And another one's gone . . . . . .

Well, seems like the kitty I was expecting to bury soon, has also gone to kitty heaven. I can't find him anywhere though -- here's hoping he crawled off under a neighbor's bush to die, not somewhere here on my property -- BTDT! This one was Inky. He was funny because we (and by we, I mean Tim this time) had just buried a cat, bringing the herd down to the 3 that were actually our pets - no strays - at the time. That afternoon he says "Now don't drag home anymore cats! We have all we need" or some such crap. I said that I don't drag them home, they just show up, people dump them.

Not 3 hours later, I kid you not! This small, scrawny, long haired black cat crawls out from under the deck! I saw that and just laughed. Turns out God has a sense of humor too ;0) Inky was never really robust or healthy. I kinda knew it wasn't going to be a long and happy life with us, but you hate to see them go anyway.

So now we have Rascal & Georgie, brother and sister; and Little Bitty or Tigger as the kids call him, a runt that showed up on our porch one day. I need to take him to the cheap vet and get him fixed, then all of ours are taken care of. . . . . . . 'till the next one gets dumped . . . . .and you KNOW it will happen, it always does!

Maggie Goes Swimming!

We had the most fun last weekend, and I'm just now getting a chance to post pix! When it gets to the end of the summer, Donner Pool let's it go to the dogs -- literally ;0) On the last day of the pool season, there is a special session in the evening for folks to bring their dogs to swim in the pool.

There were lots of dogs, and some were REALLLLLYYYYY big! Most stayed in the shallow end, but not Maggie. She went for the deep end. I did have to push her in the first two times, and then I had to tell her that this water experience wasn't about a bath or getting clean, just having fun. After a bit she caught on and got to where she would jump full out and make a big splash! She was so worn out after an hour and a half of that, bless her heart. When we drove home she was asleep in no time -- her face was smooshed up against the arm rest and she was snoring a little too, LOL!

RIP Shadow :(

We've lost our cat Matriarch, Shadow. She went missing for a few days, and I found her under the stairs to the deck. Which I must say, is a very tight, tricky spot to try to manuver a shovel into. And, it's been over 90 degreees for a couple of days. Needless to say, it wasn't very dignified, or respectful trying to get her out of there -- all in one piece, LITERALLY! But it got done and she is buried. We started a new place, the apple tree was getting a little full. So, she is just a few feet away from the chicken's run. Thought she'd enjoy keeping an eye on the girls and being out near the bunnies and such.

We rescued Shadow from beside Hwy. 9 on the day we took Marci to school for her Kindergarten evaluation. She was the only one left from a batch someone dumped. Tim grudgingly liked Shadow - she would kill stuff and drag it back to the cave, he likes a cat that earns its keep and stays out from under his feet. Not a lot to ask, and she's the only one of them to do it. Although, she's also the only one who could climb a tree and jump onto the roof of the house. In nice weather that would garner her a free pass into the house. Since we have no screens on the second story windows, she just padded around up there till she came to an open window and then PRESTO! She was in like flynn! Tim hated her doing that, so he'd saw off a branch, or in most cases a whole freaking limb from the tree. She'd just climb a little higher and jump a little farther - and here she was again, in the house. Sometimes I'd make it easy on her. I could always hear when she'd land on the balcony, so sometimes at night (if Tim was at work) I'd get up and open the door to let her in. She was a good snuggler! Although, she was more than a little suprised to discover that darn dog on my bed recently! She thought that was Her spot!

Shadow with Rascal, Georgie & Mittens as tiny kittens, summer of '06. In the top pix, they were just a day old, awwww she's such a good momma.

So, we'll miss her. And now the herd is down to 4. But no worries, the cat Gods seem to know when we drop below their pre-determined quota. Something will show up, it always does!

End of summer already?

Wow, the summer is slipping right past me. The kids go back to school Friday and Ellen had her open house last night. Marci's is tonight. Such a busy week with schedule pick-ups, last minute supply lists from teachers, open houses, regular work and errands - sheesh! Makes me worn out just to type it.

This time of year always seems so ripe with possibilities - the new school year is like a second chance at a clean slate. By now all remenants of New Year's resolutions are long gone, so it is a good time to try again. And the school year always makes me think of structure and organization anyway, so it's the perfect time to attempt to make new routines and big changes. I'm thrilled to say that the chore list we started using at the end of last year is still working. It fell by the wayside for a few busy weeks in the summer, but is back and going as strong as ever! It takes a lot more work on my part, but the results are worth it. Max even did his chores yesterday and today on his own. He called me early at work both days to confirm his choices from the list and make sure he was doing what was needed -- WOW!

He got his school schedule early this week and has only 4 classes. He plans to see his couselor early Friday to add History which is missing, and to fill in some blanks with another class or two. WOW again! I didn't even get a chance to tell him what to do . . . . . . could it be the beginning of some responsibility?? I'm so excited!!!

Ellen is sad that her two best friends aren't in her classes, on her team or sharing her lunch hour. Maybe she'll discover that old fashioned thing hanging on the wall at home . . . . .the real telephone! Of course, if she does, then we'll have to set a timer, LOL.

At her open house we discovered that she has the same teacher for Language arts that I had in 7th grade! He was also our Drama Club leader. That year we did "The Canterville Ghost" and it was my first play to try out for. We did a musical too, but I don't remember the name, I'm sure it'll come to me later! The funny thing is that 28 years ago, Mr. Johnson was slim, energetic and really had fun interacting with the students. This guy last night was stern, chubby, very white haired and seems to have misplaced any sense of humor or fun. Guess 28 years of Jr. High teaching might do that to ya!

On the homefront I have been doing lots of canning. I took an inventory last night and we're up to 20 quarts of corn in the freezer; 9 quarts of canned beans; 11 pints of canned beans; 2 quarts and 1 pint of canned V8 juice; 5 quarts of canned tomato juice; 10 pints of canned zuchinnin relish (plus 12 more pints that didn't set up, I'm thinking we'll experiment with some sort of soup or cassarole to put them in); and 3 half-pints of peach butter -- not bad for a first time canner! Carol and I still have peach juice and blackberry juice in the freezer to make jelly too. I'd like to put up 20 more quarts of corn, 20 quarts of beans, 40 or 50 pints of salsa, and maybe some fruits (peaches, apples, and maybe berries). And I have to find some more recipes to use up the huge pepper crop that Tim planted!

I'm pondering planting some fall veggies (peas, broccoli, spinich?) and already thinking ahead to what we'll plant next year. It's been really fun, time consuming, but really fun!

The herd is all doing well. If you saw Maggie, you'd swear we'd had a dog forever! It's funny really. I will even go so far as to say, I honestly beleive that even my dad would have liked her - she's just that sweet and wonderful!! The two youngest chickens should start laying eggs in the next month or so -- can't wait to see what color ;) We do have a new puppy in the neighborhood - Jack, an energetic (read: likes to get into puppy mischief!) beagle. He chased the chickens last night while I had them out free-ranging and it was close to bedtime. Four scampered back to the run, but Hazel was no where to be found. She wouldn't come out of hiding so I figured she settled in to roost somewhere & left the door to the run open, but closed the coop up good and snug like usual. Sure enough, when Max went out to open the coop this morning, Hazel was in the run. Apparently she was standing about a foot from the coop door, just staring at it. The door is never closed, poor thing didn't know what to do, LOL!

Four of the cats are great, the black long-haired one, Inky, isn't so good. He's rail thin and I caught him wheeezing a few days ago. He almost sounded like Mittens when he had that pariacartal (??) infection. So, I imagine He'll be joining the angel herd around the apple tree before Halloween. He's never been all that healthy, and as a stray, you just never know. I had planned to take him and Little Bitty to be fixed once school started so maybe when we do that the Dr. can tell me more.

Secretery work is fine, same as usual. The church's budget continues to be tight and I imagine there will be yet another cut in my hours at the first of the year. The picnic is this Sunday and it will be nice to hang out with everyone and catch up!

Quilting work has stopped this summer. I finished the last quilt at the end of May and had only one customer quilt in house when Grandma came to stay. I let that customer know it might be awhile and she was fine with it. Then I painted, put in some new shelves and rearranged some. I still need to finish a patch of ceiling, paint the crown molding at the ceiling and some trim down low -- oh, and the fireplace bump out. The new color is nice though, and not seeing the stained, dingy walls is wonderful! I did do a quilt for the fair and what I got done of it was nice. I'd like to make it again, but this time finish the outer 6 inches of McTavishing. It will set it off much better and make for a smoother binding. Also, since the LQS closed, I need to get down to the Seymour shop and see if they'll set out my cards. They have one gal who works there and LA's, but maybe she's busy enough to share customers ;0) Also, I need to get going on next year's quilt show - already things to do, even though it's a year and some months away!

So, as summer ends, fall rolls in and the busy-ness just keeps going!

remember passion?

So here's what was rattling around in my head yesterday as I drove to my Dr. appt. I got to thinking back to teenage years and remembering how cool it was to be passionate about something. You know, the kind of love for something that made you eat, sleep and breathe only for it, your whole life revolved around it. For some it was sports, others it might have been animals. For me it was Drum Corps and later marching band.

I hung out with my Drum Corps and band friends. We passed around scratchy cassette tapes of corps shows and music. No Top 40 on our radios thank you--we listened to concertos and symphonies set to horns and drumlines. MAN! What fun we could have had if the internet had been around! We could have had video clips of competitors' shows and just loads of wonderful stuff to download. As it was, we manged to spend hours practicing and creating a life around our passion.

We did that because, we were kids. We didn't have dinner to cook, jobs to be at Monday through Friday, sick babies to take care of, various household chores to attend to and don't forget that monthly task called paying the bills. We had summer . . . . . and endless expanse of days stretched out ahead . . . . . . and we had a love for our sport (Yes, it is a sport - don't make me trot out the study IU did with heart monitors etc. strapped to a drumline and a football frontline!)

Anyway I miss that. And I'm sad a little too that I don't see that passion in any of the kids around me. Not my three, not the neices and nephews, not really the neighbors, although one is a swimmer and devotes a lot of AM time to practicing. But she doesn't go online and follow a swimming idol or subscribe to a swimming magazine (Yes, there was, and still is, a Drum Corps International publication, thank you very much!) The only thing I see a passion for is electronic games, and it's just not the same.

By some weird quirk, the Dr. brought this up too. He has a son, about 3rd grade, who loves football. Watches it on TV - whatever is on, even reruns of games from 3 years ago! Throws up to 100 passes every evening with dad. Follows his favorite team and roots for them feverishly. Simply put, he has passion. Dr's wife is "over the football thing", and truly, Dr. is a little worn out by it. But, sees the value in a kid loving something and being committed. I think many of our kids are missing that, and I wish there was a way to turn them onto this fullfilling and I think, important part of growing up.

And the thing is, if they miss this window of opportunity, it will be gone. They'll be grownups with jobs and responsibilities and they just won't have the time to devote to a silly pastime. Oh sure, there are those who are grown ups and do that, just catch an episode of Dr. Phil here and there. But for the most part, the time for this pursuit is before you "Grow Up". And I'm not sure it's going to happen for the kids around me, and that's really unfortunate. They'll never know what a wonderful thing they missed out on!

Grandma goes home

Last night we took Grandma back to her house. The appointment with the Endocronologist went well. He agrees that it was most likely a stroke, but for unknown reasons, testing can not find the usual signs. He made some changes in her diet, and added one Rx, restricted her from driving or babysitting the grands, and pronounced her fit to return to life on her own! We decided that we'd wait one more night, since by the time we got home from the Dr. the day was slipping away from us anyway (and rumors are that our driver returned to her desk at work, put her head down and fell asleep until time to go home for the day . . . . LOL! - let me take this moment to remind Auntie Karin that you can not drink sleep from a bottle, you must actually SLEEP!)

I think Gr'ma was glad to get back home and in her comfy surroundings. We are still planning to descend on her in a week and paint, clean, fix her house too! The $6 mistint paint I got from Lowe's Monday is a perfect match for her bathroom too! Yeah, I rock!!

And after we returned home from returning Gr'ma to her home, about 7:30 pm, I went to bed. 'Course, a neighbor came over about 8:30 pm knocking on the door to borrow a tool. Then Marci came in about 9 pm wanting something. By 9:45 pm Tim was getting up and getting dressed for work. . . . . . Gee, Aunt Karin, pass me some of that energy drink for work, I'm gonna need it ;0)

Today's my last day of work this week, then it's home to ready the house for visitors! Ellen's Godparents, Sharon & Robb are coming with their girls for the first visit in almost a decade! We are so excited!!! But the girls have work to do to get their rooms ready ;) Luckily, having Gr'ma around kept me on my toes with the first floor - it's in pretty good shape. I also need to work on my quilt for the county fair. Monday afternoon is the time to go enter your projects and I need to have something in there so some new customers might find me. Well, yeah, and I do like the possibility of a ribbon too, LOL!

Seriously, it's time to teach a kid to drive?

No way.

Not possible.

I can NOT have a kid old enough to drive!



except, it seems, according to the BMV. . . . . I do.

So, Max passed the test for his driver's permit on the second try. And all the way home I heard "Can I drive tonight? Please? Huh? Huh? When we get home can I have a driving lesson? Please? . . . . . "

So yes, after dinner and chores, we drove, well make that I drove to the parking lot at the Azalia park (after forbidding his sisters to make the one block walk over there to watch!). I covered some basics, how to sit in the seat, hold the steering wheel, place your foot on the pedals, and what all those switches on the dashboard do. As far as driving, all we did was go in and out of parking places so he could see how the car's perimeter is not where it feels like it is. He enjoyed it and we actually had a nice time. It was about a half hour, the known limit for his attention span ;) I'm sure the first words when I get home will be: "can I have another driving lesson?"

And I'll say (with a slightly evil grin) "Are your chores done?" Bwaaaaahhaaaaaaaahaaaa!~~~ Leverage is good :)

A world can change in a month!

There we were, just going along, living life and WHAM! Stuff happened. My Grandma Bobbie went to the hospital early in June with what appeared to be a stroke. She was there for almost a week, and in the end the Doctor's say it was a Hypoglycemic event related to her ongoing Diabetes (20+ years or so). When they released her two weeks ago (has it only been two weeks?) we brought her home to our house to stay. Tim & I had already rearranged our schedule for summer vacation so that one of us could be home each day with the kids, so that worked out perfectly for a big kid too ;) We also have a bedroom on the first floor, and a handicap shower - it's a trifecta for a recovering Gr'ma!

So now we worry about blood sugar readings, eating the right food, trying to get in some walks, and traversing that fine line between taking care of Gr'ma and smothering her! The blood sugar levels were good for the first few days, but when I went back to work for the first day, they began a slow creep up. We've had one time when medicine had to be called on, and over all, they are just not staying down like we want. The appointment with the endocronologist is Tuesday, and we'll know more then about when/if/how she can return to her independant life in her own home.

This weekend we'll all gather at Uncle Jim & Aunt Susan's for a day, and that will be a real test for eating right, staying on schedule for meals and all that!

Has it been two months?

Wow! We've had Maggie for two months now. Seems like she's been part of the family forever ;) We had a busy day Monday for Memorial day and she had such fun hanging out with everyone. At the flag raising ceremony in Azalia park all the kids knew her name and had to come up and pet her. She's like the neighborhood dog, LOL! I really don't know how I got along before she came into our family. She still has a sad look to her eyes, but I'm hoping with lots of love and attention, that will fade over time.

Yesterday's holiday was very busy for us. Because of the rain, we had the homemade ice cream at our house, out on the deck, instead of at the park. It was really nice. And then later in the afternoon, the cookout planned for the park also got moved to our deck. We certainly had a full house! It was really nice though to sit back and visit with neighbors. We see each other here and there, and of course we see their kids all the time. But a chance to sit down and talk was really refreshing! They taught me how to play corn-hole and that was fun too. All in all, a delightful day!

Update on the Peeps

Remember the silly chicken that took up residence with the neighbor's dog? Well, I told Mr. Thomas that we'd take it off his hands once we got the chicken coop all built. So after 5 days of trying, Ellen managed to catch it - with her bare hands WOW! You go girl!! And we plopped her into the coop to meet her new friends. Yeah, that was a few weeks ago, and there was some fussing between the girls, but all is settled out now and Marigold, Hazel and Lillian (the chicken formerly known as Cluck - because she hung out with the dog Buck . . . . alliteration ya know!) are getting along ok.

Marigold is the chicken boss of the group, Hazel is number two and Lil is last. Lil will have a chance to move out of last place when our two little chicks come to live with us. Ginger and Maryann are being raised by my chicken friend and neighbor, Carol. We don't have a set-up for chicks yet (but I'm thinking about next spring already, yeah, I think we could do a pair of chickies!!) so she has them in with hers. I went over to visit them and take a treat of strawberries and carrots the other night. They are getting a little bigger everyday and oh so cute! :)

For now, here's a pix of the first two - Marigold is the light one, and Hazel is the darker with goldish feathers. on her chest

And here's a pix of all three, Marigold in front, Hazel poking her nose in and Lil in the back. They are all a little damp because it had been raining that day and they got sprinkled on a bit ;) :

Idol who?

Ok, confession time . . . . . I haven't ever watched American Idol.

Does that mean I have to leave the country? Seems like I might be the only one. I get the concept and I've read about it in magazines, etc. But we have an antenna, therefore snowy TV and sketchy reception. FOX just doesn't come in reliably for us, so I just ignored AI and never got hooked. It would be terrible to have it on my "Must See" list, and say it gets to the finale night, and I can't get it to come in clear enough to see and hear!! So, I guess I'm practicing preventative TV habits :)

chillin' with my peeps

Well, I guess we can call it McCalico Kat's Farm these days! After adding a dog, we have now built a chicken house and filled it with two chickens - Marigold and Hazel. No pix yet, but I'll get some and post when I do.

They have settled in very nicely and seem to like their home. I'm hanging out at www.backyardchickens.com and learning everything I can about making my girls happy and keeping them healthy. Maggie and I pulled a lawn chair up to their run last evening to sit and watched them pecking around in there. It's amazingly peaceful and relaxing -- who knew? I also got a dozen strawberry plants set out in the larger of two raised beds in our yard. Some might not make it, but 5 of them look fabulous! Don't know if they'll produce their first year, but we're crossing our fingers.

Mom and Jim were here for dinner last night, and headed home to Florida today. We had a nice visit, and the girls got to spend the night with Gr'ma at the hotel last Saturday night so they were thrilled.

Saturday afternoon, Max took Gr'ma and I to see "Riverdance" --- ok, he bought the tickets, I drove the car ;) It was fabulous! Mom had seen it in New York and said this production was just as good, and the soprano singer was even better! It was just fantastic and we enjoyed ourselves.

Today, the license branch - oh, joy and rapture. My plates need renewed and I need a new license. Should be a great time, ha ha. If I don't make it back here, someone please come call my number at the BMV, ok?

Dreary days . . . . April Showers suck ;)

Seriously, haven't we had enough of these dreary days? No sunshine, clouds, wind, not warm enough to go without a jacket, and rain off and on. Bleck! I might not notice it as much in the days BM (Before Maggie) but AM (After Maggie) it is apparent that she isn't getting enough pretty days to go for walks. Luckily, she isn't the type of doggie to go out and get all muddy and dirty, just damp paws from walking to her potty place in the grass. But the girl would like some honest to goodness walks! Mr. Weatherman is talking sunny and high 60's by Friday, so we'll wait and see.

She's doing really well though ;) And it turns out that a king-size bed is just right for a mommy, a daddy, and a big dog! I'm taking her to the vet on Monday for a check-up and I guess we'll have to get a new rabies shot, since there's no way to know if she's had one. Since she's going to be indoors, we'll get her started on Revolution for the fleas/ticks/heartworms too. I need to get some for Shadow the cat too, once we open the windows, she's in the house too. I wonder what she'll think of the new gal living inside?? That might be fun to watch ;)

Just feelin' grateful today ;0)

Gosh, read a friend's blog and found out her DH lost his job a month ago. He had a good job with Cummins, got to travel overseas and everything. I was shocked to hear it was gone. The cool part is he and wife are having more time together (he was gone travelling a lot!) but now he has to find a job in a really tough market. It's a real probability that they may have to move from Columbus :( They LOVE this town, that would really be hard for them. So, adding them to my prayer list and finding myself grateful that Tim & I both have a job, and my quilting business is steady.

More dog crazyness ;)

Well, I think I may have to quit my job.


See, Maggie misses me during the day . . . . . . A LOT . . . . . . A WHOLE LOT! Marci was home from school sick today (she caught what Ellen had, and so the cycle starts *sigh*) and after a short nap, she had to look all over the house for the dog. Found her finally, lying on my side of the bed, with her sad face on my pillow, awwwwww poor little dear! So you see, it is inevitable. I must quit my job to stay home and love on the doggy ;)

I have gone over to the DARK SIDE~ save me!!!

First . . . .
you must sit down to read this entry to my blog!


MUST SIT!

Don't make me tell you again, this is shocking news and it will knock you over!











I'm sleeping with a girl.














more shocking than that, this is what she looks like

Somebody dumped this beautiful, HOUSEBROKEN, well-trained darling on a county road about 2 miles from my house and we found her Saturday afternoon all scared and shaking. As my one friend would now describe it, I am "ate-up" with this dog! I slept on the floor in the foyer with her Saturday night, for about two hours . . . then decided I was too old for that and headed to bed, leaving Maggie with Ellen keeping her company ;)
The next night I solved the problem by patting my bed and saying "Hoppy up!" what do you know? She did! Monday I got her that cute pink collar you see in the picture (that's a picture of her lying down, waiting on me to finish the dishes and then go sit with her on the couch and love on her) and a pink polka-dotted leash. Tuesday I took her for a ride - which she LOVED! - to the pound to see if she was a missing person. Nope. And she got scanned, and no microchips in her either. The lady said she is a yellow lab, about 5 - 6 years old and very well taken care of. So, they took down our info and will call if anyone is looking for her. By that time though, the old owner will have to have a very good story about how Maggie ended up in the woods on a lonely road out in the middle of no where with a rainstorm coming! I'm not going to give her up easily ;)

I know, if you are still reading this you are saying "OMG! Never saw THIS coming!" Rest assured, me neither. But now I gotta go. I need to check this year's calendar to see when "Bring your doggy to work day" falls ;0)

OMG ~ long time no bloggy, eh?

Yeah, well, let's just say January through March are simply not my times to thrive! Seriously, couldn't someone find a way that I could crawl in bed sometime in January and hibernate until the daffodils are up???? We can put a man on the moon, I just want to put a mom in bed ;0)


So, weeks have gone by, laundry, dishes, kids bickering, work, quilting, and a new van. That sums it up! Tim was laid off again, but took a spot out in production instead and got called back in only two weeks. They were like dog years though in terms of wear and tear on his body! Poor thing, arthritis sucks and spinal cord damage only makes it worse (and he's only 44). He hears another lay off is coming in April. So we'll wait and see.


Kids are on spring break. That means report cards next week. That should be fun. Marci will be fine, Ellen I'm not sure and Max, well I'm hoping for C's and above. Marci started Cheerleading with a local gym. She went to tryouts and made the Jr. team - pretty good for never cheering! And you know you are screwed when at the parent meeting, the coach gets up and says, "We know that this is a very expensive sport." UGH! So if I know you in real life, don't be suprised if I'm asking you if you'd like to buy pizza kits, suckers, flower pots, etc.!! I'm just a mom trying to defray $2,600 in costs so my kid can chase a dream ;) You know, Marci is aware that it's an expensive thing too, she came to me before the tryouts and said "Mom, I'll do my best to get potty trained over night so you don't have to buy pull-ups anymore, that will help, ok?" How sweet is that! I said, "Never mind squirrel bladder - we'll manage" LOL! Yeah, that's one of my pet names for her. She has the smallest bladder ever installed in a human, I'm sure of it!


Oh, yeah, and we got a new van. Actually it's pretty freaking awesome! It was only $5,300 - yeah, I'm a super negotiator (or there is really bad stuff wrong that we can't see . . . . .) it's a 2005 Chevy Venture with 81K miles. This vehicle is so smart it scares me! I wish I could ask it to do Max's homework and turn it in. The van always wins at the "guess the name of the song and who sings it" game. It knows whether it needs to turn on running lights or headlights when I start it. And it even stops me when I push the wrong button and try to open the side door as we are travelling down the road! I'm trying to adjust to the luxury of two side doors, easy folding seats, power locks and windows (yes, we had crank windows before -- they still make 'em!) and side windows that vent open in the middle - I've thought that needed to be invented for years! The really cool thing about this van, it's burgandy. I can use a matching color of nail polish to touch up tiny knicks to the paint along the door, you know, where you accidently open the stupid door right into something! Oh, PUHLEASE! Don't tell me you've never done that! I know better ;)

















All three of the monster applique quilts are finally done. One has been delivered (she loved it.) and the other two go in the mail today. I'm just glad they are done! They turned out well, it's just they were major headaches and time commitments. I surely didn't make any money on them by the time you look at the hours I had in them! But here are some pix of one to show off my hard work ;) This was the very formal applique for Martha, mom's neighbor in Florida.


Just discovered: ACKKK! I don't have any pictures of the cool art quilt with the cats & birds in attic windows - SUCH A BUMMER! Ok, new resolution - TAKE PIX OF ALL QUILTS!!!

Happy Birthday To ME!!!!!

I turned 42 yesterday, and I have to say it was uneventful and that's ok. I had to take Max to work, so no sleeping in -- that part was a bummer. Then there was a meeting at "Work" church at 11:30 am. After that, picked Max up from work at 2pm and went to the funeral home for a viewing. That took forever! And I really liked this guy and his wife (he died, not her) and so I dressed up . . . . . . and wore heels . . . . . . and paid for it dearly!!

By the time I got home, MIL had already been there and left my card (with some CASH in it -- just my size too ;0) -- woo hoo!) & then we had cake, yummy! And that was my day. I got to talk to Mom & Jim, and "AuntDianeFarAwayInMichigan", and Aunt Karin, and my seester of course. That was nice, and it's always fun to have folks call and sing to you.

I watched about 15 minutes of the super bowl, saw the Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head commercial and thought it was a hoot!

no water, no school, NO WAY!

Well, when we went to bed last night it was a 2 hour delay for school. Kids got up and got dressed pretty well on their own. I sent Max & Ellen out to the bus - only to have them come back 10 minutes later and say that the neighbor mom told them school had been called off - SUPRISE! But by then we'd found out that the water pump had frozen overnight, so we had no water. All the kids had already gone to the bathroom before we ran out of water though so it'll be ok. Tim's working on thawing the pump and all should be up and running in a couple hours or so.

I don't care . . . . . I'm at work . . . . . we have heat and running water here . . . . tee hee hee hee hee!

Yep, I was!

I just had a cold, nothing major. After taking a sick day Friday and staying in bed all day, I felt much better on Saturday -- but then we ran errands and went up to Greenwood for dinner out and looked around for those stupid converter boxes and, and, and, and . . . . . didn't get home till almost dark. I coughed most of the night while I was supposed to be sleeping. It must have been pretty bad too, 'cause when the alarm went off early Sunday morning to take Max to work. Tim said not to worry, he'd take him, I could go back to sleep - My hubby rocks!! Now I'm at work on Tuesday with a splitting headache and maybe my fever is back. Perhaps the lesson is to take 2 days in bed and make sure you really, really, really ARE better before you go back to work! I can't wait to get home, take some tylonal and go to bed.

Uh-Oh, I'm coming down with something!

I've been sneezing for a couple days, and waking up with a cough. Last night I had a coughing spasm - ugh! never fun! Today I'm at work but I've finished everything for the week and if I wake up feeling yucky tomorrow, I'll take a sick day and stay in bed (God, don't try to be funny and give the kids a snow day - that wouldn't be an appropriate joke to play on me right now!)

I did manage to take several boxes of fabric to Quilts of Valor on Monday, along with two finished quilts for them to bind. I have two copy paper boxes of fabric to get rid of at the Quilt Guild auction in March. So the fabric purge went well!! I'd say I've eliminated half my fabric stash! WTG!! I also have a large box with books, patterns, batting, and other misc. sewing stuff to go in the auction as well. Still need to go through the magazines and bundle them up for the auction at some point. I can't very well buy some new stacks of magazines if I have these in the way. And seriously, I can buy a whole year of a quilt magazine for $2 or $3 for the stack-- of course, they might be from 2007 -- but hey, the quilt patterns and articles still work!!

At Quilt Guild Wed. I delivered to one customer and picked up from another. So I'm staying busy and so far, Emmy is cooperating. I worked last night for a couple of hours on the Penn. Dutch applique quilt from Mom's neighbor. I am almost done with the SID and then I can go back and start tackling the blocks. I've searched a little online today for some different background fills. I'd like to do different ones in each block or so. I'm armed with ideas - but since I can't make my nose quit running, I'm guessing they'll stay just ideas for today ;) 'cause I'm probably heading home to bed! sniffle, sniffle, snort :/