full grown woman

A little baby quilt.

An acquaintance asked if I could make her a baby quilt for her to use as a gift for a friend of hers who had adopted a girl. Her requirements were that it included bees and purple.

So, after sending her some fabric options, this is what I put together:

(I realize my photos suck, and that’s something I plan to work on this year.) The front is flannel, which was MUCH more challenging to work with than I anticipated and the back is minky dot…again, challenging. I don’t love it, but someone wise once said, a good quilt is a finished quilt. I ended up tying it with some embroidery floss and I think it turned out well considering my level of expertise.

LCQA Blocks 6 and 7

Oh yeah…I’m kickin’ booty and takin’ names!!

Block 6 is a bit of disappointment to me, but it went together quickly. I’m not exactly sure what I don’t like about it, but I just don’t.

Block 7 was challenging and I really enjoyed putting it together. I am even impressed with how well I matched points!

Now my goal is to get 8-10 done before she posts block 11.

Mr. Butters.

I mentioned awhile back in my 2010 roundup, that we added Mr. Butters to our family, and that I would blog about it later. Well, it is MUCH later, but I wanted to wait and see how things worked out with him before I introduced him here.

Here’s the story of how Mr. Butters came to be a part of our family:

Our neighbor came over one day and said she had found a dog on their construction site and that he was a great dog but she couldn’t keep him. Apparently one of the workers took him to the kill shelter, and she sent another worker right down there to adopt him. This worker also couldn’t keep him long term but was committed to keeping him as long as it took to find a good home.

I’ll admit, I had been missing having a dog, but my heart was still broken over Zeus, and I wasn’t sure I was ready. But, I agreed to at least meet him.

The worker brought him over a couple of days later and I was less than impressed. He was beautiful, but ornery and ill behaved. We said we would think on it, but my heart wasn’t really into it except that my children were nearly instantly smitten with him.

I decided to look into training options and I found a board-in program that would keep him for 2 weeks and take him from unruly puppy to well trained dog. (Or at least closer to well trained dog.) The price was pretty reasonable, and after a lot of talk and begging from the children, we decided to go for it.

We picked him up the 26th of December from training, and he was indeed, a much different dog!

Since that time we have really grown to love him and accept him as one of our family. He only has a quite annoying habit of eating socks that we need to break him of, but other than that, he’s a delight.

Here’s our sweet doggie:

No one can tell us exactly what breed he is except that he definitely is a lab. We’ve been told he is mixed with bull mastiff, golden or a couple of other breeds and we’ve been told he’s all lab. I just think he’s cute.

LCQA Block #4 and #5

Ah! You all thought I gave up on this! But, I didn’t! I’m just severely behind. I am intent on catching up this month if I can. I am shuddering a little at block #6, but I will persevere.

Now, without further ado, here are blocks 4 and 5.

Pretty cute! I wasn’t thrilled with block 5 at first, but it is growing on me.

Look out…contemplation ahead

I have gone back and forth in my mind about whether or not to write this post, but then I thought…it’s my darn blog and I’ll do what I wanna.

So there.

I am an admitted message board and Facebook junkie. I love reading status updates, and seeing new pics, check-in’s, and reading all about every one of my “closest” friends.  It makes me feel connected, in tune, in the know.

Along with friends, I can also “LIKE” pages and get the latest information on sales and trends for all of my favorite stuff. A nearly constant stream of ways to spend my money and make myself more fabulous.

Add all of that to the e-mail notifications and texts and I am soooooooo connected.

Except, I’m not.

I learned through an unfortunate experience which shall remain unmentioned; that I am spending way too much time in this artificial world of flashy, carefully crafted, airbrushed representations of people, and a sad amount of very little time actually spending time with the people that matter to me most. Those that REALLY want to know me…you know:  the people IRL. (In Real Life…in case you aren’t as lame as I and don’t talk in letters all day.)

I’ve allowed myself to get into the pattern of thinking that if I have the coolest phone, the nails, the right haircut, the this…the that…that I’ll be happier. I’m not. I was way happier when I was poorer, less stylish, but working on my health and fitness.

I thought about how the pull of the latest sale gets more of my attention than the cry of unfed and dying children across the world.

I thought about how eager I was to read about which bar a friend checked in at, but couldn’t find time to read the very WORD of GOD. The word of the ONE who CREATED THE UNIVERSE!!!

So, change is coming. You’ll likely not find me on Facebook posting about my perfect moments with my kids, but rather actually having those moments and devoting my full attention to them. Less money going out to keeping up with an unattainable look, and more money going out to touch others in a real and tangible way. Less time chatting online, more time chatting over dinner. Less time reading blogs of strangers, more time reading about the Creator and Lover of my soul.

Still Ill’n…and other stuff.

So, I’m still sick. Yep, you read that right. Over a month later, and I’m still sick! Thankfully, it isn’t so bad I can’t work, but it sure hasn’t been a fun way to live. I just finished a round of steroids to try and reduce inflammation in my lungs, but I continue to cough. But, I find myself feeling ashamed for feeling even a little bit sad about it considering how many people in the world are dealing with so much worse than I. I know I’ll get better eventually at least.

The job is in full swing now, and I am enjoying the challenge, but I can’t say I’ll be sad to see tax day come and go. I’m looking forward to the possibility of working part time and having a little bit more balance.

In quilty news: I bought an Accuquilt Go!!!! Because of the aforementioned job, I haven’t had much time to play with it, but so far I am looking so forward to doing some creating with this new toy!

Lily will be turning 3 at the end of this month, and my heart can’t hardly take it!

Ill’n

• Ill’n: To be ill. That is me. I am pretty danged bummed about it, too.

First-I have had to miss 3 days of work. For some, that might be a blessing, but I actually like my job and I feel this deep sense of guilt that I’m not there, pulling my weight.

Second-I missed out on the Quilts of Valor meeting for January, and subsequently missed out on getting to hang out with two new friends that I met through the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild. AND THEN I missed out on going to the Denver Sewing Collective meeting which REALLY bummed me out because it was going to be a time where I could catch up.

Lastly- I am freaking miserable. I have this hacking, dry cough that gets worse when I even try to lie down. So, I’ve been “sleeping” in my old friend the recliner. Sigh.

But, I still maintain that I am blessed. I have so much to be thankful for

• A husband who has done so much for us these past few days even though he is sick and having a rough time.
• An understanding workplace who has been gracious enough to give me the time off without making me feel bad
• A wonderful babysitter to take care of Lily so that I could do as much resting as possible
• Access to medical care, tons of clean water to drink, a warm home

So, that’s where stuff is right now. Hopefully I’ll be on the mend soon and back to doing some more exciting things to blog about!

The Job

Part of why I’m struggling a little bit to get caught up is that I started working again!

I worked full time for a CPA firm prior to having Lily, and recently they called and asked if I would like to come back for tax season! That is such a nice compliment, I think.

So, I started working 2 days a week in November until January 14th, and then I will work 5 days a week through April 18th.

It has been a real adjustment, but overall, a very positive experience. I was surprised at how quickly I picked everything up again. Not to say I haven’t had my challenging moments, but over all it gives me a fine sense of accomplishment and it is nice to interact with adults and not hear “MOOOOOMMMMMEEEEEEEEEE” all day long.

It is also such a pleasant place to work. During tax season, the partners provide a masseuse every week for us to get a half hour massage. They are very well organized with well established procedures, so that makes it easy to work there and be successful. There is hardly ever any drama, and if there is, it usually doesn’t involve me, so it is easily classified as the best job I’ve ever had.

I’m so behind!!!!!

I am miserably behind! Eeek!!!I am thankful it is snowing today so that I can do some catching up around here.

On my to-do list: 4 loads of laundry, 2 blocks for the quilt-a-long, vacuuming, cleaning the fridge, bathroom cleaning, work out at the gym……

Do you ever truly feel caught up? Or is that a pipe dream?

In a haze…

I am in a post holiday funk. I am behind on my quilt-a-long. I tried creating something yesterday and failed. Sigh.