Yes, we arrived about noon today. We hurried up and signed in and there was only one class we could take. It was Linda McGehee's class on making totes/bags out of panel prints.
I found most of them pretty non-exciting, but I really loved this butterfly print. The picture does NOT do it justice, but I did snap one (with permission).
The idea is, you buy the fabric panel. Either you -- or someone else -- completely quilts the panel. Then you make a purse out of it.
This one was beautiful. Sorry you can't see the detail. The colors are amazing.
Fortunately, she had ONE panel there for sale. She said we would have to order them from her website when they came in -- or something like that. I asked her if I could buy that one. Since I was the first one to ask, she let me buy it.
Look how pretty it is!
After the bag class, we walked into the Vendor hall. We stopped at a few booths and as we wandered into one of the long aisles, I saw Kathy Ruddy running with a large clothing cart in tow toward the stage.
I hollered, "HI KATHY", and she hollered back," I'm late! I have to hurry!" "I was supposed to be there at 2:30, but I thought I was supposed to be there at 3:15."
It was almost 3:00!
I cracked up laughing as Terry and I followed her quickly down the long aisle to the stage area. I told Terry, "THAT is Kathy Ruddy -- ALWAYS late!"
We sat close to the stage. There were only a few women there. Kathy motioned to me to grab some papers from her and hand them out. Some volunteer was supposed to be helping her, but she handed the papers to me. I certainly didn't mind. It was just all so unorganized and funny.
I started handing the papers out to each lady in the audience, and all of a sudden the pages changed, and there was a Page 2 and a Page 3. The first few pages were just single sheets with no number on them. Turns out Page 2 and Page 3 were NOT supposed to be there. Again, Kathy Ruddy style.
I WISH I had thought to take her picture as she was tearing clothes off as fast as she could and putting dresses on OVER her long pants. It was crazy.
We decided to leave the EXPO before the Dallas traffic engulfed us on the way to our hotel, and we checked in. We were surprised to see there was a Salt Grass restaurant right next door to our hotel. We only had enough time to eat half of our yukky convention hall lunch before the bag class started, and we where SO HUNGRY!
I made Terry pose. Doesn't she look great?! She has lost 20 pounds. Her diet basically consists of vegetables and apples and eggs. She is really sticking to it though. I'm so happy for her.
Right now, we are both in our jammies, sitting up in our very comfy Hilton beds with our laptops in our laps. Totally relaxing.
We are going back to the EXPO in the morning so Terry can finish trying out longarms. Unfortunately, Connie Keller with APQS had to leave because of a death in the family. The main reason we came was to to talk to her, but we certainly understood.
So far, I have spent $11.00, and that was for the butterfly panel, lol. Lunch cost more than that. But there is still tomorrow.
I have known for months that the Original Sewing and Quilt EXPO starts tomorrow in Arlington, TX, and I tried to make arrangements to go, but could not work it out. Phylly didn't want to go, and Terry didn't think she would be able to. Jerry would have come with me, but then Mom would be alone at night. THAT could never work.
So I was home today finishing my Variegated Spools quilt when Terry texted and said she was coming over. I happened to remember the EXPO tomorrow, and I told Terry about APQS being there since she is about to buy a longarm. She said she would like to go.
As it turns out -- after lots of texting and permission slips from spouses -- we are GOING TO THE EXPO tomorrow!
Too late to schedule any classes, but maybe we will get lucky and find one or two that aren't full and don't require pre-purchased supply kits. I'm excited to just spend time on the vendor floor since I usually never have time to do that. I like to watch the stage presentations too.
I really like Kathy Ruddy and would like to take one of her classes. We shall see.
Terry is MAJORLY into tie dye right now. HEY! I have pics of her recent projects. Hold on.....
Aren't those AWESOME! I want her to help me do a better job than my first attempt, but it will have to wait. Hers look like Kaleidoscopes. Soooooooooooo fascinating to me.
And you remember my friend Princess Di, of course. Look at what she just finished. I think this is so, so pretty! I especially love the binding done with the same strip sets.
And how awesome is the John Wayne quilt in the background? She is making that for her hubby. She made pillows to go with it too. Princess Di is a FACTORY! She shows me a different quilt nearly every day.
I've got to get to sleep. Long drive to Arlington in the morning. I LOVE taking road trips with Terry. MAYBE we will see one of you there!
I imagine everyone in the world knows about the "Love Languages" except for me, but I'm really glad I know about them now.
Dorine, the lady that sits with my Mom when I'm not home, asked me yesterday what "love language" I spoke.
I had NO IDEA what she was talking about.
"Didn't you read the book?" she asked.
"WHAT book?" said I.
She went on to explain about the FIVE love languages, and each person has one or maybe two of them. I asked her what they were. She told me. When she left a few minutes later, I forgot.
Late last night, I remembered Dorine asking me about love languages. I decided to google "love languages".
IMMEDIATELY, they all came up along with a test to take to see what mine were.
I really could have told you without the test, but it was fun to get a confirmation. The knowledge this afforded me has verified WHY the comments my readers leave mean so much to me.
My 1st "love language" is Words of Affirmation. 2nd is Acts of Service. (You can have two.)
If I had to choose between an expensive gift or a card with a love note in it from him, I would choose the love note every time.
If I had to choose between my husband buying me an expensive gift or vacuuming all the carpet, I would choose vacuuming. On Mother's Day he always gives me the gift of HIM, and I totally love that. He is all mine for one whole day. What do I want from him? I want him to HELP me or do things for me. I never want a gift.
He just asked me today what I want for my birthday. I told him, "Nothing, I want you!"
Of course, my 1st love language is Words of Affirmation. I've told my best friends about this, but I don't think I've ever told you. Many years ago -- probably 25 or 30 years ago -- Jerry said something to me that has lasted me all these years, and I will NEVER forget it, and nothing he ever says again can top it.
As I recall, we were alone on the couch in our living room. No TV. It was late. We were just sitting there next to each other talking and sharing. Out of the blue, he took my hands into his and looked into my eyes, and he said:
"If I could have gone to Heaven and talked directly to God and told him EXACTLY what I wanted in a wife -- what color eyes -- what color hair -- what shape and size -- what personality -- it would have been everything YOU are."
So did he ever hit my love language right in the bulls eye!
I'm pretty sure Words of Affirmation are his love language too, and I'm careful to brag on him whenever I get a chance. But it makes sense that I can give it to others if it is my language.
So what is YOUR love language. Here is a link if you don't already know:
My birthday is Friday, and I am so thrilled that my daughter is fulfilling my 2nd love language "Acts of Service". She is driving all the way -- 2 1/2 hours -- to my house to prepare me a dinner she knows I love. Just her coming here is all the gift I need, but she says she is bringing gifts. I have decided -- being her Mother and knowing her very well -- that her love language is receiving gifts. She is a MAJOR gift-giver. She bought her family so many gifts one year for Christmas, they got tired of opening them. She said, "I think I overdid it Mom."
She already fulfilled my 1st love language when she said, "Mom, you tell me what you want done for your birthday, and I will make it happen."
I better go. I'll be back soon to see what you all found out about YOUR love language. Your "love language" is what YOU need from others in order to feel loved.
Today is my friend Di's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DI!
I can now show you what I made using that calendar since Di has received her gift I am still amazed at the quality of the print.
When I finished this tiny quilt, I took it downstairs to my husband's office to show it to him. You will NEVER dream what he said to me when he was looking at it.
I was expecting: "That is nice." or "How creative to use a calendar." or "Di will like it a lot." or ANYTHING but what he said.
He looked at it closely and he didn't say anything! Then I asked him what he thought.
He said, "I don't GET the bus."
MEN!
I don't seem to get around to blogging much these days because it is so much easier to just talk to my friends via the VLOGs, but I HAVE to show you little Button as I promised.
Just in case you haven't seen my latest VLOGs, here they are:
I told you I like making the VLOGs!
If you aren't bored stiff or sound asleep after all those videos, I'll show you our little Button now.
This picture was taken the day we found him in our hot storage room at the store. I wore a long skirt that day, and Button decided it was a good hiding place.
We brought him home to live in a large dog cage in our kitchen, and when he wasn't in it, he was hiding in this corner.
My grandson, John, came to visit for a few hours, and he really LOVES cats. My daughter loves them, so all her kids love them.
Button has grown a lot already, and he has been moved to the back patio during the day and the garage at night.
I can only stand a cat box in the house in extreme emergencies!
Tomorrow, my new friend and neighbor, Kathy, is coming over. I found out she loves coffee as much as I do, so I had Jerry bring home two flavors of Bundt cakes tonight so we can have a little party. Terry is out of town or she would be coming too, although Terry is on a major diet. She doesn't eat anything but veggies and fruit. Last I saw her, she had lost over ten pounds. I haven't seen her for over a week, so she may be so thin I won't even recognize her! I thought I should probably get back on my eternal diet of Herbalife, but it won't be until after tomorrow. I did tell you I have a Lemon Bundt cake and a Strawberry Bundt cake, didn't I? I promise I will have just one -- maybe two -- pieces, and then straight to the freezer they both go! Then it is back to carrot sticks and celery sticks for me.
Mom is doing fine. I changed Hospice companies this week, and the nicest people are coming to visit her. Everyone immediately loves her. It makes me so happy to see her loved and properly cared for. I really liked the two Aides that came from the other company, but I didn't like the "lady in charge" (don't know her title). Every time I called about something, she acted like I was a royal PITA. She told me once that the Aides had to give my Mom a bath and wash her hair, but they didn't have to DRY her hair.
WHAT!!!!?
I knew that was insane so I asked for the owner/manager's name and number. She rudely gave it to me. Before I called the manager, however, the "lady in charge" called me back and informed me that they actually COULD dry her hair and wanted to know if there was anything else I would like done. That was just one instance. There were several others.
The craziest thing happened this afternoon with my Mom.
I print out month calendars for my Mom so she can write on them. She was a prolific writer in her past, and all she can do now is put names and notes in a square on a calendar. She struggles greatly with just that. She misspells something or it is messy, and she wants it fixed. I understand that as I am the same way. She kept asking us for correction fluid. We don't have correction FLUID. We have correction TAPE because that is what is made these days.
Jerry or I have gone into her room with the correction tape in hand to help her fix her calendar. Now that she knows the stuff is in the house, she is always asking for it. She came upstairs this afternoon and told me she had an EMERGENCY, and she just HAD TO HAVE some correction fluid.
I told her that I would come help her in a few minutes.
NOOOOOO! She needed it right that minute!
I grabbed the last roll of the stuff we had in the house, and I followed her to her room. I looked at her calendar where she marks her BM's (because the Aide always asks her about them) and she writes down the names of whatever ladies are coming that day to see her.
She told me last week that she was writing all of that down because it was very important and I would need it when she dies. )-:
I asked her what she wanted marked off. She INSISTED that I let her do it. I told her it was hard to do. She said she could learn. I showed her on another piece of paper how the contraption worked, and I handed it to her. She TRIED to mark something out, but it didn't work. She tried again, and it sort of worked. She asked me if she could PLEASE just keep it so she could correct her mistakes. I felt sorry for her and just let her keep it.
Later on, I was in the kitchen preparing supper. I had left Mom in her room with her calendar and the correction tape an hour earlier. She said she wanted to watch TBN, which she always does. She suddenly appeared behind me in the kitchen. She always "suddenly appears" because she wears slippers all the time, and I never hear her coming.
She said, "Jooooooooooooooy, I need your help!"
I turned around to look and oh, how I wish I could have snapped a picture.
She was holding the correction tape container in her hand, and the tape was hanging all over the place OUTSIDE the container. She had it on her face and on her hands. Like you had pulled the tape out of a cassette. It was so funny! I took it all away from her and threw it in the trash can. She had a fit! She said she could FIX IT. I tried to explain that it was torn apart and broken and it would not go back into the little container. She was mad at me. I told her I would go upstairs to see if I could find another one. When I got back down, she had dug through the kitchen garbage and pulled that thing out with its messed up sticky tape hanging down to the ground! She insisted she was going to fix it.
UGH!
Sometimes, it is really hard to stay patient with her! I decided that ONE OF US was going to have to take a Xanax. I decided it would be HER since it is her prescription, lol, and I poured a glass of wine for myself. I can't even remember last time I had to give her a Xanax. It has been months. PRAISE GOD for that! Truly, He has provided for us in the MOST REMARKABLE WAY.
After she became unstressed and relaxed, she started telling me how wonderful I am. She said, "What on earth would I ever do without you, Joy?"
And, of course, that melts my heart, and I just want to hug the stuffings out of her -- like everyone else does.
Gotta get. Hubby wants to watch the 3rd season of Heartland.
Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend. Mine has been so lovely. Mother has been in a great mood all day today after being very NOT in a good mood the last few days. We had a great rain this morning that settled the dust, and Jerry is over mowing the knee-high grass on the pond dam. A nasty job, but it has to be done.
The craziest thing happened with my Mom!
So funny what "sticks" in the memory of a person with Dementia.
About three days ago, Mom was watching Mash all day long as she always did. I went in about 5:30 to get her to come to dinner. That in itself was odd, because she is usually in the kitchen setting the table and asking "what's for dinner" questions that time of evening.
I found her standing in front of her TV with the remote in her hand. She was stuck somewhere between TV and Recordings trying to find a certain episode of Mash. I asked her what she was doing. She said she was really mad at the television because it would NOT show her the "To Be Continued" episode on Mash.
I asked her what the name of the episode was. She said, "To Be Continued!"
She decided to turn the TV off and come to dinner with me.
As we were walking down the hall she explained that she had been watching the episode of Mash where the boy went to jail, but he was supposed to get out of jail. She said that someone brought some paper to the jail but it was the carbon copy, and they had to bring a different paper. THEN, it said "To Be Continued." She said she waited through all of the sports to see the rest of the story, but it never came on. (I think "sports" is the commercials.)
So guess what she did?! I can't believe it and neither can Jerry.
She told us that night at dinner that she was very mad at the people who make Mash, and she was NEVER watching it again.
Since that night, she has not had Mash on AT ALL. All she watches now is TBN and Daystar.
How is it possible that she remembers she is mad at Mash and what the episode was about?????
Anyway, she seems to be very happy as things are at the moment, and that is all that matters.
I hope Wanda doesn't mind, but I have to show you a few pics I snapped at her luncheon yesterday. This lady is an awesome maker of salads! She had four different ones for us to enjoy. She made a secret dressing she said she "just threw together". I told her she should bottle it and sell it. It was WONDERFUL!
Wanda loves to decorate her table. Terry says she changes it a lot even if nobody is coming over. I think if I had dishes and linens as cute as hers, I would do that too.
Isn't her table gorgeous with the flowers and the fancy jeweled egg centerpiece. Our very own Terry covered those chairs for her. Check out the GOLD silverware. First time EVER I ate with gold silverware. LOL! Can you even call it "Silver" ware???
Here's a pic of Terry and her sweet, pretty Mother-in-Law. Three more salads on the bar, and all the yummiest! One had nectarines and chicken in it.
Lunch was just perfect and so was the company. Terry's SIL was there too, but I somehow missed getting a photo of her. I think she may be a bit camera shy.
Today, I went over to Terry's for Tie Dye Lessons. I wish I had taken a picture of the darling French Braid quilt Terry is making with the tie dye fabric she has already made. It is luscious -- like ice cream and sunshine and icees. I would NEVER have thought of making a quilt out of tie dye fabric. I'll show it to you when she gets it all done. You will be surprised!
As for MY project. It is resting inside a plastic bag until four hours is up. Then I am to rinse it out and wash it. I'm pretty sure mine is the MOST BORING tie dye fabric ever made, but I'll show it to you when it is done. As much work as Terry did, I'm not sure it will be a new hobby of mine. So messy. When I was leaving, I noticed two streaks of yellow dye on Terry's cheek. She may have her first tattoo!
Speaking of that, four hours is up in two minutes. Gotta get.
I just did a VLOG yesterday with my FINISHED Variegated Spools quilt in it. If you don't want to listen to me blab, just forward near the end and you can see my finished quilt top. I am real excited to have it done, and I must thank wonderful Edyta Sitar for her Silhouettes for that.
If you don't know what they are, go to laundrybasketquilts.com. Go to her shop or store or whatever she calls it, and look for the Silhouettes. They are WON-DER-FUL, I promise you. Worth every penny. You just pull the paper off the back -- put them where you want them -- and iron them down permanently. Saves hours of tracing and cutting.
So here is the VLOG if you care to see it:
The VLOG I made the day before has been frozen because one of my darling readers all the way over in Germany pointed out that my address was in plain sight on my refrigerator. So glad Katrina noticed that. I imagine if someone wanted to pay a small fee, they could find out where I live, but no sense showing it to the whole world.
My life is quite "variegated" these days. Half the time, I don't even know what I'm going to be doing from one day to the next. Not boring, at least.
Tomorrow, I am having my hair dyed in my kitchen by the new stylist who was supposed to work in a salon. I've been to the salon twice. Suddenly, she doesn't work there anymore, and you either have to go to her house or have her come to yours. I really don't like that since my house is NOT a salon and doesn't have the proper sink and equipment. Thank God, Princess Di left a lot of things here from when she used to come. Di doesn't do hair anymore, and she was doing that for me as my good friend. This lady is in business. I want her to be in a salon I can go to. Let the salon have the mess.
Also, I found out via Facebook that this girl has two pit bulls at home. I will NOT be going to her house EVER!
I now have COMPLETE RECALL of why I quit going to salons to have my hair done over 40 years ago. If I ever liked someone, they ALWAYS quit or moved away.
Friday, I'm doing something so nice. I can't even believe it is actually happening.
Terry's Mother-in-Law, Wanda, has invited Terry and me to come to lunch at her house. Wanda is a super neat and organized person. I was at her house for a few minutes once with Terry, and was delighted by how pretty everything was. Not only that, she had her dining room table completely set as though she were expecting important company any moment. Pretty dishes with all the utensils and linens were on the table, but NOBODY was coming. Terry told me she just likes to have her table decorated, and she changes it all the time. So I am excited to be invited to her house and have lunch on her pretty dishes. Terry's SIL lives there too. I am really looking forward to it.
Jerry was in Oklahoma City today to deliver my two trade-in sewing machines to Bernina. I gave them the two I bought on Ebay as I paid a whole lot less for those used. I wasn't about to give them the machines I paid full price for. That just doesn't make sense to me. Pay $2600.00 for a machine and give it to Bernina for $400? I don't think so!
My Mother has been complaining of a back ache for weeks now. I think it originated from her lifting a heavy wooden foot stool and moving it across her room at the other house. She had her sitter get me on the phone today -- while I was buying groceries at Walmart -- to demand that I take her to a Chiropractor. I really didn't want to do that, of course, knowing she could turn into the not-so-nice personality at any moment -- especially, if there are any people or kids around. I reminded her on the phone that she used to do a certain exercise for her back pain. She asked me to describe it, so I did. By the time I got home tonight, she had done the exercise and the pain was all gone! Praise God! Best to keep Mom at home at all times.
Jerry has been working for months getting paperwork filled out in order for my Mother to claim her VA benefits for having to have round-the-clock care. Jerry went to the VA office today in OKC. The man that he gave the paperwork to was shocked at how thorough it was. He immediately faxed it to whatever office it was supposed to go to from his. HOORAY Jerry! He isn't great with Mom's personal care, but he sure is great with getting other chores done that she requires. He has a hard time accepting the fact that she really CANNOT REMEMBER things. He thinks she is just acting in order to get attention. And that actually is true to a certain extent.
For instance, she will walk into my bedroom in the morning and order me to fix her shake. She will walk to the table, hang up her walking stick on the chair next to hers, and sit up straight and talk normally.
As soon as the aide, Christy, arrives, Mom suddenly gets very weak. When Christy helps her up from the kitchen table to go to her room, Mom takes itty bitty steps not lifting her feet off the floor, and she makes Christy hold her elbow on one side as she uses the cane on the other side. Before I "lost" the walker, she used to make Christy get the walker before she could go down the hall. She whines and murmurs so you can hardly understand her. Christy knows it too. She said she has seen Mom walking all over her room with no assistance at all. She sees Christy, and the show resumes. I guess Mom figures she should get her money's worth, lol.
In Mom's defense, she can get around easily when there is furniture or a bed close by for her to lean on or hold onto. It is walking in wide open spaces that cause her to fear falling. Since she has fallen so many times in the past, I certainly can understand her need for stability; and truly, I am thankful that she does take precautions.
I think it is time to snap a still photo of my quilt, and start practicing quilt designs on it. I think I will probably echo all the appliques. We shall see.
Watched Cornerstone on my computer this morning while Mom watched TBN in her room. Fixed lunch for us, did some laundry and worked on my new quilt. Mom watched more TBN. Later, we went outside for a walk and to sit on the patio. She sits on the glider and I, of course, swing.
I have been sitting on my electric bed since finishing the dinner dishes trying to find SOMETHING to watch on the internet, when it dawned on my lighting fast mind that I have a BLOG, and I can talk to all of you here.
Let me run upstairs -- I sure need the exercise -- and snap a quick pic of the Variegated Spools. Hold on ..........
I did a video yesterday -- or was it the day before -- talking about my new quilt. Here it is if you haven't seen it. You can watch it while I go get the picture for you.
Okay. Here is what I have done as of this very minute on the V-Spools:
I am so glad I took this picture. I see I have two yellows together. I spent over an hour "shuffling" these spools so the colors wouldn't be together. There are eight different color combos. The first two rows are already sewn, but I can still move the rest around.
The borders and appliques really make this quilt. I am anxious to get to that part.
My Mom is so funny tonight! Her bedroom is all the way down the hall from mine. She keeps walking up and down the hall looking for me, and she is walking WITHOUT her cane. We have put the walker away in another room as she is not using it at all.
She came in awhile ago and told me she needed me right away. She said she could NOT find where her new sheets were. I told her they where in her bathroom in the linen closet. She said she looked EVERYWHERE, and they weren't there. I followed her back to her room and into the bath and opened the linen closet doors to show her the new lavender sheets. She was very happy. Then she walked out into her bedroom with me, and I started to leave.
She said, "WHERE are you going?"
"I'm going to my room, Mom."
"And WHAT are you going to do when you get there?" She was right in front of me, face to face, and she broke into the cutest smile -- like she had just said something funny.
I swear, if it wasn't for her mixed-up brain, she is in really good shape. She actually ran a little ways down the hall after me yesterday. I go to sleep at 9:30. She goes to sleep at 10:30 or 11.
Mom has ALWAYS been a fanatic about the laundry. She loves to fold clothes. She wanders down the hall many times a day into the laundry room to see if there is anything washing or drying. Late this afternoon she opened the dryer to see what was going around in it. She found a very CLEAN quarter and dime that had fallen out of Jerry's jeans that were still going around inside the dryer. She came to find me to ask me what to do with the 35 cents. I told her to just put it on the bar in the kitchen.
Later, when I was fixing dinner, she told me that she had LOST 35 cents and asked if I had seen it. I told her she didn't have 35 cents. She said she DID have 35 cents and it was in HER pants. She asked if she could go look in the dryer for it. I told her that Jerry's pants were in the dryer -- not hers.
It is several hours later now and she just came down the hall again. She wants to know if I have seen some BRAND NEW change that was in her pants. It was 35 cents and was very shiny. (-;
If she asks me again, I'll just go get it out of my purse and give it to her. So cute!
Nothing else to tell you tonight. All is well in my world, and I hope you can say the same about yours!
