Mardi Gras...

Had to get into the spirit. And by the focus on this pic...I had been into the spirits.

E liked the crazy glasses..

SWAG. Need some beads? This doesn't even include what Mike caught.

More to come later....

Kidney Stones...

are a bitch.

Here is what I've been up to...

Well, I think I promised an update on my quilting. This is just the quilt top. I'll start the real quilting part next week. It's small - 42x42 - baby blanket size. I'm pretty happy with the way it has turned out so far.

Oh, and I don't know if you can tell or not...but I took this picture in the playroom. That I accidentally painted lavendar. It's growing on me. My next project will probably be a quilt to go over the futon in this room. I seriously doubt I'll be finding anything to really go with those walls.

Step 2: Learn how to cut

Well, you would think that since I can already sew, I would know how to cut material. Apparently not. See, the new thing is rotary cutters. Not scissors. So we had a lesson on that. And sewing a straight line. But I did get 8 squares made...only 17 more to do for homework. I'll put pictures up this weekend after I do my homework.

It's interesting, but I wish I was the only person in the class. There are now 2 others in there. One lady is fine. As a matter of fact, she and I discovered we work for the same company. We have seen each other in the hallway, but never actually met. The other lady. Well. It's the lady from the first class. She could do nothing right. She came in late and still had to set up her materials. She couldn't get her machine to sew a straight line. She cut her finger on the rotary cutter (it's like a round razor blade). When the other lady and I were packing up, she was still trying to cut her material. The shop closes at 8... the teacher had her coat on and her purse on her arm. This lady paid no attention to any of that. I have no idea what time they left. Maybe next week will be a little smoother.

Oh, and Mike really helped out last night. He picked Evan up from after-school care, fixed dinner, swept the floors, vacuumed the rugs, cleaned the bathroom floors and changed the litter box.

Step One - Spend lots of money

The first night of class the point was clear: we want your money, and lots of it. I bought my tools and my materials. I can't describe how this thing is going to be put together except the big piece is the back and frame and the 3 stacks will be used to make blocks - green-ish, purple-ish and pink-ish. This week the homework is to wash the material and then iron it. The next class will be 2/1 and I think we will be cutting? Maybe some sewing?

And if I get lucky, I may be the only person in the class. There was one other lady this week, but she was only there because she couldn't make it to the day class. I hope to heaven she doesn't decide to come at night. She drove me AND the teacher crazy, though the teacher tried to keep it from showing. But if she does come at night, I will be nice. For a while.

How old am I?

Lately I've been having a bit of fun. Going to concerts, meeting the band. Keeping one niece as much as possible (she is a 4 yr old bundle of energy!). These activities would suggest that I'm young. That I have energy. That I am not yet ancient.

But. I have decided that I need a new hobby. I have quit scrapbooking and will be selling all my supplies on Ebay. I crochet, but that takes a while to complete anything large. I have decided that I am going to learn to quilt. It's something both of my grandmothers did. The both had me cutting and hand-piecing quilt tops when I was 7or 8. And when I say hand-piecing...that means sewing a billion squares, rectangles and octagons together BY HAND. With a needle and thread. But I never learned the actual quilting part.

I have signed up for a beginner quilting class. The first class was last night. I got all my tools and my material. I am ready to go home tonight and get my material prepped for the first 'real' class. I think I'll even post pictures of my progress... I'll tell you one thing right off the bat - this will not be done by hand. I have a machine and I WILL be using it.

But this hobby makes me feel old. Like I should be wearing a shawl and slippers. And reading glasses hooked to a gold chain around my neck so I don't lose them.  I guess it's because the only women I know who do this are old. But I honestly want it to be an art form that isn't lost in our family. I don't have a daughter, but I can teach my nieces if they want to learn. Or I could teach Evan. He did learn how to sew rectangles together this past Christmas (we made heat packs for the women in the family). But that will be up to him.

I guess age is just a number - but I think I'll stop telling my number pretty soon.

So. I get to enjoy other people's luck.

My sister-in-law is the luckiest person on earth. If her name goes in a drawing she wins. Always. Yesterday was no exception. A few weeks ago...maybe months now... I posted that she and I were going to see 100 Monkeys. See, one of the guys in the band is in the Twilight movies. So we checked out their music and we LOVED it. So, they came to Birmingham. It was freakin awesome. Ooops - back to the topic of her luck. She kept checking the band's web site. They had a promotion - register at a certain hotel and be entered in a drawing for a meet & greet. Of course, SHE WON!!!!! Here is a pic of all of us with the band. She won 2 passes, but they let us take our other friend with us, she just didn't get the 'back stage pass'.

They were SO nice. Walked in, they all introduced themselves and shook everybody's hand. The tickets were a little different from normal concert tix - it was a pdf that you could print out. It has your name on it. So we printed out 2 copies of each ticket and got autographs on the one we didn't have to turn in. Again, awesome.

But here is where the band got me. There were several groups that won meet & greets - one was a mom and her 12 yr old daughter. It was the daughter's first concert. What a way to start your concert-going life! She stood in the front right by the stage while her mom sat in the seated area (it was a really small venue, so mom was not being irresponsible - she was close enough!) So one of the songs they did for an encore was "Thank you", Jackson (guy in the red pants and hat) was singing the song. He was basically naming all the things he is thankful for. Anyway he said "And if this is your very first concert, THANK YOU!" and leaned down and blew her a kiss. Don't you know her little 12 yr old heart just exploded! All the band members had been leaning down and waving to her all night.  It was so sweet!

Another memorable night!