Work

I have been working up a storm here lately. I have quite a few Molly Patch orders (thanks!) to get done. Some have deadlines, some, mercifully, do not. I am having a great time with it. Patch and Mini-me don't quite grasp the delineations between "playroom" and "Mommy's Area." At one point today, I had Patch doing laps with the toy stroller. He was pretty ticked when I wouldn't move out of his way. I told him he was in Mommy's Area, but he just grunted at me. He doesn't talk much.

I came across this fun etsy shop the other day. The only thing to make my sewing more fun would be cupcake pins. Mother's Day is coming, you know.

Since Friday, I have logged nearly 12 hours on a t-shirt quilt for a customer. In case you are wondering why they are the price they are, it's because it takes a LOT of time. On a "normal" quilt, I would be completely done with the top and almost done with the quilting by now. So far, I have 2 rows completely done, and 3 others waiting for sashing. Then, I can put all the rows together, being careful to line up the blocks. Add a border or two and viola. Part of what takes so long is stabilizing the shirts so they stay a uniform size. The stabilizer should only take a minute or two to iron on per shirt, but realistically, it takes about 15 minutes per shirt. With nearly 20 shirts in this quilt, you can see what I spent most of my time on. Now you now the ins and outs of a t-shirt quilt, in case you were on a quiz show.

Happy Day!

Happy Birthday to my favorite little brother! I hope you have the perfect celebration of you.

Friday Musings

As we speak, Mini-me is stomping her feet and proclaiming for all the world to hear that she is "Not happy about this." The "this" this time is that I told her she could read her princess books in her room, but not to bring them downstairs. This has turned her into her evil twin.

Last night I got to do quite a bit of work in my new studio. It was lovely. I have yet to turn on the MEGA QUILTER, but I have big plans to watch the DVD this weekend and figure it all out. The only negative in the studio is the concrete floor. My knees were aching when I was done. A trip to Costco for their anti-fatigue mats is in order. And, while I'm there, maybe I'll pick up a giant 4-layer chocolate cake in honor of my brother's birthday.

Last night as I tried to go to sleep, I heard a noise in Patch's room that can only be described as "not good." I sent Curly in to investigate, and he quickly called for backup. Patch spent several hours throwing up. I am a tired mama this morning. I held him for much of the time, partly for comfort, and partly because changing his sheets 2 times in one night is my limit. As we rocked, I kept thinking of the Christmas song "Mary's Lullaby." Part of the refrain has the words "You're a king, but tonight you are mine." It made me tear up thinking about my amazing little guy, who is full of fun and laughter and curiosity, and everything else endearing and frustrating in a little boy. I am so grateful he was sent to us. He is going to have one amazing life.

Must See to Believe

I found the McCain Blogette today, which is written by Senator McCain's daughter. It's a fun, young view of the McCain campaign trail. I haven't quite made up my mind about the Senator, in fact I am considering a write-in candidate this year. However, the YouTube clip that is posted on the blogette does nothing to sway my vote. In fact, it does the opposite. You must see it to believe it. The McCain Girls will never be accused of being sexy, that's for sure. Or good singers. But, they have a passion for John McCain that is disturbing. One of them rubs her face with a floating McCain. Seriously. Go now. Watch.

BFFs

Hippity Hoppity

Easter

I am in charge of the lesson for my 9-year old Sunday School class tomorrow. I wanted to do fun activity, because it's a special day, but know that these kids (2 boys in particular) can get way out of control in a hurry. A couple of years ago, my MIL did a hunt with Resurrection Eggs for the girls. It was very cute, and they learned a lot from the scriptures in each egg. I would love to do this tomorrow, and would really like to send the kids on a hunt through the building, but again, am afraid of the control factor. Any ideas? These kids also love treats, so I am going to do mini-cupcakes, since most of them will be hopped up on sugar already at our 1:00 church hour.

3 Hours

Patch has been asleep for 3 hours. That's a record nap for him. I have the monitor turned up, so I can hear him breath. Miss Susan's gymnastics class really wore him out today. That, and he woke up in at around 10:30 last night to watch a little March Madness. He loves basketball. He can't say it, but he loves it. We were watching the George Mason game, and each time Yellow would get the ball, he would yell "Gooooooooooo!" In case you're keeping track, that's word #11.

Mini-me is enjoying The Sound of Music. She loves to perform the "So Long, Farewell" song for us. She does the sweeping hand motions, and then kind of loses the words for a minute to pick up again with "Achoo, achoo, to you and you, goodniiiiiiiight!" I love that my kids love musicals. Their two favorite movies from last year were Enchanted and Hairspray.

Tonight we are going out on a double triple date with my quilting friends and their husbands. They have all met before, but we think our husbands could be BFFs. If not, they could at least play racquetball together once in awhile. Our babysitter for tonight just loves Patch, so it's a good thing he's resting up now. She'll be excited he has a later bedtime.

Setback

Curly and I got the quilt frame set up on Friday night, but noticed the table-top was warped. We weighted it down, and let it sit, hoping the heavy duty adheasive would take hold. It did not. I am very frustrated because I would like to get started, but with a warped table, it's a little difficult. I contacted Patches, and they are going to contact the company and get me boards.

In the meantime, did anyone watch Dancing with the Stars last night? Man, I love that show!

Dinner

Tonight, I took a break from our regular Sunday Dinner (mainly because our roasting pan bit the dust and then was used as a paint tray) and make spaghetti pizza. Mini-me came in the kitchen as I was dishing it up and asked what I had made. When I told her, she heaved a huge sigh and said, while rolling her eyes, "You've GOT to be kidding me." Then, at dinner, Curly and I were trying to have a conversation when she started to wave her hands and say, "Guys. Guys. Focus." She then made us watch her take a bite.

Yesterday as I looked around my disaster of a living room, I decided it was time to FLY. Wish me luck as I shine my sink and get dressed to shoes with laces.

Huh

What Jana Means

You are fair, honest, and logical. You are a natural leader, and people respect you. You never give up, and you will succeed... even if it takes you a hundred tries. You are rational enough to see every part of a problem. You are great at giving other people advice. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Almost Done!

My studio is almost finished. We painted again last night, and Curly installed a computer desk for the kids. It is looking fabulous. I'll post pictures when we are all finished, which will hopefully be tomorrow. Curly's show was cancelled for tonight, so we'll be able to have a date! We are going to watch a DVD when the kids go to sleep. I know, so exciting. I did make cupcakes for the occasion, though.

Good News!

Today I found out that Molly has been accepted into the Frederick County Pre-K program. There are only 40 spots available in our school this year, so it's great that she made the cut. The program is 5 half-days a week, which will get her ready for all-day Kindergarten the next year. The school is still within walking distance, being just across the street from her preschool this year, and it's free! Yipee!!!

Deliveries

I missed the UPS guy yesterday. He was bringing an important document that needs a signature. He left a little note, saying he would be back today sometime between 10:30 and 5. I'm glad he didn't give himself a narrow window. I wouldn't want to disrupt his day.

Still Alive

That tornado night was a hairy one. I was awake until nearly 2 am, listening to every change in the wind, rumble of thunder, and burst of rain. Curly kept telling me to relax, but it was pretty difficult. There was a lot of rain, and some flooding as well. Our mudroom leaks a little, so Curly's flip-flops were full of water the next morning.

We have been busy working on the basement studio. We removed the workbench and cabinets from the corner, took the futon up to our room (where it looks very over sized), took the desk up to the attic and set it up again, and took the Foosball table out to the garage. Now it's time to build the wall. At first we thought a 4-foot wall would be great, but then realized that I wouldn't be able to see over it while standing at the Mega Quilter. So we have modified and are now going to put in a 3-foot wall. The really cool thing about this is with the workbench and cabinets removed, we now have space for a craft area for the kids. They will love it. We have some crafty kiddies in our house. They love to paint and color and glue things.

I know most of you who read this blog are friends/family and get our Christmas letter (which this year was mailed around Valentine's Day). For those who thought that they might like to order a tee-shirt quilt as a graduation gift for someone, now is the time to do it. I try to keep my turnaround time to 6-8 weeks, unless you would like me to take longer. Spring is just around the corner, so order soon!

Fear #1

My #1 fear is of tornadoes. I have been in one, so I shouldn't be scared because I faced that demon, right? Wrong. If anything, it has made me more freaked. They can come out of nowhere. At least during the day, you can see what color the sky is. You can see it coming and run for cover. But at night? While you sleep? Terrifying! We are under a tornado watch until 3 am tomorrow. That just means that "conditions are favorable," not, "one is on its way." That's a tornado warning. Does it make a difference in my terror level? Not much. Not to mention the fact that Curly is out for the evening at rehearsal. I am trying not to freak out too much, but you can bet I will be checking the weather often. I am trying to keep Mini-me quiet, so I can hear it if it comes. Maybe the kids and I will sleep in the basement tonight.

Rain on the Way

We are supposed to get pounded today and tonight with rain. If only it were 40 degrees cooler...I have turned off the heat in the house and opened some windows. I love to air out our house. I can't do it for long, because humidity tends to build up, but every so often, it's nice. Yesterday it reached 70 degrees here. The kids had a ball in the park, which seemed to have every kid in the neighborhood.

I just asked Patch where his nose was, and got sushed. Apparently I was interrupting him.

At ballet today, Mini-me had to try on her costume. Again. She's getting very tired of trying it on, and then not being aloud to dance in it. The costume looks very cute on the hanger, but not so cute on the girl. At one point, we had full frontal nudity. I mustered up all my powers of passive-aggression and suggested that we find a new costume. The person in charge has had many issues with this costume, so they just might.