Blessing in Disguise

A little over a week ago, my wonderful husband called me around 11:30 at night.  He works second shift and was heading home from work.  He told me that he was going to be late because he had just hit a deer.  Now, anyone that knows Tom knows that he loves to tease me.  I think it's his favorite thing to do....well one of his favorite things to do, lol!  I honestly thought he was teasing me.  But then after asking a few times & him continuing to tell me the same thing I realized that it was the truth.  He had actually just hit a deer.

He said that it was really foggy out and that he didn't see it until the very last minute.  I was so worried about him but he reassured me that he wasn't hurt at all.  He said the car looked bad though and that it was probably totaled.  I decided to drive to him so that he didn't have to ride home with the tow truck & really I just wanted to be near my husband.  It was good to see him but the car looked awful.  Here are a couple pictures a few days later, at the car repair business, when we went to remove our belongs because the insurance company has decided that it needs to be totaled...

Now, the title of this post is "Blessing in Disguise" and I totally believe that is what this is.  First, and most importantly, my amazing husband of over 20 years was not hurt at all.  Not even a scratch or a headache....God was watching over him for sure!!!  Second, although the car was totaled and we'll need to get another vehicle, I'm confident that God is going to ensure that our insurance gives us enough money and we find an awesome replacement.  This car was on it's last leg anyway so as long as the insurance comes through we'll be better off.

Finally, this accident has made my husband and I look at each other with different eyes.  We've always been extremely close, more so than most couples we know.  Ask our daughter...she complains we act like teenagers all the time, lol!  But after facing the fact that he realistically could've been seriously hurt or even killed we are appreciating each other even more now.  It feels good!

You never know when your time is up.  You never know what your last word or action towards someone could be.  Don't waste even a minute!!  Be sure to tell the people in your life how much you love and appreciate them.  Please don't wait until it's too late!!!

Bye,
Lisa

How to Handle Time Management Issues

Gosh, do you guys ever get tired of listening to me posting the same thing over and over?  I kinda get tired of writing the same thing over and over but I can't help it!  I'm struggling so much with time management issues.  I'll be honest, this has always been an issue in my life. 

But now that I'm having some success with blogging it is becoming an even bigger problem. I feel like there are specific things I should be doing every day in regards to my blog, but I'm not exactly sure what they are.  Checking email, of course, writing posts, checking a few sponsored post sites, answering comments......what else?  Any advice? 

Then there are all the items I have here to review. I've been very pleasantly surprised by all the positive response I've received from companies.  Lots of them are more than happy to send me items to review.  That is so fun!  It's awesome for them because of the advertising, awesome for me because I get to try out new stuff, and awesome for all of you because there will be giveaways with most of them too! 

I think I need to get myself on a schedule.  Or atleast a check list of some sort.  Maybe a list of goals I want to accomplish every day.  Through the week my husband is away from home for work about 10 hours a day.  Those hours just slip by because of the computer - I get on when he leaves and next thing I know it's been 4 hours and I haven't accomplished anything.  If I had specific tasks that needed to be done each day it might help me stay on task.  Maybe even something like this.....

1 hour - blogging chores
2 hours - blogging paperwork for reviews/giveaways (need to get them all documented before I proceed)
1 hour - housework
2 hours - crochet on granny stripe (trying to get it finished by Thanksgiving!)
1 hour - schoolwork (going to college online)

Gosh!  If I got all of that accomplished in a day I'd be thrilled!  Plus that still leaves me a few hours to just piddle around.  Of course, it really boils down to self discipline - which I have none of!!! That is what I need to work on more than anything else.

The thing is, if I could make myself follow the list above (or something similar to it) I know I'd be a lot less stressed.  I'd be happy because I was getting things done & I'd feel relief from that.  Especially the paperwork for the reviews/giveaways.  That is where I feel the bulk of my stress right now.  It's looming in the back of my mind all the time.  I can't imagine the relief I'd feel if I got all my paperwork caught up and stayed on top of it! Blogging is supposed to be fun after all!!!

What about you? What type of blogging time management ideas of you have? How about blogging chores?  Do you have any type of list you follow each day? I'd love for you to share with me!  I feel like I'm a sponge just begging to soak up all the knowledge that other bloggers will share!

Bye,
Lisa

Visit!!

Yay!  My "baby" is coming home from college this weekend for a visit.  We're so excited to have our little family back together for a few days.  Unfortunately, Tom has to work today so I'll be driving to pick her up.  I'm so thankful we have the new SUV, which is so reliable!  He also just bought me a GPS system so I'm totally covered!!  He takes good care of me!

I spent all day yesterday getting ready for her.  Cleaning, of course since I have an honored guest coming!  But also getting the trip scheduled out, getting the checkbook up to date since we'll probably be spending some money, and lots of other little chores that needed done.  I didn't get sew anymore on my project I mentioned the other day.  Next week for sure!!

Ashley will be here until Tuesday, so I'll probably be pretty preoccupied with her.  I doubt if I'll be on the computer much.  I should've prescheduled some posts but I'll be honest, I didn't think about it until now.  I'm sorry!!  I promise that I'll have lots to tell you next week.....keep an eye out for me!

Bye,
Lisa

Need to Get Organized!

I really, really need a schedule.  I am so frustrated with myself because I waste so much time on this computer every evening.  When we're eating lunch, I always think that I'm going to get so much done this evening.  But then Tom leaves for work, I get on the computer to check my email and next thing I know it is dinner time!  Time just flies on here.  I have been doing a lot of "important" things like working on Central Ohio Binky Patrol paperwork, doing some schoolwork, and tons of blogging things.  I'm researching potential sponsors, putting together giveaways/reviews, joining blog hops, building followers, forging relationships with other bloggers and just working on this blog!  I love doing those things & I know it'll pay off in the future, but there are still things I need to do away from the computer as well.

I need to clean, get the donations put away from Central Ohio Binky Patrol, work on old knitting/crochet/quilting projects, read the books I need to review for my blog.  The two big ones are cleaning and crafting.  I hate to clean, as anyone who knows me can tell!  I have to do it though. I really think if I could just get myself on a schedule it would be so much better.  I also really miss crafting....especially quilting!  I have so much beautiful yarn, fabric and supplies, not to mention all the unfinished objects (UFOs!!) that have been ignored for way too long.

Anyone have any suggestions?  How do you schedule your time?  How do you handle your UFOs?  I know I've asked this in the past but this time I'm serious - - - well atleast at this moment I am, lol!  How about you bloggers?  What type of schedule do you follow?  What blogging chores do you try to get done every day?

Bye,
Lisa

Fun evening

What a great night tonight!  I went to visit my brother, Nathan, and his wife Staci.  They have three kids who are just adorable!  Anyhow, I had missed their oldest son's birthday party because of a migraine so I wanted to take him his present.  They invited me for dinner & since Tom was at work I jumped at the offer.  It was a nice evening!

Staci made chicken & noodle soup and I am telling you....it is the very best chicken noodle soup I have ever had!  Delicious!!  She had made it when Tom had his gall bladder out over a year ago and I was hoping she'd make it again tonight.  She didn't disappoint me!

Guess what else....Nathan went to a Steeler's football game a few weeks ago and he got me something.  Can you guess what it is?  You'll never guess...........here it is.....

Isn't it awesome!! Now I can wave it all around during the games.  Tom is just thrilled, lol!  Not really but that is only because he loves the Browns and they aren't nearly as good as the Steelers! :)

What a great night.  Plus tomorrow Tom and I are going to visit Ashley at college.  I sure can't wait to see her.  We're taking Juni, our 100 pound black lab who is shedding terribly, with us.  What were we thinking?  Oh, I know....that it would make Ashley happy!  Serious, we are so excited to see her.  She's doing so great at college and it'll be nice to meet some of her new friends.

Bye,
Lisa

Visual Migraines?

So, I am sitting at my laptop like I do most days and I suddenly start seeing a weird light blinking in my peripheral vision.  It starts out as just a flicker and quickly becomes jagged lines that are a silver color.  This has never happened to me before and I'll be honest, it was scaring me.  I decided to Google it and see what I could come up with.  I discovered that most times this can be a symptom of a "visual migraine".  They can occur with or without having an actual migraine headache. 

The jagged lines were continuing and my head was starting to hurt.  I decided that I really needed to get off the computer and rest some.  A friend on Facebook suggested that I drink some caffeine so I had a Mt. Dew.  I also took my contacts out to rest my eyes & took a long nap.  Unfortunately Juni, our black lab, had thrown up while I was sleeping so I had to clean that up - yuck!

I took a quick shower, ate some dinner and have been resting since then.  I'm wearing my glasses and plan on not putting contacts in again until tomorrow.  The jagged lines are gone now so that is good.  My head is still hurting but not nearly as bad.  This wasn't a fun day!  Hopefully they don't start happening all the time.

Have any of you suffered from migraines?  What are your symptoms?  Have you noticed if there are things that trigger them?  How to you handle them - what makes you feel better?  I'd love to hear your advice!  Thanks!

Bye,
Lisa

Feeling blue today

Today is the first day that I've actually been home alone since Ashley went to college.  We got home from our trip on Monday but Tom was off work Tuesday & Wednesday.  Today, Thursday, he's back to work.  I slept really late which helped the day go by faster.  But I'm still feeling pretty blue.  I just miss Ashley.  It's weird to not have her here with me.

I know that eventually this will get better & I just need to be patient.  I also know that I'll probably come to love having the house to myself.  I'm sure I'll get lots of crafting done & probably become a better housekeeper too, lol.  But right now, on the very first day, I'm feeling very blue.

I've tried texting Tom at work a couple times but he hasn't answered me.  I'm assuming he's just busy but hopefully it isn't because he's tired of listening to me whine.  He works 12 hour shifts so it makes for a very long day here alone.  His mom called to check on how I was doing a little while ago.  We talked for about a half hour and I felt better afterwards.

Ashley is on a roller coaster of a ride herself.  Overall I'd say she is adjusting pretty well.  There are times where she'll call and be crying, but in general she seems to be having a great time.  She's already made some new friends too, which is really good.

All of these changes are so hard to adjust to, but I know in time we will all be so happy with the new lives that we've created!  It's just getting to that point that is a little difficult sometimes!

Bye,

I'm blessed with a wonderful husband!

I'm feeling very contemplative today.  My husband has been working a lot of overtime recently and I'm missing him.  He is such a hard worker and has always supported our family.  I've been blessed to be a SAHM and am so thankful for that.  I love that I have been able to focus on my husband, our child and our home my whole adult life.

We've been married for 20 years and he is my best friend.  He is such a good man.  He loves me unconditionally and would literally do anything for me.  Our relationship is very important to both of us.  We've always put a great deal of time and energy into building it.  He is more important to me than anything on Earth and I know he would tell you the same about me.  As a result of this, we have a beautiful marriage and a wonderful life together.  Praise the Lord!

My brother, who is 2 years younger than me, wasn't always the "perfect" husband.  He loved his wife but other things were more important to him.  He's gone through a HUGE amount of personal changes in the last year or so and I am so proud of him.  He recently posted a "note" on Facebook and I'd encourage all of you to go read it.  Here is the link!

Marriage and family are so important!  Please remember that your spouse should be the most important thing in your life, other than God of course.  This is hard sometimes and takes a lot of commitment and effort. It's worth it though!!

Bye,

Too much computer time?

Well, it's almost 4:00 in the morning and I can't fall asleep.  I hate nights like this!  Part of it is hormones, I'm sure, but part of it is that my thoughts are just racing.  I've been crocheting for about an hour trying to clear my mind but it isn't working.  I'm just thinking more, lol!

One thing I'm realizing is that I spend way too much time on this computer!  It always starts innocently enough.  I think I'll just check my email, especially the Central Ohio Binky Patrol one that my volunteers send emails to.  But then next thing I know I'm researching books to read on Amazon, looking at patterns I want to try on Ravelry, catching up on the mail from all the Yahoo Groups I belong to, reading other people's blogs, or worse yet playing a crazy game like Frontierville on Facebook!

Now don't get me wrong, all of those things are perfectly fine.  There isn't anything wrong with any of them....in moderation!  My problem comes with the moderation part.  I've never been very self disciplined and it makes me very frustrated with myself.  I really want to change this.  I think it would be good if I could limit myself to a set amount of time each day on the computer, or maybe a specific amount of times I can check my email, or something.  Of course, the issue comes in actually making myself stick with it.

There are so many other things I should be doing instead of playing on the computer.  I have at least 25 quilting projects that are in need of completion.  Plus, now that I've gotten so crazy about knitting & crochet, I've got lots of those types of projects that need attention as well.  Not to mention all the books I want to read!  And those are just my hobbies that I'd like to spend more time doing.  There are, of course, all the chores that need to be done around the house.  And as much as I hate to admit it, I'm usually behind somewhat on paper work for the charity and should give it more attention as well.  But yet most days I find myself spending a huge amount of time just playing on here!!

So, anyone else have this problem?  Do any of you feel like you spend way too much time on the computer or internet?  How do you discipline yourselves?  Do you put limits on yourself?  I'd love to hear what you all think about this topic!!

Bye,

New family member....

We have a new family member.....a 2 year old black lab named Junie!  She is so pretty!!  She's a big girl though, she weighs 90 pounds!!  We adopted her from the local animal shelter.  They have an awesome program where inmates at various prisons train dogs in common commands.  She knows sit, stay, down, leave it, and lots more.  She's completely house broken too which is great.  I still miss Daisy something terrible but I think Junie is going to be a good replacement!

Bye,

American Idol!!!

I have got to tell you......I really, really, really think that Lee Dewyze is going to win American Idol this year!  He was amazing on tonight's show.  He's just getting been getting better and better every week.  I love his voice so much, especially when he lets it get raspy.  So great!!  I can't wait until the finals next week.  I guess I'm getting alittle ahead of myself and I suppose it is possible he could get voted out tomorrow night, but I seriously doubt it.  He was the best by a long shot tonight!   Awesome!!!!!

Bye,

Too much computer time?

With all the work I've been doing setting up Central Ohio Binky Patrol, I feel like I've spent all my available time on this laptop!  Don't get me wrong, I love playing on my computer.  Plus I am thrilled with all the volunteers and donations that I've been able to gain from working on here.  The internet is an amazing tool to connect all of us!  Even as I type I am awaiting a big box from Crooked Brook full of their donation of fleece blankets.  I can't wait for it to get here!

But, with all this time spent online, I've been thinking that in general I just have way too much computer time.  I should be with my family more!  I should be sewing more!  I should be reading more!  I should be out in the yard more!  I should even be sleeping more - lol!  Instead, whenever I have a block of free time, the laptop is the first place I turn. 

The amount of available information is overwhelming!  From patterns, to tips, to blogs, to email lists.  I could easily sit all day and still not get everything read.  And that is just talking about quilting, what if I started research other interests, like gardening or books?  The problem is that I don't want to miss out on any of that great information.  I enjoy seeing what everyone is working on, I love finding new projects to attempt.  It's fun for me but it is stealing too much of my time.  So, I decided to start making some changes to try to get my computer time down to a more reasonable amount. 

For one thing, I unsubscribed from a lot of my yahoo email groups.  It seems as though I'm always behind on reading the messages anyway.  I stayed subscribed to a few that I really enjoy but got rid of the excess ones.  Also on the ones I stayed subscribed to, I deleted all the old messages that I hadn't gotten around to reading yet.  I figure that if it is an important topic it will be discussed again eventually.

Secondly, I decided to give Google Reader a try.  Do any of you use it?  I just got it all set up yesterday but it looks like something I'm going to like alot.  It's for reading blogs and websites that are often updated.  Usually what I would do when I wanted to read blogs was go through my "Blog List" here on my blog.  I'd click on each one and read their post.  That was fine but then I'd end up following links from their site and before I knew it I'd have lost an hour just on one blog.  With Google Reader, I can "subscribe" to as many blogs as I want and they will all show up in one place.  It keeps track of what posts I have or haven't read.  Also, the post itself shows up in Google Reader so I'm not tempted by all the additional links and so on.  I just love it!

Finally, and of course this is the hardest one, I have decided to try very hard to limit myself to only a predetermined amount of time on the computer.  I haven't come up with that amount of time yet because every number I think of just seems like it's too little!  See, I really do have a problem here!  LOL!

Bye,

Sorry it's been so long!

Gosh!  I haven't written in so long.  I'm sorry about that!!!  Life has just gotten in the way.  First off, I finally got the results from my heart monitor and blood tests.  Everything came back normal.  Praise the Lord!!  It is looking as though I passed out from being hungry or dehydrated or something simple like that.  I'm relieved!  I am alittle mad at myself for stressing and worrying all this time over nothing.  I need to put more trust in the Lord to protect and take care of me!

I'm going to make some curtains for my daughter's made over room.  I don't think they'll be too hard but I'm alittle worried.  They are going to be white with a band of light blue and green stripes towards the top.  I think they'll be nice but not too heavy.  I'll post pictures whenever I get them done!  Here is the fabric.

Yesterday, my husband and I had the greatest day!!!  We went to the Amish Country Quilt Show and it was wonderful!  This was my fist quilt show and I have to admit that I want to go to lots more.  This one was small in comparison to others, but it was really nice.  There were about 100 quilts and I got really inspired.  Here are a couple of my favorites.

The following one really blew me away.  The whole background is made of hexegons that were hand sewn.  Amazing!!!

Of course, there were lots of vendors there as well.  I got lots and lots of great stuff!!!  I love being spoiled - lol!!  I got the "Supreme Slider" that is supposed to help eliminate the drag while I'm quilting.  And I got the "Quilt Halo" to grip my quilt as I'm quilting it.  Also, I got a bundle of felted wool that I want to make pincushions out of.  And finally, I got a great new bag pattern called the "Two Hour Tulip Bag".  It has four different sizes to make and I can't wait to try them out! 

Bye,

Makeover day

First off, Friday night went great with my nephew.  He is so adorable!!!  We played lots of Wii, ate at McDonalds and let him play in the play place, watched the movie Prince of Egypt, played some games, colored, played with cars and talked lots and lots.  He fell asleep around 10:30 and was up at about 7:15 the next morning.  The first thing he said was "Guess what Aunt Lisa, it's morning!!!"  I said to my husband that he says it like it is a good thing - LOL!  He kept telling me thank you and was so sweet when we took him home.

I sure was tired all day Saturday.  It's funny that a five year old little boy could wear me out so much!  Luckily, I was able to rest all day and so I took advantage of it.  Around 7:30 Saturday evening my phone rang and it was my brother calling.  I answered the phone and could hear someone crying in the background.  A couple minutes later I heard a little voice say "I miss you Aunt Lisa!!!!".  It was Dominic and he was just sobbing.  He missed me so much.  It was so cute!  I told him to color me some pictures and that would help him remember all the fun stuff we did.  I also told him that he could come again another night, which seemed to help alot.  What a sweetheart!!!  Tom told me later that I was so great with him and that he would probably never get the undivided attention I gave him from anywhere else.  That really made me feel good.

Today I have been very busy.  Some friends have been discussing new ironing boards on one of my email lists.  It made me want to make one too, so I begged Tom today to help me.  And he did, of course!!  What a guy - he loves to make me happy.  I wish I had taken a picture of my ironing board before we started but I didn't think of it.  So the first picture is of my board with the new, green, flannel cover that I made.  If you notice, the board has a metal place at the end to hold my iron.  I like it but it is sorta a problem because it holds the iron at an angle, which makes the steam come out when it's on.  Anyway, here is the picture.

Next, Tom figured out a way to make a cover for the metal thing.  He used plywood and put little pieces of wood on the bottom to hold it on.  I covered it with the same flannel and now I can sit my iron upright on there all the time.  Here is a picture.

Then Tom took a piece of plywood that Home Depot had cut down to 24" X 48".  He sanded the edges down and added pieces of wood underneath to hold it in place.  We covered it with two old beach towels and more of the green flannel.  We stretched everything tight and he stapled it all to the back.  I love it!!!  Now I'm going to have a huge area to iron on which will be great with yardage and strips.  Plus, whenever I need to iron clothes, usually just for church, then I can take the big board off and the underneath one won't be covered with threads.  Yea!  I really do love it and it only cost us about $15.00 for the wood.  I used everything else from home.  Here is a picture.

Next, we went to work on my iron.  The bottom of it had gotten so dirty!  I tried ironing a dryer sheet but that didn't make much difference.  I've heard that works but I'm guessing my iron was just too dirty.  Isn't it gross??

My husband took a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and got it wet.  He scrubbed my iron and now it looks like new.  I can't believe how great it worked!!!  So shiny and pretty!!

Today was a busy day, but it was fun working on all these "makeovers" with my husband!  Tomorrow he starts his job.  He'll be working 6:30 - 3:00 everyday.  I sure am going to miss him!!  But I'm thankful that the Lord supplied this job just as we needed it.  God is good!!

Bye,

Nineteen years and counting!!

Today is our wedding anniversary!!  We've been married nineteen years but it sure doesn't feel that way.  I have to say that he is the greatest man on Earth.  I'm so proud of him.  We were both young when we got married and we've basically grown up together.  He has become the best man I know.  He's so strong and loving and kind and patient.  He loves me more than anything at all.  I'm a very lucky girl and I make sure he knows that I feel that way.  It is amazing to me that we can be closer and more in love now after nineteen years.  That makes me so happy!!

We spent the day together in the Amish Country.  I just love visiting there.  We got lots of great treats - cheese from Pearl Valley, candy, dinner rolls.  We ate lunch at Der Dutchman, which was delicious.  And he got me some quilting stencils.  I'm trying to learn how to free motion quilt and I thought these might help me.  It might make it alittle easier to follow the lines for awhile.  Anyhow, we had a wonderful day together.  I took a nap on the way home and he took one in his chair after we got here.  Later I'm sure they'll be "celebrating" and cuddling!! :)  I sure do love that man!!!!

Bye,

It's my birthday!! :)

Yea!!!  Today is my birthday!  My husband and daughter got me a cake from the most delicious bakery on the planet!!!!  It's a white cake with white icing and it'll probably be gone pretty soon - lol!  They also gave me $100.00 to spend however I want.  Plus my mom & daddy sent me a check for $50.00.  Oh and my inlaws even sent me a gift card to JC Penny's for $30.00.  I'm loaded!!!  I know this is probably crazy to alot of people, especially if you aren't all into being organized, but I think I'm going to spend the bulk of the money of plastic containers to organize all the donation fabric I've been sent.  Then I'm going to blow alittle bit of it at JoAnn's Fabric on some nicer pins, maybe a new rotary cutter, more safety pins and stuff like that.  I'm thinking about getting a Boston Celtics tee shirt and a Pittsburgh Steelers tee shirt with the gift certificate.  Fun, fun!

Unfortunately, I had to get the heart monitor put on this afternoon so I didn't feel like going shopping today.  I only have to wear it 24 hours though so maybe we'll go out tomorrow afternoon.  It doesn't hurt or anything, it's just sorta annoying.  I'm praying that everything comes back normal and I can just move on with my life!!

I got a package this past weekend and haven't gotten a chance to blog about it yet.  It was a whole bunch of Heartstring blocks from Sue in MN.  They are so great!  I'm using them for baby quilts so I don't need as many as other Heartstring quilters do.  That makes it nice for batches of blocks that aren't as big.  Here is a picture.

And then today, while I was on the phone with my mom for my birthday, I got a delivery from UPS.  I love when they come because it is usually some fabric!!  It was!!!  I got a delivery from Fabri-quilt, Inc.  I can't believe how generous some of these fabric manufacturers have been!!!!  This was a pretty good sized box and it was completely full - I mean crammed full - of wonderful kids print fabrics!!  So awesome!!!!  Again, when you are looking to spend some cash on the stash, please be sure to support Fabri-quilt as well as all the other great companies that have helped me.  Here are some pictures of all the great fabric they sent me.

I am so blessed in my life!  And I am very ready to get healthy again and start working on baby quilts with all this awesome fabric.  My mind is about to explode it is so full of plans and ideas!

Bye for now,

I'm blue today

I'm feeling pretty down in the dumps today.  I've been stressing out over my "episode" the last few days.  Logically, I really think it is probably just that I am way too dehydrated.  I have been drinking tons of water and resting so I'd imagine I'll be just fine.  But emotionally I'm still a wreck!  I've still been battling with being dizzy somewhat and I get wore out really easily.  Plus, I'm just so scared that I'm going to pass out again especially if I'm out somewhere.  I don't want to be away from the house for longer than 20 minutes or so.  If I do pass out again I'd really rather be here at home and not in front of strangers.  I just really wish this hadn't happened!

Another thing is the heart monitor.  The last thing in the world I want to do on my birthday is go and get a stupid heart monitor put on for 24 - 48 hours!  Yuck!  Between me worrying and stressing, I'm not even enjoying my birthday at all.  Our anniversary is the following Tuesday and I doubt if things will be cleared up by then so I'll still be stressing.  My poor husband and daughter are feeling the effects too - they are still stressed over thinking they were going to lose me plus they are watching me so closely that it must be exhausting. 

Sorry for the whining today!  I just wish this would all go away.  I don't want to be dizzy anymore and I don't want to get tired so easily.  I miss sewing!!  Plus, with my birthday on Tuesday, I want to just have fun!  Please keep on sending prayers up for me.  I'm trying really hard to have faith that God will take care of me!!

Bye,

Scary situation and some mail

I had a scary situation happen yesterday and I'd really appreciate all your prayers!  I was eating lunch with my husband and I passed out.  That has never happened to me before!  It really freaked my husband out and he was screaming and trying to wake me up.  He said that he really thought I had died.  Our daughter was upstairs and she heard him screaming.  Of course, it really scared her too.

We went to the doctor's office and they took some blood for tests.  They called today and all the tests came back normal so that is a good sign.  I'm also scheduled to wear a heart monitor next week.  I pick it up on March 16 - my birthday, what a great present!  I think I'll have to wear it for a couple days then we'll get the results a week or so later.  I'm praying that nothing comes of that either.  We are really starting to think that it could've happened because I was dehydrated.  I've been drinking water like crazy since yesterday and I'm going to try hard to keep at it! 

Before all that happened, I had spent the morning at my first Newborns in Need meeting.  It was so great!  The ladies were all really nice and seemed happy to have me there.  I'm so excited about finding this group.  I love making charity quilts and it's great to find somewhere that donates locally.  I really like the idea of helping out my own community.  They sent a couple kits home with me too. 

I also got another delivery from a fabric manfucturer today.  This one came from Northcott Monarch Fabrics and I'm so excited about it.  They included 5 pieces of fabric, a charm pack, some patterns and a few "Quest for a Cure" pins.  So generous!!  I've put a link up for their website and please remember to support this company as well.  It is so inspiring to have fabric manufacturers see the benefit of donating to charities.  Thanks so much!!!

Please pray for me while I'm dealing with these health issues.  It's scary but eye opening too.  I need to start taking better care of myself!  If you could, add my husband and daughter to your prayer lists as well.  They are still pretty worried about me and keeping a close eye on me.  They both love me so much and I am so happy about that!!!

Bye,

Disaster house!

My house is a disaster right now!!  My husband and my brother have been working in our daughter's room since Monday.  Luckily, I haven't had to babysit again- lol!!!!  But I have been here to see the mess and listen to the guys getting stressed and grumpy.  It's going alright most the time but when they get tired they seem to get on each other's nerves.  The room is coming along pretty well. They decided to put the drywall up on top of the plaster walls because they said that tearing out all that plaster would've been a major mess.  The drywall is all up, has been mudded and sanded once and mudded a second time.  Hopefully my husband will sand tomorrow and mud one last time.  Then prime on Saturday and start painting on Sunday.  Ashley still hasn't picked what colors she wants!  I promise I'll post a picture once it gets all done.

I got to spend about three hours quilting yesterday.  I worked on making a top from the crumb blocks that Missa sent me for Sunshine.  I actually got FIVE tops started!  All the rows are put together for all five of the quilts.  Now I need to iron the seams and join all those rows for each one.  My ironing board was covered with stuff and I didn't want to try to clear it off.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the ambition to clear that all off and iron those seams.  Then I can get them made into more tops to send to a Sunshine member for her to quilt them for me.

I also got a surprise box in the mail yesterday.  It came from Anne on the Heartstrings email group.  I didn't even know she was sending me anything!  Unfortunately, my camera's battery is dead so I can't post a picture.  But I'll tell you about it - lol!  She sent me a pretty big sized priority box stuffed full of strings.  I sure love them!  I think making string blocks are so easy and they relieve stress for me too.

It looks like it is going to be warming up alittle this weekend.  Our highs are supposed to be in the upper 40s.  I think spring is finally on her way!!!  Just in time for my birthday so that is good.

Bye,

Really stressful day that ended beautifully!!

Well, today was a very stressful day.  We were invited to my brother's house last night for dinner.  He's 10 years younger than me and I have always felt like I loved him as much as if he was my own child.  Anyhow, while we were there my husband mentioned that he'd like to make some changes to our daughter's room.  He wanted to take down the plaster walls, hang drywall and paint.  My brother does this type work for a living so he offered to help.  Next thing I know they are planning on starting the project today!!!  It is a HUGE project.  It's going to be great when it is finished but is a big mess and inconvenience right now - lol!

Unfortunately, a friend of theirs had a death in the family and my brother's wife was helping with the food at the funeral today.  My brother was supposed to take care of his three kids while she was gone.  You know where this is going, right?  Since he was coming here to help in Ashley's room I got volunteered to babysit the kids.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love my neice and nephews but taking care of three kids under the age of 5 is HARD work!!!  Especially when I'm used to a 16 year old - lol!!

I was there all day today and was feeling so stressed out on my way home.  The kids were tired and didn't want to nap since "Aunt Lisa" was there.  That lead to them being whiny and fighting a lot.  It was just a rough day all the way around and I knew there would be a mess waiting here.  Not to mention a tired and grumpy husband.  Luckily, my husband isn't grumpy at all and hopefully won't be too tired to spend some time with me later tonight. 

Anyway, when I walked in the house I noticed that there were some packages waiting for me.  This is becoming a regular thing and I'm loving it!!  It feels like Christmas every day around here!  Well, today's packages were especially great and made my day brighten up considerably.

First, there was a package from Barbara in Canada.  She is a fellow member of the Stashbuster email list and offered to send me a "piggy".  There are 12 blocks made out of kids prints.  I'm going to make it into a quilt for charity.  Here is a picture of the blocks.

The next package I opened was from Sherry in IL.  I was completely blown away by what was in there!!!  She surprised me with an early birthday present - the charm pack (42 5X5 inch squares) from Moda's new line Make Life!!  Can you believe it?  I was so surprised that it brought tears to my eyes.  I sure can't wait to get busy playing with them.  Originally when I noticed the Make Life line online I was thinking I wanted to make a quilt out of it.  But now that I have these charms I'm sorta thinking about a tote bag.  That might be really cute.  What do you all think?  Sherry recommended making a disappearing 9 patch which is also a great idea.  Here is a picture of my new Make Life charm pack!!!!

After that, I finally opened up the last box which was from Carol in IN.  She had commented on my blog the other day that she wanted to send me some fabric for charity quilts.  I responded with my address and the box arrived today.  I have to say that I was shocked by the fabrics she sent me!!!  They are absolutely beautiful!!!!  There were atleast 35 fat quarters, quite a few different yardage pieces, some blocks, and a complete quilt top!!!  Wow!  All the fabric looks brand new.  It's beautiful and I can't wait to start playing with it either.  Here are lots of pics of everything.

As you can see, I have been really blessed today and it sure did make this stressful day much better!  Plus, I am not babysitting anymore the rest of the week so I am going to be free to sew all I want!!  YEA!  Thanks so much to everyone out there that has so generously sent me items to use for my charity quilting.  It means the world to me and I completely appreciate it.

Bye,