It's a little Toasty for the 4th!

I think I'm getting old. I have come to rely upon my air conditioner at work and in my car. It's bloody HOT! And it's not as warm today as it was yesterday!

Otherwise, Happy Independence Day to my peep(s) - my loyal reader(s). As far as I know, I only have one, but if you stumbled upon my blog by accident - be safe and have a fun light show!

So, yesterday, my friend, Aina Jones, and her daughter, Janey, came for a visit. I was so excited to see her - I haven't seen her for about 10 years. They moved to Hawaii when Janey was less than a year old. She's 10 now. Aina, dear, you haven't changed. Brat!

And to my delight, Chris came to visit too. He got to see Aina and her daughter, Janey, of whom I did not get a picture. Aina was so busy snapping pix, I forgot to!

Anway, we figured out Janey is about 5 pounds heavier than Olivia (age 6). I need to feed that girl!

Chris, bless his black stone heart, delivered my swap blocks to Karen. She posted a pic of the 6 squishies, so I know mine got there. I recognized them!

We are being very mellow today. I have to run out to the store to get a couple of things, and then we're BBQing hotdogs. I made a homemade potato salad (5 pounds of it!) and some slaw to go with. Found three Mikes Hard Lime in the garage, so they are in the fridge chillin and we hope to catch fireworks on the tv around 8:30 or so.

There they go. 4:15 p.m. and the neighborhood is getting noisy. They've been out lighting them up for a while, but now they're doing the loud ones. Guess it's time to go off to the store...

Later!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there!

Olivia's recital went off without a hitch. Only one poor little girl fell down on stage, and she recovered gracefully. There were an unbelievalbe number of dancers - the show actually did last 2 full hours and it was amazing the talent of the dancers - and the teachers who did a wonderful job all year teaching them! I have to admit, I cried alot - the little kids were sooooo cute! and the older kids did an amzing job. There was one part where a bunch of dads were onstage doing lifts with the high school girls. It was awesome. I ordered the video (how could I not???) and my only regret is that I didn't think to get Olivia flowers for the end of her performance. She deserved them.

After her recital, we hit the road and ended up meeting mom and Chris at the restaurant where we had 6 p.m. reservations. Dinner was good, and mom seemed to have a good time. Afterward, we went back to the house where she proceeded to rip poor Eleanor for including her in dad's obituary. She took it as a total slam to be listed as "ex-wife Eva". AND she kept trying to find out what I inherited. I'm just glad that is over.

Looking forward to shop hop - hopefully Eleanor won't schedule the memorial for next weekend. It would be just my luck....

Off to sew and such....

Dancing Queen

So, Olivia's first ballet recital is on Saturday. She is so excited to be on the big stage. They are holding the recital at the Mt. Baker Theater and it's a big deal around here. Tickets are $10 - serious money for a dance recital, if you ask me! But, well worth it to see her on stage. She is apparently first out on stage for her class. She has been whirling and twirling around the house for quite a few weeks now. A few weeks ago, the picture people came to photograph the classes. They had me fill out a form to order photos - without seeing what they looked like first! I thought they turned out quite nicely.

I especially liked the head shot - good angle on her face. She just looks so gosh darn growed up.

So - 2:00 on Saturday the show will go on. Tickets are available at the Mt. Baker - in person or online if you are interested in seeing a great show.

Otherwise, Guy and Paula arrived last night just moments after Donna left. Paula seems like a really nice lady. Guy is still Guy! Lol! Really, he is a good guy. Ar ar ar. We went to dinner at the Cliff House and had a nice time.

Well, back to work with me....

We'll miss you, Dad

It is with heavy heart I must report the passing of my father. He went gently into that good night early on Saturday, June 13. He fought a long, hard fight. Eleanor is devastated, and I am praying for her. Olivia took it hard, but with the resillience of a child, she'll be fine.

I just can't believe how hard I'm taking it. While we've been in contact alot over the last few years, we spent years being estranged (thanks mom), so we were never very close. I may never forgive her for that.

In an effort to be proactive, and not too maudlin, I decided I needed to keep busy. Donna took away the boards I purchased to fix the dining chairs that are disintegrating. Somehow, they ended up at Marilyn's and Greg, bless his heart, cut the 6 bases for me. I picked them up from Marilyn at Sally's Friday night, and Marilyn had brought some fabric she had laying about. Kevin wasn't interested in it, and I explained that I was NOT putting the old worn out fabric back on, so we went to Joanne's while Olivia was at dance on Saturday morning and got swatches. Turned out all home dec was on sale 50% off, and the sale ended yesterday, so I went back and purchased some pretty blue fabric for the chairs. I wanted a braided trim, and they only had half of what I wanted, so Karen is picking up 14 yards for me in Everett. Chris will pick it up from her today and is coming up for dinner. Thanks guys! I'll work on the chairs tomorrow. I will take the day off from work.

I need to work on the scrappy pineapple swap. I'll do that today. I should have the blocks done by Friday, and we're going down Saturday evening to take mom to dinner for her 80th, so I'll deliver them to Karen then.

It's been a busy month. I have attended a Pirates Retreat (Aaargh, ye scurvy dogs!) and finished the mystery top we did there AND the row for the Row Robin due at tomorrow's guild meeting - early! The Tree quilt is coming along nicely. Donna is helming the design/assembly portion and it will be amazing. Everyone who has seen the design has been very impressed, by good reason! The Quilt Show Raffle Quilt is also coming along. The committee will be putting it together beginning this afternoon. I'm not participating because Kevin is working and Olivia would be bored stiff and a real distraction. It looks really cool, though.

Olivia is gearing up for her dance recital. It will be great fun...and we'll miss going to dance on Saturday mornings over the summer (but she'll have swimming instead).

Most notably, my dad is in the hospital for the last time. I know this because day before yesterday they removed him from dialysis and put him on hospice. He's down to 132 pounds (from the average of 175-190) and unable to swallow. He doesn't want a feeding tube or hydration, so it's just a matter of days. I spent the day with him yesterday, and it was good. He was awake and aware of my presence. I held his hand and talked about old times. At times we just sat and comtemplated the walls. Eleanor, my step mother, was holding it together, as she always does. She is a godsend. A pillar of strength. She obviously loves him very much, and it is very, very hard on her. I hope she will want to remain a part of our lives.

Well, I need to go get ready for church. I've got a lot of praying to do. And Olivia was invited (at the last minute) to a birthday party today for a girl in her dance class. I'm going to take her - more as a distraction than anything. I kinda feel sorry for the little girl whose party it is. She's kinda wild and ADHD, and the other girls in her class probably won't come because she annoys them all. Olivia kinda likes her, and it's here in Fern Prairie, so what the heck. I just have to come up with a card and present after church.

In an effort to post more often, I thought I'd jump in today and say "Hey". Life has been pretty mundane. I finished my blocks for the Common Threads Swap, but forgot to put a return envelope in, so I have to wait until I see Karen next (or send Chris down to get them if he's coming up for Olivia's birthday on Wednesday).

Speaking of Olivia, she decided she wanted a Pirate Party for her birthday. We have signed her up for a party through Parks and Rec at Bloedel Donovan. They run the party activities for 90 minutes and then we have 30 minutes to feed the kids and open presents. The party is from 12-2, so I suppose we'll do cheese pizza and cupcakes.

I am up for a day of laundry and sewing. Woo hoo! Life just doesn't get more exciting!

BTW: My camera is freaking out. Took some pix that came out looking like a color waterfall. So, needless to say, no pix today!

Well, the retreat was AWESOME! We had so much fun! The chickens were hysterical...I may have to make some myself (we had 9 winners of 9 blocks each - I wasn't one of them...). Not sure what I would do with them, but they sure are bright! I did two - a green one with pink eye, and a blue stripey guy.

As soon as I arrived, I set up my sewing area. I had a table to myself, and pulled the card table out of my car (it came with it - standard equipment if you can believe that!) to use as a pressing table. Came in really handy. Thanks Donna for loaning me your table top ironing board!

I got a lot done....starting with a quilt that Karen quilted for me. I took it thinking I would add the binding and use it to sleep under. It turned out so cool! Karen did an amazing job with the quilting....she posted a close up on her blog - yemerriecuylter.

Since then, I haven't gotten much done other than friendship blocks. I've been so busy, this is the first opportunity I've had to blog! Hopefully things will settle down and I can get back into a routine. The positive? My house is cleaner than it has been in a long time!

Olivia is working hard on her ballet recital. It's not until June 20, but her costume came last week, and she has been practicing all over the house. Michele will join Kevin and me for the performance, which will be at the Mt. Baker Theater. I hope to video her portion. We have seats in the "Lodge" or the front of the balcony - second row on an end. It was that or row T on the main floor. No contest there!

Well, Happy Easter to my faithful reader(s). More later. Hopefully I'll get the hang of adding pix!

Retreat ho!

Well, I'm starting to pack for the guild retreat at Rosemary Heights. I know I don't leave until March 13, but the way things go around here, if I don't start now, I'll be panicking the night before because I can't find vital things like projects and power cords and....

My quilting buddies have been awesome about giving me lists of things to pack. I have compiled a complete list and will be happy to share with anyone going on a retreat. It's really, really long, so I won't post it here....but on the Moonlightquilters Yahoo site? Maybe.

So, my one reader, I am very excited about getting my quilt back - and am beginning to work on cutting strips for the binding. I am going to do the two-fabric self-piping all machine attached binding. AND, I will remember to put the hanging sleeve on this time! Hopefully I'll be able to salvage some backing fabric for that, but if not, I found a yard and a half chunk of the theme fabric that I can use.

Last night, Kevin and I scooped and shoved and actually made a dent in the house-that-looks-like-a-tornado-hit-it. Toys are off the floor and it is vacuumed. Books are pretty much put away. I can actually cut fabric tonight without too much guilt!

Sorry - no pix this time. I need to remember my camera more often.

The Pacific North Wet

Holey, moley - there be some wild weather going on here! First it snowed in mid-December. We had our first truly white Christmas that I can remember in over 45 years. Then the snow just kept staying, and staying, and, oh, here comes the rain. After record breaking snow (most snow in some areas, sticking around the longest - breaking records all the way back to 1860!), the rain has arrived - it's around 50 degrees and one end of the state is cut off from the other! I-5, the main north-south freeway on this side of the mountains, is covered in water from milepost 34 to milepost 88! To make things even most interesting, all three passes over the Cascades are closed due to avalanche danger and flooding, so the northwest corner (where I live) is isolated from everywhere else. The only way to escape is by plane!

Got up this morning, roused the girly and chased her around trying to get her ready for school. On a fluke, I checked my email as she was washing up, and lo and behold, the school emailed that they were closed due to flooding and the closure of over 100 roads in Whatcom County. Did I get out of work? Nooooo...I drove in. I didn't have any problems. Thank goodness.

Our rivers will crest at 4 am. Wanna bet there will be no school tomorrow? And...to make it worse, the Christmas program, postponed due to snow and ice, is scheduled for tomorrow night! I don't see that happening. Poor kids. They were so excited to get to do their program!

Sorry - no pics today. Too wet to go photographing the flood. Maybe tomorrow....

Break out the paddles and life preservers!

Look Ma, No Tooth!

Well, it finally happened! Olivia and Kevin and I went to Bob's Burger and Brew last night for a New Years dinner, and we had a momentous occasion. Olivia has had a loose tooth for a while, and while eating dinner last night, it kinda turned around on her. She was trying to turn it back the right way when, yep, you guessed it, it popped out! She now has a gap in her teeth on the bottom. The Tooth Fairy came in the middle of the night and took that first tooth and left her a pretty gold coin - "and it was made a long time ago. Today I showed it to my daddy and I put it in my piggy bank. I forgot to show my mommy. " That's the whole story according to Olivia.

We are off to see Karen and sew at her house in Everett today. Michele is coming with us....and I better get my stuff together and ready. Hopefully I will have a UFO or two to show for my efforts!

A Very Happy Holiday

Shock of all shock - a second post this month! I just had to share our Christmas.

We were awakened Christmas morning with the sound of pounding feet in the hallway and the excitement of a 5 year old. Luckily, it was not 5:00. Olivia had slept in to about 8. She burst into our room with a small present in her hand, begging to open it. She was totally fascinated with it.

After much discussion, we decided she could open the small package she was clutching, and the two, yes, two packages from Santa. The small package contained a jeweled treasure box from her auntie Linda. She was in total awe. She thought that was just the coolest thing she had ever seen. She went on for five minutes about what she could store in it.

Next, she opened her gifts from Santa. We didn't get a picture of the Barbie, but as she opened it, she kept saying, "He knew. He knew." It was so precious. Luckily I was videoing. The awe and wonder in her voice was just precious. Next was a gift bag with the toy dog and toy cat she requested. She hasn't let them out of her sight, except for church, and even then, she brought the dog with her. She has even slept with them, eaten with them and they are her constant companion in every activity. I think they were a hit.

Next we got ready for church. Olivia actually chose this dress on ebay from all the holiday dresses. It is beautiful. I had to go buys black tights to go with it as the ones we planned on her wearing ended up having a hole in them. Luckily, Fred Meyers had one last pair in her size. She is holding her bell. Our church has the children ring bells during certain portions of the service. We have a new priest this year, and he is not very child friendly. In years past, Father Tim would have all the children come forward and he would tell the nativity story. This year, Father Khan didn't do that, and the few children in attendance really missed it. It's not that we don't have lots of children, but it was snowing, and the roads were pretty bad, so the church was only about a quarter full - compared to years past when it was standing room only - literally - with people standing in the aisles. Rather than a traditional Christmas service, Father Khan chose to tell us stories of growing up in South Vietnam and how restrictive the Communist Government was. Interesting choice.

We went home and put the traditional Christmas Casserole in the oven. Usually, Chris would show up just before we left for church, and he'd stay home and cook the casserole (okay - put it in the oven. Kevin preps it the night before). He was snowed in at home, couldn't get his car up the driveway (which is pretty steep), so we missed him terribly. Since we had an hour to kill, we decided to open gifts. Olivia had a wonderful time. She made out like a bandit - but then again, so did we. Everyone got what they wanted, and then some.

The day after Christmas, it was still snowing. We spent the day vegging. By 4:00 in the afternoon, it finally stopped snowing, and it looked like it was warming up. Olivia was upset because she had spent the whole snow time being too sick to go out and play in it, so out we went. Kevin and Olivia sledded with the saucer and then took out the truck tire innertube to go down the big hill - but that didn't work too well, so they built a snowman instead. Turned out pretty nice.

Unfortuntely, it was above freezing all night, and we lost about 6-8 inches of snow overnight. The snowman lost his head (it fell off) and most of his decorations. I can see the driveway (Kevin had kept it pretty well shoveled throughout the snowy weather), and the back of Olivia's chair in the back yard.

It's raining lightly now, and about 40 degrees. I guess this will be the end of the snow. What a wonderful White Christmas we had, the first I can remember with any real amount of snow. One year when Chris was young, we had snow, but no where near this much! We have broken all sorts of records - including having the most standing snow since 1860. Can you imagine? Wow.

We hope to get down to Everett tomorrow. Looks like it will continue to thaw and melt, so as long as it is not freezing, we're off. Hope to stop by Karen's to drop off presents, and visit my dad in the hospital, where he's been for about two weeks now. Then off to my mother's to see Chris.

Happy New Year!

Baby, it's COLD outside!

It has been a COOOOOLD couple of weeks! Olivia was to be the student of the week, and needed a picture of where she lived, so Kevin took her out and shot this one. This was Sunday, December 14.

I really enjoyed the snow that week. This is a shot out the slider in my office. I overlook a salmon hatchery. The yellow building is the main post office, on the other side of the creek from me.

The snow just kept coming! I don't have any more pictures from work, but as the week progressed, and into this week, the snow in the parking lot kept getting deeper and deeper, until only those of us with four wheel drive stood a chance of getting in and out. Luckily, half the staff is off till next year, so only half of us have to worry about it!

It snowed even more today....Olivia's chair is the little bump in snow and the table was blown over by the high winds last week, and is now buried up to it's knees. My dh almost didn't make it out of the driveway to get to work today, and my ds is stuck in his driveway, and they had to send a runner from work to bring him in. I went in today, and it's a mess out there. Rain in Bellingham, continuing snow here in Ferndale. Looks like I'm gonna have a white Christmas after all!

Here is a pic of the walkway from the front door taken about 2:00 or so. Kevin has been shoveling all week, and our driveway is clear, but the road is not. You can kinda see where they plowed one swath up the hill. That pushed MORE snow into our little "boob in the road" for us to conquer. Ah, well. At least WE have snowplows out here!

I've done all I can do for Christmas shopping. I need to bake cookies (although I doubt I will give any to neighbors this year) and wrap Olivia's presents (and a couple of Kevin's). Not going to Everett for only the second time in my life for Christmas Eve. Somehow, I'm not too upset. I'd rather wait until the weekend when the cold is done with. Should be in the 40's by Saturday. That means flooding, slush and no more ice!

Merry Christmas. Have a safe and prosperous New Year all!

So, it being the 1st of November, I thought I should check in again. Halloween was fun! Olivia had to dress up as a Saint for school, so she chose St. Cecilia, the Patron Saint of Church Music. Donna helped with her costume (okay, she did most of it!) and it turned out wonderfully!

She went to Auntie Miche's office and changed after I picked her up into her trick-or-treating outfit.

True to form, from one extreme to another, she wanted to be a vampire for Halloween, so here she is. My little princess of darkness....

We went to a party at the church instead of doing massive trick or treating (I thought it was going to rain, so we arranged to meet her friend from school there). It was a nice little party, and she and her friend, Isabella, both won prizes for best costume in their age group (1-7). They just chose two from each group. Livy was just thrilled. Afterwards, we decided to trick or treat, so we went out for about 45 minutes to the neighborhood across the street (since none of our neighbors were doing much of anything) and she got 60 pieces of candy. About 2/3 of the way around the "block" which has a park in the middle, so it's actually really big, she said, Okay, I'm done. I wanna go home. No prompting, no whining, no complaining. It was the best evening we've had in a long while. She even went to bed without a protest (of course, it was almost 9:30 - she was exhausted!).

I am working on getting the teal and purple log cabin together. Found the perfect stopper fabric, so all I have to do is wash it and cut it out. Woo hoo! Hope to forward it on to Karen soon.

Also, have a round robin block to finish up for the guild RR. We only have to do one block but it has to be embellished, so I am making a scarecrow (in keeping with the owner's "Fall" theme) and will use raffia to stick out of the sleeves and hat. Will take a pic when I'm done.

When I finish those, I have a small quilt top that I finished in September that just wants to be quilted. It's only 24x24 or something like that, so I'll do it myself. When I find the time. I even have the backing picked out and sitting with it!

Otherwise, not much new up here. Had a lovely weekend in Chelan. Didn't want to come back. Then again, I never do.....

Until the next episode....

Checking in

As promised, I am checking and posting a UFO finsh....#4 - February, was the Carivale Stars quilt. Ye Merrie Cuylter (Karen O) did a wonderful job quilting it in a swirly pattern of her own making using bright verigated thread. I couldn't be more pleased! I finished it while on vacation on the Oregon Coast. I sat in a lovely house and watched a storm over the ocean while sewing down the back. Ahhhhh...Iwanna go back.

It's begun thundering just now. Love heat storms. We rarely have them here. It's out over the bay somewhere. I expect the rain to start any moment.....

In the meantime.....here is the first UFO - #1 from January done. Made of flannel, this quilt is for my father, who is currently homebound and wheelchair bound while having dialysis at home. He gets cold really easily, so I thought a snuggly might be just the thing. I will never, ever, if I can help it, do another bowtie quilt. Except I recently found a big bag of bowtie blocks in my UFO box. Argh! Again, Thanks to Ye Merrie Cuylter for such a lovely job quilting it. This one was a big stipple in cream thread on the front and grey on the back. I gave it to Dad a couple weeks ago, and he was thrilled.

I've been working on finishing some quilts to exhibit at the local quilt show in September. I'm nearly done with all 6 that I registered. I have 2 needing bindings finished, and 2 in less than complete tops. Better get moving!

Back in the Driver's Seat

I'm baaaackkk....



Okay, so it's been a while since I have blogged. Karen, I think you are my only reader. But here is what has been going on....

I finished my dad's quilt, which I will deliver tomorrow to him. I felt bad that it took so long, but its DONE!

For the record - that was my January UFO for Common Threads.

I also made a bag...my first... for Shop Hop. The outside is pirates, the inside is a blue swirly water thing. I'm quite pleased with myself for figuring out how to do it! It worked out perfect for Shop Hop....and still has all my patterns and fabrics in it. Maybe I'll work on doing the blocks so I can have the bag for next year....

I'm working on several new things...pictures to come. I have to actually take pictures first!

I'm still here. I think!

Well, it has been a while since I posted! Just been busy. DS turned 24. Can you believe it? I can't! DD and I went to Karen's with Linda and Michele....spent the weekend, took Chris to lunch and had a great time overall. Didn't get any sewing done, though!





The February Guild meeting was awesome! The speaker was funny, and very interesting. She specialized in making quilts LOOK 3-D using color and value. Very, very cool!

Olivia wanted to be a bunny one day....so I got out the face paints and here you are!

The inlaws were then here for a week....and I'm slowly recovering from that venture. I hope to sew tonight. It would be the first time in over a month I've touched my machine. I'm resolute. I MUST sew bowties tonight. Wish me luck!

My Little Ice Skater

Olivia went to her first ice skating lesson today. She said it was harder than she thought it would be, but she had a great time!

She was a little shy at first, when she stepped out onto the ice, but with the help of a very nice lady (who happens to be the program director), she gained confidence. She's looking forward to her next lesson.

I plan to work on the church auction procurement form (like that will take any time at all!) and then focus on a quilt top that needs to be finished by tomorrow night so I can bring it for show and tell Monday.

Welcome to 2008! I have been enticed to join several UFO challenges this year....maybe I'll get some done! So, for the Common Threads group - here are my 10. I did change a few from the original list I posted this morning....I couldn't find them quickly to photograph them.

#1: Flannel Bow Ties. This one is for my dad. I started it a year ago, and shamefully, I haven't finished it. Not even close! So, with renewed effort, I'll dig in!

#2: Pineapple Blossom. This one is for a co-worker who is going through breast cancer treatment. So far, so good. She's done 3 rounds of chemo....and will find out tomorrow what is next! Another one I need to get on quickly!

#3: 30's Row Robin. Originally for my daughter's bed, I think it might end up a wall quilt in her room. Right now it's square. I'd have to add a few rows to make it bed sized. We'll see what strikes my fancy when this number is called!

#4: One Block Wonder. A guild project - so far, I've cut my strip and pinned. Next to sub cut strips and 60 degree triangles.....

#5: Goose in the Pond. A guild signature Friendship quilt from 1994? Something like that! I love the block, and I'd love to get this one together and on my bed!

#6: Craker Blocks: A small quilt, but fun! I need to make more blocks for the border...

#7: Stack-N-Slash Stars: This was inspired by a Stack-n-Slash 9-patch class we had a guild. Karen O came home and said, "I bet we can do it in a star" and figured it out. This was the one I came up with!

#8: Chunky Funky Monkey: A guild Friendship Block I handed out in 2007. Super easy block - should turn out really fun!

#9: Triple Four Patch: Another guild Friendship Block from 2005/2006. I was inspired by the Common Threads swap, just couldn't participate at the time. Loved the block, so I did it locally. Can't wait to put this one together!

#10: Last, but not least, the Cinderella Blocks. I'm finally going to put these together!

Wow. This is going to be a very fun year! I better rev up my sewing machine!

Twosday Morning

Mmmmm....I'm having a slow morning. Woke up at 6:20 (thanks to my annoying alarm clock)....got ready for work by 6:40 (so dh could have the bathroom) and went to check my 900 plus emails. Sheesh. I joined a yahoo chatgroup connected with Bonnie and Quiltville - she announced a mystery and opened up the group for those who wanted to work on it. It's been open about a week and has over 1000 members! And they are chatty! I whack away at about 100 a day, but they're posting 2-300....and with Kevin home EVERY night last week (except Thursday - he knew better than to be home on quilting night!), I couldn't check my email for days!

I've been soooo busy these past couple of weeks. When I'm not running around like the proverbial chicken, I'm too tired to think. So, I thought I'd take this moment or two to post.

Dd has her school Christmas program tomorrow morning. Then she has her church program tomorrow night. Wish I had a bigger memory card for my camera. Maybe I'll get one today and call it an early Christmas present.

Thursday is Quilting night, and I'm hoping we're gonna do a little dinner/potluck kind of thing. I guess I better see what I can arrange today. Friday is madly-dashing-about-looking-for-stocking-stuffers day after work. I refuse to shop over the weekend (except groceries, of course!)....so whatever I have by Friday night is what people are gonna get.

Christmas cards are out. I'll be baking cookies tonight (for lack of any other time available to do it!). Kevin found a new recipe for chocolate/caramel sandies that are to die for! Mmmmmm.... He baked all weeekend - the sandies, oatmeal caramel chewies, my chocolate pecan bars, snickerdoodles, and peanut butter blossoms. Then he loaded them all up on a tray and took them to the hospital for his "staff". We got about a dozen broken and dropped cookies out of the whole experience. So I decided that I'd bake like crazy, give the neighbors a few, bring a few to work, and then kill myself with choclate, caramel and sugar. What a way to go!

The headache that never ends is still here. Got it the day after Thanskgiving. It won't go away. And yes, I've been to the doctor. He prescribed antibiotics. Fat lot of good they did. Might have more to do with the newly-elevated blood pressure....ya think? Sooooo, I'm living on Ibuprofen. Euch........

Anyway, I'm here at work, Richard is off at a mediation, and I have a little work to do...but definitely not enough to keep me busy all day!

Sorry no pictures....maybe later I'll hae a mo to upload a few of the girly and her Christmas preparations.....

Let it snow!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful.....my dear, it's so delightful! It's snowing! I LOVE snow! It actually started at 9:30 yesterday morning, and Olivia and I left at 10 for the flu shot clinic. We made it in no problem....there was, amazingly, almost no one there (last year, we waited almost 2 hours!). After the shot, we left and headed south to run by the bank. Wow. It was an ice rink on Meridian. I watched several cars slide right on by me...and into other cars! I even saw one woman spin like a top several times. Crazy! But, we made it through without incident and wandered home on Northwest. I-5 was a parking lot. Also - surprisingly, Bellingham had more snow than Ferndale!

I've started my Christmas shopping, my mom, Chris and Olivia are almost done. It's just Kevin left. I know what I'm getting him....just have to figure out how, since he freaked in a BIG way when he saw the credit card bill (which contained Chris and Olivia's presents). He'll get over it.

I plan to sew today after decorating the house. I went out and cleared a path (of Kevin's shoes and the furniture he put there) and pulled the HUGE tubs of christmas stuff off the top shelf while he sat in the nice warm house sipping coffee and chatting with his parents. Luckily I didn't kill myself on the step-stool ( I HATE heights) and now have all the boxes inside. Pulled out the snowman quilt and decided I needed to put eyes and noses on the snowmen. Found buttons and tried to put them on with my machine, but alas, broke two of them, so I gave up and am going to start hand sewing them on in a minute. Will post a pic when I'm done.

Well, the sooner I sign off, the more sewing I can do. Ta ta for now!