Very sad post

Just a quick post to all my blogging friends, my father passed away last night. His heart finally just gave out.

Thank you to everyone whose been so supportive through this summer's trama.

Melissa

Promised Pics from Nashville

The lovely bags Kathy made for us. Naturally, the Boss Lady got her Georgia Bulldogs bag (remember she's been sleeping with it), Lily got a horse themed bag, and I got ladies whose backsides look like large fruit. Is there a hidden meaning there? :)If you've never been to the Gaylord at Opryland then you've missed their lovely inside atriums and indoor "Delta" river. Here's Lily on the river cruise in front of the indoor waterfall. If you're a sucker for Disney-worthy recreations, this river is pretty cool. And did I mention the fish as big as Lily swimming in it? Our "river guide" told us when the river was built they ran a marketing campaign for people fill up empty Jack Daniels bottles with water from where they live and send them to them to help fill up the Delta. They received water from all 50 states and 30 countries. Purrty Cool if you ask me.

Here's our littlest quilter standing at the entrance of a bridge walkway over to the island in the middle of the river. This picture begins to give you some idea of scale of this atrium. There are other large atriums in the hotel, but this is the "crown jewel". Plus one year when Kate, Kathy, and I stayed at this hotel, we got lost trying to find our way back to our room. Bread crumbs for trails are required!
Here we are, Mommy and Lily posing on the stairs of the grand entrance of the Gaylord. You can't see the headband I'm wearing that I made out of Jane Sassaman fabric. There are definitely more headbands in my future!
And finally, not at all Nashville related, before I left on our adventure, I got a wild hair up my butt to do something with these fabrics that have been laying around for years. And I saw a piecing technique that I want to try, so here's the result (and yes I've decided it will be named Wild Hair). I need to finish it to move on to pj pants, my Ginger Blossom/pink Amy Butler, turquoise Amy Butler, and finish my mom's quilt.

Nashville, oh how I'll miss you!

First off let me say this "work" thing is really getting in the way of my blogging!

Next, let me recap my weekend at the Nashville AQS show. This year I brought along my oldest Munchkin. Remember she's the one with the Hello Kitty Janome sewing machine. She was so excited. We woke up early Saturday morning, 4:30ish, and got picked up on our front step in the dark. Then 4 1/2 hours later we were pulling up to the Gaylord at the Grand Ole Opry to start our day's adventure. She wanted to look at quilts first...so off we headed quilted bags, stuffed wallets, and cameras in tow. I would show you pictures of some of my favorite quilts, but Kate reminded me that was not allowed (boo, Kate). Lily, the oldest Munchkin, had such a good time. She took pictures of her favorite quilts and shopped for more horse fabric. At lunch, when "the crew"(Kate, Kathy, Jan, and I) was reviewing our favorite purchases, Lily joined in and discussed her sewing plans for her fabrics. Of course, being the only little girl with "the crew" has its advantages too. She was treated to several giftys from all of us. The afternoon concluded with throbbing feet, tired legs, glazed eyes, and bursting bags. Since this was the last AQS show to be in Nashville, old Mom here sprung for the boat ride on the indoor river. We saw fish as big as Lily swimming in those waters, and heard a tale of a 85 lb catfish that lives in the boat house! Who knew?! Our day was capped with room service. Grammy Kathy gave us both custom made bags...pictures to follow...with one even made for the youngest Munchkin aka The Boss Lady. And Lily (who started her day barely looking at Aunt Jan), climbed up in bed with her to review the Hancock's of Paducah catalog and discuss fabric and projects.

So all in all, it was a fantastic weekend, and Lily is already planning our trip for the Houston Quilt Show in 2009. I promise to post pictures later....we're already running late for our 9 and 7 year old check ups!

Y'all have a good day!

Where did the week go?

So sorry it's been almost a week since my last post. I've been a busy, busy girl. Here we go....

First, I was busily making eyeglass cases for my sister and mother. Got the sewing done. When I did the Shrinky Dink buttons, they shrunk all wonky. Boo! :( So naturally I need to redo and I'm out of frosted Shrinky Dink material.

Second, getting ready for the Nashville AQS weekend extravaganza! The oldest Munchkin is chomping at the bit ready to roll with the big dogs and go see quilts and shop. I finished her backpack last weekend....
We've been talking about our shopping list for goodies to take on our trip. While the quiltin' ladies will be drowning our sore feet and buyer's remorse with vodka tonics, Munchkin will be sipping on sparkling apple cider. We're all so excited! Then the youngest Munchkin is rarin' to go stay with her older alter self, Miss Kristin. Two single gals out and about (one in her 20s and one 7 going on 30!)

Speaking of the youngest Munchkin, we've hit a 2nd grade milestone. She came home from school today terrified out of her mind about Bloody Mary. "It's true Mommy! It's true! You say her name at midnight and she comes and cuts your head off!" After I calmed her down and told her that it was just a ghost story to scare little kids, and tried to give her some historical background on the tale, she has become obsessed with educating everyone around her. Her older sister (who by the way didn't go to the restroom at school for a whole year after she heard that Bloody Mary would rise out of the toilet to take her murderous revenge) scoffed at her little sister. Oh the joys of friends at school....

Ta Da! Thank you, thank you......you like me, you really like me

Thank you to Doris for nominating my blog for this very prestigious award--it's an honor to be nominated. You should visit her blog, Threads of Conversation, to see her quilting work and life adventures. She's also a participant in the "This is..." meme that Kate and I started. And I would nominate her blog but I don't think that is how this works.



Here are the rules:

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog.
2. Link to the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you’ve nominated.
6. Write an acceptance speech in the style of the Academy Awards, thanking every body’s mother, father, sister, brother, aunties and uncles and the kitchen staff at your favorite restaurant!
7. List seven random facts about yourself. (I added this one, 'cause I thought there should be seven rules since you nominate seven bloggers and everyone knows seven is a great number, right?)

"You like me, you really like me!" I never imagined the fabulous world of bloggers out there, when I started blogging last year. It really has been fun. It's like having a whole bunch of pen pals all over the world. So I'd like to thank Kate who told me,"You can do it Melissa," has helped introduce me to the blogging world, and inspired me to use my blog as an online show and tell and soapbox for my various opinions. I'd also like to thank Hubbie for providing material for my blog. My beautiful Munchkins, without who I would not be nearly as sassy as I am. My parents for being my parents. All my dear friends for reading my blog and commenting so I don't feel alone out in the cyberworld. (I'm now blowing kisses all around!) Oh and I can't forget my dear felines without whom I would be living in a cat hairless world!

Seven random, but true, Melissa facts:
1. Seven is my lucky number--really it is!
2. I love PANDAs--several people will claim I'm obsessed, but don't listen to them.
3. I was very painfully shy as a child.
4. Until I was six years old I thought the fireworks on the fourth of July were in celebration of my birthday.
5. I love decorating for Christmas. I have a 14ft Christmas tree that everyone always teases me about how many decorations I have on it. My house is a Christmas wonderland!
6. I am excited about turning 40 next year! Fabulous at 40!
7. I was a Girl Scout through the 3rd grade.


I would like to nominate:

Kate of Freemotion. My friend and partner in quilting and creative crime.
Christy of Partial Virtue. My friend and partner in all other crime.
Jacquie at Tall Grass Prairie Studio, love her freeform quilts. Yes, I know Doris nominated her, but I love her blog and quilting philosophy.
Shannon at The Quilted Word by Freckles. My blog friend who introduced me to the Twilight series.
Jenny at Quiltin' Jenny. My quilt guild friend who almost shares my birthday and cracks me up on a regular basis.
Dana at Old Red Barn. Cause I always find something on her blog that I love.
AmandaJean at Crazy Mom Quilts. She is always up to something.

"Who do I email?" and "AH HA!" moments

It's been awhile since I've shared my "spirited" insights (or rants as Hubbie calls them) and two nights ago I had a "Who do I email?" moment that felt I needed to share.

"Who do I email?" - While watching Olympic Women's Synchronized Diving two nights ago, I was marveling at how amazing it was that two athletes could dive off a platform and manage to twist and flip their bodies in such beautiful synchronization without bellyflopping or losing their bathing suits as they entered the water. First off, if it were me, I wouldn't even be up on the platform. I'm unreasonably afraid of heights and if by some miracle were able to conquer that fear, after my partner counted to 3 and said go, I would probably stop short of jumping and say,"Wait a sec, I'm not ready, can we start over?" Anyways, the Chinese ladies were dominating the event. These very lithe and slim women, who as Hubbie commented looked like 10 year old boys, were amazing divers to watch. Then the Canadian women got ready to dive. These women appeared athletic and shall we say "more womanly" and curvier than the Chinese. I was just about to remark at the difference in the body types when the FEMALE announcer commented, "Here's the Canadian team. Well, obviously they are not as streamline as the Chinese." Color me shocked! I was like, "What?! Did she just call the Canadians chunky?!" Even Hubbie made a remark about the announcer's comment. I mean the Canadians were "thicker" through their bodies than the abnormally thin Chinese, but they were not fat by any stretch of the imagination. Then on the Canadian's final dive, one hit the water less than vertical so her entry created a splash. The female announcer exclaimed,"Oh my, what a tidal wave!" SERIOUSLY?! I mean seriously.....so I want to know who do I email at NBC. Women struggle so much with body image, do we really need this?

Now onto my "AH HA" moment - Wednesday I went for my physical exam. The first true physical I had had in years. Like most women I rationalized that the annual OBGYN visit was good enough health maintenance. Well due to recent events and Hubbie's harassment, I made an appointment to see my primary care physician. Yesterday I got the happy news that there is a medical reason why I'm fat (yes, I realize that this doesn't erase the reckless abandon eating and drinking) and that a few months ago when I started counting calories religiously and exercising every day why the weight was not coming off like it had in the past. I have hypothyroidism! One of the major symptoms is weight gain and fatigue. In fact, the doctor commented that my levels were so out of whack she was surprised that I wasn't so tired that I wasn't sleeping all day. But WEIGHT GAIN! The good news is that this is not dangerous and fairly easy to fix. The bad news is that I'll still have to count calories and exercise, but at least now I'll start to see some results!

So there are my nuggets of insanity for today. Happy Friday!

This is something I love that someone made for me

I can't show a picture of what was made for me that I love because it is a DVD. Three years ago Hubbie made for my birthday a DVD of my most favorite pictures of my Munchkins and set it to my favorite music. And he also had the Munchkins create artwork for the credits.

And then naturally, I love any artwork the Munchkins create, but I have my favorites like the Matisse inspired colored pencil drawing that the oldest made and a goldfish painting I have at work that the youngest created. (I'll post a picture of the goldfish later.)