The most wonderful time!

We had the most wonderful time since Josh, Katie and Hampton arrived on Thursday. Andy was so surprised...he got the biggest tears in his eyes. The retirement celebration was great. About 100 or so people were able to come and it was real informal so he was able to get around to visit with every person there. Our surprise visit to mom was priceless...she was speechless and that doesn't happen often. I've tried 3 times to get pictures in here and it's just not letting me, so I'll try again later.

The Big Day

I am so excited that I'm about to POP! Tomorrow is Andy's last day at work and his big retirement celebration is tomorrow evening. I pick Josh,Katie and Hampton up at the airport at 1pm. He has no clue that they are coming. I've been collecting all of the necessities for Hampton for their visit...but I've done a really good job of fibbing. I keep telling him that we just need to have these things here so that when they do come we'll be ready. He agrees and thinks that's a great idea :)
We're going to stop at Mom's on the way home from the airport and surprise her...she has no clue that they are coming either. I'll let you know how everything goes.
I have never had to keep such a huge secret for so long in all my life...but I think we are going to pull this off. I can't wait to see my mom's face when she sees her first great-grandbaby for the first time and to see Andy's face when he comes home to pick me up for the celebration for find the kids here! YIPPEE! this is going to be a very fun day.
Not much sewing going on. I did finish Spa Day and will post it Monday morning for you to see. I really like it a lot and I think the gals are going to have fun with it on Sunday. Have a wonderful day!

I'm Hip Deep...

I'm hip deep in life and don't seem to be getting anywhere too fast. Now don't get me wrong I am loving every single minute but it's just all at one time. Last Friday Andy and I both took off, spent the day together doing errands, and getting new springy plants for the front of the house and for the pots around the pool. We had a ball. Worked and worked and were just filthy but loved it. Then Friday night was the first celebration of Andy's retirement...the folks that work directly for him took us out. We had a great time...pretty emotional...some of these folks have worked for him for over 20 years...they just love him and are very sad that he is leaving. They all talked about him, how much they loved working for him, how they respected him...it was just wonderful. Well, Saturday morning at 4 I woke up sicker than sick. Spent the next 12 hours in the bathroom. I have no clue what I got but oh my...the last Saturday of the month is always a big day at the shop because we do End of Bolt sale...any bolt that is finished the customer gets 25% off the entire thing, no matter what's on the bolt. Andy called Sue and told her I was out of commission and bless her heart she took care of everything.
Sunday I felt better but had to catch up on the things I didn't get done on Saturday, bank deposit, computer work all the yuck stuff of owning your own business.
Monday was crazy at the shop. Yesterday didn't slow down a bit but we had lots of fun. Mom's best friend called Sue and I last week and invited us for lunch at the Winter Park Racquet Club for lunch for Mom's 85th birthday. So we got Rosemary to watch the shop and off we went for lunch. Dressed up! YIKES...I don't do that well anymore. Lunch was great and mom was so surprised, she had no idea the Carolyn had invited us. We had a wonderful time. Got back to the shop and the UPS guy had been there...YIPPEE! Chelsea Boutique from MODA and Blackbird Designs had arrived. It is so pretty...looks really old. Got it all up on the shelf and it was time to go home. I'm supposed to be off today but I'm going in to the shop to get some work done this morning and then over to Mom's at noon to have lunch with her. Today is really her birthday. Then I'm off to Babies R Us to pick up some things for our visit next week with Josh, Katie and Hampton. They are coming in Thursday for Andy's retirement celebration. He has no clue that they are coming...neither does mom...I just can't wait...this secret is making me nuts. I talk too much to keep a secret for very long and this has already been about 3 weeks.
So sorry for the long post but that's where I am. Haven't gotten to sew much, except for the blocks for the shop Block of the Month...but after the retirement celebration and things get back to normal I'll be upstairs sewing like a mad woman.
Andy's going to be gone for 4 days that next week so you know where to find me. I should have lots of pictures to post.
Have a Happy Easter everyone!

I've been working

I've been working, but unfortunately I haven't posted in a while. I've been working like crazy on the Spa Day top for the shop. It's on April 15th so I must get done. It started out to be lap size but I had plenty of fabric so I decided since I liked it I'd make it bigger, queen size for the guest room...I'll post a picture on the 15th of April.
I've also been working on some little 3-3/4" finished star blocks. They are so much fun...like eating potato chips...can't just do one. I'm doing these for a sample for the shop. I think we'll kit it up also for a show that we do in North Florida in September...gotta get moving on that because September will be here before we blink.
Off and running for the day...have a wonderful day...do something FUN!

Bad Dog

Andy's been out of town at a conference since Sunday. I've been up in the sewing room every moment that I've been awake and home. I finished sorting all my reproduction fabrics and got them all on my new shelves...there are no more empty shelves. While I had them out I cut 1" strips of most of the pieces so I ready for my little log cabins. I'm going to use them as leaders and enders and hopefully get a bunch of those little logs done. I cut out all the pieces for our next Spa Day quilt...I have to get sewing since Spa Day is April 15th. I can't show what I'm doing on that until after the day because someone may see it on here and it's always a mystery. Well, Andy came home this afternoon so I won't be eating dinner in the sewing room tonight.
Howie knew Dad was gone and took the opportunity to do something he hasn't done in several years. Both dogs used to sleep with us...I know 2-95 pound dogs in a king size bed with us was just a bit nuts but... Well Sue house and dog sat for us 2 years ago when we went away and she put a stop to that. She told them they weren't allowed in bed with her and that was the end of it. When we came home they didn't even try to get in bed. They do get up on the bed during the day when the blue denim comforter is on the bed, but as soon as that gets folded down for the night they don't even think about it...until last night. I had gotten the bed ready and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth. I thought I heard a jump and thump on the bed, but thought there would just be no way. Well to my surprise...
there he was. Now he did have his head on the comforter...I said "What are you doing up there?" And as you can see he gave me the "What do you think I'm doing up here?" look. Instead of fussing at him I went and got the camera...no wonder he's so bad when dad's away. I am such an easy mark...and he knows it :)

I reached my goal and a few other things

I am so excited...I reached my weight loss goal yesterday...lost 15-1/2 pounds since Jan. 2. I started out doing the South Beach diet which I had done very sucessfully several years ago. That got me going and then I made some other changes. I started using a smaller plate at dinner...and you know it worked. I'm really never hungry anymore. I gave up sodas...I was only drinking those little Pepsi's but you know that was 100 calories I didn't need. I drink tons of water and treat myself to 1 Diet Coke a day. I'm thrilled to say that I have it under control.
Today was my day off from the shop and I didn't get a single thing sewn...but I did go to Target and bought 3 new shelves for the storage area of my sewing room. I got everything organized that hasn't been for 2 years since we moved. Here's a picture...
You'll see that there are 2 empty shelves...those are for my reproduction fabrics...I ran out of time so I'll have to finish that part this weekend. Andy has to go out of town for a conference Sunday and will be back Tuesday so I'll be organizing and sewing.

Thank you Dawn and Judy

First I want to take just a second to thank all of you that read my blog and left comments...I felt so much better after reading your notes. You all are very special...this is certainly a wonderful group of friends.
A big thanks to Dawn.(I hope I did the link correctly...you all know how computer pitiful I am). A few posts ago on Dawn's blog, she posted a picture of a cute little block. I was enticed, so I e-mailed her and she told me where to find it...Traditional Mini Quilts by Moon Over Mountain Quilters. Well as luck would have it, I had the book, never used it but I had it. I decided I would take the challenge and try the block...I have NEVER done anything that tiny...there are some bitty pieces in the block...but I did it.
I am just so excited...I accomplished something that I really wasn't at all sure I could do...THANK YOU DAWN!
And thank you to Judy for the Hour A Day project. One of my customers came in on Saturday for our monthly Show and Tell with her almost finished top. She won't let me take a picture until she's finished. It is wonderful and lots of the gals just went nuts. She gave out the blog address so we may have some new gals in the Hour a Day Project. Thank you Judy for all you do to promote quilting to everyone. They are all thrilled because they are trying to use their stash. That's what Barb, the gal that had her top, started out to do, but she ended up buying sashing and borders from the shop...she had a specific color in mind for her redecorated room. She did use stash for the stars.
Isn't quilting wonderful...you just don't realize how small the world really is.