Another neighborhood complete!!

I got another set of houses done. I did misspeak in the previous post though. I thought I had 30 houses to do...YIKES...but I only have 10 more to go! WOOHOO!!! I think I am going to call this quilt "Funky Town"!!! Whaddya think? ;o)
Hugs
Laurie
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
PS(unfortunately, one color is showing as red but it is really a hot fuschia pink!!)

The trees are done!!

It sure is great to get something quilty done! I finished the trees for my polka dot house quilt! Only 30 houses to go! YIKES!!!

Now to cut out another grouping of houses! Have a very Happy New Year! Stay safe!
Hugs
Laurie

Thank goodness it's over!!

We had a great Christmas, as usual! We went to MN for 2 days and then drove home on Christmas day for our celebration with the kids. My DH takes this week off and that is always nice. Unfortunately, the restaurant where I work at 2 days/week was very short staffed and the mgr. talked me into working a bit. UGH...I said only short shifts though so it's not too bad. But I have to work Saturday evening for a few hours...that will be strange!

I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas! Now to put everything away!!!

Hugs
Laurie

5 years makes a huge difference

WOW...5 years ago we spent our last Christmas in MN. It was a sad experience since we had spent our whole lives in MN. We had our usual celebrations at both sides of the family on Christmas Eve and then our own family celebration on Christmas day at our home. Then the sad reality set in on 12/26/2001...the moving truck showed up and starting packing up our things.

Was I happy...not AT ALL. My whole life was in MN...one sister lived a mile east of me and the other lived 1 mile west of me. We all quilted. We used to shop together and have a great time. When one had an issue with a quilt there was a meeting of the sisters!!! If my dad was sick or my in laws were sick we could be there in an hour.

But a job is important to survival. My DH had lost his job because his company had been sold. He tried SUPER hard to find a job in MN but it just wasn't there. It was obvious that we were destined to leave MN. His company that was sold had a branch in Kansas City, MO and they offered him a job. He took it...we aren't big gamblers and believe in security.

We had (still have) 4 kids. One was a senior in HS, one was a jr in HS, a freshman in HS and a 7th grader. We made an agonizing decision to leave the oldest 2 in MN with my sister to finish HS. The other 2 came with us.

We ended up moving into our house in Overland Park, KS on 12/29/01. New Year's was very sad but my DH and I tried to make it a celebration for our 2 boys who moved with us. Every weekend we tried to find something to do. It took awhile but our boys finally adjusted.

For me...it took over 4 years to find my niche. I FINALLY have girlfriends and can say I "think" I am happy here.

Do I miss MN? ABSOLUTELY!!!!! Do I miss my family? ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!!!!! Do I like staying in a hotel on Christmas Eve night in MN? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!!! Do I like driving back to KS on Christmas Day to have our own Christmas? YES AND NO!!!

I am very thankful for the fact that my dh has an amazing job that he loves and that provides very well for our family. I am thankful for my family being together (we are all in the KS area). I do however miss MN a LOT and my family.

The experience was difficult...bad situation, bad time of year, bad stuff all around. But I survived!!!! My kids survived! We are stronger people because of it!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!
Hugs
Laurie

Margaritas anyone???

I swear...kids never cease to amaze me. The place of business (Moe's) that my boys (all 3 of them) worked at went out of business and closed its doors on Saturday. The employees were paid to move stuff out of the store and onto a truck. This event turned into a "reunion" of sorts because the employees just couldn't say good bye to each other, which is very neat!!! SO...after cleaning stuff out, they drove to the other Moe's about 15 miles from here and had dinner! GO FIGURE!!! Then they ended up here for a few hours before heading to midnight bowling. They had a blast and it was neat to see.

NOW...here is where it gets interesting. My dh and I went to a wine tasting and dinner Saturday night. We left an empty house and came home to a wild time! BUT...when I came in from the garage (the view this pic is taken from) I was NOT a happy mom. IN FACT, one could say I was PISSED! THIS MONTROSITY of a margarita machine was on MY kitchen cupboard! KEVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!!!!!!!!!!!!! He came upstairs and said, "Yes mother?" ARGH!!!!!!!! WHAT IS THIS THING I asked and why is it here? LOL...he bought it for $20. THEN...I said it is NOT staying here and he said it's going back to school with me. I said on an AIRPLANE??? He said no, someone would drive it back. OMG...I thought he was smarter than that! It takes 20 amp wiring and his old school is NOT going to have that...they don't even have CABLE at his college!

Well...the next day I saw Margarita mix and off we went! LOL...here they are getting it ready! DOn't they look proud?
It's WORKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now for the good stuff!!!
The empty tequila bottle and more mix! NO...they didn't drink any of it...they are just acting! BUT...this is what I live with EVERY day that the college boy is home!!! And YES...I LOVE IT!!!
Hugs
Laurie

What I did today...

Sometimes commissioned work is fun, sometimes it's not! I like to make tshirt quilts for others and have had some fun with them. But, this one was tough...METALLICA tshirts!!! ICK...so I dug in today and got to it. Finding the right sashing/cornerstone fabs was the hardest part. I thought it needed color to jazz it up...but I was WRONG...I'm actually pleased with how this turned out. Now to quilt and bind it. I'll post again when it's done!

This is for the son of a gal that I did one for her DD. When her son saw his sister's quilt he was IMPRESSED and said it was COOL! LOL...his mom said he NEVER gets excited about anything so she figured she had a great Christmas idea for him!



Hugs
Laurie

One down...3 to go!

FINALLY...blogger is cooperating!!!

4 girlfriends and I get together and have lunch while exchanging Christmas gifts. I wanted to make them something that represents my talents with something they LOVE to do! I decided to make pillows. I appliqued the trees onto the background, bordered it, and then found buttons at Joann's that depict something that my girlfriend loves to do. I only have one completely done.

This one is for Carla...she LOVES to shop!!! LOL...so here is the first one done...Now to finish the other 3!!!

Also, here are pics of our winter wonderland from the snow on Thursday. I couldn't post them yesterday because I didn't have the toolbar on my dashboard. It's here now! Enjoy!

Hugs,
Laurie

Well...I'm a survivor...

I wanted to post pics of our winter wonderland but I don't have the option for adding pics on my dashboard anymore. Not sure why...

Today is also the 8th anniversary of when I was told I had breast cancer! That was NOT a good day in my life. I was alone, holding on to a phone, saying OK, OK, OK, OK to all the things the phone was saying to me. I hung up and tried to call Steve (dh). He wasn't at his desk. I tried to call my sister, she wasn't home and doesn't have a cell, I tried to call my dad, but he was having coffee with his "cronies". I tried to call my best friend but she wasn't home either. I WAS ALONE. I FINALLY called Steve and pushed "0" for his secretary. I got him out of a meeting and told him. There were 2 people who loved each other holding on to phones, unable to speak.

LIFE HAD CHANGED. Life was strange for a long time after that phone call. It was a series of Drs. appts, all of them asking the same questions and poking at the same spot on my breast. The oncologist, the surgeon, the radiologist, the plastic surgeon...they all did the same thing. By the time I got to the radiologist I was paralyzed for words. DH had to do the talking for me as I sat in a chair with silent tears streaming down my face. Telling 4 little kids was probably the MOST DIFFICULT thing...I remember little Dan, just 9yo saying "are you going to die, mom?" OH, that ripped my heart out. My oldest, Joe was 15 and said nothing. Sarah, 13 screamed and sobbed. Kevin, 11 said...hmmm...OK.

The FIGHT began. I had a double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction on 12/13 after much FIGHTING to get an appointment. They wanted to wait until after the first of the year because lots of people were having elective plastic surgery since they had reached their deductible! But I KNEW I could NOT wait that long and told my regular surgeon that if some chick who wanted new boobs for New Year's Day was keeping me from saving my life she could "go to hell". He said, "I'll brb". He came back and said, "Would this Saturday be ok?" The day of surgery was that Saturday. The plastic surgeon was on call and my surgeon came in on his day off! YES...ON HIS DAY OFF! NOW that's a caring Dr.!

The recovery was brutal. I couldn't stand up straight for a month and exhaustion was overwhelming. A month later I began a rigorous chemotherapy treatment for which I qualified for in a study. I went every other Friday for 8 treatments. In between those 2 weeks I was given a shot by my neighbor every day for 10 days. The shots kept my white blood cell count up so I could stay on track with my treatments. I did so well that my oncologist cancelled my last 10 shots after my last treatment! HALLELUJAH!!!! I remember wanting to have my hair for the 2nd treatment. I did...BARELY...it was falling out but I plastered it on with hairspray. The nurses were AMAZED I had hair for that treatment! I didn't tell them my secret! LOL

Well, that Sunday, my head hurt so badly that I had the kids shave my head....what an EMOTIONAL day that was. I SOBBED and SOBBED and SOBBED. NO ONE TOLD ME HOW HARD IT WOULD BE TO BE BALD!!!! As far as I am concerned that was the most difficult part of the whole adventure. There were a lot of check ups after that. A few scarey times where I had a brain scan and another time when I had a bone scan...both negative.

I am still here...7 years later and CELEBRATING LIFE!!!!! You see, I'm a FIGHTER...I told ALL of my doctors that I wasn't going to let a little breast cancer take my life...I was too young, 38yo at the time, and my kids needed their mom for a LONG TIME!!!

My DH was WONDERFUL through all of this. He went to every Drs. appt with me and every treatment. He held me the day I sobbed like a small child into my pillow trying to make the gazzillionth decision in a nano-second. He always told me how beautiful I looked and was sad when my hair started coming in. "I kinda liked your bald head" he said as he rubbed the newly forming peach fuzz!!! We also found out how many people in our community in MN loved us. Meals were brought EVERY DAY for 8 SOLID WEEKS! It was a good thing it was a cold winter because our porch become a freezer! These were 4 course meals WITH dessert!!! AMAZING!!! A gal came and cleaned my house every week for us. People carpooled the kids to their various practices. People came to take me to lunch just to get me out of the house. It was INCREDIBLE to feel the LOVE!!!SO...the story started out bleak and has a happy ending! I AM A SURVIVOR!!!!!!!

OH, also, this brought me to quilting! My sisters quilted when their kids were very little and were getting back into it. One sister dragged me to a quilt store several times to help her with a project. Eventually, both sisters and I were at a LQS and I said, "I CAN DO THIS!" And I did! So I guess I have cancer to thank for bringing quilting into my life!!!

Hugs
Laurie

POSTING PICS???

What happened to the option for posting pics????? The tabs for links/pics and other stuff are no longer here.