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Monday, February 17, 2014

FAAAAABULOUS Show

Aren't I lucky?  I had the best time in McAllen, Texas.  No, it had nothing to do with making money...luckily, since we rarely make enough to make our expenses.  It had everything to do with the folks that we met there.  The way they welcomed us, you would have thought we were celebrities. I started to let it go to my head then I discovered they were just awesome folks and treated everyone beautifully.  So, with my ego back in check, I just simply enjoyed being there.  Now Brandy and I are back in the car and heading home where we have two days to get things ready for another show in Monroe, Louisiana.  That show lasts until Sunday and then we leave around five a.m. Monday for our flight to Puyallup, Washington.  Who set up this schedule, I keep asking myself.  Then, I remember, it was I.  Massive DUH.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Certifiable....

For some reason that word, "certifiable" keeps popping up in my head.  Go figure... After driving to California, then on to Phoenix, then home to spend exactly one night,  I drove six hours down South and gave the two lectures in Hammond last Thursday, packing the car afterwards while it was sleeting.   Yes, I said sleeting in south Louisiana.  I don't need two hands to count the last time I am aware of that happening....shoot, I don't need two fingers!

Then, I enlisted every family member in the house to cut, assemble, label, and pack for our next show.  We had three days to get a month's worth of work done. We were scheduled to leave early Tuesday.  Monday night around 9, my son informs me that schools and businesses are closing for the next two days due to the ice storm that is predicted to begin around midnight.  Now, just because we live in the northern part of the state, don't think I need all five of those fingers to count the occurrences of this here, either.  We are still in Louisiana, folks.   So, we threw what we had done in the car and headed out around midnight.  Of course, it was already icy and sleeting.  Remember that little certifiable thingie?

The following day (yesterday) we drove south, again.  This time we are heading as far as San Antonio, Texas.  You guessed it, sleeting and raining the entire trip.  What-the-what is going on?  Today, we are driving even further south, like five hours further South.  If it starts sleeting this time, I am not just going to be thinking certifiable, I am going to be thinking friggin' jinxed.  Wish us luck.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Change of Plan

Wow, I decided that when I went to Alexander Henry fabrics I was going to limit myself to 4, o.k., maybe five bolts of fabric.  Four hours later,   I see AH, my bank balance, and the  teensy weeny bit of fabric I did not buy in my rear view mirror.  Sixteen bolts! I am not only crrrrazy, I am nearly broke.  Easy come?  Hardly.  Easy go? Absolutely.

I hate halfway done jobs, so Brandy and I decided we had to finish cleaning (out our wallets, gulp).  We headed south to the Brighton outlet and blew the rest of our wad.  Finally, we depart for Santa Fe.  We ended up spending the night in the most delightful town, Wickenburg, Arizona.  

Around 7 a.m. the next day, as we are gassing up for the long drive to Don's house in New Mexico, we get a call from the folks running the quilt show in Phoenix.  REGROUP.  We spent the next hour on the side of the road, madly making phone calls.  Then, we drove down to Phoenix and unloaded right into the show.  Everyone was so delightful, so thoughtful.  I should mention here that both the California and Phoenix shows had amazing set-up situations...no one was sitting there timing us , tapping their respective feet, hovering, waiting for is to move our car.  I loved that. We will be back!!

We arrived home late last night and washed a couple of loads of clothes only to repack so I could head to south  Louisiana to do a lecture on quilts to some college students.  After that is done, I head back home.  Nothing to do but sit around....hmmmm, do you really believe that?  If so, call me for some great land I have to sell.....Oh wait, I honestly do have some land to sell.  So, call whether you believe me or not........


Sunday, February 2, 2014

Such Beauty, Such Sadness.


I hope my brother does not mind my sharing an email that he sent to me recently.  It not only shows what an amazingly talented writer he is but how beautiful a person he is....how very lucky and proud I am to share my life with him.  I have read it and re- read it so many times that I almost have it  memorized.   This was written in honor of our sister, Deb, a.k.a, Lee, who died in an accident.


"The dawn sky is a grey blanket so close that you feel like you could touch it if you were only a bit taller and could jump like Michael Jordan wearing brand new basketball shoes. It's my favorite time of the day when normally I can see the pink-splashed clouds melt away as the sun rises and paints Sun and Moon mountains with details not seen in the dark, but today there is no sunrise, and the colors are gone. And i realize that (I think) this is Deb's birthday.  And this morning seems to reflect the loss of color and magic that she always brought into each of our lives.  Sometimes, like this morning, the space between my eyes fills with a longing to reach out to her to give her a piece of my heart that I never had the courage, thoughtfulness, or sensitivity to give her; that comfort that says simply and forever that I love you without reservation.  So in the hope that she might feel it and that you might feel it too, I don't want to let this dawning moment pass without telling you, and her, that I do love you without reservation.

Happy Birthday Deb.... "