Vacation and Disappointment.

I've been on vacation this week, which has been lovely, but I'm not sure I'm a good vacationer.  I love the idea of vacation, but I never seem to enjoy it as much as other people seem to, and I just end up anxious to get back to my regular routine.  That being said (which is a horrible phrase really, and one of my pet peeves), this week has definitely been relaxing.  Mostly I did nothing, a lot of reading, some puttering around my house (my favorite), swimming, sleeping, watching movies, and I visited my sister at her resort near Disney and lounged in the lazy river pool all day.  I'm sun-kissed and happy.  So I guess it was a good vaca. 

I've been thinking a lot about disappointment this week as well.  Kaleigh did something (which I won't go into, but let's just say it's nothing I haven't done in my misspent youth), and I was feeling so disappointed in her and in her idea of appropriate choices that I responded harshly to the situation.  Then my mom called and told me that she has cancer again--this time in her throat.  We knew she was having a biopsy and that she had colon cancer a year ago, and this is not good news.  Suddenly, disappointment meant something different.  What was I so angry with Kaleigh about?  Making mistakes?  Not understanding the consequences of certain actions?  Choosing to take a risk while she is at home and able to get support if necessary?  Isn't that what being seventeen is about?  What is wrong with me?  So I called off her grounding, asked her what she learned, and changed my own attitude.  Growing up is hard (for me).  Sigh.

I'm working on blocks for my new granddaughter's baby quilt--it's gorgeous if I do say so myself.  Brightly colored bow-ties laid out in a love ring pattern.  Picture below.  I'm kind of thinking hand quilting, but I may change my mind.  It just makes me happy to work on the blocks.  I'm taking my time, without pressure of time quilting is such a pleasure to me.  It's been a long time since I worked without the pressure of time, or without money all tied up in it, and I'm really enjoying it.  A few blocks every couple of days and I smile the whole time. 

I have to run some errands today, and I'm dropping K. off at a friend's to spend the night, so I'm free tonight too, I think I will finish quilting the class quilt and get the binding on tonight.  I will surely be glad to get that finished. 

Enough for today, maybe I will write a little about my garden tomorrow. 

I know I haven't blogged in awhile, I've been sick and also, I've never seen any sense in writing just to put words down.  I like to have something to say (NOT necessarily something important). 

Over the last couple of weeks, some things have been going on that are not really earth shattering, but are life-shifting at the least.  Will get to those in a minute.  I'm feeling a little better today after a nasty bout with the flu, it really knocked me off my feet.  I'm still really weak but I feel worlds better. 

My mom called last week when I was sick and asked me if I wanted to go see Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks in August for my birthday--I actually thought I was delirious until last night when she called and said she got the tickets.  I do love me some Rod Stewart, and Stevie Nicks. . . well, do I even need to say it?  She has the right mix of hippie and cool.  My mom kind of rocks.  And when I was seventeen, my life plan was to quit school, go on the road and marry Rod Stewart--I still think it could happen.  Maybe this summer is my opportunity.

The sale of my quilting machine almost fell through, but it looks like it's going to happen after all.  This has almost been too much of an up and down emotional roller coaster for me.  Anyway, things are looking good. 

The other thing is more of an attitude shift (not sure that's the right word), but I've thought since my divorce--no, really it was earlier than that--that I would not get married again.  I really have felt that it's not for me, and it was just not something I would ever do again.  This is even to the point of not being open to the possibility at all.  I just felt like I could never trust another person that way again after what happened.  Well, I find myself being a little more open to the idea again.  This is pretty much out of the blue as I am not seeing anybody at this time or anything like that, but the idea isn't making me nauseated.  That's definite improvement. 

I forgot to write about the results of my dryer-less month.  I went the entire billing month of January without using my dryer for any laundry--I hung everything up, which was a little inconvenient, but not nearly as much as you would think.  So at the end of the month, I compared the bill with last January's bill and the year before that, and I saved over $70.  Some of that may be due to the mild winter, the heat wasn't on much at all this year, but I really feel that at least $60 of that was due to not using the dryer.  So, I have gone back to a modified dryer usage, with the idea that if I decide I need to cut back, that is do-able.  I only dry towels, sheets and things I need quickly.  (I know, not exactly an earth-friendly attitude, but I'm human!)

So, it looks like this weekend I will be preparing my machine for it's trip across country.  And cashing my huge check.

This Week in Review. . .

I am just plain worn out this week.  I decided to take the weekend off and just stay home and do very little this weekend, and it was exactly what I needed.  I like my routine and this week has been one change after the next, no going home on time from work, no consistent days, and different workshops for me and my assistant every day so we've both been in and out of the classroom.  Anyway, this weekend has been good for me.  Kaleigh and I mostly stayed home (we did make one trip to the craft store for batting for my class quilt) and we cooked together, watched a few movies, and rested a lot.  It was nice.  This week should be a lot easier. 

I finally remebered to take a picture of the homemade detergent that I make.  This batch is pink, but if I use Fels Naptha soap it's yellow.  I love the pink-ness of this batch though.

Isn't it pretty?



We planted our veggies and herbs this week, and they are looking happy in their raised beds.  Pictures to come when the plants fill out a little bit. 

I really need to get my hiney off of Pinterest and do some projects.  I found a really cool one using the bottom of plastic water bottles cut into the shape of flowers, and hung from string, and I think I'm going to try that .  I have a couple of flowers cut out, but not enough for anything yet. 

I have chicken marinating and my sister and her kids are coming for dinner.  I love when they come here for dinner--it seems so homey and busy.  I am missing my own kids and grandkids and having the house full helps a little.  Plus, my sister is a fabulous cook.  That doesn't hurt either.

My lesson plan is done for this week, and I've added some really cool art projects for this week.  We are going to drip food coloring onto paper towels for some art for the art show.  I experimented with this today (picture below) and was really happy with the results.  I think the kids will love it.  Although they will find some way to do something different and amaze me, I'm sure. 

I'm going to go to bed early tonight and do some reading.  I haven't been reading much for pleasure and I'm missing it.  I've felt too busy, but I'm realizing that the times that I feel too busy to do what I love is when I REALLY need to do what I love.  Like quilting and reading.  I always feel calm and zen when I've made time to do those things.  This weekend I put together my class quilt and it looks really good.  I might pin baste it tonight or maybe even throw it on the machine to get it done quickly before it gets picked up.  That sounds good.  I really enjoyed working on that quilt.  Picture below.  It's not finished yet, but it will be soon.



Have a lovely Sunday evening. 

A Brand New, Fat, Bald Granddaughter! Yay!!!

Well, little Bridgette Dianne was born today--all 9 pounds and 15 ounces of her!  She's huge, which I love in a baby, and bald, which I also love in a baby.  She's absolutely gorgeous, and clearly has a mind of her own.  I really need to start a quilt for her.  I'm kind of thinking blue.  I don't know if I've mentioned how much I love my grandchildren, but I love them as much as the sky and the roads and the space shuttle.

Look at those cheeks!!  And below is her big sister Bianca, super-gorgeous herself.

My other two little punkins are both boys, and both my daughter Hillarie's babies.   Pictures below.

Aren't they all adorable.  Our family sure does make beautiful babies--do you think every family thinks that?  LOL!



Ruby Bridges. . .

This is a picture from a couple of weeks ago, do you know who the woman on the right is?  It's Ruby Bridges, the six year old in the famous Norman Rockwell painting with U.S. Marshalls integrating the elementary schools in the south.  The gorgeous woman on the left is my coworker and friend Ms Shonda Robinson.  Ms. Bridges visited our university a couple of weeks ago for Black History Month, so we went to her lecture.  It was wonderful, and I'm so glad I went, and that I brought my daughter.  I'm not sure she has ever been exposed to how ugly humans can be to each other, and it was eye-opening.  Ms. Bridges' perspective was very interesting to hear.  (On a separate note, please ignore my bra strap in the photo--how gross can I be?)



Mixed Feelings

Today I am feeling a little. . . not sure what exactly I'm feeling.  It looks like the sale of my industrial quilting machine is going to go through, and I have mixed feelings with that.  That machine has been a huge part of my life, and my actual BECOMING MYSELF.  After many years in a marriage where I was not valued, this was something that truly represented my liberation.  I could make a living with this!  I did have value.  Kevin was wrong.  He can just sit there in his wrongness and be wrong. 

 It's taken a long time to get over those other feelings, but I have done it and I feel that it's time to let the machine go do its work for someone else.  But at the same time, it's difficult for me to let go of this tangible representation of my own freedom.  I'm not sure if what I'm saying is over-dramatic or exactly right, but it is how I feel about this situation.  Maybe it's overdramatic and exactly right.  The machine is going to a good home.

This weekend I have a lot to do.  If it's not windy, Kaleigh and I will mix up our dirt for the raised beds and get it set up for planting.  Thrilling!  (I'm not being sarcastic here)  I may go ahead and plant the lettuce and get a few other plants, I think we are way past any very cold weather this year.  I also need to go into work and organize my office, which has become disastrous.  I have no storage space in my classroom, so everything I need has to be displayed or in my tiny office, and I don't have time during the day to get in there and straighten things up, so everything gets piled on my desk until I can't take it anymore.  So basically I can't take it any more.  I also need to go to the dollar store to get some bins, and I want to work on my quilting project for my school's carnival and auction.  Grocery shopping and laundry will round out the festivities. 

I also think I will do some cooking this weekend.  While I'm not a great cook, and I don't LOVE to cook like my sister does, I like to cook when I have time and feel like it.  Lucky for me, Kaleigh is growing up to be a very adventurous cook.

My New Composting Bin--or--Am I Amazing or What?!

Very excited today!  It's my big girl's twenty-second birthday, so I've been thinking about where I was 22 years ago today. . . let me paint a picture for you.  I was in a military hospital in Anniston, Alabama, where I was the first patient to deliver in the recently reopened maternity wing of the tiny hospital, so I was the only one there.  I had been in the hospital for about a week, and it was President's Day.  I was trying to nap, but SOMETHING kept waking me up, making me restless.  This was not my first time around the block so you'd think I'd recognize what was going on, but I didn't.  At around 2:30 I realized I was in labor, and the nurse unwisely said to me,  "You girls always go into labor while I'm on duty so I don't get to be there when the baby's born!"  I asked her when she got off work, and she said 11:00 p.m., so I said, "If you think this baby won't be born by then, I'll kick your ass right now."  (I'm paraphrasing.)   Anyway, my beautiful little blond bundle was born at 8:15, and I very SMUGLY made eye contact with that nurse.  I had to win that one.  I might be the tiniest bit competitive.

Also, I got  a lot accomplished today.  Kaleigh and I got the raised beds down where we want them with landscape fabric under them.  We couldn't mix the soil because it was too windy today, so maybe we'll do that tomorrow when I get home from work.  Also, I found all the canning supplies I could ever want at Ace Hardware, of all places!  I got some jars and other stuff.  I also got a bag of compost for $1.99, which is kind of incredible.  It's not as easy as it sounds to find different brands of compost, so when I see them, I get them.  Then...miracle of miracles...I noticed a huge pile of pallets outside, which I have been looking for to build a real composting bin.  I have been dabbling with a half-assed pile of composting materials beside the shed, and looking longingly at any REAL compost bins that I see.  So I asked about the pallets, and Liz (the Ace Hardware person) told me that they sell them for a dollar.  A DOLLAR!!  I've been looking high and low for them, and was about to buy some wood and build a few myself, but I couldn't do that for a dollar!  So I got three small ones, and this afternoon, I built myself a real, live, honest to goodness compost bin.  I feel so professional.  That's not the right word, maybe. . . like a GROWN UP GARDENER!   Pictures will come as soon as I can get the front of it finished--I still think I need to move it a few feet to the left, but I was too excited to wait to write about it. 

All that's left is to buy some plants, and I'm really looking forward to doing that.  I have my plan all ready, I'm just trying to make sure that we won't have any more very cold weather. 

Kaleigh is spending the night with a friend, so I'm off to take an hour-long bath.  Thanks Casey for telling me that baths are only therepeutic if they are over an hour long.  Clean sheets are on the bed and whispering my name.  While I'm in the bathtub I may look at gardening catalogs and dream about all the vegetables I'm going to grow.