Saturday, August 6, 2011

CLEANING, TILING and RUNNING, oh my :0)

Ahhhhhhhhhhh! LOVELY way to start a muggy Wisconsin day: 6 miles of hills!!! :0) Here is Bethann, my sister-in-law who pushed kicked my butt on the hills today. Thank goodness she is running the "hilly half" of the marathon-relay next weekend; she is SO ready :0) Paul's brother Ryan and family are up visiting this weekend for some boating and tubing. The day is forecast to be BEAUTIFUL; storms should be rolling in later tonight, though.

So the past few days have been cleaning, cleaning, cleaning! The house SURELY needed it! THIS is what happens to a piece of cheese accidently left behind on the dining room floor. EWWWWWW! The good news: now that the house is virtually spotless, I can quilt, quilt, quilt away next week. Well....sorta. I have to head to Mom's on Monday/Tuesday for a funeral :0( My uncle passed away; such a sad quick chain of events over the past two weeks. He wasn't feeling well so headed in to the clinic; was admitted to the hospital for testing; and was diagnosed with Leukemia. He had four bouts of chemo, but wasn't fairing well. On Thursday, once his children had flown in from their locations around the country, the doctor spoke with them with the facts: even if the docs were able to clear his lungs and get him back to tip-top bodily health, his chance of survival was still so low because his body couldn't make its own blood. So after prayers and hugs, they all agreed to stop medications and machines. Despite the doctor saying it could be 1-2 days before he would pass, within an hour of stopping meds/machines, he passed away. The doctor feels my uncle must have had the disease for the past few years...... Live life! It can all come to an end so suddenly. It's too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day 'blahs!' Enjoy your loved ones! And that's exactly what we plan to do today!!!! :0)

Also, once the housework was done yesterday, I finally tackled the last stage of the basement floor.

The grout was finished by mid-afternoon, and I couldn't resist trying out the new rugs. The rug in the middle of nowhere is the location where the toilet will be.

I used some creative cuts and combinations to tile around the toilet base. My lines ended up getting a little "off" on the northern part of the room; I don't mean to blame my husband the contractor, but I don't think the room is exactly square. I needed to "fudge" my tiles as I progressed over the room.
And gotta love my garden-pedicure. Honestly! I don't know why I bother painting my toe- or finger-nails. Within a day of the garden, its all chipped. I TRY to be a girl, though :0)

Okay...time for coffee and breakfast....and then pack up for the day of boating ahead.

HAPPY SATURDAY!!!!!


OH yeah......NOT that it's a big deal.....but yesterday was my 36th birthday. I think 36 will be a great year :0) It's 6-squared....has SO many factors (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, 36), so many multiples of 3 and 6 there......yeah......36 is a great number :0)

14 comments:

Me and My Stitches said...

Happy Birthday!! Hope you had a great day - did you do anything fun? Sorry about your uncle, but glad he didn't have to suffer too much.

Angela said...

Happy Birthday! Mine is in a couple of weeks, all the best people were born in August ;-) hope you had a great day!

Jackie's Stitches said...

I had to laugh at your math lesson about being 36 - you're SUCH a teacher! Happy Birthday and I hope the weekend is all about you!

Amanda said...

Many happy returns of the day. Mine was a few days ago. Thirty six seems so young! Quite unlike me! Sorry to hear about your uncle, my grandfather died of leukaemia back in the 1940s, well before there was any real medication, but I imagine that once it's got a good hold of you there.s not much that can be done.

scraphappy said...

Sounds like life has been keeping you busy. Sorry to hear about your uncle. It does make you appreciate life when you see what others are going through. Happy, birthday, must be nice to be such a youngster with only one gray hair! Speaking of young, enjoy your marathon. Don't let those hills get the better of you.

Quilter Kathy said...

Happy Birthday! Hey, you're 36 and you're making 36 patch blocks to celebrate...cool!

QuiltinLibraryLady said...

Happy Birthday!! Oh, to be 36 again. Wouldn't have all the aches and pains.

The tile looks great.

Dee said...

Happy 36! I hope it's as good as you're hoping it will be. Also, good luck with the half-marathon!

Janet said...

Happy birthday! And keep on smiling!

Candace said...

So sorry about your uncle. It does make you think about life when a loved one is lost.
Happy birthday, you are still just a baby.

Winona said...

Amy, sorry about your uncle. Happy belated birthday to you. I know this is going to be a fabulous year for you! Now just keep having fun.

Andee said...

Happy Belated Birthday! Love the floor, don't it feel good! I wasn't exactly copying you, but I have a nice floor now too! Wicked grin...now if only I was running or even walking six miles...I did ride the bike a few days ago!

Linda said...

You amaze me with all you pack into a post! Whew, no wonder you get so much done! LOL, just had to tease the birthday girl!

So sorry to hear about your uncle. Yes, life is short and we have no guarantees. Enjoy your loved ones while you have them. I hope you have a safe trip and give your parents our condolences. Not sure if it was your Mom's brother or your Dads...

Anyway, have a wonderful day with your family and friends and a great year ahead with your multiple birthday!

InfinityQuilter/Knitter said...

First happy birthday! Good thing you don't live in the area b/c you'd be in the same race age bracket as me (at least for a couple more years, then I'll be moving up).

Second, sorry to hear about your uncle, but thankful that his family was there and he didn't have a drawn out illness.

Third, love the tile!!!