IT'S ALIVE!!!

Well, most of you know that I am alive! I just haven't blogged in quite a while. After my return from Idaho, I guess that things just got so busy and hectic that I found it hard to find time to sit down here at the computer, cruise frequented websites, check email and all of the daily things that I was used to. So, now to get back into the swing of things I'll list just a few things that I've been doing! Work, work, and more work. You know, it's hard to play "catch up" and have the feeling that you still haven't achieved the "being caught up" feeling.

Just a few things to share! On my flight back to Paducah I spent a lot of time reading. I read another Jodi Picoult novel and enjoyed it. I had a three hour lay over in Minneapolis/St. Paul and considered braving the Mall of America, but decided against it after about 2 minutes of thought. I opted to eat at a restaurant that had a bunch of micro brew beers available for tasting. I had the biggest order of nachos that I had ever seen. The beer wasn't too bad, but cost more than my food did. When I arrived in Nashville, I went to retrieve my luggage, and guess what!? It never showed up. Turned out that those Potato Heads in Idaho Falls, you know, the ones that work for TSA, had tagged by bag with the wrong flight number. I had such a feeling of panic and had to take a "calm me down pill". I went into this little office, they took all of my information and told me that they would send it via courier. I thought YEAH RIGHT, there goes my Idaho Rotten Potato VODKA, my work keys, all my underwear, and my Old Navy wardrobe! You ever had one of those moments where you just felt like you couldn't deal? Well, this was it for me! Dude assured me that the courier would be calling me to ask for directions to my house. Aforementioned PILL had kicked in by then. Whatever! I gave them my trusty cell phone number and went on my way! My friend Karen was in Nashville that day to pick up a friend of hers, Barb. Karen told the husband that she wouldn't mind picking me up also, although it was a little later in the day. When they arrived, I told them the news that my luggage hadn't showed up and they were stunned. There was some idle chit chat and such as we were leaving Nashville! Now, I must tell you that I really like Karen. She and Barb talked about artists and stuff, they were finally pulling me into conversations I guess trying to make me forget about the damned luggage! Now, I also must tell you, I really like Barb! The trip home from Nashville turned out to be one of the best nights of my life! It was just a girls night out I guess! We talked about boob jobs, husbands, hell I don't know what else, but it just felt good. Then we stopped in Clarksville to eat and ended up on some kind of adventure taking a tour of the town! We finally had to stop and ask directions to get where we wanted to go, but, had a good laugh about the "direction giver" also. We stopped at Chili's to eat and everyone of us got carded!! Woohoo! How much fun is that?!! We talked and laughed throughout dinner and then finally made it back to Paducah about 10:00 in the evening. I was exhausted! Dude from the airport called me to tell me that dude from the courier service would be calling me to ask directions to my house. I didn't sleep at all that night waiting for his call. He never did call, I must have dozed a little, but my luggage was on my front porch when I woke to prepare myself for work the next morning! Hallelujah!

WHILE IN IDAHO

I didn't take many pictures, but acquired some! Some people say that I look a lot like Mother! What do you all think?

Then I realized that none of the kids in our family look alike! What do ya'll think?

This is my brother's headstone! Couldn't find the picture that I scanned to have it inset on the headstone. But, I figured since it was Memorial Day, I may as well post it instead.
That's all for now folks! Sweet Dreams!

FINALLY A FEW FREE MINUTES!

OK dear readers, I know that you have been anxiously awaiting a detailed report of how my trip went, but with some consideration for you poor things that so painstakingly read this blog, I am going to have a little feature, along with my Word of the Day, and "Patience Picture", called "While in Idaho". I figure if I do it that way, I will have time to reminisce and focus more on all of the details and share more with you, rather than just rambling on and on incessantly about the whole trip all at once.
I have decided that it is really good to be home though. It's strange how you always consider one place "home", only to reach your destination and realize that somewhere completely different is now your HOME. I will always consider Idaho home, but when I got to my HOME, it was a completely humbling feeling. It's hard to explain, but hopefully something that some of you may be able to understand.
There is so much going on here right now! Mostly the anticipation of our LowerTown Arts and Music Festival. It's over Memorial Day weekend. Word has it that 80 vendors have signed up! There will be food booths, artists selling their wares, live music and all that jazz. But, what makes it so nice is that we can sit on our front porch and listen to all of the music without having to fight the crowds. Now, don't get me wrong, it's nice to wander the streets and see people, but, there's no place like home! That's my funny for the day! It's pretty bad when you get to the point that you can't stand to wander about 2 blocks away! Maybe I am getting phobic or something. EEK!
WORD OF THE DAY: CHUFF
–noun 1. a rustic.
2. a boor; churl.
3. a miserly fellow.
PATIENCE PICTURE: SEE WHILE IN IDAHO

WHILE IN IDAHO
OK, so while I was in Idaho my whole family, well, the ones that were there ate at numerous restaurants! My brother told me about a new place called Oakey's. When Samantha and her family arrived, we all decided to eat there. It was such a cool place. Just a glorified burger joint actually! Sports stuff on the walls, guitars on the walls, record albums posted all over the bathroom walls, it was just way cool. While looking at the menu, Dustin, Samantha's true love, noticed a 20 ounce burger. He just knew that he could tackle it with no problem! The served it with a pound of hand cut fries, yes, made from IDAHO potatoes, on a trash can lid that had been turned upside down!
I told Dustin that I would give him $5 if he could eat all of it! He made a good stab at it! But, ended up taking some home in a go box!
A good time was had by all, and no one left hungry! Now here is one of the funniest pictures that I took while I was in Idaho.

OFF

WELL DEAR READERS, THE FEW OF YOU THAT THERE ARE, YOU WILL BE GLAD TO KNOW THAT TODAY IS THE DAY THAT I LEAVE TO SEE MY MOTHER. WOOHOO! YOU WILL BE GLAD TO KNOW THAT I WILL ALSO HAVE SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT WHEN I GET BACK, HOPEFULLY, COMPLETE WITH PICTURES. YA'LL BE GOOD WHILE I AM GONE.

MOTHER AND QUILTS, THE VIEW FROM BELOW~!

In honor of the season here in Paducah I will be talking about quilts in this post. My niece, Samantha, has evidently become quite the seamstress and has been making a lot of quilts lately. I also have a friend here in Paducah, Aynex, that is a quilt artist. She does commissions, has an Etsy store and shows her work at several galleries here in the arts district. Some of you that read this blog probably don't know about the quilt show here in Paducah. For almost one week, our population almost doubles! People from all over the world attend this quilt show and we also have a museum here dedicated to the quilter! I have been there a couple of times and it's pretty cool. I don't attend the quilt show though. I have never been to the quilt show! I have been to some of the smaller ones, but never the really big one to see the quilts that are entered each year. The prize money for the winning quilt is above 10 grand. The winner has a choice as to whether or not to take the quilt or the money. So, on with my story about Mother and quilts.

When I was growing up, it seemed, always in the winter time, Mother would put a quilt on. She would piece them all with her sewing machine, get out the big old quilting frames and it was a pretty big deal. It was pretty cool to me, because, once the quilting frames were set up in the living room, the TV was never in view from the couch or any of the furniture that we had to sit on to watch TV. I would always lay under the quilt to watch TV. It was almost like I was in a cave or something because depending on the color of the quilt it would get really dark under there. Then one day while Mother was quilting I realized how cool it was to watch her as she was stitching away with what ever design she was making. I would trace, from below, every line that she had made. If she was tying a quilt, some people here call it "tacking", I would just stick my finger up to the indentation and it entertained me for quite a few minutes. Dad would get aggravated because he couldn't see TV after a hard days work, and sometimes he would crawl under the quilt with me and my little brother. I still have a lot of quilts that Mother has made for me and they are my treasures. I will now share some pictures with you.

This is a baby quilt that my Mother made for me to give to one of my grandsons, but I just don't have the heart to give it away. The top is a crib sheet that she had saved for YEARS, one of mine matter of fact, so that tells you how old it is. Then she put the blue backing on it and then tied the quilt.
This one is a collaboration between my Mother and my sister. My sister did all of the cross-stitch work on 12 blocks, then she sent it to my mother to piece it together and quilt it. It's one of my favorites and the one that I use most often.
This is one of my favorites! I don't use it that often because it is so precious to me. Each block is done with what is called "candlewicking". Little tiny french knots every where. There is a different design on each block. It's absolutely unbelievable. Mother put MANY painstaking hours in on this one, and I am so lucky to have it.

This one is probably one of my favorite treasures. It's from my Grandmother. I will never forget the day when she asked me if I wanted this quilt whey she died. Mother and I went to visit my grandmother. We started going through her cedar chest for some reason, just looking at things that she had in there I guess, and I saw this quilt and made the comment as to how neat it was. I can't remember the story exactly, but I am thinking that HER mother had helped her make it and it had been in her cedar chest all these years. She looked at me and asked me right then if I wanted the quilt and I told her yes. It has been in MY cedar chest since it's been in my possession.

I know that my quilts aren't fancy or anything, but they really mean a lot to me. Seems like everything is so rushed these days, but every stitch made on these quilts were done by hand. Quilting has evolved into a special art and there are so many different designs and ways to do things, but these are something special!

5 MORE DAYS!

Only 8 more days and a way cool ART SHOW

Yeah, only 8 more days. I had to mention that first because I am getting nervous as all get out. No, I haven't started packing yet, my trip to the airport is still up in the air, as I don't know if I am driving myself, or if my neighbor is really going to call in sick and take me. There are just way too many considerations to make and it's not good for the body, soul and mind to be in such disarray! Like, should I take both my digital camera and my film camera? Am I going to be charged extra for a second piece of luggage now that Northwest and Delta have merged? Will there be flight delays? (Delta has had a lot of problems with this lately.) Will I make my connection from one end of the MSP airport all the way to the other end on my flight there? I haven't started packing, but I do have my suitcase open and waiting to be filled up. The weather there is going to suck! Looked it up on the National Weather Service and Accuweather this morning, so I have decided that I will be doing a lot of layering, rather that carrying a coat around with me, just more to deal with and I don't need that! How many books should I take to read? How long is my mp3 player going to last? Should I even bother taking it? AAAARRRGGHH!!!! Help me out here folks!

Went to a WAY TOO COOL art show on Saturday night. The guy was pretty young and what was really cool was that it was in one of the condos down the street that hasn't been rehabbed yet. He had many different types of media to choose from, and I even bought Pete a piece of art. Will take a picture of it when dude gets a hold of me to come and pick it up. You can see pictures and more on the art show here! There may be someone you know in a picture! Anyway, that's all that I have for now. Hi Ho Hi Ho, it's off to work I go. Later!

OH, Any suggestions for my pending flight would be greatly appreciated!

FUN and FAMILY and REAL GOOD FRIENDS!

Well, our weekend with the grandchildren went pretty well! It was so much fun to have them in the house for a couple of days, even though the arguing, running, screaming and all of those kid things had me on my last nerve! Thank God for the little magic pill that I am allowed to take when moments that seem too stressful seem to overwhelm me! They weren't that bad though. I did get my camera out and actually took some pictures of them WITH FILM! It's so easy today to just whip out the digital camera and snap snap snap and it's done, then if you don't like it, hit the delete button. I am very critical of myself when taking pictures and can't wait to see the finished product. I then go through and tell myself everything that is wrong with each picture, and once again assure myself that it will get better next time. Here's a few examples! I know you are all probably tired of looking at grandkids, but you will survive!

This is my Wesley! We tried to pull the other loose tooth, but it wasn't ready to budge!
William Max looks just like his Opa! He can sure eat those waffles at Waffle Hut! Miss Bailey is 6 going on 16! She loves to be primped on! She sure tells the boys what is what!

THE MOST BAD ASS BIKER GANG IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD!

This is Miss Grace! She like buttershlies and shlowers! She's moving to Texas soon!

This is Grace's brother Gavon! He kept the soccer balls going for afternoon play sessions with the grandkids!

Good fun was had by all. On Saturday, it was a so called Mexican Fiesta for all of us, which included dinner at Casa Mexicana with Ashley and Michael, Pete, and Phil, home made sangria (which was to die for), helicopter rides and haunted houses!

On another note, only 2 weeks until Idaho and all I know is that I better get busy!

No words for today, and there are plenty of pictures.

THE YOGA STRAP!

Who would have thought that something so simple would make me feel better! I went to physical therapy again last Tuesday and man was it awesome! I got an unbelievable massage, and Emily worked on some pressure points and I am trying to throw my shoulders back where they should be. While I am working this contraption really works. It's like a long cotton strap with 2 D rings on the end and I have to throw each end of the strap over my shoulders, cross it around my back then around to the front and tighten it up. I know that it sounds weird, but on Wednesday when I came home from work I was almost completely pain free for a change, and I didn't even have to take any muscle relaxers. I did wait a little too long to rig myself up yesterday though, but made it through the day just fine.

When I got home I had 2 beautiful grandchildren waiting on me. The weather was nice and they were all out in the front yard with the neighbor kids riding tricycles! It was awesome seeing them play together like they used to all of the time. Then the third one arrived later. It feels so good right now to have them in the house, doing all of the stuff that they used to do, like running in the house, (a definite NO NO), begging for juices before they have finished the one that they are drinking, asking for treats (which they usually get and they will be full of chocolate before they leave for their journey home), being hungry 100% of the time, (and I thought that Pete was

bad!), but it's still nice to have them around! Bailey, Wesley and Will will leave tomorrow morning a little after 6 a.m. instead of 2:30 this afternoon. I washed all of their hair with my lovely grapefruit shampoo! They smelled so good! I even scrambled them some eggs! So our goal for this afternoon is to entertain 3 small children! It's kind of overwhelming, as they have never stayed with us for this long. I am too old for this stuff!! haha!

In regards to OTHER STUFF only 19 more days until my trip to Idaho! I have yet to get my luggage down from the attic like I said that I was going to or make my lists complete of everything that I want to do while I am there, although the list is started.

Also, got some news that has me rather distraught, sad, and upset, and every other emotion that one could feel in that respect. My neighbors are moving to Texas:-( They have been such good friends and we have shared so many good times with them. I will hate to see them go. It's been an awesome experience watching their children grow. They are like our second grandkids! I know that they will be back for visits, as they still have family here, but I will miss them so much.

It's kind of weird having a day off! I am finding myself wondering what to do, although these kids are keeping me kind of busy, which is a good thing!

Will post more adventures with the kids and hopefully more pictures tomorrow!

word of the day

PROGENITOR
(prō-jěn'ĭ-tər) Pronunciation Key n.
A direct ancestor. See Synonyms at ancestor.
An originator of a line of descent; a precursor.
An originator; a founder: progenitors of the new music.

PATIENCE PICTURE

SELF EXPLANATORY!