Happy Anniversary

M and I have been married 16 years today.  I asked the day off over a month ago thinking M and I could take the day off together.  M is working today.  I am off.  Par for the course....

I've always been jealous of SAHMs.  I'll admit it!  I could have been a SAHM if I'd have planned better.  Today I feel like a SAHM.  I dropped the kiddos off at school.  I calmly and leisurely went to Einstein bagels and Starbucks for breakfast.  (yay....Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back!!!!)  I went to the grocery store to get dinner next.  BOGO rump roast on sale.  Roast is cooking in the Crockpot right now.  After prepping dinner, I started some laundry and got the dishwasher going after loading it.  Checked the blogs and the 'Net a bit....

I held off as long as I could resisting the GAQF Fall Sale.  I kept telling myself I didn't need anything, other than inspiration, but I gave in and made a trip up there.  I won't say how much I spent, but I got some items I've been wanting.  Machingers, Templar template sheets because I am going to APPLIQUE with help of Erin Russek, and Serendipity Quilts.  (Which, if I'd been thinking, I'd have bought at Amazon or at Connecting Threads to take advantage of free shipping and also buying that fabric I've been lusing after).

I'd been wanting to try Cafe 180.  It's a community kitchen.  (Check this site to see if their is one in your neck of the woods.)  It's been open for about a month, but because it's only open for lunch I've not been able to go.  The food was excellent!!!!!!!!  I had the most amazing pizza and salad--VERY GOURMET--for a $5 donation.  I probably should have paid more.  I totally love the concept and I hope the restaurant survives.  If you're in town, please check it out AND, better yet, invite me to go with....

Off to more SAHM stuff.

It Gets Better

I came home from two soccer practices to find dog poop on the floor and M watching a 10 year + CU/Nebraska football game like it was a live game.  Now I like football as much as the rest of you, but give me a break.  Nothing like trying to relive the glory days by watching CU kick Nebraska's butt old school.  You would have been so proud of me.  I looked the other way, but picked up the mess without bitching.  Fixed our 8:00 p.m dinner without any help.  Loaded the dishwasher in a trance.  Retreated to my room to read a really bad romance, but the sex was good.

I've been trying to find a project to work on.  In making the rounds, I've found some intriguing Quilt-Alongs.  One of them is a quilt-as-you-go project using this tutorial.  I've always wanted to try this technique.  I'm seriously thinking about at this point because I think the project would provide the perfect opportunity for me to practice the free-motion patterns I've been reading at 365 Days......  I also need a no-fuss quilt to take to soccer games.

I've also made some strides.  I officially removed a certain someone's blog off my reading list.  I haven't visited the forum in over a week.  Baby steps.....

On that note, I haven't given up on the Twilight Book Cover pattern.  I want my hands to have more detail than what is possible with the available pattern.  I know it can be done along the same lines as the Silver Linings Original patterns I've been using.  I am so close to figuring this out!  I found some freeware on another blog that I downloaded and have been monkeying around with:  Gimp and PosteRazor.  I've been able to print the hand in a much larger size and have been working to section the printed photo out into a paper piecing pattern.  Wish me luck!

So far I've used my white quilting marking pencil and done some test sectioning.

So What R U Going to Do About IT?

I was fairly whiney last post.  Don't I know it?!  Can't say it's out of my system....but that I doesn't mean I'm not also looking for solutions OTHER THAN RETAIL THERAPY.

I can't do anything about the kids' schedules.  What kind of mom would I be if I didn't let them play sports, etc and made sure they got there?  I can't say that I'm going to get out of helping them with their homework either.

I can't make them any more accountable at home.  Believe me, I'VE TRIED.  I've tried cajoling them, YELLING, crying, BEGGING.  I've even stopped doing things.  NOTHING WORKS  If they want to live in a pig sty, I guess I'm going to just let them.

re:  Work

I've become a bit of a lazy butt, too trusting, and a baby.  When I started this job, it was too good--a little bit of bookkeeping, answering the phones, and paper shuffling.  My responsibilities have evolved tremendously and I'm not much happy about it.  Since quitting is not an option, I guess I'll have to make the best of it, including trying to make some changes that will help me be less stressed out.

Not Even Cool

C thinks she is SO cool....

Oh, to be a teenager again where life consists of boys, fashion, boys, friends, boys, school, boys!

I found this picture on the camera after hunting it down in C's room so I could take some pictures of my own.  I think this pic will probably show up on her FB page if it hasn't already.

I am beyond being cool.  Being cool, looking great, doing what I want to do aren't even in the realm of possibility for me anymore and IT SUCKS!

Now all I look forward to is having an uneventful morning-----NEVER HAPPENS-----a quiet day at work----NEVER HAPPENS-----a peaceful evening-----NEVER HAPPENS.

Yesterday morning it was A who decided he was too tired to go to school.  I had to drag him into the building and beg for help.  (This was the culmunation of a hectic morning that involved yelling--ME--and crying--THEM.)  I was a half hour late to work.  Work was AWFUL!  We ended our evening with more tears after learning that Z has two F's and a D--he's been in school since 8/16.

Today, I had a flat tire.  I picked up a screw at some point yesterday--maybe at one of the two soccer practices I had to be at in addition to getting C from volleyball.  Fortunately, M noticed it before he left for work and changed it for me after dropping Z off early for play practice (yes, we will be discussing activities if his grades don't improve).  He dropped the tire off to be told that it was ruined because of where the screw embedded itself.  Thank God for warranties!  The tire will be replaced with a small pro-rated fee to paid by us.  M was an hour late to work.

Yes, life is what you make of it.  I seem to be making a disaster pie out of mine.

Oh, yeah, that's right.  I'm supposed to be positive about things.  I'm supposed to be able to handle all this crap.  Prayer is not even helping me right now.  I tried drinking last week--one weak margarita and I was toasted and I woke up with a headache the next day.

UGH!

I'm just happy to have survived the day....

The T-Shirt Quilt (My Version of Bella's T-Shirt Quilt)

It's finished!  Instead of starting something new after getting my quilting life back together, I decided to finish the T-shirt quilt.  Read all about it at The Twilight Quilters Coven.  Thank you to everyone that was so supportive and especially Elizabeth that donated the In and Out shirt.

Quilting at Midnight

maybe that's when I'll have to do it?

Quilting: Be All That You Can Be!

I've done more thinking about quilting than the actually doing of it in the past month.  I put myself in a situation getting the T-shirt quilted so I could finish it, but I've let it sit for a couple of weeks because I'm not ready to be daring yet and try that new caterpillar binding.  I'm pretty aggravated with myself.  I've cleaned up my supplies and I feel better for it but even that process has gotten me to reflect on purchases, projects, and who I am as a quilter and my future.

As is my modus operandi, I work myself up into a tizzy and then sit back and take stock of things.

I've done a lot of blog hopping recently and I've seen some amazing work out there and it's made me ask myself,  "Am I the quilter I want to be and COULD be?"

How anyone else chooses to quilt is their business!  I just know that I'm not who I want to be as a quilter.  I want to take better care.  I want to try new techniques.  I want to finish more things--but, I'm not putting myself in a race.

Quilting will never be more than a hobby for me.  I don't have the stamina, patience, or training to have it be more than that.  But, even as a hobby quilter, I know I could be so much more.  It's like when I was talking about the quilting thing.  It's that I don't spend enough time on my projects.  I'm usually in a rush to finish something.

Even though I'm not in a race, I feel like I've been jogging in place for a long time as far as the type of projects I work on.