Fall is finally here!

Yes, it is that time of year when we get great exercise raking leaves...or I should anyway...I always have great expectations of helping my husband rake every year!  This picture is of a maple in my Dad's back yard next door... since we had most of our trees cut down this summer.  All old sickly pines that cost a fortune to get cut and hauled off. I could have taken them down myself when we first moved here with a steak knife.  But, wisdom is hindsight, and little old tree hugging me wouldn't let my husband take them down.  I felt the kids needed shade to play in to prevent them from getting skin cancer right! 

 Anyway, Dad's tree will turn the most pretty yellow orange I have ever seen soon!  I love the fall and what it represents to me.  I kinda think I am in the fall years of my life, if Winter is near the end of the life of course.  I'm not that old ...yet.  But, I do see myself as getting more colorful in my ways as I get older.  I have always been a brunet, then the gray hair started coming in faster than I could pluck, so I decided to go blonde.  After years of bleaching and now getting too old to care. I'm a shinny gray on top and kinda blonde a few inches down... not knowing exactly how one makes the change gracefully to gray...I'm a also few pounds heavier, not too many, but more than I feel comfortable with...so how did this happen??

I know it is just math with calories in and too many to burn, but I'm not eating as much as I did when I was 20 years younger.  Doctor says I need more exercise...I know...I know...but there just isn't enough time in my day for exercising with all the sewing projects I want to get done before winter gets here this year and in my life!  ;)

I'm back...

I have been busy adjusting to a new normal...but I'm ready to rejoin the world of the living again. More next time...

Just one little block please...

It's funny but here we are crazy in the middle of packing for our big adventure...and I'm in my sewing room!  Ha, just one little block...I just wanted to sew for a few minutes.  After all I'm gonna be on a quilting fast from my sweet machine for almost two whole weeks!!  My husband asked me the other day if I could make it for that long with out quilting?  So, I'm getting my fix...just one little block!  From the family room I hear him asking what's for lunch.  Times up....but Ha, I feel great!!

This is one of the blocks from the block of the month at Georgia Sewing & Quilting...pretty!

Our BIG adventure!

This has been one wacky few weeks preparing for our BIG adventure!  My sweet hubby of 28 years and I have been so busy all these years raising 5 kids that taking trips just the two of us was just not on the radar.

We took "family" vacations camping, to the beach, and mini trips to water parks and zoo's, etc.  When it was just two kids we always went to Florida for a week every summer, those were easy car trips.  When we went camping it was fun packing the back of a full sized truck...lot's of room there!  

Then came baby daughter #2 ... and our first used mini van.  Not so hard packing for two pre-teens and one tiny baby in an 8 seat van.  Sweet baby #4 came along with another car seat and two real teenagers with all their stuff!  At this point it was getting a little more challenging getting all our stuff in, around, and under the seats and two car seats of our old gray van.  We still went to Florida for a week that year...and one or two camping trips!  Shoot, we were getting the hang of this traveling with 4 kids thing so we took the ultimate family trip...we went to Washington DC for a whole week!!  We rode the Metro...saw the sights...and never lost a one of them!

Along came baby #5 with two fully loaded teenagers and two very busy toddlers!  We went on one tent camping trip from H--L!  It rained the entire time and packing back up the now double cab truck with all the soaking wet gear, clothes, sleeping bags, and kids...all the while keeping up with two toddlers...it was a challenge my sweet hubby has not forgotten and still refuses to plan a camping trip now because of.

Well, many many years later the little kiddies are all grown and it's quiet here at home most of the time...I say most of the time because we still have one failure-to-launch son at home.  

Recently sweet hubby and I ...sitting on the front porch swing watching the cars drive way too fast down our street....decided we were going to take the trip of a life time!  I went online and learned all about booking flights and bought our tickets...took me hours!  My fingers were shaking when I clicked the purchase button.   I have never put that much money on a credit card at one time in all my life!  We emptied the money jar we have been saving for over 26 years...we rolled every quarter, nickel, dime, and most of the pennies.  For two weeks we sorted, counted, and rolled coins...till our fingers were black!  Yes, money is very dirty!!!  We found several wheat pennies and one Indian head nickel in all that money not one rare coin.  This is a picture of the jar when we were half way through and the count was at $875.  I have no idea why this section is highlighted...looks like I know what I am doing huh?

We shopped for luggage...two trips to Ross to purchase and two to return the bags ....we ended up buying online finally...hopefully we have found bags that will fit the 22" x 14" x 9" flight restrictions thanks to
eBags.com.

Then began my struggle...I wasn't packing a van or a truck...I was packing for 11 days in one tiny bag and all my lotions and potions have to fit in one quart zip lock bag!!!  Please...I am over the 50 hill and slip sliding to 60 and I need my lotions!!!   

We spent this week getting our Last Will and Testaments made...another one of hubby's ideas!  I think he wanted to cover all the bases and finally get me to accomplish this dreaded task once and for all.  For years he has wanted to have a will made up, but when it came to the part of who to leave the kids with we always came to a screeching halt because who did we know that was as crazy as we were to want 5 kids anyway!

So what the heck is a "testator"???  

For two weeks now I have been trying on clothes to see if they still fit and packing and unpacking my bags trying to get it down to just the bare necessities of life.  By the time we actually climb into that limo...yes, I said "limo"...it was hubby's idea to ride to the airport in a limo sedan...only at 6:00 am who will notice!  Neither one of us wanted to drive to the airport, nor did either one of us want to leave our vehicle there for that long a period of time.  Haaaaa.....anyway, I am proud to say I think I have actually accomplished getting my bags packed and ready.

But, I know me and about half way to the airport I will remember what I forgot to pack... as if it would fit anyway....

"IT" happens...

Blogging has taken a back seat to the many things going on in my world here of late.  Not that I don't think about it...but with my parents (both in their 80's) living next door, a retired husband, college age daughter coming and going this summer, a teenage son struggling to find his way into manhood, and me deep in the grasp of middle age...well, I just get side tracked too easy these days.  So, I decided to look in on my blog and as I was skipping about I discovered I had unfinished drafts.  Now, it is possible that I did finish it....but since I didn't see it in my list...I'm finishing it now before I get interrupted again.

Yes, the "IT" of life happens to me all the time! 

Yesterday I was in one of my super creative energy spurts.  The house was quiet and all mine for a few precious hours...just me and the girls (dogs) Layla and Gracie.  I made me some hot chocolate spiked with instant coffee which could have been my motivation, ya think!  With the cold rain it was more of a curl up with a good book day.  But, with the caffene pumping in my veins I went straight to my sewing room, turned on all the floresent lights and put my foot to the pedal.  First I finished my fourth purse!  Yes, fourth purse in two weeks...I was so afraid to cut into my South African fabric that came with the kit that it took me 3 bags to gain the confidence to tackle this beautiful fabric.

  The "It" happened in my purse passion to finish the last bag.  I was feeling a little too confident in the process that I wasn't looking at the instructions anymore.  As I was pinning my outer edges I realized something was missing...the strap...turned to look for it and discovered my iron laying on it's face!  Yikes...dang..."It" happens!!  I am the only person I know that can blow up a Pyrex dish, stumble UP stairs, and nearly slice off a finger with a dull knife, and wreck her own car in the carport!  But, the truth is I have done all these things and more!  I am not known for my graceful movies or ability to eat fine pastries with a small plate and cup balanced in my lap.

Oh, well...I did try to fix up the pressing mat with various hair brained ideas I could come up with and in the end just put a new cover tacked down around the edge.  Life is Good again in my sewing room!

Today was a great day!

Had tea in bed.
Got my work out in.
Fixed Moms lunch while Dad was out for the day.
Had a great lunch with my hubby.
Quilted much on a project that begain way back in 1995.
Had an afternoon smoothie with hubby.
Roasted hot dogs out side at Dad's fire ring and talked till darkness fell.
Sitting on sofa with hubbie blogging while he watches baseball....

String Quilt Fun!

     The retreat was sew much fun! I sewed for a total of about 40 hours!  Meals were provided and no house work to do.  We could stay up as late as we wanted and sew...the last night I crawled into bed at 3:30am. 

     I went through two full spools of 500 m Guterman thread, and emptied 7 completely filled bobbins.  I got an email from our host that I won the bobbin contest!  Yipeeee!
      
   We had a Jelly Roll quilt race contest, weee... me an my tiny cheap Brother machine...came in third clocked at 39 minutes and a few seconds!  Ya, a complete quilt top done in less than 40 minutes!!!

  I also completed two Just For You quilt tops, my blue n white block of the month, and  34 blocks on my string quilt.  The totes of scraps kept getting tossed in my searching the strings which made the totes look even more full when I packed up to go home!  Yikes!  I think they are still reproducing in the dark!

    We visited two fun quilt shops and I bought fabric I don't really need but I had that strong urge of "regret fear" if I didn't get that 30 piece fat quarter pack and pattern.  I know me and if I didn't get it right then and there I would spend twice that amount trying to find it again! 

  So, all in all I would say it was a wonderful quilt retreat weekend to remember!  But, I still have two full buckets of string scraps!!!

Home Sweet Home...

Sitting on the back porch with my hubby talking! :)

Blue Ridge Quilt Retreat!

I am having sew much fun creating a scrap string quilt!  This is my play station!  My friend Tania is sitting across from me!  Life is good!! :)

Tea Party at the Quilt Guild...

     I am not a lace, hats, and gloves kind of girl so I was hesitant about going to Quilt Guild this morning.  This month was a the big tea party and I was thinking wearing jeans and sneakers might be a problem.

     So, I sat in the parking lot and waited to see how some were dressed.  I was filled with joy and jubulation as I saw Debbie, a who's who in our area, walk in wearing jeans!!  "Yes," I said to myself, "this is where I belong."

     We had a great speaker from Qnntv.com, shared fine teas, and many beautiful show n tell quilts.  I bought several dollars worth of raffle tickets and won two bags of goodies!  I showed my Atlantic Flyaway quilt and received a pretty little red ribbon!  It was a good morning!!! 

Fabric scraps reproducing!

It seems as though my scraps are breading in the night like a bunch of mice!  I can't seem to get ahead of them!  Ugh, but I will find the guilty male in my bunch this coming week at the retreat and sew him into a quilt!  Ahhaaahaaa!  :)

Spring is on it's way!

Dear hubby and I just got back from a long walk.  The air has that sweet spring smell.  The warmth of the sun on our backs. Life is good!

Crazy Love

     All the kids came home for the holidays and we loved every minute of time we could spend with them!  Then in January the sweet local quilt store job I had ended with the closing of the shop.  It was a down time for me for a few weeks.  So, as usual I got busy in my sewing room...should have been cleaning house but since the dust waits on me so sweetly I decided to play first...I so enjoy sewing!

     But, just as I was getting into the hang of not working and having a lot of free time...my Mom had to have cancer surgery on her face...poor thing.  She is still here in body and laugh but her mind has slipped away over time this last few years.  Dad had his hands full caring for Mom and, since I live next door, I was called upon to lend a helping hand quite a lot.  Not a problem for me since I had all this free time.  :)

   About the time we got Mom on the road to her normal life again, Dad gets a cyst that had to be removed on his back and finds out he also has a navel hernia!  So, here we go again and Dad goes to the hospital.  Another week or two of trotting next door morning, noon, and night.  LOL  But, it's ok since it was what I signed up for when we encouraged them to buy the house next door.  I am so very thankful that I am not having to make the long drive to help care for them where they used to live.  Dad just called and said his visit to the doctor went well and he is on the road to wellness again!  Yeah!!  Not a day goes buy that I don't grow a little closer to my Mom and Dad...they are 82 and 83 and still very much in love!  Recently Dad showed me some old pictures he found cleaning Mom's closet.  Inside the envelope was a love letter Dad wrote to Mom before they were married...such a sweet treasure!  He still has that twinkle in his eye as he looks at Mom now after being married for almost 60 years.

    Our oldest son is a wonderful young man with so much love to give.  No he is not perfect but almost in my eyes.  I want him to be happy and find someone to love with all his heart that returns that crazy love.  When he was growing up somewhere in his late teen years I would walk out into the drive way as he worked on his cars and often the song Crazy Love would be playing on his radio.  So, today as I was on the way back home from the dentist I heard Ray Charles singing his song Crazy Love and once again my heart and prayers go out to my son.....

Crazy Love
I can hear her heart beat for a thousand miles
And the heavens open every time she smiles
And when I come to her that's where I belong
Yet I'm running to her like a river's song
[Chorus:]
She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love
She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love
She's got a fine sense of humor when I'm feeling low down
And when I come to her when the sun goes down
Take away my trouble, take away my grief
Take away my heartache, in the night like a thief
[Chorus]
Yes I need her in the daytime
Yes I need her in the night
Yes I want to throw my arms around her
Kiss her hug her kiss her hug her tight
And when I'm returning from so far away
She gives me some sweet lovin' brighten up my day
Yes it makes me righteous, yes it makes me feel whole
Yes it makes me mellow down in to my soul

Skating till I am 80!

These are my Dad's skates from a long ago time.  They have been sitting in my attic for at least 25 years because that is how long we have lived in this house.  Now I know about in line skates because most of my younger kids have had a pair and I even tried them on once and took them off quickly before I broke something and made me feel my age.  But, recently my daughter said she was going skating and wanted to know if I wanted to go along.  I am only 56 I thought to my self...sure I know I can still skate!  Ha!

She got to the house a little early and I was just coming down from the attic with Dad's old black skates.  The sad part is my Dad's skates almost fit me.  There is room for me to be able to wear two pairs of socks.  They had been in the attic for so long the rubber padding on the inside of the tongue had dried up and cracked.  I had to use a knife to scrape it off.  But, once I made sure there were no spiders inside and the rubber was shaved off the tongue I tried them on and I decided to go back to the future and visit my childhood one last time...because I knew I would probably break something and never skate again.  Life is meant to be lived right so go for it!

When we got to the rink it felt exciting because there were a lot of people from all walks of life and age groups.  I can do this I told myself.  We put our skates on and stood up together...I with wobbly knees she straight and strong.  We walked on the carpet to the wood floor and it looked shinny...too shinny and slick to me...not a soft fall at all.  I felt a little scared to step onto the floor but it was too late to back out now.  We rolled slowly to the middle of the rink where it looked less crowded.  I could not believe how wobbly I was.  But, I was thrilled to be up and rolling along.  After several songs I realized there were muscles I hadn't used in years in my legs...screaming muscles...shaky muscles!!  I was raised on skates ...from the time I was about 4 years old I could skate.   Wow, it felt really good and as the evening progressed I got my confidence back and was crossing my feet...feeling quite good about my accomplishments.  It had only been 20 years since I had skated and I could still do it I told myself at just 4 years away from 60!!!  I should have gotten off the floor then!

The next thing I knew I was kicking my feet forward trying to get some kind of traction on the oh so slick floor and feeling myself going down...big splat!!!  Oh, that sound...was that just the sound of my ample butt hitting the floor or of broken bones too?  My daughter turned around and was heading back to me quickly to help me up.  All I could think of was get up before you cause a pile up.  I was up and rolling around the floor with a feeling of knowing I was not broken but would definitely reap the  pain of the fall for weeks!
That was an understatement, everything from my shoulder to my rear end felt it had shifted to another place it was not supposed to be there.  My legs cramped all night long!!

It has been almost a month now and I am back to feeling myself and I think I would like to go skating again!  I know I must be crazy and going through a mid-life moment or something.  But, inside I still feel so young and alive and there is a part of me that just doesn't want to accept I am getting older.  They say age is a mental thing and if it is I may still be skating in my 80's!

To mirror or not to mirror....

Ok, I bought this cute little book on Amazon and I love the patterns! The quilt store where I work did a whole year of classes and meetings to sew on this cute little book, which I attended for all of about three months till it was obvious to me my brain was lacking in a few departments. I had bought a boat load of fabrics to sew this quilt and have indeed made about 16 of the cute little 6 inch squares.  But, oh..my...goodness...has it tested my patience and brain cells!!  First the book only has template patterns in it and of course I just had to learn to paper piece to do it "right" like everyone else was doing it.  That meant buying the companion CD that only works through EQ6. After getting it set up and actually sewing a few it was clear to me that I did not have a brain wired to paper piece the traditional way.  Just can not do it...my brain can not translate the triangles and which way to cut them to make them lay in the right direction and cover that teeny tiny little shaded in paper piece going the "right" way!  Ugh!!!  Frustration set in and I simply put it in a drawer where I couldn't see it and tried to forget the cute little book...

Almost two years later my sister decides to start hanging with the girls on Pizza N Patchwork night at the store.  Wow, she says ...that was great but what was that lady working on with the cute little book and squares?  I just love that she says... and I want to learn it ....over and over...and I was forced to deal with the cute little book stuffed deep into that drawer, way in the back.  So, here I am all set up again and fortunately the lady at Pizza N Patchwork has a new revised method of paper piecing which I CAN do.  I am feeling accomplished after having done a couple of blocks that look "right" for the most part.  Well, now it is time to deal with the printer on my own in EQ6 printing the cute little paper piecing patterns myself. I have been told to do it right you must mirror image the pattern.  Ok, that can't be that hard right?  I pecked around at a million buttons and found the mirror button....Print....out comes the pattern all perfectly in mirror image!  And for the life of me it is like De Ja Vu or how ever you spell it, but my brain does the "can not compute" thing on me again!!  Grrrr....  So, I have just made the not so "right" decision that I do not give a monkey's butt about whether my cute little squares from the cute little book are mirror image or not!!!  Ahhaahaahaa....mirror or not to mirror....I just put the cute little book and it's cute little printed images in the back of the drawer again...

Oh for the love of the digital generation!

I love this digital generation!  As a mom it is the answer to staying in touch with your children through out the ups and downs of life on a daily basis in the blink of an eye.  I don't know how I did it before the world of texting.  Looking back at this past week I have been able to chat back and forth though out the day with all of my kids.  It's been a tough week for one of our daughters and sons this week with breakups and the mostly downs of married life, and one daughter who experienced an earthquake!  My heart breaks and aches for them and I wish I could fix the wounds like I could when they were little with a bandaide, kiss, and a big hug.  Not so easy any more now that they are all grown.  They have lives of their own and they must steer their own course in life.  I see my self as a tiny little light house now only there to comfort and look ahead of the storms with words of comfort or advice if they want it...not to be in the way of their own choices.

As a Mom I want all my kids to be happy...what Mom doesn't.  But, life is not always "happy" since we are dealing with human beings, and there will be ups and downs in life no matter what since we are human.  I do however take comfort in the power of prayer in these times.  My kids are spread all over the US now with their jobs.  I can not visit with them in person like I wish I could, so I text them to let them know I am here for them and will support them in all of their life choices and decisions.

So, to the brains behind the digital generation, "I love you too, :)" and thanks for your contribution to the world of motherhood, you give us arms to stretch around the world with (((hugs))) and love for our kids at a moments notice in these oh so busy times of their lives.  <3

My first days of school...ground hog day!

Nothing strikes fear in my heart like the first day of school...whew, I said it! I could never utter those words for over 33 years because as a parent I felt I needed to set a positive example. Well, those days are over and I can speak my mind now because all my little kiddies are all grown up.

Don't get me wrong I loved the excitement of getting new dresses...it was in the 50's remember with patten leather belts that were all made to fit a very round figure first and always needed to be taken up by extra holes punched in the belt by my Dad. I can still hear him sigh as we brought him all our pretty little pink, yellow, red, and blue shinny little belts! Hehe, thanks Dadddy!!!  New shoes, pretty pencils, and shinny brightly colored notebooks were all very exciting and fun to pick out...but in the back of my mind fear would peer out from behind the over stocked school supply store racks.

Anyway, the fun part of getting all the new stuff aside, the new day of school jitters were a very real horrible fear for me. I can can still remember the bus seats that were so big and slick that it was hard to stay in my seat on those bumpy turns and stops while trying to keep my breakfast down...then walking into the school and down those super long crowded halls heart pounding walking into the class room as everyone looked up to see who just came in! I still dread walking into even the dentist office as everyone looks up to see who just entered...but there is no growing up and out of that experience.

So, there I am looking for a seat...putting my new stuff into the desk...sitting down with fear stirring my guts into mush as I try to size the teacher up as a nice person or a witch that wanted to make sure I hated the year. Fear and worry dominated my life as a kid with school, fear of failing and worry that I would fail were my constant companions. I still have bad dreams of forgetting a test or loosing my way trying to find my classes.  I was so painfully shy for so many years, then my teen years hit!  Ha, still shy for the most part but I got to the "who cares" state of mind and by graduation it had spilled over into my grades as well.  But, I did graduate and at that point in my life decided my first days of school were over forever! 

Funny thing...I can not remember any part of my second grade year except that I hated every minute of it.  I can not remember anything past the door to that room.  I truly do not have one memory to lay claim to that whole year of my life!  What an amazing thing the mind is to wipe the slate clean of our most uncomfortable memories. 

As I was walking through Walmart yesterday, with all the Mom's and Dad's last minute shopping for school supplies, my mind was thinking and reliving the pain of those first days of school every year and my heart felt for all those kids....wonder how many were like me with fear on their faces as they approach that first day of school yet again!

So many thoughts in the day...day dreaming!

It is Tuesday, very hot with a high expected to reach 98!  Ugh, and tomorrow is expected to get to a scorching 100 degrees!  How is anyone supposed to get anything done in this kind of melting heat?  A trip to the car...that is sitting in full sun in the driveway...is enough to melt a person, but sitting down in that oven on wheels is just enough to make you want to go inside and tell the family tonight we are dinning on peanut butter and jelly crackers because Mom is a wimp and didn't want to brave the heat to go get groceries.  I love it living in the south but the older I get I question this decision not made for me when I was just a crawling baby. 

When I was about 9 months old my Dad moved the family from Arkansas to Atlanta for a better job.  I do agree with that part...life for us was good growing up!  But, as an adult I had the option of dreaming and moving to see the world and find a place with better climate.  I really wonder on days like this just why I didn't set my goals on living on the beach at least there is a breeze...or in the mountains where there is always a cool morning and evening.  It was 87 degrees when we went to bed last night!  I know...we tried sitting on the porch swing sipping a glass of wine...I am a wimp that doesn't like to sweat.  Then why the heck am I living in the south I am wondering today?

Dream on I tell myself because to move would require us to have to clean out the basement and the attic...let alone move all the stuff in my sewing room!  Oh, that is a dream stopper right there...eeeerrrrk!

Love my Brother 770 embroidery machine!

This is one great embroidery machine. A bump up for me from my Brother PE150 machine.
It has a very tidy LCD screen that is so easy to navigate around. I ordered it from Amazon because the shipping was free! :) 

It has a needle threader!!  A wonderful, wonderful needle threader..do you know how many times you thread the needle with all the thread changes?  Some designs have 10 to 15 different color changes!  Threading that needle begins to get old after about the 5th time. 

It automatically cuts the thread after each thread color change!  Love it!  I can just snip the thread at the spool and pull it out...walla!  What a time saver...

When I mess up and it happens, like when a thread breaks, or I mix the colors up and have to back up...it is a breeze to do on this machine with the color or stitch backwards and forwards buttons.  It will even jump through the colors in a design and go back to a color for any reason.  I feel like I am in heaven with the options on this machine compared to my PE150 machine...a simple USB stick transfers my designs from my pc to the machine, plus it even uses my Ultimate Box memory cards...not to mention the great designs that are built into the machine!  There are more great features but these have been my favorites so far.

I have already put this machine to the test with several orders from the store where I work!!  One right after the other the quilt labels sewed out beautifully.  Yep, this was a good decision and almost paid for...Life is sew good!

It is Thursday...and I am ready to play!

Have you ever just sat and thought of all the things you want to do?  Of all the things you want to learn?  Of all the things you need to or have to do?  This can make a person crazy I have decided...stop thinking.  I rarely think like this...now I know why.  I tend to just piddle through my days...doing what has to be done first and then letting the mood take me from there, which is usually into my play/sewing room...for as long as I can get away with it. 

As I sit here in my sewing room I notice the quilt I loaded onto my frame a few days ago waiting on me to make up my mind on the pattern to quilt.  There is a colorful pile of scraps in another corner that are begging to be formed into a quilt top of random colors with no rhyme or reason to the order...they are scraps and they know it!  I have my Embird tutorials laying out open just waiting for me to dig deeper into my embroidery software discovering the little tricks of the trade my brain is begging to try out.  I need to clean up the mess I made embroidering out two names for a customer at the shop, who is making stockings for her family..I am now wondering if they are good enough for her since she said she has a bunch she wants to make!  Cha Ching!!!  Oh, and lest I not forget the two blocks of the month waiting for me to finish on the other corner table...there is not one corner of this room that is not calling me to come play.  I am happy in here...

But, I do question my life or lack of it sometimes...a customer said the other day, "well I do have a life outside of my sewing room," she said she was telling a friend.  Which made me question if I do?  I have a great husband and he really wants to travel a lot and we could be since he is retired but we have one big stop in the way right now...a teenage son still living at home that does not have a car but finally has a job!  So, we are stuck grounded for a while longer till we can see him take flight...or has to be pushed out of the nest!  As a result I am home a lot waiting on the call to be a taxi service again.  This too shall pass and when it does I hope we are still young enough and able to get in the car and go to our dream destinations.  Key West please don't go away...

I am the mother of five kids I know they eventually do fly out of the nest..some sooner and others much later.  But, it gives me a little bit of a concern when he seems this content to not look over the edge of the nest and wonder about the great big world out there or if he could fly on his own yet. 

Oh, I can't think about this now or I will go crazy...Scarlet you are so right!

So, for me it is better to just piddle through my days for now and be thankful for it...playing when I can in my sewing room ....doing what has to be done to keep the house in healthy living conditions with it's occupants full and happy!  Hey, maybe that is why he doesn't want to leave...hmmm

Motherhood is a blessing!

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world....   In support of
 http://www.themotherhood.com/
and ONE week!
http://one.org/blog/2011/07/08/one-act-a-week-watch-economist-esther-duflos-ted-talk/

I found TheMotherhood a couple of years ago by accident and I love this site!  It is just for Mom's supporting Mom's in the most important job in the world...MOTHERHOOD!  Being the Mom of five children, three of which are adopted, this is a subject very close to my heart.  Also, having one child that has been sooo hard to raise with many very hard and down times, TheMotherHood has been there for me to spill my joys and heartbreaks.  I know, some people say that it is weird sharing your soul with an internet friend you have never met in person.  But, not so...there are times when I need to write my thoughts just to see what my thoughts are... and I needed to share them with someone who would care with out a bias one way or another.  The Mothers on this web site have been there for me and through them I have gotten some much needed support and prayers....real help in my time of need.  They shared ideas, and points of view I needed to look at as well as experiences from their past and part of the world!  So, having these internet Mom's friendship has been a real eye opener!  Just like their mission to help Mom's around the world with ONECampaign!  Love these ladies, friends, Mothers!!!

Here is the description of ONE Week from the ONE website:

"African women are leading a movement. They are the driving force behind Africa's economy, and mothers in particular have an enormous impact on the future of Africa. ONE Week is a weeklong social media event following 10 bloggers making their way through Kenya with ONE from July 23rd-30th to see what life is really like for moms in the developing world. We know not everyone can go to Africa, but through daily email updates straight from these moms, daily actions tied to their trips and access to experts who can explain the key issues these women will see firsthand, you can follow their journey and share this information with your community - for ONE week. Together we can shine a spotlight on the success and challenges that accompany the fight to end extreme poverty and preventable disease around the world. Get educated, engaged, and activated. Use your voice on behalf of the world's poorest. It just takes ONE mom."

It Just takes ONE mom....

My royal crowning day!

     It is 7:50AM on this hot sticky Wednesday morning in the South!  I am thinking way too much about the dental apointment I have today.  I have to get a dental crown in the back of my mouth.  I really just want to wish it away and do something more fun like picking blueberries at high noon in this stiffling heat. 

     We have been picking berries for days and days now...sweating profusley in this heat...we now have a freezer full of plump deep blue blueberries!  Yummy, and oh so good for you too!  Blueberries are one fruit that can be pesticide free with no problems from bugs here in the south, but the birds here must be organic, they love them!  We have two fake black snakes in the bushes to deter the birds...ummm, tell that to the one that built a nest smack dab in the center of the bushes this spring and dared to pick our noses off when we got close to her nest!  Her babies got wings and flew off while we were on vacation...thank goodness!  But my Dad who lives next door, decided while we were away, that adding tape cassette ribbon to the bushes would help keep the birds at bay.  So, far I think he may be onto something with all his flashy ribbons tied to the tips of the bushes blowing in the gentle humid breezes...until I get stuck in one reaching for that thumb size berry way up high!  Did you know that cassette tape ribbon sticks to a sweaty arm?  Yep, and when you pull it away it feels very much like a spider going down your arm...but, we don't have birds in our bushes, threatening to attack us, and pecking out the seeds in the center of the berries to poop out on our cars!  lol

    I wish I knew someone who wanted to come over and pick blueberries....I am tired of picking them....oh, yeah...I just remembered I have my crowning today!  Ugh....

ahhh...the house is all mine for a few minutes!

Wow, this is great! The hubby took youngest son M to a job interview...and all I hear is the humming of the air conditioner. So, I will take a deep breath and relax sewing on my Blue Beauty quilt with it's most challenging lay out with directional fabric. I will post pictures soon...it is going to be a hard one to hang on to...not the case with most of my quilts due to the ugly factor...more about that later. Time to sew...Ahhhh, I love a quiet house a rare thing with five kids, two dogs, one retired hubby, and parents next door.

One fine May Day!

o

I needed a day like today to just float through the hours with no schedule. To play with my new phone toy from sprintpcs. I am loving this HTC Evo so much better than my last phone. I can web surf, check my email accounts, and best of all I can even blog, post, and twitter where ever I am! No more being tied to my pc when the mood to write hits. Now if only I can learn to use this fancy keypad...ummm, and how in the world do I get this video to turn up on it's right side??? 

Anyway, when daughter S was home this past week she needed to uprade her phone and guess who got sucked into the excitement of all this htc Evo phone can do. Then I spent my whole paycheck getting the upgrade too!  Bad part is my poor hubby had to go without phone service for 24 hours for me to get MY upgrade...don't ask how...they figured out how to make it work at the store since I wasn't eligable for an upgrade till 2012!!!  Nooo, I can't wait that long...oh, you say my hubby can upgrade?  Hmmm, let's do it!  So, the thanks go to daughter S for encouraging me to get what I really, really wanted to get for so long now...a phone that is like a little pc for the nerd in me to build more brain cells.

Post note...ummm, do I sound a little evil or what in my video?  hahahaaaa....the sky is the limit with what a small home town mom can do now!  :)  This is ust my first video...woot woot!  :)

Friday's Expo treasures!

Oh, for the joy of sewing!  How can I be so blessed two days in a row to get to spend so much time at the Expo and with my sister!  Yep, my sister is getting back into sewing and crafting and it is so much fun watching her find fun crafts to play with.  She has been setting up her craft room with her husbands help these last few weeks!  So, we walked all over the Expo as she stopped at each booth and I explained a little about what they were selling.  She always says she is part racoon and I believe it...she spent most of her time and money in the crystal booth with those tiny little stones that glitter...I call bling bling.  She got a bejeweler tool and every color of the rainbow stones!  It was so much fun watching her discover the whole big world of really cool sewing tools and patterns on the market...oh, for the joy of living!!  Ummm, I found a few cool toys for me too...a cute bag with all kinds of zippered pouches inside, crochet tool set, DVD for the creative feet I bought years ago and never used because I don't know how to use them, a project bag pattern, and cute zippered project pouches with the Expo logo printed on them in sweet pink colors..for joy...for the joy of sewing!!!

Treasures from the Expo!

Oh, the fun...so much fun!!  Left the house on time and even got my McD's biscuit...yummy!  Met with my long time school friend, two of her daughters plus a mutual friend for the Original Sewing and Quilting Expo to shop and shop all day!  We hugged, and spent a few minutes catching up, then we started the hunt for the perfect border for her pretty quilt!  Funny thing when your hunting for the perfect fabric for someone else you find all kinds of fabrics you want to buy!  We never found the perfect fabric for her but I did find a lot of goodies for me...a few cream fat quarters and a couple of perfect greens to make a copy of a quilt I gave to my son..a package of the batting tape I saw recently in a magazine...you can use it to piece together pieces of batting! I found two $4 quilting books...like I need more.  Oh, and 1/2 yard of some batting to make pot holders with...a project I have been planning for a few years but keep forgetting to get the batting. We were all pooped out by 4:30 so we sat and talked till the big prize drawings at 5:15.  I wish I had put a bogus name on my ticket...I think I would have a better chance at winning something!  Still, I felt like the big winner for the day getting to spend several wonderful hours with such great friends!

Original Sewing & Quilt Expo!

Yeah!  The day has finally arrived for the Expooooo.  I am soooo excited because one of my wonderful friends from my youth and 2 of her daughters will be going with me!  When we break for lunch my middle daughter will join us...this is going to be great!!!  Plus tomorrow I am going back to Expo with my sister.. days of pure joy!  I am so blessed...I think I will even treat myself to a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit with a small cola from McDonalds!  Whoohoo~~~In the words of Betty and Wilma, "charge"!!!

Life's up's and down's along the stream of life...

Often times I feel like a fallen leaf in the stream of life that floats along bumping into the rocks and limbs of troubles along the way.  We have five kids and each one has it's problems to deal with. For one this week it was car trouble...another it was relationship issues...another is out of work and no direction in life...or financial issues.  As a mom I want to fix it all and make it all better...like when they were little kids with a skinned knee and it was fixed with a bandaide, hugs, and kisses.  Mom used to say to me when they were all very young , "be thankful for these simple fixes now because when they get older it won't be so easy"...she was right.  Wish Mom still had her mind so she would be able to sigh with me in understanding... 

   I don't really have any answers for my kids in these troubled times except to offer prayers and heartfelt hope for the future.  We are a strong family even though we are so spread across the country now that they are older.  The one with relationship issues will either work it out or call it quits...this one bothers me most.  The one with car troubles will find a way to get it fixed.  The one with no job and no money will hopefully get one very soon.  We will get through these troubles and this leaf will float back into a smooth part of the stream again someday...

   Many, many, years ago I used to keep a journal and I learned during those years that when these troubled times come....look to the future and dream!  That nothing stays the same in life either the good or the bad.  That prayers really do bring answers and hope!  "And it came to pass," is a line in the Bible that is repeated many times over.  It came to pass is repeated in my journal not in those exact words but in the wisdom I gained for dealing with life issues.  I know in my heart that better days are ahead even though I can not see them now.... 

   And it came to pass...or float along....

Sew much to do and so little time...

Life has been crazy busy this last few weeks and my blogging has fallen behind again...I am not surprised at myself...I seem to have more trouble staying on task the older I get. 

My family is famous for our piddling around the house and doing a lot of this and that and not getting a single thing done to speak of.  Only, lately I have been spending huge amounts of time in my sewing room. I must be feeling time passing too fast and fear I am not going to get it all done.  Ummm, like it HAS to get done! 

The projects are all in my head and no one is pressuring me to accomplish anything.  But, like one lady at the quilting store I work at recently said, "there are no quilters coming up behind me."  I feel that way too and panic a little as I look around at my many WIPS...or Works In Progress!  At last count there were more than a dozen or two perhaps.  Oh, is that so many really I ask myself?  Yes, I quietly agree....So, I am blistfully again in my sewing room about to work on my Sassy Sixteen quilt all the while listening to another of Richard Paul Evans books I rented from the library. 

Perfect timing on my part since the winter snow storm blew in last night...Ahhhh, so with that I am again...content in my little sewing room piddling.....

This is a beautiful winter storm but it comes with bad timing unfortunately.  Today was supposed to be my daughter-in-law's moving and packing day and tomorrow I was supposed
to meet the movers at my son's storage unit to get all his stuff
packed and on it's way to Hawaii.  P and T worked really hard to get it all scheduled and planned out with great timing between my work and hubby's job too.  But, it's ok because in life these little things happen but it seems to always work out somehow.  I know this and I am told this but I still have that little worry thing going on in the back of my head...moving on to my piddling quilt project and listen to Promise Me on cd....

Life is a journey, enjoy the ride~~~
Quiltndollmaker....

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!