Rainy Days and Mondays

No one wants to get up on a dreary, rainy Monday, even Miss Millie.
Last weekend I had a burst of energy and a little spare time, so I loaded a quilt onto the HQ16. That's as far as I've gotten, I haven't even put the batting on the frame yet.
The HandiQuilter 16 gets it's name from the 16 inch throat. It's not a commercial machine, more for hobbyists, which is me. I can't picture myself quilting for others for money- then it would be a job, and I already have a job.
The backing goes face down, with the bulk rolled back onto the front roller, if you do it correctly- I've been known to forget to roll it back onto the front rollers. The top goes face up, and the batting will go in between. The first thing to sew is to run a row of stitching across the top, to hold the layers together.
The backing has to be at least 4 inches bigger than the top- I have plenty of extra.
Last weekend Toast and Whiskey came for the day. I couldn't get a pic of Whiskey, he was always on my lap or underfoot. This weekend Ed, Heather and the kids came up to go to a wedding. Saturday was Ralph's last shift in the ER. Ralph and Eddie's birthdays were both last week, so we had a party!
I got a big cake from Sweet Eats, half white cake and half chocolate, to please everyone. They did a gorgeous job of decorating it.
Of course we all sang Happy Birthday. That's Julianna in the Spiderman mask. We had to make the 5 boys come in to do cake and gifts- they were having such a good time playing outside that they didn't want to come in.
Auntie Steph lit the candles for Spiderman Eddie.
The ER staff gave Ralph the "No Work Zone" sash to wear.
Eddie is so grown up at 7, even with a mouth full of candy! He's changed so much since his last birthday!
Julianna had her pretty dress on, and stayed close to Mommy. It was a nice party- it started at 4, and everyone was gone by 8.30- the kids had school today. Ed and Heather and the kids left around 9 to go back to Ed's parents house- they don't sleep here because of Ed's cat allergy.

They left after breakfast this morning, and didn't hit any traffic. Heather called a while ago, and said they were ten minutes from home. We probably won't see them again til Christmas, or whenever we decided Christmas is this year. I hate that we see them so infrequently, but we all have to work- except Ralph! Ralph is actually looking for a non-nurse job. He's ready to move on, after 29 years of nursing, most of it in the ER.

I just started the new Nevada Barr, "Burn" from the library. I'm only a chapter in, but it's already good.

And the beat goes on!
Holly

Thursday night

Wow, it's almost 2 weeks since I posted! I thought about it, but never got around to it. We've had gorgeous weather, in the 70's and low 80's til yesterday when it went to 92. Last night we had a thunderstorm- it sounded like lightening hit right outside the house. I was amazed that the power didn't go out.

Being back to work has been hard. I didn't have a routine from the end of March til Sept 1- I was used to sleeping when I was tired and getting up in the middle of the night if I couldn't sleep. Now that school has started, I'm up at 0630 and staying up! At least a couple times a week I have to come home and nap after school.

It doesn't help that I've been having anxiety attacks a few times a week, in the middle of the night. My primary said they're absolutely hormonal, so I have to consult the gyn. Stupid things- what if I get appendicitis? What if I can't work and Ralph isn't working, and I run out the sick time and we have no benefits? What if someone in the family dies? All legitimate concerns, but not for the middle of the night.

And my knee has been bothering me big time, but I won't go to the ortho, since I can't have it replaced right now. I just limp a lot.

On the positive side, it sure was nice to get that first paycheck of the school year! And it's nice to see my school friends every day.

And, I loaded a quilt on the HQ16! I haven't quilted it yet, but it's waiting for me! And I'm still churning out baby afghans- I'm determined to use up the baby yarn. I've got 4 or 5 done, and enough yarn for one or two more.

I loaded a bunch of books onto the Nook, but the silly library wants its books back, so they have to come first. I love Free Book Fridays on www.bn.com, and usually download them. Two weeks ago it was a biography of Budda- I passed on that one. Snore!

September has been a good reading month- I've read Coming Home, the new Mariah Stewart. Veil of Night by Linda Howard, who is almost always good- she had a real clunker about 2 years ago. Whiplash, the new Catherine Coulter, which was fluffy but fun. Summer in Sonoma by Robyn Carr, who's getting to be one of my favorite authors. Dog Tags by David Rosenfelt, also a favorite author.

The last time I talked to my girlfriend Pat we had a discussion about e-readers, and she's now the proud owner of a Kindle! Another convert!

Tuesday was Ralph's birthday, today is Eddie's, and Ralph is two shifts away from retiring from the ER! Ed, Heather and the kids will drive up tomorrow to go to a wedding on Saturday, so of course we're partying! A birthday/retirement party on Sunday with a Spiderman theme. Any time they come up we find a reason to have a party.

And so it goes!
Holly

September 11, 2010

Remember.

Beautiful Saturday

The sky is blue, there's a nice breeze, and it's about 76 out. The gorgeous weather will be here for a few days, then back to the 90's during the week.

It's September! We have important dates! Kevin and Naureen had their 5th anniversary on the 1st. Sharon and Barbara both have birthdays on the 9th, and Mikey turns 26 on the 13th. Ralph turns 62 on the 21st, and his last day of work before retirement is the 25th. He also has jury duty on his birthday. Eddie turns 7 on the 23rd- how can that be?

Ed, Heather, Eddie and Julianna are coming up for a close friend's wedding, so we having a joint party on the 26th. The usual goodies- meatballs, keilbasi in sauerkraut, salads, and of course a cake from Sweet Eats!

Manda and Ben are in Nebraska for the long weekend. Polly and Randy are throwing them a wedding reception on Sunday. I would have liked to go, but with school starting it would have been just too hard. I know it'll be fun for them, and Manda will meet more of Ben's family.

Steph got back from her business trip to Chicago last night. She was about to do some touring of Chicago, and enjoyed it a lot. The puppies are cute and adorable, and I was so glad to see them go home! They greeted Steph like she'd been gone for years.

I've been in crochet mode- I have a lot of soft baby yarn, and I'm determine to use it up. I've made 2 baby sized afghans, and I'm working on the 3rd. I probably have enough yarn for at least 2 more. I'll store them til they're needed, along with the flannel receiving blankets that I've made. I have the larger pieces of flannel on the work table to be cut into PJ bottoms.

In August I read 12 books, all from the library. I've also downloaded several free and low cost books onto the Nook. We started back to school on Wednesday, the kids came in Thursday, and I went to bed at 9 pm on Thursday. I haven't had time to play with the new phone. Ralph is getting really proficient on his.

And the beat goes on!
Holly