Today's Ten Things

1. The weight loss: 27 pounds. Yep, I'm liking that.

2. The funny comments:

"Debby, I was just telling so-and-so over there that you look great." (thanks) "Have you lost weight?" (yes, 25 pounds, thanks. pause to sip my water) "Is it the water? Is that how you lost all that weight?" (yes, the water is magic, I got it from Jack when he ran out of magic beans).

and:

"Debby, you are so lucky that the weight is coming off so easily. I keep trying and trying and the weight won't come off. Oh, look! Cookies!" (I miss cookies.)

and my favorite:

"Wow, it's great that you've lost all that weight. Aren't you glad you aren't hungry anymore?" (I wish!)

3. The running: 3.2 miles in 50 minutes this morning. Yes, I know most people walk can walk faster than that.

4. The race: four weeks from today and in no danger of winning that thing.

5. The trip: Last week some friends and I went to New York City and saw The Drowsy Chaperone. We always go to the high school musicals and comment, "Wow, that was really professional." No, it wasn't. Really. Even the ones my kids were in. This is Broadway and it is smart and funny and perfect sound and perfect lighting and perfect everything. Truly.

6. The New York flavor: When we were in New York City, we walked within inches of the Naked Cowboy. You've seen him on tv -- I've seen in up close and personal .... from behind!

7. The question: Does anyone know what this is?



We think vegetable (as opposed to animal or mineral). A nut of some kind? I've seen several on the ground. If it's a pod waiting to hatch an evil gremlin, just don't tell me, ok? It's inside my house right now.

8. The new hobby: hiking. There are some marked trails near my house and we've been exploring. I'm going to call the New York State Department of Parks and Recreation for official trail maps tomorrow. It's amazing how many frogs (toads?) we've seen on the trails. I think my family hates hiking, but they probably figured that it was easier to come with me and keep me safe than have to look for me when I got lost.

9. The quilting: no comment.

10. The clothes: I've already mentioned that I have no clothes. This is still true. It is also true that air-conditioned buildings can be too cool and that there are cool evenings and sometimes you just need a jacket (even in summer). I don't have one. I don't want to buy one that won't fit anymore by autumn. So my new clothing obsession is pashminas. I have a Ralph Lauren satin & velvet wrap from the Event (see February 6, 2006 post) and a wool black and gray wrap, but I bought a few pashminas from a street vendor near MOMA when I was in the city. I am in LOVE. I was especially in love when the air-conditioning in the church this morning was set to arctic.

That's today's ten things. Have a wonderful day!

About time for another post, don't you think?

#1 The running. On Friday I ran for 5K. (Insert jumping and celebrating images here.) I was incredibly slow, but I ran the whole way. My race isn't until September 17, so maybe I'll pick up a little speed before then.

#2 The weight. I've lost 23.2 pounds and hope that no one ever finds it. EVER. Especially me.

#3 The new hobby. Tennis. My son is addicted. He has all of us playing now. Isn't it great to have 3 people he can beat any time he wants? I'm so terrible at tennis that it's frightening rather than funny. As he was completely slaughtering me this afternoon, the uncharitable thought of "isn't it time for him to move back to college?" hit me. When he goes back to Ohio, the remaining family members are ones I have a much better chance of winning against. Where did my son get his competitive streak from, I wonder?

#4 The sewing.



I made two bags so far. One is tiny and cute and gold metallic. The other is large and floppy and tie-dyed. I used the same pattern for both and just enlarged it for the second one. Too fun. Must. Make. More.

#5 The movie.



I absolutely adore Jane Austen. ADORE. And this movie was excellent. We all loved it and several of us watched it several times before it was due back to the library. The story is Jane Austen and excellent, but the CLOTHES!!!! Would people look at me funny if I dressed in these period fashions at all times? I'm rereading Sense & Sensibility and must warn you: when I'm in a Jane Austen groove, I tend to speak and write in her style. Consider yourselves warned. Really. I mean it.

#6 The book.



I've enjoyed everything she's written. This was no exception. I got a lot of quilting done while listening to this book and I wish there was more (book, not quilting).

#7 The weather. MUCH BETTER! We were up to 105ish degrees last week, I think. One morning this week I was running in 50-degree weather. My nose was running faster than my feet! I'll take it. If only I wasn't sure the heat would come back, but alas..... August in New York is not prone to sudden snowstorms.

#8 The food. What I want:



What I'm having:



(only a smaller, home-grilled healthier version with cheese and without the fries). Oh, and some chocolate. Weigh-in is Thursday, right?

#9 The clothes. I don't have any. The fun part of losing a weight is that you get to buy new clothes. The bummer about having to lose a LOT of weight is that it's not necessarily worth investing in a lot of clothes that will hopefully not fit for very long. Right now I own a pair of pants, a skirt, and four tops. This size of wardrobe takes careful planning. Fore example, I'm going to New York with some friends this week. Skirt or pants? Well, there will be tons of walking and the comfy shoes don't look right with the skirt, so the pants. Which means I can wear them Monday, wash them Tuesday, and they'll be clean for when I need them. I guess I'm wearing a skirt on Tuesday, if anyone wants to see me dressed up.

#10 The deer picture.



I couldn't end a post without another deer picture. She's standing under the corner of my deck next to my driveway in what is supposed to be a flower bed. So about that gardening thing..... it's against my religion.

A Tale of Two Movies (with reference to a third)

Part I, Crystal Lake

This morning at 5:45, my bedroom was already 83 degrees. YUK! I started walking up the mountain and wasn't terribly into the whole running thing today. I promised myself I could stop at the first telephone pole, being a heat emergency and all. Once I got to the first pole, I talked myself into doing my planned run. Once I got to today's mark, I was close to the top of the mountain, so I walked to the top and started running the ridge. My goal for the summer was to make it to the 40th untility pole (also the first side street on the ridge and pretty much 2 miles from my house) and I did that today! As soon as I got there, in my mind I was doing the whole 'Gonna Fly Now' arms up in victory and running in place thing from Rocky I. I barely started this when the rooster crowed.

I'm a movie person, like, for real. If this was a movie and a rooster crowed as I reached my goal, what type of movie would it be? Horror? Action/Adventure? What would happen next? I had visions of Jason coming out of the woods (remember, I live in the woods!) with a pitchfork and only my newly acquired running habit allowed me to be the one who survived the movie. Anyone else have a movie version of my morning?

Whatever the rooster crowing may have meant, it certainly was a clue that I was awake and moving way. too. early.

Part 2, The Sky Is Falling

So I ran a few tenths of a mile along the ridge and turned around and ran all the way home. This was very cool for me, as in over 2 miles cool. I ran a lot of downhill, but some uphill and level spots, too. I'm a little nervous about the 5K, like 'can I actually do this?'

When I got the the bottom of the mountain and had a nice level stretch before running uphill to my house, I was jazzed. Like, 'maybe I can do this.' Then something smacked me on the head.



Guess what it was. Hint: the name of my street includes the word "oak".

The moral of the story is: Debby really, really needs something constructive to think about while she runs or else posts like this happen.

Accidentally Trendy

Meet my new best friend:



I had no desire to be uber-trendy and get springs in my shoes. As luck may have it, these were the comfy shoes in my price range. I tried on a different shoe that actually made my feet roll in. That cannot be good for the knees. The shoes I bought are nice and stable and made for the terrain that I run on, sweetie (I was taught to never end a sentence with a preposition so you are all 'sweetie' today).

And yes, I do realize that these are very, very ugly. If any of you come here and run with me at 6am, you are welcome to call them ugly to their face. Otherwise, ....

I'm going to paint my toenails now. If the shoes are gonna be ugly, the toes are gonna be pretty.

My morning

Alarm goes off at 5:45. Hit snooze. Alarm goes off at 5:50. Drag stiff and sorry body out of bed and very slowly dress and stretch and avoid going back to bed. Hit the road by 6:15 wondering what ever possessed me to think this was a good idea. Walk slowly until I am almost awake. Walk faster. Consider running on the flatter parts. Think better of it because it's still uphill. Swat bugs (note to self: remember to use the bug spray tomorrow morning). Sing a song of joy (in my head) that I've made it to my daily mark (approx. 1.7 miles today) and it's all downhill from here. Walk for 10 I mean 20 I mean 50 steps (ok the next big tree, I mean it!) before I pick the tired legs up and begin to very slowly run. Try and find a good rhythm and match it to a song in my head (no IPOD for me, I run on a one-lane road and have to listen for cars and jump into the brush). Wonder if my running is actually slower than my walking. Realize it doesn't matter. Act unafraid of Pomeranian who barks and nudges my ankles every morning. Promise myself I can walk after the next 100 steps, then convince myself I can keep running. Smile at the horses running behind the fence. Wonder why the horses don't jump the fence. Wonder if horses ever jump fences and charge sweaty runners. Definitely keep running. Avoid pothole. Realize I'm finally at the bottom of the hill and have to adjust to a flat surface. Promise myself I can start walking at the corner. Start running up my street, but only until the first I mean second I mean third mailbox. Walk up my very steep and long driveway with jelly legs. Climb my front steps wondering if everyone's knees make that noise. Grab a towel to blot the oh-so-feminine sweat pouring off of me. Grab my water bottle and drink it while pacing around my kitchen. Breathe heavily and try to talk to my freshly-showered-and-dressed-for-work husband. Jump for joy (only on the inside, legs are too tired) when I tell my husband that I ran for 1.3 miles straight today. Continue to pace and breathe heavily until I've finished my first pint of water. Convince myself that I love to stretch and do strength training and that yes, I can make it up 12 entire stairs to the shower. Finally am dressed and ready to have my own breakfast. Smile and know that I love to run and start my day like this. Look at the clock and realize it's already 8am and I haven't gotten anything done yet!!!

This happened today, but it's not too different from most days. Sometimes there are turkeys running across the road. Other times there are kamikaze deer. I've already had one run into me (ok, my car) and I think she's trying for a rematch. If you are bored and feel like sweating, come along sometime.
___

Sorry there are no pictures to post. I'm up to 29 utility poles now and I've started running. Enough things wiggle and jiggle on me when I run without adding a bouncing camera. I'll go public (to both of my readers) and announce that I'm training for a 5K in the fall (maybe -- still haven't registered and am not sure I'll be ready). And while I'm going public, I've lost 15 pounds. As you read above, it's just falling off. (Can you just hear the sarcasm?)

If you really want a picture, here's a quilt that I just gave away to a lovely girl who recently graduated from high school.

It's a twin of a quilt I gave away as a Christmas present. Note how I have not yet learned to crop or rotate a photo. It may help to turn your computer monitor on it's side.

If you need to see another picture, here's one of the Beacon Reservoir:

A group of us from church hiked up there a few Sundays ago. It was a killer hike, but a beautiful site. The tower in the distance-- you can see New York City from there. I, however, cannot because I couldn't go one. more. step.

And since I know one more picture will make your life complete, here's another shot of deer in the yard.

It's better than the last one, but maybe not by too much. I have to write 100 times "I will turn off the flash to take nature pictures"

Catching Up, part 1

I'm still working to conquer the mountain, but I'm behind in posting. You all, of course, sit in rapt attention waiting desperately for me to post yet another picture of a telephone pole.

In the last several hikes, only a few items are worth noting:

1. I had a 2-dog hike one day. A beautiful and friendly husky named Dawson walking his human and a chauffer-driven greyhound. I didn't catch his name, but his driver congratulated me on making it down the hill this time (she usually passes me as I'm walking UP).

2. The tunes stuck inside my head are ever-changing: a Sunday-School song from 30 years ago (Come and Go with Me to my Father's House), Horsey-Horsey -- a Camp Fire Girls song from 30 years ago, and finally THE CLASH -- Rock the Casbah. I'll walk to the Clash any day. Make the other songs go away, PLEASE?

3. Note pole number 4 -- I took another view w/o identifying information. In that photo, you may notice a mailbox and a garbage can. This would infer that there is mail service and garbage collection. There is. While walking, I have been passed by a garbage truck and a mail car (and a schoolbus, too). When I hear a vehicle approaching, I jump into the brush on the side of the road. When I saw a garbage truck approaching, I thanked God that I wasn't in my car. How would that work, I wonder? I know my photos are of incredibly poor quality, but I hope they at least convey the narrowness of the road. Can you imagine driving on a road this winding, hilly, and narrow and seeing a garbage truck coming HEAD-ON? Me, neither.

Pole 4:


Pole 6:


Pole 7:


Pole 8:


Pole 9:

All about the numbers....

Songs stuck in my head on today's walk: 2
'Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley' going uphill
'Don't Stop Me Now' by Queen going downhill (I couldn't make this stuff up)

Number of cars that passed me: 8
note to self .... Walk Earlier!!!

Number of cars that stopped to speak to me: 2
#4 mentioned that I didn't get far since yesterday's walk (ha, ha)
#8 asked if this road was on the way to "_____ Road" (sir, this road is on the way to nowhere, but good luck!)

Number of utility poles passed: 5

To recap:

one.


two. (correct date, but now I have to learn how to crop)


three.


four -- no photo since it includes someone's personal property.

five.


Workout brought to you by the number five and Con-Edison Fitness Center.

Oh, deer!

This morning I was eating breakfast and I happened to look out my kitchen window to see this:



Yes, a tree and a whole mess of ferns. But if you look under the tree on the left side, you will (barely) see a fawn with 2 beady eyes. It's eyes aren't really that beady. I think I had the flash on and caught a reflection.

Since I am unable to capture this (or anything, apparently) with a camera, I'll try to describe what fawn are like. They are incredibly tiny with lots and lots of white spots. They dance around on spindly legs and aren't afraid of much yet. I usually see them alone, but I know that their mothers are nearby. If I attempt to get too close, mom comes in and they burst out of the fern in great big effortless leaps. My best "I wish I had that on film" moment was when there were two fawns playing in the fern outside my kitchen window. I don't think I completely comprehended the word 'frolic' until I watched the fawns dance and jump around each other.

We don't have television in my house. Cable is too expensive, we don't have a clear spot for a satellite, and we never watched it much anyway. In our house, entertainment is called 'windows'. We have a lot of bushes in the yard that look like Charlie Brown Christmas trees because the deer munch on EVERYTHING, but watching fawns at play cancels that out quite nicely.

And, no, you cannot hunt in my yard. Yes, people have asked me.

Come Walk With Me

Four years ago, my husband and I purchased ourselves a little 'unique fixer-upper opportunity' that happens to be located on the side of a mountain. We've had a love/hate relationship with our house, but the location continues to stun us daily with it's beauty. Since we are a bit of a distance from civilization, going anywhere is a commitment and going to the gym is a luxury I can no longer afford.

There does exist a road that goes from my house over the ridge and back down the other side of the mountain. It's 6.5 miles the short way (more winding passages exist) and the first 2 miles are all uphill. This summer, as I do every summer, I've committed to conquer the mountain. I want to walk to the top, at least, and be in good shape doing it.

(caution, sudden change of subject)

As I was thinking that I really need to buy myself a digital camera and stop borrowing my daughter's, I remembered that I actually DO own my very own camera. So when my son returned from college, I stole it back from him. I don't know how to use it, but I figured I should learn.

(And now we tie two disparate subjects together nicely.)

Here are some pix from today's hike. Ignore the date. (That's one of the features I do not know how to use.)


This is the last flat part of road for a while. It's narrow and badly paved, but paved it is.




And here is why we mention the paved road in the previous photo:



Yes, this is a real county road with houses on it. Yes, I live in New York and we have bad winters. Yes, I'm thankful that I don't have to navigate this road every day in winter just to get to my house.


When I made the commitment to conquer the mountain this summer, my first day's goal was to get to the first utility pole. See, I live at the end of a power company's territory. The first bit of my walk has no utility service. The neighboring utility company brings power up and over the mountain. Here's the much-celebrated pole:



Every day, I try to climb a little farther. I'd go from mailbox to mailbox, but they are pretty far apart. I'm up to the fourth utility pole. This is excitement in rural America.


I thought I'd maybe find some tunes to walk by, or maybe a book on my MP3 player. First walk: found the player but the battery was dead. Second walk: player was charged, but all the files had expired and I needed to log in to the music service and the library to refresh them. Third walk: realized that I walk on a one-lane road and hearing the cars (and getting out of their way) was a VERY good idea.

So what do I listen to while I'm walking? My own huffing and puffing for one. Random birds and animals (very cool). Whatever song happens to be stuck in my head. Today was "Boogie Shoes" (shoot me, please). Oh, and this:



Can you see the water down there? (I have to learn how to take pictures.) There is a stream that runs beside the road and I get to hear bubbling water. Cool, huh? This also runs beside my driveway, just under my bedroom window. Want to fall asleep to that every night? It's quite soothing.

So, I could tell you that we lose electricity all of the time. We have garage doors that are barely worthy of their name. Our windows fall out of the frame randomly (this is great fun). We live under the tree line, so no Direct TV (and the Steelers won this year!?!?!?). But the upside is ... I get to live here. I get to see this every day. Yep, buying this money pit was a good thing.

unable to think of a title

My new best friend.

And honey? On your way home, could you pick up some milk and a new skull for me? Mine appears to be broken.

Thanks.

Finally, something quilty!

I was going to write a long post about my 2 month absence from blogworld, but it can be summed up in a simple sentence:

I worked a lot.

Finally, I'm doing some personal sewing again and hope to post photos as projects are completed. In the meantime, check out this:













For those of you who read French or can run a translator, click here. I am a longarm quilter and quilted this actual quilt! My name is in the magazine and everything! I just ordered the English-language version of the magazine so I'll have a copy to add to my portfolio.

Even though I work too many hours, I do like working with quilts and quilters and those in the quilt industry. How blessed I am to be a part of this!

Happy quilting to all.

Raining Cats and Dogs? Don't I Wish!

Today is an incredibly rainy day. Some might say, "It's raining cats and dogs!" I wish! It's actually raining other critters that I don't like nearly as much as cats and dogs.

Todays fun-filled adventure began with a septic tank cleaning. I know, you're jealous. Fortunately it was before the rain and other creatures began falling from the sky.

What could top a septic cleaning, you ask? How about an ear infection? Yes, my darling daughter has a sweet cold that has been haunting her for well over a week and the doctor diagnosed an ear infection to go with it today. She's fine, just feeling kinda yukky and taking her medicines. Much different than when she had ear infections as a baby.

So we ran through the torrential downpour to and from the doctor. And to and from the pharmacy. When we were good and soaked, we got to drive through Niagara Falls to get home.

We live in kind of a wooded area. It is not unusual for heavy rains to bring branches and other debris into the road.

With that in mind, on the way home I had to drive around a dead branch in the road. Are you with me here? Heavy rain, lousy traffic, poor visibility, and a dead branch in the road. As we were just about next to this stick in the road, it moved and stuck out it's tongue. Yes, that's right -- a 6-foot blacksnake blew us the rasperries as we drove by. My darling daughter and I both screamed like girls (which we are) and laughed nearly to tears when we processed what we had just seen. The rest of the drive home was light and fun as we continued to imitate the snake.

My daughter volunteered to open the garage door when we got home -- aren't I a bad mom? She opened it and flew inside. I thought it was because of the rain (It's raining snakes!). No, it was because a huge spider dropped down from the garage door as she lifted it. There is nothing worse for my darling daughter than spiders. Seriously. I parked the car and she pointed and sputtered "spider!" Knowing this is a serious problem for her I volunteered to close the garage door especially since I was now on the dry side of the situation. I stepped around the spider (not for the spider but for my new Enzo Angiolini sandals) and reached up for the garage door while a mouse ran right up to my newly polished toes in my new sandals! Again, I screamed like a girl (which I am).

This girl ran right upstairs and grabbed the two cats and threw them in the garage instructing them that the door would not be open until there was a corpse and I didn't care if it was cat or mouse. Fortunately, the cats took the day and produced a corpse which awaited my husband's return from work.

So, officially, it's rained SNAKES and SPIDERS and MICE. Beat that!

Unsure what could possibly top all of this excitement, I decided to quilt.

It's been a great day. I truly wish they could all bring this much laughter.

I LOVE MY JOB! (explained)

I really do love my job. I love quilts. I love longarming. I love my customers. I love working at home.

Sometimes the saying "so many quilts, so little time" is really true. I'm working twice the hours I normally work. When I'm not working, I'm worrying about what work isn't getting done. That part of my job I don't love.

Since that is something I have control over, I'm working to do that. My work schedule has been readjusted and my waiting list just got a little longer and the sun will still rise in the morning (who knew?).

God has given me a great life -- a wonderful husband, great kids, a measure of financial security (I have a roof, food, clothing, and a job), and I feel it's just not right to turn something that is great into something that drains me and makes me rather unpleasant to be around.

Tomorrow, I'm going to the ballet. I hope to post about that and a few other things next week.

I LOVE MY JOB!

I love my job!
I love my job!
I love my job!
I love my job!
I love my job!
I love my job!

Convinced yet? Me neither.

I hope to post something good really soon.

Safe at home

This morning I met with a customer at the local quilt store. She came up to me at my car in the parking lot. I usually meet customers inside, but hey, whatever, so I walked into the store with her. We sat our stuff down on a table and looked at her quilt and decided how it was to be quilted. It's a really nice quilt and there's space to play with fun freehand quilting. We packed everything up and my customer left the store. I still had to purchase fabric for another customer. I paid for the fabric and gathered my stuff to go. Wait a minute -- where are my keys? They were on the table next to my other stuff and now they are gone!

I looked around a bit, but was quite sure that my customer took them with her by mistake. I called her house. Her husband offered her cell phone number and some parting advice 'You really should carry a spare key'. All right. Working to not be offended. So I called my customer's cell and left a voice mail. While I waited for a call back, I figured maybe I couldn't afford to spend 6-8 hours in a quilt store today (in both time and money), so I called my darling husband who plans to bring me his keys when he's out of his next meeting.

Finally, my customer came back to the store to return my keys. She was sorry. I was grateful to have them back. Her parting advice? 'You really should carry a spare key'.

I once again gathered my stuff, this time including my keys. I went to my car and realized that I left my driver's door open this entire time. At this point, I decided that my other errands could wait. I simply needed to be safe at home. Hopefully this ended the annoying, but very funny, portion of my day.

Thanks Bonnie!

I've really enjoyed Bonnie's Quiltville site and started a few of her quilts (from stash, of course!) This is the first one that is finished. I made it smaller than hers. I had overflowing buckets of 1-1/2 inch strips and 2-1/2 x 4-1/2 inch blocks. The whole quilt is only 46x58 (I tend to make large quilts, so this is TINY). I really love it, though. I wasn't sure if I'd like all the colors together, but they really worked. As for the quilting, this was a combination of 'get it done' and 'try something new'. I quilted it with a simple meander but I used Alex Anderson's Masterpiece (sp?) thread on top and Bottom Line on the bobbin. The top thread broke a few times, but otherwise I was very happy with it. It deserves to be played with some more. This quilt will go into the future gift pile. No one was home today, so I had to let the sofa hold up this quilt!


And the back from stash, too! (How old is that large floral print?!?!?)


As for what I'm reading, I just finished Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. I've now read all of his books and would really like him to write faster. I liked Deception Point best of all of his books, but I am very much looking forward to seeing The DaVinci Code when it's released.

Therapy Quilt

I finished my therapy quilt!!! It was a lot of fun. I quilt other people's quilts as a job so when I quilt my own pieces I tend to do one of two things: I either quilt it quickly and simply just to get it done or I say 'why not?' and try something new. This quilt was a 'why not?' quilt. I tried Superior Bottom Line thread and some 'wonky' quilting (a new word I learned from the blog ring). The Bottom Line thread was nice, yet very, very fine. It worked great in the bobbin but didn't hold up well as a top thread. So, technically, HALF of this quilt is quilted with Bottom Line. I gave up part way through and used So Fine (also by Superior) as a replacement top thread. Superior says that Bottom Line is 'Designed by Libby Lehman for quilting, embroidery, bobbin, binding, and appliqué', but if it only works as a bobbin thread for me, then it's a bobbin thread. My guess is that it's a great hand applique thread, but I do so little of that. As for the 'wonky' quilting, I quilted diagonal lines in each of the logs and made a strange sort of spiral. Nothing new to other people, I'm sure, but something I've never tried myself. All in all, I love this quilt. I'm sure it'll be a gift at some point but I enjoyed having it around. It was truly great therapy. Please notice my darling daughter's fingers and socks as she is stretching to hold this quilt for me. Isn't she sweet?


This next quilt is another Moda University quilt. I'm not 'wowed' by it but it's pleasant and best of all -- it's done. It'll be a gift at some point. This time, please notice my husband's handsome hand and my darling daughter's beautiful red cuff. Such a supportive family!


I realized I never posted about my husband's event. It was wonderful. Truly. After the agony of shopping for a dress and shoes and a wrap and a bag... it was actually all worth it. My husband works for a very, very large company and he is a technology dude. That's most of what I know about how he spends 60+ hours a week. Anyway, he and his group worked on a technology product. They finished on time and on budget and the technology is selling very well. That is what this party was for. The company wanted to say thanks to the technology dudes and to their significant others for all their hard work and sacrifice. It was great to meet the people my husband works with as well as their spouses. The food was great. The music was great. The speakers were upbeat and brief. And there was actually a comedian who specializes in technology humor. Well done. Oh, about the clothes: they fit me well, fit the event well, and made me comfortable enough to speak to 'big bosses' when introduced. To sum up: I overthought the clothing and such, but it paid off in a very nice evening. Now, since I have this great dress, I am planning another great (smaller) event so I can wear the dress again. Convenient time for an anniversary, right?

Another day, another book

I listen to books. Like, a lot. Really. The ladies at the public library have a shelf just for me.

I just finished Breaking Point by Suzanne Brockmann. It was a real popcorn book. Spy adventure love story stuff. It was R-rated, so I wasn't that comfortable listening to it without headphones with my youngest child around. Although it was action, etc., it was still funny and I loved Patrick Lawlor's voice. Unfortunately, the library doesn't have too many more books that's he's read. There are several people with voices I love, and he just made my top 5 list.

Mental health day

After a too busy week with too little sleep, I try to schedule a mental health day. I'll turn off the alarm clock and unplug the phones and spend a day doing whatever suits me best (as long as it doesn't involve working). Yesterday was my mental health day.

Unfortunately, I forgot the 'unplug the phones' part, so my day started at 9 with a call from a dear friend. Good thing I really, really like her.

After the call, I spend the rest of the day engaging in quilt therapy.

dictionary.com defines a quilt as:

A coverlet or blanket made of two layers of fabric with a layer of cotton, wool, feathers, or down in between, all stitched firmly together, usually in a decorative crisscross design.

and therapy as:

Healing power or quality.

I define quilt therapy as:



This quilt is from Eleanor Burns' Bear in the Woods quilt book, and I made the top yesterday (entirely from stash). I'm not sure my therapy is complete. I may have to take more time off to quilt and bind this quilt.

Please note, you have seen and will probably continue to see red/pink/white scrap quilts from me. Did I really buy all that fabric? Someone must have snuck it in my sewing room while I wasn't looking.

Out with the old...

A while back, I led a quilt group at my church. Ladies (and gentlemen!) learned the basics of quilting while enjoying each other and making quilts to give away. After a year, it became too much for me to do alone and no one else stepped up, so it kind of ended. We finished several quilts and gave them away (some are in the Ukraine, even!), but the rest of the partially done quilts make their home with me. This one only needed a binding, so I finished it. I'm not sure where it will go, but someone will definitely love it.