August in ending!

Wow, where did the summer go? And as eventful as the summer has been, I'm glad to see it leave. This is two awful summers in a row- enough already!

Last summer we had Ralph's brain surgery and Joseph's car accident with his shattered hip and broken leg.

This summer we've had Uncle Frank's death, Mom's frequent hospitalizations, Ralph's allergic reaction to his med, my abscessed tooth, and Julianna's allergic reactions to strawberries.

I keep saying I got nothing done this summer, but my friend Barbara corrects me that I got a lot done, just nothing that I had planned to do.

Some good things happened this summer. Ralph and I visited Manda and had a wonderful time. Steph is visiting Manda right now, and hopefully the hurricane won't visit her. Steph, Manda and Ben all took summer college classes and did very well. Manda and Ben visited San Fransisco and had a great time. Michael started motorcycle repair school in Orlando and is doing well. Ralph got our porch and deck just about finished. I quilted 2 quilts on the HQ16. Steph and I took 2 cooking classes at Sur La Table. I took a mystery quilt class with Barbara at Village Quilter. Toast spent the summer here and kept me company.

We had quite a few summer birthdays- Manda, Steph, Ben, Connor, Mackenzie, Tori, and Nadia.

Things to make me happy today:
The sky is blue!
I'm 2/3 done the mystery quilt.
The air conditioning is not running!

Holly

The Wind Cries

I just got done quilting and binding this quilt for Manda. It's called "The Wind Cries" and it is for her couch. It has a companion, which I haven't quilted yet, called "Purple Haze." I quilted it in a baptist fan pattern, the first time using a groovy board on the HQ16. In this pic, I believe there is a cat under the quilt (as usual). I just have to label it, which I'll do in the morning, then Steph will deliver it to Manda when she goes to visit for the holiday weekend.

Actually did some quilting!

I finished quilting Manda's couch quilt! One of them, anyway- one down, one to go. I used the baptist fan groovy board on the HQ16. The quilt's been up on the frame for a couple weeks, just hadn't gotten back to it.

We found out the table sags in the middle when the machine is there, just enough so the stylus comes out of the groove- which showed in my quilting. Once I was finished, Ralph rigged up a center support. HQ would be happy to sell me a 5th leg, for $100, but Ralph fixed it with scraps of wood.

Doing the quilting was fun, once I settled down and just did it. I had the CD player on LOUD, and the tension was great. There's a learning curve to the groovy boards, in the spacing of the rows. All in all, I'm happy with it. That's two quilted, about 10 waiting to quilt. I figure I have to quilt 20 to make up for the cost of the machine.

Steph and Toast came home- we're doing a girl trip to Lancaster tomorrow. Heather, Julie, Sharon, Mackenzie, Steph and I. Just a day trip this time. With so many people and car seats and strollers, no one is buying anything big. Then Toast will stay with us because Steph has classes Wed and Thurs night, and leaves for Houston Friday to see Manda.

Goals for the week:
Get another quilt loaded.
Cut fabric for the mystery class Thursday night.

Things that make me happy:
Having Steph home for a couple of days
The porch and deck floors have been stained, and the tables and chairs are up

Holly

Doggy Daycare is Closed

Sad face here- Steph took Toast home last night. As they were leaving, I was crying, and laughing because I was being so silly. After all, she'll be back on Sunday, and then will be here over Labor Day weekend. She was with us for 10 weeks while Steph had college classes 4 nights a week, and she was my constant shadow. But much as Toast loves us, she adores Steph, and they'll be fine, and so will we. The cats of course don't care one way or the other.

I worked in the sewing room for hours last night, trying to get some kind of organzation. I'll do more tonight and tomorrow. It'll be nice to be able to find anything!

Holly

Quiet Sunday

Quiet is good! No crisis at the moment, and hopefully it'll stay that way.

My groovy boards came, now I just need some ambition to get back to quilting Manda's quilt.

Ralph is working on the deck, and Toast is napping beside me. Manda and Ben are in San Fransisco, and Steph is down visiting with Heather, Ed and the kidlets.

I've been sorting thru quilt magazines, and only keeping the patterns that I like. I've given away and recycled bags and bags, and the end is in sight. I hope to have that done tonight. I've already cleared off a shelf that fabric can now go onto.

Things to be happy about:
The sky is blue, and it's in the low 80's
I'm making progress in the sewing room
The porch will be stained this week.
A quiet day!

Holly

Semi quilting related!

I have soooo many old quilting magazines, and I have them in magazine holders. They take up several shelves. I finally decided that's ridiculous, plus I need the shelf room for fabric! So last night and tonight I started going thru the magazines and ripping out the pages I don't want- which are more than the pages I do want! I have whole magazines that I'll take to the quilt shop for anyone who wants them.

I've filled 3 brown bags with pages to recycle! And I'm no where near done. But ripping is very satisfying.

Mom came home today! I went and got her prescription- she's on 2 new meds. She called me to read me all the possible side effects of the one med- dizziness, thyroid issues, and a host of other meds. She insists on reading up on side effects. I can't convince her that a possible side effect is not the same as a probable side effect. I said she needs to discuss it with her doctor. Jeez, try reading the side effects of tylenol sometime!

Yay for Sinus Rhythym!

They finally, after months of drama, cardioverted my Mom today, and her heart is back to sinus (normal) rhythym! Hopefully it will stay in the "right" rhythym and she will feel better and stronger.

I was so upset earlier. I called, and Mom said they were giving her potassium IV, and her whole arm hurt. I told her the site needed to be changed, or more fluids added. Don't be a martyr- it isn't supposed to hurt! I couldn't run up there, because I was getting ready to go to my own 6 month followup with my cardiologist.

After seeing my doc, I went to the hospital, and they'd just taken Mom down, so I left her a note. She just called to say she's in sinus -Yay again- and that the nurse had changed the IV site and it stopped hurting. Duh, as the kids say.

So she'll be able to come home tomorrow, and hopefully get back to her normal.

As for my visit with Dr. L, everything is good, and I don't have to see him for another 6 months. Yay again.

Today is Ben's birthday! Ben is Manda's boyfriend, and he's 24 today. How funny is it that the Jersey girl moves to Houston and meets a guy from Nebraska there!

Happy Birthday Ben!

Quiet, rainy Sunday

Ralph worked today, so it was just me and the cats and the dog. My jaw is still achey, but not as bad as yesterday. We had several thunderstorms go thru, which didn't make the dog happy!

In a spurt of ambition (or maybe it was guilt) I cleaned the refrigerator shelves, tossed outdated stuff, scrubbed the sink, cleaned the bathroom and did some laundry! Then I made a meatloaf for dinner and blueberry pie for dessert! The only times I went out were when Toast had to go up the yard.

One of Manda's couch quilts is on the HQ16, but I didn't feel up to working on it, and the light wasn't very good because of the storm. I did crochet for awhile, on Toast's afghan.

I can't believe how fast August is going! Tomorrow they are going to cardiovert Mom (finally!). If it works, they'll keep her for 2 days to start new meds. Tuesday is my 6 month checkup with my cardiologist.

Another week and Toast will be going home to Steph's, since summer classes are over. We'll miss the little dog, but I won't miss the first-thing-in-the-morning trips outside. She'll be back here for Labor Day weekend, if Steph goes to Houston.

No goals for the week- I give up.

Holly

Root canal and Rainforest Cafe

That was my day- I started out at the dentist at 8.30 with a root canal for my poor abscessed tooth. The root canal wasn't as bad as I expected, and I was out of there in an hour with a numb jaw.
I called Heather and I said I was home already. She and niece Sharon were planning a journey to Atlantic City to go to lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. It was one of the things Eddie remembered from our Florida trip last summer. So we journeyed, with Eddie and toddlers Mackenzie and Julie. AC is only 30 minutes or so from Heather's house, and we got there and were seated around 2.
Rainforest Cafe is cool- it's like you're sitting among the trees, with statues of birds and monkeys and huge tanks of real fish. And elephants, which is ridiculous. Every 20 minutes the lights dim, the gorillas scream, it thunders and lightnings, and you hear the sound of rain. Julie and Kenzie were startled and not happy with the rainstorms!
A person in a treefrog costume was walking around, which Eddie loved. The girls didn't want any parts of it. The service was good- they take the kids orders and get them out really quickly.

By the time we got back to Heather's my jaw was aching, which advil helped. It was a fun afternoon.

Holly

As much fun as an abscessed tooth!

Yep, it's an abscess. Jaw felt funny over the weekend, went and had it xrayed yesterday morning. So the dentist put me on penicillin, and I have a root canal scheduled for Friday morning. Advil for pain.

And next Monday Mom is (supposedly) getting cardioverted, which means yet another trip to the lab for bloodwork Thursday. If it works, they'll keep her 48 hours or so to start different meds. This will be her 4th admission this year with afib- I sure hope they get her back to sinus rhythym, as this is truly getting old.

We were trying to go to Williamsburg for a few days with Frank and Charlotte, and due to doc and dentist appts for Ralph and I, and his work schedule, couldn't get enough open days. And that was before the root canal and cardioversion!

My quilt class for this Thursday got cancelled, as I was the only one signed up. I'm hoping my cooking class at Sur La Table doesnt also get cancelled.

The only decent news is that the Hurricane didn't hit Houston directly. Johnson Space Center was closing early yesterday and staying closed today, so the employees and contractors, all 30,000 of them, would be off the roads. Manda and Ben stocked up on water, bread and milk (French toast anyone?) and are holing up in her apartment with the cat.

Holly

How can it be August already?

August means my vacation is half over! No! How did this happen already?

What did I accomplish this week? Not much. I had some paperwork that I swore I'd do over the summer, and I did some. And, my dining room table is cleared off- I took the stuff to Goodwill. Got the curtains back up in our bedroom. Bought new chairs and a little fountain for the porch. Took Mom for bloodwork, and got my own done also. Picked up the dog's meds from the vet. Had lunch with Mom twice, dinner with Steph once. Baked a fabulous blueberry pie. Finished the afghan I was working on, and started a little one for the dog. Read 14 books in July. Spent entirely too much time on the computer!

OK, I guess the week wasn't entirely wasted after all!

Holly