What's Happening (a list)

1. I've been sick since last Wednesday. Upper Respiratory with horrible cough. Haven't been to doctor because cough is productive and doesn't keep me up at night
   
   
2. Had my last class on my quilt. I lacked having 48 squares done, so I didn't have to arrange my blocks, but it actually turned out better for me. I had a great time.
   
   
3. Voted
   
   
4. Pants fell down in quilt class, fortunately I was standing behind everyone and no one saw. Can't figure that out. New pants, smaller size. Haven't lost any weight.
   
   
5. House is really dirty. Cobwebs on the ceiling. Thread and scraps of material every where. Dust on lamp shades. Too much quilting, not enough cleaning.
   
   
6. I had to really hold back at the quilt shop today. They had so many new green fabrics. It was heaven to my eyes. Oh to be rich enough to buy all those beautiful fabrics and to have maids so that you could spend all day quilting. (I've been designing the perfect quilting room in my head, lots of sunlight.)
   
   
7. Bought my flower seeds tonight. I can't wait to scatter them around into the garden. I grow mostly zinnias because they are hardy and the butterflies love them.
   
   
8. Looking forward to spring.
   
   
9. Looking forward to some novels that will be published in April.
   
   
10. I have been thinking about how blessed I am with the people in my life. I have some of the best friends a person can have.
    

That Warm Feeling

I love that warm feeling I get when I finish a good book that has a lot of heartache and troubles but ends up happy.

I just finished "The New Year's Quilt" by Jennifer Chiaverini. She is such a great storyteller. Her Elm Creek Quilts novels are very entertaining and full of quilt lore and history.

Fabrics 7 and 8 Have Bloomed

I have until Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008 to finish all my squares for the Blooming Nine Patch quilt as that is my next class (and last class for this quilt) where we will learn how to put the quilt together.

I have been sick and unable to work on it as much as I had hoped. I did manage to get Fabrics 7 and 8 done and I'm cutting Fabric 9. I figure if I can get 9 and 10 done tomorrow, then I could work on 11 on Monday night and 12 on Tues. and Wed. Then all I will need to do is count my squares again and go to class. YOW, I hope I can get that done.

The layout is getting to big for the floor or my design wall, and I cannot get a good picture of how it is blooming out right now. I am a little frustrated by that because I enjoy watching the way each Fabric changes the look and feel of the quilt.

The instructor for this class said there were two important things to making this quilt. Organization and understanding the cutting chart. I have something to add to that list ... have lots of bobbins full ahead of time. I had six bobbins ready to go when I started. I have already used all of those and six more. I'm not going to start another Fabric until I have wound at least 8 more bobbins.

So Long Thaggy, You Will be Missed

My youngest just found his Greek Tortoise, Pythagoras "Thaggy", dead. It is so upsetting.

We don't know how long he has been dead. It is hibernating time and the tortoises are not very active right now.

The burial will be tomorrow.

I hate it when we lose one of the turtles. It seems to throw off the balance of the house.

So long Thaggy, we will miss you.

Finally - On February 17, 2008 - I Finished a Book

I finally read a book this year. "On Strike for Christmas" was a silly little book whose characters did not engage me, but I read it any way because it made me laugh.

There have been a lot of books by my bedside since Christmas, and I have read at least a paragraph in each of them, but I just could not find anything that fit my mood. I think they were all too depressing.

I have been really stressed about not reading. I usually read at least one book a week, along with magazines, and the newspaper. But since the beginning of the year I have been in a non-reading mood. I cannot remember the last time I read anything but the comics in the newspaper. My magazines are about 2 months behind, and the books are just piled up on my bedside table. Nothing has grabbed my interest.

I'm hoping that this last batch of books I checked out of the library will be just the jump start I need to get back to reading. If not, then the next time I fill out a survey, I guess I will have to take reading off as one of my favorite hobbies.

It is All so Horribly Sad

Yesterday my youngest was making a family tree for Spanish class and we were looking at pictures of Raymond to place on the tree. My mom mentioned that she only me Raymond one time. That statement really floored me.

My mom and Raymond loved each other. He used to tell her that he didn’t know what a real mother was until he met her. I remember him asking me to make arrangements for her to come to the house so he could say goodbye to her. He told her how much he loved her and thanked her for all she had done for him and us. She totally collapsed the day we went up to tell her he had died.

They were so close that I used to get mad because she always took his side in any disagreement. Now she can’t remember him.

With her losing her memories of Raymond, I have lost the one person that remembered my entire life with Raymond. I have no one to laugh with over things that happened during our years together. She was my one big connection to all those years.

It is all so horribly sad.

I Do Not Know How to Teach "Man Up"

"Man Up!"

That is what I felt like saying to my oldest this weekend. We were working on a task and he was performing the task, but he seemed to be complaining more than I wanted to hear. I had to stop myself from screaming “Man Up, your father never complained.”

I did stop myself, but I still wanted to say it

I doubt he was complaining as much as it seemed. After all he does everything I ask, he works hard, and he really didn’t understand exactly what I wanted done, even though I had explained it the day before.

I think my aggravation with the whole thing comes from my insecurity of my parenting skills without Raymond here to talk over what steps need to be taken to raise the boys. I am worried that they are not learning the skills they need without Raymond here to show them. I try. I have had my oldest work on small plumbing issues, hang shelves, and help with other small jobs around the house, but he is a long way from having the skills Raymond had, and I have limited skills to teach him and his brother.

How will my boys survive in the real world of owning a house?

Will they remember what a wonderful husband their dad was and how they should treat their wife?

I don’t think I am up to the task of teaching these boys how to be men,

The EWWW Factor

There is a man that I know that gives me the ewww’s. He just really creeps me out. He has been giving me the creeps me out for 14 years, but now that Raymond is gone it really bothers me.

This man likes to stroke my hair, my arms, and my back. No touches have been to an inappropriate place, but it is still creepy.

This is not a person I can get out of my life. I can avoid him as much as possible, but there are times when I must be in contact with him. I usually try to keep items in between us, like car doors, tables, other people, but sometimes he just appears behind me and starts in with the stroking.

Over the weekend he snuck up on me startling me. Once again he started in on my hair. My oldest was there and he said that he thought it was “creepy.” I found that interesting since I have never discussed this issue with him or his brother.

When Raymond was alive he found this man’s attention to be funny at first, but later it started getting on his nerves. When he would see the man coming he would warn me so I could go hide out. Now that Raymond is gone, I never let this man in my house when I am home alone.

This man is married, has children older than I am, and probably has no idea just how much his “attention” bothers me. He really seems to think I would want his attention.

I just had to get the ewww onto paper because I still have shivers over this last incident. I really have no idea how to handle the situation. I cannot afford to have this man angry at me as it would make many social situations very uncomfortable.

Maybe the next time I will tell him I have lice.

Backing it All (More Quilt Talk)

Several people have emailed asking me what color I will be using to back my Blooming Nine Patch. I was so lucky to find the fabric that I bought for the backing and binding of this quilt. I had been searching the quilt store where I take lessons, "Quilter's Quest" in Princeton, TX, for the backing material and was just not happy with anything in the store. I was about to give up when I noticed THE fabric stacked with a few others at the cashier's table. It had just arrived and had not been put into the system yet. IT WAS THE ONE! It was destiny that this beautiful fabric should arrive just at that time.

This fabric pulls everything together for my Blooming Nine Patch.

(Hum a drum roll now.)

Fabric #6 Brought in a Different Look to the Quilt

Whew, the quilt is so big now that I had to take it off the floor so mom could walk through to the kitchen.

I really enjoy watching it "bloom," so I decided to start with the middle and just go out as much as I could on my design wall. It isn't as pretty this way, but at least I can keep up with the changes.

The picture on the bottom left shows Fabric #6 in a close up with the Fabric 5&6 Nine Patch.

Random Brain Questions and Facts of the Day

Wouldn’t it be horrible if you dropped your keys into one of those motion sensored toilets and it flushed? (I actually almost flipped my keys into a public toilet today, so maybe not such a random thought.)

You really do get what you pay for. Bought a new comb/pick combo today, put one back for one $1.00 cheaper, wasn’t until I got home that I noticed the metal pick ends didn’t have any little protector globs on the end (notice technical term). I didn’t notice the lack of the globs until I took off a chunk of scalp. OUCH!

Can a grown man learn to not be a complete dunderhead?

Why is it that the doctor’s offices do not have the National Enquirer and other such tabloids in their magazine racks? I would rather read those than a golf or ESPN magazine.

Why can’t chocolate be a calorie free food?

Quilt has Bloomed Out to Fabric #5

I made 68 squares to my Blooming Nine Patch quilt tonight. It has now bloomed out to Fabric #5.

Something Different for Me

I had homework at TOPS this week. I decided to follow one of my positive affirmations from last week. My affirmation was "Be as good to myself as I am to my friends."

I have completed the homework. Earlier this week a friend called and asked me to do something for her that would have taken me a couple of days to do. My friend had time to do this something, she signed up to do this something, and she was physically capable of doing this something, she just didn't want to do it. When she called me, my first instinct was to say "Okay, I'll take care of it," but when I started to answer her I had a flash of irritation. I really did not have time to take care of the matter, it wasn't something I would not have signed up to do, and I would have had to have my boys help me because I in the middle of a fibro flare up. So I said "No."

I could tell she was surprised. She actually let out a little gasp. I gave her some suggestions on how to handle the something in a way that would be a little more efficient than how she was going to handle it and then I hung up.

What surprised me was that I did not feel guilty. In the past I might have called back and said that I had checked my calendar and I could do the something, but not this time. I was so proud of myself. Even if I never turn a friend down again, I know that this was the time to say "no."

My Quilt it is a Blooming

I am four colors out on my Blooming Nine Patch Quilt. It is very exciting to watch it start to bloom.

I really like the colors I have picked for the quilt. I have them in order in this picture, going from left to right.

(Click on the pictures to get a better look at the fabrics and the quilt.)

I probably could have put in more green, but I think there is enough green n these 12 fabrics to make this quilt a nice addition to my bedroom.

I was really worried about the middle being too pink, but I think it will be okay in the end.

I have the first four fabrics laid out on the floor to get an idea of how the quilt top will look once it is completed.

I wasn't able to get a very good picture , but here is what I have so far:

I just wish I had my taxes completed so that I could spend most of my free time quilting.