With much gratitude

On this Memorial Day, I have taken the time to reflect on my family members and friends who have served my country. I always wonder what makes a person choose this life. I wonder no more. They are born to it....like others are born to be the opposite. Our paths are all different, but we must follow our path for our own peace.



I have 4 sons. A Marine that will be back at Camp LeJeune within the month. He has been to Iraq once and knows he will be going again. He has a beutiful wife and 3 daughters. He was born to be a Marine. I have a National Guard son. He is still in trainng. His best friend leaves in January for a tour in Iraq. My other 2 sons have not chosen their path yet (young) but they will and I hope whatever they choose it will be with much conviction. My grandfather fought in 2 wars and has passed. My uncle was an Air Force fighter. Many friends of mine have sons and husbands and brothers who have fought the fight.



I honor all service men and women today. They make my life liveable.


THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

http://www.warriorsthefilm.com/Movie.html

It's a beautiful 'thang'

...when a friend says do a pattern and it turns out as easy and cute as she said it would be!

Sandra at http://suddenlysandra.blogspot.com/2008/05/hexagon-star-tablerunner.html,

go look at hers...they are so neat. The pattern is Hexagon Star tabletopper from the Jan/Feb issue of Fons and Porter's "Love of Quilting". Mine is not bound yet and I had a hard time right at first...BUT it was BLONDE error. Once I saw my mistake it was a breeze and cute...I just used some fabrics that were in my scrap bin...I may make some matching potholders and gift it!

I finished it ... now to make a few potholders to go with it.

My reason for being...Happy Mother's Day

Having 4 boys has been a hoot

(and still is, especially when they are all together).

In HS, one of my BFF's wanted 10 kids, another

of my BFF's wanted 2, and I wanted 0 (nada, zip, none).

I had big plans, I was going to move to NYC and be a

working girl (I was into drafting), I was going to walk

my dog in Central Park and meet a ton of cool guys

and say NO to them all and break their little hearts.



Funny how things work out. I wasn't the first to get married,

I DID do the 'break their hearts' to a few guys...BUT then one

got me and yep, I was taken...I'll tell that story another time.

I do have more kids than my HS buds and I do enjoy being a

MOM...more verbally than my HS and college friends...and

they still find that hilariously ironic and amusing.



So on to Mother's Day....this pic is the 'best' professional pic of

the family boy pics we have, IMO...because hubby decided to surprise

me with this one...I had gone to a training thing for work and he

had this done while I was gone. He had a PLAN...all in jeans and reds,

what he didn't plan on because he wasn't aware of the 4-boy dynamic,

was the time and energy, coaxing, and pleading it would take to

get one good pic (he thinks it never came, I do). Apparently this took

4 HOURS to get...they were fussing, and picking at each other and it shows

...that's why it's my favorite. Patrick looks defeated and surely wants to leave,

Jamey has given way to giggling, Mike was (and still is) always smiling,

and Zach was having a rather good day...he wasn't sleeping.

I so LOVE these guys and this is who they are! So different, fun, and wierd.

!!%%**@@**%%!!

my main toilet just overflowed...egads, I hate that...got that up and mopped and cleaned the whole bathroom, went to kitchen to make dinner, pulled my ceramic roaster off top cabinet shelf but a rubber footed bowl stuck to it (I'm short and didn't see it)...roaster shattered into a million pieces and I'm barefoot...cleaned that up, did supper, went to put all icky wet stuff in washer...washer is acting funny....

...came to sit and spill my guts...

I've been bit in the butt because I unnecessarily went off on the 2 boys...well, they should have been quietly told what I needed to tell them, but I let their snarly teen attitude turn my demeanor into a raging warpath warrior...and payback is messy and dirty.

I'm going to park my self into the rocker and watch tv. all night.

2 NEW Books for Me

I made my menu plan..and grocery list, I will

be trying out Sandra Lee's crock cooking this week...

And then thanks to JEN http://cre8tivequilter.blogspot.com/

I have an awful 'itch' to make bowls...lol. Altho she and her mom

are just zooming thru them, I hope she will be on call if I get

STUCK...are ya listening Jen?

I did start and make most of this in 2 days last week..then

I had an idea about the back...but didn't work so I am

going to try and get this finished tonite. It is to go over

the mantle in the den...the colorless (brown) room. I did

a lot of out-of-my-comfort-zone stuff with this and altho

it's nowhere near perfect...I LIKE it and I will be happy to

put it on my wall (maybe that's why they used to be

called the'rumpus' room) in the den, the comfy room.

A Do-over, please

I made some Adorables ...aren't they sweet?
Lazy Girl Designs http://www.lazygirldesigns.com/


I was going to tell you that I did not forget to blog....but I well, ....I forgot to blog. I have been working on different projects this week and I have them all over the house and just when I get on a roll and KNOW I will finish 'this' one today, I don't have what I need to finish...so I move on to something else, happened to me all week. (insert appropriate curse/frustration word here)





These are the meatball subs I made for dinner Tuesday night...they are HUGE
and this is only one plate of them, made on French bread...and the two bites I took
were DELISH....and then....I felt pain like I have never felt before...
I had broke a tooth or something because I was instantly dieing!!!! My mouth
went crazzeeee and I felt my blood pressure go up and away....the Burn didn't
know what to do, he thought I was having a seizure! I ran for HOT water with salt and swished my mouth for 30 minutes trying to get enough relief to be able to tell him
what was going on...finally I can go look in the mirror and one of my back bottom
molars had lost it's filling...now mind you, these fillings have lasted YEARS...my mom was a dental freak and I was at the dentist before I had teeth so believe me when I say
these were some GOOD fillings. But I forget how old I am and my new dentist never mentioned they might someday need replacing and all because I chowed down on some of the best meatballs I ever made. I will not be having meatball subs for a long time, if ever!



And now for 2 of my favorite things...it has gotten really hot here
and Jiffy the Cat decided to snooze under the flower pot, while
I went in to take a shower with the ever refreshing Candy Cane
shower gel...oh, how I love that stuff and I am on my last bottle until
it comes out again next Christmas....

...such a rambling posty...but it's been a rambling, awkward, frustrating
kind of week.

Some pincushions

I have always hated cutting ...I wish pieces could magically be bought the way I want in the fabrics I want...or the Sewing Fairy would take care of that task for me at night while I get my precious 3 hours of sleep. I can spend half my time cutting and then sew thru my project quickly...but I am such a sloooow cutter-outer. ok...done with rant for the moment.





I made some pincushions this morning...they looked hard to me...but I made them. I used the pattern from BH&G Quilts and More Summer 2007 http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/magazines/qam_1.html , by Heather Bailey...tooo cute!
I will use cuter, brighter fabrics next time.




Have a great day y'all!

My fabric will travel

I LOVE making, sending, and receiving fabric postcards! I went to get a few to send out this morning and found I only had 2 left...so my Saturday morning project will be making up some more fabric-travelling postcards.

I send them out for kid hellos, grown-up hellos, Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthdays...whateva!

I shrink paper-piecing patterns down to mini size, fussy cut motifs from fun fabric, embellish with ribbons, strip piece, applique, rubber stamp, draw...just about anything goes. I'll show you some new ones hopefully tomorrow.

I was left alone too long again...and I lightened my hair. When will I ever learn?

It's not bad, it's just not what I thought I was getting....it's definitely lighter (and I guess it could still fall OUT)!

Flower Power Friday - African Daisy

Finished the apron

...and BEFORE noon too! I haven't sewn, other than quilting and household stuff (curtains, pillowcases, stuff like that) in a loooong time...so following a pattern was ...umm, wierd to me...So when the first part, the bodice and the skirt, did exactly what it was supposed to do...I thought ooo-easy, I'll make it longer and ...the waistband totally threw me... I could not get it to work and match up and took it out 2 times...then the lightbulb came on...I had been using quarter inch seams after I got cocky and threw off the whole waistband...anyway...I worked with it and...

"made it work" for me...and I like it...and I will have to put BIG letters on my machine when I am making aprons with a pattern... 5/8" seams....now I can make some with fun embellishments (rick-rack!) and cooler fabric. Pattern was Simplicity 3752, View B...but I made it longer by 3".