State of Our Backsides

Well....I am a dingbat! All day yesterday I was composing my post concerning my backside....after all, it was NOT Weds. At least that was my thinking until this morning when I realized it was Thursday. Hmmmm.....that means yesterday was...OMGOODNESS WEDS! So a day late but still as necessary, my state of my backside.


I'm quite sad to say that the SOMBS is awful. I haven't been exercising regularly since before I went to Ohio. Sickness, travel, retreat and life has interferred. I also have been struggling with my diet. I haven't gained weight but my pants are not fitting the same. This week I began again with earnest on the exercise portion. UGH! I'm sore. I exercised hard Mon. & Tue. , and rested yesterday. Today "Body Jam" is on the agenda. I figure if I get the exercise back under control then next week I'll revisit the food issue and get back on track.


This is where you come in. Write a post concerning your weight loss/healthy life journey. Add it to the Mr. Linky below and you will be able to inspire others. You never know how your words, efforts or methods will influence others. Join us in getting healthy.

When you add your link to the Mr. Linky code, it needs to be your specific post. To do this, click on the time in your post (at the bottom). It will say something like "copy link location". Copy that and paste that. Mine is http://http://morahquilts.blogspot.com/2008/01/state-of-our-backsides.htmlNOT http://morahquilts.blogspot.com/. If you post a link to your main blog, then when others go back later in the week to read your report, they're going to come to your latest blog entries. Please post the link to your weekly progress report! Thanks!!


I hope you decide to join us in the SOMBS silliness. As I've said in the past, I'm very selfish and this one day of healthiness chatter inspires me to go on for another week without visiting Krispy Kreme! I am determined to lose 20 lbs by June. I lost sight of the goal for a while but am beginning to see a checkered flag again.....waaaaaayyyyyy offfffffff in the distance.

Retreat accomplishments

This is the UGLY table runner I finished at retreat. I didn't get a picture of it with the binding. I was so THRILLED to get it out of my house that I practically threw it at my daughter. I told the retreat ladies, "the first one to enter my house and claim to like this thing gets to take it home." My girls couldn't say "I want it," fast enough. They are obviously seriously lacking in decorations to need this thing. Ms. A got it. Mrs. S is getting another, custom made for her, so I suppose that means that Ms. A is truly the desperate one! LOL!!! This is a project posted by the Happy Zombie. The Happy Zombie has a gallery for these table runners....I think I'll pass! It is also the table runner that an online group I belong to has chosen as its January project.
This, on the other hand, came out sooooo cute. I love it, it took about an hour to fuse, quilt and bind. It comes from the book Special Occasion Wall Hangings and I love nearly every pattern in it!

I also finished one and one half tops. Pictures after I quilt them.

Home

I'm home from retreat and had a marvelous time! I actually accomplished a lot and feel great about it! I'll post more about that later.

Saturday night we celebrated our 25th anniversary with our kids. I didn't want to do anything fancy or outrageous so Mrs. S and Mr. FancyPants said they wanted to take us to dinner. Now all was planned for two weeks ago but DH was very sick and we ended up cancelling. We couldn't imagine, and complained wildly about it, why we needed to go out at 8 pm. It was so late. We pulled up to the restaurant and there were Mr. & Mrs. plus Ms. A and her boyfriend. We were so surprised. They had driven in from Austin just to have dinner. It was just lovely. It was perfect and exactly the way I wanted to celebrate. Here we are just laughing and enjoying ourselves, waiting for a table. It's hard to tell that the guys were actually having a good time!

This is just a great picture of the girls and I . I don't remember the last time we had a picture together.

It was a great, unplanned weekend and we had a ball. More about retreat, complete with pictures later.

Retreat prep is not good for my machines........

Anyone that has been lucky enough to be reading my blog for the last year may recall that I had machine troubles just before retreat last year. I blogged about it in many posts but these two will allow you to get the drift.

http://morahquilts.blogspot.com/2006/11/sniff-sniff-bad-news-sniff-sniff.html

http://morahquilts.blogspot.com/2006/12/ongoing-saga.html

Well....this year is no different. First I hit the coffee bean. Although they cleaned the machine and called it all better, it's not. (this is not the store that I bought the machine. Just closer to me)The bobbin tension is still off. I tried to fix it and in the process messed up the top tension! Not quite defeated yet, I took out my travel machine and just in case checked the tension on it. Now I got rid of this as a full time machine because of tension issues. I could not get the tension right. I completely fell apart. I mean come on! I'm leaving at 7 in the morning! You know, I'm good in a major crisis. It's the little things that do me in! In the meantime the quilters ESP kicked in and all of my friends called and offered to let me use their machines. I was totally ready to go in the backyard and eat worms when I decided to go to Hancocks and just buy a new machine. So here is my newest baby. It's a Janome 2139N. My girlfriend said it's very similar to her Gem Gold.It was not expensive at all plus there was a 10% off coupon. It covered the tax! It doesn't have a blanket stitch but I'll just have to deal with it. It is justified because I will use this for all of my charity quilting and retreats. I have all the attachments since I've always owned Janome or New Home. My huge lucite bed fits well enough to use. All in all it's a good thing. Not too good for my monthy quilting expenses but I will use it enough to make it worthwhile. Have a great week! Don't have too much fun without me!

No pictures, no purchases, no finishes.....

Well, I've finally been a good girl! I'm so busy getting ready for retreat that I haven't had time to buy anything! No buying. No creating. I did make a number of kits to take with me to retreat. I won't count the yardage until they are finished.



My sewing machine, although nice & clean, isn't working right. I'm very upset because I won't be able to take it to reatreat. URGH! Luckily I have another machine but I don't want to use it to finish up something as important as my pink and brown log cabin. That means I need to cut one more project so I don't get bored.



Final tally this week...

1. nothing bought


2. nothing used


3. two table runners, a table runner kit, a wallhanging and a lap quilt cut and ready to go

CHAOS AND FRUSTRATION

This is my baby. I take good care of it. I clean it and oil it regularly.

This is my sewing room....on a good day. I don't take good care of it. I abuse the counter tops, the floor, the shelves. I do however, no matter how messy, know where things are. I, for the most part, know what I own and exactly where to find it.

This is the coffee we drink in our fancy schmancy coffee pot. We use whole bean and it comes in this really nifty plastic type bag.




This is a kool-aid bag. The pouches are made from the same type material as our coffee bags. I've made plenty of these little purses. AHA!!! In one of my more brilliant moments, I decided that I could make a tote bag from the coffee bags. I've been saving them for about a year now. I have had quite the collection.





This is why I was so, SO annoyed on Sunday when I

1. decided to clean up the little things hanging over my head. I finally put a label on Mrs. S's chuppah (wedding canopy)


2. cut out table runners for my upcoming retreat


3. grabbed the 10 or so coffee bean bags to finally make that tote bag

Why all the lead in. Well, I am not the most patient person. While sewing this little tote together I realized that there were a few coffee beans that I'd sewn inside the bag. Not to worry, I won't hit those beans with my needle........YIKES! I hit a bean. I bent a needle! Put in a new needle and trudge on. This time I hit a really hard corner seam and SCREEEEECH! My machine did that Gatling gun thing. When I tried to run it again I got this noise, this rubbing, grinding type noise. OH NO! WHAT DID I DO! I tried to find the source of the noise and the best I could come up with was the bobbin case. Monday morning, in a panic, I called the closest Janome dealer I'm willing to patronize. My dealer is 3 hours away. I drove 40 mins to the shop, described the problem and went home. The dealer said she thought it was the bobbin case. OH GOODY! I HAVE AN EXTRA BOBBIN CASE AT HOME! Off I trot to find my bobbin case. HEY????WHERE IS THAT THING? I KNOW I have an extra. Now my room didn't look like the above picture all neat and clean. It was a mess, I was working! I went through everything. I KNOW IT'S ON THE SHELF OR AT LEAST IN THE DRAWER ON THE SHELF. No luck. Frustration. FRUSTRATION! I'm going on retreat next week. So what does an impatient, very annoyed and hyper girl do? I tore my room apart! I was convinced it was behind the shelf. I removed everything, broke the shelf in the process and .....NO BOBBIN CASE.

This is the part of the mess I made .....looking for ......

This little tiny thing!

I KNOW IT"S ON THE @*^#$* SHELF! Two days later, I found the *^*&%&% thing. Where? On the shelf, in the drawer......under a package of needles! OMG! It was EXACTLY WHERE I KNEW IT WAS.... where I looked three times BEFORE I destroyed my room.....I just didn't lift that little package of needles.

What did I get from all of this? A much cleaner room. A new respect for my quilt shop owner. She delivered my machine back to me as she needed to come to my town. (BTW, all they did was clean the thing. I must have gotten coffee dust or oils in the machine. I haven't tested yet but they say it's fine.)

I threw away the rest of the coffee bags I had. And I got a brand new trash container..... Obviously, the tote bag idea flew out the window after the Gatling gun sounds. It's not even finished....it'll stay that way!

The State of our Backsides....

EDIT EDIT EDIT

Well, I am happy to say that my selfish nature is paying off. By talking publicly about weight loss, I feel the pressure of others wathching me. I feel others watchin me and I don't want to gain weight. Unfortunately I've been fighting illness for a week now and haven't exercised much. If you click on the above you'll see the chart I keep on exercise. The dancing cannot be judged in minutes. We take a lesson on Weds. and go out on Fridays. Let's just say I sweat! (you can tell I don't feel well as I didn't go to dance last night.) Also I changed my ticker to reflect my re-losing the same 1 1/2 lbs. I gained.

Join us! Devote an entire post, or just a portion of a post to your efforts at weight loss, exercise, being healthy...Here is how to do it. Once you have your post written and published use the Mr. Linky thingamabob to point us to the specific post.AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!WRONG! Publish your post. Then go to the "edit posts" page. Right mouse click on the title of the post you want to link us to. Hit "copy shortcut." Then go to the Mr. Linky area on my blog and paste the link.

I made a mistake here. This is the way that Judy explained it on her blog. When you add your link to the Mr. Linky code, it needs to be your specific post. To do this, click on the time in your post (at the bottom). It will say something like "copy link location". Copy that and paste that. Mine is http://http://morahquilts.blogspot.com/2008/01/state-of-our-backsides.htmlNOT http://morahquilts.blogspot.com/. If you post a link to your main blog, then when others go back later in the week to read your report, they're going to come to your latest blog entries. Please post the link to your weekly progress report! Thanks!! Sorry for copying directly from Judy but it seemed the most efficient method to fix my error.

It may seem like a small or unusual thing to do, linking all of our efforts together, but you never know who your words will affect. You never know if your bit of effort is just what is necessary for someone else to continue on their journey. You never know if revealing the fact that you struggle is just what is necessary for someone else to realize that they are not alone in this very difficult undertaking.

Stashbusting efforts

(Notice I'm using caps again?)

I had to redeem myself after such a poor showing in the self control department. Today I bound not 1, not 2 but 3 quilts!! WHOO! WHOO! WHOO! Not only that I moved 3 UFO's to the finished column.

This one is one from our charity group. We call ourselves "Strips and Strings." We are working along with the Heartstrings Project. (URGH! I deleted it and had to reload which means you can't click on it!) This was my first foray into the longarm. I did a panto and decided I much prefer free motion (see below).

This quilt was started last year at retreat. Many of the girls at retreat made blocks. Our charity group made additional blocks and assembled. It was quilted by a very nice member of the Heartstrings group...I just don't remember who! If you are the quilter and read this, let me know so I can give you credit!. It's a good thing I finished this because this years' retreat is next week!

And last but not least, my baby. My proudest quilt. I don't know why exactly but I am very thrilled with this one. I think it's because I

1. had help purchasing the fabric but NO help with placement, problem solving, and pulling from stash. I even made one border, rejected it and replaced it with another. TOTALLY not like me.
2. used nearly all of the green and white boot fabrics. Each has about a 6" square left. If you look at the border, you'll see that there wasn't enough green for the entire border. Had to use the white. Had to figure it out on my own! Then I was still about 3" short so had to add one of the 6" squares to squeak by and get the length necessary.
3. I longarm free motion quilted this.
4. I finished in one month. World record for me!
   

The quilt is not wavy, my holder is sick and not happy to be holding today! The colors on the closeups are more true. Notice the words I quilted in. I took a little detour in my life's journey this summer and fall. I wasn't sure which path I'd end up on and am pleased to announce that path looped around back to where it should be....only better. You don't need to completely understand this however, this became my "healing" quilt. I quilted in words that are meaningful to me. Most of them are in the busy boot fabric because they are nobodies business but my own. The ones I wanted read, I put in the borders.



This is just a closeup of my best flowers.

my stashbusting efforts........

(notice the lower case, whispering , head hanging in shame title.....)

NOT! YIKES! I'M OUTA CONTROL!!!!!!!!! Gosh, I have been dreading this post............Ms.CCCat gets me in more trouble! Yup! That's my story, that's my excuse and I'll use her as my scapegoat! Hey! I feel better all ready. Ya see, she is the queen of discovering inexpensive fabrics. S he was at Hobby Lobby and I made the fatal mistake of calling her at precisely the right moment. She was buying name brand fabric for $2/yd! You better believe I cleaned up my classroom but quick. Good thing it was quitting time or those kiddos would have wondered what that dust streak was that lead to my car! After some pre-shopping sustenance, she took me back to HL. Notice I said back....she had already visited the cutting table once.....(Oh yeah! If I'm going down, I'm not going down alone!) I'm won't tell how much we bought or what I spent so let's just say there were quite a few cardboard bolt casualties on the floor around the clerk. 2$/yd for Northcott fabrics...my fav! How could I walk away? Also, no kidding here, I hate making a pieced back. A few pieces ok. But to practically make a large block quilt on the backing is not my idea of fun. If I can have some large pieces to chose from it would so add to my sanity. Plus, after my "using the last oooch of fabric for a border" problems on my boot quilt, I would love to have enough yardage for borders. Now I have been dreading making this post. Ms. CCCat wouldn't have told on me because she doesn't have a blog. But Ms. FudgeBuckets already tattled on me in her blog so I had to come clean. Sheesh! With enabling friends and tattling friends a girl could lose her mind! So in the true nature of an addict, I take no blame. It wasn't my fault. All my friends were doing it and I couldn't be the only one just standing at the cutting counter! My name is Morah and I am a fabric addict!

State of Our Backsides

****edit at the end
Ladies (and Gentlemen if you're reading), it is nearly time for the State of the Union address. I would like to present the "State of Our Backsides Address." Right now, before you read any further, I'd like you to stretch around, twist your waist and look at your backside. Do you have to twist very far or can you just move your eyes from side to side to see it overhanging off of your chair? Do you walk into a room and the door hits you on the backside? Does your backside look suspiciously like your favorite quilting chair? Our passion, the thing we like to do the most in the world is not very conducive to a small backside. The extent of our activity is pulling out the checkbook to buy more fabric. We sit for hours at a time. We stand (occasionally) for a few minutes to iron, then go right back to sitting. I propose that we start our own Backside Revolution! (No, that doesn't mean jumping from side to side and calculating how long after stopping your feet, your backside will stop wiggling!) Let's get in shape! Whatever that means to you. If that means losing weight, lose weight. If that means exercise, exercise. If that means eating healthy, eat healthy. YOU know what you need.

I have lost some weight and you have all been so supportive. I get emails every day that say, "I need to lose weight too," and "I really need to exercise more." Ya' know what?! You can do it! When are we going to realize that our backsides, and frontsides,and weakened hearts and flabby muscles are limiting us, shortening our lives and cutting down on the time we have to use up our stash!

Now before anyone thinks I'm preaching, I'm not. I'm a very selfish person. I need help and I figure the best way I can do it is to involve others! I haven't weighed this little since I got married. I MUST maintain this at the least and lose an additional 30 lbs at the best. I NEED SUPPORT. Plain and simple. Selfish, selfish but.....I figure if we do it together, we can be cheerleaders. Sooooo.....I've set up a Mr. Linky thingy like we use for Judy's stashbusting reports. Because I could only use certain names, I had to call this the Weds. Weightloss report. Here is how it will work. On Weds. we will post our "State of My Backside Report." It doesn't need to be fussy. You can post your exercise for the week or weight loss. Whatever works for you. Remember, many of us belong a quilty blog groups and you'll still need to maintain the quilty content that is required from your group. I checked with Judy before I began this and have her approval.

Now,I know this is Thursday but I really don't want to wait until next week to begin. This will be a short week.

My report is that I must be honest and change my ticker to reflect my weight. I gained 3.5 lbs by not exercising and eating poorly over the holidays. SO I am off to change my ticker....(head held low and really, really mad at myself!) JOIN IN! DON'T LET ME DO THIS ALONE!! I'LL POUT! I thank you for joining in, my husband thanks you, my backside thanks you and I'd imagine the people that walk behind me thank you!

Figured out I posted the link incorrectly, have corrected it below....We will not be called Weightloss Weds. This is the "State of Our Backsides" Report. Sorry so many time to publish post....got confused!

Award

Ya know, it's fun to blog. I'm always amazed that other people are interested in my drivel! Therefore, it totally thrilled me when Ms. Susan of DesertSkyquilts sent me this award. I feel like I'm a queen for a day!

The awards rules are: “Give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel so happy about blogland! Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so that they can pass it on. Beware! You may get the award several times! :-) "

Now, I don't really converse with most of the bloggers I read. I send comments, but to actually converse, no. I think most of who I would send the award to would say 'HUH, who are you ?" So, Oooooo, please don't be upset Ms. Susan, I'm am not going to send this on. I really, really enjoy all of the blogs I read and for all sorts of different reasons. So, if I regularly leave you comments, know that I do so because I enjoy your blog. I come back again and again. You all inspire me, keep me quilting and make me want to be a better quilter. Keep writing, posting, and taking pictures and know that I love this whole blogging business. If you are reading this and know that I comment to you regularly, take the award and pass it on. You all deserve it!

Today is the Day

Happy, happy to us! It's hard to believe. 25yrs...WHERE did it go? What is on the agenda for this most auspicious day? Work, a funeral, charity quilting and then the big celebration....dancing lessons and Whataburger for dinner! What a day it will be! LOL! Actually, yesterday I finally got a hold of the Rabbi and scheduled a date to have a religious marriage ceremony. We were married by a Judge and I've wanted a religious ceremony. Because I didn't plan well, we aren't doing it until late Feb. It feels kinda weird as I just did this whole wedding thing for my daughter. I don't need to fluff and mushy stuff, but I want it to be nice.....I need a chuppah! I don't have the time or inclination to make one but don't want to use Mrs. S's..........I have alot to do in a few weeks. I need something to wear....I need refreshments....I need a wedding ring! LOL! (mine lost a few little diamonds and I've been looking for a new ring. I'll need to pick up the pace on this one for sure!!!) AHHHH! What was I thinking? I've wanted to do this for a few years now but keep backing out. I now know why! Later, on a less crazy day, I'll post some pictures of DH and I. Today I need to fly.

Quilt quilted

........and now you have to wait for me to bind it before you can see it. Just let me say, a bit of tension trouble, one potty break and 4 hours and I have a quilted quilt! One eensy weensy problem. One of us measured wrong....the backing fabric was 1/2 " too short......AUUGGHHH! Like Ms. CCCat says, I'll never do that again. It seems I only gave extra to the top and not the bottom. I'll try to have it finished by Weds. but I'm giving no promises.

Since I like pictures when I read a blog I'll leave you with this. Can you guess what I gave almost 10 yr. old Cheergirl for a gift?

I LOVE the internet and digital cameras. Aunt M. can stay in touch just like I'm there! Cheergirl got a manicure and I got a bunch of incredible pictures! Love it!

This ain't workin' so well

It is January 6th. I have two resolutions. Buy less, spend less and stay in shape (I need to get back in shape as vacation and illness kept me from exercise for almost 4 weeks. I've only gained 4 lbs and will change my meter if it doesn't come off in a few days....I was on vacation......). I am failing miserably on the first. On New Year's Day my friend called and asked me if I wanted to go to Joanns. She bought nothing, I bought fleece. I hate buying fleece! But MIL, FIL, & Ms. A are CRAZY about crossword puzzles. I saw this and HAD to make something. There was only enough for one tied blanket and a pillow (good thing for my checkbook!). On the plus side, I finished the blanket and will mail it Monday.

Then, I tallied my UFO's. I decided that in order to finish the pink and brown log cabin I started last year, I would add two more rounds to make bigger blocks rather than make more blocks. That requires a bit more dark pink to keep it looking scrappy. Plus Hancock's had cutting tools on 1/2 price and I needed blades....and the circle cutter as I can't make the small circles on my thingamabob cutter that I can't remember the name of. I've already bought 2 useless rotary cutters in order to use this thing...one wouldn't allow me to cut the arc without gouging the plastic of the thingamabob and the other made too shallow of a cut and the blade didn't reach the fabric. (In defense of the circle cutter purchase, I am beginning to be more selective in the use of my wrists. I've had arthritis since I was 16 and my weakest spot is my wrists. It is hard for me to cut too much with scissors. I'm trying to find another method of cutting yo-yos.)

Then, I ran out of my Aurafil thread. I love this thread. It has lasts and lasts. Well, the shipping was the same whether I ordered one spool or a couple. I am planning on making machine appliqued table runners and wall hangings while at retreat and the 28 wt. is supposed to look very nice on a machine blanket stitch.

Didjya see my total? In one week????!!! I only hope DH doesn't read my blog! I really haven't spent much on quilting in the last 6 months of 2007 but in one week! After making a resolution!?!?! I still need a few more pinks but may just make due.... oh WHO am I kidding!? (the only thing that may save me and keep me from buying more fabric is our rinky dink town and the fact that there is nowhere to buy the tones I'm looking for. The one shop that does sell the right tone is taboo.)

On the UFO side....I finished three things that have been in my drawer for over 2 yrs. They aren't much but they are done. I actually made all 4 of the coasters but was using one when I took the picture. The pouches only required the zippers and side seams finished.

All in all I suppose that I didn't really buy anything extravagant or outrageous except the circle cutter but I can make a real case for something that saves my wrist. I did finish 3 UFO's, quilted two quilts, started and finished a fleece blanket, and finished clue one on the Quiltville mystery... all in one week. I just am glad I've decided to work this summer because this not buying fabric and not spending money is very expensive!!!!!!!

Fun? YOU BETCHA!

Not only do I have a great family, I have a great group of quilting friends! One of my friends, CCCat, recently bought a long arm machine. She has graciously allowed me to learn to quilt on it. Yesterday I quilted one of our HeartStrings quilts, start to finish....I needed to warm up for my boot quilt. When I went home last night, I practiced "quilting" patterns. The pajama quilter recommends practicing on a white board. I don't own a white board, but I do own a 6 ft. mirror. I put it on my table and doodled away! Here are my practices.

CCCat does own a white board and I practiced more there....
This is the picture you are waiting for.....my quilt on the machine. We spent 5 hours working today. Together we set it up and I quilted. It is just over 1/2 done. I don't know how long

was actual quilting time but we only took breaks to roll the quilt, wind another bobbin, have one bit of trouble with the a knot and have a standing snack of nuts. We won't win any speed races but it's tons faster than my home machine. Also, she has only had her machine since Sept. and this is the 3rd time I've ever touched it. Yesterday was the first time I'd even been exposed to loading the quilt so I was still learning/remembering today.

I don't know what in the world I was doing with my chin, but I must have been concentrating like crazy! It's funny, the movement of long arm is exactly like the movement of pushing the quilt around on my home machine. If you are a competent home machine quilter, you will more than likely be able to use the long arm.
Here is a closeup of the quilting. I tried like crazy to not have to move this so you could enlarge it but no such luck. I inadvertently deleted it and had to move the picture after it reloaded. The pattern seems to be the one I resort to when I can't figure out what else to do. I did however, learn a new flower, wrote words in the quilt and have mastered the leaf! That middle flower didn't come out like I'd hoped but it still looks good kinda wonky.I'm going back tomorrow to finish and once it's bound I'll show the entire thing.

Family

I don't know that I've ever posted a picture of my in-laws. I thought I'd share this one because it came out so nice. My in-laws have been married nearly 52 years. We actually both come from families with marriage longevity. My parents were married 35 years before my mom died. My one set of grandparents 50 odd years and my other 35 before my grandpa died (they had both been widowed with children when they married). Both of DH's grandparents were married over 50 yrs. and my in-laws 52 so far. The fact that we are going on 25 was never unexpected. It never occurred to me that we'd do anything but remain married. We've had our moments of total love and devotion..ahem...but neither one of us has ever even suggested throwing in the towel. It just never occurred to me that I'd be anywhere else.

I wish I'd have taken a good picture of my dad while I was visiting, but I didn't. My dad is NOT photogenic so the very best picture I have of him is from Mrs. S's wedding.

I just love my family. For all their quirks, foibles, "pita"ness, and just plain weirdness, I wouldn't trade them for anything. Why so mushy? Holidays of reflection always remind me of what a lucky, lucky woman I am. From my husband, his family, my family and our family, I am a very lucky woman.

Happy New Year

Happy, Healthy New Year to everyone! We spent last night with Mrs. S and Mr. FancyPants just playing games. Do other families still play games?? We played all sorts of board games while at my in-laws house also. I love it that our children enjoy spending time with us. We spent the last two weeks with Ms. A and last night with the Mr. & Mrs. There was a time when they were teens that I wasn't too sure about them but the 20's seem to suit them just fine.

I finally finished clue 1 in the Quiltville mystery. Man I'm slow! Others are already panting and waiting for the next clue. Not me. I'm shouting SLOW DOWN from my little corner of the world.