Take me Away

Sometimes my gift to unwrap on Tuesdays is harder to find. There are days, even though Emily has encouraged me to look harder, that I'm just a grumpy, scatterbrained mom and a complaining, nagging wife and, even though I see the gifts, I'm not thankful for them. And then there are days like today.

I've been busy but the evidence of hard work can only be found in the boxes of outgrown clothes in the hallway and in the kids' dresser drawers and closets. And I feel like I'm exhausted for nothing.

And then he comes home.

And he runs a hot bath for me complete with candlelight, a glass of ice water and a love note and puts Miles Davis in the cd player.

And that's a gift that doesn't go unnoticed or unappreciated... EVER.

If you can think of a good title then feel free to give me suggestions.

It has been Monday in the most Mondayish kind of way.

I had a teacher conference scheduled for this morning with June Bug's teacher (actually RE-scheduled because I had totally forgotten about it the 1st time). But Baby Bug woke up sick and throwing up and the conference is now re-rescheduled for Thursday when Brian can watch the little bugs. Brian says I get the prestigious title of Best Throw-Up Cleaner Upper for the day.

Thanks, babe.

But this weekend was wonderful. We celebrated two birthdays - my grandpa and my cousin,
we all got to hold Nephew Bug,

Mom and I went clothes shopping for Lady Bug with Lady Bug with us. Her ladybug legs are short and she's got some "junk in the trunk" so I can't buy her any pants without having her present. She had lots of ideas of very practical fall/winter items for her wardrobe:

And though it is very sad that we had to visit my mom's cousin in the hospital who was very recently diagnosed with liver, kidney and lung cancer I have to say that we had a good time with him in the hospital. When I asked him if there was anything we could bring him his requests were for "Tequila! and a carton of cigarettes! That would be great." He thinks the food and the "service" are deserving of 4 stars there at North Fulton Hospital and is thrilled with his Call a Nurse at Your Convenience Button. He says, "They're treating me like a king." I'm glad he feels this way.

And, lastly, today I started on Quilt #2.
Cutting. My least favorite part.

20 little 2 1/2 by 2 1/2 inch squares in each rainbow sherbet color

and 80! little 2 1/2 by 2 1/2 inch sherbet polka dot squares

And I have to include my favorite photo from the weekend:

He's already getting so big.

One Down. Six to Go.

First of all, let me start by warning you that the song, I Think We're Alone Now, has suddenly materialized in my brain (much to my chagrin) and so my thought processes may not be clear and I hope Debbie Gibson doesn't suddenly show up anywhere else in this post.

Secondly,... Hurrah! Nephew Bug's quilt is done. It is in the washing machine as we speak and just needs to be dried, pressed and wrapped. After all my talk about how much I wasn't liking the way this quilt was starting to look, I can say now that it has grown on me and I don't think it looks too bad. I so look forward to how I feel when I've finished making a quilt. The feeling of completion. I don't get that feeling from most of the things I do. Laundry, cleaning house, changing diapers, feeding, dressing and caring for four children. These things need constant upkeep. Doing them once doesn't mean that they're "done". It only means that I can look forward to having to do it all again tomorrow or next week or in the next 3 and a half minutes. But putting together a quilt and giving it to someone I love - this has closure.

Is there something you do that you get this feeling of "Aahhh. It's done." from? Tell me; I want to know what your "thing" is.

I love quilts. I love the puckers from hand quilting. It looks so soft and inviting.

The back of the quilt. I used red quilting thread. I like using a contrasting color now and then instead of traditional white on white. Yeah, that's me; livin' on the edge.

Uh oh! There she is.

UPDATE: I stand corrected. It was Tiffany who sang I Think We're Alone Now. So here's a picture of the person who actually sang that song. I considered posting her Playboy cover shot but thought better of it. ; ) Look how much you learn from my blog - quilting and Useless 80's Music Trivia all in one place!

12:22 Central Time

I'm really going to pay for this tomorrow when we lose an hour by crossing our beloved Georgia border but I'm so thoroughly enjoying the peace and quiet and trying to catch up with all my favorite bloggers and with the news of flooding in our hometown. We'll return tomorrow to who knows what.

We have been quite busy with not being busy here in the Panhandle. We've eaten good, soaked up some Vitamin D, tried to treat a rash caused by an allergic reaction to sunscreen, fed gators, watched dolphins and TONS of jellyfish and played in the pool like it was about to go out of style. This has been our first family vacation in 3 years and we have had a wonderful time. Baby Bug is a bit worn out and was starting to show some signs of wear and tear today on the dolphin cruise - hitting his mama, yelling at his mama, running away from his mama, removing his mama's arm from around his waist, etc., etc..

And then tonight, on our way back to the beach house, he asked me, "Mama sweep wid me?" To which I replied, "You want me to lie down with you tonight?" "Yesh." "Okay, Bud." And then, in the dark as I laid next to him, I leaned over and told him I loved him and he answered back, "I love you too."

It's been a great day.

High and Dry

We're feeling a wee bit guilty down here on the Gulf. The entire Atlanta metro has seen entirely too many days of rain and is flooded all over. The main sanctuary and chapel at church and the basement of the other building at church are flooded and Mom and I are wondering if LoveLoud will be able to leave campus this year. It looks like there will be plenty of clean up needed. I'm so thankful that a friend of ours is feeding and walking Mom's dog every day and she says that our place is still standing and appears to be dry. I've never been so happy to live in the mountains. That rain doesn't stand a chance on our street. Whoosh! Down it goes. But I'm still saying that with my fingers crossed. I'm praying that the roof holds up and all the trees are still upright upon our return.

In the meantime, we've been enjoying all this gorgeous Florida sun and surf and no Florida vacation would be complete without seeing a few gators! We briefly hit the beach today after dinner and played while the sun set. The kids got drenched against their parents' wishes and admonitions to stay out of the water. We had to strip 'em down to their skivvies before getting in the car and even though we had showered them off at the beach they were in need of another before going in the house.

We're praying for everyone at home that you'll stay safe and dry. We'll see you on Wednesday!

Completely Candid Photo Challenge

This is a candid shot of my grandmother at a 1st birthday party for one of her seven great-grandbabies. She's watching the birthday girl eating her cake and I love the expression on her face. She's such a beautiful woman!

A Vacation Up Close

I love playing with the macro setting on my camera. This lousy camera really takes pretty good pictures up close; it's the rest that it doesn't seem to handle well. That's alright, it's days are numbered; I'm going to save every penny until I can buy a super camera. Until then, I'm going to try to capture my life up close and personal.

Summer Ain't Over 'Til I Say It's Over.

I made Brian promise me that he wouldn't post it on Facebook or at his office that we were going out of town this weekend. I don't know why. What was I afraid of? I mean, honestly, even if someone showed up to break in they wouldn't find anything valuable. All my valuables are with me... sleeping peacefully. It's been a long day. It started at 6 a.m. and ended at 8:40 p.m. eastern time.

It was full of...

...and I'm exhausted.

P.S. 6+ hours in the car = lots of quilting done