You Can't Go Back

I had a very long conversation with an old friend last night, and again this morning.  A good part of the conversation was about how you can't go back.  

I often think about if we could go back.   Would I want to go back and start over? Would I just want to go back and relive certain days?  

My friend and I talked about how it isn't healthy to have regrets, things are what they are for a reason. Of course that is easier said than done and some of our regrets just come from being young and as he put it "dumbasses."

Of course I would do anything to go back and do something to prevent Raymond's cancer, even though I know there is no way of knowing why it happened, I keep going back to that damn fall.  If the doctor hadn't given me a list of things that might have caused the cancer and listed a hard fall, I wouldn't have to think about that all the time.  

I go back and forth between things are destined to be a certain way and "shit happens."  

There are certain things that I think about and I know that at the time I did everything I could in my power to handle the situation the right way, but I still see some of the consequences through my children, and I wish I had done more.  

You can't go back, and I know that, so why do I spend so much time wishing I could?

Accomplishments #342-365

I think I did pretty good on my year of accomplishments.  Nothing earth shattering, but I have been making steady improvements on the clutter that surrounds me and in making sure I just did not become a complete vegetable every time I walked in the door.  Did I get back to the person I used to be with my house cleaning, cooking and such?  No, not any where close to that person, but this life is not that life or even close to it.  

I still hate laundry with a passion, but I bought more jeans recently so I won't have to do laundry even once a week now unless I just can't stand the laundry room another minute.  The door John put on the room helps with that a lot.

There is no mail piled up, and the filing made it to the box, if not the correct file.  

I spent a day this week going through almost 4 years of quilting magazines and taking out all the patterns I wanted and boxing up the rest to share with friends.  I am still in the process of putting the patterns into sleeves, but I cleared up two shelves on my bookcase. Of course I immediately filled one with books I had stacked on a table because the shelves were full.

I have a long way to go in certain areas, but if I hadn't worked on doing an accomplishment a day in 2011, I would have been further behind in 2012.

The Shiny Shiny Took Over

I went to the Blue Ribbon Quilt Shoppe in Wylie today for their 30% off fabric sale with my friend Laura. She has had her eye on a couple of fabrics for a while now, and I had a plan to purchase Christmas fabrics as I do not have any left in my stash.

We arrived a little early for their opening time so we did a little window shopping in the other shops.  Once it hit 10:00 A.M. though we were in fabric mode.  As soon as we went in the door Laura grabbed the fabric she had been looking at for at least a month.  I went straight to the Christmas fabric, but only found two that I really wanted in my stash.  I then went down to look at their Stonehenge collection.  That is when the Beautiful Trees collection caught my eye.

Now I said it caught my eye, but at that time it wasn't enough to stop me from arriving at the Stonehenge display. At the Stonehenge grouping I was having trouble staying away from a celadon green fabric, I picked it up several times and put it back and decided to walk around.  It was then that I got a different view of the Beautiful Trees.  I decided to walk over and look at the display which was up over my head.  The owner of the shop, Teena, decided that was the moment to show me a small sample quilt with the fabric.  That was all it took.  I was soon pulling down all of the bolts in the sage/periwinkle color wave.  I set it down on a back stage area and wondered how much to buy.  That is when Teena offered to print out a copy of the free pattern that went with the fabric line.  A pattern called "Harmony."  That is all it took.  I was in love. I could picture myself under this quilt after a bad day at work and peace just flowing through me through the healing powers of the trees.

Once I decided what I needed of each of the different fabrics for the quilt, I was totally bewildered as to what else I needed.  The shiny shiny of the Beautiful Trees fabrics had taken over my brain and there was nothing I could do but sit and look at my fabrics while I waited for Laura.

Can't wait to make this quilt!

Christmas Pillowcases

A set for my youngest to match his Turtle quilt.

A set for my oldest to honor his dice collection.

A set for Mina and Stan to match their Christmas quilt from last year.

One single for Loni because that is all the fabric I left from her cat quilt.

I Always Count My Blessings, but did an Extra Count Christmas Day

I have a lot of blessings to count in my life, but the two most important ones are my boys.  I am truly blessed to have such fine young men as my sons.  

Christmas Day an email friend of Loni's lost her two sons, who happened to be the same age as my sons, in a car crash.  I truly cannot imagine the pain that woman and her family are experiencing.  I am not sure I would get out of bed again if that happened to me.  I am not sure what I would have to live for if I lost my sons. 

I have always been good about telling my boys how much I love them and making sure they get their hugs and kisses.  They tell me they know how much I love them, but I don't know if they will ever understand until they have their own children.

If you haven't counted your blessings lately, take the time now to acknowledge them in your mind, then go hug someone you love.

Vacation TIme Again

I have the week off and I started my vacation by having breakfast out with Loni and my youngest at Mimi's (one free breakfast coupon) and then we all went to see Sherlock Holmes, A Game of Shadows.

And to answer my oldest's question, yes I enjoy the story as well as Robert Downey, Jr., but since we are still in the Christmas season:

After the movie we went to Fabric Fanatics for their sale and so I could use a gift certificate I had since Mother's Day.  I was able to get the backing for two upcoming projects and some turtle fabrics they had in the sale room.  

A lunch of leftovers with Loni and then she went home and I took a long nap.  

Right now I am catching up on emails and listening to the youngest laugh with all the boys.  Everyone is here except the oldest, who is off visiting with his girlfriend for a couple of days.

I think the rest of the night will involve some reading and watching reruns of shows from years ago.  

It has been a good start to my winter vacation!

'Tis the Season 25 - Merry Christmas!

A picture of the boys in front of the Christmas tree is a tradition each year.  They get up and goof around and pose while I snap pictures hoping for a decent one.  When I was reviewing this year's pictures, I realized they told a story.  Here is the story:

The Angel appeared to the Shepherds and they were terrified.

The Angel said "Do Not Be Afraid," but these particular shepherds had been told not to talk to strangers.

 

 

 

 

 

The heavenly host appeared with the Angel, and then these two shepherds said "Alrighty then!"

Merry Christmas everyone!