I think I haven't written in a while -- life here has been hectic! I know all of you live lives of peace and contentment, with no stress and nothing to do but sew and.... what? What's that you say? Tisn't so? Ok, then, maybe you do know what I'm talking about. Busy, busy, busy!

I have gotten little done in the field of sewing -- (It seems I can clean or I can sew, but not both!)Sweetie has asked me to sew a new patch on his new leather vest -- leather patch, leather vest. I need to check to see what size needle I need to sew leather, then I'll give it a try.

Today was class --- had three students today -- all Spanish speakers. We had a good class and they increased their vocabularies. They did really well in their writing -- but, they write in English just as they do in Spanish, and of course, that isn't the way it is done. So, we did some correcting sentence structure and also pronunciation. They are good students and are working very hard.

Friday I have the privilege of having a colonscopy. Privilege? Yes, indeed. Praise God for insurance and for doctors and for the wonderful inventions that can look inside your body and see problems while they are small... and treat them before they become big and life threatening.
Yes, it is a privilege, but not something to look forward to. So, think of me tomorrow as I begin preparation, and then on Friday morning as I have the test.

Today my BF took me for lunch (Birthday). I guess this was all of it -- birthday is finally over!
Yesterday was my brother's birthday and also my granddaughter's 11th birthday. Next will be Sweetie's. He will be having his 65th birthday this year!

Take care, all of you, and drop me a note if you will. I love hearing from people.

Give- Away

Gene Black (http://artbygene.blogspot.com is having a give-away featuring fat quarters. He has a darling fat quarter shown that looks a bit like me when I'm shopping. Drop by his blog to admire his new "baby" and enter his give-away. We never have too many fat quarters! (Thanks to Pat (http://alittleofthisandalittleofpat.blogspot.com for telling me about his give-away!)

Mom is going home today -- she has been here for two weeks and we've really enjoyed her visit.
It is a 3 hour drive to take her home, but my brother and I split the distance and meet and swap her from one car to the other. That way, 3 hours and we are all back at our own homes.
.......I know Mom will enjoy being back to her own routine -- her BF has called her every morning, exchanging information. Unfortunately, BF has bad arthritis and the recent rains have her rather stove up........"stove up" Do you know that term? I guess I spelled it right -- it means having trouble getting around -- stove is the past tense of stave, which has to do with parts of a barrel -- staves. Anyway, she has been hurting. Mom doesn't seem to have that many problems with arthritis, but, unfortunately, I don't take after her.
............Good news! My YD has a new job -- will do orientation on Oct 5. This will be something new for her, and will be part time, but we are hoping for 30 - 35 hours/wk. It won't pay all the bills but will certainly help. Bad news is that she will be working odd hours, evenings and weekends, I'm sure, and no benefits. That means that child care will be a problem and someplace where we will have to step in and assist with V. I have mixed emotions about that, but school will take most of her days so we will have her in the evenings. We will manage, I'm sure, and we are just praising God that YD has this job in these hard economic times. Every day we hear of more people losing their jobs. A cousin lost hers yesterday -- she's in her 50's and was let go, possibly, so that she wouldn't be there when she hit the age where she would be due full retirement. Such a sleazy way of treating your employees!

Take care, everyone, and drop me a note when you visit. I love hearing from everyone!

Pat Casadei, from A Little of this and a Little of Pat, wrote that her daughter's surgery went well and the doctor is optimistic that it was not cancer. He is, however, still worried about her knee -- that surgery hasn't healed like it should.
Pat, we will be praying for her and for you!

I've just finished reading a novel by Earlene Fowler -- you quilters may know her quilting novels. This one isn't about quilting but it still a good read. It is called The Saddlemaker's Wife.
.........One part I really enjoyed was a Christmas Eve message brought by one of the characters. In it he talks about families. He wondered if Jesus's sisters and brothers got annoyed with him. Hummm, an interesting thought. I think there is some disagreement about whether or not there were other children in the family of Joseph and Mary. I, personally, believe that they had other children after Jesus. As first children often are, Jesus might have been the favored child - at least the other's might have thought so. His birth was such a miraculous event in Mary's life, and in the life of Joseph. I wonder if Joseph ever looked at this oldest son and wondered.....who knows what.
..........But consider the other children -- how do you compete with someone who came to be the Savior of the world? While they may have adored Him, still, he was different.
......Interesting to think about. What do you think?

Chicken foot

For my Wisconsin friend, and others who are not in the know, the picture above is of a game of chicken-foot. It is played with a double 12 set of dominoes (color coded for the numerically challenged.) This game is a lot of fun and can be played by young and old alike. (The point where the rows of dominoes branch off from the original long row is called the chicken foot. The "foot" consists of a double and then three matching dominoes played in a pattern that looks like a three-toed chicken foot, hence the name.

I finally did it!

The picture below is my GD, V, trying on her new birthday (10) clothes. The top is rather special. It is the first garment that I actually decorated with my new Husquvarna embroidery machine. V picked the sun design and then Grandma got cold feet and didn't do it. Today I realized that if I messed it up, I'd buy her another shirt, but it was time to get busy. It was surprisingly easy! Only problem is that I put it too low on her shirt. I think it should be higher but she and her mother liked it where it was. Now I'm anxious to do another something!

V and her mother came for dinner -- We had sausage with onions and bell peppers, corn, rice, and cabbage. The next door neighbor brought over a gift and a dozen decorated cupcakes. V was thrilled, and I have to admit, those cupcakes were delicious! V asked me for a new pillow for her bed and I got her one. She was delighted with it. The pillow and her new clothes (2 new tops and a new skirt) were the gifts from these grandparents. She has another party tomorrow and then her birthday is over. I, on the other hand, am still celebrating!

Good morning to everyone. We are still enjoying cooler weather! It is only 73 deg F this morning and I'm going to open windows. My favorite time of year -- when doors and windows can be open all day and night.

You can tell which is the north side of our house -- it has moss growing on it. The HOA has requested that we remove it so Sweetie and I will have to power wash it this weekend. Birthday's over so it is back to our chores.

Mom and I attended a Southern Living at Home party yesterday morning. Beautiful things but a bit pricey for me. However, despite my best intentions of leaving my wallet closed, I opened it to buy a new cook book centered around "lighter cooking." Many of my older recipes are no longer considered heart healthy so I found this lovely cook book -- three ring binder style -- and invested in it. We'll see if I can learn a new way of cooking.

In observance of Grandparents week, Mom and I will join my granddaughter, V, for lunch. It is nice to be so honored. How fortunate she will have a grandma and a great-grandma to share the time with her. Some people never get to know their great-grandparents.

I was reading Sue's blog (you can find it here,) She posted something that I need to remember.

"He looks at you with compassion.
He doesn't look at the sin because He has already paid for it."

How wonderful to know this! And, knowing this, shouldn't we look at others with compassion because He has already paid for their sins, also. A wonderful thought for my day. Feel free to share it -- He has forgiven your sin, too!

WOW!

What a great dinner -- we arrived at Carino's and the hostess told my husband that "they" were on the left. "They?" What they? I knew our best friends were out of town. WOW! There sat my oldest daughter and her husband, fresh in from Albuquerque! I was so wonderfully pleased.
What a wonderful surprise! Thank you OD, and thank you, Sweetie! It made my evening very special.

An earlier birthday! Wasn't I a doll!

It seems that our days of rain have passed but now we are having lovely cool weather. Today it was overcast and looked like rain but the rain never came.

...........This morning I took a rather long walk with a friend. Haven't walked in a long time, and I definitely need the exercise.

.......My Mom is here for a two week visit and we have been running around together. Today we went to the Tuesday Morning store and she bought a reading lamp that will hang on the head of her bed. She also picked up another couple of items, including a gift for a friend back home.

We then went to a thrift store and to the grocery store. I had some prescriptions to pick up for the hubby so we made a couple of side trips. We are experimenting with a cheaper way of getting meds since every dollar counts these days. We got one of his prescriptions for $5.00 for a month's supply and no insurance required. Can't beat that!

...........My youngest daughter is still out of a job and, despite her pounding the pavement, there are no jobs in sight. It is a depressing situation but I firmly believe that the Lord has a plan for her and that He will show it in His time. We just have to keep praying and believing!

...........Tomorrow is my birthday! I always say that the entire country of Mexico celebrates my birthday since Diez y Seis de Septembre is a national holiday in Mexico. I believe it is the equivalent of their Independence Day.

.......Tonight Sweetie and taking us out for dinner since tomorrow night he has choir and Praise Team practice -- we will go to Carinos for Italian food...and dessert! They have a wonderful dessert featuring warm chocolate cake and ice cream. It is a large serving and the three of us will share it! Yum, Yum! (Do you think the walk I took this morning will offset the calories?)

........Has anyone been watching America"s Got Talent? Last night we saw the final performances. I can't decide which one will win. I saw some that weren't good enough, in my opinion, but some were very good. I guess we will have to wait and see what happens!

...Tomorrow is my class -- I believe some more new students will be there, along with one from last semester's class. It should be interesting. I have my lessons already prepared and the exercise sheets ready to be printed. It helps if I can stay ahead of the game!

If you drop by, stop long enough to tell me what you've been up to. I always enjoy hearing from readers.

A piece of art in the area in front of the World Trade Center. I always thought the design of the building on the left looked like giant forks standing in front of the building. Later I saw those forks broken and twisted and lying amidst rubble.
This is the 8th anniversary of the WTC disaster. 09/11/01 -- a day that we all watched with unbelieving eyes as the World Trade Center fell into a pile of rubble, leaving behind death and destruction. As I watched it on TV I couldn't believe that the huge building I had visited in NYC was falling down! Then the second tower fell and the other planes crashed -- one in the Pentagon, where my cousin had worked, and one in Pennsylvania. How could these things be happening -- surely this was another "War of the Worlds" joke -- surely this was a TV trick.
What a terrible time -- my brother, who worked in NYC, spent hours trying to locate all the friends that could have been and should have been in those buildings. The were all eventually accounted for, but others.....others never came home. Other people's friends and families were not accounted for. What a terrible time it was!

If you haven't done so, I would like you to read a book entitled, The Day The World Came To Town - 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland. It is a wonderful story about how a city and a country came to the aid of people displaced by the terrible events of 9/11.

P. S. The art pictured above was entitled "The Sphere" and was by Fritz Koenig. It was the only piece of WTC art to survive the terrorist attack. Today it is in Battery Park, Manhattan, New York City, where it was mounted with all of its scaring showing. Damage includes a large gash in which was found debris from the plane, a Bible, and papers that came from an office on the top floor of the WTC. A quote from a BBC article said that "It became its own cemetery."

some news

I shopped at Walmart today -- needed several things plus an outing. Our closest store is still undergoing the remodeling that spelled the end to their fabric department. I was happy to see, however, that they now have fat quarters and some jelly roll type thingies. I guess that is better than no fabric at all!

More rain!!

It's beginning to look like Houston -- raining everywhere!
We have had rain off and on all day and I'm loving it. I wish I could say that it cooled the air, but that didn't happen. It was hot and humid, but IT RAINED!

Today was my first class of the new semester. I had one old student return -- she is going to Taiwan for 6 months so she just dropped by to say goodbye. I also had three new students -- one from Mexico, one from India, and one from Columbia. The Indian student is actually too advanced for my class, but there isn't a more advanced class for her at this time. She will probably stay just for the practice. Two of the old class may be there next week -- the Farsi and the Chinese speakers. If not, I'll let in one or two more new students.

Sweetie went to Austin on business and is now at choir practice. I think he'll be home at his regular Wed night time and I will be happy to see him and hear how his day went.

We will pick up my Mom on Sunday afternoon -- she will be here for two weeks. I'm really looking forward to her visit.

Take care, everyone, and drop by for a visit if you get a chance!

You never know who is listening.

I dropped in at the library this morning -- my ESL class resumes tomorrow and I wanted to touch base with the new coordinator. When I called my students I found that one has started a baby-sitting job and probably won't be able to come. Another took my advice and found classes closer to her home -- she was driving 1 to 1 1/2 hours each way to take my class.
A third student said she might be able to come later but not for the first class.
That was going to make for a very small class and I knew there were people on the waiting list.
While I was sorting through those on the list, and discussing the applicants with my coordinator, I was approached by two different women who had been listening. One is from India and speaks very well. The other is from Columbia, and has limited English. Both wanted to come to my class. I interviewed them and agreed that I would accept them. I explained to the Indian woman that my class might be too basic for her, but she was welcome to come and give us a try. The Colombian woman will fit right in. This leaves me with two Chinese speakers, one who speaks Farsi, one who speaks Hindi, and one who speaks Spanish. Should be an interesting class!

Shouldn't It Come Naturally?

In recent conversations with my Sweetie I have found my self saying, "We need to do the Christian thing in this matter." and "We need to approach this from a Christian viewpoint."
It would seem that we were struggling to deal with some difficult situations and wanted to be sure that we were acting as Christians. It has now made me think -- should we have to work at doing things in a Christian manner or shouldn't it just come naturally? What do you think?

Do you always act in a Christian way, or do you have to stop and think about what you are thinking of doing and how it will be perceived by the others involved?
...........I'm reminded of WWJD -- the catch phrase that people wore/wear on wrists, caps, pins, etc. It has appeared on notebooks, stationery, and address labels. "WWJD -- What would Jesus Do." Should we have to stop and think or should it be automatic? Hummmm, well, I don't know about you, but I have to stop and think.
..........I talked to a young family member this morning -- she is having problems with her immediate family members. The quarrel between her and her parents has escalated throughout the summer and it would seem that she is busy trying to involve other family members in the matter, though she says she is not. This is something that I definitely don't want to get involved in, yet.... as she said, whenever any of us talk together, the subject always comes up. It is rather like the elephant in the room -- it is always there and it colors every conversation. I found myself trying to weigh my words to her as to whether or not they were true, kind, and Christian.
I guess I haven't reached that level, yet, where I can speak freely without worrying about what comes flowing out of my mouth.
Shouldn't it come naturally? Or, is this something we all have to struggle with on a day to day basis. Does it have to do with being human? Does the evil one try to trip us up?
Your opinion will be appreciated.

Happy Labor Day

Good morning -- I hope you will have a labor-less day today!
.............Sweetie and I had planned a 3-day trip but had to cancel our plans about mid-week. So, we decided to have a "stay-cation" which is doing special things around your own area. Friday evening we had friends over for dinner and games. It was great fun and we really enjoyed ourselves!
.........We took a little road trip on Sat -- drove around the area, taking back roads when the mood hit us. We haven't done that in quite a while......................... We ended up in Bellville, which was having Trade Days on the square -- about 30 booths were set up with many different things available for purchase..........................I bought a plumbago bush -- I've wanted one for some time.
.................Bellville is the county seat of Austin County and it has a population of under 4,000 people. It is set in green rolling hills which are covered with wild flowers in the spring.
I took a picture of the old jail which is now a jail museum. The architectural style is typical of this area in bygone days. There are three full stories plus a partial fourth story known as the gallows. "The gallows" was used only once, in 1901.

Sunday afternoon, after church, we stopped at a couple of stores in our area and looked at area rugs. We are planning to get something for our seating area in the living room. We didn't buy anything but did get a better idea of what we want our rug to look like.
.............Our treat for the day -- it rained! We didn't get a lot at our house, but it was surely welcome.
...............A little later today we will go see a movie -- we will see The Time Traveler's Wife. Afterward we are going to get some Mexican food for our dinner.

(A late note -- We saw the movie and both thought it was very good. It approached the subject of time traveling in a different way from what we'd seen before. It has some brief rear nudity, which is probably what earned it the PG-13, but it is not done in an offensive manner and we felt it contributed to the movie. If you get a chance, you just might like this movie.)

.........Tomorrow it is back to the "real" world -- Sweetie will be off to work and I will be gathering up my supplies for my ESL class which starts again on Wednesday. I think we will be refreshed, however, from having this holiday weekend.

What did YOU do on your weekend?

A fish tale!

This is my next-door neighbor with his catch after his recent fishing trip to the Gulf of Mexico.

All are red fish except for one, a speckled trout. The one he is holding is 36 inches! He caught his limit that day.

Second attempt

This is trial #2 -- this one came out much better than the first. I didn't sew any pins into the binding this time! I made the loop. Still learning, however.
Several things to be learned from looking at "bought" hot pads. They do a marvelous job in sewing the bias tape binding on. Mine isn't as evenly sewn.
They often have raw edges where the tape meets and where the loop is sewn on.
If both sides are plain the quilting will go through both sides.
If one side is plain and one side is decorative, the quilting is done on the back (plain side) to sew the back to the padding. The decorative front is then laid on top and the edges are bound.

I think my third time will be a charm!

Happy Birthday

Today is V'd birthday -- her mom and I surprised her at school lunch. I hid behind a door and when she came into view I stepped out with my camera. She tried to hide her face but I got her! (She's in white with a little bit of pink on the sides.) She's 10 years old today!
She usually eats the school lunch but decided to take a lunch from home today. She got to sit beside her mom.

Grandma baked some chocolate chip cookies and she was peeking into the basket to see what they looked like. There was enough for her class but they had to wait until recess to eat them.

V and her new teacher -- they seem to be getting along well together.

The new floor

Pictures, at long last!

Finally, I'm posting pictures of the new floor. Coolrue has been waiting with bait-breath... oh, no, I mean baited breath (lol) to see the pictures. The transition strip is being installed today but that isn't anything that I will want to photograph so I went ahead and took these pictures.

We removed the old carpet -- which was the color of oatmeal, and to replace it we chose 20 inch ceramic tile in a random pattern of beige tones with some white and some grayish mixed in. I am already finding it easy to keep clean. I bought a dust mop and it is a snap to run it around, under, etc., and it leaves things so neat looking.

A test!

Chooky Blue has always been very helpful to other bloggers. She seems to know quite a bit about how this blogging thing works and is willing to help whenever she can. I sent her a question about putting a link in my blogs and she sent information about this. I'm going to give it a try. If you want to read Chooky's blog, you should click here http://chookyblue.blogspot.com/.
Now, if I did that right, it should take you to her blog.

Well, it worked! However, I wanted it to just link on the word "here" and not put in the entire URL. I'm pleased with this much -- will try something else later.

Ok, here is another try. If you want to read Chooky's blog, you should click here.

Hooray! It worked -- thanks Paulette.

It is wonderful that there are helpful people like Chooky and Paulette on line. I feel like I've discovered gold!

This rather blurry picture shows a pot holder I made over the weekend. It was a learning tool and I did learn several things in the making of it. I used one of my hexagons to put in the middle and I did a machine blanket stitch to applique it down. I have plans to make more pot holders using the lessons I learned (hopefully) while making this one.

Yesterday, while the men were stretching the bedroom carpet and then cleaning the bedroom carpet and the stairs, I was busy in the kitchen. I made cornbread and then put two pans of chilies in to roast. I also put yellow squash on to cook -- the cornbread and squash will go into squash dressing. The house smelled wonderful and the men wanted to know just what I was cooking! After the chilies cooked and cooled I stuffed a dozen of them with cheese sticks. They are now frozen in the freezer, still on the pans. I'll remove them this morning and move them to a gallon size zip-lock freezer bag. I have enough chilies for two more pans -- then I'll buy some more. Last night we had roasted turkey thighs, a sweet potato, and the squash dressing. Dinner was delicious, if I do say so myself. (We had sugar free jello with bananas for dessert.)

...This morning, before I do more chilies, I want to make some cookies. My YGD, V, will have her 10th birthday tomorrow and her Mom and I are going to surprise her at school lunch with a pizza and cookies.

....while cookies are cooking I will return the missing items to the bedroom. We have decided to stay upstairs until after my Mom leaves -- she will come to visit on the 13th, and will stay for two weeks. I have several things planned to do with her so we shall be busy. (I fear, however, that she will miss all the fun things she has been doing in Austin.) After she leaves we will finally move back downstairs to our own bedroom.

.....Do you realize that it is definitely time to start thinking about Christmas! Oh, my, let the shopping begin!!