More happy happy!

Great news today! The fluid from Sam's lung cavity IS NOT CANCER!!! It's an infection! Yay for infection, LOL. She has to have surgery Monday to repair the lung, but it's not cancer! I'm so relieved.

Ralph and I drove her husband up to visit her today, and I'll go back and get him later this afternoon. Retired friends have been taking him back and forth all week, so I'm taking the weekend. When we got there, her hairdresser friend was getting her hair in shape- she said it made her feel like a new woman.

Last night my Cookie Swap group came to visit. We had a great time catching up on everyone's news, and they were very impressed with my quilting setup. This is a group I've known for about 30 years- where did that time go? Some years we only get together once, for the Cookie Swap, and some years it's several times. The past few years we haven't even done cookies at Cookie Swap, which makes Ralph nuts- he says we need to change our group name.

Steph and Toast have arrived for the weekend, and Steph already left to go to lunch with a friend. Toast was so happy to see Ralph home- she was yipping and running around.

And the beat goes on!

Holly

Happy, Happy!

I'm so happy- Ralph got home today. He was on a 10 day expedition, by bus and train, to visit Heather and Ed and the kids in NC, and Manda and Ben in Houston. He took the train from Phila to Charlotte, NC, visited Heather and Ed for 3 days, then rode a bus for 20 hours to Houston, visited Manda and Ben, then reversed the trip.

Ten days is the longest we've been apart since we were married, almost 37 years ago. I didn't anticipate how lonely I'd be, since I'm at work most of the day, and Steph was here for the weekend. (Or Toast was here, and Steph was in and out!) The house was so quiet at night! Except for the cats, of course. It took me about 4 nights before I slept well.

I spent a considerable amount of time in the sewing room, and made a string quilt top, which I have to take a picture of. And I read a couple of books, but nothing scary or violent.

The other important thing that's happened this week is that my friend Sam is in the hospital with a chest tube, because of a pleural effusion (fluid in the chest cavity). She's hoping to come home Friday or Saturday, and is semi-comfortable, but I've been worried about her all week.

I'm looking forward to Friday evening, when my Cookie Swap group will be coming to visit. I'm planning a simple, make ahead menu of salad, meatball sandwiches, and cake. It's always fun to get together with them and catch up.

And that's the week so far!

Holly

Sunday again!

It's cold, but not as bad as yesterday- it's 37 right now. I should be glad it's cold, so Steph and her friends can go up to the Poconos and go snowboarding. This is only the second time this year she's gone- life and college are getting in her way!

Steph and Toast arrived yesterday afternoon. Poor Toast is moving slow this week- she's back on the meds for her back. She doesn't seem like she's in pain, just not trying to get on the couch or bed by herself. Steph went out last night, and Toast curled up on the couch in the sewing room and kept me company while I sewed.

I got the squares cut for the 3 ABC swaps, so I can get them mailed out this week. Then I went back to working on string blocks. I have 28 8.5 inch blocks made so far, and haven't even put a dent in the box of strips that I cut! I sewed while I watched 3 episodes of Burn Notice, and 3 of NCIS, fast forwarding thru the commercials.

I hope to sew some more today, once Steph gets out of bed and on her way. I also have to wade thru the week's mail, which is all over the kitchen table, and sort it.

Goals for the week-
Tidy up the kitchen and dining room.
Make more string blocks (not saying how many, LOL)

Sunday things to be happy about-
A whole pile of library books waiting for me to read!
It's not snowing!
Friends!

And the beat goes on!

Holly

Week 8 numbers

Fabric bought this week- 0 yards
Fabric bought this year- 15.5 yards.

Fabric used this week- 3 yards
Fabric used this year - 27 yards.

I got the fabric cut and packaged for the 3 ABC swaps. I'm also using strips for strings blocks, but can't figure out how to measure that usage.

Books bought this week- 4
Books bought this year- 12

Amazon is having a buy 3 get one free sale, and it's books the library didn't have.

My books read this week-0
My books read this year- 6

I can't believe we've finished 8 weeks of 2009 already!

Holly

Saturday

I can't get the picture that I want to put here, and none of my helpers are available. This was over Christmas break, and Manda, Ben, and Steph were all playing together, LOL>

What a long week it's been! Those 4 days weeks seem to take longer than regular weeks. And we got a letter from Ralph's work that has me talking to myself. They hired an outside agency to verify all the dependents, for the benefits. They want a copy of my marriage certificate! As far as I'm concerned, they should have asked for that 20 years ago when he started working there, not now. I'm totally insulted! And they won't get it til I get a notice stating that if I don't provide it by "date", then my benefits will be dropped. I can't help but wonder if the physicians on staff got the same letter, or just the nurses.

It's unreasonably cold again- 27 degrees! It's just unnecessary! At least the sky is blue and it's not raining.

And the beat goes on.

Holly

President's Day Evening

How can a three day weekend go by so fast? It zipped by at warp speed!

Today I took Steph to drop off her car to be worked on, read all the weekend papers, cleaned up the kitchen, went to lunch and Barnes & Nobles with Steph (and didn't buy anything! came home and requested from the library!) read, took Steph back to get the car, took Mom to her doctor's appt, and did 3 loads of wash. Crocheted for an hour.

And back to work tomorrow.

Holly

Mid-February

This year sure is moving right along- it's week 7 or it already! It's nice out, the sky is blue, and the snow flurries last night didn't amount to anything.

Yesterday Steph and I went with DMIL Florence to an 80th birthday party for my DSIL Charlotte's Mom, Doris. It was at Kevin and Naureen's house, and Doris was really surprised. She thought she was coming to a Valentine's Day dinner. There was about 25 people there, the food was good and the company wonderful. A good time was had by all.

I haven't done any sewing since the middle of the week- I have to get to it! I bought fabric for the 3 ABC swaps I'm in on the HGTV quilting boards. I got the letter K for the gender neutral one, and ended up with kitten fabric- couldn't find any kites, kids or koalas. For the boy swap I got the letter T, and found some turtle fabric. For the girl swap I got the letter D and got come duck fabric. I have to get it washed, ironed, cut into 6.5 inch squares and mailed off. I have til April 1, so it shouldn't be a problem.

So I send 26 squares of each fabric to the hostess, with a return envelope with postage. She collects all the squares and swaps them out so that each swapper gets back 26 squares, one for each letter of the alphabet. Add some sashing, and you have an ABC quilt!

Manda and Ben had a fun trip to Austin. She was telling me that they went to a Whole Foods flagship store, which is so big that it has it's own parking garage! They got picnic foods, and had a picnic on the banks of the Colorado River before heading back to Houston.

Sunday things to be happy about:
Family, close and extended.
Friends, near and far, normal and not so normal, LOL!
A terrific library that's sort of on my way home from work.

Week 7 Fabric and book report:
Fabric purchased this week: 6.5 yards
Fabric purchased this year- 15.5 yards

Fabric used this week- 0 yards
Fabric used this year- 24 yards.

Books bought this week- 0
Books bought this year- 8

My books read this week- 1
My books read this year- 6

And the beat goes on!
Holly

It's my birthday!

I was born on Friday the 13th, and this year my birthday falls on Friday the 13th. My Mom always says it's her lucky day. I'm 56 now, which once sounded very old to me.

It's been a nice birthday. Of course I had to work, and on the way home I stopped at the fabric store and the library, two of my favorite places. When I got home Manda had called, so I called and talked to her- she and Ben were on the way to Austin for the weekend.

Since I've been home today, I also talked to my brother John, my Mom, Heather, my friend Barbara, and Steph and Toast are here. I got very nice cards from friends and relatives. My brother Mike always remembers (or is reminded of) my birthday later at night, so he's usually the last to call. He and Donna are down Atlantic City overnight, so I'll probably hear from him tomorrow. I've also gotten a lot of emailed wishes- love the email!

Holly

Tuesday

This is how it looks when you turn off Heather's street into her driveway- it's a loooong driveway!
This is Frenzy on my bed. This is the quilt that I kept for us- it's called Nantucket Rainbow, and is from a class I took. It's a class I took the first year I learned to quilt.

These are more of Miss Millie helping me to bind the star quilt. She got quite possessive of the quilt!

I got the ultrasound of my gall bladder done today, and had labs drawn. My doc should get the results by the end of the week.

Barbara and I cancelled our inservice for Thursday- it was going to take over an hour to get there, and it starts at 0800. And we don't need the hours, and I didn't want to miss another day at work. Even though it's a professional day, not a sick day, someone would have to come over to cover the meds for me.

I worked on the string blocks for awhile last night. They're going to make a cool looking quilt.

And the beat goes on!

Holly

Another Sunday morning

This is my favorite of all the quilts I've made. It was a thangles class that I took at Quilted Treasures. Some people did it scrappy, but I knew I wanted two colors. The green is a batik, and the cream is a little floral. Sharon Densten did the quilting for me (this was before I had the HQ16) and I actually just put the binding on it last month. Millie the quilt tester approves. I have it hanging over the couch in the family room. It still needs a name, but I haven't thought of one yet.

It's going to be nice today, in the 50's. Get rid of the last of the snow!

I decided to do some string blocks on Wednesday, when we were off for snow. I didn't feel like working on any of my works-in-progress, so I cut scraps into strips. I got 9 blocks made, 8.5 inches square with a muslin foundation.

Yesterday I crocheted for an hour or so- that was as ambitious as I got. Ralph and I went out to breakfast with his mom. It was the first I had been to the new town diner, and it was very nice.

This week I get the ultrasound of the gall bladder done on Tuesday, and I might have a professional day on Thursday. I'm signed up for an inservice in Vineland, but since the law just passed that I can use professional development hours as CEUs, I don't really need the hours, and Vineland is an hour away. Barbara and I are still deciding whether we're going.

Sunday things to be happy about:
With only a little help from Ralph, I transferred my pix from the camera to the computer!
Steph is home for the weekend.
It's not snowing!

Weekly numbers:

Fabric bought this week- 0
Fabric bought this year- 9 yards

Fabric used this week- 0
Fabric used this year- 24 yards

Books bought this week- 0
Books bought this year- 8

My books read this week- 0
My books read this year- 5

And the beat goes on!
Holly

Another Snow Day!

I was hoping for a 2 hour delay, but we got the whole day off, which is fun now but we will regret in June. This is Day #3 that we have to make up- inauguration day, last week's snow day, and today.

I managed to be a little bit productive. I went thru the freezer to see what's there, put away dishes, and I'm making some string blocks while watching NCIS on DVD.

Toast is still here. Steph was going to take her and go home Monday night, but did her taxes and went to sleep instead. Last night it was snowing, so she didn't want to drive home in it. Tonight she has to go right from work to class, as she does tomorrow. So Steph will be back Friday night or Saturday morning.

Toast wasn't thrilled with the 5 or so inches of snow early this morning, but when we went out at noon she was rolling in it. It's in the upper 30's, so it's melting nicely.

A full week after being sick, I can't say that I feel great. Tired, draggy, and the thought of much food makes me feel queasy. It's an awful virus and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Holly

It's February!

This isn't a new picture- it's from when I did my sewing on the kitchen table. That's Eddie's Zoom Zoom quilt and Miss Millie, my quilt helper. She just loves fabric! And will fight me for it!

It's in the 40's today, which the news says is just a tease. The sky is blue, and Steph has a terrific weekend for skiing in Vermont. When I talked to Heather in NC yesterday, it was 50, and they were taking the kids outside to play. Manda and Ben were going to go visit their friends Chad and DeeDee, who's baby is due any second now. Manda had made them some casseroles and froze them for after baby arrives.

February- a new month! Birthdays include Nick, Mrs. Doone, and me! Ralph has a week off and is going by train to Charlotte, then bus to Houston to visit Manda. On the way back he'll stop off in Charlotte to visit Heather and Ed for a couple of days. The train to Charlotte is 8 hours- the same as driving. And the bus from there to Houston is 20 hours, again the same as driving. He's very much looking forward to it.

I had a little bit of scrambled egg, and it's staying down nicely. I'm not ready for much real food yet, but I am going to work tomorrow.

Sunday things to be happy about:
I feel so much better!
Mom was to the cardiologist, and she's still in sinus rhythym!
It's not snowing!

Holly

Weekly totals

Fabric bought this week- 0
Fabric bought this year- 9 yards

Fabric used this week- 17.5 yards
Fabric used this year- 24 yards

I made 5 baby receiving blankets which each used 2 yards of fabric, and 3 tablecloths which each used 2.5 yards- just hemmed the pieces all around.

Books bought this week- 0
Books bought this year-8

My books read this week- 2
My books read this year- 5

And the numbers would have been better if I wasn't so sick the end of the week!

Holly