August is Gone

The past couple of weeks have rushed past me again.

Today I'm cleaning my freezer and taking inventory of the freezers and my pantry.  Marty (as well as myself) has gained weight and is pushing to trim down, so knowing what we have again will help me in menu planning.  I've gotten away from keeping up on this since my Mom passed and I was gone so much, but I really need to get back on the ball with it.

As I type, the garage freezer, a small chest type, has been emptied into ice chests, a large pan of hot water has been placed on a dry towel in the bottom, and the ice will be loosening up so that I can clean it.  Thankfully it doesn't build up a lot of ice, but some does develop near the top and that annoys me, so at least once a year (usually June) I try to empty and clean it and re-inventory - obviously I'm behind!  I'm sure I'll find things that need to be pitched.  

After that one is done, I'll move to the refrigerator and it's freezer (a side-by-side).  I know there's a lot in there that will need to be pitched.  Mostly produce that I've ignored, ewww.  It'll go straight to the compost bin.

In the past two weeks, I've been pulled out of my laziness (oh sluggard I can be!) to help a couple dear friends.  One (Panda) had an out-patient procedure and needed a driver and I was more than happy to help.  She treated me to lunch at a yummy little cafe where they served a huge portion of breakfast foods - she'd been talking about their biscuits and gravy all morning, so I had to have them.  They came with hashbrowns, three eggs, and two strips of bacon...I brought half home and enjoyed it the next day.

A couple of days later, I received a text from my quilting Padawan (student).  At 42, she was in the hospital having had a minor heart attack known as SCAD (you can click the acronym to find out about it).  She spent the better part of a week in the hospital before going home, then thought maybe there was further problem and a couple days later spent another night in the ER though that appeared to be more related to anxiety.  It's a very scary thing at such a young age (any age really) to experience this, and she has three young children.  She is now getting lots of rest and people are signed up to bring meals for the next couple weeks as well as coming over to help her through the days helping with housework and her homeschooling.  I will be going over next week for a couple days of 10-2 time blocks, so that has spurred me to get some of my own chores taken care of first.  Please keep my friend in prayer.  She is known as Renee here on my blog.  I love this young woman as if she were a daughter, and she is a sister in Christ as well and has a strong faith, but even in strength of faith and knowing Who is in control of all things, fear of the unknown (future health-related issues) can weigh us down.

Nick is rapidly approaching his 18th birthday.  Now that he has a part-time job and has received his first paycheck, along with tips, he has been pestering me to get to the bank so he can open a checking account.  After having to put off for over a week for various reasons, we accomplished the task yesterday.  He has had a savings account (of the CUGMA type) since he was very young.  I only learned yesterday that because it was that type, he could not access it even though it was in his name - I was the only one who could.  So we switched it to a joint savings account and opened a joint checking for him.  This gives him a debit card too - which I find frightening, I'm so old-school.  His checking account is online only, so no physical checks at this time.  He has no bills to pay, so it makes sense to not pay for check-printing.  I haven't used an ATM since before Nick was born, so we were both given a lesson on how to use it.  It's not that hard.  I did learn that you can deposit cash through the ATM. Nick had more than 21 $1 bills in his wallet (from the tips) so wanted to get rid of them.  Cool beans! and who knew? Not this old gal, lol.

Back to the freezer.  I'll be glad when our temps drop.  It was 107 on Tuesday and 101 still yesterday.  I'm so very much looking forward to winter.

Time Keeps Moving Along

It's been well over a month again since my last update.  What have I been doing in all that time?  Well, nothing exciting, that's for sure, and that's why there have been no posts!  And there's still been nothing of importance to really write about, but I thought I'd at least check in so you'd know I didn't kick the bucket or something!

I did get out to dinner with a couple of lady friends last night.  That was a pleasant couple of hours with pleasant company and good food.  I had had breakfast with one of them a month or so ago, but the other I hadn't seen since March so it was nice to catch up again.

Hubs and I will be "celebrating" our 20th anniversary next week.  Neither of us has mentioned it, so expect it'll come and go like every one of the last 19...just another day. 

Nick finished his junior year of high school, so we now have an official high school senior in the house.  He says he's looking for a summer job...we'll see how that goes.  He stays up late and then sleeps until noon.  

A mama hummingbird (the 2nd one) hatched babies a few days ago.  Sadly, today I noticed she wasn't gathering bugs in the air in the back yard like usual and hadn't come back to the nest, though she was at the feeder once.  I also noticed an ant trail on the branch to the nest - it's right outside my kitchen window!  I took a stool out and pulled the branch down a bit - it sits about 6' high - and no babies anymore - so something happened since late yesterday.  The first mama to build and use this nest was very skittish & I'd had to put a curtain over the window so she wouldn't fly away every time she saw activity in the kitchen.  That one's hatchlings seem to have suffered a similar fate while I was away in April.  This was a different mama - different markings - and she wasn't skittish at all.  At times, she would hover right outside the window and watch me. She also never flew off the nest when I went out to refill the feeder even though I'd walk right past the bush the nest is in.  Maybe in the days ahead it'll be "third times a charm" and we'll get chicks that survive to adulthood.

I've worked on my genealogy quite a bit over the last few weeks.  I switched to Legacy8 software from Family Tree Maker, and am going through a huge learning curve - not as easy as when I was younger.  I am getting there though, and in all fairness to myself, this software is so much more powerful which is what is making all the different elements a learning challenge.  An interesting tidbit I uncovered in my research was that the second wife of my paternal uncle, was in the same orphanage as my step-dad was at the same time - they were enumerated on the same page.  My step-dad had a different surname at that time, as did the aunt.  I asked him if he recalled her name, but he didn't, and while I still send Christmas cards to her, she never responds.  Neither she, nor my step-dad were truly orphans, but this was back in 1940 when an orphanage aka children's home was available to parents who for whatever reason were no longer, or temporarily unable, to care for their children.  She was there with two siblings.  I don't know how long they were there, but my step-dad was there for five years until a biological aunt adopted him...yet his bio-parents were both still living.

My dad had his lower back surgery.  Sounds like it went well, but he wasn't happy that they made him stay in the hospital for a couple extra days because he's so non-compliant.  Additionally, he spent a week or more at rehab/care facility for the same reason and so that he'd be forced-compliant.  He seems to be more inclined to comply now - I don't think he wants to be back in that same position again.  He'll be 83 in August and has never been compliant with much of anything in his life.

There's not been much else of interest lately.  For my quilting world activities - or lack thereof, I'll put a brief post over on Webs of Thread.

Design Wall Monday

My day is a typical Monday with taking Nick to school, then a stop at Trader Joe's to get some fresh produce, bread and pastas and some housework, meals and whatever pops up.  

The skies are pretty as there are some clouds, and the winds of the last few days have subsided.  Our forecast includes a 30-40% chance of rain for Wed & Thurs...I'll believe it when I see it as it often doesn't materialize.  Lip balm is still my best friend, and an absolute must in these dry conditions.

I worked in nearly 4 1/2 hours of sewing time yesterday and have all 42 of the basic blocks done for Grandma's Scrap Bag.  I haven't yet put the actual design wall up, so again I'm taping these blocks to the wall where the design wall material will be (thankfully no longer in the dining room), so technically they are on the design wall.  Next comes the pieced sashing blocks/strips which I'll do some work on today as I'm planning on shirking some of my household chores.  I'm still feeling really saddened for my friend Panda because of her loss.  We chatted briefly through a chatline, and she's 'ok' and has her family with her and they're taking care of all the arrangements.  I pray for her frequently throughout the day.

Ready to press.

Blocks in process, 2/3rds of a 9-patch block being pressed.

"I'm keeping my eyes on you." says Raven.

A selection of the 42 blocks taped to design wall.

If you're here by way of Judy's Patchwork Times, you don't need the reminder to head over there to see what others are working on, but if not, it's always enjoyable to view the work of others' hands, so go see.  

Let your loved ones know how much you love them, every opportunity you have.

Anger, Bitterness & Prayer

This post contains nothing about quilts, or food, or embroidery, or cats, but is a very personal request for prayer.

Have you ever been so angry over something or with someone that it throws you into a tailspin right into the depths of darkness where you feel you'll never see the light of day again?  I guess you could say that's where I've been.  I won't go into the who, what, where, when etc. with all the details, but will say that the last couple of weeks have been emotionally and spiritually brutal.  I know that I need to turn to my Heavenly Father, but my heart has been so darkened that even that has been hard to do.  My own repentance from this sin of anger and bitterness is needed, and yet I'm still struggling with it.  These two sins have probably been my life-long hardest ones to overcome, but overcome them I can with God's help.  Know that the issue at hand is not one of murder, or adultery, or theft or anything like that, but here and now, my own anger and how I have dealt with the issue and the offense, perceived or real.

I shared some of the details of the issue with a 'close' friend, and was met finally with being confronted and while much of her chastisement was valid, some was not, and I battle with a heart-attitude of retaliatory confrontation to the log in her own eye on some issues with which she has vented to me over the last year.  I laud her for being bold enough to confront me and risk our friendship by doing so.  I am not angry with her, but do find I have some feelings about her own hypocrisy.

On another note, we have recently been told of a close friend who has cancer.  We have known this man for a very long time and he was our best man at our wedding.  He is in his early 60's and no wife or children to care for him, though he does have a sister and her family.  He underwent surgery to remove the main tumor, somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 lesions from his liver, a segment of his small intestine, and his gall bladder.  The surgery lasted 8 hours; a hospital stay of 1 week, and 3 months recuperation at home.  The word before the surgery was that he hopes to make it to 70 but he was unsure if that was possible.  It's a progressive cancer.  I don't know since the surgery and further testing what the current prognosis is.  My husband and some other friends left after first service this morning to go visit him in the hospital, so I may learn more later today.  We have so many good memories with this man and hate to see this trial come upon him, but he knows the Lord and his faith is strong.

Please, my Christian sisters (or any brothers who happen to be lurking too), please keep me in prayer to the Great Healer.  He rescued me out of darkness in 1987 and I know He can revive this heart of clay again.  And pray for my friend, especially as this is the early stages for him and though his faith is strong, he still questions the with the 'why's ... but even Job never knew why, though we do now, and it had nothing to do with Job aside from Job's faith and Satan's desire to take him from God - as if!!  No one can snatch God's own from His hand.