mail call!

So I slipped into the post office yesterday afternoon to check our post office box and guess what I found???

A SURPRISE!!!

A package? For me??? Who could have sent it?

Hahaha! I've been expecting you, ma cherie! (Which is most appropriate, because my little package came from Calgary, AB, CANADA)! I got a package from Canada!! Well, Canada didn't really send it; it came from LEE in Canada!

It's a beeee-yooo-tiful fall-inspired mini quilt! And it really is quite charming.

I love the viney leaf pattern quilted in the borders! This makes me more inclined to get out my sewing machine and practice machine quilting. I love the things you can do with the machine and the look of it. But I'm a little ... afraid. And a LOT impatient!

And the title, "Fall View" is so appropriate, given all the wonderful colors that make this pretty topper!

Lee also sent me a little extra, "just because." !!! Isn't she *sew* sweet?!? It's a darling little zippered bag. I *love* zippered bags! :)

Lee, again and again, thank you! It's lovely and I love it!

Jour hereux!

:)

weekend wedding fun in hotlanta!

This is a story about my dashing nephew, Michael Jr. . . .

and his lovely bride, Erin! They got married on Saturday, in Atlanta.
Actually, there's another story; the mini-family reunion that took place while we were all there for the wedding!!

My mom & dad (getting ready to celebrate their FIFTIETH anniversary) were there . . .

As were Todd & I . . .

The oldest of my younger sisters, Julia, and her husband, Michael Sr. They are the proud parents of the groom . . .

The second oldest of my younger sister, Cynthia, and her husband Ed . . .

And Cynthia with our youngest sister, Laura (she left her four young children at home with her husband, Joseph) . . .

Aren't we a great looking family????

There were two other married couples there, my oldest daughter, Jocelyn, and her husband Jason (they just got married in June)! James (my son) and Kim were there too, but I didn't get a good picture of them. Pooh . None of my pictures were great -- the settings on my camera were off. Plus it didn't help that we were in the dark, with mostly candle light!
Also along for the ride was Ben, brother of the groom (isn't he handsome? he's a freshman at Virginia Tech) . . .

Megan (Cynthia's middle) and Hazen (Julia's third) had fun kicking up their heels at the reception . If you look closely, you can see that Cecilia (Julia's second) is doing a little barefoot boogie . . .

Then Megan continued to enjoy the dance floor with a partner who was a little more her height (although, like Hazen, I think he was still shorter than her -- she had to duck when he twirled her) . . .

Hazen wasn't happy about being replaced . . .

Lucy (Julia's youngest) was happy dancing with her mommy and daddy. Julia has the look of a mom who's child is married and her responsibilities are DONE! (I know, I've worn that look twice, now!)

Nick, Cynthia's youngest, had a good time watching everyone carry on . . .

Whew! After the reception, and back at the hotel for the night, I had the opportunity to FINALLY get Julia the rooster wall hanging! I think she liked it! :) I had a special rod made just for it, using the same finial that I used as the basis for the weather vane.

I always struggle for a little bit naming/tagging my quilts. Naming this quilt was easy, though . . .

It's certainly ruled me for the last month! :)

The day after the wedding, Julia's family (minus Ben), mom & dad, and the six of us Alabamians, headed over to Copeland's for a lovely brunch. The food was incredible, but the time spent with family was even better. Getting a posed smile from Michael Sr. is tough, but I caught him chatting it up during the meal; or perhaps he's smiling at all those peel & eat shrimp . . .

Hazen really enjoyed the buffet. Particularly the Belgium waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, and the chocolate fountain. Once he was done, he settled in for some game time.

Lucy was sharing sugars to her right . . .

and then to her left . . .

Puckering up definitely runs in this family . . . !!!

Dad and mom, still a sweet couple!

There's my James and Kim!

And another of my Jocelyn and Jason!

A nice shot of Aunt Julia, Jocelyn, and Cecilia . . .

And a final parting shot of Aunt Denise, Jocelyn & Lucy . . .

We had a wonderful weekend, and celebrated the marriage of a darling couple. Memories to cherish.

Cheers!

:)

oooh baby, baby!

Just a concept . . . I took pictures of Kim's fabric for Sawyer's bumper pad and ruffle, and I'm playing around with them (using Publisher, of all things) to see what would make a fun baby quilt to go with it. She's using orange ribbon to tie off the bumper pads, hence the border.

The fabric is in the dryer as I type, getting ready for fussy cutting. I think I want all the squares with stripes in them to be cut precisely the same, so it doesn't look too busy. The polka-dot fabric is darling, and the photos I took don't do justice to the colors. She really did pick some lovely fabric!

Pictures from the trip will have to wait until tomorrow. Except for this one . . .

Lucy giving Kim -- and Sawyer -- a hug goodbye.

:)

home again, home again . . .

Just a quickie blog post to say we had a wonderful weekend! Yesterday morning we headed to Atlanta for my nephew, Michael Jr.'s wedding. He's Julia's step-son, and a really nice young man. He proposed to his beautiful bride, Erin, in July and they were married yesterday afternoon. They were married in the Catholic church and had a beautiful service, in Latin. It was fascinating. I was very thankful I was sitting next to one of Michael Jr's friends, who knew exactly when to stand, kneel, and sit! From the wedding we went to the Wimbish House for the reception. Very nice. Like, wow, very nice!

The bonus of attending the wedding and sharing in the celebration of this lovely couple, was reuniting with my sisters and parents and many of my darling nieces and nephews for the weekend! Plus we traveled up and back with James & Kim, and that was fun. This afternoon we had the buffet at Copeland's in Atlanta, and it was delicious!

I was also able to finish and deliver the rooster. Finally. I started this thing in September. I told my sister (I can't keep secrets) that I wouldn't make her wait until Christmas to get it; I'd send it on when I was finished. Uh, yeah. Pictures of it, the wild dancing that took place Saturday night at the wedding reception, and of my darling nieces and nephews are forthcoming.

I was half hoping my swap quilt would be waiting in the box for me when we got home, but not yet. I think that means it's coming from far, far away! :)

I've finally decided to succumb to this cold I've been fending off for four days. I'm spent. It will have its way with me. Thankfully, I do NOT have to work tomorrow!

Salud.

:)

and the winner is . . .

Me!

Last night was our monthly guild meeting. As per usual, I picked up $2 worth of raffle tickets (along with the raffle ticket I get just for wearing my quilted name tag), and lo and behold, one of my raffle tickets won. Again! I think this is three or four months in a row. I know it's at least two (in October, if you'll remember, I won off of TWO tickets), because the president of the guild commented when I came up to get my prize.

Anyway, this month I won . . .

Fun stuff!

You know, this is national blog month . . . and I will hit post 200 before the month's end . . .

Should I consider a giveaway?? LOL!

TGIF!

:)

downsizing . . .

I'm all about downsizing these days. When you move, as I mentioned a couple of days ago, from 2,500 square feet of living space

to 450 square feet of living space,

downsizing is important.

We started practicing for downsizing when Joc got married last June, leaving us with an empty nest. How I cooked, how I cleaned, even how I did laundry changed. Sort of. It was until just recently that I realized how little it really had changed. There's a lot more to downsizing than I thought!

Cooking was an issue. I grew up in a family of six, with family get-togethers that were always huge. I learned how to cook in quantity! Even for just the four of us, I was able to cook in quantity and enjoyed leftovers for lunch and freezing for future meals. When James & Jocelyn were both gone, I cooked the same quantity, I just broke it up; something I'd typically prepared in a 9X13-inch casserole dish, I now prepared in two 8-inch square casserole dishes. Voila (woila--viola), I had two meals. One for now and one for later! It was great! Some weeks my grocery bill would be next to nothing because all my meals were in the freezer already!

That is a thing in the past. Do you know what you lose when you go from 2,500 to 450? A chest freezer, an upright freezer, and the big freezer that's attached to the big refrigerator. I went from 60 cubic feet of freezer space to less than a cubic FOOT of freezer space! Changes definitely had to be made. Not to mention our storage space for dry goods is significantly smaller as well. It's taken getting used to, but the timing was good. Todd & I both knew we wanted to make healthier eating/food choices, so we've gone to more fresh meats, fruits, and vegetables; I make smaller portions so there's little to no leftovers, and I stay away from processed foods for the most part; there's just no place to put them.

We bought a small George Foreman grill and a two-person crock pot, both of which I love working with! I've done sirloin steaks, pork chops and chicken on the grill, all of which tasted wonderfully and were FAST! I've only used the crock pot for cooking our steel cut oats, so far, but I've been searching for 'two person' crock pot recipes and I'm gonna try those out soon. Especially for Sundays! I like crock pot cooking, but the big one is, well...BIG. And it takes up my whole kitchen counter, practically!

I also don't buy in bulk anymore--pointless--and I don't buy stuff that I won't use in the week I'm buying in. I've ended up throwing too many dollars (ie., spoiled food) away. It's been a learning process and I'm enjoying figuring it all out.

I downsized my quilting space, but not my quilting stuff. Not even my quilting books. Perhaps over time, I'll be able to part with some of that stuff. Then again, maybe not. :)

CLOTHES! Todd & I are both having to downsize in this area! We went from each having our own closet and big bureaus to small sets of drawers and a small closet to share (which also houses our washer/dryer machine, a whole other story)! It's forced me to really determine what I wear and what I don't wear, and to make a distinction between seasonal clothes. I can store summer clothes during the winter, for more closet/drawer space, but storage space is limited too, so I really have to make decisions on what I keep.

Knick-knacks, photos, and the like have always been a big thing for me. I had lots of things because I like switching stuff out and changing the look of the room, and displaying my pretty things. In the RV there really isn't a lot of space to display things on! This effected my seasonal stuff, too. I had *tubs* of fall decorations, Christmas decorations, and Easter/spring decorations. Not only was there not room to store it all, there just isn't room to display it! I went through and kept a few things that were favorites, and the rest either went to Joc & Kim, or will be properly disposed of (sold, given away, Goodwill, etc.). On a very positive note, it made switching from fall to Christmas and back to normal a very easy, quick process!

Media: we had a LOT. I kept all our DVDs. I'm an avid movie fan, and I like to be able to watch what I want to watch when the mood strikes. Ergo, I have a lot of DVDs! Instead of dealing with all of the cases and where to store those, I pulled them from their cases and stored them in a book with DVD sleeves. Now they're all in one place, in alphabetical order. :) I still have about fifty Disney movies on VHS. I think I'm going to have to give those up. I just can't justify keeping/storing them. Especially since we don't even have a VCR at the RV! I weeded through our CDs and stored the ones we kept the same way we stored the DVDs. Except I kept the Christmas CDs separate. And I don't think I alphabetized them. *gasp* Yet.

Stuff in general. We've a lot less of it. From cooking ware, to dishes, clothes, to furniture, we have less. The funny thing is, I don't miss it. I guess because we have the most important things. Jesus, our love for each other, and Jesus. :)

Except a cat.

Meow.

:)

counting down . . .

Yesterday, my swap recipient, Sylvia, let me know that she'd received the fall table topper I did for her! Yay! I'm so impressed; I put it in the mail on Saturday, regular first class mail, and she received it on Tuesday. Way to go USPS! Considering Monday was a holiday, she got it the very next mail day. WOW! In retrospect, I'm really glad I didn't spent the extra $5 bucks and send it priority; I don't think she'd have gotten it any faster! Anyway, she was very sweet and she likes it!

So now the wait begins . . . I have a little feeling I *might* have guessed . . . but I don't know . . . all the completed swap quilts look so AWESOME on the flicker website! I'd be excited to receive any one of them! I hope it gets here before Thursday night, so I can take it to show & tell at the guild meeting.

I can't wait!

:)

what do you know . . .

Surprisingly enough, do you know what aspect I've really come to appreciate about quilting? The social side of it. It feels funny for this social introvert to even admit such a thing, but it's true.

I'm not referring to quilting bees -- I haven't been to one of those yet, though I'd like to -- but there are lots of other aspects that make quilting social . . .

The quilt guild. The local guild for the Huntsville area is Heritage Quilters of Huntsville. It's a huge group with over 300 members (and new women signing up monthly), that meets on the third Thursday of every month. It's a lovely evening of socializing, show and tell, comfy quilts (our guild's community service project) and a speaker or program of some sort. Through the guild I've met lots of women, old and young, with a common interest and varying levels of expertise and interest. I've also been exposed to participating in challenges and quilt shows and new techniques and renown quilters.

The small quilting group. Through the guild, I met and joined a group of women who meet regularly (twice a month) to work on hand work together. The group I joined up with is The Stitchers. They are a lovely group of women again, of varying ages and levels of expertise, who have (again) exposed me to new aspects of quilting like "stitch ins" and quilting retreats (of which I'm going on my first, next month)! The smaller group is particularly important, I think, if your guild is as large as our guild is. I've made some new friends and because of those friendships, I've become more active in the guild; and honestly, in quilting as well. They challenge me.

Online community. There's a huge (big, HUGE) online community of quilters in a variety of forums. There are mailing lists, blogs, and whole website communities dedicated to quilting! I've taken classes (in my pj's), found basic instructions and tutorials for all kinds of quilting techniques, watched quilt shows, gotten new ideas, met new friends from all over the world, won FUN stuff, and even swapped quilts -- all online. A quick glance on the left side of my blog and you'll see on my blogroll lots of quilty-named blogs. A little further down and there's a list of links to some of my favorite quilting websites. Plus tons of organizations -- AQS and Alliance for American Quilts to name a couple -- that are dedicated to the perpetuation of quilt enthusiasts.

In days past (and in some communities, days present) quilting was an avenue for women to gather together and forge personal bonds as well as quilts. There may not be as much group sewing around the old quilt frame these days, but that fact certainly hasn't made quilting any less social of an activity!

Cheers, and HAPPY QUILTING!

:)

reflections . . .

Our pastor, Brother Randy, is doing a sermon series on the purpose of the church, in general, and of Lighthouse Baptist Church, specifically. Even more specifically, the people of LBC. And, well, when you get right down to it, the purpose of Denise Panter.

One of his main points yesterday morning was that people should be my passion. Particularly those people who do not enjoy the privilege of knowing Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. We walked through the reasons why this should be . . . the number one reason being, those very same people were the passion of Christ, when He walked the face of the earth.

As a saved person, one who's being sanctified, that should be enough of a reason for me. If I'm becoming more and more like the Christ who is my Savior, then lost people will more and more be my passion.

Ah, but there's more. People should be my passion because of the plight they face. It's twofold; going about this life without the everlasting Hope and facing eternal hell. If I really believe in an eternal hell, why am I not overwhelmed with a need to share Jesus with those who are facing it? It shows either (1) a complete lack of compassion or (2) an incomplete belief that it exists as Scripture says it exists. Either way, not a happy thought.

I read something in Sharing Jesus Without Fear that struck me and has stayed with me for a long time. The author described salvation as such (and I'm paraphrasing) . . .

Being lost is like being in a tempest-tossed ocean. Waves are crashing over your head, you're struggling to stay afloat; sometimes you're not even sure why you're trying to stay afloat and other times you'll do just about anything to keep breathing air. And all around you are people in the same, desperate situation. You struggle and thrash -- worn and exhausted -- when finally someone throws you a line and pulls you to safety onto Rock Island. Once you get to the Rock, you're just so grateful to be there. You go about greeting your new rock friends, singing your rock music and meeting at Rock Hall. You go about your new rock life, and for some reason -- even though you remember how desperate you were to get out of the water -- you forget about all those people you left there, who were as desperate and anxious to be saved as you were.

And isn't that how it is? I've never heard it better described. I was saved from drowning in my sins; why am I not just as passionate about throwing that line to others, as I was about having it thrown to me? Am I doing justice to the price that was paid on my behalf?

Things not just to think about; things to DO something about.

Amen.

:)

you might wonder . . .

. . . how one goes from a 2,500+ square feet brick and mortar home, complete with eat-in kitchen, office, several bedrooms, and most importantly, a beautiful sewing/quilting room, to this comfy, cozy habitat with living space just under 450 square feet . . .

It's a realistic question, one I asked myself several times before just jumping in and doing it! Really I wasn't so worried about the cooking or resting or entertaining as much as I was moving from my pretty yellow sewing room . . .

With it's windows (one of which was big and open and gave me a happy view of the bird activity), and bright and cheery lighting, my pictures and books, the tools of my trade, lots and lots of storage space, and things that just made it ME . . .

to what is now the residence of my crafting . . . the back bunkroom.

Especially since the bunkroom was not just to be my sewing/quilting room (a hobby which, by the way, takes up a LOT of space), it was also to be Todd's office. Gulp!

The first thing Todd did was remove the storage unit that was in the center of the room. While on the one hand it did take away some shelving/closet space, on the other hand, it opened up precious, precious,
P-R-E-C-I-O-U-S floor space!

We pulled the mattresses (they were the cheap kind, anyway...no big loss) off the bunks, and replaced them with an assortment of plastic drawers for quilting/sewing supplies and office supplies . . .

My cutting table is a permanent fixture, but the ironing board is easy enough to fold and tuck away when I need more room to walk around in.

My stash is in the giant tub on the lower bunk; Eventually I'll put the kits I've collected (to work on in my retirement, when I can't afford to purchase them anymore) into the vacuum sealed bags, and I'll store those in our "basement". Yes, our RV does have a basement. And it's pretty decent sized! Anyway, clearing those out of my drawers will allow me to move things around so it's easier to get to. I was commenting to Todd last night, as I was working on getting the Rooster ready for quilting, that I missed having all my tools out and available so I could just put my hands on them. We've purchased the materials we need to hang peg board on the back of the bathroom door (seen behind the iron board, above), so I can hang all my rulers and squares and cutters, and get to them with ease.

Todd's "desk" is actually another table like my cutting table, only without the extended legs. It can be pushed back against the bunks on the other side of the room when he's not using it. Last night we were both working in there without any problem. I'll admit it though, I'm a room hog! My darling husband is very accommodating.

The bed in the master bedroom is a standard queen, and I've got a cardboard cutting surface I can lay out over it if I need the extra space to lay out fabric and pattern, or even baste a quilt to ready it for quilting. Where there's a will there's a way!

Lastly, I've been sewing at the kitchen table. I'm not sure whether I like it or not. It puts me sitting at an unusual height in relation to the machine. One that affords me a really good, close-up look at what I'm doing! I've also got a card table I can pull out if I feel the need to more space while I sew. But it would have to be set up in the middle of the kitchen floor. In the spring/summer/fall, I would consider sewing outside, but I'd prefer a screened room to sew in before moving the show to the great outdoors!

Anyway, taking our entire lives on the road, so to speak, has not hobbled my ability to produce. I've finished four quilting projects and started and finished three sewing projects since we made the move. I'm resourceful and we -- Todd & I -- are both determined to make this work!

Happy quilting to me!

:)

and the drumroll please . . .

It is (finally) FINISHED!!!!

I was starting to get a little anxious with myself; I'm such a procrastinator and I know it. But last night, before nine o'clock, I stitched my last stitch, took my final pictures, wrote a little note, and tucked it into the envelope! I will feel much better when I've gotten it to the post office and it's out of my hands . . .

I was more confident playing around with the stitches on my machine for the applique part this time. I love the effects that it adds to the leaves and the acorns! I still hand quilted, so I could leave the stitches bigger and loopier; I wanted the quilting to have a more whimsical look. Well, like leaves floating down off the trees to the ground. :)

I was pleased with my tag on the back, too. Mostly because the name of the topper was inspired by our homesite, A-Corn Hill. All this picture shows is the name, my initials and the year, but I also used the blank space above to sign it (with the same pens we used for Joc's signature quilt at the wedding) and to put the occasion (Fall-Inspired Mini Quilt Swap).

Wanna know where it's going??? To ..... nope. It's a SECRET! But I will say that it's heading WEST! :) I hope my swap pal likes it!

We were to post on the flicker group when we'd sent it off. I noted that I needed to have deadlines imposed by higher powers on all my quilting projects; I'd have fewer UFOs!

Happy day!

:)

a view down the aisle (grocery, that is) . . .

Is it just me, or does anyone else *really* enjoy shopping in grocery stores?

I'm not talking about shopping in Wal-Mart. While it does have a grocery *section*, it is not a *true* grocery store.

I mean like, well, Publix (my personal favorite) or Kroger, or even Star Mart. In Maryland it would have been Giant. A grocery, grocery store (because if I say it twice, you'll *have* to understand what I mean)!

I enjoy the act of grocery shopping. Of comparing prices (and not just face value prices, but per ounce/unit/whatev prices), and finding new products and checking ingredient labels and nutrition values.

I'm so weird!

And I like planning a meal off the top of my head once inside the doors. I don't usually shop this way. I'm very organized with a menu for the week and a grocery list with everything in order of the aisles. But every once in a while, I like to stop in and say, "What's gonna be for dinner tonight?!" and take it from there. Zipping back and forth between the aisles as inspiration bursts forth!

I like to visit the deli, bakery, seafood and meat counters. I chat with the folks behind the counters. The bakery folks are always busy, busy, busy. I like to tell them all how good it smells at that end of the store. I usually chat with the folks at the deli the longest, because I always have a big order for them, getting my sandwich meats and cheese. The folks at the meat counter are *so* helpful; they are always happy to take a big package of ground beef and make it smaller for me. And then the seafood folks . . . always a very lively bunch.

I like helping the shopper who absolutely cannot find the organic almond butter, by telling her that it’s not with the peanut butter, it’s with the condiments on aisle over, in the organic section. I just know. :)

I like traveling down the aisle that has all the gadgets and seeing if there’s anything new there or anything I might really need in order to effectively prepare any of my meals for the following week. (I never do, but I still like to make sure.)

I like wandering up and down each aisle, smiling sympathetically at moms with lots of kids in and around their carts, asking for all kinds of things in loud voices. (Yes. It makes me smile, even chuckle a little. Because I’ve been there, done that.)

I like looking at the bins that have the sale items and being pleasantly surprised when my favorite hot chocolate is buy one, get one FREE!

Sometimes I like to get a new item that I’ve never tried before just because it’s something I’ve never tried. It’s like having a mini-adventure!

I like unloading my cart onto the conveyor belt, making sure like items are grouped together for easier bagging and unloading. First, all freezer foods, then all fresh foods, then all cans, then all boxes, then all non-food items, then the bread, eggs, and any other delicate items, and finally, the little stuff that goes in your purse, like the gum and chocolate-covered raisins. I know the baggers see my organization skills and are impressed. They want me to teach classes for the rest of the shoppers.

I like looking at the magazine rack while I wait for it to be my turn. I’d never buy one of those gossip magazines, but reading the covers makes me laugh. Tom Cruise did WHAT????!

I like joking with the cashiers and the baggers, making small chit-chat. Or, if it’s one of my regulars, asking what they’ve been up to or how their families are. And, when I’m in Publix, I love that the bagger asks to take my groceries to the car, and helps me unload them and puts the cart up for me. I especially like this service if it’s RAINing outside!

And so now you know why I love going to the grocery store!

Happy shopping!

:)

some things I've thought about lately . . .

. . . why does it feel like the one day God specifically set aside for rest turns out to be the busiest day of the week?

. . . why am I awake at 4:30 am, but when my alarm goes off at 5:30 am, I turn it off and sleep until 6:30 am?

. . . why do we have to pay property taxes on items we paid sales taxes on when the original purchase was made, with money on which income taxes were paid before we ever saw it?

. . . why do cats always sit right in the middle of what you're working on?

. . . why don't they make sitcoms like The Partridge Family, The Brady Bunch, and The Cosby Show anymore?

. . . why do bankers who got bailed out with my tax dollars get a huge bonus, when I can't even get a cost-of-living raise?

. . . why do I bother thinking about this stuff??!!

:)

can't make me!

I am not going anywhere today.

Now hear me correctly . . . I didn't say I wasn't *doing* anything today; in fact, I've already been quite productive. I got up and made Todd's lunch, fixed (re-heated) breakfast--that yummy breakfast casserole I made on Saturday--and had coffee with him before he went out on shift. Then I had another cup of coffee and washed the dishes, folded towels, got more laundry started, made the bed, wiped down all the counter tops, and swept. Then I had another cup of coffee and washed my face, brushed my teeth, pulled my hair back, and got dressed.

Honestly, I've done a good day's work, and it's only nine in the morning. I'm feeling pretty good about myself! And having another cup of coffee.

But I'm still not getting in my vehicle and going ANYwhere today.

*This is the day that I pull out the sewing machine and finish the applique on my swap topper.

Yes, this is the one that *has* to be in Saturday's mail, on its way to its new owner!

*This is the day that I put old movies in the DVD player.

Hmmm . . . decisions, decisions . . . such tough decisions!

*This is the day I make a pot of tea in the beautiful glass teapot that all the kids got me for Mother's Day.

Pomegranate Pizzazz . . . very yummy!

*This is the day I sit and watch the wildlife flit in and out of my picture window's view.

Oh wait. I pretty much do that *every* day! Can you blame me?

As long as we're clear . . . I'm not leaving this place today. I love Mondays!

Salutations!

:)

this is for the birds . . .

Yesterday morning Todd and I sat at the picture window watching the birds eat breakfast. It was so much fun to watch the jays dive into the corn like kamikaze pilots. I'm not kidding. They fly head-first towards the ground at break-neck speeds, only to pull up and land on their feet at the very last second. And just as the jay gets comfortable in the corn, the red-headed woodpecker swoops down and displaces the jay. Not to eat corn, mind you, but simple to chase off the big ol' blue jay. Then the cardinal (Nick) comes in and flits from feeder to feeder, preening himself between dainty bites of black oil sunflowers seeds. He's such an aristocrat! Then there are the little birds; the sparrows, the wrens, the chickadees, the juncos, and the tufted titmouses (or would that be titmice?) who steadily consume their weight in feed. They make me laugh as they chatter and eat and chatter. And eat and eat and eat! Then two of them will fly swirlies together as if they're twitterpated in the dead of winter. But it's so pretty to watch! The nuthatches do their funny little hop-skip-jump upside down on the tree, and the downy woodpecker hangs close to, actually ON, the suet feeder.


Why didn't I share this all in yesterday's post? Because yesterday was a serious, introspective, Pulitzer prize winning post day. You can't write about birds and twittering and be a Pulitzer prize winner unless you're Robert Frost. Whom I'm definitely not. Hahahaha!


Anyway, we sat at the window and watched the birds and ate breakfast. You do remember me sharing that I was going to make my darling man a yummy breakfast of sausage apple pie, right? I'm sorry to report that it didn't happen. In my defense though, it's not for lack of trying. It's for lack of light apple pie filling. So instead, I opted to tweak a recipe I'd tried a couple of months ago at our mini-retreat. It's healthy, hot, and very tasty. It's whole wheat bread, turkey sausage, peppers, onions, mushrooms, assorted herbs & spices, eggs, milk, and cheese. Layered and allowed to sit overnight, it took 30 minutes in a hot oven and it was ready to chow down! Which we did. :)


We were without water again yesterday; did I mention that? We actually lost it Friday afternoon, which, given the temperatures, is no big surprise. I feel so badly for my husband, because I can *see* how it eats at him until it's fixed. It makes me realize how incredibly blessed I am to have him as a husband; my provider and my protector. I need to be more purposeful in my recognition of him. I'm sometimes quick to challenge his way of doing things. An example would be with the heaters and the water sources. I was a little anxious about leaving them (the heaters) on overnight. But instead of saying something (or at least I don't think I did; I hope I didn't) I got to thinking about the fact that my husband wouldn't do anything to endanger me; he's a very smart and resourceful man. Not to mention the fact that he was schooled as an electrician and he's a FIRE FIGHTER! If he is comfortable with his plan, who the heck am I to challenge him? Good gracious; I need to read this paragraph frequently!


I did get my applique leaves on my swap project. I'm didn't want to get the sewing machine out until the water was on and the heaters were put up. The down side to our living arrangement is that there's only so many machines that can be plugged in and working at a time! No matter. Water was back by late afternoon and Monday is an off day. I'll get her done.


Friday is the third annual board meeting for Restoring the Church Ministries. Three years already!! What an incredible ride it's been so far. We've come a long way since our original vision. I mean, we're actually living in our fifth-wheel RV!!!!! I cannot wait to experience what God has for us this year!


Two weeks from yesterday we'll have another wedding in the family. It's with gratitude that I note I'm just a guest at this one! :) My nephew, Michael Jr. is getting married in HOTlanta! It will be so awesome to see my whole family again after only six months! Yippee!!!


Today is Sunday, so I'm off to ready myself for church! Pictures will have to wait until I can upload them on Tuesday. :(


Selah!


:)

reading, writing . . . and re-reading . . .

I really love to write. It's why I blog. Not so much of a journal or diary exercise (although it is that), but as an outlet to write. I've written stories since I was a young girl. I especially enjoyed writing reports on books I'd read. I made my way through my year at Ole Miss by writing papers . . . for others. For crying out loud, I was a journalism major! I also wrote lots of short stories in college. Not to be published or for notoriety, but for the sheer pleasure of expressing myself, my thoughts, and my very wild imagination with the written word.

The thing is, I am also an avid, nearly unquenchable reader. Which means I understand the importance of a well-written work. I know what I like to read, and I know how difficult it is to read a book, even a paragraph--I can forgive the occasional poorly structured sentence--that is not well-written. It hurts my head.

I started this blog on September 1, 2003. That means I'm in my seventh year with this same blog! It's come a long way, as has my diligence for writing in it. Over the course of seven years, I've only logged in 187 posts, so my faithfulness to the pen (or keyboard, as the case may be) is not to be commended! As I've commented recently, I can either be living life, or commenting on it. It's tough to do both. And besides, writing--the way I want to be read--is WORK! No really; it's w-o-r-k. Not that I don't enjoy the work; just acknowledging the plain fact that it is, indeed, work. I think I've made my point.

All of that being said, from time-to-time I enjoy going back and reading old blog posts. I did just that yesterday, as I realized I was closing in on Post 200. I started back at the first entry and skipped and hopped through the last seven years. The scope of what I wrote about varied. Sometimes I've blogged about my faith and my walk with Jesus; where I've struggled and where He's delivered me. Often I share tidbits from my day; from the spectacular to the mundane. For a (brief) period of time I logged my exercising and dieting. Ugh. (Now I have a *private* blog for that sort of thing.) For a while I blogged about cooking through the Mitford cookbook. It took me two recipes to realize that was a no-go. I've blogged about quilting, cooking, family, and reading; things I've enjoyed and, well, things I haven't enjoyed quite so much.

On my first day, I blogged about pear dumplings. It was the very first time I'd made them and in the course of making them, I found a cool gadget I'd gotten from my Grandpa Wadleigh's kitchen when he passed. Now, it's not likely that I'll forget the dumplings or playing with the pastry frame; but because I wrote about it while it was fresh on my mind, I was able to capture nuances about that day that I might not have been able to remember seven years later. How sweet it is to go back and read that entry and be transported to that day with all its wonderful tastes and smells and sensations. Lovely.

It was nearly a year later when I blogged again. Lemme 'splain. You see I journal, too. I like the physical action of writing, with a pen, on paper. I don't care for redundancy, so typing in the blog what I've already written, seems like a waste of time, effort and energy. Who cares where it's recorded, as long as it *has* been recorded. So when I wrote on paper, I was less likely to make a blog entry. Which I regret, now, but it's water under the bridge; milk that's been both spilled and cleaned up already, so there's no point in spending any more time on it. Except to say that I can't carry years and years worth of journals with me on the RV to read back though. (At least not if I'm going to keep my Tea Time magazines and all my quilting books. Priorities.)

As I was saying, the next time I blogged was July, 2004, where my thoughts mostly centered on Jocelyn. She worked that summer in Hague, Virginia, helping my sister who'd just had her fourth baby. We also purchased Jocelyn's first car, as Joc was getting ready to head to Blue Mountain, Mississippi, as a college freshman. I'm glad I chronicled some of my bittersweet thoughts of Jocelyn's transition from high-schooler to college student. She was my first bird to fly the coop! September and October had a few posts, mostly regarding my (ongoing) battle with weight. And then the blog fell silent again . . . (no mystery there, huh?) . . .

Until for some reason I picked it up again in May of 2005. I blogged off an on through the year until September, when I switched to Xanga. I fell to peer pressure; all the cool kids were doing it. In December I went back to good ol' blogger.com and meticulously cut and pasted all my Xanga entries to this blog. In my final entry of the year, December 30, I touched on my dilemma of blogging vs. journaling. How appropriate!

In 2006 I posted just as irregularly, but I had figured out how to post pictures to my entries. Pictures made a nice difference. They make a good break between paragraphs. And since a picture paints a thousand words, using pictures allows me to cut back on my typing time. Haha. I crack me up! Notice this entry has no pictures. Heh.

The year of our Lord, 2007, has the fewest posts scattered through it since I'd started this thing in '03. And most of those posts started with, "I need to blog more . . . " Oh well! I picked up the pace just a little in '08. Wait, no I really did not. I went from a skimpy nine entries in '07 to a whopping FOURTEEN entries in '08. Wow and blow me away. In 2008 I started sharing bits and pieces of my quilting. I like the ability to photograph my projects in their various stages and post them for posterity. It's especially nice when I'm working on a quilt that is a gift for another.

Last year I finally got a bit more in the blogging groove. I fancied up the page, brought in a pretty little template, and added gadgets to my blog. I played with color and layout. I started reading other blogs and posting links and sharing stuff, like my favorite websites. I'm not sure why, but I was a little more compelled to blog. Well, during the second half of the year, anyway. Errr, well, during three months of the year, I mean! I started off with a bang in August and trucked right along into September and October, but waned in November and December. I wonder why? It couldn't have been the fact that we moved . . . from our brick & mortar home to our fifth wheel. Or the holidays . . . and our last Thanksgiving in our Hunter Road home. Or Christmas and the whirlwind of activity--parties, shopping, church events, etc.--that it brings.

No, it couldn't possibly have been any of those things . . . :)

A new year, a new leaf, and new resolve to express myself more regularly and consistently. For no one's benefit than my own. So that in seven months or in another seven years, I can sit down and re-live the sweet moments of 2010. Sitting at the picture window watching the birds and animals, with my best friend & husband. Holding precious Sawyer Graham Panter for the first time. Watching my children and their spouses continue to grow in God's love and grace; and love each other. Seeing God's hand in the ministry as it grows and is used to His glory. Spending time with family and friends. Chronicling this amazing, God-given journey.

And expressing myself in my favorite manner (other than pantomime); in writing.

The end.

:)

post script: I'll post pictures again tomorrow. Sheesh!