Oh Phooey!!

That can describe a lot today, but is intended only to describe my recognition that I haven't posted here again in a week.  No excuses. But there is nothing happening of note either, including no quilting, no remodeling, no broken bones (thank God), no nothing or should that be no anything, lol? 

Nick had his second highest bowling score yesterday though in bowling a 245!  Way to go!  However, they only won the first game and going into the day were only one game in the lead, so have now dropped to at best 2nd place, as they lost both of the next two games and total pins.  His 3rd game of the day was a meager 145 :(  (his middle game was 180-something). The 'junior doubles' league only has five teams of two and Nick has the 2nd highest average at 176 prior to yesterday's scores.  The highest average is held by one of the boys (17) on the team they played against.

This afternoon I will spend some time with my quilting student.  She hasn't been able to meet during the last two weeks because of sick children, so today, we will figure out where to start with what she has :)


Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases to be, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.  Ps. 12:1

Oh Dear!

Has it really been nearly two weeks since I posted? Yikes! I wouldn't have thought that.  I suppose that's a reflection of what's been happening, or rather, not happening around here.

I'm on 'countdown' to prayerfully be able to put weight on my foot and thereby hopefully to be a little more productive.  My doctor appointment is next Tuesday the 25th.  If I'm given the go-ahead to be able to put even minimal weight on my foot, I will drive!  I haven't been able to drive since Aug. 17th...I miss my car.  I miss being able to take Nick to school and to go pick him up.  And I am so thankful to my friend who has been getting him there and back home as well as a couple others who were able and willing to fill in when she wasn't able to.  Two of those people I have only talked with on the phone and never met in person - that will change as I plan to thank them personally!

Lay out prior to stitching.

I have no updates or changes on my stashbusting.  Nor have I made great strides on the September project.  I've worked on it just a little over two hours, and the plate circle is complete.  It now needs to be added to the background/foundation portion of the block, and then have the center appliqued on.








Yesterday was my one day of the week where I'm able to get out of the house as Nick's friend's mom picks me up before getting the boys from school so that we can get Nick to the bowling alley for his league games. She drops us off and then goes her own way. Nick struggled on the first game getting 'only' a 157.  His second game was better in the 180s. and his third game was great - a 205!  Woohoo :)  Marty then picks us up after he gets home from work.  Last week we ate dinner at the alley's cafe, a nice cobb salad for me, a meatloaf dinner for Marty and a burger for Nick.  This week we just came home and had a spaghetti & meatballs dinner. 

Is this is nice pose, Mom?

Sleeping baby under a stool that's under my desk which I prop my foot upon.

Raven has been my best buddy while I've been secluded and housebound.  She keeps me entertained by her desire to play fetch. And when she's tired, she sleeps pretty much at my feet.  I've taken to referring to her as my puppy-cat. 

Fina-Lee Friday

Today is a beautiful sunny day and is expected to be over 80. Sunday will have a mid-60s high. That's our March weather volatility, lol.

• We had a second contractor come in on Wed night to get another estimate. He hasn't provided the figures yet, will probably take a few days. He was referred to me by a friend at church, and she praises him and his work highly. But should I take into account that he was wearing a jacket from my husband's cross-town college rival? He was also in a hurry as he got caught in traffic making him quite late for our appointment and then he had to rush to get home to shower and head back to church for the Shepherd's Conference. Marty and I haven't discussed it much more. In the meantime, contractor #1 is waiting for an answer, and I'm waiting to get this started so it can be over. I am not a patient person.
  
• Nick missed Tuesday's bowling because of a dental appointment. Dentist told him to lay off sodas. Huh? He only gets one or two on a weekend! I took him to the bowling alley to make up his games (league) on Thursday. His first game, he bowled his new high score of 242. He then proceeded to bowl a 191 followed by a 204. That just may be his new high scratch series as well. Woooohooooo...I'm proud of my boy and the God-given abilities he's gained. The teams have only two players each, and he and his teammate are in first place.
• FINALLY made it to a quilt guild meeting...and stayed for the whole thing last night. I'm still not comfortable leaving Nick home alone after dark even though he's 13. The speaker was ok, entertaining at times and her quilts were nice, gave me some ideas if I can remember them past a day or two- I didn't have my camera. I still want to know why so many women insist on continuing to hold their conversations - not even in a whisper - once the Pres and other committee chairs take the mike. Flat-out rudeness & disrespect in my book. Honestly, I've seen pre-school groups behave better. Of course, I was running late and had to sit in the back whereas I prefer sitting in the first couple rows, so maybe I picked up more on it for that reason.
  
• It seems my body's been trying to fight off something all week. Very dry eyes & light sensitivity for several days, stomach/abdomen troubles reminiscent of pre-gall-bladder removal, and a not-so-nice headache today. Some of it could be spring-related allergies, it's dry and windy and the local flora are blooming and leafing out.
• Why do people let their untethered dogs ride in cars with the window all the way down? Do they not realize how dangerous that is to the fur-baby? I have first hand experience on that...back in the mid-70s I had a collie/shepherd mix boy that loved to ride in the car. He was in the back and I had the front driver side window open and came to just a normal stop at a light and he'd had his head out, but at the stop it was apparently enough momentum that he went right out that window! and ran across four lanes of busy street traffic. Fortunately he wasn't hurt or hit and I only had to open my door and he came flying right back in. We BOTH learned lessons that day. So it scares me whenever I see a pooch standing with his front legs on the window frame with any opening big enough to go through, in a car speeding down the road.
• Quilting. Well, still no progress for March.
  

Fina-Lee Friday

Just a mish-mash of some things in my week since I didn't spend much time in Blogland this week:

• For whatever reason, Marty has trouble remembering our son's middle name. Since I use our middle names here in blog-land, you all know I call him Nick (for Nicolas). Marty, when filling out forms, puts it as "C" for Christopher(?). I don't think we even had that as a name in our naming pool. So with this current year's medical forms at work, he did it again and I prodded him to get it fixed. It isn't fixed yet, so I i.m'd him at work and asked if he did anything and his response was "it fell through the cracks". I responded with maybe we should just change his name to Christopher, he said "cute" and I stuck my tongue out at him with that little smilie. :P Maybe he meant we should change his middle name to Cute - it begins with a "C", hehe. But then, a LOT falls between the cracks around here.
  
• Not much progress on that bathroom problem. On Monday, Nick said the water flow was wimpy (I'd gotten up too late to shower!). On Tuesday, I showered and agreed, very wimpy! Nick went to take his shower and the shower wouldn't work at all and made gurgling noises in the wall/pipes. The leak may be in the pipes as the only time the water shows on the floor (from under the tub) is after Nick showers, yet we've run just the shower even and had no water show. Nick isn't splashing water out...it definitely seeps from under the tub, and it isn't the drain. Then I noticed the actual faucet (where the water actually pours from) has a big gap between it and the tile where the caulking should be and I keep forgetting to tell Marty - maybe that's the culprit in all this. My actions are 'on hold' until Marty finishes his investigation and determines what we need to do next.
  
• On Tuesday I was feeling a little like Balaam (you know, the guy that got off his donkey and beat it because he, Balaam, couldn't see the angel blocking the donkey's path). It seemed every incredibly slow putsy driver was in front of me and I'd finally get by only to have another one at the next turn. Was wondering if maybe God was using the slowpokes as messengers to slow me down (I wasn't speeding, not even close to the speed limit), but maybe He was preventing me from an accident, or ticket, or just changing the whole timing of my day. One has to wonder sometimes.
• On Wednesday I finally got the bulbs potted up that should have been potted by the end of last October...oops!...but in my defense, I had a wrist problem that's only been better the last month or so. I'm not sure what all they are, some tulips, daffodils, miniature daffodils, maybe a hyacinth or 3? Most of these bulbs were already sprouting, some a good 2", but I potted them all in 4 large pots and didn't leave a huge amount of space between each. I'm less concerned with whether they produce blooms or not than I am in just getting them into soil where they'll at least survive and come back for 2013 blossoms. The ones I planted in 2010 (also late, but not this late) gave me lots of blooms that year, but then didn't bloom much last year. This year, they're coming up nicely and I have one yellow hyacinth, and one yellow miniature daffodil in bloom. I'd prefer to have them in the ground but we just don't have a good spot without digging up the backyard which is full of huge tree roots from our Ash tree that's probably 50 years old.
• Today was a vet day for the kitties. Raven's caught up on all vaccines but goes in on Monday for her spaying. Flame's already spayed but needs one more vaccine which will be in 3 weeks. Flame does NOT travel well, she cries the whole time and even starts huffing - high anxiety...and she's the mellow one of the two (Raven clearly has Oriental/Siamese genetics) Raven loves the car, just lays down in the carrier and soaks it all in quietly. I think Raven would be fun to travel with even if she weren't in her carrier.
• I didn't get to attend my quilt guild meeting last night though I'd planned on it. Seems Nick could get extra credit in a class he currently has a C in (he never gets grades that low!!) IF he went to the school's basketball game and said hi to the teacher during half-time. I want to know what extra credit I get for missing my meeting and driving him 22 miles round trip so he could do this. I have to say it was kind of fun seeing our school team play; I haven't been to a game since I was in high school myself (grad. in 1971).
  
• Signed Nick up for bowling again. In fact, have to remember to take him and his ball back to the bowling alley after 4:30 this afternoon so he can be re-fitted to his ball since he's grown and the finger holes will need it. He also needs to make up a game as this past Tues was the first day and we didn't sign up until yesterday. He had bowled since he was about 5 but then took off since last summer. That and golf are the only two sports he likes to play - he doesn't do team-sports well. golf and bowling, while you can be on a team, your individual score is what you work on.