Preparing for the party

I awoke before the alarm went off. I had breakfast and a shower. I did more cleaning and took out 3 bags of recyclables on my way to church. Pastor Stan was sick, but he really wanted to talk about Zachieus. So he preached, and left as soon as he could. During snack time I met a Korean woman Michele's age who is really into NCIS. Even has an episode on her IPOD. Then I went to the commissary to get veggies, fruit, cheese, toothpicks, etc for the get-together tomorrow. And onions, to make onion soup when the bean soup runs out. Michele carried the groceries upstairs while I parked the car. I checked out the lower parking lot and discovered that it is brighter and cleaner than the main floor. I went up to the apt to see how Michele was doing with the groceries. I cleaned off the round tables and the kitchen table so I could wash the tablecloths. I vacuumed the floors several times because dust kept appearing. By then I was exhausted and tired of cleaning, but there was more to do. Maryann came over around supper time with cookies for the morning. She just came to talk, but it was a nice break for me. Then when she left, I went back to it. I put all the shoes in the shoe closet, and put away all the VB fabrics. I emptied trash, and then watched some episodes of Bonanza with Michele. I meant to go to bed early because I have to get up very early to cut up the veggies, make the dip (including looking up a recipe), wash the fruit, heat the rolls and the applejuice, etc. It is a lot of work, and if I had known we'd be here this long, I might have cleaned earlier. Ha, ha.

Maryann - a really good friend

I did not have time to take any pics today. After breakfast, I was going to go to a dance event near Sookmyung, but while in the shower my back was telling me not to go. So I stayed home to clean. I cleared both side tables, and under them. You wouldn't believe the dust under the couch! I thought since we were only going to be here for two years that I didn't need to clean, but now that Chris extended, the dirt is starting to aaccumulate:) I tackled the pile on top of the 'chest' in the entrance. I had started a batch of beans in the slow cooker last night on low. I kicked it up to high for awhile. When Michele said the beans were ready, I put in a package of buffalo, tomatoes, and some garlic. I also took a break to Skype Chris to ask him where the winter sheets are since I removed and washed the summer ones. But he wasn't there so I Skyped Kevin instead. Did not realize that it was 1:30 am, but he was up. Later in the afternoon Maryann came over again and she put the clean sheets on the bed. Thank goodness because I am not strong enough to lift the corners on the king mattress without straining my back. Together we got a lot done. We cleaned in my sewing room, and in the corner between the bedrooms. We also stopped for a bowl of bean soup. I promised her free sewing lessons for life. Any friend will come visit when your house is clean, but a really good friend will come when it is dirty and help you clean it up.

More cleaning

Now why would I take a picture of my coffee table? Because now you can see it! I have successfully cleaned it off. It was piled high with books, papers, magazines, figures, and other stuff. Kinda like the side tables by the couch, only higher. I found two years worth of bills in no particular order. Now they are in chronolgical order and somewhat alphabetical. Phew! It was tiring and my back is giving me warnings. I did a few other things too. I returned my car to post and walked home. I talked to my brother, and then Chris on Skype. I took a nap. I went to Chris' office for mail, but the one bill he needed wasn't there. Unfortunately I found out later that someone else's mail is mixed in with his. So that bill may be in somebody else's pile.
I also read my e-mail. Did you know that watercress has a nutrient in it that stops cancer from growing? Also, the mere act of watching TV (no matter what content) changes your brain chemistry.

Cleaning

I heard Michele moving around and it woke me up around 7:15. She was sick and decided not to go to college today. I had breakfast, read through my e-mail and started cleaning. Maryann called and offered to help later in the afternoon. I went to the thrift shop at 10:45. Thankfully there was a parking space open. I got a few videos shelved before our meeting with Col. Huber. He is the new garrison commander and Ella invited him to meet the staff and ask or answer questions. That took longer than I thought. He was very nice and easy to talk to. He is divorced and on his second or third tour in Korea. After the QnA, Ella served sub sandwiches and cakes. I got a salad out of it 'cause several people didn't want the veggies on their subs. I got a little more work done, and then headed out to the AnC center to get a 28" board to shore up the shelf over my sewing table. The boxes supporting it are squashing. On my way back to the thrift shop, I met Maryann and we talked until my student arrived. As we were walking to my apartment, she asked to stop at 7/11 to get a snack since she did not bring one. Then it took her awhile to 'get around' to preparing it (just needed hot water which we have on tap). Finally I got her to start sewing. She finished the 'rug' she started last week. It took longer than her lesson time and I had to stand there the whole time and supervise because there is no telling what she will get into. Last week it was my rotary blades. When her mother finally came to pick her up, she asked if I wanted more money for having kept her longer and I declined, but maybe should have said yes. Maryann came over and we started cleaning. It was good to have someone here who has no emotional ties to the stuff and hasn't been ignoring certain areas over and over. But all too soon it was time for both of us to leave. She had to pick up her husband, and I had to go to class. I was later than I intended, and there were several other people there. They did not offer to help me set up. It looked like a low class, but the interested parties were just late. Liliam taught them how to make a drawstring jewelry bag. It went well except for the buttonhole. Then we packed up and they left. I stayed behind to talk to Lili who needed to vent. Then I drove home. I had trouble fitting my car in one of the tight spaces, as usual. And then remembered that last week I had made a decision to park in the subterranean lot, where I assume there is plenty of space. After walking up to our sixth floor apartment, I finally had supper. Then finished off all the new e-mail that came in.
Here is the pic I took of the small quilt Cathy longarmed. I hope the quilting shows. It is beautiful.

Rolling in dough

I had set aside to today to prepare for Monday when the quilting group is going to meet here at my apartment. I felt like I was in constant motion. First I started the laundry, then I started the first of three batches of rolls. I hope to have enough for the quilters, and some left over for Thanksgiving. Michele had to have one to see if they were done. Then when she left for college, she had another. I figured out how to get skype to work again, and I was able to talk to Chris for awhile. In between batches of rolls, I washed and ironed all the fabric I bought yesterday, and I finished the tablerunner and put tassels on it. Once all the rolls were done and bagged, I started cleaning the kitchen. What a job! It is covered in grease. Not the kitchen kind, but the black city air kind. Kinda makes you not want to breathe. I did the stove and the counters around the sink. If there is any time tomorrow I will do the table. Ha! This whole place needs an intervention. In fact this party may be BYOB - Bring your own blindfold. Could make show-and-tell difficult, though.

She bought more fabric than I did

I was able to Skye my sister last night, but only with Michele's computer. I tried rebooting mine, but it didn't help. It was after midnight when we said goodbye and I went to bed. I woke up with the alarm at 8. It took a little willpower to get up and going. But I did. I had breakfast, took a shower, and packed everything I thought I would need for the day. I went to the thrift shop early since I knew MaryAnn would want me to go to Dongdaemun with her and Monique at 11:30. I brought in the Barbie doll in her new outfit, and the footpedal for the machine that matched mine. Ella and I had a little argument over my pulling books for a man collecting for the Good Neighbor program. He wants good children's books in good condition. Ella wants me to pull books for him, but not ones that will sell. So what does that leave? Nothing! It seems there is no way I can succeed in this task. Not only can I not please both of them, I can not please the manager at all because she doesn't realize that she is asking the impossible.
Then Maryann and Monique came over to buy laservideo discs for decorating for the AFSC auction. I left with them. We were supposed to go to D, but went to Monique's house to discuss how much fabric they needed. Finally we went, but Monique didn't have much time. We found her some dk blue fleece for her dog, and then a roll of black scarf fabric for swags. At the same place, we decided to get two rolls of purple, too, but had to wait for it to be delivered. Monique had to leave to attend a meeting. So Maryanne and I went to the Happy Quilt place to buy fabric until the purple rolls came. I also got a few other things I needed, and well as a few things other people asked for when they found out that I was going to Dongdaemun. Then we walked to the street full of food vendors. Maryann bought kimbap and hoduk. I bought two mandu's. And we shared. It was then that we realized that we had a problem. We could take the subway back to gate 17, but Monique's car wasn't there anymore. So we went back to gate 19 to catch the post bus. But then Monique finished her meeting and came to drive us to our cars. I took my weighty bag of fabric (and some persimmons I bought at the market) home. I then had a bag of persimmon soup. Oh well, I ate the split ones and refrigerated the rest. I had some leftovers for supper and laid down for a rest. When I remembered that the tablerunner was still in my trunk (I meant to take it to D to find matching tassels), I ran down to get it before the gate closed. Michele came home then but did not eat for hours. I hooked my MP3 player to the computer to remove songs I don't care for. That seemed to work. Then I coped/pasted songs from a DC onto the player. But then they wouldn't play. And the deleted songs still show up on the screen. After that I just couldn't get up the energy to do anything else, so I decided to blog and go to bed.
Did I mention that it was in the upper 30's today? I am NOT looking forward to another Korean winter. Can I go home now?

Tablerunner

I awoke before the alarm went off, at least half an hour before. What was I thinking? But I got up anyway, had a shower, made breakfast, and checked the beans. They were finally soft enough to eat. But who wants beans for breakfast? I checked my e-mail, cut up some cheese for lunch, and headed out for quilting with my recyclables in hand. I dropped them off at the recycling center behind our building. I got to the South Post Chapel 15 minutes early. None of our group were there, so I started setting up by myself. Then a couple of guys came in to replace all the burnt out fluorescent bulbs. Hurray! I guess they waited until lots of them were out so it would be worth their time. After I finished setting up, Cathy came. Then a few others trickled in. I got so busy then that I forget what happened. Some worked on baby quilts, some on QOV. I made some pillowcases for QOV. Cathy worked on the donation quilt. We had lunch. We worked some more. It was 2:30 'till we got all packed and out. I planned to go by the AnC center, but it was right in the middle of after-school traffic. So I went home. Michele was just leaving for college. I read through my latest email, then added some tomatoes and leftovers to the beans, which were still cooking in the crockpot. The wind was howling, and it was cold in my sewing room, so I shut all the porch windows. Did I mention it was cold today? Just all of a sudden, too. I was trying to clean up in my sewing room, but ended up sewing. Could happen to anyone, right? Then Michele came home, and she put on a Hornblower movie. I got sucked in, even though I have seen it many times. When it was over, I went back to finish my project. It is a table runner made from someone else's leftover railfence blocks. SOMEONE told AFSC I would donate a tablerunner and placements to their auction. It wasn't me. So, ok, a tablerunner. With a backing and a couple of tassels, it should be nice. The fabric I was considering for the back was sold as silk, but I had to iron it with a steam iron to get the wrinkles out. Silk should have been ruined so I wondered if it really was. I burned a piece, and some of Michele's hair (from her brush) because I read that burning silk smells like burning hair. But I don't think they smelled the same. Then it was time to Skype Faye. While waiting for her, I posted this blog.