to the 8th Army Band concert. They all said no. So I drove over to the Moyer REc Center where they buses meet. They didn't know much either. All they had was a flyer which has a phone number. So I called and was told that there would be buses going from 12:15 to 1:40. I drove home, had lunch, then Chris drove me back. On the way we stopped at the Arts and Crafts center to get one of the shelves cut down 3/8 of an inch. Chris dropped me off at the buses. A lady asked me if I had a ticket. Didn't know I needed one. The e-mail I got was that the concert was sparsely attended. She said she wasnt sure any were left and asked me to wait for the last bus. So there ended up being 11 of us with no tickets. We took the last bus to Seoul Arts Center. The lobby was packed. We were able to get tickets (free) and programs. We sat in the nosebleed section. Not a place to be if you are afraid of heights. The first half of the concert was not very Christmasy, more classical. The second half was better. During intermission some men were trying to get people to move down to the first floor. But we stayed where we were since we had a really good view from the center. At one point Santa came out and directed. There were a number of amazingly talented Korean soloists. Here is one standing with the lady I sat with on the bus. She gave me her e-mail address but now I can't find it. The band lined up in the lobby so I went down the line and shook each hand. I asked the director if I could join, but he said they already had 10 trombonists and had to leave some behind. (Do I sense the makings of a trombone choir?)
We took one of the buses back to post. When it stopped at the gate to check ID's, I got off and walked home. Chris had just finished making brauts and sauerkraut. Mmmm, a homecooked meal. So good I had two. Then we watched the 4th Indiana Jones movie that Chris bought while he was in the states. He went to bed afterwards though it was still early. I went too. Don't ask why. But I got up again around 11 to read my e-mail and post to my blog.

Clean up, clean up...

I promised myself that I would clean the apartment today. Stuff everywhere! Then Cathy called about 11 to say that she was finished on the longarm and it was open if I wanted to use it. Well, I do have a top that needs quilting, so it was a tempting offer. But I stuck to my plan. Probably because I also have another plan, to finish the top's twin and quilt them both at the same time, same backing and batting.
So after sweeping the place and picking up here and there, I finished the twin top except for the final border. I also made a piece of woodland scene fabric into a wallhanging. I put my computer in hibernate mode while I did all of that because according to my history file, my computer surfs the net more than I do. And I just don't think it is old enough to be out on its own. Ha. Actually I think someone may be accessing somehow. Even when I am away from it, the screen goes blank, but then comes right back, as if I were moving the mouse, but I am not. So 'Hibernate' is the good word for today.
Yesterday I was reading that some people claim eating apricot seeds cured their cancer, and that is what Laetril is made from. Today I didn't have time to read much on-line. I did read a few chapters in a book. That was kind of nice.

Would you eat an octopus?

I had to get through my morning routine early to be ready to go to Dongdaemun. I tried to arrange a ride, but couldn't get a hold of anyone going. Michele assured me that there would not be backed up traffic at 8:30 and she was right. I drove myself and didn't have a problem. I met Toniette at Gate 19 and we walked to the subway where we met three others. The five of us went to Dongdaemun to look at fabric, batting, thread, etc. One lady had e-mailed me to ask me to buy some fabric for her for making the pillowcases. Well, I kinda went overboard. Mr. Kahn took me to his secret stash so I bought extra to make it worth his while. And he gave me free fabric too. Then Kelly took Monique and I to lunch. It was great. She ate an octopus. I had a tentacle or two. Then she left and Monique and I wandered around a little looking at jade. Then we came back to post. I drove to my gate and carried my fabric home. I checked e-mail, then went back to post to the DHL. I stopped by the travel agent to sign up for their Angkor Watt trip. We got plane reservations but she'll have to let me know about the hotel next week. Then I drove home. I think I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening on my computer. Right now I have a headache and can't remember.

A thrift shop Christmas

I happened to wake up before 8am this morning and for some reason had no trouble getting out of bed. So I went into my sewing room and cut strips of Christmas fabric for tonight's class. Then I did my exercises, had breakfast, checked my e-mail, pretty much the normal morning routine. I did dress up in a red top and green pants with a green necklace and snowflake earrings. I hopped in the car and drove to the thrift shop. I planned to shelve the books quickly but was stymied by the droves of Martha Stewart magazines that greeted me. Magazines are part of my job, too. But we didn't have room for them all. Ella suggested that I weed through and throw out anything we'd had that was 6 months or older. But that would take time we didn't have, because we were quitting at 10:30 to go to the Christmas party. So I grabbed a laundry basket and filled it with Martha Stewart. Then I started in on the children's videos. Same dilemma. But no new places to put them. Finally I had to leave them for next week. We drove to the DHL. The room filled slowly and then we were send into the food line. I made some very healthy choices, but just in case, brought some powdered fiber to sprinkle in. After eating, we had our gift swap. The rules they picked declared a gift 'dead' after it had been stolen twice. Well, by the time the first person got to pick again at the end, the good stuff was all off-limits. And I was the second person. Oh well, I have a new pair of fuzzy socks.
After the party, I drove Chrissy back to her truck. She has quite the gift for gab, so I turned off the car, on the lookout for people trying to come through. What I didn't do was turn off the lights. When I finally realized that they were on, the battery was to weak to start the car. She felt terrible. She brought her truck to jump it, but had a higher voltage battery. So she went into a nearby building and talked someone into bringing their car over. A KATUSA did the honors and I was relieved that no one's electrical system was fried, although sparks flew. Then I drove to Chris' office to get the mail. There was a meduim size but heavy package waiting for me. My parents send me PVC for my birthday. It may sound like an odd gift, but its like tinker toys for adults. I have already made some new shelving for my fabric closet:) I made and ate some salmon salad before I took a short nap, then made sure I had everything assembled for class. I walked across the bridge to the gate, then took the car to the SPC. I set up tables, machines, ironing boards, got out the cutting tools etc. The class was a continuation of tablerunners, but at the last minute we had to add making ornaments as thankyou gifts for the staff at Sungshin university. It turned out to be a popular activity. Only one person worked on a tablerunner. Then I came home, and checked my e-mail to find that I had to send an e-mail to the group to tell them this, then another to remind them of that, and another to ask them something else. Being president sucks. I was ready to tell her to e-mail the group herself.

Take care of your brain

Today I drove the car onto post. I left just before 10 and didn't have any trouble with traffic. I drove to the DHL to speak to the travel agent. Chris suggested going to Angkor Watt for Christmas. It costs $1153 per person. Yikes! Then I drove to the thrift shop. Actually I had to park down at the Arts and Crafts Center just to get a space. At the thrift shop I bought a set of icicle lights and a cardboard picture frame. Then I walked to the Chosun to get something small and inexpensive for the gift swap tomorrow. I got some ornaments from Japan. Then I left the car in the parking lot by the gate and walked home. I put the icicle lights on the tree and wrapped up an ornament for the swap (along with the keychain). I finished ironing the fabric from yesterday while watching a video tape a friend made of American TV. Who knew you could get homesick watching American ads? I also put aside some fabrics for class tomorrow night and next week. I chose the fill-in fabric and border fabric for one of my purple 9-patches. We discovered that one of our 5-gallon water bottles is leaking. SO we turned it upside down. I hope it doesn't fall over.
Then I got on the computer. I have been watching Youtube videos featuring psychologist Daniel Amen who wrote Change Your Brain, Change Your Life. Fascinating stuff. Two good thing you can do for your brain are 1) take fish oil and 2) learn to dance. Now they have discovered that brains DO grow new neurons during your lifetime.

And the winner is....

I was having the strangest dream this morning and then I realized where I was and and that I was lying in bed like I had nowhere to go. But I did have somewhere to go. Today was the AFSC Make it, bake it, fake it luncheon. So I ate, showered, checked e-mail, and dressed. It is a somewhat dressy function anyway so I wore the outfit that I was going to wear to the Christmas party IF Chris had been here to take me. Turns out that red silk jacket is VERY warm and has NO pockets. I borrowed a black scarf from Michele's room. (It was one I'd bought years ago which ended up in her room so that was ok). I walked to post and Pam picked me up. Then we picked up Tina. AS we drove away from her house, Michele S. flagged us down to take her donation to the luncheon. Then we parked at the DHL, and went upstairs to check in and drop off our donations. For each donation we got 10 tickets. Then we placed our items and ticket bags on a table in the luncheon room. There were tables all around the room for items. Then we hit the fabric man's tables. Well, there went another $100. Actually I had 46 yards of fabric, but he only charged me for 40 of them. Does any fabric shop in the states do that? Ok, so then we sat down to lunch. At 11:50 they started pulling tickets and announcing winners. I didn't win anything, but then I had so much fabric that I couldn't have carried it anyway. But certain other people won lots. Sure they bought extra tickets, but not like 100's of them. Anyway, afterwards Pam took 4 of us home. I walked home from the gate, toting my fabric and still took the stairs in the apartment building. I spent the afternoon sorting, washing and drying the fabric. I have just spent the evening ironing one load. I have another to do tomorrow.

I forgot to mention that it snowed heavily during the luncheon, but was about gone by the time we left.