Pictureless catch-up post

Good morning and Happy BEAUTIFUL Sunday morning to all of you.

It's been a bit quiet around the Amy's Passions blog the last few days; I've been intermixing some traveling with cleaning, but am now back home for a day before needing to travel out again.

Last Thursday, I needed to drive to my parent's house (135-ish miles away) so that I could "deliver" my girls. I have an AP-Statistics class scheduled this next week and will be staying at a hotel, so I needed to work out the summer-bargain with my mom and sister to watch the girls (just like they've done in summers passed.) The girls LOVE these weeks and I'm very thankful my mom and sister are willing and able to take them on for these workshop weeks I have scattered here-n-there. This summer, I ONLY have this one on the definite calendar; however, there is another that I may be guilted into come August. We'll see....

I digressed.

So, while waiting for the few loads of laundry on Thursday in order to pack the girls for their week outing, I found myself cleaning out/organizing my closet, Candace and Caitlyn's sock drawers, ...... By the time all the packing/cleaning/organizing was complete, my closet now has a visible floor, I can now see all of my sweatshirts and t-shirts (my staple summer shirt of choice) since they are neatly folded/stacked, the girls' sock drawers now only consist of socks and underpants that fit (and have no holes), and I had about 15 boxes/bags of donations stacked in the entry-way that Paul (thankfully) volunteered to deliver to the local "goodwill-like" store.

When Cassie came to peer into my closet and I showed her my stack of all of my race t-shirts, she said "wow, that's a lot." {{LOL}}. Yup. It was the biggest stack by far! And then, when Paul came to see the stack, he (of course) had to comment....."now, assume that each of those was a minimum of $10.00.......hmm......{{I don't like where you're going here Paul}}.....BUT, also, think of all the mileage racked up from that stack. {{That's a better thought!}}"

BUT, all packed up, we were on the road with a quick Library stop to renew some books and to check out a book-on-CD for me for the drive. Friday consisted of an all-day garage sale and shopping spree day. I stopped at Hancock fabrics and the local quilt shop to pick up some Browns and Blues for the QuiltvilleSwap (yahoo group) swap being planned to make Bonnie's Smith Mountain Morning quilt from her newest book. There's plenty of time in case you want to join! I have DEEPLY fallen in love with this quilt!!!! Just follow the link to join the group. We are swapping half-strips (5 browns/5 blues to a set) in sizes 4 1/4" (for those using Triangulations?), and 1 1/2". There is also another signup for the 2" (unfinished) blue/brown HSTs (2 to a set). Deadline is August (15th, I think?). Plenty of time since they are only strips!!!! No sewing to do for the swap, unless you're making the HSTs.

Again, I digressed.

I came away with four great men's shirts from one moving sale; each $0.50, and they match! LOL....my mom saw me placing the shirts next to each other as I made my way around the rack, and she commented...."quilt idea?" She's getting to know me better now :0) (HI MOM! She's been keeping up with my life by reading my blog lately) The colors were reds and whites. I plan to cut them up this week during my down-time in the hotel.

My visit to my parent's was short; After hugs-n-kissed to the girls {{and all the reminders of 'stranger-safety' (pushed by Paul after having a bad dream)}} I arrived back home yesterday afternoon and immediately (after unpacking) headed to the garden to do some weeding around the tomato plants. It's been SUCH a cold June; EVERYTHING is behind up here in Wisconsin; crops and gardens alike. BUT, the tomato plants are finally taking off; everything else we seed-planted is slowly coming out of the ground (beans, cucumbers, onions, peas, peppers, dill, basil, mint, pak choy, lettuce, potatoes, squash, watermelon, carrots, kolorabi (sp?), corn) and the purchased broccoli and cabbage plants are also doing real well!

Now that I've caught up on emails and blogs, I'm not sure exactly what I'll do today. I need to take time to organize a project or two to work on for the hotel-evening downtime; the garden needs more attention today, and then I also have to pack up for my week; verify driving directions and final alternate routes since I received an email that construction is heavy near the college right now.

Anyway....happy Sunday!