elcie

I am a stay-at-home mom with a beautiful, sarcastic, smart 16-year-old daughter. My wonderful husband and I have been married for 18 years, and due to his jobs (first in the Navy and now as a GS civilian for the Army) we have lived all over the U.S. and in Germany. I loved Germany and miss it.

I like board games, but my all time favorite is Scrabble. Love love love Scrabble.

I am an avid reader (I will read anything but Romance. I'm a cynic at heart (-: ), a quilter and a part-time quilt teacher, and the lucky companion to two fat cats (George and Roller) and one goofy, energetic terrier mix (Pickles).

I really enjoy folk music - the real kind, but also the 60's and 70's American leftist-leaning hippy kind as well! But my favorites are the true folk musics - Klezmer, Irish jigs, gypsy guitar, Delta blues, Appalachian ballads, etc. etc.

This could be a loooong list! I love Mysteries, and am not particularly picky about them, although I am less fond of the cozies. I like a good mystery to my mystery and am less interested in recipes for chocolate fudge cake. Well, chocolate fudge cake is good...Contemporary American and British fiction, some fantasy, some sci-fi, I have a weakness for a well written teen novel (I have a teenager - gotta keep up with what she is reading!), travelogues, memoirs...just about anything, really.

I also like reading a good romping history (although not war/military), and am particularly fond of the history of women. My favorite in this genre is "Perfection Salad" by Laura Shapiro.

Other favorites (a very short list): Animal Dreams - Barbara Kingsolver; When You Reach Me - Rebecca Stead; anything by Dick Francis; anything by Jane Austen; The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs; anything by Ursula Le Guin; Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman;

And too many more to list.

10 Movies I Would Want on a Deserted Island(not necessarily in this order):

1. The Matrix
2. The Bourne Identity
3. Groundhog Day
4. Finding Nemo
5. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
6. Pride and Prejudice (BBC version, not the Keira Knightly disaster)
7. Life of Brian
8. Jeremiah Johnson
9. The Day After Tomorrow (a movie so bad that it would make me laugh even on a deserted island)
10. Star Trek (the newest, J.J. Abrams version)

I am also a fan of quirky documentaries, like "King of Kong", "Word Wars" and "Word Play".

1. The Office (both British and American)
2. The Daily Show and The Colbert Report
3. CSI (the original)
4. Ace of Cakes
5. Bones
6. How Clean is Your House (I just adore Kim and Aggie)
7. Sponge Bob Square Pants
8. Heroes

Um, I actually watch way too much TV, so I can't put them all in here, but that covers most genres.

Quilting, quilting, quilting. And sewing, but not garment making. And quilting. :-) I also like hand embroidery, but I don't do it as much as I would like to. I have been making pillows a lot recently.

Likes/Wishlist:

• Colors! Especially green, but all colors, really. I prefer tints to shades and really only don't like the dark country look or neon brights.
• Non-flavored coffee
• Tea
• Chocolate - I haven't met a chocolate I didn't like, and I'm willing to continue trying them all until I find one that I am not fond of :-)
• Fabric - especially quilter's cottons, but I am collecting small bits of specialty fabrics to one day make a crazy quilt.
• pretty, unusual buttons
• ribbons, ric-rac, beatutiful bits of lace, etc.
• books (anything - I read anything but romance)
• I love new recipes for simple meals, and am always on the look out for good vegetarian recipes for my daughter
• birds - bird fabrics, bird prints, little stuffed birds...I just like birds
• a good joke (or a bad one!), even dirty ones, just not racist ones.

I collect hand carved wooden cookie molds. My favorite carver can be found here. I have several from this carver but also some lovely ones that I bought while living in Europe.

• anything smelling of cigarettes
• chemical scents. If something is naturally scented (using essential oils or plant parts) that is fine, but chemical smells just smell...chemically.
• coconut
• seafood of any flavor
• flavored coffee
• fruit teas (although I like all other flavors)
• religious objects/prayers/Bible verses, etc.
• plastic canvas
• jewelry (I am unable to wear most metals, so I just don't wear anything except my wedding rings)
• super girly themed things - I don't like to shop, I am not overly fond of shoes, I don't think boas are a fun fashion statement, I don't wear makeup or tiaras, that sort of thing. It's just not my style