A new week

I like Sunday mornings. They represent a new week ahead of me, filled with opportunities. I try to make a rough plan of what I want to accomplish during the week, at work and at home.

Today we're going to a reception for new students at Holy Family University, in Philly. Steph has been accepted there to finish her BS in Fire Science. She needs 14 classes to finish, and her work will pay for most of them. Fourteen classes doesn't sound like many, but it translates to a couple of years, when you consider that she works full time and would like to have some kind of life going on, also.

Tomorrow will be busy at work- with a week off, there'll be plenty to catch up on. And since tomorrow is the last of the month, I'll be starting all the monthly reports. And tomorrow is my brother's birthday!Not a milestone one, but every birthday is special.

I quilted a crib quilt on The Beast (my HQ16). The top looked great, the bottom not so great. I consulted the yahoo group, and it seems to be that my upper tension is still too loose. Back to the drawing board! And I've got the fabric for Ben's Badass Whole Entire Quilt in the washer.

Goals for the week:
Quilt another crib quilt
Finish Manda's PJ bottoms
Cut out Ben's quilt

Sunday morning things to be happy about:
I'm on the right track with the HQ tension
Steph's work is paying for her college
The sky is blue, and the sun is shining
Ralph is making great progress on the porch/deck.

Holly

A Week Off

Off all week from work, and the week is over! I can't believe it flew by so fast. Manda and Ben left on Monday afternoon, after a nice lunch with a lot of the family. Tuesday Mom and I drove to Vineland to check out a fabric store there- great selection, but very cluttered.

Wednesday I had my HQ 16 lesson at Quilting Possibilities in Forked River. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot. Yesterday Heather and the kidlets came up, and we all went to the Olive Garden for lunch. Then I played with the HQ and a baby panel. The front looks great, the back not so much. I put out an SOS on the yahoo group, and I have to play with the tension some more.

This morning I did a bunch of errands, and now my knee is aching, so I can't play with the HQ right now.

Holly

Happy Easter!

Dessert is made, the broccoli casserole is cooking in the crockpot, and the salad fixings just have to be put into bowls. I'm ready! We have our family dinner at my brother and sister in law's house, and we all cook. It's always wonderful.

The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and it's in the 40's. A beautiful day. Last night I sewed for several hours, making pillowcases to give as Easter gifts to the "kids" who range in ages from 4-23. I watched the last VCR tape of TV shows from before the strike.

Things to be happy about:
Easter dinner with the family
Playing with fabric
My HQ16 class is Wednesday
The whole week off from work!

Holly

Midweek Madness

Tonight was "dinner with the nurses", which I always look forward to. There's a core group of four of us, and assorted people who occasionally join us. We've been having dinner once a month for years. We used to all work together, but now two are retired, and I work somewhere else, but we still enjoy each other. We move around to different resturants, but some things remain the same. I get teased because I have chichen parm 98% of the time. One of us gets all our onions from the salads, another gets all the cucumbers. A few of us tend to wear our food. We discuss everything from work to law to families, and generally enjoy each other's company.

Last night I made some pillowcases, to give as Easter gifts. "Cars" ones for the little boys, and a princess one for the little girl. I have to make the big boys and big girls tomorrow night. I also finished the lap afghan that will be a raffle item at the farm fair.

I finished "Exit Strategy" by Kelley Armstrong. It's about a woman who is a hitman. It was OK, but could have been better, and was way to long. Needed serious editing.

One more day of work, then ten days off!

Holly

The Ides of March

OK, it's the day after, but it sounds like a good title! I spent the Ides of March doing the Suzy Homemaker stuff that we all just love to do. Manda and Ben are coming home Thursday, and I want the house to not look like the Clampett's live here.

Today Steph, Heather, Eddie, Julie and I went to Wheaton Village. There was a quilt show going on, Wheaton's local quilt guild. Some awesome quilts, and several venders. Then we walked around the Village, but between it being drizzley and early in the year, not much was open. So we headed back towards Heather's, went out to lunch, then came home.

I'm almost done the granny afghan which will be a raffle prize for the Farm Fair this summer. I'm getting tired of it, so I'll be glad to move on to something else.

Things to be happy about:
Spending time with Eddie and Julie.
This week is "dinner with the nurses"
A four day work week.
Manda gets home Thursday night!

Holly

Organization and disorganization

On the drive to work today I was thinking about how organized my work life is, and how disorganized my personal life is. At work I can put my hand on any record, and report, any memo, right away. Everything is placed in the logical place, and I clean up every day. My lists and files are on the computer, and backed up to my flash drive. My reports are all up to date, and I'm where I should be with my yearly tasks.

So how come my home life is a mess? Six pair of shoes in the kitchen, tools in the dining room. At least the ladders are out of the living room, as are the vertical blinds from the kitchen. (See last week's "To Do" list) The house is too cluttered to have a cleaning person, she'd run screaming away.

Is it that we only have a finite amount of energy, and when it's gone, it's gone? I guess if only half of my life can be organized, it's better that the half that earns my paycheck is the one.

Holly

Monday, Monday

I saw the cardiologist this morning, and he took me off the coumadin. I have to have a CT of my coronary arteries, but he thinks it'll come back fine. And I don't have to see him for six months!

I worked on cleaning up the sewing room last night- there's a table under there somewhere! I'm getting bigger pieces of fabric together to use as practice pieces for the HQ16, which can then be cuddle quilts.

When Steph moves, her room will become the guest room (she and Toast will be the most frequent guests), so I won't need the day bed which is in the sewing room. Heather wants it for Julianna, which is great. It'll clear up some room in the sewing room.

I watched the final episode of The Wire last night. I hate to see it end. HBO will be hard pressed to replace The Sopranos and The Wire. I liked how it ended, showing what happened to the characters in the future.

I just finished Alpine Traitor by Mary Daheim. The series had been getting somewhat boring, but this installment was really good. I love Alpine, and all the characters, and the places.

Holly

Lazy Weekend

After I took Mom to Boscov's yesterday, I stayed in the rest of the dreary day. I got a lot done on the big granny square afghan I'm making, and watched the whole season of Moonlight that I had DVR'd.

This morning I went to Home Depot to look at kitchen cabinets. They have a good sale going on, we just have to decide what we want.

Steph is watching Eddie and Julie today, Heather is working and Ed had something to do. She was looking forward to a day playing with them.

Things to be happy about:
We didn't get the snow that the midwest did!
Manda and Ben are coming home for Easter.
I'm feeling really good.

Holly

Another week bites the dust

This week has seemed incredibly long. Busy, busy at work, and too tired when I get home to do much except crochet a little and veg out. Last night I went to an insevice on adolescent mood disorders- ADHD, ODD, Bipolar. The first half was interesting, then they went into neuro-pharmacology, which I neither understand nor care about. But it was 2 CEU's and they fed us, so that was good. I already have the 30 CEU's I need for my RN license renewel this May, and I'm working on the next set.

Tonight Ralph and I went to Applebee's to get something to eat, and on the way back we saw that Rita's Water Ice opened for the season today. Yay! I was so excited I called Manda to tell her. She'll be home for Easter, and now she can have waterice!

So after we got home, I had a fascinating evening of changing the cat littler, changing the sheets, doing 3 loads of laundry, and tidying up the kitchen Suzy Homemaker stuff, I wish the housecleaning fairy would come in at night and do it.

Weekend projects:
Get the ladders out of the living room. (Ralph)
Rehang the vertical blinds in the kitchen on the sliders.(Ralph)
Clean the dining room closet of tools infrequently used, so the frequently used ones can be put in there. (Ralph)
See a pattern here?
Put together a bigger practice piece, and play with the midarm. (me)
Take Mom to Boscov's to look at a loveseat.

Holly

Julianna's First Birthday

You gotta love a kid who loves her cake! At first she wasn't sure what to do with it, but she sure figured it out fast!

Busy Weekends

Why is it that the week seems so long, and the weekend just flies by? Friday I had Part 2 of my stress test- they put in an IV, inject you with something radioactive, have you walk the halls for awhile to circulate it, then take pix in the MRI like machine. Dr. Death will get the report on Monday, and call me if there's anything urgent. Otherwise, I'll see him on March 10.

Yesterday I played with my HQ16, and got a practice piece loaded onto the leaders. The bobbin directions have me confused. Ralph and I watched part of the DVD, and we're still confused. Luckily, there's a meeting of the SJ Longarm Guild today, and I'll take the bobbin and case with me and ask for help.

Yesterday afternoon and evening we were at Heather and Ed's for Julianna's first birthday party. We had to sing and give Julie cake early, because she's ready for bed at 5 p.m. She enjoyed her cake, and looked good in it!

It was the usual family type party- kids running around shrieking, babies underfoot, and people spread all over the house. I love parties, getting to chat with my sisters-in law and neice, and Heather's friends. We were also celebrating my Mom's birthday and Ralph's brother Frank's birthday.

Things to be happy about:

Babies in the family- Julie and Mackenzie are crawling all over and will soon be walking
No snow!
Ideas from Charlotte and Sharon about my kitchen re-do.
Toast is so happy when we get home that she runs around in circles yipping.

Holly