Red Wine and Roses

Sipping a glass of pinot noir and admiring the beautiful roses given to DH after his surgery. He's doing well, moving slowly and loving the caregiving coming his way.

I haven't quilted in the past four days. Tomorrow night is my "bee" meeting in the evening, and I love the relaxed time to quilt with like-minded friends. I have to plan ahead the night before and have everything loaded up in my car to take with me to work, as I have to drive straight there from work. DH is encouraging me to go since he is feeling better.  I have a project going that has over 2,000 pieces in it. Fun! It will be my project for tomorrow. It will be interesting to see whether I can drink wine and keep my pieces in the right spots.

God is great!

My year long odyssey with Weight Watchers is close to an end--of the year, that is. Last February, I screwed up my courage and tackled my weight without hope I could make much difference--after all, my doctor had forbidden pretty much any type of exercising, and I was taking daily steroids. Slowly but surely, I weaned myself off of the steroids (after 7 years continuous) and with the first 5 pounds I lost, I noticed how much easier my hips would move. Yay! This kept me going, at times more slowly and painfully, but still never giving up. Other people in my meetings group were losing more quickly, and of course people came in, dropped out, and weren't seen again. One guy has lost 85 pounds to date. Very inspiring. I have learned so much in the process, and have become better at counseling others with weight issues or addictions to foods. I have lost down from 212 to 188. When I tipped below 200 for the first time in a number of years, I ran and jumped into bed beside DH and proudly announced it! Then, I tipped below 190. Woo hoo! I continue to challenge myself to become leaner and healthier. The journey continues. Each pound lost is a mini-victory. Each new healthy habit makes it easier.

My current goal is to track my foods daily. I have fallen out of the habit of doing this, and it is the best way of keeping myself accountable to myself. And it really works! 

Oh, and another goal is to learn how to beef up my blog with pictures, etc. Boring right now! I have photos in so many different folders and files that I struggle to find just which one I want. Here's an introspective pose of my daughter. Love those freckles!

On restoration

Both DH and I are relaxing on the couch, post-marathon. He ran it and I spectated. (Is that a word?) It was raw, windy, rainy and the track slowed many runners, including DH. I spent much of the morning ensconced in our hotel room, sewing away on my little Featherweight. I'm plugging away at Easy Street, my mystery quilt from Bonnie Hunter's blog. The blocks are 15" finished, with 5 rows of 3" units. Yep, that's right--- units--some with 6 pieces per unit. I'm thankful now that I took the time to square them up to 3.5 inches as I was making them, because they are going together easily. 

Living mindfully and in the present moment has been a challenge for us lately. We focused as much as possible on preparing for this weekend's marathon.  I noticed that in the car, driving home afterwards today, we began talking about the next "big thing" we are facing--DH's surgery to remove prostate cancer.  Only a week away.  

Today's "thankful list": volunteers who stayed on hand for runners in spite of the weather; loving daughter who congratulated her father for finishing; that I could do the walking I needed to do without much pain; warm shower at the end of the day; and, most important---seat warmer in my car!!! :)

On naps and down time

Today's schedule allowed me "down time" in which I gave myself permission to take a nap...and then I took another one! A colleague commented that those were not naps--they were "sleep." I have to agree. My lingering sinus infection has been dragging me down. I tried to heal myself with frequent sinus washes without much luck, and finally gave in and asked for antibiotics.

I haven't done any quilting today, just rested after work. I feel like I need to store up energy for this weekend. The Chevron Houston Marathon is on Sunday, and a number of my loved ones are running it---if weather doesn't cause it to get cancelled, that is. We have a weather forecast of 70% chance of rain. Rain won't cause the run to be cancelled, but lightning will. Since I will be a spectator, I'm not looking forward to a soaking. Oh well!

Featherweight woes!

My lovely 1936 era Singer Featherweight is acting up tonight! Usually, she hums along and "no problemo". The past few times I've sewn with her, I've gotten thread jams and loops underneath, clearly bobbin-related. And she's making a clunking sound. Did all the usual cleaning, changed the needle, rethreaded, oiled, etc., and no improvements. I'll be taking a Featherweight maintenance class in March from Nova Montgomery (novamontgomery.com). Hopefully I'll have this one running better beforehand, if not I'll have to use one of my other ones (two!). I keep intending to name them individually, but haven't done so. I did name my Singer treadle (head only, no cabinet) model 66--she's Ginger, due to her decals which are called either Tiffany or Gingerbread. She was too sturdy somehow for Tiffany, and the old girl has lost a lot of her decals anyway. The Franklin treadle awaits a name as well. His/her (not sure) ;) decals are fabulous, Egyptian-styled, and the name Cleo popped into my head one day. Maybe.

DH has been increasingly anxious in anticipation of his surgery, wanting all the "ducks in a row" beforehand. I am either laid back or in denial, and I'm not really sure which one fits...

My Easy Street mystery quilt, courtesy of Bonnie Hunter quiltville.com has turned into a very relaxing project during this stressful time. I have two of Block 1 out of 16 completed--this quilt will finish with about 2500 pieces!!!! If I had known and counted up beforehand, I don't think I would have participated. I've truly enjoyed it, and rushed each week to read the next clue. Thanks Bonnie!

This is a test of adding a photo to a post--this is on the design wall at a retreat from two years ago and was given to my great niece Sadie. I have to get going on one for Sadie's baby sister who will join us soon! So many WIPs (works in progress) and so many ideas for more projects.

ta ta for now, buzzquilter