One Day at a Time

There's that word again -- TIME TIME TIME......... I have this sneaking suspicion that TIME is not my friend: but on we go.  No change on the home front.   I've picked myself up off the floor and planted my feet so we have what's called in these parts - a "Mexican-Standoff".  No un P/C intention there, it just an old description of two unmovable forces.   SO -- he says "I want" and I say NO.  

Meantime, I had a long-planned yard sale this past weekend, to unload piles of stuff that has been clogging up closets/storage sheds/cupboards.    Amazingly, I did really well!  What little was left fit into the trunk of my car and will go to Goodwill today, and I am $450 richer!  Whoo-hoo!   My daughter came up Saturday to hang out and help out with the sale and we had a wonderful visit.   I only had to restrain her from beating up Hubby 3 times, I thought it would be more.........**jeeeesh**

In other good news, the annual Quilt Retreat on the coast is coming up and boy am I looking forward to THAT!   My friend that usually goes with me cancelled out because she's pretty upset with me still for leaving the dialysis clinic.  (See, we were a team there)  so I'll miss having her there, but another friend of mine stepped in and bought her place so I wouldn't be there alone - how nice!!!  She told me I need a friend with me at all times, and so she's going and I love her to bits.   

I leave you with these funnies - thoughts to live by:

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative

on the same night.

2. Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often.

3. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than standing

in a garage makes you a car.

4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

5. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never

tried before.

6. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.

7. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.

8. A person, who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice

person. (This is very important. Pay attention!

It never fails.)

9. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government

program.

10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the

trip.

11. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.

12. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so

good.

13. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.

14. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.

15. No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.

16. A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.

17. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the

waist change places.

18. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

19. Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three weeks

before you need it.

20. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.

It's all Bad

I feel like an emotional roller coaster - normally my personality is upbeat and happy, but the past few years Life has thrown some doozies at me and I fight to keep my head up.  Now I have another really BIG one.  My husband, overwhelmed by his grief and depression, has formed the opinion in his mind that I am responsible for Tims death and he wants a divorce - immediately.   To say I'm shocked is the understatement of the century - all the air has been knocked out of me.   This blog will probably be going dark for quite some time while I figure out what to do and how to do it and how to survive this.  Keep up your wonderful blogs - I love reading them and I can't get my day going without seeing what everyones' up to.  

Guilds are a GOOD THING, Martha!

How do you like my NEW LOOK? There's some things I want to add and the banner's not right, but I'm workin' on it!

Saturday was our monthly guild meeting, our last one in the tiny hall that we've outgrown. Our speaker was Don Linn also known as Mr. Quilt. He brought his Quilt 'O' Matic to demo and it was hilarious! What a show! And what quilting - this guy is fantastic. We even got to pass his quilts around and take a close CLOSE look, and there's no fault to be found. It was a terrific lighthearted day! Maybe the best part was when he picked on my dear friend Rosie to come up and "make a quilt" using the energy ball. Her first one wasn't so great, so he held her hand to "add his energy" to hers -- ROFLOL!! She was a great sport and played along and we all howled with laughter -- it was campy and ridiculous and just what the doctor ordered!

I took this with my i-Phone and for a cell phone picture it's not bad. I haven't even edited it yet! I think this definately has to be in the newsletter, don't you?
Thanks for visiting my newly re-vamped blog -- one of these days I'll figure out how to get all my fun thingys back.....

As the World Turns

Sometimes Life just sucks - that's all there is to it. And oftentimes - quite often in fact, bad things happen to good people and everyone is left to deal with the mess the best they know how. About a month ago, the 19 yr old son of a friend of mine took his life because of a failed romance. I wish these kids could see just how the destruction they leave behind ruins the lives of everyone they love. In their pain they assume no one will care and of course not only are they so wrong, but they can't imagine how far the ripples of their selfish act will spread. His death ripped open unhealed wounds in our house of Tim's death 4 years ago; also at age 19, also by his own hand. DH had a complete meltdown, becoming in turns nasty and surly, or weepy/inconsolable or just silent. To make matters worse, Tim's birthday is approaching and of course it's always a hard time. I'm clinging to my newly-found good mental health and trying to figure out the best way to help my husband and deal with my own sadness and thoughts of Tim and there just hasn't been a lot of room in there for much else. Relentlessly, Life goes on............
Last Sunday, I pecked a bit in my sewing room and DH pecked a bit in his shop, and midway thru the day our pastor pulled up to the house, hopped out and handed Hunny a package saying "I was thinking of you two today" and drove off, all in a minutes time. Hunny brought it in to me - a HOT loaf of fresh bread, right out of the oven! The first thing I did was take a picture.........

OK OK -- so that was the second thing I did. Now as amazing as that is - here's the rest of the story. Pastor and his wife live about 15 miles from us! This bread was HOT - it melted the butter! That simple act felt like a huge blessing - like rain breaking a heatwave or a warm quilt on a cold night, or hugs from Grandma. It felt like someone was telling us - "I care" and of course, Someone was. It had quite a profound effect on me. And Life goes on.........
Remember the cute little carved wooden seam ripper I found on my vacation a couple of months ago? Well, I showed my friend Rosie, who ran home and told her Honey, who owns a lathe and started making some! Today at Guild she gave me one for my upcoming birthday!

Is that gorgeous, or WHAT?? It's made from madrone, an extremely dense hardwood native to California and very beautiful. The handle as you can see is large, fits perfectly in my big mitt - and I can't hardly put it down! It's soft and smooth and feels like a worry stone in my hand - I think I held it most of the way thru the guild meeting. Oh shoot -- I have another early birthday present to show you but forgot to take a picture. Gee -- you'll have to stay tuned! Life goes on..............
I took the Rebel to guild for Show'n'Tell and got a good response, and even tho we're more than a month past the quilt show deadline they were a few quilts short so the Rebel will stand again. Guess I better finish clipping all the threads. If it wins so much as an honorable mention I guess I'll have to forget all about the PAIN it caused me!!! ROFL -

There's probably someone in your life struggling to deal with the fact that Life does go on. If you're so inclined remember them in your prayers, or take them a loaf of bread. What looks healed on the surface after some time has passed could still be raw underneath and you might just light up their day.