Saturday, January 28, 2006
The label for Joe's quilt
Here are 2 pics of the label!
Have a great day!
Hugs
Laurie
Friday, January 27, 2006
It's Friday...
Tonight is date night with DH. Our concert last week with the KC Orchestra was AMAZING!!! We really enjoyed it...except for the idiot next to me who didn't think the announcement of "please turn your pagers and cell phones off" applied to him! GRRRR...more than once he opened his phone to see who had called. At intermission he told his chick he had 8 phone calls to return. DH heard that and said, "It's Saturday night...is the guy a pimp?" LOL...that's my dh's warped sense of humor! But honestly...what adult man gets that many phone calls on a Saturday night???
Not a whole lot going on here which is JUST FINE!!! Have a great weekend!!!
Hugs
Laurie
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Work yesterday...
Joe stopped by last night after working. I had bought him a few things for his apt. while I was at Target. He just LOVES his new place! Then he called me a little after 10pm and said that Ryan (a coworker at the liquor store Joe works at) was coming over to see his new place. NOW...I was THRILLED to hear this as Ryan is a SUPER kid. He and Joe get along so well! Joe said to me, "Mom, Ryan is someone who I should be hanging around with. He's never smoked pot and never will smoke pot. His friends don't either!!!" I said, "I'm glad to hear that!" Joe said, "Well Dave was not a good living arrangement for me with all the drugs he and his wife were doing every day. I am so glad to be out of there!"
SO...WOOHOO...this mom continues to be happy with Joe's progress!!!!!
Have a great day!
Hugs
Laurie
Monday, January 23, 2006
What a day!!!
Next, it was off to helping Joe move in. Things went very well there...just a lot of trips up 3 flights of stairs! It was good exercise for me AND Joe!!!
After several trips to and fro we got him moved in. Dan met us at the Goodwill and Joe bought a couch and a couple of end tables. Funny thing though...Joe saw this kidney shaped black table with a set in glass top. It was only $25 but it was wobbly. I said let's find out why it's wobbly. So we were shaking the table gently and Joe said I think it's down at this end. I said, hmmm...let's turn it over and see exactly WHAT is wrong with that end. WELL...I did NOT know that glass table tops are NOT secure...the glass SHATTERED to the ground!!!!!:eek:eek YEPPERS>..the glass top was in a gazillion pieces. I said "Oh SH#$" and there was a grandpa and his little granddaughter standing there. I apologized profusely for that bad word.
SO...I told the lady that i didn't know what the policy was about such accidents but that I would pay for it. She said she didn't know either and would check. She came back and said, it's ok...no need to pay but all of the employees here get to whip ya once! I said "Bring it on!" Then Joe decided that he wanted the frame and would have Dan make a center for it in his Woods class at work. The guy gave it to us for $5!
Then Joe went to run a couple of errands and a guy saw me moving some stuff into Joe's apt. He said do you want this microwave cart? I said are you going to throw it away? He said yep. I said sure! He also had a little wire shelving unit on wheels and I said how bout that? He said want it? YEP! SO...I got those for Joe for FREE!!!
Dan was bringing something up the stairs and the guy asked if we'd want this 4'x2' throw rug as well! YEP!!! THEN...Joe came back from getting his big stuff from the house he was in and I told him about the "stuff". We saw the man who gave them to us and Joe thanked him. He came out with a toaster and asked if Joe wanted that too!!! Joe said is there a microwave in there? :lol:lol There wasn't but the guy, it turned out was the maintenance guy for the complex! I was relived to know he was such a kind soul!!!
Then Joe took us out to get pizza for dinner...it was a PERFECT day!!! Steve and I are WAY more happy that he's in this new place than in a house that is going to get out of hand with drugs. Joe told Steve (I left them to chat a bit at dinner while I came home) that he thinks his former roommate is doing crack as well as other stuff. Joe said he hasn't smoked pot since August and he doesn't want to go there again. Steve asked how old Dave is and Joe said 33. Steve said to Joe...and if you kept on the old track you were on you could be where Dave is today. Joe said he knows that but he doesnt' want to get to that point in his life. Moving was a MUST!
Steve told Joe too that he is an AWESOME manager at Moe's. He said and you know from me coaching you in soccer that I don't hand out compliments like that easily!!!
We will continue to pray that Joe stays on the straight and narrow!!!
Tomorrow I start work...should be interesting!!!
Hugs
Laurie
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Today's Project
And here is a close up of the guitar fabric...Joe has taught himself how to play the guitar and that is why we bought this for the borders. NOW...I wanted to surprise him with this because he has said several times, "Mom, you have til Super Bowl Sunday to get my quilt done!" LOL...TOday I was listening for his "HEAVY" footsteps upstairs(my sewing room is below the kitchen where everyone enters the house) because I had the top pinned to the rec room carpet in order to do the borders. I heard "softer than Joe" footsteps and figured it was Dan coming home from work. All of a sudden I hear, "MOM IT IS AWESOME!!!!" DANG IT...it was Joe...he saw his surprse but only with the sashing strips and not the guitar border. What's a mom to do! LOL
Now I am going to go put on some makeup, figure out what outfit I want to wear for date night with DH. We are going a restaurant that serves great seafood and then to the symphony orchestra where a gal and guy perform with the orchestra and will do the music of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Should be fun!
Have a great night!
Hugs
Laurie
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Mid-Life Crisis????
NOW...for the news I promised you this morning! My oldest, Joe, has struggled with stayin employed at one place more than a few months. He's been homeless, broke, and in DEBT. Coming up March 1, he will have been employed at 2 places for a YEAR! WOOHOO!!! And he's working to pay his student loan off, bought our old car and is paying for that, the ins. on it, and his cell phone. We have been his bank since he hasn't been able to get a bank account. He moved out in Nov. and it is NOT a good situation. We are pretty sure his roommates are ripping him off financially and that they are makin their money selling drugs. NOT GOOD...SO Joe said he needs to get out and we agreed wholeheartedly. (the good news is he didn't sign the lease, his roommates did so he's not locked in) I made some phone calls to apt. places on Monday, we looked at a place and put in an app. It will save him about $200/month and that doesn't include the decrease in his gas costs. We co-signed for him because we didn't think he'd qualify on his own credit. BUT HE DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then today...well, is there any better way to wake up than this? I turned on my cell phone and the voice mail "whoop whoop" sound went off! SO...I said to myself, AH, Sarah called after I went to bed. (she was supposed to call me after her job interview at 8PM last night and I heard nothing.) But the voicemail wasn't from Sarah...it was from Joe.
I will save this voicemail FOREVER!!! And remind me when he's made me upset to listen to it! The voicemail went something like this:
"Um, hi mom. It's Joe. I just wanted to call and tell you thank you so much for your help in finding me a new place to live. I have to tell you how much I appreciate it and how EXCITED (he giggles) I am to have qualified on my own for the apt too!!! I have had such AN AWESOME day and it's due largely in part to you and dad!! I am so thankful that you and dad are helping me pay off my loan to Target (he'll pay us back but we wanted it off his credit) and helping get my student loan back on track. It's just such an AWESOME feeling to be doing this on my own! And I REALLY REALLY appreciate your help...and dad's, I'll call him tomorrow and leave him a message but I thought I might catch you awake tonight. I just had to say THANKS!!!!! I appreciate your help!!! (he giggles again) I am just so HAPPY!!!"
I have listened to that message 3 times already! My heart is SO FULL and HAPPY!!! I pray that Joe is "getting it"!
THEN...there's Sarah. Spending money like she's got it! And she doesn't! She has to pay a LOT of the bills now that she's at a CC instead of WIU. I just shake my head on that one. She should hear about the job tonight...she'd get $4/hour and her tips being a server, which is what she does here. She said she'll probably get hired but is unsure of how many hours she'll get. Time will tell on that one.
Have a great rest of the day...OH...here's a pic of my 5 blocks for the Hazed and Infused quilt.
Have a great day!!!
Hugs
Laurie
"STUFF"...and thanks!!! :-D
Also, thank you for all the kind words with my daughter's situation! They were greatly appreciated!!!
I thought I'd share my lone star quilt with everyone. I took this class with Jan Krentz online at Quilt University. Jan did an AMAZING job teaching that class and I would take it again in a heartbeat!!! It was a true challenge. If you want to see more about the work entailed just go to my webshots site. There's a LOT of "STUFF" there! ;)
Today I am going shopping at the mall for clearance bargains. I need some new clothes!!!! WOOHOO!!!
Have a great day!
Hugs
Laurie
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Kids and why I'm TIRED
Anywho...I went back to bed and was still awake at 4:30AM. UGH...I awoke at 7AM and got up, showered and took DD back to "college". Turned around and came home...arriving at 6:30. DH took me to dinner!
In the mean time I found out from Kevin that Sarah broke a spindle on our banister at 1:45 AM when she tripped coming down the stairs...that was the noise that woke me up. I called Sarah and said when did you think you were going to tell me about the spindle? She said she was going to call me tonight. I said good grief, we spent 5 hours together today and you couldn't tell me????? She thought I'd be mad cuz when the boys, Kevin and Dan, chase each other in the house I always yell SPINDLES!!! LOL...I told Sarah it was an accident and stuff happens but to TELL me!!
I'm tired...I think I'll have one or two of the 4 major food groups...A BEER...and go to bed! ;)
I hope to get some quilting in tomorrow...HOPE is the operative word there!
Hugs
Laurie
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Tagged by Judy! ;o)
Four jobs you've had: Hospital kitchen worker, Elementary Ed tchr, Curves for Women, Health Club, Longarmer, but the MOST IMPORTANT JOB...MOM!!!
Four movies you could watch over and over: Miracle on 34th St., It's a Wonderful Life, A Beautiful Mind, The Notebook, Hoosiers, Coach Carter, Stand by Me, Breakfast Club...and many more
Four places you've lived: Rochester, MN (birthplace), St. Paul, MN, Apple Valley, MN, Burnsville, MN, Overlandd Park, KS
Four TV shows you love to watch: What About Earl, Law and Order, Boston Legal, The Bachelor (I KNOW I KNOW...but I find human nature interesting)
Four Places You've Been on Vacation: Banff, Canada, Toronto, Canada, Brussels, Amsterdam, London, Orlando, Palm Desert, Scottsdale, San Francisco
Four Websites You Visit Every Day: My newspaper in MN, Blogs, Yahoo Family group, Big Horn Quilts, EZBoard website with friends
Four Of Your Favorite Foods: Pizza, Beer (oh YES IT IS A FOOD!!! LOL), Chicken, Salmon, Steak, Buffalo
Places You'd Rather Be: HOME in Minnesota
Four Albums you can't live without: I'm not sure that I can't live WITHOUT these CD's, but they are my favorites at this time: Faith Hill's Firefly, Kenny Chesney (any of his CD's), Shania Twain (her older ones), Aaron Neville (any of his CD's)
Four People you'll pass this on to: Laurie Ann, Darilyn, Jeanne, Joanne
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Life in KS today!
Well, the snow above is what is going on here in KS at the moment!! Winter Storm Warning...2-4"! LOL Being from MN that just makes me laugh! MN wouldn't even call that a Storm WATCH, much less a WARNING!!! But, it's a great day to accomplish the fun pictured below!!!
YEPPERS...those are 2 homemade pizzas! One sausage with green olives and the other pepperoni with black olives!!! I have one more pizza crust in the bread machine!! Wanna know why I'm making 3 homemade pizzas??? (the third one will be sausage/pepperoni/g&b olives/onions/green pepper) Well, here's why...Kevin's college friend had a buddy from Alaska come into town
I made 2 more blocks for the H&I quilt top! It's a good project when one doesn't have a lot of time! ;0)
Hugs,
Laurie
Monday, January 09, 2006
2 Wasted Quilting Days
So, yesterday I had the bright idea of making a New York Beauty out of those colors...tried my hand at Karen Stone's NYB book that I have with the patterns and templates...DISASTER...TOTALLY DISASTER! I loved the color combinations that I had chosen but the workmanship was probably the WORST I had ever done...YES...the WORST!!! So, that blew my quilting time yesterday!
Today I had planned on quilting all day because I wasn't going to have a car. My son had work, physical therapy, and a dentist appt. BUT he came back from work at 10am and said he didn't work until 5pm!!!!!!!!!! LOL...so he went back to bed and I decided to run some errands. I tried on some aerobic shoes and then went to Talbot's where I dropped almost $400 on clothes on CLEARANCE!!! The only problem, dh needs to take me out to fancy places...so we'll see what I do. (the fun part of that shopping spree was when the gal said there's pants to this ensemble...did you see them? I said no, but if you have a size 12 I'll take them. I did and tried them on at home and they fit like a glove!!! WOOHOO!!!)
When I got home I decided that I just HAD to make a block out of the H&I fabrics. What to do??? I grabbed my book by Judy Hopkins, "Around the Block Again" and picked a 12" block. Here is the result of that block. What I'm thinking is to do a variet of 12" blocks and just make it a sampler! But who knows...that could change! LOL
This didn't photograph very well. The green is a very bright lime green and the dark purple is a purple that leans towards being a black-purple)
I hope everyone had a great day!!!
Hugs
Laurie
Friday, January 06, 2006
DH and I like our beer! YES, this is quilty!
SO...now that you have the background here is my story! One night we were sitting at the bar and one of the taps (Hazed & Infused) caught my eye. I LOVED THE COLORS! (and the beer!) ;o) I kept telling DH, I gotta make a quilt out of that beer tap! Being the dork he is he said, "Wouldn't it be easier to make it out of fabric?" DUH Well, needless to say I could NOT get the image out of my mind. We bought a 6 pack of the beer at the liquor store, but it just wasn't the same as having the tap from Old Chicago. One night last week we were in the restaurant eatin gand the mgr. came up to us (we know the mgrs because DD works there) and asked how our holidays were. I then said, HEY, can I have the Hazed and Infused beer tap? He looked at me kinda funny like and I said I HAVE to make a quilt out of those colors! He said hang on a sec and came back with an EXTRA H&I tap and gave it to me...PLUS he brought out a bucket of old taps. I took 5 of them in exchange for making him a tshirt quilt. I know I probably am coming up on the short of that stick but it's OK! SO...here is the tap that I coveted and now own!
A couple of days ago I thought, "It's time to pick fabrics for the H&I quilt!" So, I did! All of these are out of my stash!!! WOOHOO...STASHBUSTIN' IN '06!! I also laid out the Joen Wolfrom's color wheel device on top of the fabrics so you can see how it works. I don't use this often for my color choices, but I was so intrigued by the tap that I wanted to see if it fell into one of her 5 categories:
*monochromatic (one color)
*complementary (2 colors directly opposite from each other on the wheel)
*analogous (7 colors next to each other on the cw)
*splilt-complementary (2 complementary colors and add 2 colors on either side of ONE of those)
*triadic (3 colors equi-distant from each other on the cw)
And it DOES!!!!!!!!!!! It is SPLIT COMPLEMENTARY! How COOL is this???!!! Now to find the PERFECT PATTERN! AH, the hunt of the PERFECT PATTERN! I"ll find it somewhere! Someday...
So here is a picture of the fabrics, the left column are purples (the very deep purple didn't photograph well, it looks almost black but it is a black purple), then blues, yellow greens and yellow). This should be FUN!
Oh, here is a pic of the WBT tshirt quilt I made for DH and I cuz we had waaaaaaaaaaaaay too many! We have finished 4 full tours and are on our 5th!!!
I am going to PIECE today if it kills me! I probably will go get lunch at Moe's and then crank out quilting the rest of the afternoon! WOOHOO!!! I spent a whole day cleaning this pit of a sewing room so now it's time to mess it up! LOL...I even dusted behind stuff and pics and got cobwebs outta the corners! Do I REALLY want to mess it up????!!! Aw heck...WHY NOT! Have a great day everyone!!!
Hugs,
Laurie
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
For those wanting to lose weight
*it's free
*you can get 8 weeks free at Bally's if you join (unsure if there's a contract committment or not and you certainly could do your own exercise if you don't have a Bally's)
*getting the Discovery Channel is useful
*if you register you have access to lots of menus and recipes
Also, I did a google search typing in "free online diet programs" and there were a LOT of them! One is Ediets.com, along with many others.
I hope this helps anyone trying to lose weight this year! Remember...it's not a DIET but a LIFESTYLE CHANGE!!! Change just one thing a week in your diet. Maybe this week it's drinking less caffeine and more water every day, next week it's eating a piece of fruit instead of a cookie everyday, the next week you eat veggies instead of potatoe chips. Small changes like this will add up and make your LIFESTYLE CHANGE easier!!! Going cold turkey is HARD HARD HARD!!! Trust me, that's what I did on my LIFESTYLE CHANGE and I warned my family I might become a B#@*&!!!! LOL Forewarned is forearmed!!!
Also, exercise, ANY type of exercise is important. BUT...if you hate the exercise you chose find something else. You won't stick with it if you don't enjoy it! That much I know!!! Maybe today you walk for 10 mins...tomorrow 15...next week 20 mins...and so. Do what your body says you can do. It's important to listen to your body!!!
I need to get back on track after the holidays as well. This week has been tough but I am determined to make my goals BEFORE 2/1!!! I HAD 4 lbs to lose to goal BEFORE the holidays...it might be more now! But I have told myself I will weigh in again on Friday.
Have a great day!
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
I'm STUMPED!
I am seriously stumped on this. About 3 weeks ago I got a card in the mail with a $25 gc to the LQS here. Signed, "Secret Pal".
Today...a delivery to my door. The delivery gal said, "Are you Laurie?" I said yes. She said, "You have a secret pal!" ARGH...WHO IS IT??? She said a pretty nice one too! There was a note that said "Your kindness warms my heart!"
This is 2 months in a row and it's making me NUTS!!!! The one local person I think it is vehemently denies it...which I would too! I guess I'll just sit back and enjoy!OH...and the thing of it is, I did NOT join a "Secret Pal" deal...
(SIGH)
Hugs
Laurie
Monday, January 02, 2006
Haven't posted for a few days...still sick
I hope you are all getting more done than I am! ;o)
Hugs
Laurie