Ok. Take a deep breath!
I've been inspired by Jenny, another longarm quilter who had a backlog of customer quilts. She gave herself a 31 day challenge to finish the 30 quilts she had on backlog. She didn't make the goal, but she DID make significant progress, I think the total was 19 or 20 -- WOO HOO. Granted, all but 3 or 4 were simple all overs, or all overs combined with a couple of borders. But the point is - it got her committed to getting it done. And even she said that it kept her focused on going back and quilting after getting interrupted/distracted. She knew she had a goal to meet and so she knew she had to go back into her quilting room and get started again no matter how many times she got interrupted. And she has kiddos younger than I so this gives me encouragement!!
I've already discovered books on CD's and that has gone a long, long way in keeping me from getting distracted and off the task of quilting. Plus, I don't like stopping in the middle of a CD, so I'm likely to "keep going to the end of this CD." Which gets a little more and a little more done. Baby Steps you know! So with a challenge commitment, I think I could make some amazing progress too!
Right now I have:
3 calls to make for setting intake appointments.
2 Queen/King & 3 Full size quilts on hand (one is for heirloom/custom, the other four are med. quilting)
2 Quilts of Valor - one done, one to go
2 twin size - one will be EZ boards, one light custom
1 Full/Queen - med. custom (to match one done before)
1 Wall hanging - round robin from guild yrs ago, custom/heirloom (will likely be mine to keep once done)
My Queen round robin from the MOL group - heirloom/custom, would like to finish for guild show
Plus one Queen size for mom. She could be swayed into hand quilting it I bet, but parts of it looked like fun for me to quilt - maybe I quilt some and baste other parts for her to hand quilt??
Piecing (and then quilting):
1 T-shirt quilt (need to try one so I can do an up coming one for customer)
1 Twin (Marci's pink, black, lime quilt - I want to include this because it needs to get done!)
By FAR the most intimidating is the one for Martha. She's a friend of my mom's (pressure to do well) and the last 2 quilt I did for her won ribbons at our last guild show (more pressure) AND I've had the top for just over a year (more more more pressure!) I really feel like if I can get it moved out, I'll feel a great relief and the others will flow more easily. But it's a big one, with, I kid you not -- 24" borders on the outside! Yep, it's an embroidered table cloth and she bought yardage, cut it in half down the fold, then cut it to length and slapped it on the 4 sides of the table cloth! That has had me stumped and intimidated for most of the year, LOL. I do have a plan to do large swags and try to break up the area into more manageable strips, but still, 24" is a lot of length, and a lot of area to fill up, LOL.
So here's my challenge - a Labor Day Challenge - if I start counting Saturday, July 21 - that gives me 45 days till Labor Day. My challenge is to complete all of these quilts and get them returned to their owners by Labor Day.
Now, mind you, I'm doing these numbers from work. I've not included today or tomorrow in my 45 days so I can go home, sort and tidy my quilt studio and get ready for the attack. That means that when I go through my stack, the numbers might change if I've forgotten about one here or there (always a possibility with my middle aged brain, LOL) edited to add: yep, just remembered one I'd forgotten. Updated the totals above, not suprised ;0)
Jenny was great about posting almost everyday, but I'll likely only update Wed. through Fri. when I have WiFi at work, with Dial-up at home, posting and pictures would be a drag. Although, if I can figure out how to do it easily with my phone, I'll be accountable every day of the 45 days.
So there you go. I'm committed, it's out there. Abolish my backlog of customer & charity quilts and complete a few of my own that are most important. No taking it back now ;0)
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
RRGGG! Why is iTunes so hard to learn??
Seriously, I'm a bright person (ok, mostly in a book learning sense, not common sense, but that's not important here!) so why can't I get this iPhone and iTunes thing working? When I plug the phone into the computer it wants to sync everything - NO! It's the work computer, I don't want all my apps on it silly.
And then, when it's done syncing - the new music I downloaded isn't even on my phone - sheesh! That was the whole point of syncing silly! The local library offers 3 free downloads from a song library each week, but they are not transferring from iTunes on my computer to my phone. Off I go to try again. *sigh*
Ah, the key was to go online and do a search for my problem. And of course, it boiled down to . . . . I was doing it wrong, LOL. It actually is pretty simple, when you do it right. Now my free downloads from the library are on my phone - happy day!!
Ah, the key was to go online and do a search for my problem. And of course, it boiled down to . . . . I was doing it wrong, LOL. It actually is pretty simple, when you do it right. Now my free downloads from the library are on my phone - happy day!!
Oh woe is me. . . . . apparently.
I usually let Tim handle the political stuff for our household, but today I'll be on the soapbox.
There's an article in our local paper today about folks taking a "Food Stamp Challenge." As I quote from the paper, "From Saturday through June 8, participants will learn whether it is possible to eat healthy on an average food stamp budget by surviving on a weekly allotment of $32.91 per person." That works out to about $1.50 per meal.
So being the number geek that I am, I crunch the numbers. Um, for a family of 5, that's a weekly budget of $164.55. Wow, such poverty and starvation! Pay attention people, my grocery budget for a family of 5 people, one large dog and 4 cats is: $150.00 - that's food, pets, toiletries, paper products - everything we buy at the store in a week. My outrage is that the article makes it sound like such a sacrifice to drop down to this $32.91 weekly budget. I want to know what the participants were buying and spending prior to the challenge. My goodness, if I got to spend that amount on only food - we'd be living like kings!
One of the participants "has a plan" the article said, "She plans to eat three meals a day throughout the course of the challenge, relying on rice-based dishes and basic salads with homemade dressing to get her through the week". This same participant is quoted as saying that coffee and cheese are expensive, "It's interesting to see what you will skip" It's quite simple miss participant, you skip the luxuries and the wants, you purchase the needs. If you keep that in mind, the $164.55 will be plenty. It's just that the country is awash in rampant consumerism and no one can even remember the difference between a want and a NEED.
We buy store brand and generic foods with very, very few exceptions. We only buy a few convenience foods - I keep one frozen family meal on hand for days that go crazy and dinner plans have to be changed to quick and easy. I also buy three small frozen entrees to take for my lunch at work. I buy our meat marked down and use it or freeze it quickly - and I usually only put in half the meat required for a recipe whenever can get away with it (obviously, meatloaf wouldn't work for that, but any noodle or rice dish is a perfect candidate.) We plant a garden and can/freeze the harvest. We eat leftovers and I cook meals from scratch mostly. Summer vacation is harder though because the kids are home from school. That means I need to provide easy things for them to make for lunch. I have splurged and bought Pizza Rolls for one of their choices. But I also told the that this is a splurge and if they are all gone in one or two days, or if one person hordes them - I won't buy them again. There is ham, turkey & bologna from the deli for sandwiches, and soups & ravioli in cans. Of course there is always peanut butter and jelly, with lots of choices of home canned jelly flavors too! No one will starve, they may complain, but they won't starve!
I plan to follow this story in our paper and read more about what the participants have to say after completing it. Then maybe I'll gather up a month's grocery receipts and compare my observations with theirs.
Frankly, if we quit allowing food stamps to be used in convenience stores like Circle K for candy bars and soda -- forcing them to be used for GROCERIES in a grocery store, that might help a lot. And of course, we could drug test those who apply/receive food stamps (that could save us millions right there!) But that's a whole other soapbox, LOL.
There's an article in our local paper today about folks taking a "Food Stamp Challenge." As I quote from the paper, "From Saturday through June 8, participants will learn whether it is possible to eat healthy on an average food stamp budget by surviving on a weekly allotment of $32.91 per person." That works out to about $1.50 per meal.
So being the number geek that I am, I crunch the numbers. Um, for a family of 5, that's a weekly budget of $164.55. Wow, such poverty and starvation! Pay attention people, my grocery budget for a family of 5 people, one large dog and 4 cats is: $150.00 - that's food, pets, toiletries, paper products - everything we buy at the store in a week. My outrage is that the article makes it sound like such a sacrifice to drop down to this $32.91 weekly budget. I want to know what the participants were buying and spending prior to the challenge. My goodness, if I got to spend that amount on only food - we'd be living like kings!
One of the participants "has a plan" the article said, "She plans to eat three meals a day throughout the course of the challenge, relying on rice-based dishes and basic salads with homemade dressing to get her through the week". This same participant is quoted as saying that coffee and cheese are expensive, "It's interesting to see what you will skip" It's quite simple miss participant, you skip the luxuries and the wants, you purchase the needs. If you keep that in mind, the $164.55 will be plenty. It's just that the country is awash in rampant consumerism and no one can even remember the difference between a want and a NEED.
We buy store brand and generic foods with very, very few exceptions. We only buy a few convenience foods - I keep one frozen family meal on hand for days that go crazy and dinner plans have to be changed to quick and easy. I also buy three small frozen entrees to take for my lunch at work. I buy our meat marked down and use it or freeze it quickly - and I usually only put in half the meat required for a recipe whenever can get away with it (obviously, meatloaf wouldn't work for that, but any noodle or rice dish is a perfect candidate.) We plant a garden and can/freeze the harvest. We eat leftovers and I cook meals from scratch mostly. Summer vacation is harder though because the kids are home from school. That means I need to provide easy things for them to make for lunch. I have splurged and bought Pizza Rolls for one of their choices. But I also told the that this is a splurge and if they are all gone in one or two days, or if one person hordes them - I won't buy them again. There is ham, turkey & bologna from the deli for sandwiches, and soups & ravioli in cans. Of course there is always peanut butter and jelly, with lots of choices of home canned jelly flavors too! No one will starve, they may complain, but they won't starve!
I plan to follow this story in our paper and read more about what the participants have to say after completing it. Then maybe I'll gather up a month's grocery receipts and compare my observations with theirs.
Frankly, if we quit allowing food stamps to be used in convenience stores like Circle K for candy bars and soda -- forcing them to be used for GROCERIES in a grocery store, that might help a lot. And of course, we could drug test those who apply/receive food stamps (that could save us millions right there!) But that's a whole other soapbox, LOL.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Remodeling news!
Hard to believe, but true! I'm finishing up a remodeling project at home. I woke up a few weeks ago and realized that, this summer we'll have been in this house for NINE YEARS! How did that happen??? And there are 11 rooms, plus a small mud room and a basement/cellar. In nine years, I've only managed a handful of unfinished projects. Not one single thing is complete.
The evidence: Ellen's room got the walls painted. The dining room has ONE wall painted (in my defense, I decided I didn't like the color. . . . . . so I stopped . . . . . . . . and forgot to restart in a better color, LOL) - heck it still has tape up on that wall even! The foyer is the closest to really done. It just needs new flooring to qualify as "complete". But at least it HAS flooring - the downstairs bathroom got a big remodeling - that's where I learned to plumb after all. Pretty new cabinetry, new light fixtures a washer & dryer and I had to re-plumb it all because I relocated everything in the room to a better layout. But it stalled out at about 90% done - with plywood for flooring and no trim at the baseboards or door. Gee, that was several years ago, and now it needs a new coat of paint on the ceiling and maybe the walls - so it's down to about 80% done. That's just sad. The quilting room got some paint on the walls, but the base of the wall (about one foot) didn't get it's coordinating color finished, and the ceiling is not finished (really sad, you can look up and see old yucky color on about a quarter of it, and fresh pretty white on the rest - sigh) The trim never got done either. I'd say that room is about 75%
SO! In an effort to change this, I set about remodeling the upstairs bathroom (yeah, don't finish one you started, start something else . . . . .that makes sense!)
Over the last week Ellen & I have installed new fixtures for the tub/shower and after nine years we have a working shower in there! She only got sprayed in the face once when a valve didn't seat properly in its' base - and even she agreed it was pretty funny! We ripped out the old carpet and the linoleum that was under it. Max helped haul off the toilet and vanity to the dump. And I took the light fixture down.
We're keeping the (ugly) wall board 'cause we can't really afford to replace it - and besides, that gives me something to remodel in 10 more years!
Max helped me put down new linoleum. We cut it all in one piece - no seams, so hopefully no opportunities for leaks and damage to the floor. And we installed the new toilet last night too. Our old one was stained blue from somebody using the wrong chemical to clean it a couple of years ago (no one ever fessed up, but it sure was a mess.) I couldn't bear the thought of a beautiful new bathroom, and a scuzzy, never-come-clean-toilet (ladies will understand) it just ruined the whole vision.
Tonight I will install the new vanity and maybe the new light fixture. I still have to paint all the trim, but I'm going to do that slowly over the next couple of weeks - being careful not to get any paint on any new stuff of course - and then put down quarter round trim around the whole floor to hide the edges of the linoleum. A new shower curtain and I can pronounce one room in the house absolutely completely remodeled!! Whoo Hoo!! I can go in, shut the door, look around and pretend my house is beautiful, LOL.
Actually, it has been a fun process too. I knew I could do plumbing, from all the re-piping that was required in the downstairs bathroom. But to find out that laying flooring was possible is pretty cool. Granted, this is a cool linoleum- it's glueless and held down by pressure. Easy peasy. We just had to be super careful of corners as we were getting it into place and I made the trim cuts - it wanted to tear easily at those corners. In the end there was only one tear - and in the worst possible place of course: right where the tub and wall meet (at the faucet end of the tub, where water always spills over to the floor, GRRR!) But I'm hopeful the quarter round will cover it, and we're going with a fiberglass quarter round, not wood, so that may help cut down on any water damage too.
Picked up a really cool tip from a customer in Menard's as I was getting the flooring too. He said to take a strip of the plastic corner trim that is used to protect corners of drywall from knicks and dings (you know, like in a doorway, where the drywall meets up at a 90 degree angle.) Cut it to fit the length of floor beside the tub. Run a bead of clear silicone along the seam where the tub meets the linoleum/floor. Then turn that trim upside down - so it nestles against the floor and tub (where they meet at a 90 degree angle) and press so the silicone and trim make a good seal. That will help keep moisture out of there and maybe make the flooring last longer. Will try to get pix as we do this, since it's hard to explain with words.
And here are the pix:
The new (smaller!) vanity that allows the door to open all the way. If I close my eyes I can still hear the sound of the door banging into the old vanity, LOL
New (smaller also) toilet. The lighting is bad for the next several pix, it was night and the lightbulbs cast an orange/yellow color. But it's really white.
Really love the shower curtain from Bed Bath & Beyond. It has a nice Folk Art look with the flowers, but adds white to the room. The blue is not an exact match to the wall board, but pretty close.
This is looking into the closet (crazy old house! There's a window in there too, LOL)
LOVE the new faucet! Those white knobs are a favorite, I have the same style downstairs in the kitchen.
New faucets in here are pretty boring, but THEY WORK which is better than the old ones!
And the light fixture. Would have preferred it to point down (collects less bugs on a summer night - no screens in windows upstairs) but the vintage medicine cabinet from the old house would have been in the way. There's a little damage on the wall board where the old vanity was caulked, but hope to sand and maybe touch it up with paint so it's not so noticable.
The evidence: Ellen's room got the walls painted. The dining room has ONE wall painted (in my defense, I decided I didn't like the color. . . . . . so I stopped . . . . . . . . and forgot to restart in a better color, LOL) - heck it still has tape up on that wall even! The foyer is the closest to really done. It just needs new flooring to qualify as "complete". But at least it HAS flooring - the downstairs bathroom got a big remodeling - that's where I learned to plumb after all. Pretty new cabinetry, new light fixtures a washer & dryer and I had to re-plumb it all because I relocated everything in the room to a better layout. But it stalled out at about 90% done - with plywood for flooring and no trim at the baseboards or door. Gee, that was several years ago, and now it needs a new coat of paint on the ceiling and maybe the walls - so it's down to about 80% done. That's just sad. The quilting room got some paint on the walls, but the base of the wall (about one foot) didn't get it's coordinating color finished, and the ceiling is not finished (really sad, you can look up and see old yucky color on about a quarter of it, and fresh pretty white on the rest - sigh) The trim never got done either. I'd say that room is about 75%
SO! In an effort to change this, I set about remodeling the upstairs bathroom (yeah, don't finish one you started, start something else . . . . .that makes sense!)
Over the last week Ellen & I have installed new fixtures for the tub/shower and after nine years we have a working shower in there! She only got sprayed in the face once when a valve didn't seat properly in its' base - and even she agreed it was pretty funny! We ripped out the old carpet and the linoleum that was under it. Max helped haul off the toilet and vanity to the dump. And I took the light fixture down.
We're keeping the (ugly) wall board 'cause we can't really afford to replace it - and besides, that gives me something to remodel in 10 more years!
Max helped me put down new linoleum. We cut it all in one piece - no seams, so hopefully no opportunities for leaks and damage to the floor. And we installed the new toilet last night too. Our old one was stained blue from somebody using the wrong chemical to clean it a couple of years ago (no one ever fessed up, but it sure was a mess.) I couldn't bear the thought of a beautiful new bathroom, and a scuzzy, never-come-clean-toilet (ladies will understand) it just ruined the whole vision.
Tonight I will install the new vanity and maybe the new light fixture. I still have to paint all the trim, but I'm going to do that slowly over the next couple of weeks - being careful not to get any paint on any new stuff of course - and then put down quarter round trim around the whole floor to hide the edges of the linoleum. A new shower curtain and I can pronounce one room in the house absolutely completely remodeled!! Whoo Hoo!! I can go in, shut the door, look around and pretend my house is beautiful, LOL.
Actually, it has been a fun process too. I knew I could do plumbing, from all the re-piping that was required in the downstairs bathroom. But to find out that laying flooring was possible is pretty cool. Granted, this is a cool linoleum- it's glueless and held down by pressure. Easy peasy. We just had to be super careful of corners as we were getting it into place and I made the trim cuts - it wanted to tear easily at those corners. In the end there was only one tear - and in the worst possible place of course: right where the tub and wall meet (at the faucet end of the tub, where water always spills over to the floor, GRRR!) But I'm hopeful the quarter round will cover it, and we're going with a fiberglass quarter round, not wood, so that may help cut down on any water damage too.
Picked up a really cool tip from a customer in Menard's as I was getting the flooring too. He said to take a strip of the plastic corner trim that is used to protect corners of drywall from knicks and dings (you know, like in a doorway, where the drywall meets up at a 90 degree angle.) Cut it to fit the length of floor beside the tub. Run a bead of clear silicone along the seam where the tub meets the linoleum/floor. Then turn that trim upside down - so it nestles against the floor and tub (where they meet at a 90 degree angle) and press so the silicone and trim make a good seal. That will help keep moisture out of there and maybe make the flooring last longer. Will try to get pix as we do this, since it's hard to explain with words.
And here are the pix:
The new (smaller!) vanity that allows the door to open all the way. If I close my eyes I can still hear the sound of the door banging into the old vanity, LOL
New (smaller also) toilet. The lighting is bad for the next several pix, it was night and the lightbulbs cast an orange/yellow color. But it's really white.
New faucets in here are pretty boring, but THEY WORK which is better than the old ones!
And the light fixture. Would have preferred it to point down (collects less bugs on a summer night - no screens in windows upstairs) but the vintage medicine cabinet from the old house would have been in the way. There's a little damage on the wall board where the old vanity was caulked, but hope to sand and maybe touch it up with paint so it's not so noticable.
Friday, December 9, 2011
December already, sheesh!
Gosh, as I toodle along day to day, I just can't believe that it's almost the end of the year! Just not sure where all the time went.
Quilt guild was this week and that was fun. I showed two quilts during show and tell. One simple patchwork with an allover design, and mom's quilt with feathers. Both were well received. Yesterday I finished Carolyn's bowtie quilt. I'm pleased with how it turned out. Initially I wasn't sure about my design choice, but she doesn't want heavy quilting, so I went with the Continuous Curves. Once it was off the frame, and I walked away for a bit, it's okay. I also finished the lime, hot pink and black quilt for Darla this week. I'll call them both for pickup appointments - it would be nice if they could both come tomorrow (nice for $$ Christmas money, for me that is, LOL!)
The next one to go on the frame is a small wall hanging and the customer doesn't want heavy quilting. She doesn't really like this quilt, so my goal with the quilting is to make her love the quilt (no pressure, ha!) I have a custom (very large) quilt up after that -- and she would like it to be done for Christmas. I really like the colors and pattern of it, so I'm looking forward to starting it, and expect it to fly along since I'll be enjoying it. I'll hate having to give it up when it's done though.
The house is staying tidy - woo hoo. I've only let the dishes slide a couple of nights in the last four weeks, pretty darn good for me! Laundry is staring to pile up a little, so I'll focus on that this weekend.
Ellen is babysitting tonight, and has pep band tomorrow. I hope Marci & I can still make it to Mass around taking and picking up El. Marci pointed out last night that we'd missed a Holy Day of Obligation the day before - Feast of the Immaculate Conception - ACK!! Just when I think I'm on top of it . . . . . . . . WHAM! So I really don't want to have to miss this weekend.
So that's what's up and where I'm headed ;0)
Quilt guild was this week and that was fun. I showed two quilts during show and tell. One simple patchwork with an allover design, and mom's quilt with feathers. Both were well received. Yesterday I finished Carolyn's bowtie quilt. I'm pleased with how it turned out. Initially I wasn't sure about my design choice, but she doesn't want heavy quilting, so I went with the Continuous Curves. Once it was off the frame, and I walked away for a bit, it's okay. I also finished the lime, hot pink and black quilt for Darla this week. I'll call them both for pickup appointments - it would be nice if they could both come tomorrow (nice for $$ Christmas money, for me that is, LOL!)
The next one to go on the frame is a small wall hanging and the customer doesn't want heavy quilting. She doesn't really like this quilt, so my goal with the quilting is to make her love the quilt (no pressure, ha!) I have a custom (very large) quilt up after that -- and she would like it to be done for Christmas. I really like the colors and pattern of it, so I'm looking forward to starting it, and expect it to fly along since I'll be enjoying it. I'll hate having to give it up when it's done though.
The house is staying tidy - woo hoo. I've only let the dishes slide a couple of nights in the last four weeks, pretty darn good for me! Laundry is staring to pile up a little, so I'll focus on that this weekend.
Ellen is babysitting tonight, and has pep band tomorrow. I hope Marci & I can still make it to Mass around taking and picking up El. Marci pointed out last night that we'd missed a Holy Day of Obligation the day before - Feast of the Immaculate Conception - ACK!! Just when I think I'm on top of it . . . . . . . . WHAM! So I really don't want to have to miss this weekend.
So that's what's up and where I'm headed ;0)
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Staying busy and strangely productive!
Shockingly, the house has stayed tidy for a WHOLE WEEK! Woo Hoo!! And, I've continued to make slow steady progress on Mt. Washmore, otherwise known as the laundry, LOL. There have been 2 bags sent to Goodwill already, and another is pretty close. The kids are supposed to be putting their clothes away and bringing me things that no longer fit, or won't be worn. Since I'm not getting anything from them, I must conclude that the pretty folded clothing piles I'm sending them to their rooms with are not getting put away! Might have to do a random inspection on each of them tonight to get that laundry moving into drawers and closets where it belongs!
Tim had a Dr. appt. and he'll be continuing on 2 Rx's for his blood pressure for 3 months and then they'll reevaluate. Dr. K said that most people take 3 blood pressure meds, so this isn't unusual. If only the Arthritus could be fixed with pills! He's still working on the truck in the barn that got an engine swapped into it. Probably more stuff too, but it's barn stuff, so I'm not paying really close attention! When I have to plate and insure it, then it will be on my radar, LOL.
Max had a good week working on his room. It's about 60% there I'd say. The toughest parts are done - under the bed (YIKES!) and under the desk. He actually did a couple of loads of laundry too, though I'm not sure they got folded and/or put away -- but it's a start. He's coming to the end of the first semester at Ivy Tech, and says that grades are good - B's in both classes. I find myself holding my breath, played this game before you know? And in college, I don't get a username and password to check up on him, so I have to wait till report cards to see . . . . . . and hold my breath hoping I'm not being lied to (again.) You know, I read the blogs of some moms in my circle and their darn kids are just so stinking amazing and awesome, I must admit to some jealousy. One just got an early admission into college, another is on track to recevie a scholarship for athletics, full-ride probably, somebody else is doing a great Senior project that the community is thrilled about . . . . *sigh* can I be THAT mom for a day?? Max will "get it" someday, but somedays it seems like a long wait.
I've actually had a productive week quilting too. Finished the quilting on mom's quilt yesterday and we shopped for binding fabric in North Vernon. I got the binding pieced last night, along with binding for my lap throw. Both of those and the current QoV got trimmed, and the lap throw got the binding attatched. Tonight I'll attatch mom's and the QoV's that's been waiting for binding for months! Met with a customer yesterday afternoon and she brought two quilts for simple pantographs. I didn't even talk her out of that and into more complicated work! Sometimes, a simple -- read: FAST -- job is better than a more expensive but complicated job that enevitably gets stalled along the way!! Done and paid is much better. So I'll do her two quick ones, then move on to the little bowtie quilt. I finally know what I want to do on it - the border was stumping me, LOL. The bowtie customer also has a snowball quilt with me and I need to come up with ideas for it next. She is a quilt guild customer so it would be nice to have them done before next guild meeting so she can get them bound and show them at show and tell! I could use the free publicity ;0)
Now it's time to get to work on the newsletter at my real job, more blogging later ;0)
Tim had a Dr. appt. and he'll be continuing on 2 Rx's for his blood pressure for 3 months and then they'll reevaluate. Dr. K said that most people take 3 blood pressure meds, so this isn't unusual. If only the Arthritus could be fixed with pills! He's still working on the truck in the barn that got an engine swapped into it. Probably more stuff too, but it's barn stuff, so I'm not paying really close attention! When I have to plate and insure it, then it will be on my radar, LOL.
Max had a good week working on his room. It's about 60% there I'd say. The toughest parts are done - under the bed (YIKES!) and under the desk. He actually did a couple of loads of laundry too, though I'm not sure they got folded and/or put away -- but it's a start. He's coming to the end of the first semester at Ivy Tech, and says that grades are good - B's in both classes. I find myself holding my breath, played this game before you know? And in college, I don't get a username and password to check up on him, so I have to wait till report cards to see . . . . . . and hold my breath hoping I'm not being lied to (again.) You know, I read the blogs of some moms in my circle and their darn kids are just so stinking amazing and awesome, I must admit to some jealousy. One just got an early admission into college, another is on track to recevie a scholarship for athletics, full-ride probably, somebody else is doing a great Senior project that the community is thrilled about . . . . *sigh* can I be THAT mom for a day?? Max will "get it" someday, but somedays it seems like a long wait.
I've actually had a productive week quilting too. Finished the quilting on mom's quilt yesterday and we shopped for binding fabric in North Vernon. I got the binding pieced last night, along with binding for my lap throw. Both of those and the current QoV got trimmed, and the lap throw got the binding attatched. Tonight I'll attatch mom's and the QoV's that's been waiting for binding for months! Met with a customer yesterday afternoon and she brought two quilts for simple pantographs. I didn't even talk her out of that and into more complicated work! Sometimes, a simple -- read: FAST -- job is better than a more expensive but complicated job that enevitably gets stalled along the way!! Done and paid is much better. So I'll do her two quick ones, then move on to the little bowtie quilt. I finally know what I want to do on it - the border was stumping me, LOL. The bowtie customer also has a snowball quilt with me and I need to come up with ideas for it next. She is a quilt guild customer so it would be nice to have them done before next guild meeting so she can get them bound and show them at show and tell! I could use the free publicity ;0)
Now it's time to get to work on the newsletter at my real job, more blogging later ;0)
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Let's catch up
Um, yeah. . . . . it's been awhile. But really, no one is reading so, it's not like the end of the world or anything, LOL.
Actually things are good right now. Max is finishing his two classes at the community college. Won't be taking any next semester because he has to ramp up working and saving up for a car. He's driving Tim's winter truck, and um, winter is coming and Tim needs the truck to get to work . . . .you see the delima, ;0)
Ellen is right now babysitting for the second week at Bethel in the nursery. She's very nervous, but excited to have a job. Unfortunately, she's considered a staff member, so that means there will be witholding on her weekly $25, bummer. Welcome to the real world missy. She's doing ok in school, keeping B's and some A's mostly. Some of her friends drive her crazy with their drama, and she never has homework because she does it all at school, or so she says. Not sure if we talked about this since I've not blogged in ages, but she had a mild heat stroke at a band practice and a couple more heat related incidents at other practicies and a contest. The result is the Dr. benched her from marching this year and next year as well. This is serious stuff :0(
Marci is LOVING Jr. High. And she seriously LOVE LOVE LOVES PE class, how weird is that? She has discovered that she is strong and fast and can keep up with the 8th graders in the class running and stuff - wow! Her grades are good, but she does have a lot of homework. She has some drama around her with girlfriends and boys and stuff - but that is normal for her - she's our little social butterfly afterall.
Tim had his second spinal injection of cortazone on Friday, so we'll wait to see if it helps with his arm. He is working on getting a truck up and running - Marci has her eye on it for when she starts driving, LOL. I'm still working at Bethel and quilting. The house is tidy right now - actually clean, not just tidy -- woo hoo!! Working on getting the laundry caught up, and I really think I will get there this time. Although, my short sleeve shirts drawer is stuffed and I still have the dark laundry to get through so I'll have to go through and get rid of some. Probably will encounter the same problem in the long sleeve drawer too.
Chickens are all good. We hatched 4 little babies from our own eggs about a month ago and they are so cute. 3 Chocolate frizzles, and one black smooth feathered which I think is a girl. Not sure on the frizzles, but I suspect 2 roos at least. We did add 3 Silver Spangled Hamburgs this year and they are darling, so dainty! We are down on regular egg layers though. Actually, we need to add some brown egg layers this spring. I'd like to get them at point-of-lay so we'll have eggs right away. I think we only have one brown egg layer right now and she's our momma, so no eggs from her right now.
So that's my update, and I'm stickin' to it ;0)
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