Sew Many Journeys

Good Intentions

2012-01-08T21:36:00.002-06:00

I got to have a fabulous New Year's with my best cousin and on the long drive home I did a lot of thinking about a really cool blog post, and then of course, I get home and real life happens and before I know it, it's a week later and I've forgotten everything I wanted to say.

I know that I was going to say that my Adele cd made excellent travelling music. That I am always in awe that when I'm driving through NE Texas my heart and soul feel content. I don't know what it is about that area that just puts me at peace. I was going to talk about how my oldest went to Phoenix at the last minute to see the Fiesta Bowl and how my stomach was in knots worried about him the entire time, it was his first big road trip without Mom or Dad.

Right now I'm just glad I survived the last week at work. We were extremely busy and very short handed with one gal still out for surgery leave (she returns tomorrow yippee), one gal took some vacation time, and one gal had to be out due to the sudden death of her Mom. My heart still hurts for her.

Sewing........quilting...........not much of that happening lately. Had great intentions today but did some household drudgery instead. Shredded a big mass of crud. Scrubbed the 1/2 bath. Just general stuff that keeps getting put off.

Do you make New Year's resolutions? I seldom do because I break them in a couple of days. I was joking at work the last week or so of last year about how my resolution was to NOT be nice anymore. I deal with difficult customers on a daily basis and I was sick and tired of trying to be nice to them. I said I was starting early so maybe it would set in before the actual New Year. Of course I've broken it several times, but if they are nice to me, I'm nice right back, but call or come in with an attitude and you're liable to get one right back. The only other thing is I told my husband today after shredding so much stuff that has just sat around is we need to start taking care of mail and stuff the day it arrives. If it's trash, trash it, if it's something that needs shredding, shred it, bills pay them. I always let paper get the best of me. How do you handle it all and keep it organized?

Grocery Shopping with the Husband

2011-10-09T20:58:00.002-05:00

I know better, I really do, but we went together. That man is a grocery store's delight. The ultimate impulse shopper. Even without a list I know what we need and what we'll use. I get in there and mean business, especially with as crowded as it was today. I stayed at least a 1/2 an aisle ahead of him because he has to stop and peruse everything. Extremely annoying. That said, he came home and cooked a pretty good gumbo for supper.

Great news: we've gotten a good bit of much much much needed rain.

Off to watch those Jersey Wives....don't judge me, it's a hoot!

The Beautiful Meatballs

2011-09-17T19:21:00.002-05:00

Recently while out running errands and trying to find a station with a song I could bop to, I got to get a little giggle in and a flashback to fun times past with my fellas. If my memory is correct we were traveling home after visiting family and a song was on the radio. Mind you, my family has much different musical tastes than I do, but as this song played giggles were coming from the back of the vehicle. So, what was the song you ask? "The Beautiful People" by Marilyn Manson *please know I am NOT a fan* However my boys were hearing it as "The Beautiful Meatballs". Listen to the song sometime and see if you hear people or meatballs. Go ahead and giggle.

OOPS

2011-08-11T13:54:00.001-05:00

So, for some reason the previous entry would not post last night, or rather early this morning when I wrote it but I just got it to post so it may seems strange. I still have to learn about how blogs work. Maybe if I did them a little more often.

Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic

2011-08-11T00:24:00.001-05:00

Two of my fellas go back to school tomorrow. Who gave them permission to grow up anyway? Middle guys is a Senior this year. DO WHAT! What happened to the kid I know with no patience even before birth so he kicked his way out a month early? Oh yeah, he still has no patience, he's so ready to be done with school. The only saving grace is that he has Vo-Tech which means welding for 3 of his 7 classes. He loves welding. Last year was his first year in it and the first day he got to weld I received a text from him at lunch stating that "welding is the best thing I've ever done in my life". (If he ever finds out I have a blog and knows I put this out there for anyone to see, he won't talk to me for a whiole). Then there is "my baby". My baby is in 9th grade this year. He's a Freshman. NO he's my baby! Where's the little guy that carried around his favorite blanket and hung on to my leg whenever he was in an uncomfortable situation?

This mama bear got a little put out yesterday at open house and has to step on her soap box a sec. Me and my baby are walking around looking for his classrooms, trying to get him oriented and meet his teachers and this woman passes us and comments on on cute and little he is. I'm sorry, if he were big would you comment on that? If he were disabled? Why is ok to comment on someone who is small? Can he help it if he's skinny, trust me the kid can eat and does. It's in his genes, I was skinny..............once upon a time, his dad is still fairly skinny and from what I hear was really small for his age for a long time, hit the growth spurt kind of late. Well I can tell that woman one thing, my baby may not be a big hulking football player but I bet he can whoop her baby in a math test! SO THERE!

Wish I could share a pic of my two fellas (and I better quit calling one of them a baby in case they ever discover this blog) but they hide when cameras come out.

A Possible Completion

2011-07-05T22:11:00.003-05:00

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..... Ok, so maybe not really, but a couple of years ago, despite having made a few quilts by teaching myself, I decided to take a beginner quilting class so I could learn some good tips and techniques you just don't get from reading books or watching tv. In the class you actually make 4 blocks, one with regular piecing, one with triangles, one with curves, and one with machine applique. I didn't really want a wall hanging so I had planned to add more blocks. Fast forward to recently when I dug that sucker out and got back to work on it. I wound up making a total of 12 blocks, plus did cornerstones and sashing. Now why is it a "Possible Completion" you ask? I'll tell you why. I don't have fabric left to do a border and I think it needs one. Well, that's sort of a lie (can you sort of lie?) I might could do a pieced border with the scraps I have, but I really don't want to work that hard. Possibly, just possibly I could buy some more fabric that works. Hmmm. Is anyone out there? What do you think?

Sorry about the test

2011-05-22T16:18:00.003-05:00

I was trying to see if I could post from my phone. Hmmm. I could get the title but it wouldn't let me click in the box to put any body of text. I will have to work on that. Just thought I might be a better blogger if I could post from my phone since with 3 guys residing in the house age 20 or under I get less and less time on the laptop and the desk top is probably on it's last leg. :( If anyone reads this and posts from a so called "smart phone" tell me your secret.

Testing testing....

2011-05-21T22:18:00.001-05:00

One More Day

2011-05-17T21:56:00.002-05:00

My two guys who are still in school, oh wait, strike that, they all go to school, but one is in college taking a few courses here and there, but two are still in school school. Make sense? Anyway, they only have 1 more day of school. UNBELIEVABLE! I have to admit it will be nice not to have to make sure everyone is up and going in the morning. Plus, my house will be cleaner, because like it or not, I leave them a list of chores every morning to do that day. Now, I'm not a slave driver, but a chore or two every day and then things are done and they are not playing video games all day. One of them may wind up looking for a part time job. Summer vacation is upon us!

A journey for our military!

2011-05-01T23:29:00.002-05:00

It's been a long hard journey for our WONDERFUL MILITARY, but they have accomplished something that many people thought would never happen. OSAMA BIN LADEN was killed at the hands of THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA MILITARY. Our military is the greatest! Thank you all for everything you do to insure the freedoms I enjoy, which includes being able to freely write on my blog that YOU ARE THE BEST!

Medical journeys, no pictures allowed

2011-01-06T22:32:00.002-06:00

So, recently, like right around Thanksgiving, I had to have some "minor" surgery for recurring problem. Hopefully and prayerfully the doctor fixed it for good this time. This problem involves pain that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. So, then the strangest thing happened the night before last. I was sitting, watching tv, working crossword puzzle or whatever and my chin felt a little itchy, tingly. Figured I was getting a stupid breakout. You know, those pesky things that you get in your teen/puberty years and then lo and behold they can continue and then pre-menopause hits and you can get some "zingers". So as time goes on, not much time it grows and grows. Before long it's like my chin has a ball on it. What the......? Then before I know it my whole chin area and jaw are swollen along with my lower lip. It was quite strange and grotesque. I tried hard not to freak out, but of course my wonderful darling boys were quite freaked. I took some benedryl and stayed up a while to make sure it didn't get horribly worse. Finally went to bed hoping and praying that it would be miraculously gone in the morning. NO SUCH LUCK. Went on to work and called the doctor's office as soon as they were open. Needless to say, my regular MD is off on Wednesdays, but they got me in to someone else. Blood test was taken to make sure it wasn't some odd infection, but nope, what I figured, allergic reaction. But to what? My main culprits at this point in time are either eggs or tuna fish. Tuna would be the easiest to give up. I mean, I really don't eat a ton of eggs just out right, but then you start thinking about all the things they are in. You know, all the majorly important foods. Cakes, cookies, etc etc. Anyway, I got a steroid shot, was ordered to go home, take benedryl on a regular basis and put ice on the swelling. Luckily this morning it was pretty much back to normal. I will be calling and discussing this with my regular doctor. I feel the need to some how get tested and find out exactly what it is that caused it. Will it be worse next time? Do I need to start carrying an epi-pen? I'm now reading all labels like crazy and am afraid to eat some things. Unfortunately, I think the steroid shot has given me the munchies. That's my story, anyway, and I'm sticking to it!

It's almost a new year!

2010-12-27T20:33:00.004-06:00

For the most part I'm thinking, THANK GOODNESS! This past year has been a doozy in so many ways. Good and bad. My New Orleans Saints WON, yes I said WON the Super Bowl. Most of my family have been Saints fans since the beginning. Through good and bad, thick and thin, we stuck it out and finally reaped our rewards. Oh, and then on the baseball side, the Texas Rangers made it to the World Series. It's been a great year for my generally not so great sports teams. Also on the good side I got a really great job. I'm absolutely loving it and the folks I work with. Don't really want to touch on too many of the bad, except that I recently had some minor surgery. Something that I've dealt with before, but hopefully my doctor has fixed it once and for all. It's not been an easy past month, due to that, but thanks to my wonderful family that helped out ALOT and great people I work with and for I made it through. One more trip to the doctor this week and it should be done (fingers crossed).

Ok, side note here, I'm watching My Saints play the Falcons and the Falcons just scored. BOO

Anyway, I don't like to make New Year's resolutions because I don't stick to them. I usually am a failure by say, January 2nd. I do need to work on my weight and health and promised my doctor that I would do just that. There are some quilt projects I'm going to try to complete and something new I'm going to start, as soon as I order it online in a few days.

Mostly I'm going to keep on keeping on.

A New Journey

2010-11-14T18:20:00.002-06:00

Well, in the past few weeks I've begun a new journey. I've started a full time job. So far I'm loving it. Love the people I work with. This is going to be so good for me. I all happened so quickly and I have to say I will always listen to any little voices in my head when they speak to me. ;) I had noticed the job online at a place I had previously applied for another position with and didn't get. I didn't do anything at first about the new position, but was sitting at my house on a Wednesday afternoon when that little voice in my held told me to check and see if it was still posted online. It was, so the voice then encouraged me to call and ask them to make sure it was available and then tell them I would like to be considered for it. I did. The next morning they called and asked me to come in at 1:30 to take a skills test. So, I did. Then not long after I returned home I was called back to interview. I interviewed that same afternoon with 2 of the girls in the department, I think there would have been about 3 or more additional people interviewing me at that time, but something was going on and they weren't able to. The next day the head of the department called me to come in to interview with her. Come to find out I was the last application they took and they had even narrowed down their choices when I called, but weren't totally thrilled with any of the others and then I came along. She offered me the position that day. I still had to take several other tests and even a polygraph. Passed everything and now I'm a full time working girl! WOO HOO Hopefully life will settle down soon and I'll be better blogger.

It just isn't right!!!

2010-10-13T10:48:00.003-05:00

So, I live right smack dab in the center of tornado country. It's just something we deal with. I think that most places have something they have to deal with. Tornadoes, hurricanes, heat, cold, blizzards, etc. Oh and Earthquakes. I feel like each place should only have 1 thing they have to deal with. We deal with tornadoes. Nuff said. Not quite.....had a bit of a shake up this morning. Earthquake. We've had some before and the ironic thing is I was just thinking yesterday that I hadn't felt one in a while and wondered if they were still happening, because for a while they were happening quite often. So, sitting here this morning just after 9 am and the rumbling started. Usually I hear a rumble come down the street and then it feels and sounds like a wrecking ball hits the house and then it's done. Not today, the rumbling and rolling went on and on. At first they said it was a 4.5 now they're saying 4.3 That .2 difference means nothing to me. I didn't like it, not one little bit. No injuries have been reported, so that is good! But, can we just stick to one thing we have to deal with? PLEASE

On a happier note: The miners in Chile are being rescued. That is a happy thing. Praise God!

This weekend

2010-09-26T19:45:00.002-05:00

It was long, it was lazy. What else can I say? Well, if need be I can help, slightly, if you need to say compare and contrast the Jamestown Colony to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Not really my favorite thing to do, but my baby (I hope he never sees this) had an essay to write for History Class on this subject. I helped him get his thoughts together. We screamed at each other....A LOT. It's done and we're both still alive, so it's good.

I'm still nursing my back. I'm tired of hurting, but it's a lot better. Just hard to stand for long which is bad because I need to be able to stand next weekend. And walk. And laugh. I'll be with friends.

Oh yeah, I did have parent/teacher conferences Thurs. night and Friday morning. No big surprises. (why does the word surprises always look like it's spelled wrong to me?) I missed seeing a couple of teachers, though.

The biggest news of the weekend is bad news. A drunk driver drove through a field and crashed into the a/c unit at our middle school's band building early Sat. morning which caused a fire. Luckily it was the middle of the night and no one was in the building. Bad news, they have to use a different room for a while and the idiot got away. Will see the damage tomorrow when I take that baby of mine to school.

Now to go catch up on my Sunday night television viewing.

Precious

2010-09-23T13:07:00.002-05:00

No, not my darling sons, although they are precious to me. Although I don't think teenage boys like being called precious. And, not my dog, Chewie who is also precious. I'm talking about the movie "Precious". Have you seen it? I'd recommend it. It's not for the faint of heart. It was slightly ironic because my oldest son and I were in Walmart yesterday (don't get me started) and were looking around the movie section when I happened to mention to him I'd like to see it but didn't want to buy it and then there it was on tv last night. So I watched. Middle son watched some of it with me. I wanted to take in that girl and remove her from the life that she was in and show her what love is. I also wanted to hurt her mama, hurt her bad. So very sad to think children can be treated that way.

Tonight my tv viewing will be on the lighter side. Project Runway and The Real Housewives of Washington DC. I wonder if I'll want to hurt someone tonight?

2010-09-19T18:23:00.002-05:00

I'm thinking I may not be cut out to be a blogger. But, maybe I'll keep trying for a while. I think about it, but don't post. Right now I'm on a journey....well, I guess we are all always on a journey of some sorts. My current journey is one of a job search. I need a job. I left my previous job for several reasons. Mostly person, but the bottom line is for my sanity, health and for my family I need a full-time job preferably with benefits. I had one interview, but didn't get the position. It's tough out there and even tougher when you basically spent the past 20 years as a stay at home mom. Many people will say it's the toughest job on earth, but few give you credit for it when looking at your credentials. At the same time last week I threw my back out. I've been walking very crooked. Oh wait, I mean to say my body is crooked when I stand up. Sitting isn't bad, depending on the position I'm in. Lying down is good, but standing for any length of time HURTS. I've done this off and on throughout the years. I mentioned today to my cousin that it seems to be slower at healing this time and she said that happens with age, or some sort of comment. Hmmmm Good thing she's my favoritest cousin in the universe.

Well, this is turning into a run on of stuff, isn't it? I need to learn to get my thoughts together before I blog, but I came in to blogger, did a little poking around as I still don't "get it all" as far as editing, backgrounds, layouts, etc, etc, etc. But now I've got to go remind some certain young men in this house that the trash needs to be gathered and taken out. Do they ever remember to do chores on their own?

The Mom Journey

2010-06-03T23:08:00.003-05:00

Today my middle son took and passed his driving test, becoming a newly licensed driver. Am I ready for this? Ask me later.

This got me to thinking about the journey of being a Mom. I've always wanted to document my journey to become a Mom. While I know mine wasn't near as difficult and many out there, at the time it was hard. Darn hard. Lots and lots of tears were shed. I have various reasons for wanting to document it. One being that I want my three wonderful sons to know how much they are loved and how badly I wanted them and how hard I worked to have them. Another being that in my mind I would like to think that I could possibly help others who are having a difficult journey becoming Moms. It'll probably take several entries to get it all down. (Let's just hope I don't wait so long between entries as I did between my last one and this one.)

So for tonight, I'm just getting it started by stating that I'm going to tell this story. I'm working to get my thoughts collected in my brain. I'll probably shed some more tears along the way, but

that's ok. Tears are cathartic. (did I spell that right, is that the right word).

But for now know, if you live in my area, beware, there's another newbie driver on the road. I'm going to attempt to attach a picture, but this will be my first. OK, so his pic is at the top, I'll learn.

Taxes are done

2010-03-29T21:43:00.002-05:00

I'm pleased to report that my income taxes are done and e-filed. WHEW! I don't know why I always procrastinate doing them. Owe some money to Oklahoma this year. Oh well, could be worse, I guess. I still will need to help my son do his, but it shouldn't take long.

Been dealing with issues concerning my laptop. It died, it went to be fixed. The geeks needed recovery discs. Ordered from Toshiba. One is damaged. Spent a good amount of time on phone with Toshiba. Not happy. This has been the condensed version. I'll explain more at another time. I will be writing a letter to Toshiba (I'm sure they care, the 3 different people I talked to today were "very understanding about my frustration"). I'm sure their manual told them to say that.

Well, since this blog is just for me, just wanted to let myself know I'm still alive and ticking...sort of.

Boys...

2010-03-16T22:53:00.002-05:00

So, no one rescued me and taxes aren't quite done, mostly because I just keep putting them off. I have to do a little reading/research on something and I don't want to.

Since I haven't written anything for a few days, thought I'd put down in type a story that almost brought me to tears recently while shopping in JC Penney's. My middle son needed something fairly nice to wear for a school related outing to the state capital. My youngest needed some new every day shirts. His were easy, grab a couple of t-shirts that suited him and he was good to go. Middle son has to ponder each and every option, even if they were few. He finally had a couple of choices to go try on. As youngest and I were waiting we were wandering around. The store wasn't exactly crowded and no one was near us, so as we were cutting up and teasing each other I dared to reach out and give him a slight hug and kiss him on the top of his head. THE HORRORS! How dare I. He then proceeded to say in a loud tone, "Just great, now I have to go home and shower and sterilize or was it sanitize my hair!!". I was practically in tears. My baby! How dare he say this to me, out loud, for all the world to hear? Does he not realize I'm a hormonal pre-menopausal woman? Of course he doesn't. And, yes, I should know better than to kiss a pre-teen in public, but seriously, no one saw it. I did let my feelings be known. Fast forward to the next day when the two of us are in the grocery store, as we're walking down a main aisle, he reaches over and gives me a slight squeeze. His was of making up for it. Oh, and these days we have "THE POKE". He pokes me, which he's let me know means, "I love you". I poke him back. I still try to sneak in a kiss and a hug here and there................at home. Hey, I'm the mom, I carried that long legged skinny kid in my belly for long nine months while he did stretches. I dealt with him when he cried pretty much 24/7 for the first two months of his life, unless he was nursing. I deserve a kiss or two. Now, if he ever finds out I have a blog and put this out in the internet....................THE HORRORS that will greet me.

2010-03-04T13:05:00.003-06:00

Must do income taxes, must do income taxes, must do income taxes.....

if I'm not back soon, send out search and rescue!

Still ticking

2010-03-03T22:45:00.002-06:00

I'm still ticking and despite what I said in my first post, I did actually travel. My friend, Mary, who I work for, and I went east to a retreat/quilt camp to both vend and retreat. We adore this group of gals and have the best time with them. I'll post more about it later, gotta get the pictures off the camera. The only real complaint I can have about the weekend is "The Snorer". UGH

A few days after returning home, my laptop decided to stop. Just stop. So it's at a computer hospital somewhere. I guess it's its turn to travel. Luckily, being only 6 months old it's under warranty. Oh, did you back up Ma'am? Um, no. Did my son back up his school stuff. Um, no. So, yes, there was a hefty fee to try to get stuff off the hard drive before it goes on its trip. Oh, and while we were there, or actually, after going home and getting the old computer tower, they checked it (for no fee) to see if it was dead or the old monitor. It was the old monitor. So, we now own a new monitor. Why didn't I do that 6 months ago instead of buying a laptop? Don't ask. I'm trying to avoid that question and answer myself. So, hopefully, in 2 or 3 weeks we'll be a 2 computer family.

Have a good night folks. (as if anyone is going to read this but me)

2010-02-20T22:20:00.003-06:00

Been sitting here for a coupla days trying to figure out what to say first. Ok, so I may not have sat here for a coupla days, but I have been trying to decide how to get this blog started. I may wind up being a really bad blogger, but I've been thinking about giving it a try for a while now, so here goes. Don't be fooled into thinking that "Sew Many Journeys" means I go on trips all of the time, I don't. I'm thinking of the different journeys of life. I'll be talking about things going on in my life as well as journeys I've taken in the past. "Sew" is just because I like to sew, quilts, not clothes. It may take me a while to figure out all the ins and outs of blogging, be patient with me, Ok?