Alone Again...But Not for Long

Loni and Mocha moved into her new house tonight, with her new quilt.  It seems strange without her, but it is time for her to start her new life.  She has been here approximately seven months, and it was a joy to have her here.

I had to laugh last night because the oldest was looking for something and the youngest said he thought it was in Loni's room.  The oldest wanted to know why he called it Loni's room since she was moving out.  The youngest told him that Loni had spent more time in it than he had in the last several years so it was Loni's room.  The oldest just shrugged his shoulders and went on about his business.

Loni will always have a room here, but I am sure that as her life moves forward she will not need the room.

Vacation is Over

It is officially Monday, November 29 and my vacation is over.  It has been so nice to unwind, visit with friends, and quilt.  

I spent the last few days of my vacation finishing Loni's quilt, working on a Christmas table topper, visiting with the boys, reading, playing games, and relaxing.  

I don't want to go back to work, but I have to keep a roof over my head.  

I am looking forward to my next vacation at the end of December.

Bright Cat Quilt for Loni

I purchased the pattern and the fabric to make this quilt for Loni 2-3 years ago.  I actually had the colors all laid out on the design wall at one time and took it down.  Every time I started to work on it, something felt wrong about it. 

Then Loni's life changed.  She moved in with me in the late Spring and then this summer I became serious about finishing this quilt. Today I finally completed the quilt, all that is left is the label tomorrow night. 

Even though I finished piecing the top and sandwiching it in July, I couldn't start quilting it until I knew what felt right in the design.  I finally decided to free hand/free motion hearts, flowers, and swirls.

• The hearts represent all the love in Loni's life. 
• The flowers represent many things:
• How I want Loni's life to always be filled with beauty
• How she has continued to bloom and blossom even in the hard times
• To remember her African Violets and how even though they had a tough tumble they continue to thrive.
• The swirls represent all the twists and turns of life.  Some of the swirls are really big and some are small, but they all lead to a heart or a flower, to remind Loni that no matter what life gives her she will always be loved and she can thrive.

I don't think I was meant to make this quilt until now.  This quilt will go to Loni's beautiful new home this week.  

The pattern is by Me and My Sister Designs and is called Twigs.

Bright Cat Front

Bright Cat Back

Bright Cat Front/Back

Bright Cat Front Close up

Bright Cat Quilting

Interesting Websites

Decide.com

Dealnews.com

I found these in a New York Times article about whether or not Black Friday deals were really deals. 

I had to post them so I will remember them the next time I need to make a big purchase.  

What the Heck?

I woke up Thanksgiving morning with a very tight muscle just below my right shoulder blade.  It is very painful and it makes it hard to stand up, or move around. 

It  is not easing up any.  I threw out all my heating pads because they were so old.  Now here it is Black Friday, and I need a heating pad.  I think I will suffer until this evening before venturing out.  

I still have a lot of quilting to do.  Plus, I am still on vacation.

Thanksgiving, Our Way

I decided a long time ago that Thanksgiving was really about taking the time to count your blessings, being with what family you can, remembering and honoring the ones that cannot be with you or are no longer with you, and that it should not be stressful.

We had big Thanksgivings when I was growing up.  I remember tables that took up the whole dining room and living room.  Once my grandmother moved in with us, it seemed our house was the place to be on Thanksgiving.  When my brother was in college we never knew who would show up.  He would bring home all the strays that had no where to go.  Mom would cook for days. I would have to polish silver.  The china came out of its cabinet (I hated that china, it all had to be washed by hand).  Then there was the noise. Oh my gosh, it was loud.  Once everyone left and the kitchen was cleaned and everything put back together, we would all collapse.  I remember the sense of having a lot of love in the room, but I don't remember it being fun, or even very enjoyable.  Just lots of stress.

It wasn't until we moved to Kentucky that it slowed down a little.  Grandma still lived with us, but we were farther away from the family and fewer of them came on the holidays.  Dad finally said that he thought we only needed one type of potatoes (candied sweet potatoes, no marshmallows), turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberry something green, and some pies. Simplify.  So we did.  The stress level lowered considerably.  

When Raymond and I married and moved to Texas, we took in strays.  We had only the basics, but a full house.  We didn't know how much turkey to purchase, so that first year Raymond had to eat turkey for lunch for weeks.

Once all our strays got married or moved away, we started just having Thanksgiving by ourselves, which meant we could have whatever we wanted.  For many years that became Mexican food from scratch.  Later we varied it a lot between traditional and non-traditional years, lots of people or just the four of us.  

Since Raymond died, it has been just the three of us most years, with very simple meals and a day of game playing.  

Yesterday was Thanksgiving number six without Raymond.  We started the morning with pancakes from scratch, the boys, Loni, Kyle and I sat around the breakfast table and caught up on everyone's life. Kyle stayed to play games with the boys.  Thanksgiving dinner was grilled hamburgers on homemade buns, grilling beans from a can, deviled eggs for Loni, and pumpkin pie.  It was just the boys, Loni and me.  There is only one thing that does not change around my Thanksgiving table and that is we go around the table and everyone must say at least one thing they are thankful for before we can eat, and the youngest cannot say "ditto" just to get out of it.

Since there was not a lot of kitchen time required for our Thanksgiving, I was able to spend time with everyone.  We watched Shaun the Sheep.  We took a load of baskets over to Loni's and unloaded them and made sure everything was okay at her house.  Once home we played board games.  We played Flux, Split, Blokus, Doubles Wild, and Quirkle.  Then it was time for more Shaun the Sheep.  

Now it is the day after Thanksgiving.  Loni has left to go to the Bahamas.  The oldest has left to go to Wills Point, TX. The youngest and I are on our own, but without a lot of leftovers we did not want, no stress, and I have lots of good memories.  

A great Thanksgiving in my book.

Vacation: Fall, 2011 - Days Three, Four, FIve

Day Three was Sunday.  I slept late, and the youngest slept even later.  We decided around 1:00 P.M. to go to Mimi's for breakfast and called Loni to see if she had eaten lunch yet.  She met us at Mimi's and we had a nice meal together.  With Loni at her old house packing, she hadn't had time to spend with the youngest, so this gave her a little extra time with him.

After breakfast, the youngest and I went to a Christmas Arts and Crafts Fair.  It did not take us long to go through the exhibits.  I think I need to stick to Art Festivals and stay away from anything that says craft.  We then ran a couple of errands and came home.

Once home I spent several hours quilting.

Day Four was moving day for Loni.  She was out early to meet the movers.  I got up and cleaned out my pantry, dyed my hair, and generally goofed around until it was time to go to town to mail a package.  I texted Loni to see if she needed lunch, and upon getting an affirmative picked her up to go to Wendy's, the mailing station, and the bank.  I took her home before going to a quilt shop, and then came home to quilt for several hours. That evening Loni, Jenn, and Gina and I met up for our monthly dinner. When we arrived at the restaurant there was an extra bonus of getting to see Mina and Stan.

Day Five was a day of grocery shopping for Thanksgiving and quilting.  Went to TOPS and had my second week of new weight loss and was finally below a milestone I had set for myself.  Dinner with Loni and Mina followed.  Once home I was able to finally open a gift box that Loni had given me many months ago to open when I reached my milestone.  It was a beautiful mosaic solar lamp for my patio.

I am enjoying the relaxation of this vacation.  I hope to finish quilting the quilt I am working on so I can start on Christmas gifts.  I have already spent over 10 hours on the quilting, and still have about 1/3 of the quilt to go.

 

Roughest Time in Life - Decision Time

I have been through some rough times in my life.  Not as rough as others, in fact when you come right down to it, I consider myself very blessed, but still there have been times when life has been difficult. Notice I am using the term rough and not hard, as I do not believe I lived through any hard times.  Other than in high school when there was a period when no money was coming into the house, we have always had money to live on, a nice house, health insurance, and family, so no hard times for me, just rough times.

In high school my dad worked in three different states, Ohio, Kentucky and South Carolina.  We moved to Kentucky to make things more centralized for him and because one of the jobs there was his biggest.  On his way back to Kentucky from South Carolina he stopped in Tennessee because he felt like he had the flu.  It turned out he had a bleeding ulcer.  Long story short, he almost died several times.  Even after they removed 3/4's of his stomach ruptured again and God must have made sure he was in Tennessee at the time of this because the University Hospital had an experimental treatment of shooting blood clots up into the stomach that saved him.  It was a long recovery, with many complications.  I lived with neighbors, and although they were very kind to me, I found the situation creepy so I eventually moved in with one of Dad's business partners.  My mom stayed with my dad and came home on weekends, unless I was taken to Tennessee by someone.  

Soon after I was married, my dad started showing signs of Alzheimers.  My parents moved to Arkansas to be closer to us, and we had many good years but the last few of his life were very difficult on all of us.  Right before dad died, Raymond started having symptoms we didn't understand with his leg.  That turned out to be a long battle with bone cancer.

After Raymond died, mom was diagnosed with Alzheimers.  She died two years after Raymond.

So yes, I have had some rough times in my life, those above were just the roughest, there were  other issues, but I got through them all.  Throughout all the rough times I could still count my blessings because things could have been so much worse.

I do believe though that I am now entering into one of the roughest times of my life.

First I have to let my boys, especially my oldest be an adult.  My oldest is a wonderful man, much like his father in his kindness and gentleness.  He is also totally disorganized and somewhat of an absent-minded professor.  It drives me crazy, but most times I do not know about his little forays into forgetfulness and therefore I don't go nuts.  Today I want to scream at him, but I can't because he is an adult.  Seems he forgot to turn in his hours to the payroll company and did not notice he did not get a check into his account and had an overdraft.  No big deal because he was smart enough to get overdraft protection, but I also get all his bank messages so I know when he has forgotten to keep up with what is going on in his accounts.  That drives me crazy!  I just do not understand why he can't keep up with his accounts since he does all his banking online.  My solution is that when he is home for Thanksgiving I will have him remove me from his account notifications.  

The youngest will be 18 in a few weeks and he is pretty much living on his own too.  He however can tell me his bank balance on almost a daily basis.  My issue with him is his freaky eating habits.  

Yes, I think this is going to be the roughest time in my life.  Not because the kids are adults and have their own lives, but because my life is no longer defined by their lives.  I am truly on my own.  

I now have to decide what I want to be when I grow up. That is going to be rough.

Ahhh, Mystery Solved

I have been taking my time moving around this morning.  I got up and dyed my hair (Ginger in a Snap), cleaned out the pantry in preparation for my Thanksgiving grocery list, and answered a couple of texts from friends, and one phone call from my boss (HEY, I AM ON VACATION!).  As I have been  moving around, my phone email has been pinging like crazy.  I finally checked it, and I had all these responses to a quilt I have listed on my Craftsy account.  I thought all this sudden attention to the quilt was odd, but I answered the comments and really did not think anything more about it.

A few minutes ago I checked my phone again, and there were even more comments on the same quilt.  Odd, but okay.  As I sat down to answer a question in one of the comments, I also decided to check Facebook.  Ahhh, mystery solved.  My Storm at Sea quilt is featured in a Quilting Club post today and that is why I am getting all the comments.

I am honored to have one of my quilts featured and that so many people like the quilt.  

Storm at Sea porch swing quilt

 I made it for my porch swing, but Loni has been using it quite a bit on the couch and in the recliner. 

Vacation: Fall, 2011 - Day Two

I had a great day of watching Ally McBeal on Netflix and quilting. 

I am quilting the very bright quilt I am making Loni.  She will have two new quilts to take to her new home. 

I also enjoyed spending time with my youngest. 

Vacation: Fall, 2011 - Day One

Day 1 of my fall vacation was supposed to be a pleasant morning visiting with my friend Laura and going to a few stores to look at specific items.  

It started off okay.  There were a couple of work issues I had to deal with, but they did not take long and they were not stressful.  Laura came over and I showed her a video to help her with odd angle binding and then we were preparing to leave when my cell phone rang.  It was my oldest.  He never calls, so I told Laura I had to pick up.

He started the conversation off with something like "So what do you do when someone wants to handle something without going through insurance."  I was a little confused at first, but then I said "Whoa, go back and start this again."  

He then explained he was in his apartment when the campus police called him out to the parking lot because someone had hit his car.  They should have said slammed his car.  When he went outside his car, which had been parked straight into a single parking space was sitting diagonal across two parking spaces.  The right tail light was just a bulb, and the right back door had part of the fender over it so that  the door no longer opened. The campus police made sure he was given all the insurance information and filed a report on the incident. He then was left to deal with the girl that hit his car.

She is an international student that was driving a friend's car.  She did not want us to file insurance she wanted to pay everything herself.  I told my son to bring the car up to my favorite body shop immediately, and not to agree to anything.

Before he was able to get to the body shop, a man called and left him a message that he should immediately come to some other shop to work it out with the girl and that if my son did not do so there could be harm.  (I considered that to be a threat, which put me in Mama Bear mode.)

I met him at the body shop and we received a preliminary estimate of $1,700, that did not include fixing the door issue because they would have to get it up to look at the frame, and that we were probably looking at two weeks without a car due to the holiday.  I told my son we were filing an insurance claim as he would  need a rental car to get to work and back.

My son called the girl and told her he was filing insurance, and she became very upset.  Now my son is really a nice guy, I mean really nice, so he was being really polite and telling her that he would see what he could do, etc., and I am standing there wanting to smack someone. 

I finally took the phone from my son and told the girl that she was talking to the wrong person.  I explained that my son did not own the car, I did, he was just a licensed driver.  I told her she would be dealing with me for the rest of the day.  She said she would have to call me back.  I told her I was going to take my son to lunch and she had 30 minutes.

She called again after we arrive at lunch and begged me not to file insurance.  I asked her if she had $5,000.00.  She said "No."  I asked her if she had $4,000.00.  She said "No."  I kept asking her until I got to the $1,700.00 and again she said "No."  I told her I was calling the insurance, but that I would wait for ten minutes while she called her friend and explained what had happened.  She called back in about five minutes and said to call the insurance.  (Like I wasn't going to do that any way.)

We went back to the house and my son filed a claim on their insurance, and then the rest of the afternoon was spent getting him a rental car and taking care of other paperwork.  

I did manage to go get another Christmas tree, have a very nice dinner with Loni and finish the Tree Farm quilt so it wasn't a horrible day, it just wasn't how I wanted to spend the first day of vacation.

Two Generations - 1 Quilt

Well, the youngest did not get in on the act because of his schedule and when I worked on the quilt, but the quilt I completed for my aunt is done and will be mailed back to her on Monday so she can see it before she sends it on as a Christmas present to my other aunt. 

I am very happy was I able to help her with this project.  I hope she will be happy with the results.  

Front

Back

Wide outer border, quilted to resemble abstract Christmas trees

Random leaves quilted in narrow border on front that make a nice top and bottom border on the back

Center panel quilted to give to give the feel of hills behind the trees.

10 Days

I am officially on vacation and have 10 full days ahead of me that I rule. 

I plan to only do what I want to do.  

So far my plans include:

• Finishing a quilt
• Quilting on another quilt
• Having dinner Monday night with J & G
• Baking barbecue buns for Thanksgiving dinner
• Spending lots and lots of time with my boys or boy
• Reading
• Making a list of gifts I plan on giving this holiday season

I am going to start my vacation tomorrow morning by visiting with a friend.

Woohoo!

Well, I am Going to be Up for a While

Loni and I have been catching up on the shows I have recorded on my computer.  Last night we watched "Once Upon a Time."  I really enjoyed it, intriguing and different.

Tonight we caught up on "Grimm."  Creepy show.  Although I do like the wolf sidekick.  

Now I have to stay up and watch happy shows so that I won't have nightmares. 

So Far Today Has Been Good

I am having a good day.

I spent two hours this morning watching a show that makes me cry, so I had a nice long cry.  I know some people find it strange that I enjoy a  day of crying, but it really helps me get through sometimes.

I scrubbed my bathroom.

I did a little dusting, make that very little dusting.

I emailed the wife of an old friend of mine who passed away earlier this year.  I wanted to make sure she knew I was thinking of her and her first holidays alone.  Even though you expect it, you are never ready for all the feelings that come up at each special occasion.  I have been thinking of him myself.  I remember last Christmas when he told me he knew it was his last one. I know he enjoyed the holiday, but I really cannot imagine what it must have been for him to watch his grandson open presents knowing that would be the very last time he would witness that toddler under  a Christmas tree. 

I have also been looking for a box I misplaced.  Not too hard though.  I am sure I will run across it eventually.  

Speaking of hidden boxes, I guess I need to figure out what I am getting the boys for Christmas.  I am hoping they will tell me over Thanksgiving.  At least my youngest has already ordered a game for  his birthday present.  I was going to give it to him early, but he said he wanted to get through finals before  getting into the game.  He is really doing great this semester, and I am very proud of his mature attitude about staying on track.

Tonight I will have dinner with the girls. Mexican food, you can't go wrong with that, unless you go to a sucky restaurant, and we know our Mexican restaurants around here.

I think I will go watch some more episodes of my show and cry for another hour before tackling the next project. 

I also need to start thinking about 2012 and what I hope to accomplish besides getting over my fear of traveling without my car so I can enjoy my trip to Alaska.

I might also want to start thinking about getting out of my nightgown sometime before I leave for the restaurant.

 

A Bus Ride A Long Time Ago

When I was a senior in high school, I took a field trip to Eastern KY Univ. with my Art Club. 

I am not sure what happened that day on the bus, only that it was magical.  

I just spent the last two hours IM'ing with a friend who was on the bus that day.  He also remembers that bus trip and said he has never forgotten it. Yet, other than a couple of small details, we have no specifics about the bus ride.

A few months ago I talked with another friend who was on that bus ride and once again heard how magical that day was.  

Three people on the same bus ride, coming away with the same feeling, and yet we cannot identify  why it felt that way.

I think it might be because we all became friends that day when we hadn't really known each other  before.  Friends that made such a connection on that bus ride we still are connected even though we haven't seen each other in years and years.

Very cool.

Hello Old Friend

Thanks to Facebook I have reconnected with another old friend.

Actually, this old friend was the reason I first set up an account with FB.  He was one of my closest friends in high school.  No, we never dated, we never wanted to mess up the friendship.  

I used to be able to keep up with him through my parents, but then they moved out of KY.  Then my in-laws would give me updates from time to time, but those updates ended years ago when my friend changed jobs and my in-laws did not cross paths with him.  

He did not have a FB account until the last week of October, and even though I am FB friends with his sister and cousin, I was not able to get any information about his life.  

Now we check in with each other to see how things are going.  He is happily married and a grandfather of 6.  I am thrilled that he is having a good life, because he has had some tragedy in his past.  

I feel very blessed to have reconnected with him.  It is nice to have someone that remembers you when you were younger.  A friend that, after all these years, still cares and knows that our friendship was special then and is special now.  

Hello old friend, I'm so happy to have found you again.

I'm So Happy

I sold Raymond's kiln.  Better yet, I sold it to one of Raymond's friends from pottery class.

Kathleen came by the other night and spent a little time with us after looking at the pottery wheel, which she is going to try to sell for me.  She was able to share a couple of stories about Raymond with Hunter and that made me really happy.

I know that Kathleen will enjoy the kiln, and I know she will enjoy it even more because it was Raymond's.  

It just makes me happy.

My Youngest and His Driving Adventures

My youngest son hates to drive.  He avoids it as much as possible unless it involves getting to play Magic, the Gathering.  Every time he does drive, he comes home with tales of what he witnessed other drivers do (you know that ever other driver on the road besides him is an idiot). 

He came home from a Magic event last night and told me had a rough night of driving. Said on the way to the shop the drivers were crazy, and that on the way back his car started making a odd thumping sound. Then to top it all off he was at a red light and a girl in the car next to him started waving at him and acting like she wanted to talk to him and he was so relieved when the light turned green and he could get away.

Of course, my ears perked up at odd thumping sound.  I started asking him questions about that and he couldn't answer any of them.  Then I asked him if he ever thought that the girl might be trying to tell him that something was wrong with his car and "Didn't he think he should roll down the window to see what she wanted?"

His response to my questions about the thump were vague, and the suggestion that he talk to the girl, well his colorful answer told me that evidently he would never do that.  He said he was pretty sure it was a "Hey I know you, roll down the window so we can talk wave."  Of course when I asked him why he didn't do that, there was the answer of "Why would I do that?  I didn't recognize her."

I guess today I will be going for a ride in his car to find hear the "thump."  His car that he has had since May and it still smells like he just drove it off the dealer's lot, and that is not because of an air freshener.

There Are Rules

There are rules for women that live alone.  Loni has not been on her own long enough to learn the rules.  If she knew the rules, she would never have gone into the attic of her new house.

Here are a few of my rules for living alone:

1.  Let someone know your plans for the day if they are different than your usual routine.  I am such a homebody, I seldom go out on my own, but if I do I let someone know.
2. Never go into the attic when you are alone.  If one of the boys can do the chore in the attic let them.  Loni knows the youngest is at her disposal for anything she needs done.
3. If for some reason you must climb a ladder, let someone know you are doing so and tell them if you don't check back in _____ minutes (depends on job), they should call you and if no answer, check on you.  I do that at work too since I am alone most of the time. This is such a simple thing now that pretty much everyone texts.
4. Assess each act on how you might get harmed, and try to lower the risk.
5. Don't answer the door at night unless you know the person you are expecting is on the other side.  I like people to call when they are in my driveway, or tell me what time they are arriving.  
6. Make sure several people have your emergency contact numbers.  
7. Make sure at least two people have keys to your home.
8. Make sure that you have made your family and friends aware of your wishes when it comes to your medical care.
9. Make sure your emergency contact people know where you keep your important papers.
10. Make sure your emergency contact people know your allergies, especially to medication.

I used to do things with pretty much wild abandon.  If I wanted to reach something high I would stand on anything, including my exercise ball.  I would get in the car and take off for the day, no one would have any idea where, or even that I had planned to go out.  That all changed after Raymond died because I then became my sons' only parent, and pretty much their only relative. Yes, they have elderly grandparents, aunts they have never met, and an uncle, but none of those people live any where near us, they do not have the same philosophy of life we do, and they are not their parent.  It is my job to be act responsibly for their sakes.

Of course, once they are old enough to be responsible for themselves, I will be too old to climb ladders, or act irresponsibly.

A Test of the Emergency Response System

Thursday I had lunch with my favorite Super Seniors to celebrate a couple of birthdays and then I went back to work.  I hadn't been working long when my cell phone rang. It was Loni.  When I answered she said "I need you to come get me."

Now my first thought was her car broke down, so I asked her where she was.  She said "I'm at my new house.  I fell through the ceiling."  I asked her how I would get in and she said she would unlock the front door.  I told her I was on my way, and out the door I went.

Fortunately, Loni's new house is only about 3 miles from my house.  I pretty much drove ten miles over the speed limit to get there and was praying all the way.  

When I got to the house Loni was sitting on the floor in the formal living room against the wall.  She looked a little dazed and, even though I had not seen her that morning, I knew she was not in all the clothes she must have worn to work.

It seems Loni went to her new house during her lunch hour to put a new filter in her attic unit.  Once she climbed into the attic she thought it was probably a bad idea and turned to go back down, where she belonged when she crashed through the laundry room ceiling 9 feet to the ceramic tile floor.  She does not remember much after that, including how she landed.  We know she roamed around the house after falling because there is insulation all the way back into the master bedroom area. At some point she took off the sweater she had been wearing because it was covered in insulation and put on her zippered cardigan, She also had to go out into the garage to get her cell phone to call me.  From what we have been able to put together it was probably 20-30 minutes from the time she fell until she placed the call.

I quickly assessed Loni and determined that I could safely transport her to the ED (New name for ER, evidently it is not PC to call it an Emergency Room.Loni told them ED sounded like Viagra should be involved.) 

Once in the ED it was probably less than 10 minutes before Loni was in a bed and soon after that they took her in for a head CT.  After that a PA came in and asked questions, ordered a neck CT, spinal, chest, and elbow x-ray, blood tests, and urine test.  All those tests were run quickly.  It was determined that Loni was an extremely lucky woman. She has some major contusions, and a couple of chipped teeth, but no internal injuries. She was released with prescriptions for a pain med, muscle relaxant, and antibiotic (she was found to have a little infection). 

The one thing that puzzled me at the hospital was Loni's socks.  They were covered in insulation.  Loni never walks around in her socks. She always wears her shoes because of her planter's fasciitis. Unless her memory comes back that is something we will never solve.

I was also amused at the hospital by how she kept telling everyone she fell on her "ass."  Loni would not normally talk to strangers that way. She also kept telling them it hurt like "hell."  It wasn't until much later in our time in the ED that she quit saying those things and using politer "company" words.  That is when I knew she was becoming un-addled. 

Over the last few days more and more bruises have come up on Loni.  She aches every where, and moves very slow.  

Me, I thank God for every bruise and every ache because she is alive, she has no brain injury, she is not paralyzed, and nothing was broken.

Loni says she was just testing the Emergency Response System since I am part of that team now that she is on her own.  I think I passed.

Now all I need to do is go get a box of Clairol to cover all the new white and gray hairs that popped out ever since I heard "I fell through the ceiling."

The Time it is a Changing

Daylight Savings Time ends on Sunday.  It is time to Fall Back. I hate the end of Daylight Savings Time. 

It means I will start coming home in the dark, which means a better chance of running across a skunk.  

I lose a precious hour of looking out into my backyard in the evening, and means most of my porch swing sitting time will be on the weekends.  

The first candidate that says they will get rid of "fall back" has my vote.

My Chick is Leaving the Nest

Yes, I know Loni is not really my chick, but I consider Loni and Mina to be my chicks even though there is only an 8 year age difference with Loni and a four year age difference with Mina. I am their Mama C.  I worry and fuss over them like I do my boys and they mean more to me than words could ever express. 

Loni pretty much moved in with me the day she and her ex decided to get a divorce and has been here around six months.  Now she is moving out to her own beautiful home a little over three miles away in the City.  

I am really happy for Loni.  Her new home is absolutely gorgeous, with the perfect layout for her life.  I believe it to be an excellent mentally healthy start for this new phase of her life, and I know that it was her fate to find this particular home.  

It will be odd not to see her every evening.  That is the time I see her most as we have dinner and sit down to watch our favorite shows.  Once in a while we cross paths in the morning during the week, but not often as she leaves for work before I do and I pretty much wait until the very last second to get ready for my three minute drive to work.  

It has been fun watching her plan out what she wants to do with her house and I am looking forward to seeing how she makes it into her home.  I do believe I might have to loan her some art.  I think my Georgia O'Keefe print will look great in Mama's bedroom.  (Yes, I have claimed a bedroom in the house, but only because it is painted green and yellow like my house.  I will share it with others.)

May the next phase of Loni's life bring her many blessings.  She leaves here knowing she is always welcomed at Mama's and that she is loved.  

I do believe she is going to miss the youngest a lot more than she is going to miss me.  

Two Generation Quilt Project - Wonder if I Can Make it Three

My aunt in Arizona, who is now 84, started a quilt a while back for my 82 year old aunt in Ohio, but did not get it finished. She asked me over a year ago if I would finish it for her and I said yes, but she never sent it to me.

Since that time she has had some health issues, including a battle with shingles that really exhausted her and has had some long term effects on her health.  So she asked me once again if I would quilt the qult and when I said yes, she sent it right away.  

My aunt had almost finished piecing the top of the quilt, and sent all the material to finish the front and the back, with the back having some borders pieced so that it almost its own quilt.  The entire quilt is flannel, and with the batting will be very warm for those cold Ohio winters. It is also a nice size at 64x84 inches.

I spent Sunday and tonight quilting and I am down to the last large border.  It is looking very nice.  I called my aunt today to give her an update and she said "I'll never be able to repay you for doing this."  I told her that I wouldn't want to be paid because to me it is exciting to be able to do a quilt that two generations have worked on for another member of the family.  

Tonight Loni suggested that I get my youngest to do some of the hand stitching on the binding just to be able to say that three generations worked on the quilt.  I don't think he would go for it, but for the right amount of Magic cards he might put in a stitch or two.  

Either way, it has been a pleasure to be able to work on the quilt and I am going to send it to Arizona first so that aunt can see the completed project before it is sent on to Ohio.