goals.

Let's see here, last week I set some goals...it's time to see how I did.


1) assemble Mommie Quilt I'm getting there! The cat approves so far.



I have one of the sides you see here to attach and then to cut and attach a final border to each side and the top is done. Quilting, however may take the rest of the year!

2) go to the gym I did go once. Then we had some work done to the car so I wasn't able to go last night.

3) finish A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court done! liked it a lot...but found the ending a bit lacking.

4) Make it through the next to last week of work before VACATION! made it through last week okay, this week I've lost 2 nights of work due to the car situation and the need for me to keep the kids whilst hubby handles the dealership...one mechanic to another so to speak.
Which amounts to only TWO nights of work left before VACATION!!

5) Finish filling out the self-eval form for my annual review at work (ack!) UH, NOPE. who can think about evals?? I've got TWO WORK DAYS LEFT BEFORE VACATION!!!!!



So, for next week my goals are
1) finish assembling Mommie Quilt
2) purchase batting and backing fabric
3) finish packing list for trip

oh heck. I've got vacation brain! that's enough!!

Unveiled! Sunshine on the Water.

Diana of Sunshine on my Shoulders and Walking in Sunshine is a dear friend of mine. We've been bloggy buddies for a couple of years now.

2010 has been hard for her. I mean to say H.A.R.D. She was diagnosed with breast cancer, underwent lumpectomy and earlier this week had chemo treatment number 3. After chemo there'll be radiation too.

She's had to face her worst fears and give up those things we women take for granted...like hair. God Bless her, female baldness is NOT for wimps!! She has faced this journey with her customary courage, faith, love, and joy. And I admire her.

My 2010 Spring to Finish Challenge Quilt is for her. Originally from California, Diana loves the ocean. Despite the many years she's lived in Colorado, she's said the waves call to her, the sights and sounds and smells of the beach bring her peace and joy. As she put on facebook back in January "I don't think I can ever get enough of the salty-flowery smell of southern California."

This was the inspiration for this quilt. Back up from the monitor...squint your eyes....can you see the waves?





Many prayers are stitched into this quilt, Diana. Prayers not only for your recovery, but also for strength, hope, faith, love and JOY to follow and surround you along your journey.

Hang tough my friend, and enjoy your quilt!

Sarah.


P.S. all prayers on her behalf are appreciated!

Delivered!!???

Okay folks.

according to USPS the quilt was delivered at noon today!

So, now I'm just waiting for word from the recipient that she's opened it before I post pictures!


:-) I'm so glad it has made it home.

burnout

have you ever felt so burned out at something that you just don't care anymore?

yeah. me too.

but sooner or later a better job will come along and all will be well again....for about 6 months. Then, as Subvet says, no matter how wonderful it is, after 6 months it's just a job.


The good news is that I have 4 nights left to work (after this shift is done) before VACATION!

Stephanie D. asked where we were going. I will be off work from July 5 to July 22. Most of that time will be spent at home sleeping with my husband (no, really, I mean SLEEPING!) and enjoying that big yellow ball that is rumored to still be hanging in the sky. However, I will spend July 9, 10, and 11th. on a little road trip with the hooligans.

See, I decided to go back to a much loved place in my childhood.

My Dad is from a teeny tiny town outside of Lafayette, La. called Church Point. As I was growing up we traveled to Lafayette (or its outskirts) about 2-3 times a year. Grandma and Grandpa, 8 Aunts and Uncles and a whole passel of cousins. We're talking MAJOR GOOD TIMES!!

Today Grandma, Grandpa and one aunt are buried in Church Point. And everyone else of Dad's family has moved away except 1 aunt and uncle and 2 cousins.

However, although my mom's family is from Shreveport, La. From her side I now have an aunt, 2 cousins and their 2 kids living in Lafayette. Truly, My mom's neice is a teacher in the elementary school that my dad attended in Church Point (a zillion years ago...) Not to mention this cousin and I were pregnancy twins. My first baby's due date was Dec 2003, Her's Jan 2004...My second's April 2005, her's May 2005. So our kids are the same ages! Add in the fact that my mom has a brother and sister in Shreveport and a sister in New Orleans and that Lafayette is more or less 1/2 way between Shreveport and New Orleans what we have here is the makings of a family reunion!!!

So, on July 10th. In a city that holds many wonderful memories of my Dad's family I will be creating new memories with my Mom's family. If they're in town I'm hoping to visit with those on Dad's side that are still in Lafayette too. And without a doubt will be stopping in both Shreveport and Church Point to lay flowers on all my grandparents' graves.

Truly, I can't wait! And, just so you know....all dieting will be on hiatus for that weekend!!

But, between now and July 5th 4 looooooong nights of work stretch before me. Here's hoping my two Borderline personality drug addict patients get discharged soon!!




oh and yes, we're all healthy and back to our normal selves again thanks for the well wishes.

whooooaaaaa!! GOALS!

You might remember.....long, long, ago...back in the day, as it were.....

I put up weekly goals.

When the surprise challenge quilt came along that was my only goal so it seemed stooopid to keep stating it over and over each week.

However, this moring I turned my quilt over to USPS accepting their promise that it will land safely at my friend's house either Wednesday or Thursday. And I will get confirmation of said delivery. Even though I'm pretty sure my friend's gonna let me know when she gets it.... The lady asked if I wanted it insured....but honestly, it cost me about $35 to make and yet is worth more than $100 million to me. So how could I pick a number to insure it for??

So, now I'm back to regular goals.

Does anyone remember the Mommie Quilt I'm making?? The one where I've been trying to embroider my kids' newborn footprints to go with extra blocks from their baby quilts and the bumper pad and the crib skirt/curtains all thrown together into some big memory quilt?? Anyone remember that? Well, last night I FINALLY finished embroidering all those little (ahem big) newborn feet!! Which leads me to this week's goals.

1) assemble Mommie Quilt
2) go to the gym
3) finish A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
4) Make it through the next to last week of work before VACATION!
5) Finish filling out the self-eval form for my annual review at work (ack.)

There they are folks. We'll see how I do next Monday.
I must say that although it took me longer than the 6 week challenge, it feels REALLY REALLY GOOD getting that quilt done and shipped. Nice to know that I can make a quilt in a couple months should I ever want to again. (that's quite unlikely!)

So, what are your goals for this week?

Fraggin from Hell.

Created by Mrs 4444, Friday Fragments are bits and pieces of your week that are usually brief; too short for a stand-alone post, but too good to discard. Collect humorous observations, "Heard" items, and other small gems and put them together in a Friday Fragments post.



Thank God it's Friday and I have the next 4 nights off work! This was Hell Week for me at work!!!!!!!!


Gave my finished quilt a last hug and packed it in the box with some lagniappe. But I'm having a very hard time composing the letter/card to go with it. Which begs the question....does it HAVE to have a card? Since the quilt is labeled she'll know who it's from. There's more in the quilt itself than can be said in words...and when I try to find words to explain it I start crying. I remember hearing about when a famous poet (which one escapes my memory) was asked to explain his poem his reply was "You want me to say it WORSE???!!!" Sums up my feelings exactly.

I took pictures of the quilt to post once it reaches my friend. Here's hoping it's a BIG surprise!

My poor hubby. I really do feel bad for him. He's been sick all week. Today he's "feeling good enough to be cranky" as I tell my patients, this is when you know you're on the mend. Never thought I'd be so happy to see his cranky side. And, of course, I've worked all week and been absolutely NO HELP to him at all. It stinks that stay at home parents don't get sick days.

stopping by the little store in my tiny town on my way home from work yesterday I thought I was so tired I was seeing things at first.
click on image to read the sign better.

**updated with better picture**


That's. Just. Wrong!

isn't that cute?? Mrs4444 made it for me so that I'd have a button for her blogroll thing. Not sure what I'm sposed to do next though....

Trying to potty train my autistic 5 yr old. I'm not sure I have enough patience for this!! I'm about to resort to bribing him with M&Ms!


guess I played too many Farkle games in a row.... I get a notice saying "you may be addicted to our site...we're giving you a break, you may return in a few minutes". DUH. I'm not addicted...I'm just trying to stay awake!


"He didn't have brains enough to bait a fish hook with." Mark Twain. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

Am I the only one who can't spell Connecticut without looking it up? No matter how many times I look it up!

Is that enough frags? Is there a limit to these things? I never know.....

Finally!!

You might remember Jacquie's Spring to Finish Challenge.

Well, 8 weeks and 3 days later...

I have FINISHED my surprise quilt!

While working on this quilt I have listened to the following books.

Dracula by Bram Stoker
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum
and am currently listening to
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

Love love love the free audiobooks app for my iphone!!

I'm very pleased with how this quilt turned out. It represents many FIRSTS for me.

It's the first quilt I've made for someone who wasn't a member of my family.
It's the fastest I've ever finished a quilt.
It's the first time I've labeled a quilt.
It's the first quilt I've made that represents something...almost like an abstract painting.
It's the first quilt I haven't delivered by hand.


And, it's a prayer quilt. Many prayers have been said for it's recipient during it's making. I hope it will bring her many smiles and comfort on hard days.

Now, as soon as I can get to the post office (probably Friday) it will go winging its way to some (hopefully) unsuspecting lady. I'd sure like to see a picture of her face when she gets it. Barring that I shall take pictures of it before I ship it and once she lets me know it's been received I'll post them. So stay tuned.

I AM Ninja Nurse!!

Oh, yes I am!!

Read it and believe.......


Hey! Honey!!!

I told ya so
I told ya so
I told ya so
I told ya so!!!!


hee hee hee heeeeeee.....

for the record...never argue with a nurse! :-)

I am the Queen!

Have I ever told you I am the Queen of Play-Doh??


Oh yes, and here is my castle:

And I don't even LIKE Play-Doh! Nor have I ever bought any....NEVER!

The next person who gives me a can of Play-Doh might be shot on sight....just saying....

But in the mean time....

anyone want to play with Play-Doh?

ellen b. this is for YOU!

We really enjoyed our trip to the Dallas Arboretum last Monday! Unfortunately the batteries in my camera were still dead and I forgot to buy any new ones, so my pictures are from the phone and not terrific.

The special areas open on Mondays through the summer were well worth the trip! I haven't been to the Arboretum since my wedding there in 1999, and it's grown considerably! We walked around for almost 2 hours....and probably only saw 1/4 of the grounds. I'd love to go back and head in a different direction next time.
But this trip was for the kids. So our first stop was the petting zoo.



Gator and the goat.



Sonshine and gator with a goat.

Gator brushed anything he could! including this chicken!

That's the top of Sugars' head as she tries to decide if she wants to brush the fat goat (no, not pregnant..I asked)

Gator even brushed the black bunny! poor bunny....

And of course, we had to talk to the horse....

On to our main attraction....Beatrix Potter Land!
I know!! I'm just glad that the BUNNY looked at me! (or maybe he's looking at the carrot?? nope. He was looking at the camera.....right?!!)

This is Peter Rabbit's House...

Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle's house

Jemima Puddleduck's house...

Yeah, couldn't even get the fox to look at me for this one! Course, he was too interested in what was inside...

ayup, real live white ducks living in there!!

And Mrs Tittlemouse's house!

Inside each house were a few furnishings that you could look at and play with, and off to the side they had set up for up close viewing in cages a rabbit, a hedgehog, and a couple of brown mice.

Then, on our way to Mr McGregor's House we found...

Frogs....

yeah, I know....next time I'm gonna draw a face on the back of my phone!

Perfect on this warm summer day!





You can't tell due to the picture quality, but that's a fat and lazy white bunny sculpture in the center of that garden!

We saw a few other areas of interest before heading back to the car....

Through the trees here and there you could see White Rock Lake.
:-) a good time had by all.

Next I think we'll go and feed some giraffes, maybe this Monday if I can reschedule my doctor's appointment.....

Enjoy your weekend folks. I'll be around to read your blogs over the next couple days.

you must wait!

YES, you must!!

why?

because I spent the better part of tonight reading blog entries starting as far back as May 27th!! All the way up to yesterday. Therefore I have not gotten the pictures from our WONDERFUL trip to the Dallas Arboretum uploaded.

And, of course, I work the next 3 nights.

I'm sorry, but it's either or. Either I read...or I upload pics. So THERE. You Must Wait.

:-P

Hubby told me he's never had homemade ice cream! So, I'm shopping for a maker/creamer/whatever those things are called!! This MUST be remedied.

What about you? Ever had ice cream straight outof the whirlythingy-with-ice-and-rocksalt???

oh summer memories abound....... y'all discuss while I try AGAIN to finish this quilt! I fear it'll be NEXT Monday before it sees the inside of a post office!

stuff and nonsense.

We're still hoping to make it to the arboretum tomorrow. High is 96, hot and humid with a 20% chance of showers is the forecast.....

I am attempting to finally get Gator-boy out of pullups. It's a battle. We've started a stickerchart.... All prayers will be gratefully accepted.

Date night tonight. Hubby's gone to pick up our pizza (cuz our place doesn't deliver). It's been so long I don't even remember what Netflix we have....

July 5th starts my vacation! It can't get here fast enough! I got 2 calls on Fri afternoon about my resume that look good....

I can't seem to finish quilting on this quilt! Every time I start I fall asleep. The first time I thought it was the sing-song meter of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales...so the next time I switched to listening to The Strange Case of Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde....and had very odd dreams while holding my needle and thread.

Note to Gator-boy....if you'd quit jumping on your bed at bedtime you wouldn't NEED to make 15 trips back for a drink of water that I'll then refuse to give you.

An Ode to my iPhone

ok, so I wouldn't buy one....and I wouldn't buy one....and they're too expensive....and......

then hubby intentionally drowned our shared phone (don't ask) and in a SNIT I went off to the AT&T store. Coming home with a $10 phone for hubby and, yes, an iPhone for me!

I told you I was in a snit.

Can I just tell you....I'm SOOOO GLAD he drowned that stinking phone! I would never have gotten myself an iPhone any other way.....BUT...

since he did and I did ......

I LOVE this phone!

other than my ring tone...which I'll have to post a video tomorrow of the kids singing my ringtone :-) I've not paid any money to put things on the phone.

I'm all about free Apps see.
That being said. I now have our entire family calendar in my pocket at all times!! and for the whole year too! You've no idea how wonderful that is!!

Then there's tic tac toe! The kids think this is the highest form of entertainment! And no matter if we're waiting at the dentist office or the high school auditorium I can garuntee a good 15 min of cooperation over this game

Next is checkers!! One of my all time favorite games! I've finally gotten the difficulty level to the point where more often than not it's a draw....but I win some and lose some too!

Can I even discuss the fact that I have about 3 days worth of unrepeated music saved on this thing???? Seriously, almost every CD I own...and I'm working on getting the rest uploaded!

The always available calculator is wonderful too!

The camera is okay and works ina pinch...like when I go to the Kindergarten graduation of my eldest WITHOUT bringing new batteries for my camera! (that last pic of Sonshine and his teachers was from the phone)

Having email and facebook always available has actually gotten a bit too much....I mean one needs a BREAK from those things now and again!

The Notes app is awesome! I have several "notes", my times on the bike, my todo list, blog post ideas that randomly occur to me, and the combination to my locker at the gym.

The metronome will be awesome if I ever get back to playing the piano!

The flashlight is great! More than once I've found myself in the dark and it really helps.

But, my all time favorite FREE APP. Is the audiobooks app.
You see, a few months ago I decided I needed to read more of the classics. I'm a voracious reader and have read zillions of books, many are classics, but there are sooo many out there that folks refer to that I haven't read. However, my time constraints are many and varied. It's hard to hold a book while I sew, among other things. This app has every public domain classical literature book you can imagine! and a few you've never heard of before!

So far I have downloaded (with the help of free Wifi at work) free audio versions of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Barnaby Rudge, Dracula, Leaves of Grass, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and The Canterbury Tales!

I just finished Dracula tonight! wooooo what a book! No sleeping with open windows tonight!

Do you have an all time favorite book? Is there a book you've always wanted to read?? I need ideas for other books to download! I'll put all the books y'all recommend on a list in my notes app...... It's gonna be a reading-sewing-adventure having summer!!

Oh and speaking of adventures. The temps are triple digits all weekend and the ozone alert is way high. Say a prayer that the outdoors is more bearable come Monday when our trip to the arboretum is scheduled please! They do have shady areas with misters but STILL!

do you have a fav iPhone app? It's gotta be just as wonderful and life changing for mommies as the dish washer!

Then and Now

Sonshine graduated from Kindergarten last night.

So hard to believe! Just a few days ago we were here:


The boy who was 5 lbs 15 oz at birth

has grown...


And now.... a first grader!


This is Sonshine with his teacher Mrs Perkins (aka Miss Ladybug) and his aide Mrs Coburn. Many many thanks to these wonderful women! They've worked HARD all year so that Sonshine, other than in handwriting, would have an A for the year! He's completely on target academically.
A mommy's answered prayer....

do you remember?

my hubby swears he has NEVER seen this commercial!! Well, not till I showed him just now. Since it's been a staple of my childhood I find this hard to believe!! So, have you seen it before??

prayers and celebrations.

Diana had her second round of chemo for breast cancer today. Please go by her blog and let her know you're praying for her!!


I hit a new personal best on that beastly bike! 10 miles in 55 min and 8 sec!! And, you'll notice that the turtle on my weight ticker has inched forward a bit! Time for a milkshake or a big bowl of ice cream!! ;-)

Spring to Finish --Finish Line.

brought to us by Jacquie of TallGrass Prairie Studio the Spring to Finish challenge ended at midnight May 31st.

My project for this challenge was to make a surprise quilt for a friend.

You might remember the sneak peek of the quilt......


Well, I'm happy to say that the quilting is almost done on this quilt! I expect to have it bound and ready for shipping by next Monday! Whew! An entire quilt from start to finish in 7 weeks??

I'll let you know when it's done.

No pictures till it's safely in the hands of its owner. Wouldn't want to ruin her surprise now would I????


Thanks to Jacquie for once again inspiring us to get-r-dunn!!