How Not to Kill each Other: 101

I was chattin the other night with Em, Sheila and Bear. Em made the comment that she was really surprised John and I didnt kill each other on our trip, and we still havent filed for divorce. It was two weeks of almost constant togetherness. At times, i admit, we did get on each others nerves. There were times Im sure, John would have been happy opening the car door and driving away. He didnt though, good for me. So, this got me thinking, why didnt we kill each other? I am going to give you the reasons I think we are both still alive.

1. Bring snack food, a hungry person is a cranky person. We made sure to bring snacks to munch on the way there. Beef jerky, trail mix, and a kind of fruit/nut mix from Costco. On the way back, we bought Peanut butter and bread. I snagged a small jar of jelly from Alex. He had three, and I can send him more if he runs out. When we got hungry and were too far from anywhere to eat, bam, PBJ to the rescue.

2. Listen to what ever is clear on the radio. We listened to everything from rock to country. We didnt listen to the spanish stations and a few other stations, but we never faught about the music.

3. Bring a book to read when the ride gets boring. On the ride back, we were just seeing everything in reverse. Some of it was still nice to see, but not enough to keep me from falling asleep. I brought a book, and it kept me from getting cranky.

4. Make maps of the trip before you leave. We went to mapquest and printed out the trip in both directions before we left. Sometimes, there are other roads you can take that were put in prior to the updates on the site, but this is better than getting in your car and just leaving. You still need to watch the other roadsigns, but having a map always helps.

5. Realise you will be together in close quarters for a long time. Try to work things out so you dont get to the point of killing each other. We took advantage of the opportunities where we could be apart. Like when John and Alex went loking for a car.

Ok, that is it. Maybe tomarrow I will write about some more of the cool and odd things we saw on our trip. woo hoo

Entry for December 31, 2006

Grand Canyon and going Home

It is Sunday morning and we are finally on our last leg of the trip, on our way home. We should be home today by 5 or 6. I just want to sleep in my own bed. By the time you read this, we will be home, YIPPEEEEEE.

Ok, lets get back to Saturday. We got up and got going bright and early. We had breakfast at at little Mexican restraint place, oh it was so good. We then took off for the Grand canyon. It didn’t take that long to get there from Flagstaff. Only a couple hours. There was a line a mile long, literally, at the gate to the park. It moved slowly, but it moved. We were really surprised at how many people were going to the park in winter, but the weather was nice, so I guess it was expected.

Anyway, the canyon was beautiful. If you have never seen it, you need to see it before you say god bye for the last time. There are what appears to be circular cut outs all over the canyon. They seem to have some kind of system of regularity to them, like there was a plan at time the canyon was formed. The natural colors are perfectly matching, blending and changing with the layers of rock. There are peaks and valleys and scary looking ridges that make you wonder how anyone could possibly climb or cross on foot or mule, but they do. From some of the view points, you can see the Colorado river. It appears to be a small stream, but in actuality, it is a large wild , wide raging river. The whole Park is like some kind of miracle of nature. John described it to me like this: It looks like God got pissed off when he was creating the earth and took a big handful of earth out.

On the way out of the park, to top off the day, there were three huge elk standing on the roadside just casually munching on the brown grass. People, including us, stopped their cars to watch these wild animals in their natural setting. They had to feel safe, or they would have run as soon as the first car stopped. No one made a sound as they watched in amazement as the elk ate their evening meal. I tried to get a picture, but they kept coming out too dark. The real size of these animals was stunning, with their antlers making them even taller. The actual size, is similar to the size of a large horse. I had never seen and elk in the wild, but now I feel privileged to have seen not one, but three.

So we left the park and headed to Kingman. This was to be out last night on the road. We got here at 8 PM, got some food, and a room. We were just tired, it was a long day of walking, and for me hobbling. So now, we are actually driving back to California, and I am typing this in the car. We are seeing everything in reverse now. We are finally out of the snow, which by the way, followed us till about I hour before flagstaff. We left just at the right time, because on the news this morning it said that NM had 16 inches of snow. We would have been stranded if we had waited any longer. It was time to come home.

Leaving Roswell

We left Roswell Friday morning after stopping in at the alien museum. It was really interesting. There are a lot of things to see in Roswell but we had an agenda, and we had to end up in flagstaff at the end of the day. The museum held all kinds of information on the alien that landed, and also how the Air force covered it up. The material the ship was made of was a flexible metal looking stuff. You could spend the whole day in there reading all the information on the crash. We bought a few souvenirs and left, after taking a few more pictures of the alien street lights.

We were really surprised at how big that town is. I thought it was just a spot on the map, but it is really big. The architecture in the town is beautiful. A lot of the buildings are brick, the color of adobe and clay. There is a military academy that looks like a castle, and is built from the same bricks. I wish we could have spent more time there, but we had to get moving. This is where our travel story begins.

We took off and it was just trying rain. The wind was blowing, but the clouds were in the sky. Pretty soon, the snow started, just flurries at first, then it got a little heavier. Pretty soon, the roads were filling with snow. As we drove along, the road disappeared, and the snow got thicker. Our car started bouncing in and out of hr snow ruts, and sometimes were got kind of scared we were going to slide right off the road. There was no snow plow on this road at all. At one point, it was just white with snow, and we had to make our own path on the road. You could not seethe road at all. We just wanted to get off that road.

Finally, we came to the end of that road, and got to turn-on to I40 West. The other direction was closed, the snow was coming too fast, and there was still no plows to clear it. We filled up at the station there, and followed the trucks over the road for the next couple hours. The whole time, it never stopped snowing. This went on for the longest time. Drive, snow, drive snow drive snow, We finally drove out of Albuquerque and toward Arizona. We though we were on the way, then traffic stopped.

It Stayed stopped for about an hour cus some people think they know how to drive like speed demons in the snow. I don’t want to bore you all with how long we sat, and slowly rolled. Let me just say this, we left Roswell at 10:30. It should have taken us about 7 something hours to get to Flagstaff. We should have been there around 5 or 6. We got there at 9. Tired, hungry, cranky, but safe and alive.

Leaving Roswell

We left Roswell Friday morning after stopping in at the alien museum. It was really interesting. There are a lot of things to see in Roswell but we had an agenda, and we had to end up in flagstaff at the end of the day. The museum held all kinds of information on the alien that landed, and also how the Air force covered it up. The material the ship was made of was a flexible metal looking stuff. You could spend the whole day in there reading all the information on the crash. We bought a few souvenirs and left, after taking a few more pictures of the alien street lights.

We were really surprised at how big that town is. I thought it was just a spot on the map, but it is really big. The architecture in the town is beautiful. A lot of the buildings are brick, the color of adobe and clay. There is a military academy that looks like a castle, and is built from the same bricks. I wish we could have spent more time there, but we had to get moving. This is where our travel story begins.

We took off and it was just trying rain. The wind was blowing, but the clouds were in the sky. Pretty soon, the snow started, just flurries at first, then it got a little heavier. Pretty soon, the roads were filling with snow. As we drove along, the road disappeared, and the snow got thicker. Our car started bouncing in and out of hr snow ruts, and sometimes were got kind of scared we were going to slide right off the road. There was no snow plow on this road at all. At one point, it was just white with snow, and we had to make our own path on the road. You could not seethe road at all. We just wanted to get off that road.

Finally, we came to the end of that road, and got to turn-on to I40 West. The other direction was closed, the snow was coming too fast, and there was still no plows to clear it. We filled up at the station there, and followed the trucks over the road for the next couple hours. The whole time, it never stopped snowing. This went on for the longest time. Drive, snow, drive snow drive snow, We finally drove out of Albuquerque and toward Arizona. We though we were on the way, then traffic stopped.

It Stayed stopped for about an hour cus some people think they know how to drive like speed demons in the snow. I don’t want to bore you all with how long we sat, and slowly rolled. Let me just say this, we left Roswell at 10:30. It should have taken us about 7 something hours to get to Flagstaff. We should have been there around 5 or 6. We got there at 9. Tired, hungry, cranky, but safe and alive.

Lookout Aliens, here we come

This morning we left Tulsa at around 8:30 am. We packed our stuff and loaded it back into the car, then went over and woke our son and said good bye. I almost cried, but he told me not to. I wont see him again till this summer or the next time he is able to come out. I don't know when it will be. He is all by himself, I think if he had someone there with him, it may not hurt so much. I know that after my oldest, Andy got married, I was more OK leaving him. I still hurt to leave him, but at least he wasn't alone.

Anyway, we took off for Roswell. We were going to stop in Amarillo, but decided to keep going and save a day. All we wanted was to get to Roswell for tonight. Right off the bat, we took the wrong exit, of course. We had to get on a turnpike, but the turnpike wasn't marked east OR west, and we took the east one, and we should have taken the west one. So, 1.50 in tolls, and we were turned around and heading the right way. First driving fight for the day. I wanted to throw the directions at John and make him read them. But I didn't, I kept being the navigator. This happened a couple times, because we were not familiar with were we were going.

We got through Oklahoma, then through Texas. We were driving along, going toward Hereford Texas, when all of a sudden, we couldn't breath. The overwhelming aroma of ammonia just about blinded us. I wanted John to drive faster, but the police in Texas aren't very nice, or so we heard, so we held our breath and drove the speed limits. There were feed lots all through this town, and each feed lot had a couple thousand cows. What makes people think we need to clone these animals? There is no cattle shortage going on, believe me. These critters are multiplying.

Finally, we were out of Hereford, and started passing cotton fields. I have never seen cotton fields before, although they grow in California. but as we were driving by one field, the cotton was being harvested. Huge machines were driving up and down the fields and pulling the cotton off the plants ands separating it from the plant part. Then, a little further down the road, was humongous bales of cotton sitting in the field. They were the size of trailers. I have never seen anything like this. If i wasn't so amazed at what I was seeing, i would have been taking pictures.

It was a 9 hour drive into Roswell, but we finally made it. We got a room, then went looking for the Mexican food restraint John had found on the Internet that was supposed to be here in Roswell. It was supposed to be about 9 miles down the road. So we took off on the search, in the dark, in a town we had never been to. Of course, the place wasn't there, so we decided to head on back, but John had his heart set on Roswell Mexican food. So we drove, and searched, and drove and finally, as we got up next to our hotel, there was a restaurant called Tia Juannas. Really, it was just next to the next hotel. We drove 16 miles to eat one block away. The comedy on this trip continues.

Lookout Aliens, here we come

This morning we left Tulsa at around 8:30 am. We packed our stuff and loaded it back into the car, then went over and woke our son and said good bye. I almost cried, but he told me not to. I wont see him again till this summer or the next time he is able to come out. I don't know when it will be. He is all by himself, I think if he had someone there with him, it may not hurt so much. I know that after my oldest, Andy got married, I was more OK leaving him. I still hurt to leave him, but at least he wasn't alone.

Anyway, we took off for Roswell. We were going to stop in Amarillo, but decided to keep going and save a day. All we wanted was to get to Roswell for tonight. Right off the bat, we took the wrong exit, of course. We had to get on a turnpike, but the turnpike wasn't marked east OR west, and we took the east one, and we should have taken the west one. So, 1.50 in tolls, and we were turned around and heading the right way. First driving fight for the day. I wanted to throw the directions at John and make him read them. But I didn't, I kept being the navigator. This happened a couple times, because we were not familiar with were we were going.

We got through Oklahoma, then through Texas. We were driving along, going toward Hereford Texas, when all of a sudden, we couldn't breath. The overwhelming aroma of ammonia just about blinded us. I wanted John to drive faster, but the police in Texas aren't very nice, or so we heard, so we held our breath and drove the speed limits. There were feed lots all through this town, and each feed lot had a couple thousand cows. What makes people think we need to clone these animals? There is no cattle shortage going on, believe me. These critters are multiplying.

Finally, we were out of Hereford, and started passing cotton fields. I have never seen cotton fields before, although they grow in California. but as we were driving by one field, the cotton was being harvested. Huge machines were driving up and down the fields and pulling the cotton off the plants ands separating it from the plant part. Then, a little further down the road, was humongous bales of cotton sitting in the field. They were the size of trailers. I have never seen anything like this. If i wasn't so amazed at what I was seeing, i would have been taking pictures.

It was a 9 hour drive into Roswell, but we finally made it. We got a room, then went looking for the Mexican food restraint John had found on the Internet that was supposed to be here in Roswell. It was supposed to be about 9 miles down the road. So we took off on the search, in the dark, in a town we had never been to. Of course, the place wasn't there, so we decided to head on back, but John had his heart set on Roswell Mexican food. So we drove, and searched, and drove and finally, as we got up next to our hotel, there was a restaurant called Tia Juannas. Really, it was just next to the next hotel. We drove 16 miles to eat one block away. The comedy on this trip continues.

Our last full day in tulsa

Today we went and had lunch at local place called Famous Dave's. It is a BBQ place, and OMG, it is good. We ate so much, it made me sick. We did bring a plate home of our leftovers. Alex took us on a tour of the Spartan Campus. That is the school he is going to. I did t realize how much aeronautical stuff is here in Tulsa, but it is full of airplanes.

This morning we went over and I made him some turkey soup. He will eat for a while, good food. He is getting so skinny. His friends have even noticed. he just isn't eating like he used to. he is thin to begin with, so any more of a loss is really noticeable. I know I feed him forever, he is taking care of himself the way most college kids do though, I guess.

We re heading out again tomorrow morning, that would be Thursday morning. We will be heading to Roswell, New Mexico. John wants to see area 51 and all the alien stuff. It will take about 9 hours to drive there from here. We were going to stop in Amarillo, but we decided to go straight through. We will stay one night, then head to the Grand Canyon. John really wants to see that again. We heard there is a storm rolling in again. See my car, that happened in Albuquerque on the way in here. Hopefully, the storm will come and go before we get there. I am not too eager to do that again.

I was going to show you some pics of Alex's wrecked car, but for some reason, they wont copy to another page. I tried everything that I know of. they got put in a file in my documents file, instead of my pictures file, but that shouldn't matter, I don't think. OK, it is late, i am tired, and
my eyes are burning. that must mean bedtime. Good night for now. See ya ll tomorrow.

Our last full day in tulsa

Today we went and had lunch at local place called Famous Dave's. It is a BBQ place, and OMG, it is good. We ate so much, it made me sick. We did bring a plate home of our leftovers. Alex took us on a tour of the Spartan Campus. That is the school he is going to. I did t realize how much aeronautical stuff is here in Tulsa, but it is full of airplanes.

This morning we went over and I made him some turkey soup. He will eat for a while, good food. He is getting so skinny. His friends have even noticed. he just isn't eating like he used to. he is thin to begin with, so any more of a loss is really noticeable. I know I feed him forever, he is taking care of himself the way most college kids do though, I guess.

We re heading out again tomorrow morning, that would be Thursday morning. We will be heading to Roswell, New Mexico. John wants to see area 51 and all the alien stuff. It will take about 9 hours to drive there from here. We were going to stop in Amarillo, but we decided to go straight through. We will stay one night, then head to the Grand Canyon. John really wants to see that again. We heard there is a storm rolling in again. See my car, that happened in Albuquerque on the way in here. Hopefully, the storm will come and go before we get there. I am not too eager to do that again.

I was going to show you some pics of Alex's wrecked car, but for some reason, they wont copy to another page. I tried everything that I know of. they got put in a file in my documents file, instead of my pictures file, but that shouldn't matter, I don't think. OK, it is late, i am tired, and
my eyes are burning. that must mean bedtime. Good night for now. See ya ll tomorrow.

Entry for December 26, 2006

Our Christmas dinner

John and I were at Alex apartment by 9:30, and started dinner. I wanted to get the turkey in the oven so we wouldn’t be eating at 7. I started the stuffing, cleaned the turkey, boiled the giblets for flavor in the stuffing and got the bird in the oven. Alex had us stop in the middle of the prep to open the gifts he gave us. He gave John hot sauce assortments and I got a margarita mix with glasses. Hot of course. For us, it wasn’t about the gift exchange, but more about being together. John made snack’s to munch on, and we did just that.

Ok, so I start making all the side dishes. Potatoes, yams, yuck, salad, corn and green beans. Remember, I forgot the cranberries. I went to take the frozen pie out of the fridge, and this goo starts oozing out of the box. “WHAT THE HECK IS THIS” I ask as I place the slimy box on the counter. I make my pies, from scratch. I don’t know how to do pre-made, really. If someone says I have to use bisques, My brain starts spinning. I don’t know how to do box stuff. Anyway, the pie wasn’t pre-cooked, it was frozen. By the time we pulled it out of the fridge, it was all defrosted and turned into pumpkin goo. GROSS. So we threw the box away, and decided to try and cook the balance of goo in the pie shell. Meantime, John had to have a pie for desert, so he and Alex went out on a mission to find a pie. And they did, at Denny’s. it wasn’t home made, but neither was the other one.

Finally, Alex’s friends started arriving, all two of them. They are really nice kids, just trying to get through school. They were hungry too, and were ready to have some home made food, that wasn’t from a box or a restaurant. We ate good last night. At the end of the night, after we finished dinner, I realized we had forgot the corn and green beans in the microwave. That was the only stuff that wasn’t cooked on the stove. I had put them in there earlier while I was getting everything ready, and forgot all about them. The day was a comedy of errors, but it still turned out to be a very good day. All the boys had a good meal, their moms were happy they weren’t by themselves, and we were happy top spend it with them.

Entry for December 26, 2006

Our Christmas dinner

John and I were at Alex apartment by 9:30, and started dinner. I wanted to get the turkey in the oven so we wouldn’t be eating at 7. I started the stuffing, cleaned the turkey, boiled the giblets for flavor in the stuffing and got the bird in the oven. Alex had us stop in the middle of the prep to open the gifts he gave us. He gave John hot sauce assortments and I got a margarita mix with glasses. Hot of course. For us, it wasn’t about the gift exchange, but more about being together. John made snack’s to munch on, and we did just that.

Ok, so I start making all the side dishes. Potatoes, yams, yuck, salad, corn and green beans. Remember, I forgot the cranberries. I went to take the frozen pie out of the fridge, and this goo starts oozing out of the box. “WHAT THE HECK IS THIS” I ask as I place the slimy box on the counter. I make my pies, from scratch. I don’t know how to do pre-made, really. If someone says I have to use bisques, My brain starts spinning. I don’t know how to do box stuff. Anyway, the pie wasn’t pre-cooked, it was frozen. By the time we pulled it out of the fridge, it was all defrosted and turned into pumpkin goo. GROSS. So we threw the box away, and decided to try and cook the balance of goo in the pie shell. Meantime, John had to have a pie for desert, so he and Alex went out on a mission to find a pie. And they did, at Denny’s. it wasn’t home made, but neither was the other one.

Finally, Alex’s friends started arriving, all two of them. They are really nice kids, just trying to get through school. They were hungry too, and were ready to have some home made food, that wasn’t from a box or a restaurant. We ate good last night. At the end of the night, after we finished dinner, I realized we had forgot the corn and green beans in the microwave. That was the only stuff that wasn’t cooked on the stove. I had put them in there earlier while I was getting everything ready, and forgot all about them. The day was a comedy of errors, but it still turned out to be a very good day. All the boys had a good meal, their moms were happy they weren’t by themselves, and we were happy top spend it with them.

Entry for December 25, 2006

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY

HI Everybody! Merry Christmas. After today we will be saying Happy New Year. I hope everyone is spending today with family and friends, eating mass quantities and making the most of this day. We are cooking at Alex’s apartment. Two of his friends that are here by themselves will be eating with us also. It should be fun. Big ole hungry boys. I would hate it if my son had to be by himself on holidays. There was no table here, so we got him a table. He picked it out, a card table with four chairs. That is all he really needs right now. I guess you take care of your kids till they grow up, and then some. I am just happy to be able to spend this holiday with at least one of my babies.

So the other day, John and Alex went out and looked for a car. After going to a few lots, they finally found a car that was good enough. When your kids are across the country, you have to have the sense of security for them. I sure hope we don’t have to come out for this reason again. The next trip will probably be for graduation, I hope.

Yesterday, we went to the super Wal Mart here to do a little shopping for today’s dinner. These places are huge. They have everything there. I don’t know why people don’t want them. There are four of them in Tulsa, and a million other stores. It doesn’t appear that they are effecting the economy in this area. From what I hear, the unemployment rate here is next to nothing. Alex says if you don’t have a job here, it is because you didn’t look. When he first got here, he had a job the first day he looked. He didn’t even finish filling out the application. OK, off track.

We got all the fixins for dinner. We had to go a little off from what we normally do. Pre-made pumpkin pie, canned whipped cream, and we forgot cranberry sauce. We will have enough to eat though. What really matters is that we are spending the holiday doing what we want. I wrote a while back about the lap quilts I made for my friends. I will write about that on another day. I have to tell you who my friends were. All but one of them is delivered. So when that happens, I will tell you. OK, that is all for today, I will see you all tomorrow, or when I have something good to say. Merry Christmas from my family to yours.

Entry for December 22, 2006

Today, we just sorta hung out, did nuthing, and drove around Tulsa. Alex showed us some good places to eat, and we had lunch at a small place. You wouldn't even know to go in in there if you weren't told to. I am sure glad someone told Alex this place was good. It was called Ron's. they had thin hamburgers, with lots of flavor, and had a very reasonable price. These are the kind of burgers that Wimpy ate, but they were really tasty. We ordered root beer to drink, and when it was almost empty, BOOP, another glass appeared on the table. We got an order of fries for the table, and they were hot and crunchy. this is the kind of food I love. simple and fast. No airs, just good food.

John and Alex will go tomorrow and look for a car for him. We got the settlement numbers today from the insurance agent. it is never enough to cover your losses, then replace what you lost, but I let them know I wasn't really happy with everything, and they need to make sure the other insurance pays our deductible. We are not the ones that wrecked our car. This whole mess just pisses me off. Breath Breath Breath.

While John and Alex are out car shopping, am staying home. I will read a book I brought and I see what you are all doing. There is no restaurant here, so I hope I don't get too hungry. I will have to call them and tell them to bring me food. I just am not brave enough to go out by myself. I am so directionally impaired, I will get lost at the first turn. Then, I will have to pull over and call for assistance. I hate this about me. Why cant I remember where I have been? I know there are others out there like me, but I sorta panic in strange situations. Its too embarrassing. I will stay here for a while till I can learn how to go around the block and not get lost.

I looked up some stuff today. Strange laws on the books, specifically in Texas. they have strange laws in Texas. Did you know if someone trespasses on your property there, you can hang them. And you can carry a concealed weapon, but if it isn't registered, you can go to prison. I just cant imagine people walking around with weapons. If you get a chance, check out the strange laws on the books thing. i did it in Yahoo search. Sorry, I don't know how to add a link, or I would put it right here. OK, this is all for today. See ya all tomorrow.

Entry for December 22, 2006

Strange/ funny things we have experienced on our trip, so far

1. while driving Arizona, we were so high up, we were driving through the clouds.

2. One of the elevations in Arizona was 7,335. My ears felt like they had a needle sticking in them.

3. The desert growth that looked like it had white dreads, this was just funny looking.

4. That you could actually see the different color lines in the rock formations through Arizona and New Mexico.

5. While driving out of Texas, there was still snow on the ground, one one side of the road. But when we looked to the left, it looked like it never snowed there. this was just strange.

6. they have swap meets on the radio here, and one guy on one of the stations called them tradio.

7. On the tradio show, some guy called and said one of the items for sale was a hoax. the phone number they gave out was to his wife's cell phone. he wanted to find out who placed the add, so he could call the po-lice. his wife couldn't even make a call, she was getting so many calls. he wanted to know if the radio host remembered if it was a man or a woman, as it could be one or the other. No lie, this is what he said. he asked if the host could let everyone know the add was a hoax(he never asked for the add to be removed from the website) and also, if they could let the listeners know the add was a hoax, DON'T CALL, ITS A HOAX. this one killed us, we were laughing so hard.

8. They serve huge portions of food in Texas.

9. Huge open spaces of beautiful land. Its amazing how far you can look sometimes and see forever.

10. People out here are so nice. this isn't strange or funny, but I needed to add it.

11. Don't try to avoid toll roads, it isn't worth it. the gas it takes you to go around, is more than the tolls. Again, I just needed to add it.

OK, that is it for now. I woke up too early, and this is what I am doing. I will let you all know what happens the rest of our day, later on. Just thought I would give you something to chuckle at this morning.

Part two of two days post

Thursday, Day 4

We checked into a motel 6 last night, we figured all we were doing was sleeping anyway. When I tried to log on and post the blog for Wednesday, I found out I had to Pay 12.00 for the service. I don’t think so, so if you are reading this and haven’t read the post for Wednesday, go back and get filled in on yesterdays adventures.

Last night, we had dinner at the big Texan. There was a guy there trying to eat the big 72 oz. steak. He did pretty good, he ate all but 10 oz of meat. He also had to eat a potato, bread, salad and a shrimp cocktail. Too much food for me. We were told you can now watch them try and eat this meal on a webcam from their site. Oh yeah, and they only have 1 hour to eat all this. Gross. People have done it though.

We had a regular meal, and it was fab. Anyway, we took off this morning for our last leg of the trip. All the roads are open, there is no snow, we should arrive in plenty of time. There is ice on all the trees, and they are breaking limbs and branches, but the visual effect is beautiful. They look like living ice sculptures. There was ice most of the way out of Texas, but just on the side of the road. It really was smooth sailing all the way to Tulsa.

Ok, we learned a very long lesson, don’t try to save by going around the toll roads, it takes to long. That is what we did. We thought it wouldn’t matter that much, but going around the tolls, took us on a long out of the way detour. Next time, we pay the tolls and get here sooner.

So that leads me to where we are right now. Sitting in our final destination, unpacked, with our clothes out of the suitcases and into the drawers. I am sipping the last of my first bottle of wine. We are relaxing, and after I post this, read what you all have been up to, I am layin on the bed and relaxing. Alex took his last test today, passed, and got an A in the class. He missed the Deans list by one A, but as far as I am concerned, he did wonderful. We are very proud of him. Brag brag brag, lablab.

Ok, we are here, and that is it for the day today. See ya all tomorrow.

Entry for December 21, 2006

Day Three, Wednesday

We weren’t able to leave our room last night, the snow just wouldn’t let up. So, we dug into our traveling goodies and enjoyed a wonderful dinner. For our first course, we had a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos. This tasty morsel goes very good with either Beer or wine. I enjoyed my Doritos with a very delicate Pinot Grigio, 2005 meridian. For our second course, we dined on salami, chedder cheese and crackers we purchased at Costco.

Last night, we had a very scary experience. I was sleeping, and for some reason, I woke up. I looked around the room, wondering what time it was, when saw a line of light. I woke all the way up, and realized what I was seeing. Our room door was open. I woke up John and told him, and he got up and closed the door again. But here is the thing, I remember last night as John was closing up, he put the extra bar across the door, so it couldn’t be opened all the way. I told him, its closed John, and he came back to bed. The door was only open a small space, as far as the extra lock would allow, but I know it was closed all the way before we went to bed. I had nightmares all night after that.

Last night, the roads were closed from Albuquerque to Texas on I 40. This morning we saw on TV that the road was reopened, so John is packing the car back up and we are going to try to move on. Our car is covered in snow, we look like a local. Driving is going to be a little scary till we hit dry ground. We are leaving cautiously, going slow, looking for a gas station, and heading back out to I 40. This is really creepy, but we are being very careful. I will be happy when we get ahead of this storm.

Alex called this morning and told us it had been raining since yesterday. Yippee! Better weather. I just hope 40 East stays open till we get to Texas. We are on the road, and it is slow and go. The snow goes away, and comes back. Right now, it is blowing and snowing big huge flakes. The road is sanded with the red gravel that is all around New Mexico. The roads are the color of the red rocks. The police are escorting the cars in both directions, but at least we are moving.

Ok, it’s a few hours later now. That was quick , huh? We are almost to Texas, only one more hour, and we will be in Amarillo. There is a steak place there John wants to go to. It is the one if you eat the whole 72 0z. Steak and all the trimmings, you get it free. I will have a reasonable sized meal, thank you very much. We have driven in and out of snow storms all the way here, nothing like what we left behind. We just want to get to Amarillo, have dinner and relax. Ok, This is it for now. Along post today. Rest your eyes now. See ya all tomorrow, I will let you know how dinner was.

Traveling, day two

Tuesday, December 19.

Day two of our trip. Again, we woke up too early. We thought it was around 7 am, but it was really around 430, am. The clock in the room was blinking, so the electricity went out sometime during the night. Also, there was a light over the curtain, along with the fact that Arizona is 1 hour ahead of California time. The whole time thing got us. When we finally realized it wasn’t 7, we had already Had our showers, and put on clean cloths. When we out the door at 7, it was still dark, and freezing cold. We went ton breakfast, then headed on down the road. Remember, it was freezing cold.

As the morning went on, it never warmed up. When we tried to wipe the moisture off our windows, it was frozen, on the inside. Cars were passing us, and throwing up dirt on our windshield, and all we could do was turn on our wipers, the windshield fluid was frozen. Anyway, we kept traveling on down 40 East. We drove in and out of the snow. It was so pretty, but it never snowed, until later.

Ya know when you see old western movies, the cowboys and Indians are out in the open plains, and it seemingly never ends. This is what it felt like. John described this open space to me like this. “You can shoot a bullet, go to where it landed, and shoot another one, and never hit anything in between.” That is exactly what some of this landscape was like. It was so amazing to look out the window, and see forever. It never warmed up by the way.

As we drove, pretty soon it started to snow, just very lightly. Our wiper fluid still was frozen, until around 1 or 2. All we could do was use our wipers, everyone else was in the same predicament. Only one time were we in a scary situation where we couldn’t see. That only lasted a few seconds, but that was long enough. As we drove, the landscape changed from tumbleweeds, to scattered small growth, to a normal looking forest, and back to tumbleweeds again.

After we got into New Mexico, it started to really snow. I thought for sure it would slow down, but it only got worse. We followed trucks and more trucks, for miles. I was talking pictures all the time. I was really starting to want to get a room, and get off the roads. We drove till Albuquerque, then got a room. By that time, the snow was so thick, and showed no signs of stopping, and I was eager to land in a room somewhere. So that is where we are now. It has finally quit snowing, and it’s a good thing we stopped. 40 was shut down into Texas, so we would have been stranded. We have salami and cheese and a few snacks, I have my wine, we will survive I think till tomorrow.

We are at our first stop

We left this morning at about 8 am, as planned. it was so freaking cold I couldn't wait to get to a warmer part of the country. HA! BIG FAT CHANCE THERE. I fell asleep around Fresno for a while, then woke up again in Bakersfield. Now that is an exciting place to see. NOT. I waited to see any new scenery for a while, but when it did finally arrive, it was well worth the wait.

I need to let you all know something that you may not know. As you are traveling down Hwy 99, smack in the middle of California, are two very tall palm trees. These trees were planted I don't know how many years ago to designate this location. Just thought I would let you know this.

We traveled for a few hundred it seems like miles. It was only really a few hours. We started seeing these little cactus trees. I know that is a strange description, but that is what they look like. I think these are called Joshua Trees. I don't know where the name came from. When I heard this name before, I thought they were big trees like Redwoods or very large pines. These tree's are very small and really do look like small cactus or palm trees. I will have to tr ya and find a pic. Actually, i have one on my camera, but it isn't downloaded yet.

So we drove some more and the greenery started to change shape. as we got closer to 29 Palms, they plant life was actually small palm desert palm trees. They just grow straight up, but not very tall, mostly just a few feet tall. After that, the cactus tree's looked like they had White dreads sticking out of them. they weren't very tall either. This was all in the Mojave desert. I have never been here before and it is so beautiful. It is so hard to believe this is still California. it looks so different from our home town.

I will post some pics when we get to OK so I can empty my card. John wanted me to tell you there was snow on the TahatchapeesMountains. TThiasas another beautiful sight. Actually, after we left Boring Bakersfield, everything was worth seeing.

Shortly after we enenterdArizona, we started seeing the tabletop mountains. I wish I could show them to you. I know you have seen Aarizonaartwork, where it shows the different layers of the mountains, well, you can aaCTUALLYSEE THE DIFFERENT LAYERS OF THE MOUNTAINS. oops. I am ddraggin on, but I have to try and let you see waht i was so privilaged to see today in my own home state. My most used word latley, AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL, BREATHTAKING. Why leave the coountryuntil you have seen all the beauty in our own.

Entry for December 17, 2006

OK, I took the genius test, and i scored at 112. it said i was smart of some kind, but i cant remember and i tried to put the code in my blog, and i couldn't get that right. oh well. big whoppin deal. some day i will learn how to do all the fun stuff on here. I just don't know when.

Anyhoo, we are leaving in the morn-in for OK. I am so excited. i printed the directions, to and from. we are going to be making a few stops on the way there. we are going to take three days to get there. drive 8 hours and sleep, then get on the road again. we will take the grand canyon tour. that should be fun. except i am so freakin afraid of heights, it creeps me out to even think of the edge of that place. I cant even look at the pictures of it. ridiculous.

I got up this morning and started baking. I made cinnamon rolls and cookies for Alex. Oatmeal and chocolate chip. I put a couple big ole dollops of peanut butter in the oatmeal cookies. it gives them a really great flavor and keeps them from drying out so fast. they tend to get hard pretty quick. anyway, I intend to guilt my kids into never forgetting their mom. Not that they would, but i have to make sure they always have a reason to come home, even its just to ask me to make them cookies or cinnamon rolls. If Tania reads this, show it to Andy, he will get it.

I put some new pics of my latest quilts in the albums. I made an album on how i set up a quilt after I make a top. i took pics of each stage. the album is called setting up a quilt. I also have a thing I don't know how I set it up called a tag. there are two of them. one is called new quilt pics. I went through and labeled all the pics and I hope you are able to see them. I still wish could get rid of photo stream. it just wont work right and it is really beginning to bug me. I still have four pics of "this photo is no longer available". I don't even remember taking that photo. and certainly not four exact times. Does anyone know how to make this go away. I even looked at the help screen, and I just thought Help me. One day I will make a new page and start over.

I better get going. I will check back when we get to some place where we set up camp for tomorrow night, in a good hotel with electricity. see ya all later.

I have more to say

Today is Saturday. too early in the morning, also. It pisses me off that I cant sleep. Yesterday I finally got the 2 wire cable for my wireless Internet. It took about 5 minutes to actually hook it up, but about 2 hours to make it work. I had to call at&t for help, and had to delete the firewall off my puter, cus this modem has a built in firewall, and I find out, you cant run two firewalls at the same time. Haven't they ever heard of being extra careful. Well, after two hours and two calls, I was almost in tears at one point from frustration. the at&t guy talked me down from my hysteria. thank you Andrew from At&T techno support.

Holy ship! I just noticed there is spell check on here! how long have I missed that for! Is this a new feature that they finally added cus I asked for it so many dam times. Woo hoo, I don't have to check my own miss-spells any more, just really bad grammatical error's. Believe it or not, this is exciting for me. I will have to hop over there and tell them thank you. Do I sound a little spazzy, well, public spelling errors I guess really bug me. We are adults with puters, I just think correct spelling should be a given. My mom would never help me spell a word when I was a kid. she would make me look it up, or spell it phonetically. See what that did to me. Wow.

Anyway, yesterday, i was trying to learn how to download my pics onto my lappy. I found the slot to put the little card into, but it wouldn't go in all the way, so it wasnt acknowledging it was there. This is probably a question for Em, do I have to push a Little harder to get that card into that Little slot? I don't want to force the little bugger in there, and then not be able to get it out. I even read the directions, but it says to load them from the printer, into the desktop. I want to see them on my lappy, so i can learn to show you guys where we are at while we go on vacation to OK. By the way, I get to take you with me now. Anyway, this is getting a little long. I better scoot. see ya all later.

I have more to say

Today is Saturday. too early in the morning, also. It pisses me off that I cant sleep. Yesterday I finally got the 2 wire cable for my wireless Internet. It took about 5 minutes to actually hook it up, but about 2 hours to make it work. I had to call at&t for help, and had to delete the firewall off my puter, cus this modem has a built in firewall, and I find out, you cant run two firewalls at the same time. Haven't they ever heard of being extra careful. Well, after two hours and two calls, I was almost in tears at one point from frustration. the at&t guy talked me down from my hysteria. thank you Andrew from At&T techno support.

Holy ship! I just noticed there is spell check on here! how long have I missed that for! Is this a new feature that they finally added cus I asked for it so many dam times. Woo hoo, I don't have to check my own miss-spells any more, just really bad grammatical error's. Believe it or not, this is exciting for me. I will have to hop over there and tell them thank you. Do I sound a little spazzy, well, public spelling errors I guess really bug me. We are adults with puters, I just think correct spelling should be a given. My mom would never help me spell a word when I was a kid. she would make me look it up, or spell it phonetically. See what that did to me. Wow.

Anyway, yesterday, i was trying to learn how to download my pics onto my lappy. I found the slot to put the little card into, but it wouldn't go in all the way, so it wasnt acknowledging it was there. This is probably a question for Em, do I have to push a Little harder to get that card into that Little slot? I don't want to force the little bugger in there, and then not be able to get it out. I even read the directions, but it says to load them from the printer, into the desktop. I want to see them on my lappy, so i can learn to show you guys where we are at while we go on vacation to OK. By the way, I get to take you with me now. Anyway, this is getting a little long. I better scoot. see ya all later.

I WANT A TV BATHTUB WITH TV BUBBLES

I want a tv bathtub, and TV bubbles. Whenever you see some starlet on TV, with her hair all pulled up in some half falling, yet somehow attractive mannor, sitting in a bubble bath, she is fully covered in bubbles and neck deep in the water. She can lay all the way down, and her knees dont pop up out of the water when she goes under, she is totally immersed. And sometimes, if her significant other decides to get all romantic ansd stuff, he hops in there with her, and there is still room. they conveniently have the faucet placed in the center of the tub on the wall, so no one has to sit with it sticking in their neck. If i put John in the tub with me, I would have to get out. I am only 5'3", and my knees stick out of the tub when I am in there.

OK, so why am I starting this new blog with such a strange rant you ask????? you need to ask after all this time? Well, it is because since iI had my foot surgery, I have to keep it dry and take a bath, rather than a shower. If I have to do this, I want a dam TV bath tub so i can be totally immersed in the water and have bubbles that grow bigger than the bathtub and I can actually cover up with, if I actually needed to. Like on TV. Am i asking too much, HUH?

On to other matters. I spent all day yesterday finishing up the lap quilts I neede to get done for my friends. they are wrapped, and on their way to their Christmas trees. I have cleaned up my sewing room, to Johns delight, put away my ironing board and iron, and picked up all the scraps off the floor. the room is clean, until I start another project. Once I start a project, I dont clean the room until I am finished. I end up with small scraps attaching themselves to my clothes and falling off in the living room floor or on the couch. It drives John nutso.

I also made cinamon rolls. the are so freaking good. My friends, Rosa and Nilu, are coming over this morning after work for cinimon rolls and coffee. Rosa just has to bring me a coffee from starbucks. OMG, I just saw the time, I am not even dressed yet, still in my jammies, they will be here in about an hour. I better get this posted, and go get dressed. I will talk at ya all later. still have more to say, oc cource.

I WANT A TV BATHTUB WITH TV BUBBLES

I want a tv bathtub, and TV bubbles. Whenever you see some starlet on TV, with her hair all pulled up in some half falling, yet somehow attractive mannor, sitting in a bubble bath, she is fully covered in bubbles and neck deep in the water. She can lay all the way down, and her knees dont pop up out of the water when she goes under, she is totally immersed. And sometimes, if her significant other decides to get all romantic ansd stuff, he hops in there with her, and there is still room. they conveniently have the faucet placed in the center of the tub on the wall, so no one has to sit with it sticking in their neck. If i put John in the tub with me, I would have to get out. I am only 5'3", and my knees stick out of the tub when I am in there.

OK, so why am I starting this new blog with such a strange rant you ask????? you need to ask after all this time? Well, it is because since iI had my foot surgery, I have to keep it dry and take a bath, rather than a shower. If I have to do this, I want a dam TV bath tub so i can be totally immersed in the water and have bubbles that grow bigger than the bathtub and I can actually cover up with, if I actually needed to. Like on TV. Am i asking too much, HUH?

On to other matters. I spent all day yesterday finishing up the lap quilts I neede to get done for my friends. they are wrapped, and on their way to their Christmas trees. I have cleaned up my sewing room, to Johns delight, put away my ironing board and iron, and picked up all the scraps off the floor. the room is clean, until I start another project. Once I start a project, I dont clean the room until I am finished. I end up with small scraps attaching themselves to my clothes and falling off in the living room floor or on the couch. It drives John nutso.

I also made cinamon rolls. the are so freaking good. My friends, Rosa and Nilu, are coming over this morning after work for cinimon rolls and coffee. Rosa just has to bring me a coffee from starbucks. OMG, I just saw the time, I am not even dressed yet, still in my jammies, they will be here in about an hour. I better get this posted, and go get dressed. I will talk at ya all later. still have more to say, oc cource.

Entry for December 12, 2006

I bought my first laptop. yaahoooo. Now , i have to get a wireless 2 wire modem thing to make it work. i think i did pretty good. i bought a compac presario v6000. i dont remember all the bits and mega numbers, but it is big enough to do what I want. we also got a regular desktop. I thought I was getting a less expensive one, but come to find out, that was a display model, and the only one. we got home and realised we bought a bigger, more expensive model. it was a very expensive day at Costco. but hopefully by the time we leave for OK, I will be good at typing on the flat, smoother keyboard of a lapppy. I tried playing Spider, my favorite game on it, but I couldnt figure out how to get the cards to move. i could get them to move sometimes, halfway accross the screen, then they would stop cus i only have three inches to move my finger on that little piece of black stuff. those of you with lappys will know what i am talking about. I am sure it has a name, i just dont know what it is yet.

In other news, i got the bandage changed on my foot today. the cut is about two inches long on the bottom of the front of my foot. it looks pretty good, as big ole cuts go. I burned my ass when i sat down today, I didnt realise there were hot chestnuts sitting onthe puter chair. then i went in to cool my ass off, and john sat down, not knowing there were hot chestnuts on the chair. I explained Bear put them there. Oh Bear, now John is a soar ass. he doesnt even know who you are, and that you are just trying to spread cheer, and his ass si burned. next time, he will check when he sits down. i forgot to tell him. he keeps wondering where all this stuff is coming from, but he just doesnt understand.  oh well.

It is cold and raining here. Our street will flood pretty soon cus all the leaves from the trees will go into the sewer and block everything up. constipated water on our streets. it happens every year. that is a big part of the reason we flood every year. Not like the Floods back east last year, but the water gets real close to our garage door sometimes. it gets scary. I just hope nothing happens when we are gone.  that will be a mess I wont want to claen up after. I will hope for less rain when we leave.

taht is it for now. Hope fully this will be one of the last times I will have to type on this keyboard. I will try to ge tthe new desktop set up tomarrow. John is pretty useless in thst area. he only knows how to press go, ansd find what he wants. the desktop is a gateway media center pc. I dont know all the numbers on that one either, but it is good also. I will either be on the gateway or my lappy next time you see me. My money spending days are gone for a while. poor me, literally. See ya ll later. hope your havin a great day.

Entry for December 11, 2006

Hi Everyone. We might be going to Oklahoma, I am pretty sure we are. but before we go i have to finishe the front of one more lap quilt i have started. I am not christmas shopping this year, I am doing gift cards for my kids, and just making a few lap quilts for my friends and getting them sent to their homes before we leave. since i cant and dont want to lug my sewing machine around the country, i only have a short time to get this done. I have one waiting to be put togethter and quilted, and then finish this one. I am working so hard, whew.

I have good news. tomarrow, my puter is growing legs and turning into a laptop. yes, i have the cash and have made the decision, and i am getting me a laptop, and I will get john a new desktop. not a big megabyt thing, just something he can browz with and wont be shut off all the time cus we are out of space or there is some "thing" wrong. I am so excited. Costco has what i want, for a real good price. I will try and learn how to use it, and hopefully i will be able to take you all with me to Oklahoma, OH how fun will that be!!!!!!!!!!

I am getting better on my crutches. i lost my balance the other day and fell on my foot for a second. I wanted to cry real hard. I think i told you this in my other blog, but the memory is like yesterday. Now I am very careful. Very very careful. It is having a very strange effect on my stomach muscles.  That little pooch that sits right on my lap, yes ladies, you know which one I am speaking of, dont get that confused look on your faces. Anyway, when i am hoppin down the hallway, or traveling from room to room, I can feel it tightening up. there just may be a benefit to these horrid extensions under my armpits. I may end up with a tighter tummy, wouldnt that be nice.

Weell, I just took a moment to say hi, yet you know my latest condition, tell you where i will be until i am finished with my agenda. I will be in the sewing room. When all my stuff is in a box with a label, I will be normal again. Until then, see ya all later. dont work too hard this week, it is after all ,it is the holiday season, and time for sharing cheer, not hard labor.  Merry Merry.

Im home and Hobbling

Hi every one. thank you all so much for the wonderful thoughts and comments. I kow I will get better faster with all your energy comin at me like this. the first day home, i didnt even take much meds, I thought Whoa, I dont hurt at all! this is great. Little did i know, My foot was still holding on to the anesthetic until the next day. My toes were still numb at 3:00 on thursday, but they arent now. I am fully aware of the cut on my foot, andI actually accidently lightly stepped down on it. Yep, i wanted to cry real loud, but i only squealed a little. I wont do that again.

I  took a bath this morning and hung my foot out tof the tub while it was wrapped in a plastic garbage bag. OMG that felt sooooo good. I feel like a sorta new person again. I did get all my christmas cards written yesterday, now I just have to get them in the mail. I get to figure out how o want to do that. John would do it for me, but i want pretty Chrismas stamps and he will put regular stamps on them. That isnt the way i want it. i am sorta spazzy about some things. I need to get over this spazzy thing. 

We may just drive out to Oklahoma so i can beat the lady that hit Alex with my crutch. Not really, that is my imagination going wild. But we may drive out there for the holiday. Alex wont be able to come home, and we need to get the car thing takin care of. I have never driven out that way, it would be fun, I think. stop in texas adn eat some steak, see the cactus in arizona, freeze my ass off in Oklahoma. Spend some time with my family, priceless.

ok, rambling again, better go. I just wanted to let ya ll know i made it through. Now i better go check up on all of you and see what i missed in the last two days.

Entry for December 05, 2006

tomarrow i go in for my surgery on my foot. i really cant wait. It hurts when i walk, and this will fix the problem. If I dont pop in here for a while, that is why.  I will try to get in here and see all of you by friday at least. I will miss you guys, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. and I gotta get this done. I need to get more fabric cut for two more lap quilts. If the fabric is cut, I can just sit and sew. so tonight and tomarrow morning I will do that. NO tv for me, I have stuff to do.  I have printed my list for christmas cards and have this years cards, so i will get that done while I cant walk and also finish that test I have to take for the paralegal thing. i cant beleive i havent finished that yet.  I will have stuff to do. the doc also gave me some pretty good pain meds. Darvocet. they will knock me out, but when i am awake, i will be productive sitting down. yes, i have a plan.  Well, i have to get going now, i am on a roll. I havent really stopped too much today, i am trying to make sure I am ready for this  tomarrow. I have even bought the foods i will be able to fix myself easily, cottage cheese, yogurt, soup.  etc. these are for when I am by myself after John goes back to work. I think I am prepared for this. Well, see ya all pretty soon. I wil have calluses on my armpits from the crutches for three weeks, but no one touches my armpits anyway. ewwwwww. ok gotta run, see ya all later

More quilt talk

What’s in a Quilt?

 

I haven’t written about my passion in a while, but I am today. Quilts are simply made of multiple pieces of cut up fabric sewn back together in a different way. It can be like a puzzle, sort of.  The fabric is usually chosen very carefully, trying to match the personality of the person it is being made for.  Should the fabric be bright or more modest colors? What is the pattern of the quilt? Then, when the front is all complete, what fabric do you use for the back? What do you put in between the front and the back?  These are all questions that have to be addressed while a quilt is being made. But what about a scrappy quilt?

 

For me, scrappy quilts are pieces of my heart. They are made from the scraps of the quilts and extra fabric on the backs of previous quilts.  Each piece cut, and pieced back together, makes another memory. I can look at my scrappies, and say, that one is from Lana and Andrews quilt. (See the brown and tan quilt on my photo stream)  Those really bright colors are from Daniels quilt, with the fuzzy back. I have never done that before, and probably never will again. But each one is a collection a pieces of my heart. Like the poetry Mavis so eloquently writes, these are very personal to me.

 

 So, what do I do with the scrappies I make?  I give to my friends.  I have done this in the past, and the recipients loved them. They didn’t even know they were scrappies until I told them. I have a habit of bringing in the quilts I make to work. I make all my co workers look at them.  I know, how silly, but they are kinda like my kids, everyone has to look at them also.  Scrappies usually aren’t much bigger than a lap quilt. Not the ones I make. I just like making lap size quilts though.  I have made two so far, and I still need to make a few more before Christmas.  I love giving these away, and this year is no different. I just can’t wait to see how my friends will react when they get them, they have no idea. I have been busy lately, so they don’t even know I have been sewing.  

 

The fronts are all pieces of different quilts, but the backs are all one solid piece. These I try to match not only to the front, but also to the person I am giving it to. This can be more difficult than it seems. It is also a very fun part of the quilt for me. I never buy the back fabric at the time I am making the front. I wait until the front is all complete, then I fold it all up and haul it around to the different fabric stores until I can find the right fabric to match it. This may take going to a couple different stores, but well, its part of my process and I love it.  

 

They are all filled with warm and natural batting. In my opinion, this is the best. It is 100% cotton and it makes the quilt lay just right around you. In the end, you have a lap size quilt you can cuddle up with and stay warm. Just putting this over me and up around my face and I fall asleep.  They are very comforting for some reason, and I love them.  

 

OK, I needed to do this. I needed to get my quilting talk fix. I just love doing this. I have never taken a lesson; I just buy a book and do what it says. Or I make up my own pattern.  My mom taught me how to quilt using a hand written rail fence pattern.  Why do we save all of our scraps, because fabric can be very expensive, so we learn to use it wisely?

 

OK, that is the end of today’s banter. I have nothing more to say today. I do, but that will be on another day.

 

Helpless from Modesto

Yesterday we got the phone call no parent ever wants to get.  While Alex was driving to school, there was an accident on the side of the road. Of cource, everyone had to slow down to watch.  Well, he was going about 10 miles an hour, trying to keep a safe distance from the car in front of him, and up from behind some lady hits him doing about 40mph. He is sore, but alive. His car is totaled though. the police that were taking care of the other accident, now had to also take care of this one.  It is a very helpless feeling when you cant run and take care of your kids when something bad happens to them. We were able to get him a rental until we can get him a new car. I just hav eto say, though, thank goodness that lady was in Oklahoma. I really dont think she would want to deal with an over protective mom from California. that was my baby she so carelessly hit.

It is still freezing cold here. there was frost on my car this mornign when I left work, and i had to sit and let my windows defrost before i could leave.  I checked the temp for 95358, and it was 32 degrees. I think that is the official freezing temp, correct?

When I came in this morning to read my blog comments, write something, and read everyone elses pages, I had to wipe the lip marks off my monitor. There, big as you please, were big ole sloppy lip maks, like someone left me a smoochie kiss. Also, after i tipped my keyboard over to get out the rest of the pancake  batter that was poured onto it last weekend, it also had flour, sage, pine needles and an assortment of other christmas related items.  I may have to get a new keyboard pretty soon if I keep finding this stuff so generously placed here every day. Hmmmmm, is this the Bears version of the twelve days of christmas. I am trying to not have to use some of the keys that are still stuck from the pancake batter. Thanks Bear and Katie, really you are too kind.  I cannot accept this much kindness from two more loving people without recipricating somehow. I havent figured out just how much kindness I can afford to return your way.  thank you so much.

Pretty soon I will be off work again for 3 to6 weeks. I am going top try and get in some serios sewing. I didnt have my machines for a few weeks cus one was not working right and the other I didnt know how to use. Now I am back on track and i have a few gifts i need to get made.  I figure, if I can come home every day and sew for a few hours, I can get these done. I only have three more to do, so I will do my best to put in some time every day. I would put them on my photostrem, but they dont show up any more, andi dont know why. I cant get the stupid pictures to change, even though i have taken some off. I wont put any mor pics on there, I will just make new albums, that is easier.

Well, I have a doctore appt today, so i better get scootin. hope you all have a great day.

Helpless from Modesto

Yesterday we got the phone call no parent ever wants to get.  While Alex was driving to school, there was an accident on the side of the road. Of cource, everyone had to slow down to watch.  Well, he was going about 10 miles an hour, trying to keep a safe distance from the car in front of him, and up from behind some lady hits him doing about 40mph. He is sore, but alive. His car is totaled though. the police that were taking care of the other accident, now had to also take care of this one.  It is a very helpless feeling when you cant run and take care of your kids when something bad happens to them. We were able to get him a rental until we can get him a new car. I just hav eto say, though, thank goodness that lady was in Oklahoma. I really dont think she would want to deal with an over protective mom from California. that was my baby she so carelessly hit.

It is still freezing cold here. there was frost on my car this mornign when I left work, and i had to sit and let my windows defrost before i could leave.  I checked the temp for 95358, and it was 32 degrees. I think that is the official freezing temp, correct?

When I came in this morning to read my blog comments, write something, and read everyone elses pages, I had to wipe the lip marks off my monitor. There, big as you please, were big ole sloppy lip maks, like someone left me a smoochie kiss. Also, after i tipped my keyboard over to get out the rest of the pancake  batter that was poured onto it last weekend, it also had flour, sage, pine needles and an assortment of other christmas related items.  I may have to get a new keyboard pretty soon if I keep finding this stuff so generously placed here every day. Hmmmmm, is this the Bears version of the twelve days of christmas. I am trying to not have to use some of the keys that are still stuck from the pancake batter. Thanks Bear and Katie, really you are too kind.  I cannot accept this much kindness from two more loving people without recipricating somehow. I havent figured out just how much kindness I can afford to return your way.  thank you so much.

Pretty soon I will be off work again for 3 to6 weeks. I am going top try and get in some serios sewing. I didnt have my machines for a few weeks cus one was not working right and the other I didnt know how to use. Now I am back on track and i have a few gifts i need to get made.  I figure, if I can come home every day and sew for a few hours, I can get these done. I only have three more to do, so I will do my best to put in some time every day. I would put them on my photostrem, but they dont show up any more, andi dont know why. I cant get the stupid pictures to change, even though i have taken some off. I wont put any mor pics on there, I will just make new albums, that is easier.

Well, I have a doctore appt today, so i better get scootin. hope you all have a great day.

Entry for November 26, 2006

We took Alex to the airport this morning. I cried all the way home except for the part where i fell asleep. I wont see him again untill may or june when he graduates and we go out there to visit him.  this is too much for me, but it is what is best for him. 

It is freezing freaking cold here right now. we have a cold front blowing in, that usually means its from Alaska, so it is really cold. Its also raining here, which means it will have lots of snow in the mountains. good for those that like to slide down the hill with long peices of wood strapped to their feet.  That just isnt my idea of a good time.

I think quite literally a lot of the time. I will hear something, and start giggling to myself, trying to contain the laugh so no one will think i am just a little bonkers. What I mean by literal thinking is, well, exactly what the words are that are said.  Every time I go to the airport, it makes me laugh. As soon as i hear that soft voice announce us to keep control of our bags, I picture the carry on bags people have with them, trying to sneak away from their owners and hang out with a stranger. Or maybe just roll around by themselves until someone grabs them.  I wonder who is the person that is going to ask you to hold onto their bags, or ask if they can watch yours for a while.  I wonder these things when I hear some of the stuff we have streaming at us all the time.  My son thinks I am over the edge, I am sure, until he does it back to me, and catches me off guard and we both get laughing.

I finished a small lap quilt yesterday. I have had the front of two quilts done for quite some time, but due to the sewing machine issue, I wasnt able to finish them. I went friday morning and bought 5 different pieces of fabric, each 4 yards for the backs. I will finish the other one I have ready to put a back on and get started on another one. On the edge, which is called the binding, i do the wrap around method. You are supposed to sew this part by hand, but i dont cus my hands go numb. I felt a little creative yesterday, so I put a different stitch from the many on each side of the quilt. I like the way it turned out, but probably wont do that again. I will just pick a stitch and use it all the way around. I will get some pics of the quilt and put it on  my slide show, picture thingy/cant remember the name right now. by the way, does anyone know how to change the front pics on that? Im getting a littel tired of the dolls buts showing.

I had to work wednesday night into thursday and also friday night for two hours. that really blew my three day weekend away. I had a good weekend though, Alex was here and i got to see his face. that made me happy. OK, that it for now. I dont have anything else to say. You all have a good week.

Entry for November 26, 2006

We took Alex to the airport this morning. I cried all the way home except for the part where i fell asleep. I wont see him again untill may or june when he graduates and we go out there to visit him.  this is too much for me, but it is what is best for him. 

It is freezing freaking cold here right now. we have a cold front blowing in, that usually means its from Alaska, so it is really cold. Its also raining here, which means it will have lots of snow in the mountains. good for those that like to slide down the hill with long peices of wood strapped to their feet.  That just isnt my idea of a good time.

I think quite literally a lot of the time. I will hear something, and start giggling to myself, trying to contain the laugh so no one will think i am just a little bonkers. What I mean by literal thinking is, well, exactly what the words are that are said.  Every time I go to the airport, it makes me laugh. As soon as i hear that soft voice announce us to keep control of our bags, I picture the carry on bags people have with them, trying to sneak away from their owners and hang out with a stranger. Or maybe just roll around by themselves until someone grabs them.  I wonder who is the person that is going to ask you to hold onto their bags, or ask if they can watch yours for a while.  I wonder these things when I hear some of the stuff we have streaming at us all the time.  My son thinks I am over the edge, I am sure, until he does it back to me, and catches me off guard and we both get laughing.

I finished a small lap quilt yesterday. I have had the front of two quilts done for quite some time, but due to the sewing machine issue, I wasnt able to finish them. I went friday morning and bought 5 different pieces of fabric, each 4 yards for the backs. I will finish the other one I have ready to put a back on and get started on another one. On the edge, which is called the binding, i do the wrap around method. You are supposed to sew this part by hand, but i dont cus my hands go numb. I felt a little creative yesterday, so I put a different stitch from the many on each side of the quilt. I like the way it turned out, but probably wont do that again. I will just pick a stitch and use it all the way around. I will get some pics of the quilt and put it on  my slide show, picture thingy/cant remember the name right now. by the way, does anyone know how to change the front pics on that? Im getting a littel tired of the dolls buts showing.

I had to work wednesday night into thursday and also friday night for two hours. that really blew my three day weekend away. I had a good weekend though, Alex was here and i got to see his face. that made me happy. OK, that it for now. I dont have anything else to say. You all have a good week.

Entry for November 24, 2006

Thanksgiving is over.  I hope everyone ate only what they wanted and enough of what they wanted. We had a good meal. John went and picked up Alex athe airport cus i was still asleep when he woke up.  We flew him in from Oklahoma for the holiday. When they finally got home, I grabbed him and hung on to him for too long. I cant beleive how much i miss him when he is gone. I miss both of my boys so much.  Its funny how they grow up, move out, and then we just cant seem to stop missing them. I dont especially want him right here in my house living all the time, but i do want to be able to see them when I want to.  OK, nuff of that.

I knew i would be waking up at o too early. I even thought about going out to the hoards and getting in my little bit of christmas shopping. The only add i took out was from Beverlies. That is a local craft/fabric store and they are having 33% off your entire purchase from 8 to 10. I need fabric for the back of two quilts and maybe more.  they have coupons for the whole day. I can get 40% a single peice of fabric at any time of the day. If i stay in there all day, I can just keep on using my coupons. 

 I will pretty much be doing the gift card thing this year, since my kids are both out of state.  Its probably easier and more practical to send gift cards than pay for the gift, then pay for postage and handling. I dont know, but that is how i am doing it this year.  Everyone close to me is getting a bunch of some kind of home made goodies.

I will be having surgery on my foot again. the neuroma i had cut out last year grew back and with a vengence. It feels like I am walking on a marble right under my middle toe. It kinda hurts. I will be off 3 to 6 weeks. this is happening Dec 6. I cant wait. I wont be able to walk on  my foot for three weeks, so I will be doing the cruthches thing again. That really hurts. I hate those things.  I hate the hurt in my foot more though. 

I have to work tonight. It will be ot for me, and i dont want to do it. I am hoping they call and tell me i dont have to come in. We worked Wednesday night/thursday mornign, but i got off at 430. I finally went to take a power nap at 630 and slept till 9:30. I felt good for most of the day. I sure wish i could sleep in the night like I sleep in the day. OK, Im rambling, signing off now. Have a great day.

Entry for November 24, 2006

Thanksgiving is over.  I hope everyone ate only what they wanted and enough of what they wanted. We had a good meal. John went and picked up Alex athe airport cus i was still asleep when he woke up.  We flew him in from Oklahoma for the holiday. When they finally got home, I grabbed him and hung on to him for too long. I cant beleive how much i miss him when he is gone. I miss both of my boys so much.  Its funny how they grow up, move out, and then we just cant seem to stop missing them. I dont especially want him right here in my house living all the time, but i do want to be able to see them when I want to.  OK, nuff of that.

I knew i would be waking up at o too early. I even thought about going out to the hoards and getting in my little bit of christmas shopping. The only add i took out was from Beverlies. That is a local craft/fabric store and they are having 33% off your entire purchase from 8 to 10. I need fabric for the back of two quilts and maybe more.  they have coupons for the whole day. I can get 40% a single peice of fabric at any time of the day. If i stay in there all day, I can just keep on using my coupons. 

 I will pretty much be doing the gift card thing this year, since my kids are both out of state.  Its probably easier and more practical to send gift cards than pay for the gift, then pay for postage and handling. I dont know, but that is how i am doing it this year.  Everyone close to me is getting a bunch of some kind of home made goodies.

I will be having surgery on my foot again. the neuroma i had cut out last year grew back and with a vengence. It feels like I am walking on a marble right under my middle toe. It kinda hurts. I will be off 3 to 6 weeks. this is happening Dec 6. I cant wait. I wont be able to walk on  my foot for three weeks, so I will be doing the cruthches thing again. That really hurts. I hate those things.  I hate the hurt in my foot more though. 

I have to work tonight. It will be ot for me, and i dont want to do it. I am hoping they call and tell me i dont have to come in. We worked Wednesday night/thursday mornign, but i got off at 430. I finally went to take a power nap at 630 and slept till 9:30. I felt good for most of the day. I sure wish i could sleep in the night like I sleep in the day. OK, Im rambling, signing off now. Have a great day.

Entry for November 21, 2006

I was gonna do a jahari window. I went to Ambers blog and did one off of there and tried to get it to my page by copy and paste, but it didnt work soI deleted it. It is under spartonmom and all those///.com stuff so if you can find it, I will never look for it again. I pretty much do this. I wont copy code i dont understand, I dotn have a clue waht I am doing so I just diont do it. anyway. this is short today. I dotn have a thing to talk about. I just need to say i tried cus i told Amber I was gonna do it but it wouldnt copy to my page the same way. oh well. mabey a blog another day.

Entry for November 21, 2006

I was gonna do a jahari window. I went to Ambers blog and did one off of there and tried to get it to my page by copy and paste, but it didnt work soI deleted it. It is under spartonmom and all those///.com stuff so if you can find it, I will never look for it again. I pretty much do this. I wont copy code i dont understand, I dotn have a clue waht I am doing so I just diont do it. anyway. this is short today. I dotn have a thing to talk about. I just need to say i tried cus i told Amber I was gonna do it but it wouldnt copy to my page the same way. oh well. mabey a blog another day.

A pic of the earrings

Just a pic of the earrings. arent they beautiful................

A pic of the earrings

Just a pic of the earrings. arent they beautiful................

More wine for us

Today, John and I went to Lockford to pick up our wine from the wine club we are in. There was another release party for Macchia Wines. Every three or four months, they have a release party, and we are invited,along with anyone else who happens to love red and whites, but mostly reds. Very large and robust reds. I dont now if all of you know about this winery. There are twelve winerys in this little piazza. The area is  surrounded by vinyards and the air here is rich with the aroma of fermenting wine. Its not stifling or pungent, its justy a little something in the air, and I love it.

The first winery we went to was Boitano Winery. They make 1 white and the rest are reds. They also have an almond and a rasberry sparkling wine. it cant be called Champainge because it has to be made in Champaigne France to be called that. Except for Em, did you all know that? Well, i am partial to the  almond flavor. they also sell an orange muscat dessert wine. When you mix the two, you have a fabulous sparkling wine coctail. I bought two bottles of almond and a bottle of Muscat. I will never drink the Muscat by itself Im sure, but with the  almond, it is delish.

After that, we went next door to The Old Lockford Winery. I really need to learn how to create a link so I could direct you to these websites as i am talking about them. Anyway, this place is owned and ran by a palentologist. I think that is what a rock guy/old bone/dinosaur guy is called. there are the coolest things in that place. it is like going through a museum every time you go in. they also have the almond and rasberry sparkling wines, but since i already have two bottles, i didnt get any more. this palce has 2 whites and the rest reds. I tasted the white chardenay. It was very light, a 2005 with an oak flavor. I liked it, but i liked the 2004 better, it makes a difference. I strolled down the counter and my eyes fell on a pair of Emerald and diamond earings. they took my breath away, and I couldnt stop looking at them. I asked if I could see them, and they were more beautiful up close. there was no price tag on them, so I asked. All of a suddon, I was alone with the earrings and looking for someone to put them away, figuring i wasnt goung to be able to pay the $2000.+ it would take to be able to wear them.  then, the owner came out and asked me to make him an offer. I was only kidding, I said fity, he said ok and I stood there looking stupid. He said if I want to pay fity for them, I can have them. I dont know if they are real Emeralds or not, but they are beautiful. I really wish I could show you my ears right now. Anyway, I also got a bag of bones, that is what they are called, its a bag of prehistoric sharks teeth, a fossil of some critter ansd a copper rock for my nephew. He will absolutly love them.  No wine at that store.

After that, we went out into the piazza and hit the Macchia winery release party. when you put a 5.00 deposit on a glass, you drink samples, quite generous samples all day. this is where I left John. I am not a red wine person. I try it, but I just cant do it, it is too strong for me, and I am a cheap date where alchohol is concerned. I went to another white wine store and looked at the jewelry he sells there and had a couple glasses of wine. I wanted to go back there, but by the time i found John again, it was too late and John could barley make it back to the car, we had to go. right now, I just remembered we forgot a bottle of wine at another winery. I will have to call them tomarrow. They will either send it to us, or they can hold it til we go back. either way, its not worth driving back there for.

We got our bottel of wine from our wine club purchase. It is a magnum of 2005 Old Vine Zinfandel. John love his Zins. In the reds, I like Sangiovese. It has a more peppery flavor.that is the only red i will drink. I tasted a Merlot today, and couldnt get the flavor out of my mouth fast enough. Actually, it wasnt so much the flavor, but the feeling it left in my mouth, very, very dry. so, folks, that was my day. Wine tasting and spending money in the wine country of Lodi California. Lockford to be exact. Hope your day was very fun and excitng.

More wine for us

Today, John and I went to Lockford to pick up our wine from the wine club we are in. There was another release party for Macchia Wines. Every three or four months, they have a release party, and we are invited,along with anyone else who happens to love red and whites, but mostly reds. Very large and robust reds. I dont now if all of you know about this winery. There are twelve winerys in this little piazza. The area is  surrounded by vinyards and the air here is rich with the aroma of fermenting wine. Its not stifling or pungent, its justy a little something in the air, and I love it.

The first winery we went to was Boitano Winery. They make 1 white and the rest are reds. They also have an almond and a rasberry sparkling wine. it cant be called Champainge because it has to be made in Champaigne France to be called that. Except for Em, did you all know that? Well, i am partial to the  almond flavor. they also sell an orange muscat dessert wine. When you mix the two, you have a fabulous sparkling wine coctail. I bought two bottles of almond and a bottle of Muscat. I will never drink the Muscat by itself Im sure, but with the  almond, it is delish.

After that, we went next door to The Old Lockford Winery. I really need to learn how to create a link so I could direct you to these websites as i am talking about them. Anyway, this place is owned and ran by a palentologist. I think that is what a rock guy/old bone/dinosaur guy is called. there are the coolest things in that place. it is like going through a museum every time you go in. they also have the almond and rasberry sparkling wines, but since i already have two bottles, i didnt get any more. this palce has 2 whites and the rest reds. I tasted the white chardenay. It was very light, a 2005 with an oak flavor. I liked it, but i liked the 2004 better, it makes a difference. I strolled down the counter and my eyes fell on a pair of Emerald and diamond earings. they took my breath away, and I couldnt stop looking at them. I asked if I could see them, and they were more beautiful up close. there was no price tag on them, so I asked. All of a suddon, I was alone with the earrings and looking for someone to put them away, figuring i wasnt goung to be able to pay the $2000.+ it would take to be able to wear them.  then, the owner came out and asked me to make him an offer. I was only kidding, I said fity, he said ok and I stood there looking stupid. He said if I want to pay fity for them, I can have them. I dont know if they are real Emeralds or not, but they are beautiful. I really wish I could show you my ears right now. Anyway, I also got a bag of bones, that is what they are called, its a bag of prehistoric sharks teeth, a fossil of some critter ansd a copper rock for my nephew. He will absolutly love them.  No wine at that store.

After that, we went out into the piazza and hit the Macchia winery release party. when you put a 5.00 deposit on a glass, you drink samples, quite generous samples all day. this is where I left John. I am not a red wine person. I try it, but I just cant do it, it is too strong for me, and I am a cheap date where alchohol is concerned. I went to another white wine store and looked at the jewelry he sells there and had a couple glasses of wine. I wanted to go back there, but by the time i found John again, it was too late and John could barley make it back to the car, we had to go. right now, I just remembered we forgot a bottle of wine at another winery. I will have to call them tomarrow. They will either send it to us, or they can hold it til we go back. either way, its not worth driving back there for.

We got our bottel of wine from our wine club purchase. It is a magnum of 2005 Old Vine Zinfandel. John love his Zins. In the reds, I like Sangiovese. It has a more peppery flavor.that is the only red i will drink. I tasted a Merlot today, and couldnt get the flavor out of my mouth fast enough. Actually, it wasnt so much the flavor, but the feeling it left in my mouth, very, very dry. so, folks, that was my day. Wine tasting and spending money in the wine country of Lodi California. Lockford to be exact. Hope your day was very fun and excitng.