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!

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. 

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!

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!~~~~~~

Countdown Update

We are half way through our TCAP testing!  Only two more tests to go.  Our students are doing fabulously!
Since my last post, Vince and I have worked the 2013 Bunny Run Car Show and had a great time.  The recycling was very successful. 

I am now managing the new Jackson Rod and Custom club website!  check it out at:   www.thebunnyrunjacksontn.webs.com  It is still under construction, but it is doing well.  I also set up a facebook page for the Bunny Run. 

I have managed to finish my lesson plans for the last two weeks of school.  The Game of Life has a new event!  The students will be going out to dinner.  Let's hope they can manage their budget correctly.  All papers are copied and all important resources are laminated. 

I have registered for the Paducah show, and signed up for a small class.  I wanted an item I could finish in one class period, so no big quilts for me this weekend.  I still need to cut my fabrics and gather my supplies.  That may be an activity for Thursday night!  My friend Janice is coming along with me, so we will have a grand time! 

Here is the current countdown: 

3 more days until I go to Paducah for the Quilt show!
11 more days until my birthday!
17 more days of actual school!
23 more days until the end of school!
37 more days until I arrive in New Jersey!
40 more days until Rob and Isabel's party in New Jersey

Countdowns

Life is all about numbers.
While we should live for today and  not for some future day, it is still exciting to think about future plans!
Thus, I have my countdown for the next two months or so.  I am excited about what I will be doing in the future as well as those loved ones I will see! 

Of course, there are some other nifty events occurring this month, such as the School Banquet, The Bunny Run Car Show, and  TCAPs. 

21 more days until I go to Paducah for the Quilt show!
29 more days until my birthday!
30 more days of actual school!
41 more days until the end of school!
55 more days until I arrive in New Jersey!
57 more days until Rob and Isabel's party in New Jersey

Spring Break-Monday

Just in case you have not been keeping up with the connections between my health and time off from school, I usually am ill.  I have no idea why that happens, but it does. 

This Spring Break is no different.  Last Wednesday, I began to have a bit of congestion and a sore throat, and by Friday I was suffering from a bout of laryngitis.  Fortunately, two days of mostly sleeping has conquered the majority of the problems and I am ready for my Spring Break!!

Today, bright and early, we adventured to the big city of Jackson, TN.  Mom and I had appointments with the dogs at the vet, and we decided to combine it with a few errands in Jackson.

My friend Beverly and I wanted to look for a new Bible Study guide for our church group.  We met at LifeWay Christian Store and if it was not for Beverly, I would still be there deciding.  She found me in the Bible Study section sitting on the floor, surrounded by several options.  I was reading through the ones I found, trying to decide if the curriculum would meet our needs.

She mentioned having read The Case For Christ, while in school.  She explained that Lee Strobel was an atheist who decided to prove that Christ did not exist.  In the course of his research, he found otherwise.  Now there is a study available on this and several of Lee's other books.  We decided on this one as it appears to meet our spiritual needs.  I picked up a copy of the book to read for myself! 


After we left Lifeway, Mom and I took the dogs to Petco.  Kashmir, Narnia and Lizzie had great fun wandering through the toy aisles and the treat aisles.  They each picked out a toy and decided on one bag of treats that they would share.  They reminded me that the parakeets needed seed, so we picked up a bag of seed for them as well. 

Next, we went to one of my favorite places--It's Sew Easy--the quilt shop.  I purchased some lovely fabric to make a quilt for the daughter of a dear friend of mine. Of course that has to get in line behind my son and daughter-in-law's quilt!

Upon arrival at the vet's office all our babies were excited to be out of the car once again. Unfortunately, they recognized the office and did not want to go in.  I had to push Narnia in and then Kashmir followed.  We sat in the waiting room, and Kashmir was quite content as she found a corner to hide in.  Narnia just kept whining and trying to be a lap dog.  Imagine 65 pounds in your lap!!  When it was their turn on the scales, we found that Kashmir and Narnia have gained 8 pounds each since last year.   They definitely need to cut back on the treats! 

In the exam room, I get to sit with one dog at a time while the other goes for her shots and testing.  Kashmir found another corner to hide in, so that was not too bad.  Narnia, however, spent her time whining and barking and howling for her sister.  Thankfully, they were back together soon.  When the vet came in for the actual exam, Narnia tried to be a lap dog again.  It was quite funny to see how attached she was to me!  Kashmir's turn found her trying to sink into the floor.  She would not get up for the exam, and when we lifted her up, she was like a boneless dog.  She just hung there. 

Whew!  We finally finished that and were able to leave after scheduling Narnia's teeth cleaning for Wednesday.  Isn't it great that I am off this week so I can tend to the dog's medical needs?!? 

We made it home uneventfully and I am waiting on the iron to heat up so I can press the quilt pieces I just stitched together.  The wedding quilt WILL be pieced this week!  I have all of the arcs pieced and once I press them, will lay them out in their pattern and begin putting the top together.  YAY!