A quilt in time saves....

.... me having to shop for a baby shower present.

I was just invited to a baby shower for a gal in my Bible study. It's in 7 days.

A year or so ago, I loaned a local retailer some quilts for a display. Unfortunately that retailer just went out of business. Fortunately, they returned my quilts. This was among them:

Baby shower present? Check!

In case you are interested, this pattern is from Confetti in the Corner by Terry Atkinson. I adore this pattern and have made several quilts from it. One of them just returned from Bolivia with my son's girlfriend. She brought her quilt so she would be less homesick.

Awwwwwwwww.

Public Service Announcement

If you have the opportunity to watch Alien Versus Predator: Requiem, opt for the root canal instead.

In the spirit of finding fun in all things, the subtitles were hi-larious. "(approaching whirring noise)" "(brooding music playing)". Here's to you, Mr. Sub-Title Writer. Strive for excellence even in the most B of B-movies. May you never misplace your thesaurus.

Dear Santa,

For Christmas, can you bring me two new cats? Mine are broken.

Spike:

Kermit:

Cats are weird.

Happiness is....

... Piecing.

I dove into the messy dining room after dinner tonight. I cleaned a little. I pieced a little. I listened to a book on my MP3 player. It was wonderful.




My 1.5-inch scrap bin is overflowing so I've been working on whittling that down. I've made a quilt like this before. I think one of my son's roommates has it. It uses tons of strips and the simplest quilting finishes it nicely.






I also finished piecing a 4-patch scrap quilt. I've probably make 15 of these quilts over the years. Usually they are made from my 2-inch square scrap box. Sometimes I make them with 1.5-inch squares in a nine-patch. In the past I've used a consistent beige and am using scrappy off-whites lately. I think I have three of these tops done now, waiting to be quilted. Several of my son's college friends have these quilts. They randomly pull them out to show Kevin their new favorite fabric. "Look, there's a chicken on this piece." It's so great to know that the quilts are loved.



Tomorrow I'm teaching all day, but it's not too far away so I'll get to sleep at home. Then I get to see my boy!!!!! I miss him a lot when he's gone, and it's always wonderful to see the man he's becoming. I'm not sure how I could be prouder of him (but I'll probably give it a try).

What to do with a sore ankle?

I just received an email from my dear friend asking where on earth I've been hiding lately. I told her I was nursing a sore ankle and she actually laughed at me.

I am a high-volume longarm quilter. I work every day. Every. Single. Day. That's normal for me. Sometimes things get even busier than that. In those cases, I joke with my friend that I'm chained to my longarm machine. Hence the sore ankle.

After several days of 12+ hours quilting, I pulled a 25-hour quilting marathon this Wednesday/Thursday. I try and avoid that whenever possible, but the photographer was waiting for the quilt. After a wake-me-up shower, I delivered quilts and taught a class. Then I collapsed and spent 16 hours blissfully unaware of the world in my cushy, comfy bed, under one of my wonderful summer-weight quilts. Ahhhhhhhhhhh.

Once I was rested and fed, I returned 18 phone calls (yikes!), worked on paperwork, and did some end-of-school celebrating with my daughter (one year left!).

Now I'm bored. I could clean, but I probably won't. I could cook, but my husband started dinner in the crock pot this morning while I was still unconscious (no, you cannot have him). I could start another customer quilt, but my sore ankle........

My son is coming home from college tomorrow and bringing a friend. I could spend tonight cleaning the dining room, I guess, to make it look nice for company. Since I have 2 longarm machines in my sewing room, I sew in the dining room. Cleaning might look a whole lot like piecing a scrap quilt. It'll make it feel cleaner, at least. I think I'm not bored anymore.

Off to sew!

Word of the Day

Skadoosh!

Home n'at

I'm originally from Western Pennsylvania and I used to have the accent typical to the region. I moved away after school and have been battling that accent for nearly two decades.

This past weekend I taught a quilting class in western PA and guess what..... it's baaaaack.

I'm gonna go "warsh my tahls n'at and hang 'em ahtside"*, and once again try and kick my old accent. Wish me luck.

(*translation: launder my towels, etc., and hang them on the line to dry)

Don't have a cow!

That's my daughter's advice. She's a vegetarian.

But when the beef is this yummy, enjoy it!

We had some ah-ma-zing grilled steaks at a work dinner on Monday in Utah. I sure do love my job!

Dear Utah,

I owe you an apology. When I first visited in February, I wasn't terribly impressed. You were bleak and dreary and not so attractive. Your residents were very proud of your mountains and I couldn't understand why. I think I was comparing my mountains in the summer to your mountains when covered by the inversion.

I just returned from visiting you again. I take it all back. My mountains are special to me, but yours aren't bad at all.

Fondly and apologetically,

Debby

This was the view from my hotel parking lot. Cool, huh?

The mountains out there are so different than at home. Mine are lush and green and tree-covered. I love to hike in the shade and protection of the forest. Out in Utah, however, they are rugged and bare and grand and snow-peaked. We don't have snow-peaked where I live.

I'm going back in October for work and play and look forward to seeing the mountains dressed for yet another season.

What every hotel needs....

... is a carnival in the parking lot. Especially when it's after 9pm and you've driven about 500 miles and just want to shower and go to bed.

If I worked less....

.... I'd read fewer books.

Yet another book finished today: Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff. It's another young adult book and it wasn't bad. An 11-year-old boy is trying to solve the mystery of his past. Again, I'm not sure how this ended up in my library bag, but it did and I read it and I'm returning it in the morning.

I'm Regressing

I just read Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. I think it was written for middle school boys, but it ended up in my library bag somehow. It was short and cute and I'd love to recommend it to my nearly 13 year old nephew. Since I don't have children that age anymore, I'm not sure it's appropriate. The main character was kind of a smart mouth and I don't want to give my nephew ideas (or make my sister angry with me). He's read all the Harry Potter books, so maybe he can handle it? Ideas, please!

Do you re-read books?

I just finished The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry. While reading it, I realized that I'd read it once before, only it was called The DaVinci Code when I read it the first time.

One of the characters is Danish and the narrator spoke with a wonderful accent that was just like my husband's co-worker. So at least that was good.

Product review

Red, itchy eyes. Sneezing and runny nose. Wheezing.

A cold? Hay fever? Nah.

The Furminator.

The cats have much less excess hair, but they are hiding under the furniture now. The three humans in the house are all suffering from holding the cats while using our new toy.

I dream of a house without cat hair everywhere.

Three Dog Night?

No, but it has been a Three Book Day.

Killer Instinct by Joseph Finder was a mixed bag for me. I absolutely adored Power Play when I read it in the fall. Sometimes I have to work all night and listening to a book helps the time pass more quickly. That wasn't the case with Power Play. I didn't have to work all night. I started listening to the book late in the day and had to stay up and work until 3-4am so I could finish the book. It was that good. Killer Instinct was more uncomfortable for me. It had a 'Very Bad Things (movie)' feel to it. It resolved itself by the end. I almost bailed on it a few times and I'm glad I stuck with it. I almost finished the book yesterday when driving to and from New Jersey and brought it to the studio to finish while working today. Oh, and one of the discs was scratched. I had to get the book out of the library to find out what happened. Can you imagine? Actually reading? What's next?

Abigail's Story by Ann Burton. It was the story of Abigail from the Bible. OK, so it was the author's loose interpretation of what might have been her story. It was an interesting take on the situation and I enjoyed listening on my MP3 player while cutting up fabric last night. I finished this book today while working as well.

School's Out -- Forever by James Patterson. I waited over a year for this cd set from the library. It's a great series about genetically recombined teenagers. Worth the wait. If you haven't started this series yet, why not now? Start with Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment.

I have more work to do tonight, so I have another book lined up. Hopefully it will carry me through the evening. Did I mention that I have quite a bit more work to do tonight?

I'm taking a couple of long flights in the near future so I'll catch up on my sleep then.

I wasn't kidding...

... when I said I read almost a book a day.

Last night I finished White by Christopher Whitcomb. I randomly found Black on the shelf at the library when it came out and was blown away. It was intriguing and fantastic. I was so excited when I saw that Mr. Whitcomb had written another book. Reading it, however, left me much less excited. It was entertaining but lacked the impact of his first book. When it ended I was left feeling rather "so what."

I listen to several books at a time --- one in the car, one in my studio, and one on my MP3 player. My impressions of those three so far are: mixed, fantastic, undecided. I'll post reviews as I finish them.

Dang

I just realized that even with my recent birthday I'm too young to retire. Guess I'll have to keep working for a few years. That means little time to quilt, little time to hike.

Fortunately, I have plenty of time to read. I listen to books when I'm working. When I'm really busy with work, I get through nearly a book a day.

The most recent read was The Chase by Clive Cussler. I am a rabid Dirk Pitt fan, and this wasn't a book featuring that most lovely man. This was about bank robbery, antique cars, steam locomotives, and turn-of-the-century detective work. It was kind of predictable, but enjoyable anyway. If you get to listen to the book, Scott Brick is the narrator. That man is amazing and I'd listen to him read his grocery list. Seriously.

Now for a few personal notes.....

Being a native Pittsburgh-er, I have to root for the Pens in the Stanley Cup. Sorry S and A. We can be friends again next week.

Welcome to my new book buddy, L. Just in case you were wondering, this book isn't anywhere near as good as Twilight. Even if Edward is too young for me.

______
Happy weekend, everyone. Do something fun and think of me while I'm working, ok?

Happy Places on Mother's Day

Where I was supposed to hike to:




Where I actually hiked to:



I had a truly ah-ma-zing hike today. Since I'm breaking in a new pair of boots, I was only going to go out for a short hike; once I was out there, however, I couldn't NOT go to the lake. I encountered two very cute little dogs taking their humans for a Sunday stroll. I also met a college-aged young man on his way to Vermont. He's got quite a few days ahead of him. I hope he's somewhere warm -- it's pretty cold tonight yet.

When I returned home, my family treated me to takeout Pad Thai. We're about a 1/2 hour from the restaurant, but the food was yummy enough to justify all that driving. I will admit to ordering spring rolls just so we could eat them on the drive home.

I'm now sitting at the kitchen table with my laptop while my daughter is icing a cake she made for me. She's an incredible baker and wants to learn to make her cakes look as yummy as they taste. I bought her some cake decorating stuff for her birthday and she's breaking all the bags and tips out for this cake. There may be pictures later. After that, there may be only crumbs.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and moms-to-be (especially S and A). I hope that your day was as relaxing and special as mine was.

Happy Mother's Day!

The Plague, part deux.....

Twice in two months is simply not fair.

Q: When is it OK to look down on your husband?

A: When you hike above his workplace!

Also, the trail today was RIDICULOUSLY crowded. OK, so not Rockefeller Center at Christmas crowded, but quite crowded for the woods. I was out for 2 hours and met:

1. the same 50ish hiker dude as the other day
2. 2 really loud Fran Drescher wannabes who were behind me on the trail cackling loudly until I sat down and let them pass so I could unclench my teeth

3. a woman with 2 gorgeous and energetic black labs

4. a family -- mom with baby in a sling, dad who screamed a lot with a voice that carried for miles, and 3 rambunctious little boys

5. the woman with her 2 dogs again

6. the same 50ish hiker dude again

So basically, my time alone in the woods was spent listening to other people's loud conversations.

My relaxing hike was anything but relaxing. I think I got as upset as I did because I consider the trail to be holy ground. Listening to them all felt like someone swearing in church.

I met someone else on the trail today, and he didn't bother me one little bit:

Update: I showed this photo to the family and we got into a long discussion of frog versus toad. After some research, this is definitely a toad.

Update, part deux: To answer the emails that I know are coming, yes, I do actually have a job. I work weekends so I get to pick which day of the week to take off. I usually choose the ones that are sunny.

File under 'Things that make me happy'

Diamonds? Nope.

New cars? Nope.

Designer clothes? Closer.

Clothespins.

This is the second day in a row that I've been able to hang laundry outside to dry. It's gonna be a great day!

Fourth post of the day?!?!?!?!?

Batman has the Joker. Spiderman has the Green Goblin. Flash Gordon has Ming the Merciless. I have this:

While hiking, I routinely go over, under, and around many fallen trees. This one, however, foils every attempt. There's really thick brush so going around it is out. It's too high to crawl over. And it's too low to crawl under while wearing my pack. I fight with this stupid tree every time I go hiking. Today, I crawled under and my pack got completely stuck. I wriggled and twisted my way loose and fell right over. Fortunately I was annoyed rather than injured. And fortunately, no one else watched me do what was surely a hilarious series of stunts.

On the way back, I took off my pack and crawled under without any problems. I may be slow, but I can be taught.

This is supposed to be a quilting blog, right?

Someone has fallen in love with Glitter thread from Superior. It might be me.



And if you have tricks on how to photograph irridescent thread on black fabric so that it doesn't wash out, I'm all ears. This one was taken with overhead lighting but no flash. The actual quilting is much more vibrant than the photo reveals.

RIP

This car has been parked in my driveway for 1-1/2 years. We bought it when it was 7 years old. It was my car for many years, and then it was the babe-mobile for my teenaged son. We got a better used car and this one was retired.



This is the last I will ever see of our old car:



Good-bye, old friend, I will not mourn thee.

And hopefully someone, somewhere, will give you the love you need.

SIng along with the Brady Bunch!

I've worked several weeks of 12-15 hours days without a break. My first chance at a day off was Monday. It was yukky and rainy. So I worked. Maybe I could take off Tuesday? Nope, yukky and rainy again. Since today looked like this...



...I found myself singing:

I think I'll go for a walk outside now
The summer sun's calling my name
(I hear you now)
I just can't stay inside all day
I gotta get out, get me some of those rays....

Wasn't Cindy cute in her little pigtails?

Anyway, I worked this morning and got some stuff done before I hit the trail. I was also waiting for it to warm up a bit. I'm not that hearty and 50 is cool in the shade. I knew my hike would be interrupted often by my runny nose. (It was.) I had 2 hours 45 minutes before I had to be a mom, so I went to visit some happy places.

They are a bit greener than they were 2-1/2 weeks ago.

Next week I hope to audition this place as another happy place. I didn't have enough time to get there and back today (it's another 75 minutes each way), but I'm checking the weather for next week already.

I met 5 people hiking today. That's unusually high, but I guess I wasn't the only one who noticed that the sun was shining.

The first two men shared my philosophy of hiking. (hint: I go out into the woods to be alone.) When we passed on the trail, there was a quick 'hello', no eye contact, and away we went. I was passed by two trail runners, so they had no time for conversation either.

The final young man was probably in high school or college and he stopped to chat. He asked about my trekking poles and I agreed that they were quite handy. He asked where I hiked to and I told him about the lake. He asked if the trail went to the next town over. I laughed and told him that the trail went to Georgia and that if he turned around and went the other way, he'd eventually hit Maine. He looked a little shocked. I sent him to the library to get information on the Appalachian Trail.

Today I did my part to educate the next generation.

Is it May yet?

I've known for a year that April would be crazy busy. Crazy busy in a good way, but crazy busy is still crazy busy. It's exceeding all expectations at that. Things should calm down to the normal chaotic roar after Sunday, but I decided that I really, really, really need a day off before I go back to the grindstone.

I think I should go hiking. Or get a pedicure. Or have a super sweet sewing day all to myself. Any other suggestions on how to spend a much-needed day off? Or several days off?

Please comment. 100% of my recent comments have been spam. I feel so unloved.

I'm clicking my heels together and saying.....

...There's no place like home!

I drove home from MQX on Sunday. My car was emptier coming home. Next year, hopefully I can get more shopping done. I chatted with some friends and listened to the end of Harry Potter: The Half-Blood Prince to keep me awake. The weather couldn't have been more perfect for a drive through New England. And I'm falling in love with my GPS. People have asked me the route I took, and I can only answer that I go wherever the little voices tell me to go!

The show was, as usual, amazing. The quilts were inspirational. The work was fun. I love the people I work with. I taught 5 classes and they were a hoot! I learn so much from my students and I hope to have the opportunity to teach there again.

I'm home now, quilting away for customers and putting the finishing touches on a quilt retreat that I'm teaching this weekend.

If anyone knows about a lost-and-found from the show, I lost my voice. Think I could get it back before this weekend?

One of these things is not like the other...

Dinner Monday: CLIF bar and a banana
Dinner Tuesday: CLIF bar and a banana
Dinner Wednesday: CLIF bar and a banana
Dinner Thursday: butternut squash ravioli and chicken cutlets with pancetta in a frangelica sauce with a taste of cinnamon. yum.

Here's to hoping for dinner tonight. I'm enjoying the MQX diet.

We don't need no stinkin' SUVs!

Baby cars ROCK!

76 and sunny and I'm doing my taxes

Today's very short hike was very awesome, but this picture sums up my feelings about doing my taxes.



This outhouse is brought to you by the Boy Scouts of America. Thirty short minutes from my house you can have the honor of using this fine facility. OR, hike with your legs crossed for a while and enjoy my hideous harvest gold bathroom -- it may be ugly, but it flushes.

I wish I had a camera that captured sound. I was on the top of the mountain and it sounded like a fleet flock herd gaggle lot of helicopters were flying up from the valley. As the noise grew closer and louder, I realized that it was wind. Awesome warm gusts of wind.

I also wish I had a camera that could capture smell. We had thunderstorms overnight so there was a damp, sweet, warm smell that shouted spring.

Back to my taxes. Yuk.

Internal Conflict

Whereas there are areas of my life that need greening, I'm fairly conscious of my carbon footprint. My preferred recreation is hiking in my neighborhood (living along the Appalachian Trail is helpful). We eat fairly low on the food chain and we produce very little waste. We drive very small fuel-efficient cars, and that presents today's dilemma:

I have a large quantity of stuff to transport for my job this week and it won't fit in my little baby car. Am I no longer green if I lust after a large SUV?

It's now time to bore you with hiking photos. It's spring, but not very green yet.

Photo of my happy place (75 minute hike from home):

Photo of a different happy place (20 minute hike from home):

I am so incredibly blessed to live here.

Mother/Daughter time

Not to be confused with Hammer Time. But I digress....

My darling daughter usually remembers that I know how to sew about 2 hours before a birthday party that she has a) neglected to tell us about and b) neglected to buy a present for (I couldn't un-dangle those prepositions, sorry.) The conversation usually starts like, "Mom? What do you have in the house that can be easily embroidered?"

I usually suggest a tote bag or a hat or a t-shirt. Somehow, these are never what she has in mind. Today's simple embroidery project turned into a red metallic pillow with a flange, embroidered in gold. I measured, cut, hooped for embroidery, and my daughter did all the sewing. We're pleased. Hopefully Sarah will be as well.



Note my daughter's PJs. I usually have to be on my death bed to wear PJs at 2pm.

Speaking of death bed, my daughter finally got the plague. Very, very minor case on Thursday night. Who wants it next?

The Plague Spreads......

My son goes to college about 600 miles away from home. He's joined the list of the fallen.

Saturday -- dear husband

Monday -- me

Tuesday -- dear son

Who's next? And why is my daughter locked in her room refusing all contact with us?

What's your favorite color?

Mine is blue. Especially this shade.

We took a quick mid-week trip to celebrate our anniversary and stayed here:



and ate here:



Yes, it's a castle. Really. We ate there for two reasons: 1) it's good and 2) we couldn't afford to actually stay there.

Then we came home and my husband gave me the best present ever -- the stomach flu. I think my new necklace matches my pjs just fine, thank you.

I'm thinking toast now ... maybe?

I've got the power!

(insert dance moves here)

A quick run-down of my day:

Get up
Run a few quick errands
Go to work
Come home and eat dinner
Start laundry
Head to the studio to work some more (where o where are the soap operas and bonbons?)
Lose power
Set up a quilt by candlelight
Hook up generator (ok, so Mr. Man did that but I honestly know how)
Quilt that quilt
Decide to unhook generator and go to bed
Re-gain power
Re-start laundry (but it's still gonna sit overnight)
Check email
Blog
Finally hit the sack (that's next, I promise)

Electricity, I've got a crush on you.

Coming soon to a quilt show near you.......

Handi Quilter Educator? That would be me!

I love Handi Quilter -- the product and the people. I've worked with them a few times in the last year, but the position is now official.

I spent a week with the company in Salt Lake City, UT. I met five ah-ma-zing ladies who are also new Handi Quilter Educators and we had a blast! We learned all sorts of neat stuff about machines and we quilted every second we could.

My new job will be what is has been for the last year, just more so. I will be travelling to different quilt shows and events and teaching people how to use the Handi Quilter.

I am thrilled and honored to work with this great company.

One of the most important things I learned about my new job is...... always pack a change of clothes in your carry-on luggage. My suitcase caught up to me the next day. I wasn't too worried, but my favorite pair of pumps were in that suitcase!!!

Quilt Tales

My son is a music major at a Big-Ten school (go Bucks!) and had his junior recital. We made plans to fly out for the weekend. My son is a very responsible young man, but he's still a man and doesn't get girl details. I'm sure I drove him crazy with all my questions, like

1. "What are we supposed to wear?"

2. "Do the parents host a reception?"

3. "Are we supposed to pay your accompanist (I really don't know how to spell that word)?"

Minor stuff. The answers were:

1. "Jeans" -- I think not

2. "Yes" -- I think I was looking for a few more details than that

3. "I don't think so, it's part of their grade" -- ok, but are we supposed to give them a gift?

My son and I spoke back and forth for a few weeks on some of these issues. One day he asked if I had a quilt I was willing to give his accompanyist. He happened to ask right after I finished this quilt:

I started this quilt about 2 years ago and packed it away. I finished the top over Christmas and took most of January to bind it. The pattern is from Nickel Quilts and a huge bonnet-tip to Bonnie at Quiltville for the pieced back idea.

I'm as prompt at taking photos as I am at all other things in life. The object to the left of the quilt in the photos isn't a grand piano in a classroom at the music school. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The recipient of the quilt was a darling. She is a doctoral candidate and beyond a fantastic pianist. She is from Greece and really appreciated an American quilt. The music my son chose for her wasn't simple. She did wayyyyyyyy more than hammer out a few chords behind the trombone solos. The piano part was insanely intense and she was grateful to be done with it so she could get back to her own studies. I'm so glad she was a part of that wonderful day and so glad she enjoyed her American quilt.

Is it time for bed yet?

File this under 'Shoot me now!'.

At the local quilt shop, we were working on scrap quilts from Open A Can of Worms. The theme was supposed to be floral, so I of course brought polka dots. Dots are the new floral, right? Humor me here.

Now that the dot/floral matter is settled, I left the shop and went to the grocery store for arborio rice. What is life without risotto? Not worth much, in my opinion. Quick trip in an out and then I was headed to an evening church service.

So, the car wouldn't start. It wouldn't even pretend to start. I've been expecting this since last weekend when a gremlin hatched in my electrical system. Blinking lights, power steering outage, power brake outage, radio turning on and off, clock resetting to 12:00 every 2 minutes. Fun stuff. Once I turned the car off and restarted it, it was fine. I knew it wouldn't continue to be fine, though. How did I know this? My car has over 100,000 miles and is American-made. Need more explanation?

Mr. Man came to the grocery store to jump my car, and, gosh darn it, it worked. Color us shocked. I slammed my fingers in the door drove home with Mr. Man following me while the gremlins played with my electrical system again. My personal favorite was when the transmission suddenly went into neutral. That ROCKED!

Has anyone had the thought process that starts with "I should lose weight" and goes to "I really need to drink more water"? I took that path today. The inevitable end of that thought is "I really have to use the washroom" (just for you Meredyth).

Can you picture this yet? Fingers throbbing, car throbbing, bladder throbbing..... Fun ride home. As soon as I pulled into the driveway, I threw the car into park and ran to the bathroom fell on the ice. Yes, I had to do laundry, but only for the mud on my pants and (sob) new jacket. I took care of business then started the laundry then changed into my pajamas then grabbed my heating pad and laptop. Not much to be done for the sore wrists and nether-regions, but the herniated disc that I just aggravated? Heat and blogging are the best medicine. Funny, my smashed fingers din't hurt so much once I threw my back out.

Tomorrow, I get to call a tow truck and see how much the beast my cute little car will cost to de-gremlin. If I can get out of bed, that is.

Sing it with me now.....

Oh where, oh where has my luggage gone?
Oh where, oh where can it be?
With it's black handles and it's wheels that roll.....
Bring back my luggage to me.

Bring.... back
Bring.... back
Oh bring back my luggage to me, to me
Bring.... back
Bring.... back
Oh bring back my luggage to me!

______________________
I think I joined two separate songs from childhood together, but I'm wearing yesterday's clothes and don't really care! Wish me luck at my first day on my new job (in yesterday's clothes).

Didn't think I remembered, did ya?

Remembered how to quilt, that is. Well, at long last, I did.

I did a bit of sewing between Christmas and the New Year, but I didn't actually finish anything. I started wading through the UFOs in my sewing room and pulled out some long-forgotten treasures.

Remember this?

I pulled out a bag that I thought contained all the blocks. It did, but they were already sewn together!!!! And I put this away why?

I quickly added some borders and did a simple quilting job. An entire month later, I finally finished the binding.

Here it is:

This quilt is going in the gift pile. I don't know who will receive it yet, but I'm gonna enjoy looking at it a while longer. Ahhhhh, red.

A very good week!

It's been a rather interesting week.

First this. (scroll down to the wedding quilt. page 46 in real life).

Now this.

Check out page 80 of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine March 2008. You just might see another quilt that I quilted.

It's the little things...

...that make my day.

Look.

Yes, that is my name beside the wedding quilt.

The magazine hits the newsstands on January 22. I'm available for autographs.

All joking aside, it was a cool experience working with the designers and going through the whole publishing process. I saw the magazine today and they did a great job. The photography is excellent and they wrote a really, really favorable article*.

It's a good day.

How's your day been?
___

My daughter says it's more of a blurb, but I choose to call it an article. So there.

Hey Good Lookin'....

What's cookin'?

Saturday's dinner was spicy fried tofu with sesame dipping sauce and vegetarian lo mein. Yum! Mr. Man deserved some cow after that meal.

Last night's dinner was pot roast. It's never been a favorite of mine and I've never claimed to be an accomplished beef chef. This meal was quite bleh. Edible, but bleh.

The fun part was the leftovers. All the potatoes, carrots, gravy and some meat went into the freezer for a future beef stew. A chunk'o'beef went into the freezer for future BBQ sandwiches. The rest of the beef went into the fridge for some beef stroganoff later in the week (we have some lonely mushrooms).

Hopefully each of these meals will be less bleh than the original. Hopefully, I'll get to quilt during my "would have been cooking" time on the nights these easy-to-prepare meals are served.

_______
I managed to cook all these meals without further injuring myself. I am proud.

Cooking for Dummies

I learned how to cook as a newlywed, but I'm learning some new skills. My son is grown, so I am learning to cook smaller amounts. My daughter is a vegetarian, so I'm learning vegetarian/vegan cooking.

Tonight's dinner was a blending of new and old skills. I made:

Penne
Vodka sauce (very, very wonderful)
Non-vegetarian grated cheese

How, you may ask, does one make non-vegetarian grated cheese? It's quite simple, really.

1. Get out your shiny new cheese grater that your mom gave you for Christmas.



2. Grate some very delicious Parmesan cheese

3. Turn your hand slightly while grating and add a little meat to the cheese.

4. Whine a bit so you don't have to wash dishes with your injured hand.

5. Go to your sewing room and quilt while watching CSI:NY in front of the fire while your husband washes the dishes.

If you are short on quilting time or simply want to get out of doing dishes for a night, copy down this recipe, but make sure you have Shrek bandages. They make everything all better.



My apologies for the poor quality photo. If anyone has a simple way to use a camera with only their left hand while photographing their right hand, please let me know.

Happy New Year!

Oh, and anticipating a few sly emails coming my way, the vodka had nothing to do with the creation of the non-vegetarian cheese.

Proof of Life

I'm still here. Working. 'Cuz it's December. I'm averaging more quilts a week than hours of sleep a night.

It's all good.

O, January, Where Art Thou?

My Sink is Shiny

I'm Flying (again)

Loneliness

e. e. cummings describes loneliness as:

l(a

le

af

fa

ll

s)

one

l

iness

I describe it like this:

This is how I describe togetherness:

My husband doesn't call this togetherness...... he calls it brain-damaged.

*** hopefully you can tell by the photos which room we've renovated and which one has the original flooring and peeling wallpaper.

It's a bird! It's a plane! ...

.... It's a quilt! Don't die of shock or anything, but I finally finished a quilt.



This is going on my dining room table. It was designed by the Quilt Basket and really fun to quilt. I think they have one kit left if anyone's interested. It's not on their website, but a call or email asking for the 'spiderweb strip quilt' will get the job done.

While I was outside taking a picture of the quilt, I had to take a picture of this clear, cold autumn day.

I hope to get some more hiking in before all the leaves are down, the snow is on the ground, and the hunters are out.

can't. stop. laughing.

I decided to learn to speak Spanish last year. I can now order beer, find the bathroom, and understand the 'First Semester of Spanish Spanish Love Song'.

Working in the LQS this morning made me realize how rusty my sign language skills are so I'll probably be working on that now, too. The customer and I were able to communicate enough to pick out fabric for pillows, but it was a lot of pointing and finger-spelling.

Thanks, but I'm waiting for the paperback

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I went back to college this semester. I'm taking an English course and we're just finishing up Othello. Being the library lover that I am, I requested several copies of Othello. They all came in while I was in Houston (which was awesome, thanks for asking). On Monday I went to the library to pick up

the movie starring Bob Hoskins:



the movie starring Ian McKellan (yes, from LOTR):



and the movie starring Laurence Fishburne:



The woman at the desk looked curiously at my three different copies of Othello movies. I explained that I was studying it in college and had a test on it this week. Her retort? "Did you know this is available as a book, too?" Cute.

........

In the interest of full disclosure, I also borrowed the audio cds of Othello:



The test was this morning and I'm hoping for a B or better. I still have to write a paper over the weekend. Whose bright idea was it to go back to school?

October Wrap Up

Where on earth did October go? I cannot believe it's already time for another month-end post. Anyway, here goes:

I read:

The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud
I really, really, really enjoyed this book but I can't explain why. I enjoyed the journey immensely.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling
I decided to re-read the series to get me to #7. I haven't read number seven yet, so don't tell me what happens. This one was fun, even for the 5th or 6th go round.

Ricochet by Sandra Brown
I enjoyed the 12 hours spent listening to this book, but that was due more to Dennis Boutsikaris than Sandra Brown. I enjoy Dennis as an actor and he did a great job reading this book. The story wasn't too bad. It had twists and turns and kept me guessing, but it ended on a bit of a syrupy, preachy note.

Play Dirty by Sandra Brown This book was as enjoyable as Ricochet even with a different speaker. There was no preachy ending to distract me from this one, though. I didn't plan to read two Sandra Brown novels back-to-back, but I did. I probably won't read another one for quite some time, but I will definitely read her again.

Power Play by Joseph Finder
Normally I have to stay up and work and the book keeps me company, but this time I had to stay up for the book and the quilting kept me company. Once the book ended (at 3am!!!!), I wasn't disappointed. I've never read anything by Finder before, but I definitely will again. Oh, and Dennis Boutsikaris read this one, too. I like Dennis.

The Burnt House by Faye Kellerman
This was my first book with this author, but the reading by George Guidall made it seem like old times. He's one of mine (and most other audiobook listeners) favorite readers. The story had some great twists and turns and kept me quilting. Another great quilting book. I'm getting spoiled.

Break No Bones by Kathy Reich If you've read this book, answer me one question....... Has the author ever read Harry Potter? Crookshanks? Harry? Hermoine? It could have been annoying, but it was subtly done and kind of cute. The story was nicely done, as well.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Not much to say. Too busy pursuing my personal legend. Whatever.

Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Slipknot by Linda Greenlaw
Harmless little book.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
Still good, even on the fourth time through. On to number 3!

Lisey's Story by Stephen King
This was a great way to spend 19 hours. Mare Winningham read the book and I loved her Pittsburgh accent. Snce there is no 'typical' Stephen King novel, I'm not sure what I expected, but I enjoyed this. The Mist is back on the bestseller list, so I'll have to add that to my ever-expanding t0-be-read list.

In addition to reading, I also:

1. worked at the First Dutchess Quilt Show. It's my local guild show. I demo-ed longarm quilting and bonded with my saddle stool. Quilt shows are so much more fun when you can sit for a portion of the day! Five of my customers entered quilts and two won ribbons. Several of my students won major ribbons for their quilting. It was a really nice weekend.

2. finished the 3rd season of CSI: Miami around the time my cold went away. So, the next time
you get a cold, take 3 seasons and call me in 1o days. You'll feel better by then.

3. had my ebay account infiltrated. Like I really want a copy of Grand Tourismo Racing game. Now I have no ebay account to be defrauded in the future. Just a friendly reminder that there are indeed stinky people out there who can ruin things for the rest of us.

4. went to the Sheep and Wool Festival and had a beautiful time. I was with some old friends and some new ones and already plan to go next year.

5. taught a quilting class locally. I love to teach quilting. (see number 6)

6. made the Machine Quilters Exposition catalog. I'm so honored and humbled to be teaching at the same event as the most talented quilters alive. If you dig through the sight, you may even find my picture. I'm not so very fond of that picture, but I guess that's what I look like most of the time.

7. finished 21 customer quilts. I know, fewer than last month, but most of these were queen/king and custom.

AND...... the very last thing I did in October ........

8. packed to go to Houston!

Sponge Bob....

... Square Plates.



Dishes are my crack.

Turmoil

On Sunday night we had an unexpected guest drop by the house. He didn't get along well with some of the members of the family. There was a period of screaming and running and knocking over furniture. The chaos stopped just short of bloodshed. It ended when my husband caught the mouse while the two useless idiots cats watched. My kind-hearted husband released the mouse in the yard. I spent a good deal of time yesterday setting the sewing room back in order. Yes, the mouse was in my sewing room! How did I ever get so much fabric? And how does it get so dusty in there?

On another front, we got our new generator and electrical hookups today, thus guaranteeing no extended power outages in the near future. When my husband showed me how to use the new equipment in the garage, I noticed what was possibly the same mouse (or a near relative of the mid-sized brown variety), now dead in a trap. Poor, poor mouse.

September wrap-up

I've seen a lot of people post their reading lists, so here's mine from September:

The Company by Robert Littell
This is one long book. It got me through many quilts, but did I mention that it was long?

Hot Stuff by Janet Evanovich and Leanne Banks
I did enjoy it, but it wasn't exactly memorable.

The Ruins by Scott Smith
I saw this on the NYTimes bestseller list and then downloaded it from the library. Knew absolutely nothing about it. Imagine my surprise when it was a Stephen King-like horror novel?!?!?!? Don't get me wrong, I love Stephen King, but it wasn't what I was expecting. I did like this book and it was memorable.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
As I was listening to this book on my MP3 player, I was thinking, "Wow, this book sure jumps around a lot." Then I listened to the end, and then it kept going? My MP3 player shuffled the tracks. I actually liked this book, but maybe it was boring if you listened all the way through in order?

Body Surfing by Anita Shreve
I didn't really like Wedding in December. As in, I disliked Wedding in December, but I thought I'd give her another try. I'm glad I did. This was probably my favorite book in recent months. I'm not sure why I liked it so much. In case you were wondering, The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory is still the best book of 2007 for me.

Crisis by Robin Cook
Loved it! I started this book maybe 3 months ago and couldn't get into it. I'm so glad I started it again. Did I mention that I loved it? I read a lot and can usually see the ending from the beginning. I love having no clue where the book is going so I can just buckle up and enjoy the ride. Still pondering the ending and the title. Did I mention that I loved this book?

Off the Record by Elizabeth White
I'm going to venture onto shaky grounds with this one. I'm in a book club at church and this was this month's selection. (I was sick and couldn't go to the club, but that's a little beside the point). I am a Christian and that's really important to me. Like probably most important to me. I don't have a problem with Jesus at all. I do have a few small issues with the Christian culture. Like, Christian books and Christian music and stuff. This book was a Christian book, but it wasn't very good. Most aren't. I have to say there have been a few books that have been very, very, good but that it's not the norm. It's interesting to go to the book club and hear people rave about the book. "This was so well-written," they'll gush. "Have you ever read a real book?" I want to answer, but I restrain myself. This book, like most others in the book club, was pleasant and harmless and somewhat enjoyable. I'll mail it to my mom and she'll just love it. Rant over. (Pun not intended)

Rant by Chuck Palahniuk
Um, what can I say? Chuch Palahniuk wrote this. Not quite as gritty as Choke. I still liked Fight Club best. Interesting and thought-provoking and very, very memorable.

The Afghan by Frederick Forsyth
I think I enjoyed this. I remember some parts. I guess it was enjoyable and passed the time, but my ears kinda glazed over. I'll have to read another Forsyth book to tell if it was him or the actor who read it that numbed my brain. My guess is that it was Forsyth. LeCarre does the same thing to me.

------
In addition to reading, I also:
1. quilted 22 quilts for customers
2. taught a weekend quilting retreat for 19 ladies (FUN!)
3. taught a regular quilting class (while sick)
4. taught a machine quilting club (a week later, still sick)
5. got my daughter started in high school
6. got my son moved out to his own apartment
7. got terribly sick and skipped a week of life and by the time I woke up the season had changed!
8. watched 2 1/2 seasons of CSI Miami. I'm listening to the rest of season 3 while I work. I'll start reading again when I'm done.
9. started back to college, because I'm insane. Now you know it, too.
------
Yes, I'm a huge calendar and list person. Why do you ask?

Stranger than Fiction

In case my last posts were unclear, I've been sick. Not like hospital sick, but like lay on the couch and watch CSI and nap for 4 days sick. I have asthma and when I get a cold, everyone knows it. It goes straight to my lungs and I sound worse than dead. I was a responsible adult, though, and called my clients to let them know I was sick and that their work would be delayed approximately one week. The conversation(s) with one customer is (are) too good to keep to myself.

ME: I'm sick, cough, cough, and I hope to have your quilts to you by next Tuesday.

CUSTOMER: Oh, dear, you sound terrible.

ME: Thank you. That helps so much. Cough, cough, cough.

CUSTOMER: So you think the quilts will be done by the end of this week?

ME: No, I'll probably be down a few more days (cough, cough), but I can probably have them to you by Tuesday. Cough, cough, cough, sneeze.

CUSTOMER: Oh, OK. But when will you start working on them? Tomorrow?

ME: Cough, cough, cough, cough, I'll call you when I'm feeling better to give you a more definite time.

CUSTOMER: OK. But if you feel better sooner, you'll work on them?

ME: Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough. I'll do the best I can and call you when I'm feeling better, ok?

CUSTOMER: OK. Goodbye.

Three hours later....

ME: (waking up to answer the phone) Hello? cough, cough, cough, hack, cough, gasp for breath, etc.

CUSTOMER: It's me again. I was just checking to see if you were feeling better yet.

ME: Cough, cough, cough. No. I'm afraid it'll be a few more days.

_________

I actually checked call ID later on to see if I dreamed the second phone call. I didn't.

You can't make this stuff up!

More Sweet Dreams

I forgot the most powerful weapon in my cold-battling arsenal.

Seasons 1, 2 and 3. Yeah, baby!

Having fun!

Sweet dreams are made of these and these and these.

I'm going to be selfish and try to keep this to myself, ok?

Lest I Forget...

When I was in Nashville, I got a chance to meet Quiltgranny Sharon.

She's a neat lady with a neat blog. Check her out!

I'm in Love! (or, Does this make my butt look fat?)

I am officially in love.

I picked up my saddle stool today from the best quilt shop ever. Since I'm a geek, I know that it took less than 8 minutes to assemble (7 minutes, 11 seconds, but it's not like I actually used a stopwatch or anything). I pulled my wonderful stool right up to my quilting machine and was able to quilt WHILE SITTING DOWN!!!! My back, hips, knees, and feet are gonna send me thank you notes.

Since everything in life should be fun, I read the "Important Safety Instructions" included in the box. I'll share my favorites here:

1. Before assembling the chair. Make sure to wear Gloves for the safety of your hands.

3. Disposed packing materials properly. Do not play with plastic bag as head covering. It may cause suffocation.

5. Except on the seat, do no sit on any part of the chair. Improper sitting may cause imbalance which results to bodily injury.

8. The fabric color may fade when exposed under the sun. keep chair under the shade.

These were direct quotes. The drawings accompanying the warnings were equally hilarious.

And yes, this chair makes my butt look fat(ter than it already is).

Also, be wary of improper sitting. I've read that it may results to bodily injury.

Incentive lost

Today is just one of those blah days. Like 4pm and wondering why I'm not quite awake yet. Since I get up at 5am, I've had more than sufficient time to join the living, but it just hasn't happened yet. I have some work to do, but absolutely no motivation to do it.

What's a girl to do?

Well, a girl could answer 2 phone calls within 10 minutes and suddenly discover 2 customers who are really interested in receiving their quilts, like, NOW.

Incentive found.

Gone quiltin'

Gimme an R!

Gimme an I!
Gimme an S!
Gimme an O!
Gimme a T!
Gimme another T!
Gimme an O!

What's it spell? Risotto.

I would love to confess to a lifelong love affair with risotto, but sadly I cannot. I grew up in a culinary wasteland. Dinner was either meat cooked to shoe leather or a casserole with Campbell's soup, Velveeta cheese, and potato chips on top. Cheese came in a green can. It's ok if you tell my mom I said this -- she and I have discussed it many times.

I never learned to cook when living at home. None of this food tasted good, so why bother? When I got married and had kids, I had to learn to cook. I became a fairly adventurous cook. I always try new recipes. What's the worst that can happen?

I've eaten risotto in restaurants a few times and really like it. I've tried making it a few times and found out the worst that could happen -- it was awful.

Then I found this book*. I made artichoke risotto and it was easy and delicious. My children, who have never tasted risotto (because I always threw my feeble attempts away), adored it.

Since my son is moving into his own apartment and going to have to cook, I tested a simpler version that he can make himself. Put some olive oil in the pan and saute some garlic and onion. Add the rice and cook until translucent. Stir in some broth and cook until it's absorbed. Put the rice into a 5-qt slow cooker and add broth (vegetable broth for my vegetarian daughter) and cook on high for 2 hours, stirring once or twice. Before serving, stir in unsalted butter and pecorino-romano cheese. YUM!

The real amounts:
1-2 T olive oil
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cups arborio rice
1 cup vegetable broth
6 more cups vegetable broth
2 T butter
1/3 cup cheese

When you put this in the slow cooker, you can clean out the fridge and put in peas, mushrooms, or whatever else is lurking in there.

Enjoy!

_____
*I've also made Midas Feast. I plan to try several more recipes since the book's already scored 2 out of 2.

Nashville Update

I recently returned from the AQS show in Nashville. I went there, I worked, I came home. I didn't get to do Nashville, but I had fun anyway.

My flight down was very, um, interesting. The engine failed at takeoff, which is much better than the engine failing after takeoff I guess. We waited while they fixed the plane. Then the engine failed at takeoff again. Then we waited some more. Third time's a charm.

The Detroit airport was interesting as well. Since I was well over three hours late*, I missed my connection. The nice lady handed me a new ticket when I got off the plane. They rebooked my flight to Nashville and it was leaving in 28 minutes. Cool, right? Did I mention that the gate I needed to get to was in Texas? Seriously. Prove that I'm lying. After doing an OJ through the airport, I decided that I have to take my computer bag to the gym with me in the morning. Running on a treadmill doesn't quite prepare you for running with luggage and I want to be ready for the next time.

I got to Nashville 'round midnight. It was hot. Like "Repent now!" hot. Welcome to Nashville!

After the hotel shuttle dropped me off at the wrong Hampton Inn and I waited for another shuttle and eventually got to the right Hampton Inn, I kissed the ground and started looking for food. I got on a plane at 2pm eastern time and it was now after midnight central time. Good news -- there was a restaurant next door. Bad news -- it was Waffle House. I should have seen that as a signal to fast, but my blood sugar was too low to make good decisions. I lived. 'Nuf said.

After my eventful trip down, the show went quite smoothly. I babysat the sewing machines in three classes: two with Pam Clarke and one with Sue Patten. Lovely and talented ladies, the both of them.

I met Judy, another lovely and talented lady:

You should buy her book.

If you ever go to Nashville, check out the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center. I'm sure there are other wonderful things to see in Nashville, but I didn't get a chance to see any of them. This convention center was amazing, though. Many stories high. Very cool glass ceiling. Indoor river with boats and waterfalls. Beyond cool.

Oh, and I think there were some quilts at the show, too. I didn't get to see too many of them, but the ones I saw....... AMAZING! They made me want to come home and immediately work on some new stuff.

My trip home was boring. I got on the plane in Nashville, got off in Detroit, jogged to my gate with almost enough time to get a bagel, sat next to a baby on the flight to NY, and only had to wait 1-1/2 hours to ransom my luggage. Not bad at all.

I get to fly to Utah in a month. I'm looking forward to the trip, but not the travelling, y'know?

_____

*those three books I packed that were going to be insanely too many? I read them all!

Laboring on Labor Day Weekend

Many Americans celebrate Labor Day Weekend with vacations, cookouts, and parties. Many more Americans celebrate by working around the house. On Friday, my kitchen faucet decided to stop working. Stop STOPPING would be more accurate and constantly running hot water isn't the best thing to have. At least we knew what our work-around-the-house project would be.

When we bought our house 5-1/2 years ago, we left the closing with approximately $0.50 to our names and a house that needed major work. Everything that had to be done immediately was done inexpensively. We hammered the old kitchen sink into a shape resembling flat and bought the cheapest faucet we could find. The agreement was that when the faucet needed to be replaced, we'd redo the sink and faucet.

I'm a gal with some pretty strong opinions on some subjects and absolutely no preference on others. I have my dream bathroom designed and ready to go (awaiting funding), but I don't actually care what the kitchen looks like. I had to pick out a sink and a faucet. TORTURE! I don't like shopping for house crap stuff any more than I like shopping for clothes. My husband found a faucet for a price that didn't necessitate our son dropping out of college and a black granite sink on serious sale and I said "Perfect! We're done!" What I should have said was "I'm done!" because the poor guy still had to install all this stuff.

Before:

After:

I hope you enjoyed the small glimpse of my kitchen. I purposely included the very old triple track storm window that needs to be replaced now (but won't be), the awful wood trim that needs to be painted immediately (but won't be), the oh-so-chic green formica countertop, and the incredibly trendy peanut butter cabinets. You can see a bit of the trash compactor, too. It's never been used. There was a broken harvest gold trash compactor (old garbage included for free!) in that space when we bought this money pit house. We couldn't find a peanut butter cabinet to fill the space (or any cabinet to fit the space) so we filled it with an appliance we'd never use just to get someone else's old garbage out of our kitchen.

We have 5-1/2 years of home improvement stories to tell, so never invite us over for dinner! If you are interested in reading someone else's home improvement woes, check out House in Progress. Start at the beginning and go forward from there. Then hug your house.

Any suggestions on what I should cook for dinner for my home-improvement-hero-hubby? He deserves a good meal. I'll even wash the dishes ------ in my new sink!

Enough Already!

I'm packing to go to the AQS show. I have all the necessaries (clothes, toiletries, tickets, etc.), but it's all the unnecessary things that are doing me in.

I brought 3 books with me, Ping, and yarn for 2 pair of socks. I have my mp3 player loaded with about 40 hours of books. Oh, and a book for a class I'm taking. And a sketch pad for a class I'm teaching. And some notecards in case I want to write some letters.

Someone stop me before I pack anything else.

See y'all in Nashville!

Happy 100th Post!

I noticed that this post was to be my 100th post and now I wish that I had planned something monumental. I didn't. Sorry. Here's my post anyway:

My blog silence in the past has meant many things, but this time it means that I've been busy working. So busy working, in fact, that I forgot to have fun. Fun for me is sewing and today I finally did some:



This morning was the "Strip Club" at the Quilt Basket. For you non-quilters, we use strips of fabrics to make various projects and today's project was a bag. I've made a few bags in the past, but I've never really done any that were very involved (i.e. linings, inner pockets, etc.). This one had lining and ties and button flaps and TEN pockets. One for my wallet, camera, mp3 player, and seven more that are currently empty. Any suggestions?

I also heard recently that McDonald's serves iced vanilla coffee. I was led to believe that it's impossible to drink it without the proper amount of sweetener. I've never been a fan of coffee, but this sounds like it's worth a try.

Well, Post #100 was lame, but at least there was a picture, right?

Look at who I met!

I was working at Quilt Odyssey in Hershey, Pennsylvania and I met Amy from calicocat. She's as lovely in person as she is in blogland.

I wish I had spent more time with Amy, but the show was pretty hectic.

If any quilty bloggers are going to be at the AQS show in Nashville in a few weeks, let me know, cuz...... I'm going!!!!!! (But I'm not very excited about that). I'd love to meet any of you and Ill make sure I have fresh batteries in my camera.

____

Side note: my husband and I just finished watching The Fountain starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. All I can say is.... it's different. That and I'll probably not watch it again.