Walking Down Quilt Memory Lane

In the process of getting ready for my quilting class tomorrow I have been looking through some projects I have done in the past. This one that I made for my grandson was especially fun and easy. It is machine appliqued and represents our barn and John Deere equipment plus some other tractors thrown in. My grandson LOVES all kinds of equipment that we have around here plus loves playing in the barn so I thought this was perfect for him.

The Best Friends quilt is one I made for my granddaughter and was another machine appliqued quilt and was easy but had a ga-zillion pieces to cut out and stitch around. She loves it and says it is her and her best friend Zoe. The first night that she had it home she got sick and threw up ALL over it. Thankfully it's washable!

The Christmas chair backer is one I made for my daughter in law. Again it was an easy machine applique but just so much fun. Sometimes it's nice to have a quick little weekend project to work on instead of a quilt that takes weeks and weeks.

It's really snowing hard here today. I made a quick run to the store to pick up the ingredients for the Peanut Butter Pie Surprise recipe that I got over at Tina's @ Palm Tree Fanatic. It just sounded so good I couldn't resist, and of course it is Valentine's Day so I needed a nice yummy dessert for Husband tonight.

The New Scarf

This hasn't been a terribly exciting day here in good old Maine but I think we all need a day like this to get caught up on errands and all. When I left this morning for the gym I had about 6 stops to make before getting my hair cut at 11 and I actually made it, early at that. It was nice to walk into the salon and sit in the wing back chair in front of the gas fireplace and just veg for a few minutes before my stylist was ready for me. After running from place to place I was needing some quiet time so was glad I was a bit early.

EVERYONE was at the grocery store. I mean everyone. You'd think we were going to get the storm of the century and people needed food for a month. Now, we are supposed to get a big storm, YIPPEE, with up to 14 inches of snow but we do have snowplows here in Maine so we can get out again to the grocery store before we starve to death so I don't understand the mad panic for stocking up.

I'm excited because my snowmobile, you know, the one I bought last year and only put a mile and a half on, is still sitting in the barn and I have only put about 7 miles on it this year due to lack of snow so want to get out there and GO!

Anyway, getting to the 'Scarf' point, after lunch I decided to sit down in the recliner chair a minute and 'rest my eyes' as my mother says and before I knew it I was out like a light. I woke up and had the nicest, furry, warm, purring scarf right around my neck and it was licking my ear! It was Noodles one of my new kitties and he was taking this ear cleaning business seriously! Now I had taken a shower earlier so I don't think I was in need of ear cleaning so I dislodged him from the well washed ear and plopped him in my lap. I don't think he thought I was very appreciative of the hygiene help so he was off in a huff but came back shortly and snuggled in beside me and Munchkin and started washing HER ears!

Do you think this is his mission in life keeping every one's ears clean? YIKES! Let's hope not, it really wouldn't go over very well with Husband, he does have his limits and doesn't need a scarf!

Back out of the ole' comfort zone, again.

I have written about liking my own little 'comfort zone' before. I really like my comfort. Really. So when asked recently to become one of the first women ushers in our church I took pause.

How many Baptists does it take to change a light bulb? None, we don't change anything.......ever!

Except......now we have a younger more trendy pastor. He hates it when I tell him he is trendy but I like to stir things up a bit sometimes. We have drums, guitars, speakers and a keyboard on the platform now. We clap our hands and some even (gasp!) raise their hands during Praise and Worship. Now, don't get me wrong, I love good praise and worship music and might even raise my hands on occasion but this is an old church so these things happen slowly.

Now, back to my comfort zone dilemma. When asked to be an usher I immediately said no but when one of my close friends said she was going to do it I decided I would. Nothing like middle age peer pressure.

Yesterday was our first day and there we were with our little 'usher' badges on and ready to go. Usher duty isn't just taking up the offering it's greeting folks, helping them find a seat, hanging up coats, directing new people with babies to the nursery etc etc My issue was the offering taking, it's just never been done by a woman in my wonderful 150 year old church! I was sure I would either trip or drop the plate with money flying everywhere, I even had a dream about it the night before that the founding father's were spinning in their graves!

Well the sky didn't fall and I didn't drop the plate and had a wonderful time! Numerous people commented how nice it was to have a team of ladies doing these duties and that we were much more friendly and outgoing then the men. (is gloating a sin?) I told the pastor that we probably got a bigger offering as we winked at all the men in the congregation as we went by. lol

A Senior Moment and not the first one.

I hate to admit it but I have been having the occasional Senior Moments lately. Now I thought these were reserved for the 70-80 year old crowd but evidently not.

Sometimes when I am out doing my usual list of errands: groceries, feed store for grain, Jo-Ann Fabric, AC Moore etc etc I just run through a drive through for my lunch. Lately I have been having a 'hankering' for the #8 three piece chicken strips lunch at Mc D's with a nice big diet Coke with lots of ice. So.....having done all of the above errands I was feeling a bit of a need of sustenance so I swung into the nearest drive through by the mall.

Hummmm... the sign looked a bit different to me but I said to the tinny voice in the speaker that I would like the small size #8 with Diet Coke. There was a pause so I said it again. She said do you mean the chicken tenders and would you like fries with that or mashed potato? I replied that I didn't know it came with mashed, are things different here in this branch then in the one in my town? Again a pause.....a big pause......and she said you have one more side to go with this would you like double fries or corn?

By this time I am totally freaked out until I look up and I am at Kentucky Fried Chicken instead of McDonald's...............

How does one save face in this situation? I'm sure the young tinny voiced girl had figured this out way before I had. She was probably thinking 'that poor old woman doesn't even know where she is and shouldn't even be driving!'

Any-who, I held my head high and continued on to the pay window, paid my bill, got my Kentucky Fried Chicken and then got out of there as fast as I could!

Valentines Day Thoughts

Having read dcrmom's thoughts on Valentines Day and all of the commercialism it now represents I have been trying to come up with a unique gift for my husband. After almost 36 years of marriage we have given the obligatory cards, flowers, chocolate and sundry other things many times over. This year I am going to use the '100 things about myself' idea that I read in so many of your blogs (and I really enjoy them) but I am going to change it to a list of things I love about my husband and then give the list to him. I think this will really surprise him, we probably would earn a C- on the report card of communication skills as lots of things remain unsaid that should be said and not just assumed.

1. he's a man of high morals and loves the Lord.
2. he will run to the grocery store for me at any hour of the day or night.
3. he's not really an animal lover but has put up with my myriad of pets all these years.
4. he laughs a lot.
5. he puts up with my hot flashes when I turn the heat down to 60* and never complains.....much.
6. he is neat, never throws dirty underwear on the bathroom floor
7. he's a wonderful grandfather to our two grand kids.
8. he is one of the most unselfish people I know.
9. he has had his in-laws living with us for 20 years and never complaines.
10. he tries to understand my mood swings of menopause even when I can't begin to understand them.

11. he tries to be on time for dinner

12. he loves buying me beautiful jewelry for Christmas

13. he reads his Bible every day

14. he gets up in the night and goes out to the barn if I 'think' I hear something that might be bothering the horses.

15. he drives to a town 8 miles away to get me a Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard if I am having a huge craving for one.

16. he is kind and gentle with our horses and cleans the stalls on the weekends to give me a break.

17. he loves me unconditionally even though I can be snappy and moody at times.

18. he never complains that I don't have the figure that I once had.

19. he will bring home take-out if I have had a hectic day or just don't feel like cooking.

20. He has put up with ferrets, iguanas, cats, horses, dogs and rabbits mostly cheerfully.

21. he calls me frequently when he is on business trips that I can't go on.

22. he has been exceptionally kind and financially supportive to my elderly parents.

23. he is exceptionally kind to his 90 year old widowed Dad, taking him out for drives in the evening and working with him each day at the office.

24. he attends our church regularly and is active in many capacities there.

25. he doesn't complain about my snoring.

26. he doesn't snore

27. he was always a hands on Dad with our son despite a grueling schedule at work.

28. he is a good steward with our money so that our future 'golden years' are secure.

29. he is a brilliant business man but as down to earth as they come.

30. he spent 12 hours bringing one of our new cats home from Florida last week.

31. he recently took a day off to go with me to the veterinarian office when my old horse was so sick and there was a possibility that hard decisions were going to have to be made, clearing several important appointments from his schedule.

32. he is extremely generous.

33. he has a fantastic sense of humor and is hardly ever moody and snappy unlike other people in this house. Ahem......

I could still go on but I don't want him to get a swelled head or I could list a few aggravating traits but that would kind of spoil the intent wouldn't it?! I'll save that for one of my moody/snappy days!