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.

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.

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........

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.... "

So it begins.....

Yep, it feels like déjà vu to me, too.  I mean, right off the proverbial bat, here I am skipping several days of writing.  Our typical day while here:  get up at five in the morning, leave the house by 6.  We brace ourselves before we join the rest of L.A. on "The 5,"as they say here in sunny California, (remembering why I never want to live in any city that has this kind of traffic) and, with luck, arrive in Ontario about an hour later.  We straighten the booth from the previous day and stand on our feet all day, trying to squeeze in potting and a bite to eat.  At the end of the day, we "yo yo" to my cousin's home, back where we started our day.  We are greeted with absolutely amazing hospitality and food, hoping to not rudely fall asleep, face first in our plate of food, and then we hit the sack, barely getting in Jammie's first before heading into LaLa land.  The next day is a do over of the previous one ending with the last day of the show on Sunday.  Somehow, I just could not find the time to write.    Funny thing is, I love this Gypsy life.

Now just in case my day has not made you green with envy, I will now guarantee that by letting you know that I am now heading to the Alexander Henry warehouse to do my own envying over their environment.  Talk about a completely awesome workplace...not to mention totally drool worthy fabrics.   Please do your best to have a grrrreat day even though you are not here, too.

Beauty Parlor Day

Talk about a misnomer....I mean "beauty" anything at this stage in my life has very little to do with reality, at least as far as anywhere on my body is concerned.  One can only hope but I am always thinking more in terms of a miracle.

My cousin Chris is a hair dresser and today she had to put all of her talents to the test.  Both Brandy and I were in desperate need of her skills.  Did I detect a tear in Chris' eye?

A Day in the Life.....

Well, you guys asked for it...a day in the life of Dianne.  It started out beautifully. The day was gorgeous.  We shared a lovely breakfast with our generous friends and some precious hummingbirds while sitting under an orange tree laden with huge oranges.  It pretty much went downhill from there. "The Plan" was to find every quilt shop we could in Phoenix and give them the gift of their lives...the opportunity to purchase some original fabric by Dianne Kay Emery Springer.  How could anyone in their right mind turn that down?

LOTS of them.  Shockingly, only one shop even invited us to visit them and they acted so bored that I wanted to say, "Hey, have you any idea how lucky you are to even be in the same room as this lovely fabric?"  Seriously, I am starting to think that I am alone in my thinking.  Oh well, let's head to California and see if I can get others to join you and me in my world.

I am a Bad Bad Girl

I started getting a white streak in my hair when I was ten years old....now, I am completely white-headed.  I used to think it was simply that, my turning white-headed.  Now, I think it was symbolic of my gradual training as a guilt-ridden slacker...first just a small streak, now, I am one big blob of guilt.  One prime example?  My guilt over having neglected my Threads.  Another example?  My guilt over causing any undeserved worry to those completely awesome, beautiful readers, particularly Barbara and Gale.

Saying I do not deserve you guys is putting it mildly.  I promise to do my best to earn the honor of calling you my BFF's.

I would like to say that life has gotten in the way of my writing but that is pretty simplistic.  Of course, it is not a lie, it just would not be "..the truth, the whole truth, so help me, God."  In part, I think it was depression which I did not think anyone deserved to share, in part, laziness, because I put my soul and my energy into my writing (wow, that is a scary thought, isn't it?).  So, my original thought was to just put off  writing for one day.  That, obviously, turned into months.

So, again, I apologize for causing worry, or concern.  I only want to cause smiling!

So, for this new beginning, I will just let you know that Brandy and I are on our way to vend at Road to California.  We are staying with friends in Phoenix.  I can hear them in the other room and I can smell breakfast.  So, I am going to wake up my sleepy-headed daughter and try to prevent any guilt over making breakfast get cold.  I hate feeling guilty.  Anyone think it would help if I dyed this head of white hair???

The Stranger

I am the "Stranger."  At least I am one where my own home, my own bed is concerned.  I should include my blog in that, too.  Strange, or, not, it feels great to be here.  Sleeping in my own bed, finding my pottie in the night, hearing snoring next to me....Heavenly.  O.k., so the snoring is not so Heavenly, or so strange-- Brandy helps out in that department most of the time.  Just having Tom next to me is about as perfect as it gets.

 I spent most of yesterday with a power tool in my hand.  Get your mind out of the bedroom,  it was a Leaf Blower, my friends.  Remember, Tom was home when I got here.   The yard was sooo neglected.  Brandy and I even got up on the roof and cleaned the gutters.  Now, I feel like I was run over by a truck!

Guess what I discovered while we were in Vegas?  Anyone remember I mentioned ages ago that I was working on fabric designs for a sewing machine company's new luggage?  Well, that luggage was introduced at convention that same week we were at Las Vegas.  The "secret" company is Baby Lock and I am so honored and pleased.  As soon as I can figure out how to get images off my email, I will post hem.

Thanks for the unbelievable support.

Quilter's Chaos

What's new?  Chaos to others is, in my world, the order of business.  I call it Organized Chaos but I seem to be the only one on the planet who would think there was any organization to this at all.  What they do not see is into my brain.  (I think they need new glasses) My brain looks just like my order of business and, it makes perfect sense to me.  They want busy...I am busy.  At any given time I have at least 10 things in the works.  My daughter throws her hands up in despair because my "Plan" is so-o-o-o-o not how she operates.  What baffles her is that I manage to get all 10 things done, on time, and often, ahead of time.  She spends so much of her time rolling her eyes at me that I occasionally forget she has pupils.

One thing that causes her stress is my tendency to stop working on a project that just HAS to get done and start a project that has nothing to do with what she considers "important, a.k.a., On-The-List."  Of course, she is right, but, that is my business, heh heh.

Check out my latest Not-On-The-List project.  New kitchen rugs.  One teensy weensy concern.  I forgot to see if this fabric is washable.  Not the best idea for kitchen rugs, gulp.