After Christmas exhale...

I love Christmas. I really do! But, what a relief today was, a perfect exhalation, a satisfying sigh after a busy, busy week... er month!

Today was perfect! Coffee and sugar cookies for breakfast, reading through 2 new cookbooks, and a quilt pattern book, searching the internet for fabric and free (and easy) quilt patterns, a 3 hour nap, playing Wii with Virgil and Stephen, and a big 'ol root beer from Sonic! Oh and new books, courtesy of a Barnes and Noble gift card from my inlaws!

And now it is 1:00 am and I'm about to cuddle into my cozy bed and sleep hard and get up and relax again tomorrow.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a relaxing day after!

~@my

It happened today

It happened today. A panicky, stressed feeling. About getting things done. Done in time. But, it's not because Christmas is 9 days away and I have about that many homemade items to finish. It's because my Mom is in the hospital again. With congestive heart failure again. And seeing her struggle to breathe breaks my heart again. I could go into a whole rambling thing here about how her Medicare re-hab benefits are used up, or the worry I feel about her being at home when there is no one to be with her 24 hours a day. I could ramble on, but I won't. Because that is really not the point of this post today. The point of this post is that I had a near panic attack and had to be reminded to, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah." Psalm 46:10-11

Thank you Robbie!

I'm an overpunctuater

It’s true. I know this about myself. But, really, which more greatly expresses a depth of feeling?

I found the most adorable quilt pattern today.

OR

I found the MOST AdOrAbLe quilt pattern today!!!!!

In the second one you know I’m FEELING it and truly I type my sentences to look the way they sound in my head.

Have a GREAT weekend!!! 
~@my

I forgot to post!

Stephen placed 4th in UIL Listening Skills. Way to Go Stephen! :)

An example of my life...

Yesterday, for some reason, I took my hairbrush and my daytime moisturizer out of my bathroom (where I normally use these items) and ended up brushing my hair and applying my cream in my bedroom. No big deal right? WRONG! After I used the items, I put them somewhere and completely forgot where! So this morning after my shower, I’m looking all over the place for my cream and my hairbrush. I finally give up and go wake Stephen and make coffee with un-brushed hair and non-moisturized face. While waiting for Stephen to drag himself from the bed, I noticed he has left his house key, which is attached to his school id on the kitchen counter. I pick it up to put in his backpack, because I am sure otherwise he will be locked out at some point when he needs the key. As I pick up the id, something flies off and lands in the very FULL trash can. It’s the key. I eye the trash can, remembering Patch had an accident in the entryway yesterday afternoon that Stephen had cleaned up. I sigh and dig in…of course the key has fallen to the bottom of the trash bag. My hand squishes into something and I realize Stephen didn’t “wrap up” the little gift Patch left in the entryway. “STEPHEN GET OUT OF BED!” He ambles in sleepy-eyed, “Geez, Mom, what’s up with your hair?” (Yes, he’s still alive!)

Oh, and I did find my hairbrush…it was behind my laundry hamper in my bedroom. I don’t know why and I don’t want to know why. There is no telling where I’ll find the moisturizer!

Friday FUNday!

An idle mind is truly the devil's playground! I am supremely unfocused on anything of a work nature today.

I've been dropping gratuitous stocking stuffer hint emails to my hubby. Virgil - here's another in case you're reading: Nuts and fruit and gloves are nice, but Fat Quarters, dear, give my life spice!

I've been thinking about Stephen. Today is his UIL competition in Listening Skills. I'm so proud of you, Stephen! You've come a long way Baby! You didn't give up, and you made a UIL team!! Here's a pic I snapped this morning of him looking all handsome and ready to represent:



I have another brag on Stephen. He was nominated by his school counselor to be a delegate in summer 2009 at the Lone Star Leadership Academy in Dallas. We going to do our best to get him there. It will be an awesome growing experience. Way to go, Stephen!

I've been thinking about Christmas decorating. I'm looking forward to getting a lot of it done this weekend. I love the house all cozy and decorated for Christmas.

I've been thinking about wrapping gifts, and making cards, and making presents!

Oh, I've been thinking...just not much about work!!


Oh, wait! I can't forget about this awesome give-a-way...I'm hoping to win it folks, but if you go to Catherine Holman's blog you might win it yourself!

Happy Friday!

~@my

My first “quilting” lesson

A few months ago, my Mom gave me a big box of scrap material that she no longer wanted. While digging through the box, I found a quilt top that my Granny had cross-stitched and pieced. I’m amazed when I look at it…knowing that my Granny lovingly stitched these stitches and then gave it to my Mom, her daughter-in-law. Granny passed away in Feb of 2000, and her son, my Daddy passed away in January of 2008. So, I think the perfect Christmas gift for my Mom is to have this top quilted. And so tomorrow, on my lunch break, I get my first “quilting” lesson. I say “quilting” because it won’t be traditional hand quilting. I am using a blanket for the batting and a nice sheet for the backing. And Miss Abbie H. has generously offered to help and teach me tie a quilt. I’m looking forward to the experience and will post a pic of the finished product. Now I need to decide if I will wait until Christmas Eve to give the quilt to my Mom or have it waiting on her bed when she returns home from the rehab facility on the 17th! And on a side note, it is awesome to have Mom feeling better! ~@my

Highlights of my holiday weekend

Highlights of my Thanksgiving weekend:

• Family gathered in my home to celebrate and give thanks
• 6-yr old niece playing hopscotch on my tiled kitchen floor
• Amish friendship bread starter from another niece
• Talking to two nieces about ZSQ’s and fabric sales
• Early arrival of my nephew and his friend (who is like a nephew too!)
• My brother’s family in from Arkansas
• Momma getting to be together with all her living children at once
• Niece and nephew spending the night
• Stephen sleeping over with them the next night
• Early morning fabric shopping with hubby
• 3 hour nap with hubby
• Making ZSQ sandwiches with hubby
• Christmas shopping and out to lunch with hubby on Saturday
• Chili and football game watching with my sister, BIL and yet, another niece
• Spontaneous Sunday morning trip with Sister, BIL, niece, hubby and son to find some Amish settlements in OK (I never realized they were there and I’ve lived here for most of my life!)

~@my