Thanksgiving family photo's!

Oh, how I love the holiday family photo's and how the kids dread me asking for the line up!  I am smiling as I think of all the times through the years I have put them through this ordeal.  But, they always go along with it and let me get my family moments on film or now days in digital format.  Who gets prints any more anyways...I know I don't since I have shoe boxes bulging from me stuffing one more double prints package in.  Pasting and sticking pictures into albums is one of those little "round to-it's" that seems to never get done.  I see the shoe boxes and look away before I get to thinking about the chore.  It makes me wonder if in the future will be even have photo albums or will all our pictures be stored on memory cards instead. 

I for one have fallen in love with the ease with which we can share photo's and all kinds of stuff now with all the new technology!  I have even been known to send a discount coupon via email or text to a friend in need.  Now, how cool is that... I might ask...didn't even know I could do it!

We can take pictures on phones and camera's but since I got my new phone memory card I don't even use my camera much any more.  I take the picture and send it to myself via email and post...now how simple is that!  Yep, I may have been born in the horse and buggy days...well almost...it was before TV's came into evey home...but I love the whole world of modern toys!!!

Half marathon race day...we finished!

Race day the weather was a perfect fall day!  The sun was shinning and there was a coolness to the air.  We were there on time and ready with no problems holding us up.  I had on my really cool socks that my niece bought me! Our feet were ready to take us on this venture we had waited for, prepared for, and anticipated for so long.  The challenge was to finish the race in less than 6 hours and we passed the finish line in a little less than 5 hours. We were the last walkers in!  But, we finished the race with an hour to spare...who cares we were last....better to be famous for winning or last.  This year we choose last, who know what next year will bring...first place?   We are so proud of ourselves for accomplishing this goal...me and my sister!

The lower picture is of the view off the back deck at the log cabin we stayed in for the race.  What a view it was too!  The house had about 5 bed rooms and we had it filled to the max with sisters, brothers, cousins, Mom's and Dad's, and good friends as well!  It was a super place to stay, a fantastic family gathering, perfect fall weekend I will remember forever!

On being a home bug...

Today I am going to work. I have my lunch ready, got a good nights sleep, and am dressed to go.  I was going down the hall to the kitchen and glanced into my sewing room when I saw it.  The longing in my sewing room for me and my creativity.  The sun across the floor seemed to pull me inside my haven of peace.  I love being at home and taking care of our little house.  We have lived here almost 25 years, and though there are things I would love to change about this house, it is home.  We have raised 5 children here and the laughter in the walls keeps me company. 

I sit down at my sewing machine for just a few minutes, and turn the iron on.  I sew a few chain pieces and press them nice and flat stacking one on top of the other.  I would love to stay home today and sew this top together but I also long to go to work and see my friends.  I also enjoy the surroundings of all the beautiful fabrics and dream of buying a little of each and all of them, and spend another sunny cool fall day in my little creative space....

Debt woe's...

Something has not gotten done was my morning first thoughts...you know the feeling...a thought in the back of your head screaming, "Hey, you forgot to do something!"  So, I am sitting in bed drinking my green tea (so I will live longer) and watching the news trying to wake up. 

The nagging notion of incompleteness is not leaving me, so I decided it was not a bad dream I can't remember circling in my head.  Maybe when I get up and walk around the house it will come to me.  All I see is house work that needs to be done as I ponder around in my pink fuzzies.  Then I open the guest room door and look at my pc...that is it!  I still need to check on the status of the Dr. bill that insurance denied for no good reason.  When I called and found out it had been taken care of and the Dr. paid I sat back and felt that must have been it.

The, your not finished yet, of something undone was still bugging me.

 I walked around the house again this time lighting some Yankee Candles (my sister got me into candles) for some good morning atmosphere, still trying to remember what needs to be done.  Again, I pass the guest room and I noticed I am not finished with my paper work and filing.  As I put the papers away that is when I notice the Tax bill and that it is due Nov. 15th!  Oh, rats...that is it!  Time to pay the wopping thing that has doubled this year!
Next year I need to post payment due information on the big kitchen calendar to myself so I won't almost forget. 

The nagging feeling of forgetting something is gone... but now I am feeling a little overwhelmed by all the debt that it cost just to live and how much we pay for Auto Insurance, House Insurance, Life Insurance, Property Taxes, Power Bill, Water Bill, and the list goes on and on.  I am rethinking my idea of living longer and making myself drink the green tea....but the house smells great!

The bag Lady???

These are my burst of creative energy bags I finished!

The bag on the lower left is the fabric that came with the kit I bought at a Quilt Expo recently. A beautiful fabric from South Africa of jeans blues..I found a cool wooden peace symbol for the zipper pull.

  The bag on the lower right was from scraps of a flopped outfit I tried to make years ago...good to see that two 7"  x 14" are being used from that yardage waste. 

The upper left bag  fabric is from a line at the local quilt shop that I would love to make a quilt from but I have put myself on a fabric diet till I loose some WIP'S weight....(Works...In... Progress)

The bag in the upper right is a black and while strip pieced bag again from fabric at the quilt store that I would LOVE to make a quilt from...so how many bags can I make using this excuse???

I love a rainy fall day...this weather is so perfect!

This weather is so perfect for hot chocolate and a good book about a fictional character in a far away land....

This weather is so perfect for a sewing project with my favorite music on the radio...and a cup of hot chocolate....

This weather is so perfect for a new quilting book, a cup of hot chocolate in my favorite chair with my dog Gracie in my lap...

This weather is too perfect to spend it cleaning the house....

This weather is just soooo perfect for me!!!

Walking almost 15 miles...in one Saturday!

Yep, I can not believe I did it...I walked 5 times around our local park!  I did not start out to accomplish this goal on Saturday it just happened due to the desire to just see if I could....

 My sister and I are signed up to walk a half marathon the middle of this month.  We trained a little this summer but neither of us is a fan of sweating so needless to say we did not train as much as we should have.  But, since the weather has cooled a bit this fall we have been meeting at the local park to walk in the wee morning hours in the cooler air.  We have a ball walking around the park and just catching up on life events and solving the world's problems, and breathing the cool fall air while we take in the beauty!

This Saturday we met at 10:00am and accomplished the second trip around pretty quick, about 6 miles, but she had to go due to the weekend plans she had.  I on the other hand had no plans except to work a few hours on Sunday.  The whole day was mine and I decided to spend it doing what ever I wanted.  Usually this meant sewing....but not today, not with all the beauty of fall around me.  Not with live squirrels darting across the path in front of me hiding their winters food.  Not, with the crunch of freshly fallen leaves under my feet...it was just too perfect a day!  I felt like I had too much energy left in me to just go home and sew.

  We said our good bye's and I made plans to go around just one more time to make it 9 miles.  But, when I got to my nine mile point I still felt pretty good..a little feet pain...leg burn but not bad.   It was about 1:30 pm and I decided to go around again for a fourth trip for a total of about 12 miles. 

 I was beginning to really feel the burn in my legs as I neared the end of the fourth lap and pain in my feet at this point..but I kept on walking, only I avoided my car this pass around and turned to go back the other way where the shadow meets the sun.  I knew if I passed my car I would get in it and go home.  But, I was in a mood of accomplishment like the "Little Engine That Could"...I think I can...I think I can...I CAN do this...over and over with he goal of 13 miles in my mind keeping me moving forward.

As I turned around and got nearly half way back to my car I was really feeling the miles.   I figured I had gone at least the 13 miles and I knew at this point my sister and I could finish the walk in less than 6 hours two weeks from now.  My goal accomplished and wishing it was only steps to my car....it was more like almost 2 miles to my car.  This is when I felt every bit my 55 years of age!! I just kept telling myself I COULD do it and to keep going forward.  Only in my mind I was ready to shed the shoes and take my chances with bare feet.  Oh, this has to be the worst shoes in the world!!!  I promised myself to go back to my OLD shoes!  My old shoes are worn and comfortable. 

I was dragging by the time I got back to my car at about 3:30 pm but I was feeling victorious and happy.  My feet and legs were in some serious pain but I didn't care.  I had just walked almost 15 miles by shear will power and I knew something I didn't know this moring...I could do it!  I could finish the half marathon too.

Something else I learned is the power of thinking positive!  I think I can...I know I can...I will do this!  What else can I try this on???  I feel like walking and thinking...

My PC life!

I am becoming very much aware of how much time I am spending on my pc these days or cell phone texting! It all happened recently in a rotary cutting accident at my work.

 I was enjoying the company of friends for an evening of sewing at the store.  For me hearing in a crowded room can be a bit tricky since I don't have good hearing in my right ear and the left isn't so swift either.  So, I am focusing on what C is saying...trying to read her lips too....not watching my fingers...while cutting my 2 1/2" strips.  Somehow my left index finger decided to sit just a little too far to the edge of the cutting template! Ouch...how did that happen!  At first I thought my rotary cutter jumped the 1/4" template and got me!  After grabbing a thick paper towel and trying to stop the flow I walked calmly over to the template and cutter to discover my small bit of severed me to the right of the template and cutter at which I quietly picked up and threw away...a bit gross...aaaagg!  I did not want anyone to know what I did, much less find it!!! 

 C stops talking and looks up and she could see something was wrong with me and my finger.  C asked what I just threw away?  Ummm, a little bit of my finger.. I said.  C says that was too bad because we could have super glued it back on!  Not with this blood flow I am thinking... what if I put that small bit of me on up side down or backwards or something...what would that have looked like when it healed???  It is moments
like that I realize I have a little vanity to deal with...and I don't even have pretty hands. My hands are my Dad's and Mom's worst hand features all mixed into my...skinny boney fingers!

Anyway, this is how I became aware of how much time I spend tapping on a key board of some sort and how tiny the buttons are on my cell phone.   Sewing has been difficult too but I knew how much time I spent doing that....lol

Sprint Cell Phones 30 day policy!!!

Buyer beware! I have just learned the hard way at my local Sprint store that their phones are only replaceable with NEW phones for 30 days! Yes 30 days! My new phone quit working after only 39 days and now I am using a reconditioned phone for the next two years of my contract!! Oh, and I have not even gotten my rebate check yet! Sprint says even with a warranty plan it is 30 days and then your sent a reconditioned phone whether it is a $99. phone or a $300. plus phones!!!

Come on Sprint you can do better than this!!!

Random Thought Day!

  

Changes

 This is a time in my life I feel things are changing...for one I became a Mother-In-Law last weekend, quite suddenly actually.  What an exciting time it was to hear my oldest son was married.  The first of our five kids to tie the knot.  We are truly happy for them and wish them a long and loving life together!  In the last few months I have really gotten to know his sweet P and she is a joy to be around.  She has come over to the house several times, spent the night, made us spring rolls, and even learning to quilt with me all the while our son is off in the Army. She did not have to spend time with us but she has.  What a joy to have a new daughter in our family!  Welcome to our world P!

Retirement

My husband has been retired for over 6 years now and we are finally settling in to a routine that is more comfortable to us than an old pair of shoes.  We are learning to communicate in many new ways and sometimes I think we even read each others minds.  I guess that is the way it should be after 36 years of marriage.  He still works part time, as I do, but it is just enough to make us excited to come back home to each other again!  Life is good when you are married to your soul mate....

WIP'S

W-I-P'S...this is a term we use at the quilt world that stands for works in progress.  I have many "wip's" in the works and I have decided I like it that way.  Some of my projects are quick like the purse I made the other day from the pattern I got at the Expo recently.   And some projects are going to take me years and possibly a life time like my cathedreal windows and flower garden quilts.  I enjoy them all for the challenges they give me because I really get bored just working on the same thing for days and weeks...

Children

You can have One you would rather live somewhere else when they turn 18 but how do you get them to move out???  This is one topic of discussion the hubby and I have daily.  This One is a rule breaker and every time we draw a line of behavior or our set of house rules...he sticks his big hairy toe over the line...

This Old House

We used to watch This Old House and dream of buying an old house to fix up.  We used to read adds in the paper and make appointments to go see the houses and take lots of pictures.  We drug the kids all over the countryside looking at some big old lovely houses in various states of dissrepair never finding one we felt we could handle.  We are now living that dream in the house we have owned for almost 25 years now...ok, not as much fun as the dreams said it would be....

Fall Leaves

They never fail to make me smile!  I love to see them turn colors in the cool evenings, fall softly to the ground, and I still love to play in them...well in the front yard where there is no dog poop.  I don't much like raking them up...maybe I will, if I ever have small grandkids to run though and play with me in the freshly fallen leaves...

Back to the Future!

Remember when Michael J Fox is told he needs to go back to the future again..."it is not about you..It's Your Kids!"  Well, from what I have been through this past couple of months I think I would rather stick my head in the sand.

I used to think about how I would love to know what is down the road for me before I get there, you can be prepared and fix things right...but not anymore...let me take the bends in the road as they come!  17 years ago if I had, had any I-oda (southern word for any idea) what layed ahead for us with our youngest adopted son M, I would have said, "ummm, thanks for thinking so much of us, but we can't possibly handle this one." 

Life is tough enough day by day but throw in an off the charts kid like son M, and as daughter R said, "It is a miracle we are not on CSI."  Some people who adopt choose to try and send them back on a plane...but, we didn't think of that.  I know, I know what your thinking...and yes, we love him too much even with all that we have been through.. we continue to go through, and....we are ever hopeful that one day he will become the blessing Linda always said he will be someday!  Keep on praying for us Linda...never forget!!!  :)

So, I will attempt to give you the "man" version of my summer since the "venus" version is going to be way..way too long and complicated!  Let me get my calendar of notes...yes, I had to take notes it was that crazy!

Remember the July 19th 4 car pile up that son M was in and my roller coaster post...let me take it from there....and keep in mind I am still filling out forms for the insurance on the break-in all the while.  What I want to know is where did all these forms go?  Seems I created a thick court file all on my own for someone's desk...and the forms just kept coming...so aside from that here are my calendar notes:

Tues, July 20th...Work at quilt store teaching a week long Kids Kamp with 6 cute 9 to 12 year old excited little girls wanting to learn to make a quilt all on their own 12-5.

Thurs, July 22...daughter R calls me at work wanting to know what it means when your car lurches when it is supposed to change gears?  I say, "Ummm, sounds like you need a new car...since this one has been totaled for two years now."  So, I am not much help there, I guess...but it got her to thinking..only problem is she is in the middle of a temporary move back home for a few weeks between apartments.  Not the best time financially for a new/used car either..so I told her to start looking on Carmax.

Friday, July 23 Kids Kamp over and joy fills my heart!

Monday, July 26th..call dentist office again...daughter R's car behaved over the weekend but is acting up today!

Tuesday, July 27th...work at quilt shop or trying to work...on the phone with R helping her with car, and insurance info....can you spell S-T-R-E-S-S?  After dinner...help R move some stuff to our basement.

Wednesday, July 28....more on the phone with daughter R and her car...help R move some stuff again...

Thursday, July 29th...12:00 noon dental apts. for hubby and I...was not anxious since I always have beautiful teeth!  Not, this time of course...I have to have a crown that will cost me $500. and no one can see it since it is in the very back of my mouth....afternoon go to Carmax with daughter R to look at a car...we are there for a long while...have to go back tomorrow and I am a little worried, ok...a lot worried her car won't make it back tomorrow when the papers can be ready...they were buying her car for $1200...really!!  Oh, man...don't let it die now!   We are moving R's stuff every night down to the big stuff using hubbys truck now.

Friday, July 30th...11:00 am take M's car to be inspected at a Geico repair shop...there a long while...it is not totalled but close....dang!  We drive it back home...brakes are in need of work...still waiting on Geico to make a decision to cover the claim.   After work we go with R to finish her paper work at Carmax and to get her new car ....with me praying all the way that it will make it there still running.  We get to Carmax and she discovers she forgot the back seat she had taken out for the move....Yikes...turns out to be no problem...hours later she drives away with a new/used cute Cobalt....help R move more stuff.

Saturday, July 31st...work big sale at store all day....help R move some more stuff into our basement...which is now getting really packed!  Had to move some to her Aunt S's basement too....where did she gets so much stuff???

Monday, August 2nd. We put son M's car in the shop for brake work and 2 used front tires.  R is settled in to the guest room now, and she has left on a Fla vacation she has earned from work.

Tuesday, August 3rd  Work at quilt shop...get a call that M's car repairs will cost $425.  I want to wail does it ever end???  But, I say thanks and ask when we can come get it...

Wednesday, August 4th..work afternoon at the shop..driving home hubby J tells me that Geico left a message on the phone that our claim was denied!!!  What!!!  Want to cry but I can't since I have to see to drive....crying makes my eyes swell, and we have to go to court the next day for the break-in!  Go get son M's car out of the shop with the insurance money from  the beak-in that was just enough to pay for the repairs to his car.  No replacement Lap Top or X-Box 360 he bought just a few months ago...can you imagine son M's not too happy, but glad he has his car and freedom back.  We watch him drive away and we start to worry.... again...

  Put Geico on back burner of my mind to stew a while...I do not give up easy...J said forget it, you can't fight the big insurance company...I had taken pictures of M's car and tail lights...since they say their driver could not see the tail lights...I do not give up THAT easy...I have been told I have tenacity!  :)

Thursday, August 5th...go to court for arraingment of one of the juvenile's to break in our house...while in the little waiting room we get a call from youngest son M that he is in jail and needs us to pick him up!  Umm, not me I tell him...you should not have been there.  Shortly after we get the call to go into court room and the young theif from June 10th smugly pleads not guilty..I want to scream, "liar, I saw you in my house" but J is holding me down...not really but in spririt he is...he gives me "the look" ...so I sit quietly.  Leave the court house to go get son M's car out of the impound.  Leave son M in jail to think things over...he gets a cell phone from someone in the jail and begs us to come get him all the way home...sadness overwhelms me today! 

Friday, August 6th...son M still in jail...we are busy packing up daughter S to go to college next day...it is her weekend!  We are really happy for daughter S.  I am still thinking about Geico and the denied claim, plotting my plan as I walk through this weekend...night falls along with a gentle summer rain...planning dinner with daughter S...get a call from the jail that we have to come get son M since he is getting out on his minor charge.  Go get son M and miss eating with S...bummer!

Saturday, August 7th...leave out early on this oh so stinky hot humid summer day with J's Chevy truck and S's car loaded down with stuff ready to move into a closet sized dorm room with another young girl for college.  S and I take a wrong turn along the way into downtown Atlanta...I panic but my TomTom saves the day.   It is sooo hot but exciting moving S into her dorm.  We stay in town for the night swimming in motel pool and eating out.  This was a really fun Saturday and Sunday.

Sunday, August 8th...J and I come home happy and very tired!  It was a bad night with son M when we got back obviously he was feeling left out...but he did not want to go???

Monday, August 9th...time to deal with Geico...say my prayers...do hours of research on the internet for hope...do not find good news on other Geico claim stories.  I finally call the agent of denial with Geico...she is on vacation...thank God for miracles!  Call..leave message...call next number...leave message...call more numbers and keep leaving same "help" message...about 6 calls later I get a real person on the phone!

  I calmly and oh so very nicely expain our predictament we are in with the denial.  I ask if I can send pictures to show her M's car tail lights...she says yes and she will get back with me that afternoon.  In the mean time J wants to go crank up son T's jeep to let it run, since T is away for a while...where are the keys he asks me???

 I hate being keeper of the keys because I hide stuff and can never remember where I hid it.  I hide stuff from son M...remember son M still lives here.  I am exaused and looking for the keys is the straw that broke my little dam..I want to cry.  I can cry since it won't matter tomorrow...no wait, I can't cry now because I have to work...I cry anyway!  I even laid on the floor in my sewing room trying to remember where the keys are....(don't knock it..it works laying on the floor looking up)  but it didn't work this time...I cry some more...I keep tearing the house apart looking for those keys.  I am exaused mentally and physically!!!  I want to just crawl in a hole and dissappear for a while...but, the phone rings... it is afternoon  by this time...no keys yet...it is Geico!  The claim was accepted and revearsed so they are paying and sending a check in the mail by Friday of this week!  With tears in my eyes...I say thankyou!!!  But, I can't enjoy the joy of success because of the dang keys I can not find!  Oh, and the storage unit key is with his jeep key right!  No pressure here....I close the door to my sewing room for some quiet time and lay on the floor again looking up...I remember where the keys are!!  Almost bed time and I thank God above for making morning and night and that there is an end to each day!!!

Tuesday, August 10th...go to work with red swollen eyes...look and feel like death warmed over.

Wednesday, August 11th...go give blood...probably not a good idea in my physically run down state but I am determined to be a gold doner this year.

Thursday, August 12th..waiting on check...a peacefull day.

Friday, August 13th...go to meeting at quilt store..come home to Geico check in the mail.  I rush to the bank and almost pay off son M's car loan with the money...relief and sadness fills my heart...he is driving a hooptie now...life bites sometimes.

Tuesday, August 17th...work

Wednesday, August 18th...work

Thursday, August 19th...dental crowning day!  Ouch!!  I don't know which is worse the shots or the drilling noise that you can not feel but you hear in your mind!!!  :0  I am told I can not chew gum with the temp crown, or eat nuts, or chew crunchy stuff...REALLY!  What can I eat I ask???  Doc says our tongues are not smart enough to keep food on the left side of mouth...hmmm, I am thinking...how smart is my tongue??

Friday, August 20th...work at shop and I am a gum aholic...I chew gum on left side, eat a chip or two, and even crunch some nuts...feeling oh so smart tongued at this point till I bite my lip!

This is where the road of my life sort of smooths out somewhat and life picks up a normal pace....for a while anyway.  I go get my permant crown and it still fills like a fake tooth back there in my mouth.  Daughter R moved into her new apartment, only we did the move all on one really hot humid southern Saturday in September.  Well smooth for a few days anyway...

Friday, September 3th,  I work at quilt store....that afternoon Hubby J gets a call from son M at work that his car was knocking when he cranked it to leave work.  Why does stuff like this always happen on a Friday?  And, why does stuff like this always happen when I am at work???  We take oil and put in the car....nope still knocking...we go back with some gas thinking it is empty...nope still knocking.  We call in some experts for advice on engine knocks.  All the car people with the knowledge that we do not have, said chunk the car it is dead!  Ugh,  noooooo.....car sits at back of fast food lane for the Holiday weekend...I see a sign on the side of the road that says, "we buy junk cars for cash."  I call the number and Hugo says he can meet us there on Monday afternoon.  Hugo gives us $250. and hauls the car away....life bites sometimes...especially when son M had one more car payment to go. 

Life not only bites it can suck the joy right out of you if you dwell on the bad stuff that happens too much.  So, now J and I are back to driving youngest son M back and forth to work late at night....not fun...especially when we have to work the next day early!!!

Thursday, September 15th we went to the trial for the youngest theif that broke into our house, and me being a witness in the court room was the most heart thumping experience I have ever had in my life!  GUILTY!  Yep, the judge declared the young man guilty...so only one more trial to go for the break-in.  The other two young men involved pleaded not guilty too...really!

So, if you are still with me reading this oh so long sad tale of my Summer 2010...and your still awake, I bet you are glad I didn't give you the "venus" version of my story.!  hahahaaaa...time travel to the future...not for me...I am a one day at a time kind of girl forever more.  But, if I did time travel....I wouldn't go to the future I would to go back to the past and stay there forever...way back to when I was 6 years old and the worst thing to happen to me was loosing my skate key!  It just hit me....I  guess not much has changed...I am still loosing things....and crying!  Hahhaaaa...it is good to be alive at 55!

Life with a husband and 5 kids is a daily roller coaster ride!

Just one day of my roller coaster ride...just ONE day!

      Up...Monday, a new day!  So much to do and just don't know where to start! Spent time on pc, laundry, etc., fun part of ride where you see the scenery around the ride and it is going soooo slow.

     We get to going a little faster...Took daughter S to the Dr's office for 2nd immunization booster...lunch at Chick-fil-A...fun...weee...took a  sweet curve or two down memory lane at the pediatrics office of 33 yrs.
      Grocery shopping with daughter S where she works...loop-d-loop....whoohoo...she is a hoot at her work and everyone loves her especially the guys!  :)
      The grind up the ramp....back home...put away groceries...look at house...ugh   don't know where to start...so play in sewing room for just a few minutes....go start dinner....click...click..click...up the grind...you know it is going to get interesting in your gut..you just know it.
     The free fall....husband gets home...daughter gets home...son gets in a fender bender car wreck and flips out on phone....husband tries to help...husband and daughter fight out their stress....then mom tries to help son calm down on by saying your fine, car can be fixed, not your fault since car hit him and he will not get another ticket.  This is the part of the ride where I love to scream my head off in the noise and fear of the ride coming down....down...down...faster and faster....only I can not scream....husband is stretched to max too!  We eat in silence....all the while the phone is ringing off the hook with political calls....Ahhhhhh!!!!  
   Ride over...I am going to bed!
     

   

Savannah in July!

Savannah in July is HOT!  Yep, it is not just hot...it is swealtering hot...sweat running down your face into your eyes like you have been running for an hour hot.  But, we were just walking at a slow pace and finding every shaddy spot to walk in that was not in the path of traffic.  The city of Savannah is a treasure chest of fun things to do, see, and eat!

(date stamp is wrong by the way...ooops...forgot to reset the date)

     We had a wonderful time eating seafood, gelato's, drinking a beer or two, and people watching as well.  All together we walked over 6 miles in a two day period just meandering around the city!
   Friday's are the best for entertainment and food in the Market Square of downtown Savannah.  As we had hoped there was great performer singing the oldies of our youth.  We made our way to the Cafe and found a seat with a breeze to cool us off here and there.  The music along with great food and a Sweetwater 420 was reward enough for the hot walk getting there.  I sat and enjoyed every minute of it all, and watching the people walk by.  Now, anyone who knows me knows I have a bad memory...so, I decided to take notes in my little note pad tool in my phone!  Ha!
   Here is my memory in note pad...Listening to the Who and drinking a Sweetwater 420...ahhh...a breeze...a few more songs...ahh...a breeze....errrk!  Lady on bench on other side of greenery lights up a stinky long cigarette right in the air flow to my nose in that sweet breeze!  Yuck...few minutes later and air clears...Ahhh...cool breeze and I can breath again.  Ok, back on track...listening to music, eating, and cool breeze with a Sweetwater 420...mmm...Life Goes On by John Melancamp...how much better does life get than this!  I want to scream out, "sing on mister" but I knew the 420 was getting to me and sweet hubby would kill over of a heart attack instantly if I did such a thing. 
   Ok, let me set the sceen some more.  There is a man sitting on a stool with a guitar, speakers, great voice...accompanied by an older gentleman who has an electric guitar only it is not pluged to anything and his instrument is not playing (how do I know this?  not my first trip to Savannah) but he is sitting there on his stool acting just like he is part of this great sound and scene! :)  Ok, Savannah is known for it's share of unique people and it is REALLY true! 
    Oh, back to the scene...in the back ground of the singer is a big and long pepto pink fire truck from the top of it's ladders and bumper to bumper PINK...to the guys bunker gear and helmets... raising awareness for breast cancer...and as the singer on the stool starts to sing Joe Cockers song Try a Little Help From My Friends.... Savannahs Ladder truck #5 passes behind the whole thing with the guy in the box on top of the ladders waving his hand!  Try A Little Help From My Friends...how perfect....I love it!  So the night goes on and song after song we sit there waiting on the next breeze and listening to great music...another song by Gordon Lightfoot...what a great night but man is it really Hot in Savannah in July!!!

Sweet Rewards!

Every now and then I have one of those days where I feel like I am going to go stark raving mad about anything that comes into my path!  Of course I don't go crazy mad...but, with dealing with the break in, forms, and more forms, police reports, phone calls, and trying to find information for the forms, I could have lost it!

I was hunting for something that I don't even remember what now.  I seem to spend a big chunk of my life looking for something!  But, that is also a good thing about me...my memory is short..so I forgive and forget quickly.

 Anyway, I hunted all over my sewing room so it might have been something sewing related, or something that was filed away in this super packed room.  As I hunted and searched under this bunch of books, inside of all the drawers, behind everything, that is when I found it!  Not the item I was looking for...oh no, I found a sweet reward!  Yes, I found a York Peppermint Patty I had squirled away a few weeks ago and forgotten about.  Now I would love to tell you I found what I was looking for...but I can't remember if I did or not.  All I remember is the joy of eating that sweet Peppermint Patty!

Bet your wondering why I hid a York Peppermint Patty?  We have a candy moocher in our house!!  :0
Think I will go out and buy another sweet reward and hide it for another one of my mad crazy days...

The shock of a break in!

Yesterday was one of those days that started out well but ended in crazy activity, and emotional ups and downs mixed with crazy fear!  Having your front yard covered up in cops and their cars flashing their blue lights is not my idea of excitement. 

The morning was an easy one with me in my sewing room working on my Shop Hop quilt while the kids slept.  By early afternoon our teenage son and daughter were coming and going, to and from, with friends in the usual flurry of summer activity.  Late in the afternoon the door bell rang, Layla and Gracie were barking wildly and as I approached the front door I noticed it was two of my son's friends looking quite distressed and agitated.  The bigger one asked if he was home?  I said yes and at that moment the third guy in the drive way spotted my son coming from the back of the house.  The two boys ran off the front porch to meet the third and my son in the drive way.  So, I closed the door and locked it because I felt a sense of unease with their presence.  They apparently asked my son to drive them home and he told them he was not hanging with
them anymore and no he would not drive them.

A few minutes later my husband came home from work.  About 5 minutes after that our son came into our room and asked to borrow some gas money.   We talked about learning to budget his money then gave him the 10 with the promise he would return with a gas receipt and he left.  My husband goes to the kitchen and I answer the phone.

 My boss and I were having a quick shop talk conversation when I hear the basement door being bumped hard, not unusual for that sticky door.  I then hear it being bumped again and loud movement like there was a fight going on down there.  I get off the phone and run down stairs only to see that the basement door had just been kicked open and three young men running out!  I ran after them but two ran to the right around the house and the bigger one that was too large to jump the fence ran to the left through the gate. 

It was then that it hits me that I knew these boys as the three that had come to the door earlier and they were getting revenge or something!  I yelled stop and come back like I would have with any kid doing wrong at my house....expecting them to turn around and come back and say they were sorry.  I have been a mom to long...

But, these were good kids several years ago I was thinking, and we would have them over weekly to spend the night and have dinner with us.  It is then that it hits me we have just been robed.  They took my sons lap top, game system, and new Nike shoes.
I called the police in shock!  Then it hits me that I could have gotten hurt!!!  Now that is not a fear you experience every day.

To see the damage to our brand new door knobs, paint, and finished basement shocked me. To realize that they knew we were home and they broke in anyway scares the whits out of me.  To have to write a police report is tense.  To have your yard covered up in cops and their cars and linning the street in front of your house is stomach turning. 

That is one day that I do not want to live over.  It is hard to get up this morning and face the day...the shock of a break in lasts for a while.

The Walk

Every now and again I read a really good book that I must tell about.  The Walk by Richard Paul Evans is one of those books.  I put it on hold at the library months ago
when it first came out and just recently got my chance to read it.  Wow, it is one of
those books you simply can not put down.  Let me tell you about it...just a little bit.
I had The Walk for few days waiting for a good time to start reading it and my time came at 12:00pm one night when I could not get to sleep.  Joe was snoring away in
sleepy town and I am laying there wide eyed away and miserable.  I shook the bed and tried to get him to roll over to no avail.  So, it was time for me to get up and have a cup of chamomile tea, and read or sew.  That is when I remembered I had this great new book to read from the library!  Oh for joy!! 
   I started reading The Walk and drinking my tea and at 2:00am decided I was going to have to put it down and get some sleep because I had to work the next day.  It would not be fair to Tania to be a walking zombie at work.  Plus I work with rotary cutters and sleepy fingers do not go well with rotary cutters...I know this for a fact!  I am not a fast reader but at 2:00am I was half way way through the book and made myself put the book down, but my brain didn't.  I walked all night in my sleep...it was a nice walk too.

  Anyway, the book is about a man Alan Christoffersen who goes through some tough trials in life and decides to put it all aside and take off walking from Washington State to Key West.  While my review may sound boring the book is not and each chapter is full of verbal scenery and life lessons.  As I was reading and getting near the end I became aware the story was not going to end with this book.  I was left wanting more and to hear about the next town he was entering and the people he would meet. I will be watching for the next book in the series with great excitement!  Another great book by Richard Paul Evans!

Life's a journey...enjoy the ride!

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted anything! I hardly know where to begin...in the last two months we have spent weeks from sun up to sun down getting our oldest son's house ready to sell, and I am thrilled to say it was under contract within 24 hours of listing it!

He worked some crazy long days laying wood flooring, painting inside and out, bathroom make over, kitchen and lighting updates...the list goes on! We on the other hand were there for the barn rasing to be his helpers...we worked and sweated right along beside him till our feet and arms ached too...wouldn't change a thing...it was such a blessing to spend so much time with him! We now look forward to getting his letters and what great joy there is when we do!!!

Our son shipped out for basic training on April 24th and we are so proud of him even though our hearts are sad to see him go. He is now finishing up his third week of basic, as a college graduate at 32 years of age being surrounded by recruits of 18 and 19! It was a tough decision for him but with the job market the way it is, he felt there was little choice in the matter.

After that comes the maintenance upkeep on a house for sale, so we are constantly going out there and looking after his place. It is good to get there and see that all is well in his house, but after we see all is well comes the realization that he is not here and will not be back to this house again! Then we get sad all over again. This has been a huge roller coaster ride for us going out to his house several times a week, so we greatly anticipate the closing of his house on May the 24th.

All the while we have daughter number three graduating from high school on May the 26th. Now any Mom who has rasied a daughter and gotten one through high school in that last year... knows what a full time emotional job that is! Not the mention the expense of that last year of high school what with ring, pictures, cap and gown fees, senior dues, and all the T-shirts etc. that go along with this ride! She is such a joy and delight to live with and seeing her go away to college will be another bump in the road of life for me. So many changes at one time is hard on a mom for sure!
Isn't she beautiful! As pretty on the outside as she is on the inside...that is my daughter...I am so proud of her!

I kind of see life as a road with all of the physical aspects of a road...you have your super high ways, and back roads, pot holes, and mountain views...all of which bring on different emotions. You can go around the bend and right before you are three huge pot holes or over a hill and down below a beautiful pasture unfolds it's glory. Life has it's good days and bad days and they all go together to make a story.

Once I had dream about just this subject of roads and life. I remember there were these three pot holes ahead of me and I could not figure out how to get around them. I could see a road up ahead to the right with trees on each side that looked peaceful, and over the hill looking down I could see a beautiful blue lake. The road seemed to go right into the lake...now that part was a little disturbing to me. Still don't understand the dream or what it ment but I realized that life is kind of like that...so enjoy the ride...it may get bumpy with pot holes but there will be smooth paths ahead when life takes a turn and smooth sailing too I guess at times when you least expect it! :)

Life is indeed a journey ....so enjoy the ride!
Thanks for visiting with me today!

My goodies from the Shop Hop!

What a fun time that was going on the Shop Hop! I spent way more than I thought I would but look at all the cool fabric and goodies I got. I have plenty of neat fabrics for my Farmer's Wife Quilt now. The two days hitting all 11 shops was a blast...thanks Tania!!!

Post movie day out!

What a great time I had with my daughter at the movies yesterday! We loved the movie The Last Song! I cried and she laughed out loud, she is not one to cry at movies. On the other hand I am sitting there sniffing and wiping at my eyes with huge tears running down my cheeks.

The Last song is a gripping family movie with no bad language that I can remember and the moral side of it was pretty good! I would love to watch it again when it comes to cable....

This is a beach picture my daughter took and I thought it would be great to add since the movie takes place on the beach and really makes you want to be there.

The Last Song

Today is going to be a fun day! I am going to the movies with my daughter! We have had this planned for a couple of weeks. I love to eat lunch out as well, and going to a movie too is like over the top fun for this homebody. We are going to see The Last Song with Miley Cyrus, she has a great voice.

http://touchstone.movies.go.com/thelastsong/?cmp=mov_tch_lastsong_psg_title_the%20last%20song%20movie

Let you know what I think of the movie later. I know I will like it though because it is a Nicholas Sparks story right. My big thing I love to do is get his books as well as Richard Paul Evans books on CD from the library and sew while I listen. I recently ordered a Sandisk Sansa Fuze MP3 player so I can learn how to download them from the public library, how cool will that be! Anyway, not much sewing going on today in my little creativity room for I will be enjoying one of life's greatest pleasures....spending time with one of my children!!!!

Thanks Tania!

Today was a great day working with my friend Tania at the shop! I always seem to learn so much about how the shop runs from her, and have super fun while doing it. She knows so much about the pc too...course this new knowledge has nothing to do with the shop but it was something I have been wanting to learn! See, I have a background on my blog now!!!

The web site that I used to find my new background is www.thecutestblogontheblock.com and the instructions were so easy to follow. Now if she can help me fill in some blanks on my blog I will be oh so happy...like the big blue block beside my sister and I on the banner....Tania!!!

Today I also finally bought the most beautiful package of 1 yard pieces of fabric. I have had my eye on this bundle since the shop hop and it has the most lovely pinks and browns!!! Can't wait to cut into it...but first I will spend a few weeks just petting it and folding and refolding it....part of the joy of getting such a prize is savoring it first. :) I will dream for weeks about how to cut and piece it!

Thanks Tania...for the great information, for the fun day at work, and putting such a pretty fabric pack together....it was a great day!!!

Shop Hop Mania!

Wow! What a crazy few weeks this has been! I have never been so tired in all my life as I was the Saturday night of Shop Hop working 10.5 hours on my feet. I felt every bit of my 55 years that day.

Of course it wasn't just that Saturday that made me so tired. It all started with the Sewing Expo the week before. If you sew, you have to go to the Sewing Expo! Every creater's dream of toys to buy and look at under one roof!!! The biggest names in machinery are there with their top of the line machines. Every tool you have ever dreamed of using right before your eyes to buy on the spot. Too much for the senses of this sewing quilter to resist and yes...I did spend some money! Not too much of course...I only broke out the plastic once. But, I got little widgets, tools, and pretty fabrics to carefully put in my pink bag to take home and play with.

I stayed all day from opening to closing and hoped to win the prize drawing of a new sewing machine....not like I need a new machine though...I have too many already! It is the thrill of the possible win that counts! But, I did not win anything...I was not surprised really...I never do...but well worth the thrill anyway of waiting for your name to be called! I was planning to go back a second day with my niece and her daughter but I got called into work instead. That was a tough call for me and having spent all that money the day before. Tough call, I needed to work for my boss, but wanting to spend another day at the Expo with the girls!!! I love, love, love my job and want to hang onto it, so the job won out. I have never had a job I loved from the bottom of my sewing basket of a heart before...plus my boss is the best!

Well, from there life took a huge hurried pace getting ready for Shop Hop where 11 stores in the metro area all participate in a big shopping frenzy of a weekend! Where quilters from all over the southeast gather to try and hit all 11 stores to get the freebies, collect the charms, and get our passports stamped for the grand prize!!! All the while finding more pretty fabrics, books, and patterns to sew into beautiful quilts. I was working everyday helping in the shop all week!

I was cutting fat 8 packs as fast as my fingers could move, 1 yard packs, and what ever else M needed me to do. It was so much fun and excitement getting the shop ready for her big first time to do Shop Hop. My friend T and I took time off and participated in the Shop Hop Thursday and Friday running to all 11 stores!!! Weeee, it was so much fun seeing all these pretty stores and their neat selections of fabrics!!! So, by Friday night I was pooped out. Only to get up and be at the shop by 9:00am on Saturday for my big opportunity to be a part of the big shopping frenzy working in our store!! I had a blast with the stamping of passports and helping customers with their orders. By Sunday time to arrive at the shop I was in a quilting brain fog of a mind set...it was quilting overload!!! I was happy but had no energy to sew!!! Yikes, that has never happened to me before...too tired to sew!!!

So, yeah....it was what a fast paced, fun packed, body taxing, brain expanding, pocket book crashing, totally fantastic two weeks for me!!!! Let's do it again next year!!!

My sweatshirt jacket...

I love the daisy fabric in this jacket!!! When I made a quilt with it a few years ago with the Sunday Block of the Month club I bought a lot of it!!!

The seams are so easy to cut and yes, I saved the collar and sleeve ribbing...not sure what I am going to do with it...probably toss it in a week or two. But, I have to try and find a use for it first...

This is the back piece all whittled down to just a back in all of it's glory, where once it had been a part of a man's sweatshirt proudly hanging in the Walmart! Do you know how hard it is to find a sweatshirt after the Christmas season is over???

So here we have two sleeves and a back piece all cut out. They looked huge to me and I guestioned the sanity of buying a sweatshirt two sizes too large to start out with...Drats...where is my picture of the two sleeves???

The two front pieces! The teacher tells us to notice there is a front right and a front left...don't forget that one little fact along the way, ok! Keep in mind you will be wearing this and what loud stipes will do to your figure! :0

This is my one and only sweatshirt jacket I will probably ever, and I mean ((ever)) make! What a job....

I have little pockets though...so cute...this was all the fabric I had left of the the daisy fabric to work with....a real bummer!

Lesson number 1. Buy enough fabric in the beginning and don't assume you have enough, so....

Go back and buy more of that fabric! Oh, and don't use fabric you bought years ago for the main fabric...you will NOT have enough....well, you might... but I used some of mine in another project along the way of making this one jacket.

Lesson 2. Don't work on two projects at once! Because, you might be like me and see how pretty that fabric would be in the other project as well and assume you have enough for both...NOT!

You cut off the seams to make a clean sweatshirt fabric to start off with no lumps or bumps. If you are like me you will add your own bumps and lumps along the way..

You take the collar band off, the bottom band off, seperate the sleeves from the shirt, and cut down the side of the shirt as well as the center front. Yikes, it felt like I was ruining a perfectly good piece of clothing at the time. So, in the end you have two sleaves, two front pieces, and a back piece.

Ok, for anyone who saw my jacket (Tania) after our work shop...yes, I remade it! ahaha...not fun but I simply did not like the colors I had used, and after considering how much I had invested in this jacket... I decided I had no choice but to take it all apart and remake it. (not fun)

Anyway, as we started to make our jackets we were taking pictures as we went...then the sewing got more intense and I forgot to get more pictures. So, I will show you what I have and it gives you a general idea of how we made them.

It is a bit scary cutting the sweatshirt to pieces at first and then cutting all those little strips of fabric is a task. But, we cut...we sewed...and we laughed..we almost cried...we un-sewed...and sewed back...then ate pizza to regain our strength...jumped back into our sewing to get a sleeve finished, then two, and then the back. It was then that I stepped back to look at my jacket and went..."Ugh! What have I done!"

I realized in my frenzy that my colors were soooo not right. Plus, when someone would come to my table to see my work they would look for a minute..with that blank look on their face...as if to consider a moment and try to come up with something nice to say! Ya, it was nice but I and they know it was really ugly!!! lol

Lesson number 3. Pick out fabrics you will WANT to wear! Not just fabrics that go together...

I took it home and un-sewed almost the whole jacket and this is what I came up with the second time. Not exactly a thing of beauty but I will at least wear this one...well, I will wear it to places like the quilt store where I work and maybe to a cloth store....lol But, I LOVE THE COLORS!

Super Bowl Night!

Well, I have sat here and played on the pc for the whole super bowl night. Umm, I am not into TV sports and for me it is just fun to watch the commercials...that is it. I have watched most of them and laughed at a few. Mostly, I have really enjoyed the fun food tonight!

Thanks Joe!!!

Pooey, the game is over and they have poured the Gatoraide on the coach... pc time is over for me tonight. Can't say I have accomplished anything at all on the pc but I read some really neat blogs!! :) Etrade were the best commercials in my opinion~~~~I just love those little babies!!!

QuiltnDOLLMAKER....dolls???

Welcome to the new year! 2010, it seems so future-ish! I am not sure I am ready for this new year. Recently as I was contemplating my goals for the new year, I became too overwhelmed to continue. The realization hit me that I need another lifetime to get to all I want to do done. I thought about listing most of what I would love to learn and do just this year, but will not put anyone who might just read this blog through that boring list either. But, I will say dolls are a part of my goals for this year!


A very dear friend asked me recently where the "dolls" are that go with quiltndollmaker on my blog? Well, dear friend...dolls are easier to give away through the years than quilts...well my quilts anyway! So, all that I have left, I think, are the ones in my guest room. There may be some in the attic but... umm, that is another area on my list we will not talk about. You see, I also can not seem to part with any thing that might possibly be of use someday.


Anyway, I have made all kinds of dolls such as the Cabbage Patch look a-likes or sort of look a-likes...it was said that some of mine looked more like little fat old lady babies! I have created sock monkeys with the red butt and some without the red butt, that my son didn't like. There was a phase of making the stocking dolls with ladies hosery...now that was not a winter sort of thing to do with dish water dry hands...ewww...snag...a run in the upper leg area of your hosery is stopable with clear finger nail polish...but not too cute on a dolls face!


Oh, and my favorite was the Little House on the Praire dolls you see above that all my girls have played with. I plan to make my own version of these this year. They have several outfits and if you look close you can see the love they have endured on their faces. The rabbit dolls were a joy to make and creating the dresses were truly fun! The last one on the end was a doll kit, not so much fun.


Well, there are more I could talk about but this is what comes to mind off the top of my head. So, my dear friend I have now included the "dolls" part of Quiltndollmaker into my blog! Thanks for the encouragement and see you at the shop soon!


You know you made my day when you told me you read my blog...I thought I was the only one! =)