Morning Report

Last night we sang at another retirement home. The residents we sang to were not as independent as at the last place, which made Mini-me and Patch a little more apprehensive. Patch eventually warmed up, but oddly enough, Mini-me stayed shy.

After we sang, Curly took the kids home while I went out with a friend of mine, Colleen. She is a member of Towne Singers and part of my quilting group. She and I are so similar, it's scary. We met for the first time at Sisto's buying fabric, and had several of the same prints in our piles. We then found out our little girls are both petite, blond, drama queens. We drive the same car. We are both step-moms. We dye our hair blond. We love Glen Beck and are both conservative. We even have the same purse bought from a street vendor in NYC. Scary, no? So when I arrived home a couple of hours later than I intended, I apologized to Curly. He looked at me and said "You like to talk. Get you together with yourself, I can't even imagine."

Today we are off to NoVa to attend a baby shower for Jean. Following that, I get to have my Posh do tidied. Goodbye mousy roots.

My Man

Have I sung the praises of Curly lately? Tonight, he helped me yet again to baste a quilt. It is my least favorite part of the process. We taped the back down to the dining room rug, bolstered the sides with towels, and then used an adhesive spray to secure the back, batting, and top of the quilt. It's a messy and awkward process. I do wonder at those who are able to do it by themselves. The quilt is for my father-in-law, who is doing amazingly well after surgery. We went to visit tonight and took the top to show him. Hopefully I can get it done this week and get it to him. Originally, it was going to be a mission present for them, but we thought it would make the perfect recovery quilt.

After we basted, I logged on to check email and learned that President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away tonight. He was 97. I almost met him nearly 8 years ago, while I was serving my mission on Temple Square. My companion, Sister Shek from Honk Kong, and I were in the basement of the Tabernacle, performing our weekly service requirement of folding and storing Christmas lights. We were in a small room by ourselves. All of a sudden, Sister Shek yelled out "Itsthepophet itsthepophet itsthepophet!" Then, with a huge smile on her face, she stuck out her hand and yelled "HELLO!" He waved back at us as he rode by in a golf cart. For the rest of the day, she berated herself for not saying "Hello, President." I am sure he didn't mind. I never actually met him; I never shook his hand, yet I know that he was a prophet of God.

Wind Chill

Since I am headed to bed, I just checked out weather.com to see what the temperature was. Totally normal thing to do, in my opinion. It's 25 degrees, but feels like 14. Yikes. That's chilly.

We took Gracie to the vet today for her checkup. I let Mini-me push Patch in the stroller. As a result, she is a big girl and took a shower instead of a tubby. Gracie did fine. She is 19 pounds of pure muscle. She had lots of shots, which has made her a little loopy. She's so loopy, she let Mini-me lay on her without trying to lick her to death.

Valley Girl

Mini-me has become a Valley Girl, saying "like" every few sentences. I don't know where she picked it up, because like I rarely like say like. Like, you know? Actually, I think she picked it up from her preschool teacher.

When I came home Monday from my class, the kids were still in their pjs, but the house was very clean. They had a wonderful day with Daddy. They played basketball and wrestled. And picked up their junk from the living room. I had a very fun day not playing basketball, wrestling, or picking up junk. I swirled and twirled my lines and got very good at it by the end. Now I just need to practice more at home before I can quilt a quilt. I was very impressed by some of the gadgets these woman had. I definitely need to invest in a plexi-glass table, which slides around the machine base. It extends the sewing room on a machine. My machine was very basic next to the Berninas and other models of Vikings in the class. With the amount of quilting I do, I know I will have to upgrade in a few years.

Tonight we are going to try to head down to VA for the evening to visit Curly's dad. He is recovering from bypass surgery that he had yesterday. Everything went well, and he hopes to be home by the weekend. I offered to let him borrow Gracie, since dogs have a very calming effect on people and help the elderly get and stay healthy. For some reason, he declined my offer. Can't imagine why.

Ohio Star

I am taking a quilt class on Monday and I am so excited. It's a machine quilting class, which will teach me how to make swirly, twirly lines on my quilts. We have to come with 10 14" muslin squares and one 12" pieced block. I chose to make an Ohio Star block, because it seemed fairly simple. I used two fat quarters from my stash. Looking at this block, I really wish I had a couple of yards of this fabric. It looks so happy together. Wouldn't this make a great summer picnic quilt? Or a spring "it's 60 degrees out today so I'm turning off the heat and opening the windows even if it makes it so cold in the house" quilt. Sadly, I don't remember where I got the fabric. I'll have to see if I can hunt more down. Now that I have pieced the block and cut my squares, I have put the sewing machine away for the weekend. Curly will be happy :) I take over the dining room when it's out. Someday I will have my own studio. Someday. How many years until Mini-me goes to college? Maybe when Flower takes off, we can send Mini-me to this lovely little thing called "boarding school."

Photo Friday

We got quite a bit of snow yesterday -- over 4 inches! When the snow finally slowed, we got out and played for a bit. Patch wore Mini-me's old snow pants. He looks good in pink, don't you think? The kids got to have a snowball fight with Curly and even built a good sized snowman. Then, we came back inside for some pizza. Patch loves pizza.

Strong, Silent Type

Our house is full of noise. There is always someone who has broken into spontaneous song, much like a Broadway show. Frequently during the day, I close the lid on the piano, to try to lessen the temptation to bang, I mean play. I should be grateful, then, for my quiet little guy. Patch has very few words. He has something close to "daddy" and "kitty" and tells us to shush. He also likes to yell "Yeah!" But, that's as much as he does. Until tonight. He said "Nigh-nigh" when he wanted to go to bed, and then kept saying it all the way up the stairs. Yeah, he's pretty awesome. Especially since the request came at 6:00.

Yesterday at the retirement home, Patch was a complete charmer. During one of Bob's numbers, Patch walked up to the front and let out a loud "Aaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!" He was close to on pitch as well. That inspired a 90-year-old man (who was quite crotchety and told us his name was "unimportant") to join in on Lullaby of Broadway, singing "Let's call it a day!" as loud as he could at the end. Mini-me plopped herself down at a table with a cute couple. The woman grabbed my hand and told me over and over how cute my kids were. She said: "I mean it. I tell people when they have an ugly baby, but you are so lucky with your cute kids." After our little 45 minute show, which includes a sing-a-long, Patch waved good-bye and went to collect a little lovin' from the ladies. He gave everyone a hug and a kiss on the cheek. They melted. We love our gigs at retirement homes. We have another one coming up next week. Unfortunately, that one's at night. Since Patch likes to retire to his bed at 6, I'm not sure how he'll do at our 6:30 show. Maybe it's time to introduce him to Diet Coke...

Patch

Patch is feeling much better today. He woke up with no fever, only a slightly runny nose, and just a little cough. Hopefully the trend will continue and we can be done with sickness for a little while.

This afternoon the Towne Singers are scheduled to perform in Columbia at a retirement home. We have a good time at these performances. We can bring kids, which always makes things easier, and we sing for about 45 minutes. It's been awhile since we have had one of these gigs, so it will be interesting to see how Patch behaves. My guess is that he will not want to stay in his stroller and that he will charm all the ladies.

Wii

Last night, we went to dinner at this fabulous new restaurat, Quynn's Attic. It's only been open a few weeks, and there were some service issues (hello, how long does it take to fill a diet coke?), but the food was excellent. It was so fun to hang with our friends again. With Curly's shows, we don't get to see our friends together very often. I really look forward to weekends with no shows.

After dinner, we did one of my favorite things -- we went to the Peredni's house and played Wii. I am a guitar hero. I also rocked on the Mario 8 "shake the can" game. The rest of the games, I was not so good at. If I had a Wii of my own, I could practice and get better.

So Sad

This week I have been slowly putting away Christmas decorations. The other day, when I was taking some cross stitch signs down, Mini-me started crying. I asked her what was the matter, and she said "I just don't want Christmas to be over!" I know the feeling, but next year will be here before we know it. I need to get started on next year's projects now...

Update

Because of the pouring rain, I decided against taking Patch to the YMCA for much needed stimulation. That, and he had a wee cough this morning. Curly was doing some work from home this morning, so I left Patch with him, picked up Mini-me from preschool, and then went to the Wal-mart for Diet Coke and umbrellas. And toilet paper. And milk. And eggs. Can't have waffles without eggs. When we got home, it was evident that Patch didn't feel well. Sparing details, we have had to change his clothes and bedding several times. Poor kid just can't catch a break. He went to sleep at 5 pm, but I can hear him coughing on the monitor.

Curly has rehearsal tonight, but he is off tomorrow night. Yea!! We have plans to go out with our good friends, the Peredni. It should be a very fun time with them, if for no other reason than they won't puke on me!

When it Rains...

This morning, as I was gathering Patch's laundry, I heard Mini-me frantically crying "Mommy, Mommy! The toilet's getting bigger!!" I ran downstairs to see the toilet indeed getting bigger. Lots bigger. Into the living room bigger. What a mess. We quickly cleaned it up, and I tried not to think about what I was standing in.

It's raining today, and right now it looks like it's coming down really hard. Unfortunately, I cannot find our umbrellas. I have no idea where they are. Patch has his gymnastics class in about 20 minutes, but if I can't find the umbrellas, we can't go. He's very bored right now, so going would be better than not.

So now I am sitting here, listening to the hum of heaters and fans, which are being used to dry up any last mess. What a day to be out of Diet Coke.

Fight!

Mini-me got into a little tussle at preschool yesterday. Apparently, someone was in her space, and instead of asking them to move, she hit them. The hardest part for me was that she had a substitute yesterday, so instead of her teacher who knows her and knows that Mini-me doesn't usually hit other kids, Mini-me has now been branded "the hitter" by Miss Arlene. We had a chat about hitting and alternative responses. I told her that she should say "Excuse me, you are sitting too close. Could you please move?" and she laughed at me. So, I offered "Teacher, can you get my friend to move?" and she liked that much better. It's much easier to tattle than to take care of it on your own (peacefully of course). It's also much easier to whack someone than it is to talk to them.

The weather is bipolar, just like Britney Spears. It is supposed to be cold and rainy tomorrow. It's okay, though. I have many projects ready to go. I just hope Patch naps as well tomorrow as he did today. He slept for nearly 3 hours. It was wonderful. A couple of months ago, I counted myself lucky if he slept a full hour. He's such a good boy now.

Joy

Florida

Now I know why people live in Florida. Today, it was nearly 70 degrees. It's January, people! I have to admit, this weather does wonders for my mood. We spent some time outside at the park today, and even went on a walk to the Safeway for some Diet Coke. What a day! We didn't even have jackets on. Tomorrow is supposed to be much of the same. I could get used to this. I could demand a winter getaway every year to a warmer climate. Right now, I am enjoying having open windows during the second week of January. Like I said, I could get used to this.

I picked up a bit of stitching last night that I had abandoned a few months ago. I don't know why I stopped working on it, except that perhaps because it is impossibly tiny. It's called "Lily and Laurel" by The Heart's Content. I got it a few years ago at the cross stitch retreat with my mom. Maureen, the designer, was one of the teachers. I have to admit, I was quite taken with her and her technique. It is time consuming because it is so small, but the end result is lovely. I did one of her designs a couple of years ago for Curly's parents, and then asked for it back so I could enter it in the county fair. This piece will eventually go to Flower. My goal is to have one or two framed pieces for each of the kids when they move out and establish their own homes. The one I did for Mini-me won best of show for the county fair. Patch's is called "Snapperville" and is yet to be framed. It's a great excuse to keep stitching, even when my wall space has become limited.

Tomorrow, Mini-me starts up with ballet again. She is really looking forward to it. Then, we will head out to the park for a picnic. Hopefully some friends can join us. Tomorrow night, my quilting group is coming over. I have missed hanging out with them. Because we've been sick, I've missed hanging out with everyone! But, we are all better and ready to resume our lives. Anyone want to play?

Book Group

Tonight is my monthly book group. I am hosting, which works out well for me, since Curly is still doing the Christmas show. This month, we read Dawn Over Kitty Hawk, which is about the Wright brothers. Always one for a theme, I made a sand castle cake with the pan I got for Christmas, peanuts, and mocktails, which are cocktails without the alcohol. Unfortunately, I have not yet finished the book. Woops.