What I did on my Summer Vacation....

Do you all remember having to write that essay during your first week or so of the new school year? I do. We never took any vacations though, so I never really had anything exciting to write about.

Anyway, I had a pretty good time on my vacation. First off it was mostly a working vacation, because I had a lot of things that needed to be done around the house, but I did through in a couple of fun things too. I asked around to find out what a "Honey Do" list is called when you make it up yourself and the predominant answer was "Crap that just needs to be done." So I worked on that and surprisingly I got a lot done. Here's some of the "crap" that got done:

1. My Dad and I changed the starter on my Car.
2. I cleaned up the basement storage room by putting in a few more shelves. Then organized the tools/paint/household items onto those shelves. Plus moved some of the stuff (mainly Xmas ornament/decorations & misc. tools) from the outer basement area into the storage room. I'm trying to clean up the whole outer area, but that is going to be slow going. In the process of all this lifting, I forgot the warning 'lift with your legs, not your back.' I ended up straining my lower back and was out of commission on Tuesday. I was going to rest it on Wednesday too, but I forgot to tell my mom (although I thought I did) and she came over at 8:30am to help me paint the kitchen.
3. So we painted and re-arranged the kitchen. I have to go back and do a lot of touch up on the trim, because I couldn't bend very well with my back hurting so much. And frankly, it needs to be touched up anyway. I also realized why I've never painted any of the other rooms in my house. I HATE painting. If I had painted before I moved in, it wouldn't have been so bad, but trying to move everything around to paint behind things was a real pain in the ass. We also sorted out some dishes that I didn't need/use. Some went to goodwill and some (extra plates and bowls) went to the basement storage room. I figured if I had fewer plates/bowls/glases, I would HAVE to do dishes more often; We'll see. I would really like a dishwasher, but that's not in the cards right now.
4. I borrowed my brothers power washer and washed the house. Of course I dropped the stupid thing and broke the hose quick disconnect. I bought a new one at Lowe's but I still couldn't get it to stop leaking. I was really upset, especially when I told my brother and he said "Man, I can't have nothing good around you." Honestly, this is the only thing of his that I can remember breaking!! Except maybe his Tonka Truck Semi-car carrier, but that was when we really young, and I'm sure it was his idea to lay on it and push my feet against the wall to zoom across the room. And it still worked afterwards, it only bent a little. Anyway, I told him repeatedly I would buy him a new one if he wanted, but he said not to worry about it, he would tear it apart and see if he could figure it out. I mentioned it in front of one of the guys here at work and he said he had the same problem and it has something to do with the washer have pipe threads while the quick disconnect has hose fittings and the two are not exactly 100% compatible. So I have to remember to tell my brother that.
5. Then my brother and I changed out my screen door, which was broken. That was kind of interesting. The instructions were a bit lame, but for the most part it covered everything. We put the old door out beside the trash can, and it was gone the next day. Not sure if the garbage company took it when they emptied the trash or someone else, but either way it's out of my hair.
6. I did some general pick-up & put away type cleaning on the rest of the house. It needs more, but the weather was getting hot and frankly I was tired of CLEANING.

In between some of the cleaning, I had a little fun.

1. I went to my 20th Class Reunion. Go Decatur Raiders Class of 1989! It was fun seeing all the old faces (LOL!). Surprisingly I didn't have too much trouble identifying anyone. (Except Paula. Sorry, she was half way across the parking lot and everyone knows my eyesight is crap! But as soon as I said the wrong name, I new that it wasn't her and corrected myself.) We had a great turn out too; 25 people were able to come along with a fair number of spouses. We only had a class size of 44 to begin with. There were a few people we were unsuccessful in finding and we also invited a few that moved away before graduation, but that we all still remembered and wanted to see.
What a good looking group!

We also had a family style picnic the next day. OMG! was it HOT! There was a small breeze, but by the end, I was wiped out. Thanks to Julie's quick thinking, the kids enjoyed a nice water balloon fight after lunch.
2. I laid out my Ocean quilt blocks to see which way I wanted to sew them together. And I decided I wanted to do them using a modified "quilt-as-you-go-method." I am going to sew the 5 rows together and quilt each row then put the whole quilt top together.

3. I went shopping with my mom one afternoon. I had a JCPenney $10 off a $10 purchase that was burning a hole in my pocket. And a 30% off coupon at Kohls. Happily for my pocket book I had a hard time finding anything at either stores that interested me. I actually didn't even use the Kohls coupon.
4. I attended the Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan, MI with my knitting buddy Carly. Even though I didn't find anything that really interested me other then some lemon soap and a tape measure, I still had a great time. The one booth I was looking for that always has cheaper millend Socks that Rock sock yarn, didn't have any this year. That company kept all their inventory to take to the Sock Summit in Oregan. Carly said she was sorry I hadn't found anything, but I figured I hadn't been real happy lately with anything that I had been knitting (continious wripping out was effecting me) and I didn't have any particular pattern in mind that I needed yarn for. But like I said I still had a great time looking at everything and talking with Carly. She found some yummy superwash wool for a baby dress. The color was supposed to be Bubble Gum Pink, but to me it looked more salmon-ish. It was very pretty though and I can't wait to see it knitted up. Then we headed to the Grill House for lunch, where we had chicken salad sandwiches on soft pretzel buns (those buns were great!) with a fruit cup and homemade potatoe chips. Oh and we had pita chips and roasted red pepper hummus for an appetizer. It was all very good. It was hot enough the I voted for eating indoors in the A/C which gave us time to re-coup from the festival. And of course, we had to stop at St. Julien's Winery in Paw Paw for a little sample. After sampling 6 different wines, I decided that the Catawba (sweet blush wine) was still my favorite and bought a bottle.
5. And I surprised my Aunt Margaret with a visit. I tagged along with her and my mom to my Aunts' doctors appointment. I took a new pair of socks that I started knitting with along since my mom had warned me it might take a couple hours. She had to have one of those lying down stress tests. They have some kind of new medicine for it that gave her a headache. She asked me to rub her shoulders and neck for her to try to get rid of it. I could have cried. Her muscles are so tight and atrophied. She's recovering from throat cancer. At lunch she told me she's still having a hard time gaining weight. I said it looked like she had put some back on, because her face doesn't look so skeletal (I didn't say it that way to her though). She shook her head and said she just can't seem to get past 97lbs. Man! But she said, with a twinkle in her eye, that if she wears a BRA and her coat she actually weighs 100 lbs. I had to laugh, because really how much does the bra add. Except discomfort and agrevation. :o)

Well, that about covers everything I did on my vacation. Hope you had good week too!

Reunion

Tonight is the big night. I am attending my 20th High School Reunion. It's going to be fun. We will be getting together at Big T's restaurant in Lawton. Lucky for Debby, it's only a 10 minute drive for her. This will be for Classmates and their spouses only. Tomorrow, we are having a potluck picnic at the Raider Romp Park in Decatur where everyone can bring their kids and show off. The picnic is not strictly just for the class of '89 though. That one if or +/- a few years and for out teachers. Everyone is supposed to bring their own meat and a dish to pass; except the teachers, they get to eat for free. The weather should be great, if not a bit hot (93 degrees), but there is supposed to be a breeze.

I'm planning on bringing my Aunt's Cowboy Beans recipe. Kind of like baked beans, but they are in the crockpot. I have to stop on my way home from work today and buy a bunch of hamburger/hot dogs buns and a few missing ingredients for my beans. Planning on taking a coconut cake also plus a pitcher of lemonade and iced tea.

I'm taking my camera along, so there will be photos. Just not sure when they will get posted. You know me by now. I'm kind of lazy about that. Although it really does make for a better blog.

Duck Races, Quilting & Knitting

And their off!

Here they are paddling along minding their own business. #5's in the lead, followed by #3 (pink) and #2 (green)

OK, so #5 may have been a little tipsy to begin with, but it looks like #3 & #2 were also. That's still no excuse for #4 to cheat.

I was so upset, I forgot to get a picture of the winner. HAH!

Oops, actually I did. He's over in the lilypads on the left, laughing at the floundering #3 & #2. The fish, thinking this is some new food are zeroing in on him. Luckily for him, Lu swished him out just in the nick of time. Isn't Lu's Pond gorgeous though?!? What a lot of work, but so peaceful.

Here is the cheering squad.
And the brave few who decided to brave the rain.

OK now for the quilting segment of our broadcast. :o) Last night, I finished all of my 4x4 blocks of my Ocean quilt. I actually got 1 turtle appliqued. Still 25 more to go, but I did get them all cut out. The thing I did discover is that you should never use a calculator with a faulty display to determine how many blocks you really need. I needed 144 blocks total. I had 8 different colors. So using my trusty calculator, I determined I needed 13 blocks of each. WRONG! That darn display wasn't working right. The 3 in the 13 was really an 8. I needed 18 blocks. Well, I don't have enough fabric and can't get anymore, since I bought this stuff several years ago and they were Hobby Lobby bandannas to begin with. Oh well, I finally decided that instead of 36 16" blocks, I settle for 25 and put a white border around the lot to make it the right size. The upside is that I don't have to do anymore triangles!!

Here is some knitting news I forgot to post. Go figure right! (sniff, sniff) Sheldon left me! (sniff, sniff) But only because he thought Dawson would be a much better pal to have around and play with. See here they are already getting acquainted.

I just knew what Dawson was thinking too. "Hello my new little friend! Now how do I get you in my mouth? And which part do I chew first?"

On the regular knitting front, I've been really struggling with not liking anything I've been knitting lately. I was working on a shrug. I've ripped it back 3 times because I didn't like the way it was looking and started a new pattern each time. I've settled on top down ballarina shrug that ties in the front. We'll see if I finish it or not. Still not 100% happy with it. On the bright side I've decided to start a new pair of socks. (Please forget the pomatomus ones that are still sitting on the sticks waiting to be re-sized) I found a new pattern on Ravelry called Komet (Ravelry Link) and I have the perfect light purple cotton yarn to knit them in. Going to start them this week.

An eventful Weekend

I don't know about anyone else, but I had a pretty good weekend.

On Saturday, I went to a picnic at Lu's house. It was for our Tuesday Night Quilt group. I had a real good time visiting with everyone and there was lots of yummy food. It started to rain just after we ate, but Lu has a nice big porch that we sat around chatting on. There was a duck race too! It took her a while, but Lu built this awesome pond in her back yard. It has a small upper pond that spills over a waterfall into a larger pond that contains fish. There is also a little river that gets fed from the waterfall and winds it's way around the pond and empties into it on the opposite side from the waterfall. Lu put 5 rubber ducks on the river and we all cheered to see which one got to the pond first. It was hilarious. Yes, I took pictures and yes they are still in my camera. I'll have to post them another time. Duck #4 cheats by the way. My Duck (#5) was in the lead until #4 rammed into him and knocked him over so that #4 could cross into the pond in first place. Wasn't the first heat #4 won either. I might have thought the race was rigged if Lu's number had been #4, but as it is I guess we'll never know. :o)

On Sunday I finished 2 more siamese cat blocks from my Temple Guardian BOM quilt. I have 8 done and ONLY 1 more to go. YEAH!!!! I glue-sticked the last one up today while at lunch. I want to get it appliqued this week. Then I can start assembling the quilt top. I'm so excited, I just can't wait!

Oh, I almost forgot. On Friday morning I got a call from the SB Medical Foundation. I donate blood with them and my name was drawn for their annual golf "hole-in-one" contest. You get a chance to hit the ball 150 yards for a hole-in-one. If you make it, you win $50,000. Yeah like that's gonna happen! I did have the option to elect to have someone else hit the ball for me. Since the only golfing I've ever done is either putt putt or Wii mini-golf, I asked Gary at work to do it for me. He told me he hadn't golfed in a long time and don't get my hopes up. Jeez, I didn't have a shot in the dark to begin with. He'll hardly do worse than I would have myself. I had asked my cousin Kevin to do it on the 4th of July if I got selected, but he said "They make it impossible for you to win, so No." The SBMF said there would be other drawings also. And that everyone would win something. So hey it's for a good cause and it should be fun. I found out that my friend Robin got selected also. So it will be fun to visit while we wait around. Registration is tonight between 5 & 5:30. I'll let you know how it goes.

Busy Busy Bee

That is exactly what I have been over the last couple of weeks.

I have discovered that who needs a TV in the sewing room when you have access to Books on CD! Only 1 channel comes on the TV anyway. Although I do have a new 'homemade' antenna that works great, but I have to figure out a way to mount it somehow. I'll discuss that another time.

So far, I have listened to 3-4 books on CD while sewing my little heart out. My poor machine doesn't know what hit it.

I mentioned in a previous entry that I had stayed up until almost 4am one night sewing while listening to "The Keepsake" by Tess Gerriston. Well I have since finished: "Terminal Freeze" by Lincoln Child, "Silent Thunder" by Iris & Roy Johansen, "Dead Silence" by Randy Wayne ... (crap forgot his last name). And I just started "Deep Storm" by Lincoln Child on the basement CD player and "The Artic Event" by James Cobb in the car CD player. OK, I admit that I do occasionally read more than 1 book at a time, but the reason I have 2 books on CD going right now is that I was just too lazy last night to go out to the car for the 'current' book.

OK, so while listening to all of these very interesting books, I've been doing some serious sewing.


This quilt started out as a charity quilt project. It was only the striped center. Then I got the wise idea that it needed something, maybe a border or 2. Well non-sewers might not realize this but 'good' fabric is not cheap. I spent too much on the borders and binding (little bit of strip fabric peaking on the bottom right corner) that I don't like giving it to charity. I'm thinking of giving it as a gift to an un-named relative at this point. Don't want to blow the surprise ya know. I have other stuff at home that I can use for a charity project.

Then, while shopping for the border fabric, I saw a pattern for an apron. I've been wanting one, but haven't found one I want to either buy or make yet. This pattern was called "Four Corners Apron." Sorry don't know who it was by, because I didn't actually buy it. I looked at it, thought hmm that's just a big old square set on point. I can do that. So I went home fiddle around with some paper and wallah. I have made 2 so far and have 1 cut out. I have fabric for several others picked out also. Can you guess what everyone's getting for Christmas this year?!?




In between the quilt and the apron, I made this tote bag.

I bought the pattern and a charm pack at the Topeka Quilt Show. It went together very well, however I have discovered that I really do not care for the charm packs. Even though they say each square of fabric is 5 inches, it is NOT. I had to supply several of my own squares for the inside pockets as I was a few short and there was a noticeable difference in the sizes. I did like how the pattern used fusible fleece to stiffen the bag.

I like it so much in fact that I decided to make myself a purse using it. My friend Kathy got a Vera Bradley purse as a gift. The style was exactly what I had been looking for, but I'm sorry Vera's prices are just a bit out of my price rang. Especially for a purse that I will be be 'using' and not just admiring. Anyway, I made this purse patterned after Kathy's purse. It hangs across the body and sits on the hip.


I love knitting, but I really love the instant gratification of sewing. I never could have knitted all of these projects in 2 weeks.

I just have to pass this one along.

I recently received this forwarded email and I just had to share it with everyone. It is hilarious! I just love it!

Recently, in a large English city, a poster featuring a young, thin and tanned woman appeared in the window of a gym.

It said: "THIS SUMMER DO YOU WANT TO BE A MERMAID OR A WHALE?"

A middle-aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern:

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans). They have an active sex life; they get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins, stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia. Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human? They don’t have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them, not to mention how could they have sex? Therefore they don't have kids either. Not to mention who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store? The choice is perfectly clear to me; I want to be a whale.

P.S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver and a coffee with my friends. With time we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, "Good gosh, look how smart I am!"

Arggh!

Another month has almost passed since I blogged. This is beginning to be a re-occurring problem. Several really great things have happened over the last 'almost' month, and at the time, I think "This will make a really great blog entry", but when it comes to actually doing it I've been failing miserably.

Things of note:
1. I went the the Shipshewanna and Topeka Quilt Shows at the end of June. Road down with several other quilty friends. Bought several discount quilt books at the Topeka show and a nice charm pack w/tote pattern (not discounted sadly). I recognized several quilts hanging at the ShipShe Quilt Show. Congratulations to Michelle S. for winning 2nd place with her quilt. I saw Marrianne Fons, of Fons and Porter, while I was walking around the show. She had given a talk the day before. I tried to kinear (sp?) a photo of her, but only got the back of her as she was walking away. I personnally wouldn't want a photo of my backside posted all over the net, so I will refrain from doing that to someone else. I thought about stopping her and asking to have my photo taken with her, but thought 'No, don't bother her while she's enjoying some time alone.'

2. Spent the 4th with Family. My Aunt Hattie came up from Kentucky for a visit. Honestly, that is her name. Although I didn't know it until I was in my mid-20's, because the whole time she was going by her middle name. The first time I heard someone talking about Hattie moving to Kentuck, I was totally lost. I mean I knew Aunt Marie was moving, but who was Hattie? Was she moving near Aunt Marie? Were they going to travel down together? Imagine my surprise when I discovered that half of my Mom's sisters had all been going by their middle names and I never knew this.

3. Stayed up unitl 4 am one night sewing and listening to a book on CD (The Keepsake by Tess Gerritsen). I was so hooked by the story that I actually had to find more sewing to do just so I had an excuse to stay up listening to it.

4. Finally met someone with my same last name that I wasn't related too. You're gonna think this is stupid, but I'm 30+ year old and my whole life, people have been asking me "Do you know so-and-so Moon, are you related to so-and-so Moon?" The answer has always been no, but I couldn't help think "if all these other people know a Moon, why have I never met one?" Honestly as many times as I get asked you would think there were more Moon's than you could shake a stick at running around in the world. But this month I met one!!! She came to my quilt guild meeting. No, I'm not related to her either. Her husbands family is from ID or IA originally. I hope I didn't scare her. I was so excited to finally meet another Moon. Ok it's the small things that keep me happy.

OK, gotta go, but I'll fill you in more later.