You know, I really like to think that I'm a grateful person most of the time, I try to have that attitude of gratitude all through the year. But it is nice to have a long weekend with family be especially mindful of it!
We did have a nice holiday, the Deans joined us, but Grandma Tootie begged off for the day. No one can agree on her reason, though she said she just wanted to stay home, wear her jammies all day and get some things done - sounds perfectly plausible to me. We had plenty of food and enjoyed some Wii time after dinner. It is always fun to do the Kayaking one with folks who've never Wii'd - that's how I got hooked, LOL! Ellen went to a friends about 7pm for an overnight so they could go Black Friday shopping. All in all it was a nice day.
Today, Saturday, the kiddos and I are off to Gr'ma Bobbie's to play cards with the Stier side of the family. We are all bringing various leftovers for a real pot-luck meal to nibble at all day - but not get in the way of cards! The cards are the most important thing, LOL!
So off I go, hope the card Gods are on my side today ;0)
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Just a quick post before Thanksgiving swallows me up ;0)
Gosh, it's sure been a productive stretch here! My batting didn't arrive over the weekend, so I took the "down time" from customer work and finished up the last Quilt of Valor, since I have a seperate roll of batting just for QoV's. Then I went to my leftover batting stack and found pieces large enough to use for both charity quilts for guild and got them knocked out too.
The batting came Monday and so the next customer quilt went on the frame and by last night was about 2/3rds done -- woo and hoo!! That customer came by yesterday and dropped off the next one, and visited her quilt on the frame. She likes how it's turning out, so that's great! And you know, she's just a doll anyway so a visit with her lifts my spirits -- a good thing! I told her that both quilts would likely be done by the end of the holiday weekend. She was shocked and pleased -- that gives her extra time to bind them before Christmas (they are both gifts.)
Marci is still coughing and then fainted this AM, so she's home waiting on the Dr's office to call about an appointment today (yeah, the last day before a long holiday weekend, we might get squeezed in about dinner time, LOL) Hopefully a simple change of meds will tackle it!
Max has been driving to school without incident, and taking Ellen along. It is fun to hear them be cooperative with each other in the AM. So nice, almost like a glimpse of when they were little and LIKED each other, LOL!
Tim is off on vacation for now. He always has a few vacation days that need used by the end of the year, so he scatters them around for some long weekends, and extends his T'givng & Xmas breaks too. Me -- I'm at work (supposed to be working too, and actually have a LOT to get done today!!) but once I'm done here, I'll be off for a long weekend too.
Dinner is at our house tomorrow at 3pm. Gr'ma Tootie isn't coming, but I'm ok with that. The DIL is going to try to talk her into coming -- but you know, sometimes you just want to be 74 years old and hang out at home and get some stuff done. You might not feel like coming over and eating with a loud, rambunctious group of people -- some of whom you might feel like you see too often anyway, HA! Besides, I think she may be starting to have some "stay close to the bathroom" or wear Depends type things going on. And it's less embarrassing to stay home, than to be out in public then, ya know? So I vote for leave the gal alone, she knows we're only a couple of miles down the road. If she changes her mind, she knows she's welcome to come over. We love her and will go with whatever she decides.
OH! And Marci found my camera!!!! It was on top of the computer tower, in the cabinet. Looks like I was downloading pix and forgot, oops! So I'll add a few photos as I get a chance.
For now, I've got a newsletter to write, a bulletin to write and both to get printed all before I can start my long weekend - so it's back to work for me ;0)
The batting came Monday and so the next customer quilt went on the frame and by last night was about 2/3rds done -- woo and hoo!! That customer came by yesterday and dropped off the next one, and visited her quilt on the frame. She likes how it's turning out, so that's great! And you know, she's just a doll anyway so a visit with her lifts my spirits -- a good thing! I told her that both quilts would likely be done by the end of the holiday weekend. She was shocked and pleased -- that gives her extra time to bind them before Christmas (they are both gifts.)
Marci is still coughing and then fainted this AM, so she's home waiting on the Dr's office to call about an appointment today (yeah, the last day before a long holiday weekend, we might get squeezed in about dinner time, LOL) Hopefully a simple change of meds will tackle it!
Max has been driving to school without incident, and taking Ellen along. It is fun to hear them be cooperative with each other in the AM. So nice, almost like a glimpse of when they were little and LIKED each other, LOL!
Tim is off on vacation for now. He always has a few vacation days that need used by the end of the year, so he scatters them around for some long weekends, and extends his T'givng & Xmas breaks too. Me -- I'm at work (supposed to be working too, and actually have a LOT to get done today!!) but once I'm done here, I'll be off for a long weekend too.
Dinner is at our house tomorrow at 3pm. Gr'ma Tootie isn't coming, but I'm ok with that. The DIL is going to try to talk her into coming -- but you know, sometimes you just want to be 74 years old and hang out at home and get some stuff done. You might not feel like coming over and eating with a loud, rambunctious group of people -- some of whom you might feel like you see too often anyway, HA! Besides, I think she may be starting to have some "stay close to the bathroom" or wear Depends type things going on. And it's less embarrassing to stay home, than to be out in public then, ya know? So I vote for leave the gal alone, she knows we're only a couple of miles down the road. If she changes her mind, she knows she's welcome to come over. We love her and will go with whatever she decides.
OH! And Marci found my camera!!!! It was on top of the computer tower, in the cabinet. Looks like I was downloading pix and forgot, oops! So I'll add a few photos as I get a chance.
For now, I've got a newsletter to write, a bulletin to write and both to get printed all before I can start my long weekend - so it's back to work for me ;0)
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Hey, I feel good!
Not sure why, but I feel really good today. I tossed and turned plenty, and maybe fell asleep around 2 am. But I woke up feeling good and even, *gasp* energetic! Maybe aliens have taken over my body?? Who knows, I'm just going to enjoy it!
Today I'll be delivering the VBS Tshirt quilt that is a retirement gift for a Pastor at Sandy Hook United Methodist. I think the customer is really going to like it! I wish I could find my camera so I could get some pictures because it really did turn out well. I'm going to have to pray and search hard this weekend, because I'm starting to worry that it might not be simply misplaced :(
On the homefront, everyone is healthy and relatively happy. Max drove to school for the first time today - WOW! He had to take Ellen too, but they seemed to be getting along just fine. Ellen said "Today is the best day of my life! I missed the bus and didn't get yelled at & then I got to lock my sister out of the house!" I had Max & Ellen wait to leave until Marci's bus left so they could lock the front door. Apparently Ellen had a little too much fun with it all, LOL~!
I have two small charity quilts to do tonight from the guild's work day. There is also one Quilt of Valor to finish, but all three should go super fast. I'm waiting on a roll of batting to arrive so I can start the next customer quilts - they are all large, but getting fairly simple quilting designs. I think there are 5 that are needed before Christmas. And I even have one booking for January - yippee! Of course, there is still that darn "12 Days of Christmas" wall hanging to do. . . . . just stumped on what to do in the blocks still *sigh* Maybe it's time to drag out the plexiglass and audition some design ideas on the top itself? Yeah, that's what I'll try, cause I have got to get this one done and out the door~really don't like it hanging over my head ;o)
Today I'll be delivering the VBS Tshirt quilt that is a retirement gift for a Pastor at Sandy Hook United Methodist. I think the customer is really going to like it! I wish I could find my camera so I could get some pictures because it really did turn out well. I'm going to have to pray and search hard this weekend, because I'm starting to worry that it might not be simply misplaced :(
On the homefront, everyone is healthy and relatively happy. Max drove to school for the first time today - WOW! He had to take Ellen too, but they seemed to be getting along just fine. Ellen said "Today is the best day of my life! I missed the bus and didn't get yelled at & then I got to lock my sister out of the house!" I had Max & Ellen wait to leave until Marci's bus left so they could lock the front door. Apparently Ellen had a little too much fun with it all, LOL~!
I have two small charity quilts to do tonight from the guild's work day. There is also one Quilt of Valor to finish, but all three should go super fast. I'm waiting on a roll of batting to arrive so I can start the next customer quilts - they are all large, but getting fairly simple quilting designs. I think there are 5 that are needed before Christmas. And I even have one booking for January - yippee! Of course, there is still that darn "12 Days of Christmas" wall hanging to do. . . . . just stumped on what to do in the blocks still *sigh* Maybe it's time to drag out the plexiglass and audition some design ideas on the top itself? Yeah, that's what I'll try, cause I have got to get this one done and out the door~really don't like it hanging over my head ;o)
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Productive few days - yeah!
Had a pretty good last few day and got lots accomplished too! YIPPEE! If only I could find my trusty camera (missing since quilt show, not a good sign!) I'd even share some pictures ;)
Mt. Washmore has almost been tamed - about 2 loads of laundry to go and it's all gone (for now, it always grows back, like a bad wart only much, much bigger!) The kids have a few piles neatly folded on the table to put away, and well, I have a lot of piles on the table to put away, LOL. The dishes are done, and the kids are on schedule for doing them on their nights. We've even had hot food several nights in a row - wow! The house is tidy, my bedroom is next on the project list for a good cleaning. But first I have to recover from the last project: the chicken coop! (Yeah, I took a vacation day and hurt myself -- that's just wrong!) It still hurts, though not as acutely, but yeah, it hurts. And the only pain pills in the house are from the last baby's birth -- 1998! Not helping so much, LOL.
Monday I got the grocery shopping done and stayed in budget, always a plus. I also set an appointment with a quilt customer. She came Tuesday morning to pick up her quilt and loved it. I always worry, even though I've been doing this for 4 or 5 years now, I always worry that they'll not like what I've done on their quilt. Hers did turn out well though, and I found that place between quilted to death (where I usually go) and not quilted enough - hers was light and open, just right.
Monday night I threw on a top for a minister who is retiring. It's the last 10 years of VBS shirts - cute. And by last night, all the shirts were done, the top border, and the main center part. I have one part to decide about today, and the three other borders to finish and then it's done too! The customer will be pleased and suprised because I will be finishing about a week sooner than expected. They need to bind it and will present it to him on the 28th at their Sunday morning service. I also ordered a roll of batting because the last of it went into the VBS quilt. I bit the bullet and ordered King size this time, up from Queen - but more $$ too.
The checkbooks all got balanced and bills paid too. The first payment on Ellen's Band trip is due, and I hope to make it out of mostly quilting money. The budget for Christmas is set and that is always a relief too ;) So basically, the house is in order and our financial house is in order . . . . life is ok!
Mt. Washmore has almost been tamed - about 2 loads of laundry to go and it's all gone (for now, it always grows back, like a bad wart only much, much bigger!) The kids have a few piles neatly folded on the table to put away, and well, I have a lot of piles on the table to put away, LOL. The dishes are done, and the kids are on schedule for doing them on their nights. We've even had hot food several nights in a row - wow! The house is tidy, my bedroom is next on the project list for a good cleaning. But first I have to recover from the last project: the chicken coop! (Yeah, I took a vacation day and hurt myself -- that's just wrong!) It still hurts, though not as acutely, but yeah, it hurts. And the only pain pills in the house are from the last baby's birth -- 1998! Not helping so much, LOL.
Monday I got the grocery shopping done and stayed in budget, always a plus. I also set an appointment with a quilt customer. She came Tuesday morning to pick up her quilt and loved it. I always worry, even though I've been doing this for 4 or 5 years now, I always worry that they'll not like what I've done on their quilt. Hers did turn out well though, and I found that place between quilted to death (where I usually go) and not quilted enough - hers was light and open, just right.
Monday night I threw on a top for a minister who is retiring. It's the last 10 years of VBS shirts - cute. And by last night, all the shirts were done, the top border, and the main center part. I have one part to decide about today, and the three other borders to finish and then it's done too! The customer will be pleased and suprised because I will be finishing about a week sooner than expected. They need to bind it and will present it to him on the 28th at their Sunday morning service. I also ordered a roll of batting because the last of it went into the VBS quilt. I bit the bullet and ordered King size this time, up from Queen - but more $$ too.
The checkbooks all got balanced and bills paid too. The first payment on Ellen's Band trip is due, and I hope to make it out of mostly quilting money. The budget for Christmas is set and that is always a relief too ;) So basically, the house is in order and our financial house is in order . . . . life is ok!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Probably shouldn't have done that. . . . .
Well, I took a vacation day yesterday to get some quilting done and some stuff around the house. I started out in the chicken coop, rearranging and getting it all set for winter. Took about 8 or 9 cinderblocks out, and I'm pretty darn certain that I didn't carry them or pick them up right because I was in pain the rest of the day *sigh* My lower back, *ugh* And of course, the only leftover pain pills are from the last childbirth . . . . . 1998 - probably not at their peak effectiveness! I took a couple at bedtime, and two more 4 hours later, and was able to toss and turn more comfortably, but no sleep.
Today, still hurting, and learning not to move certain ways ;) I'm sure it will work its way out. At least the chicken coop looks great! The nest boxes have fresh straw and the roosting perches are moved around a bit, added half a bale of bedding and more DE. The girls and 2 guys seemed to like it, so that's good. The polish rooster is finding his crow. He practiced a lot yesterday, and it's so cute. I'm sure it will get more manly as he practices - they always sound so bad at first, LOL! Duckie (the mentally challenged and sleep apnea roo) is deciding he'd like to have a little action. Problem is, all the gals are taller than he, so he's mostly getting girls up in his face backing him down, but not the action he wanted!
Max took his first solo car drive last night. He went to town and picked up pizza for dinner - cool! Of course, I paid, but still it was cool to have dinner being handled while I was getting something else done! I took the "12 Days of Christmas" panel off the quilting frame and moved on to the next one in line. 12 Days has me stumped, but the next three in line are easy peasy - so I decided to knock them out and go back to the panel.
I also installed a new leadergrip system. It eliminates the need to pin quilts on. There is a learning curve, but I can see that it will cut my loading time down a lot once I really get the hang of it. Cool!
Bunco is hosted by me tonight, but at the dance studio -- very awesome, no house cleaning required!! I'm looking forward to a nice evening of chit chat, food and fun. I'll be making pasta salad so Leslie will be thrilled! Hope to roll lots of Buncos, and no snake eyes!
Today, still hurting, and learning not to move certain ways ;) I'm sure it will work its way out. At least the chicken coop looks great! The nest boxes have fresh straw and the roosting perches are moved around a bit, added half a bale of bedding and more DE. The girls and 2 guys seemed to like it, so that's good. The polish rooster is finding his crow. He practiced a lot yesterday, and it's so cute. I'm sure it will get more manly as he practices - they always sound so bad at first, LOL! Duckie (the mentally challenged and sleep apnea roo) is deciding he'd like to have a little action. Problem is, all the gals are taller than he, so he's mostly getting girls up in his face backing him down, but not the action he wanted!
Max took his first solo car drive last night. He went to town and picked up pizza for dinner - cool! Of course, I paid, but still it was cool to have dinner being handled while I was getting something else done! I took the "12 Days of Christmas" panel off the quilting frame and moved on to the next one in line. 12 Days has me stumped, but the next three in line are easy peasy - so I decided to knock them out and go back to the panel.
I also installed a new leadergrip system. It eliminates the need to pin quilts on. There is a learning curve, but I can see that it will cut my loading time down a lot once I really get the hang of it. Cool!
Bunco is hosted by me tonight, but at the dance studio -- very awesome, no house cleaning required!! I'm looking forward to a nice evening of chit chat, food and fun. I'll be making pasta salad so Leslie will be thrilled! Hope to roll lots of Buncos, and no snake eyes!
Friday, November 5, 2010
Marching season ends, Cheering season begins
Ellen has her last marching band competition tomorrow in Mason, OH. If they do well in the AM, they'll stay for the finals in the PM. And Marci has her first basketball game to cheer at in the AM too. She's been benched for it though - and it's my fault :(
Last Wednesday she was home sick from school. I left work about 11:15 am for a funeral and got back about 2:15 pm, planning to stay late and get the newsletter done. Marci calls from home to remind me that Ellen is waiting on me to pick her up afterschool for bloodwork at the hospital today -YIKES! So I race home, grab Marci & the paperwork I need for El. We get Ellen's bloodwork done (long ordeal since it involved needles and Ellen getting WAYYYYY too worked up about it!) We got her some drive-thru food and took her to band practice. Then took Marci to PromtMed to see what she had. An hour or so later, it turns out, nothing that needed Rx - that's good. Just a cold or something and she should start feeling better in a day or two. We finally get home, it was about 7pm or so by then. Went to tuck in the chickens for bed, and two are missing -- one is a favorite! After searching 30 minutes or so, we find them, but a predator got them. Dug a hole and buried what was left of one, nothing left but a pile of feathers for the other. Decided not to go back to work and finish up the newsletter at this point, since it's after 8pm. Ellen gets home from practice and we all go to bed and call it a day.
What did I forget???? I didn't call the cheer coach to tell her Marci wouldn't be at practice.
So, she gets a strike and is benched for the game tomorrow, and it's my fault. Yeah, I'll pass on that Mother of the Year trophy for now! I see their point and I get that rules are rules - but I wish there was some compassion for the suck day we had and how I just *might* not have had the best grasp on all that I should have been doing in addition to all that I was doing.
Ok, rant over. Feeling a little better? Well, no not really. Especially since one of our favorite chickies is gone to chicken heaven. It was Silver Belle - the one with the twisted frame, probably a birth defect. But she was sweet and loved to come to you for treats. She would always come to the sound of my voice - even when I wasn't calling her. We were on the deck playing cards once and the kids saw her at the foot of the stairs, baffled about how to get to my voice through this "wall" (since she can't see much because of her poof, it looked like a wall to her!) silly girl!
Last Wednesday she was home sick from school. I left work about 11:15 am for a funeral and got back about 2:15 pm, planning to stay late and get the newsletter done. Marci calls from home to remind me that Ellen is waiting on me to pick her up afterschool for bloodwork at the hospital today -YIKES! So I race home, grab Marci & the paperwork I need for El. We get Ellen's bloodwork done (long ordeal since it involved needles and Ellen getting WAYYYYY too worked up about it!) We got her some drive-thru food and took her to band practice. Then took Marci to PromtMed to see what she had. An hour or so later, it turns out, nothing that needed Rx - that's good. Just a cold or something and she should start feeling better in a day or two. We finally get home, it was about 7pm or so by then. Went to tuck in the chickens for bed, and two are missing -- one is a favorite! After searching 30 minutes or so, we find them, but a predator got them. Dug a hole and buried what was left of one, nothing left but a pile of feathers for the other. Decided not to go back to work and finish up the newsletter at this point, since it's after 8pm. Ellen gets home from practice and we all go to bed and call it a day.
What did I forget???? I didn't call the cheer coach to tell her Marci wouldn't be at practice.
So, she gets a strike and is benched for the game tomorrow, and it's my fault. Yeah, I'll pass on that Mother of the Year trophy for now! I see their point and I get that rules are rules - but I wish there was some compassion for the suck day we had and how I just *might* not have had the best grasp on all that I should have been doing in addition to all that I was doing.
Ok, rant over. Feeling a little better? Well, no not really. Especially since one of our favorite chickies is gone to chicken heaven. It was Silver Belle - the one with the twisted frame, probably a birth defect. But she was sweet and loved to come to you for treats. She would always come to the sound of my voice - even when I wasn't calling her. We were on the deck playing cards once and the kids saw her at the foot of the stairs, baffled about how to get to my voice through this "wall" (since she can't see much because of her poof, it looked like a wall to her!) silly girl!
This was Silver Belle as a little chick, about 5 weeks old. We'll miss you pretty girl!
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