A UFO, Forever, and HELP!

It was another 5AM morning with hubby's alarm.  Even if I hadn't gotten up at that time, by 6:30 AM, I would have been out-n-about wondering what the big ol' rumbling rukus outside was.  Looks like our road's shoulder is getting some gravel attention.

The weather is cold and dreary yet again today.  Rain hasn't fallen (yet), but....ick!  Still not a day that I can spend out in the garden, unless I want to sink.  

Therefore, another guilt-free vacation day to spend downstairs.

I came across a container that had my Pineapple Blossom blocks, started waaaay back in January, 2010!

Psht!  I thought I could turn my 'math-brain' off for a few weeks!  But let me tell ya, those borders took a little bit of configuring to make them work.  However, after a couple of hours, I have another flimsy added to my quilting to-do pile.  I even prepped a backing for it :)  Pineapple Blossoms - 72"x72".

Next came loading Forever and spending a bit of time quilting it now that my mom gave me the go-ahead to finish this up as a wedding gift.  

And I simply have to put an all-call out for ANY HELP/SUGGESTIONS for this blanket!

My Sis-in-Law handed this to me months ago with a request of "making something from it."  It has sentimental meaning to her mother and she wanted to do something with it.  Come to find out, 'mom' had thrown it away after being tired of continually trying to patch up holes getting made.

Well......

I.  Was. Stumped. Then. And. I. Am. Still. Stumped. Now.

:\

She's suggested "just cut it up (to get rid of the bad parts) and sew it together with something else."  (She's not a quilter).  It's one of those fleecy type blankets.  I've sewn up the holes to at least get a start on it.  BUT....!?????!!??  

I have no clue what to do.  

You?

Full Speed Ahead :D Ahhhhh.......

5AM alarm goes off for my husband.  Of COURSE, I was waking up with him on this, my first day of SUMMER VACATION!!!!!

{{Okay, I promise this will be the LAST time I do any 'rubbin' in' of summer vacation!!  I'm just exhausted from the school year, and soooooo ready to start recharging the batteries with this break.}}

Last weekend (?), I started doing some cutting for Bonnie's Quiltmaker Lazy Sunday Mystery - Part 3 once it arrived in the mail.  First thing this morning was to piece together the 24 blocks asked for in this step.

I am actually at a small stand-still right now though until I schedule in some time for a small shopping spree.  I am OUT of usable purples!  I even searched high-n-low in the boxes of scrappy stash from various garage sales and donations;  not a single piece of usable purples!

No worries.  It'll be two more months before the next step hit my mailbox anyway :)

Then I moved on to finish up the borders on my 2010 BOM top that has been taking up my carpeted floor space downstairs for the past month.  It has officially reached flimsy status! (59" x 72").  

The main reason I pushed to finish up the flimsy was because I needed the floor space!

My mother called me yesterday with news that she has been asked to be a witness for a wedding at the end of the month.  In addition to requesting my help with dress shopping, she also put a request out for a wedding gift.  

"So, in your stash of quilts, would you happen to have a quilt that would be fitting for a wedding gift?" 

I'm SURE I did!

After some blog perusing to look at my selection of finished quilts and flimsies, I was actually a bit worried, though!  I wasn't really seeing anything fitting.

And then, for whatever reason, I thought of Forever, which I had forgotten to add to my list of flimsies!  

So?  Mom?  What do you think?  It's 70x80.  Give me a call with your thoughts :)

Although this is the first day of summer vacation for all of us, the weather is NOT cooperating!  We were not able to put in much of our garden this past weekend due to the wet weather;  we are hopelessly behind schedule with our crops up here in northern Wisconsin!  In fact, the news broadcast last night stated that if farmers didn't get their corn crops in by June 9th, they might as well not bother (not sure which organization had made that comment).

However, the cool (non-existent) Spring hasn't delayed the start of summer softball.

The other night, Caitlyn joined in with the wearing of the Blue-n-Gold with her first ever softball game!  She was super excited, despite being almost eaten alive by the mammoth-sized mosquitoes that HAD to have hatched over the past couple of days!  

And on my activity front.... **sigh**....

I've continually pushed ahead with my running despite the lingering annoyance of my left knee.  Today, however, I'm reallllllly starting to accept the inevitable that I may need to schedule an appointment to get it checked out.  I ran 3 miles last night on the treadmill and even iced it afterwards.  This morning, though, it is NOT happy with my "run through the pain" attitude.  

I don't like injuries that hinder any form of activity :(

SO, with poopy weather outside and a knee that is limiting my activity, I guess quilting is a GREAT way to spend this first day of vacation.

Happy Wednesday!

Last day of 2012-2013 School Year!

Cold and dreary... but

It's the LAST DAY!  No mood could be dampened today :)

Let the summer schedule ensue!!!!!!!!!!!

Rainy Saturday; plans deterred

Well, the morning was BEAUTIFUL.  Paul and I woke up around 5:30, enjoyed some coffee, and were able to weed our strawberry patches after a little bite of breakfast, BUT, with all the rain last night, it was simply too wet to till up the garden patches.

Instead, shortly after 9:00, we headed out to shop for some last minute plants and seeds we want for the garden.

And sadly, by the time we got home and ate some lunch, the predicted afternoon rains were hitting.  So...no gardening.

Therefore, my day was spent watching the Live-streaming of the WIAA State Track-n-Field meet, cheering our athletes on from afar.

It's a lazy, lazy, LAZY day!!!

Candace napping with Chuck at the foot of the couch.  We are dog-sitting Chuck for one of our State track athletes :)  He's a TOTAL "princess" dog.  LOL.  

  

Paul headed out fishing, and the two older girls actually joined in with him on this dreary day.

You'd think I'd put some quilting time in, but....

....*sigh*....

it's actually kind of nice to just sit and relax with my feet up.  Although, I just came in from taking Chuck for a quick outside potty-trip, and gathered up the mail at the same time.  Lo-n-behold, the newest Quiltmaker arrived; naturally, I turned opened to Part 3 of Bonnie's Lazy Sunday mystery :D

Awesome day to be a LAKER FAN!

Laker, as in.... Shell Lake Laker. (Not LA Lakers)

We have many female track athletes advancing to the Finals tomorrow at our State Track-n-Field meet 

Our softball girls brought home the Sectional championship earlier today and will be advancing to the State Championship next Friday...

It's an amazing day to sport our Blue-n-Gold school colors :D

And all the youth softball fun is JUST beginning!

Games every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night!

The summer schedule is sooooooo close to becoming reality :)

I can't wait.

1.5 more days.

But first.....this weekend, for the next 48-60 hours, there is only ONE word in our minds.....

G-A-R-D-E-N.

The time has finally arrived for us to get everything planted.

Happy Friday everyone :)

Graduation

Tis the season of Graduation in most parts of the USA.

Friday night, my school held its ceremony, and Saturday morning was the ceremony for my nephew.

And now... with only 6 days of school left, it's time to start thinking about summer plans...

Plan #1:  Enjoy & Relax
Plan #2:  Quilt (part of Enjoy & Relax)
Plan #3:  Garden (also part of Enjoy & Relax)

Gettin' close....

There's always next time, right??

Start of race:  7:00 AM, 70 degrees, sunny.

You gotta love it when 8000+ runners are packing the street at the start of a race!  If you've never experienced a big race before (either as a participant or spectator), the start can be comical the first time you witness one;  the gun sounds, but no one moves (back by us) for a few minutes.   For those of us hanging back at the 10:00/mile starting "gate," it can literally take about 5 minutes to actually CROSS the starting line!  LOL.  (5 min. 30 sec. to be exact for me today)

Runners, as far as thee eye can see.....

Life was going pretty okay for the first 6 miles, averaging about a 10:10/mile pace

After some on-course texting with my family (LOL!-Gotta love technology, right?!?!), the first sighting of my cheering crew was at mile 6.8.

The day was heating up nicely (if you weren't a runner)....

It was heating up too much if you WERE a runner... starting to hit upper 70's...

So, I started slowing down my pace; now averaging about 10:30s (my realistic goal pace).

And no... I'm not saying "talk to the hand."  :D  I was simply waving a goodbye to my family after they met up with me at the Mile 10 marker.    The next planned cheering spot:  halfway point.

:(

But shortly after departing, a text came in from my sister that traffic and roads were blocked off, so they were going to jump ahead to mile 20 and wait.

Oh boy...  10 miles until some happy faces could greet me with some motivation.

Miles 10-15 were tough.  A lot of open areas;  head wind (maybe 10-15 mph at times?)), and.... HOT.  Officially breaking 80.  My pace was certainly slowing down, although I came into the 13.1 checkpoint clocking 2:20, which isn't a shabby Half time for me.

But after that......major slow down!  

Holding 11:00's when running.... with lots of walking breaks between running spurts.....

In the meantime, my crew diligently awaited, cheering on other runners and trying to pass the time as best they could...

Little did they know that they were actually sitting at about 19.3, so when I saw them after the water-stop, I was a bit surprised.  Mom caught me sucking on some ice cubes here. 

And little Candace was going to get her way---she wanted to run a little bit with me!

After about 200 meters, I sent them back to Grandma after final hugs and goodluck kisses, telling them I'll see them at the finish line.

I wish my iphone hadn't died!  Afterall, the ONLY reason I ran these 26.2 miles was for the final half mile!  All runners were able to run through the Green Bay Packer stadium tunnels, followed by a lap around Lambeau Field.  I WANTED PICTURES!  Whaaaa, whhaaaaaaaaaaa.....

LOL....

.... but then, working our way back through the tunnels, we were 200 meters from the finish line.

And even though I was welllllll off my goal-mark today, I am happy with the finish.  I simply slowed down and ran a smart marathon.  It wasn't worth killing myself over.   (I guess lady-in-blue here moved at the last minute.  It's okay Mom!!!!!  I appreciate all the candids from today!) :D

The AWESOME finisher's medal and finish line Rootbeer :)   And even a smile ;^)

My amazing girls!

 And.....the shake down....

Thanks for reading!!!!

Happy Sunday!

15 hours, and counting... [Green Bay Marathon]

Please forgive my lil' bit of attitude today.  Saw this on FB... and liked it. :D

I'm chilling at my sister's house right now.  Seeing that she lives an hour north of Green Bay, I made the drive over with the girls after staying at Grandma's last night.  Grandma ended up tagging along, and my sister also decided to make the trip down to GB in the morning.... So, I went from having no spectators planned to now having 5 (my 3 girls included)!  Woohooo :)

My sister likes it when I visit because I usually cook up some kind of bigger meal; something that she and her husband, Derek, aren't accustomed to, being just the two of them.  Tonight's menu:  Lasagna.  She even requested TWO pans of lasagna so that she could freeze up some for smaller meals for herself and Derek :)  LOL.  No biggy.

Feeling a bit antsy right now.  Ho-hum, ho-hum...

Off to see what everyone is up to in their quilting rooms today :)

Happy Saturday!