The book club with S and her friend kind of fizzled. I get so disheartened that many people in my life don't make a greater effort to foster friendships by making time for meetings, outings, and such. (I'm not speaking in generalities and I do have those that do make an effort--you know who you are!) Yes, maintaining friendships requires effort and time. An endeavor such as this one does require effort. Oh, well.....
We followed through with our plan at least to go see Ramona and Beezus. We liked it! I cried during parts. I thought it was a good adaptation. You have to remember that the books are at least 50 years old. The little actress that played the part of Ramona was very cute and totally sold the character.
We had errands to run after the movie. Money was buring a hole in my pocket. I had school supplies to buy and shopping is shopping for me even if it's for school supplies. I complain every year about the expense, but it's not been as bad last year and this because our school district is very conservative in their demands. (I remember when the kids where in Douglas County schools having to buy bandaids, cotton balls one year, and copy paper.) I took care of half of the supplies today. I wasn't going to since the kids don't need their supplies until next payday, but I was afraid that things would sell out and I wanted to take advantage of the great prices: $1 markers, $.25 glue sticks, etc. I have no idea what C is going to need. I remember using binders and spirals for my classes so I'm hoping she won't need more than that at her high school.
My MIL was wonderful in sending x4 $10 Kohls' cash to be used by today in the Kid's Department. C got a pair of Levis, Z a T-shirt, and S got two pairs of shorts. I would have preferred that she get some jeans or something, but she insisted on the shorts and I'm easy. We did very well with our free money. I only paid $12 out of pocket and "saved" between sales and the certificates over $80.
We did our shopping over in my mom's neighborhood. There was a consignment store I've been wanting to check out. (I'm not dumb enough to NOT know that "better" neighborhoods have "better" used goods at consignment stores and Goodwill.) C found another pair of "designer" jeans for $12. We'll definitely shop this store again!
I'm pretty tired from being out all day. Shopping is tiring work!
When one is spending money, it's at least nice to feel like one is spending wisely and "saving" money.
Did you know that I'm 40? Yes, I had this birthday in February.
In addition to all the other things I stress think about routinely, I also think about my life being at least half over. Lord nows I haven't taken care of myself, I don't take care of myself now, and I have family health history that will certainly affect this equation. Don't get me wrong, I'm not sitting around pondering my death and worrying unecessarily over it. But, in my down time, I think about stuff I'd like to do and accomplish....
Too morbid, well stop reading now because it only gets better.
I've been thinking about my bucket list.
The list doesn't contain anything life altering because I'm just too lazy. It also doesn't contain anything that will make me a better person or help me get into heaven. It's mostly selfish stuff.
I don't desire to be a world traveler....much. I don't want to change careers...unless a quilt shop job falls into my lap. I'm not seeking to change the world with charitable pursuits.
I have a lot of quilting-related things on my list. Quilts I've always wanted to make. Quilting trips I'd like to take, including visiting local regional shops. Skills I'd like to learn.
The kids start back to school in a couple of weeks. I feel like the summer has been long enough, but I'm always sad to see it go. I love it when it's warm and the days are longer. Life seems easier in the summer.
We received letters from S and A's school with teacher assignments. S is in a different class than her BFF. I'm hoping it works out for the better. I don't have any idea about A's teacher since last year is the first year the kids were at this school. 9:00 a.m. starts on Mondays still and I like that! Their assigned appointments for assessments are on 8/11. The first day is 8/16.
The day to complete Z's registration and pay fees, etc is 8/4. He seems to be eager to go back.
C goes to high school this year. She keeps changing her mind about Cross Country. One of her friends is participating and is pressuring her to be on the team, too. Everything in her life has social considerations!
They'll all play rec soccer this year. Four kids, practices, and games is going to be interesting! S will have a different coach since last year's coach isn't coaching after the hullabaloo with the tournament that ended last season. It really divided the team. I'm one of the bad parents. I don't think S's BFF is going to play and we relied a lot on her parents to take S to conflicting practices and games.
Next up, schedule doctor's visits for three of the four kids. Spend a fortune in school supplies..... Work out schedules with the grandparents for pick-ups and afternoon daycare.
I've avoided the Alice's Porsche block for a long time.
Keeping with my pattern, I knew I'd probably have to make the block more than once so I took the block out for a test drive.
There's a paper piecing block out there, but can't use it. I toyed with using for awhile, but I knew I was going to have to modify it if I used it. It didn't have any wheels and required you use buttons for the wheels or applique them. eeeew
I decided to use the Upside Applique method again. I'll have to do some tweaking, but here's a sample. Things were going pretty well until I cut the background fabric accidentally.
I printed the photo on photo fabric for my pattern. I need to think about this a little. It does double duty as a stabilizer, but it's difficult to cut hence my error. I also need to get my sewing order down. I sewed the windows first and I'm not sure this is right. I will probably use fusible and cut out some parts, like the headlights and mirrors, instead of upside down appliqueing them. I'm going to use a different shape for the headlights. I may satin stitch applique the yellow fabric parts. I'm happy twith the fabrics overall.
This is the picture of the Porsche I used from Stephenie Meyer's website.
Today was my last day of vacation. I took Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off because my babysitter was off having fun in New Orleans. LOL Michael took the time off, too, so I probably shouldn't have. I have annoying anxiety about going back. I left things in good shape when I left, but it's hard for me to enjoy vacation because I always worry about what I'll come back to.
I didn't do much of nothin'. I'm trying to quiet that nagging voice in my head that is telling me how bad I am for not getting more done.
Heck, I didn't even do much of anything fun either so that voice can argue with the other one. Quilting would have been nice, but I did some housework instead.
You know something's up when I'd rather do housework than sew.... Not too much housework, though, The walls are still filthy. The kitchen floor didn't get mopped.
I remade Edward's Bed block with so-so results. People are so wrong when they say I'm so good or that I have too high oppinion of myself. I still screwed this block up on the third try. I would have tried again, seriously, but I was out of fabric. Yeah, idiot. The difference in me, though, is that I refuse to leave something if I know I can do a better job the second or third time around---if I have fabric. LOL
I finished watching True Blood, Season 1. Why am I putting so much emphasis on this by announcing it here? Well, the show has a lot of history for me. I tried to watch it before, but we stopped HBO in the middle of the season when we were too broke for even cable. Iris, of TQC.....%#@*, burned the season for me but I sent it back to her in my fit. The show is my guilty pleasure because it's embarrassing for me to watch with M because of all of the sex! (Yeah, something wrong with something if I can't watch a sexy show with my husband in the room.) I've read most of the books and I was annoyed the whole time, but they're a whole series and if you read one you've got to keep going. I'm known for reading crap (I grew up on Harlequins, etc.), but these books are bad crap. When I read books like these, I kick myself for not being able to come up with such a good idea. I know that writing is more than the idea and the story, but when I read stuff like this it's hard to fathom how some books get published. (Oh, yeah! People aren't like me: they don't let negativity and self-doubt stop them from doing things.) The writing is SOOOOOO bad even with a great story. How disingenious am I for saying I read them and then calling them crap? LOL I like the T.V. show, though, for the most part. I am Team Eric!
I also watched Season 1 of Bones and some of Season 2. I watch the reruns all the time, but it was nice to play the episodes all in a row. I've seen a lot of Season 2 and remember them so I've skipped a lot of those episodes.
I'm a freakin' couch potato. It's Netflix's fault.
Quilting hasn't been calling my name as I've said. I'm trying to figure out what to do? If it weren't for the Twilight stuff I probably wouldn't sew at all. I'm feeling burned out. I thought to try to make a charity quilt or something, but I haven't even felt like doing that. Deep down, I know it's because I'm being stupid. I've gotten into this habit of not being able to love what I'm doing enough because I don't feel like I'm loved for what I do. I so seriously F'ed up last fall and I don't think I'll ever recover. It's not good to do something out of anger and that's where I'm still at because you'll start hating what you love.
Since I wasn't sewing and it was my last day off, I cooked instead. I made a big batch of spaghetti sauce. I cooked Sloppy Joes for lunch. I put a rump roast in the crock pot with some picante sauce to make some shredded beef. I'll make lasagna this week. We'll have enough leftovers to get through another week of baseball practices and games. We can't eat out because M and I are both tapped for moola because of vet bills and some purchases.
We're still trying to get Ginger's, the sick dog, health situation figured out. M took her to a clinic to be altered yesterday. We're glad that the surgery was able to be done as her sugar levels and weight are still so messed up. The vet said we needed to get it done because she thinks that the diabetes is brought on or aggravated by her "cycles"--kind of like a Gestational Diabetes. She was in a Catch-22. She needed to be fixed because of the diabetes, but because of he diabetes she wasn't stable/strong enough for surgery. She seems to be doing well enough today, but I don't think M is getting accurate readings on her urine tests.
I got Linger, the second book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls Series, but I don't think I'm going to read it. I'm so strange about stuff like this. There is one more book in the series and I'm thinking that I will fare better if I can read book 2 and then book 3 right after. Book 1 wasn't so bad because it had a positive ending for me, but I've heard that Linger is very sad and ends with the obligatory cliff hanger. I have to assume that the third book will tie up loose ends, but with Maggie you never know.
I'll end with this because it makes me happy. I love this commercial and I want this car. If I can't have one, I'm going to get one for C. Forget that she doesn't drive for two more years.....
C continues to have a good time in New Orleans. They completed a service project that included collecting canned goods for a food bank and cleaning classrooms at a Lutheran school.
Her group has also been having a lot of fun and I have more pictures. They got to see an illusionist perform, take a riverboat ride, see a comedy act, and hear a Christian rock band, Stellar Kart, peform.
C is having a good time in New Orleans at the the youth conference.
She left yesterday with one other girl from church and their chaperone.
They got into New Orleans in the afternoon. They went to the Superdome for an opening ceremony with about 25,000 other youths. They had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.
I've noticed the new backgrounds and layouts that Blogger started offering awhile back, but I held out.
I was in a funk so I decided to change things up a little. I had the blog deleted for a spell yesterday, but brought it back.
The boys are going to go camping. Turns out the group is up there. M should have ignored the Closed signs and gone further up the trail.
I have many suggestions for the way the trip should have been planned and how everyone or small groups should have met at a certain time and at a certain place before heading up, etc. What do I know?! And, beyond you me to even suggest something like this because it's rarely well received.
They're still going camping, but by themselves somewhere closer.
I drove to the airport without incident. I did fine. You probably all knew that and were thinking that I should stop being such an idiot. C is on her way.
S and I drove back and went to McDonald's for breakfast. I had my Vanilla Iced Coffee that I have to start every morning with--yes, I'm addicted. She's partial to the new smoothies. We had pancakes.
We stopped back by the house to determine M's plans. Please go camping. Please go camping.... YES!
S has been wanting to check out the Quackers, a rubber duckie store, for forever. I wanted to stop by the Thrift store. We walked from our house into downtown Englewood--very easy and only about 10 minutes. Nothin' knocked our socks off. We also stopped by this store that sells Native American and Western goods like jewelry and animal skins. We didn't go into the survivalist store--I've had thoughts of moving to a compound in Idaho or Montana to get away from it all--no, seriously I have, but I wasn't even tempted to buy a 50 gallon water jug today. We were headed home before I remembered the bakery on one of the side streets. We popped in. It's specializes in Peruvian treats. I got a Beef Empanada for later--always wanted to try one of those.
It was a day to things I've always wanted to do, but always find excuses, etc not to. That's something I guess.
I ran into an old friend's husband at the new used book store/coffee shop in my neighborhood. I've been wanting to check it out and we had the time after I took the girls to Chipotle last night. He approached me because he recognized me. I recognized him, but couldn't place him. We introduced ourselves and started chatting.
I always find it interesting to gain perspective. Not having girlfriends is one of the reason I feel like my life is so out of whack. Many times one talks to a friend you find that there are in a similar boat and you don't feel so alone or.....wrong.
This person lives in my neighborhood. They have house issues like us. He and his wife can't seem to agree on much about the house. They disagree over their daughter. Sounds a lot like my life.
I also maintain that it would be good for M to have friends. He might see that I'm not so bad. When I do talk with other women, I learn that many rule their roost. I think he would find it interesting to know about the real world where women and wives do get their way about many things. Life can be calmer. I could go on an on.
Off to the airport. I didn't get my way. He's sleeping thinking he's won. In the scheme of things, has he really?
I'm sitting here writing at 11:03 and I'm in a state of crazy.
I'm always in a state of crazy about my life and I get by albeit horribly, but I'm still alive for whatever reason so I breathe a sigh of relief as I close my eyes every night. I rarely manage to count my blessings and I just am thankful that I've made it through another day and am alive for my kids.
Dramatic, yes! Truth, hell yes!!!!
M scared the beejeebers out of me tonight. I was finishing up watching The Haven facing the T.V. and my front porch when I saw a man walk up with a kid in his arms. I wasn't expecting anyone as the boys were supposed to be camping so I freaked.
M and I got tense with each other last night over A's stool holding and constipation. Any progress we'd made the last couple of months has totally gone bye-bye over the past month and a half. We're all so frustrated and I'm just basically sad about his condition. I'm worried about Alex. I got totally freaked out last night after reading an article about a 16 year old who still deals with his condition! I want to be more aggressive with the laxative/softener therapy as the pediatrician suggested. Pardon the pun, but M is poopooing this. His idea is to ask A if he's pooped, let him go for days, give him an enema, and then fuss at him while he sits on the toliet for the rest of the night.
Z has his own set of issues.
The dog is still sick.
Horrible selfish me was looking forward to the boys being away with the Boys Scouts camping. It was going to be S and me until Sunday because C is headed off to her trip in New Orleans.
They left at 5, late, to drive up to the camp site. They were supposed to meet the rest of their group up at that site.
I guess they drove up there and couldn't find anyone. And, the site is apparently closed.
Ahem, ..........
So, with two very disappointed boys he drove back. He was the guy on my porch.
He said he didn't have cell service to try to contact anyone.
ooooookay.....
Who the hell planned this thing? Are the rest of the group camping as we speak and M was the only one who couldn't find the group? No one called him as far as he can tell. It was too late for him to call tonight. They had a meeting on Tuesday and supposedly everything was set. He got an email saying the reservation was confirmed and there was a link to a map.
He's going to see if he can get in touch with someone tomorrow.
The good thing? (I can be an optimist....) I won't have to drive C to the airport tomorrow morning. I'm going to get him to do it since he's home now.
Her ultrasound was negative for obstruction and tumors. It was surmised that she had some type of gastro-intestinal issue.
We agreed with that diagnosis after two of the other dogs came down with the same thing. We've dealt with vomit and diarrhea all weekend. One more of the dogs took ill tonight, but the other two girls seem to be over their illness. Is it possible for dogs to get the stomach flu? Maybe they ate something bad? Who knows!
My weekend was pretty uneventful otherwise. I was pretty much a slug. I sewed more on the T-Shirt quilt and I made another block for the Eclipse Quilt. Head over to the Coven blog to see it. I'm going to do the Porsche block next because I'm tired of looking at the hole in the middle of the quilt. We finalized the list of blocks to a point, but there's always room for a change if need be. We still haven't decided on the setting except that we're looking at 35-36 blocks. I'm still set on using real ribbon and big ol' eclipse in the center of the quilt. (Yes, Dianne!)
I could go on and on with all the other little stuff, but I guess it doesn't really matter in the scheme of things.
C is going on her trip this weekend. We've got baseball. Payday is on Thursday-----YAYAYAYAYAYAY A bunch of my shows are starting their summer season this week.
I am not disappointed that my life isn't any more exciting than all this.
There is so much going on right now and not much of it is good even for a die-hard pessimist as myself who sees problems at every turn.
A couple of weeks ago, we learned that one of the dogs had diabetes. She had lost a bunch of weight in addition to some other symptoms. After increasing her food and not seeing any improvement, M took her to the vet. She went through a round of tests and the vet diagnosed her with diabetes. The course of treatment was two insulin shots a day and some follow-up visits to monitor her weight gain and possibly adjust the insulin. Her insulin was reduced last week. This weeks visit went well with more weight gain reported and another decrease in her insulin. Last night after her day at the vet, she took a turn. First, she vomited up all of her food and seemed overly thirsty. We feed her again, but she vomited that. She wouldn't eat anymore and was very lethargic. M was worried about her sugar level because we had given her insulin not knowing she wouldn't be able to keep her food down so he forced some honey done her throat. She also had diarrhea. He was up with her a lot last night because he was so worried and he didn't want to deal with any messes she would make in our room.
He took her to the vet this morning and dropped her off to be monitored.
Now, they don't even think she has diabetes. I feel like I'm in an episode of House.
M has authorized the vet to do an ultrasound to see if she has a tumor in her digestive system, like her pancreas or another organ, or if she might have a blockage in her large intestine now. (This would not surprise me as at her first visit the vet pulled a corn cob out of her colon....She will eat anything, including food and clothing given the chance.)
I'm sad to say that I hope M has a budget.
You can imagine that there are any number of issues involved with all this.
I have a ton of other things on my plate this week--mostly kid related. I know y'all don't really want to hear about them so I'll be considerate and zip my lips....
How quickly this blog got corrupted by my daily drama, other quilting, and Twilight. We still have big dreams for what we want to do around the house, but we haven't made much progress.
M is still working on the wall he started in our room. I haven't done anything more, including working on the wall quilt.
We got into a disagreement over the girls room Father's Day weekend. Figures. M was given bunk beds with a double bed on the bottom, but I nixed their use even temporarily which made me the bad guy. (Their beds were still okay so why bother to use this bed that made the space situation worse?) It did lead to M buying the girls their loft beds--he just went out and did it as to thumb his nose at me. (We didn't even shop around more. He bought the ones we'd first looked at at WalMart. It's a guy thing.....) I'm most hopeful now about getting some things done in there, though. C has lost her motivation or it's more important to her to hang out with her friends so I think I'll have to do most of it. Getting the beds is an important step, though!
My dad was supposed to help with the closet and it's organization, etc., including removing the door as a present to the girls, but he got pissy when questioned his plans to make platform beds and dressers. What is it with the men in my life?! I simply asked him to help us with the closet and he made plans to redesign the entire room. I'm the bad guy when I say we've already got plans, etc.
Z got his braces on Thursday. He has been miserable and very vocal about it. I never had braces, the discomfort can't be more than childbirth pain, right? C had braces and I remember her struggles. She could only eat yogurt and food with it's consistency for over two weeks. I went and got special food for him. The poor kid is suffering.....
He does seem incredibly whiny, though. I think he's practicing being a man-baby for when he grows up.
I'm taking everyone but M and A to see Eclipse today....early. I found another $5 showing. I think I can get out of buying candy, too, since it's so early.
I worked on Rosalie's block last night. I had to stop one piece from finishing the first half because I need to clean my iron. I must have gotten some residue on it and it's leaving stains on my fabric. I'm trying to stay focused and finish this quilt!
We don't have many other plans for the weekend. M and I are off on Monday. The kids are all making their plans with friends. I'm trying to remember what July 4th is really all about.....which is tough, especially when it's so "offensive" to be and American anymore.
I've had two people visit this blog in the past couple of days looking for Bella's T-shirt quilt like the one Renee gives Bella in the movie when she visits. Renee gives Bella this quilt so she'll stay warm when she goes to college in Alaska--little does Renee know. It's one of the more poignant moments in the film and a nice addition and story point in the movie that wasn't in the book originally. As a quilter, I got warm fuzzies when I learned about it early this spring when a I read a leaked script and then saw the photos. I love seeing quilts in movies.
You can see a little bit of it here:
"You'll always be my Bella....."
I've never made a T-shirt quilt and didn't want to until Twilight. I collected T-shirts from Twilight, the movie, but I never did anything with them. (This is nothing new...I have a lot of ideas, but something always gets in the way. I find it laughable once again that someone else is making a T-Shirt quilt of Twilight Ts. Yeah, you know who from which group. Everyone loves my ideas, they just don't like me because I'm such a bad person and don't respect other people's work among other things. blah, blah, blah)
When I saw Bella's T-Shirt quilt, I wanted to make one of course. I even looked on Ebay for some Ts and asked around to see if wanted to donate their old Ts at the other Twilight chat group I visited. (Yet again one of those projects that never got off the ground or became more of me mentioning it is and idea.) I did see it as a potential Twilight quilt project that I could share or get people involved with. Once again, no one but me got excited.
I won't be surprised if is someone else takes the idea and runs with it now that the movie is out. Bella T-Shirt Quilt for sale. Have a quilt just like Bella's..... I can see it now!
*****EDITED 1:30
I just had another one so guess WHAT?! We're making one!!! Bella's T-Shirt Quilt over at The Twilight Quilters Coven ....
