firsts of the 2014

just over two weeks ago, I did this number on my finger...

tried to get it stitched, but the 3 women on call at the urgent care center for the hospital refused since if they stitched it, my finger would "not be pretty" afterwards.  I didn't care about pretty.  just that it holds together.  instead, they glued and taped my finger like this:

it's healing now, although still numb, tingly and there's still a scab as it's trying to stay closed.  the steristrips are gone and I am making a little more use of the sore finger.  fun nerve damage.  I don't recommend you have a knife slip and go straight into your fingertip.  ever.

I did finish one drawing a day or so after the injury.  it's got a mat, but the frame is ordered and I need to get a better scan/photo of it before I post.  I haven't completed or worked on a drawing period in a year and a half.  it felt wonderful to work on and finish.  plans for this year are to be much more productive than I have been in the last few years, especially the last one.  next week, i'm starting a class through MoMA to keep that motivation going.  12 years have passed since my last class and weekly art assignments on top of the lectures.

 

 

last night while waiting on scouts and my dad to show up, I finished piecing together the first QOV top of the year.  these are the remains of the block swap group's 6th blocks from last year and some moda one stars I have in a box.  I like the modern twist to this one and that nice red stripe of stars on the left.  my longarmmer was just assigned to me and i'll try to have it out tomorrow if i'm able to ship it with Houston's "snowmaggedon"  (HAH!).

here's to a happy 2014

hey there readers, if there are any of you left.  long time, no posts from me...  I had the whole shoulder surgery thing happen...again... and worse this time than the first time.  but i'm back at life for the most part again while I finish up the bits of rehab at home these days.  6 months down and 6 left to go until i'm cleared by my ortho.

in the meantime, I've been out hiking like a crazy woman while i'm geocaching and I started sewing/quilting again.  my piano was even tuned last weekend and we're getting reacquainted with each other after a long time of no use.  I even removed the drawing I started as distraction from bad juju in my marriage in 2012 and didn't touch after I received surprise divorce papers, only to replace it with a much smaller drawing to do and finish quickly.  the creative juices need to flow and start living again.  2014 needs to be a less stressful year and a happier year than 2012 and 2013 if I can have any say in that.

November crazy hiking for a single geocache looked like this:

then the one bridge we crossed seem to disappear...

and i'm seeing a trend here...

12+ miles in sam houston national forest on a cool-to-warm day.  temps started out in upper 60's and went to mid-80's by lunch.  bow hunters and regular hunters were out and we did cross one at our lunch break.  4 stops for a single geocache and it was fantastic.  i'm going back for a puzzle cache found about 3 hours into the hike that I have solved, but didn't pick up another day.

in early December, I shipped out these three QOV beauties:

 

 

the bottom one is the one my son designed all by himself using mostly some of the moda one star blocks we had given to us to use on QOVs.  i pieced it together for him and finished the top a few days before my shoulder surgery.  he was thrilled!!  so was this momma to see her son give so much to those who need a warm hug and smile.  the middle one was started a loooong time ago and there was so much frustration with the tedious paper piecing that I gave up on it for a couple years.  time to pull it out and finish, which I did.  these two QOVs were quilted more beautifully than I could have ever asked for by one of the QOVF regional coordinators.  a huge THANK YOU goes out to her.  the top quilt was one I sent out in the spring, but didn't receive for several months and had to wait to be bound until I could move enough to do so. 

 

 

i finished up the birthday quilt to my mom as well at thanksgiving time.  i still need to get some good pictures of it for my records and to email family who helped contribute drawings.  it's bright and super happy. 

 

other than those things, it's been scouts, geocaching and more scouts.  boo crossed over from cub/webelo scout to the troop a few weeks ago and he has started on his cooking merit badge.  he's already earned his scouter rank and is working on tenderfoot now.  big campout next week and i can't wait to hear his stories when he gets home from it.

 

so here's to a better and happier new year everyone!  

and so it happened again

this time, the right shoulder without another adult living in the house... 

 

I look better than the first time around.  surgery was quite a bit more extensive than anyone expected and I've been immobilized for 2 1/2 weeks now.  waiting to hear from my ortho on Wednesday if i'm cleared to start physical therapy.  where the fun and pain begin in a whole different way than i'm currently in.  ugh...

I've had a QOV at the longarm quilter for 2 months now.  starting to get really irritated at this woman, who won't respond to me.  i'd hoped to have this one done and sent to the navy before surgery and get the next two tops out for quilting during my recovery.  I need to cut backs and then request my quilter still.  boo's QOV is in this stack.

that's my summer this year.  not at all what I had planned... there were supposed  to be road trips to state parks and geocaching, visits to the museums, time at the beach and pool... oh well...

a finish to share

so I've been quiet... I'm sorry dear readers, if any of you are still there.  last year's divorce is still dragging on in regards to the house and settling a few things and the guarded, yet friendly, terms we had been on just turned sour with some new discoveries.  BUT I did finish my beef quilt that the ladies of the group helped contribute their love and strength into blocks for me to snuggle under.

I adore how "strength" is the biggest block and dictator of the size of this quilt.  it's what I needed most...the strength to pull up my big girl panties and keep on moving on.  and I did.  I knew my strength was there - it always has been, but I was so broken-hearted for so many months that it was hard to see staring at me every morning.  calm...calm is what I don't have yet, but I am working on it. 

last weekend, my good friend and dance partner came over for dinner.  he's quite an animated person and that's part of why we're such good friends.  boo would look at him making faces and burst out laughing.  which caused me to laugh.  the hilarity of dinner conversations made me laugh harder and more genuine than I have done in well over a year.  thank you. 

and I continue to persevere through it all.  time is flying by this year, where it dragged on last year.  but time is also needed for the strength.  it's needed for your faith to be renewed and restored, even if it's not the same faith as before.  i'm thankful for my family and the friends who have seen me through it.  they have allowed me to grow and shown me my smile again.  so, while I am starting to play and have bliss in geocaching with boo, i'm finding all the things I need.

 

 

I backed the quilt with a vintage sheet I found at the salvation army.  it reminded me so much of some of my childhood sheets and is super soft.  doesn't quite work with the polka dot binding... but who cares?  I like it.  I tend to wrap myself up in this quilt every night at least once since I finished it last month.  I'm channeling the good energy from this quilt and the love and hug from my other quilt as often as I can. 

 

so here is another HUGE THANK YOU!!! to all the ladies who helped me with this quilt.  I couldn't have asked for anything more or better.

art bringing awareness

next week, i get to help be one of the lucky people to work on this fabulous art installation here in houston and galveston.  the houston portion was started yesterday and going on today, but i'm at work and it's during the day when i can't leave the office...  so i'm headed back down to the island next saturday bright and EARLY to paint trees blue.

how can you not fall in love with the way this looks?

not only is it a gorgeous art installation, it brings awareness to the changes in our climate, natural disasters such as drought and hurricanes, and that we need to protect our trees and replant for the future.  houston was severely affected by the drought in 2011 and galveston lost the majority of their century old oak trees it was famous for.  galveston is going through a fantastic replanting process this last year and it continues.  houston is still cleaning up the dead trees.

i'll post some pictures next week.  i have to remember to stop every now and then and take a picture.  i'm going in the first saturday shift, so we'll see how much is done friday before i start working.

adventures in geocaching

geocaching... something i've wanted to do for a few years, but didn't actually start until this past fall.  it was talked about, apps downloaded, apps removed off crappy phones, apps added back to X2's phone and looked at online.  then everything happened and we didn't do anything.  my brother's been doing it seriously since the late spring/early summer and he's a wee bit obsessive about it.  my sister-in-law goes and so does my mother, who learned to cache by my brother during their visit to michigan this past summer.  so boo and i finally started and we love it. 

 

 

i'm still sewing and quilting with fewer finishes right now.  this is my quick fix lately.  boo and i have hidden one cache now and planning our next hide.  the picture below is from the night we hid our cache and one of the sculptures nearby the cache site.

 

 

 

i have a habit of caching in heels.  and often a dress AND heels.  i like to go at lunchtime if i can for a bit of a break and some sun.

 

 

 

this is what happens when you go out on a dinner date with a friend who knows your wierdness.  and helps you look after too much wine and rain.  mud on the heels...  at least i was in pants that night.  and no, we didn't find the one that was near the restaurant and i haven't gone back for it since then.  i need to though. 

 

 

my geo-family is searching for a ridiculously difficult mystery/puzzle cache that's located somewhere close to where i work.  i've done most of the legwork in looking for the cache that has not been found in 3 years.  2 weeks ago, my brother and sister-in-law came down to help me try and find this stinker.  

 

 

we didn't expect the cache to be in this tree, but my brother hauled himself up and out on a limb for a potential.  plus, the bottle hanging from the string was bugging all of us.

 

 

 

earlier that day, i was out walking some trails during a scout class at the arboretum.  i did do some caching at the arboretum that day too and was snagged by thorns through my new jeans.  nasty little buggers.

 

but i've learned to soak up sun when i can during lunch when it's too cold in the office.  it gets me moving (oh!  and i am participating in a research study on geocaching for exercise and activity for texas a&m), helps clear my mind from all the ridiculousness that i have going on still, it challenges the brain and it's fun. 



 

 

some days, you discover little gems you didn't know existed.  like this spot on one of the small lakes by my office.  it was quiet, no one was there and i will definitely be back to visit with a sandwich.

 

 

this past friday was the start of spring break.  boo had a half day of school, so i took a half day of work and we set out to galveston island for a few hours of fun.  i hadn't been down there other than dickens on the strand in december in a couple years, so we had a grand time.  i planned out caching on the historic east end and the strand area so we could park and walk, then grab some ice cream.  

 

 

there was actually a teeny tiny geocache in the phone booth.  he couldn't reach it, but i barely was able to. 

 

so folks, this is what i've been up to other than trying to save my house and sanity.  it's become "our thing" between boo and i.  gives us something to do that is just a mother/son time where we include a bit of family every now and then. 

an off-the-topic question

alright... so i know i haven't posted again in a while, but i'm taking a lot of "me" time and slowly working on things.  i have been sewing and quilting and just shipped off two QOVs to the navy last week.

BUT here's my off topic question since most of the people reading this are women.  do i have something across my forehead stating i'm looking for older/old men to ask me out to dinner, dancing, etc?  and what is it with men and younger women?  really?

i'm 33.  i'm usually told i look younger and am carded constantly.  even if i'm at the grocery store with my 10 year old.  no, i am not his older sister.  although, a little girl at his school asked that in the fall when i came to eat lunch with him on his birthday.  :)  so...why is it i have been asked out several times now by older men?  and by older, i mean 50+ and some have kids in college or out of college.  i'm not against a few years older than me.  putz was 4 1/2 years older and the biggest age difference in someone i've dated after him was 6 years my senior (he and i are still very good friends).

what happened to the younger ones?  i think my limit would be around 40.  maybe 41/42.  where are the ones around my age?  i know they're out there!  and no, i'm not online dating and can't see myself doing that.  right now, there's no need for me to date.  i have too much on my plate as it is.