Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Summer Vacation Days 11 and 12

Two rather slow days!! 
I am having difficulty recalling exactly how I spent the past two days!

Torri's quilt is now quilted, bound and labeled!  Rob and Isabel's quilt is also labeled.  All are wrapped and packed and ready to go! 

Today, I spent time with my friend Whitney.  Her significant other just left with the 251st for a one year tour in Afghanistan.  Please pray for all of those men and women, that they will be safe. 

We had lunch, and did a little shopping.  Through the wonderful assistance of the man in blue at Best Buy, I found exactly what I needed to complete the photo DVD.  Of course Whitney was a big help in getting his attention!  I also did a bit of research at Lowes for our new shower stall.  We want to take the jacuzzi tub out of the master bathroom and replace it with an oversized shower. 

I have some great information and will be putting together some estimates when I get back next week. 

When I returned home, I finished the photo DVD and it was a success.  Whew! Glad to have that completed. 


Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Summer Vacation Day 10

Memorial day.  A day to remember all of our heroes, mostly those fallen, but also to remember those who are still serving.  A prayer, a thank you, a hand shake, a smile.  Sometimes that is all that is needed to bring light to another's life, regardless of their situation. 
We have what we have because of what these military men and women are doing to protect our country.  For this, I am extremely thankful. 

On Monday, I worked....I finally sold this large dresser that was in the Guest Room (Now Mom's room):  


 I had to maneuver it out of the house basically on my own, with a little assistance from Mom, my dad's old Army blanket and a hand truck!  Here it stands out side the house awaiting its new owner. 


Then I moved the new dresser in using the same creative techniques! 







Additionally, I found this great Facebook site called Henderson TN Closet Shoppers Only!  I have managed to sell Mom's new But unwanted iPad case and her old toaster! 

I have some nibbles on a few other items I have posted there, and later this week, will be posting more.  It is fast, easy and fun! 


Yesterday I attempted to burn a DVD of photos of Rob and Isabel's wedding to show at the NJ party.  I have the right software in my computer, but unfortunately,not the correct type of DVD's here!  ERGH!!!

I started to put the music together, but got frustrated with the DVD situation and now just have a pile of CD's on my desk. 

Additionally, I have 3/4 of Torri's quilt quilted, the binding is pressed and ready to cut. 

Today, I plan to get the labels finished and the quilting finished. 

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Summer Vacation Days Eight and Nine

Well, a lazy weekend is drawing to a close.

I was unable to sleep on Friday night, so on Saturday, I was functioning on 4 hours sleep.  Therefore, I accomplished very little that day!

The dresser I listed on Craigslist has sold, the guy is picking it up tomorrow.  Mom and I cleaned out her dresser that is currently in the "storage unit", which is actually a portion of Vince's workshop.  She identified several items she can part with.  Tomorrow we will switch out the dressers.

One of the items Mom was willing to sell was a 4 slice toaster.  That sold today!  I belong to a Facebook group that sells items.  I listed a number of items, and so far only the toaster has found a new home.

I washed all the little rocks that I am using in the centerpieces for Rob & Isabel's party,  then I located the 5 gallon pail of the remainder (in the garden shed , covered with cobwebs and dust) of these little rocks and used them to fill the hole in our driveway.

Mom and I sorted the yard sale items in the garage, so that after we return from NJ, I will not have much to do to get ready for the yard sale.  That is scheduled for June 8th.

I finished 3/4 of the quilting on Torri's quilt.  I just have the borders and the free spaces to quilt.  I should have it ready to bind by tomorrow.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Summer Vacation Day Seven

Wow, I cannot believe I have been out of school for a week already!


  
Today is Friday, and I keep having to remind myself of that!  I am also having a hard time recalling what I managed to accomplish today!  (Just kidding!!)

I slept in (until 8:00)!  Janice and I went to the big city of Jackson today.





My vacuum is a bit ill, so I dropped it off to be repaired, then we ventured up to Hancock Fabrics so that Janice could purchase some fabrics for a quilt she is making.  



 Then we had lunch at Los Portales (the one in Jackson, not the one in Henderson!)  and ventured into Lowes so that I could purchase some paint to cover an area on the wall where Vince missed when he painted last.

We did not have the original paint can and I had previously picked up paint strips to see if I could match the color.  Today was the first attempt at seeing if we chose correctly.  I purchased a sample of that paint, some ceiling paint (as yet another project) and 4 water lily plants for the pond.



When I arrived home, Mom and I threw the lily plants into the pond, I painted the wall (the paint is a really good match!), ordered epiphytes for Rob and Isabel's party, completed two lines of quilting on Torri's Quilt, sorted through some old photographs (anyone have a use for those unwanted ones???), listed a few items on Freecycle, listed a dresser for sale on Craigslist, and started dinner.

It was not as productive a day as I usually have.  However, I had a great time with Janice, had a long chat with my cousin Kathleen and played with  my dogs.










Summer Vacation DaySix

Another stay at home day today.  Since Vince is working days this week, I was awake early.

So, I dyed my hair, showered , and made the bed before eating breakfast.  Then, I finished basting Torri's quilt.  All this was accomplished before my friend Janice showed up for our quilt date at 9:00!

For the next several hours, Janice and I chatted and laughed our way through the cutting process of making a quilt.














I managed to turn a daunting pile of baby clothes into this selection of squares.  I also worked out a design.  I have enough blocks now and will start sewing them together after I quilt Torri's quilt.






After Janice left, I finished cutting my squares and then finished the binding on Rob & Isabel's quilt.

















Since our minister will be on vacation on Sunday, I agreed to do the Children's message.  It is based on Psalm 8, which is about worship and praise.  Thankfully, that is an easy one!  A little research, a little internet surfing and I was finished.




 I continued working on Jennifer's quilt, and I believe I have enough blocks cut out (I used up all of the clothing!) for the top.  I plan to use the blankets for the backing and since several of them are thick enough, will not add any additional batting.  She included a lot of bibs and I plan to applique them onto the back of the quilt.  If there are enough, I plan to use the bibs as the quilting design.  This is a definite "design as I go" quilt!





Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Summer Vacation Day 5

I started out with the mundane task of getting my oil changed.  While there, I was entertained by the daughter of one of the staff.  She is going into the fifth grade in the fall.  We played games on our iPads!!

The it was time for a variety of errands around the little town of Henderson.  After dropping off two bags of fabric scraps at the dump, I dropped off my jacket to be dry cleaned.  However, we do not have a cleaners in Henderson.  The local Merle Norman shop is a drop off site for a cleaner in Jackson.

Then I stopped in at Sweetly Ever After, our local cupcakery.  No, I did not get a cupcake! I picked up the recycling items they collected for me.



Next, I dropped off a damaged piece of Tupperware at the County Clerk's office.  I know that sounds odd, too, but my Tupperware dealer's brother in law is the County Clerk.



Then, I met up with my friend Sandy at the intersection of the Highway 100 and Route 225 to give her some bottles I collected.  Sandy is a stained glass artist, she also slumps bottles.  I had two I want her to slump for me as well as several other assorted bottles from friends.

 Upon arrival at the Carrabba Compound, I finished the napkins for the NJ party and fixed the binding on Rob & Isabel's quilt, and basted half of Torri's quilt.


 Now that dinner is over, I am working on the final hand stitching of Rob and Isabel's quilt.  Tomorrow I will tackle the label issue. 









Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Summer Vacation Day 4

Today was a stay at home day!

The plan was to finish the binding on Rob & Isabel's quilt.  I managed to make my very first bias binding and sew it to the quilt.  As I was hand stitching the back of the binding, I kept finding areas where I stitched too close to the edges.  These errors were at the inverted points.  I found that I had to restitch several areas.  This slowed me down and tired me out!

I did what I could tolerate then put it aside until tomorrow

Thanks to my friend Janice, I have a serger  to use to serge  the edges of the cloth napkins for the NJ party.  I finished half of those today.  With that project, I used up a load of black and white fabric!

I also worked the phones today and finalized the NJ party arrangements with the hall and the caterer. My dear friend Kathy notified me that some of the items I ordered had arrived at her house  in NJ.
I arranged my schedule for tomorrow mornings errands, and ordered adapters for my sewing machine so that I can use the embroidery module with my laptop.  My old desktop has finally died, and the newer laptop does not have the same connections!

I know I worked all day, but I feel like I have very little to show for it!


Monday, May 20, 2013

Summer "Vacation" Days 1, 2, and 3

While there are many folks who believe that teachers actually have "time off" during the summer months, I am always incredibly busy. 

So, this summer, I plan to document what I accomplish each day.

I counted Saturday as the first day of my summer vacation.  On Saturday, MIL and I arose early so that we could venture into Memphis.  Our plan was to do a little shopping, some recycling and pick up a quilt. 
When the students at school cleaned out their lockers, we saved everything.  Well, almost everything.  I had boxes of all types of school supplies that were saved for next year's needy students.  I also had 4 large boxes of damaged binders.  There were close to 100 binders.  Staples has partnered with Terracycle to recycle these binders.  Our nearest Staples is in Memphis, so I took the binders there.  I also purchased an "easy" button to use in class next year!  It will partner nicely with the "no" button from this year.






Mom and I then went to have lunch at Panera Bread, and with our new myPanera cards, earned a free pastry! Lunch was wonderful, and the pastry was a nice treat for that night.

We ventured back to Oakland, where my LongArm Quilter lives.  She finished quilting the wedding quilt for Robert and Isabel.  It looks fantastic and now all I have to do is bind it.

That evening, we had dinner with friends at our local steak house.  Wonderful time, wonderful company, wonderful meal!


On my second day of summer vacation, I went to Church, taught a Sunday School lesson on The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, visited my mother (an amazingly short visit due to the fact that we arrived 15 minutes before her smoke break!).  It was no major problem, as we had a mystery date with Vince that evening.


Last night we went to a Jackson Generals baseball game!  It was great fun even though the Generals played badly until the 7th inning. They did really well, but did not manage to catch up.

Today, Monday, my third day of summer vacation was another busy one.  I carted all of the Terracycle recycling packages up to Jackson to the UPS store.  I shipped off over 100 pounds of trash.  WHEW!  Glad to have that gone.  We did a little shopping at the Goodwill store, had lunch and then visited Lowes.  I have a few projects I want to work on this summer around the house, so I needed a few items.

When we returned home, it was clean the house time.  MIL did the dusting and vacuuming while I cleaned the birds cage and carted box after box out of the house for the yard sale or for recycling.  We REALLY cleaned house today!

I had purchased two water lilies for our pond, we threw them in and will see what happens!

I also ordered a serial port USB adapter cable so that I can continue to use my Bernina Embroidery card reader with the laptop.  My old desktop has finally died.  It will go to computer heaven this summer!

I finished packing up the glasses for the centerpieces for Robert and Isabel's NJ party and packed a memory gift for my brother.

I also received a great birthday gift from brother Jim!  Now that I have no more school, I should be able to enjoy the fragrant bath items and lotions.  Interestingly enough, there were two bracelets in the package as well.  My sister gave me bracelets for my birthday this year too!

Stay tuned for the rest of what I do on my summer vacation!~~~~~~