A new-to-me block

I got up at 8 to take my vit C, shower, and dress. I made breakfast and ate it while reading e-mail. Then I put my angel gift in the car and drove to church. I laid it with the other ones at church. I talked to a few people, and then found my usual seat in church. I was there early to watch the children's play. But my regular seat was not a good vantage point. So I did not take any pics. But the children were adorable and the play went very well. After the play, everyone went into the fellowship hall for cookies. The quilt I donated was raffled off. Cecelia won it. The church raised over $500 from the raffle. In a little while the choir gathered to practice. After the practice, I sat back down. Mr. Cox, my pewbuddy, asked about Chris, and somehow the conversation turned to Michele. He was surprised I had a daughter old enough to be working cause he thought I was in my 30's. I decided then that he can sit next to me ANY time. The service went well, and afterward Mary handed me a piece she wants me to play on my trombone for the first Sunday of next year. Then I went to Publix. The bill was almost $100. Something must have gotten pricier. The clerk said it was the organic vegetables. The man who carried out my groceries said his country (Jamaica) was better because all their food was organic. I could not argue with that. I brought the groceries home and put them away. I changed my clothes and put the laundry away. Then I grabbed a container of dates to take along. I used Chris' car 'cause my sewing stuff was still in there. I went to Renegades. They were working on a design of strips sewn around a triangle. I turned in my completed quilt top. Keril gave me fabric to cut for a backing.  She was looking for feeble weight fabric to use as foundations for next month's block. So I went home and pawed through my box of ' fabric seconds' to find a pile for her. When I got back, she picked out the lightest colored ones. Norm showed me a box of toy cars he had made and invited me to pick one. So I did. Later he asked if I had kids at home and needed another one.  (He can sit beside me, too)  There was a lady handing out laminated sheets of paper on which were printed photos that her father took. Many were of Christmas things. I did not take any, but at the end she handed out all that were left and gave me three. I had to piece the backing for my top and was working on that, when the game started. I had brought a gift for the game, not knowing what game it was. It was a dirty Santa game. I should have played it safe and picked the gift I brought, but I chose a different one. Oddly enough, I got Jo's gift and she got mine. I ended up telling the story of how a dirty Santa game in Korea turned me off of dirty Santa games forever. When the excitement was over, we went back to sewing. Keril let me use her new acrylic ruler. It was a prototype that she had cut and scored. It worked well for cutting the strips with the right angle on the ends. I selected a bunch of browns and neutrals and cut trapezoids. Mirna stopped by to lock up. Then everyone packed up, cleaned up, and left. I drove Chris's car home. I finished the fish from last night, and had some hummus with broccoli. Bertha mentioned liking dates with a walnut inside and covered with powdered sugar. I tried putting a walnut inside a date but it was just ok. Then I tried putting fermented nut cheese inside, and that was really good. I unstacked the dishwasher. I read e-mail, and wrote to Kurt on skype. Chris skyped me and we talked for 2 hours. He told me he applied for 4 jobs today. I typed up my blog, and had time to play a little ball before going to bed. BUT, I played too long and missed my bedtime completely.

There's no time like this present

I heard the alarm but stayed in bed after staying up so late last night watching that stupid movie. One of its reviews said it left the viewer guessing. Well, it left me guessing why I bothered to watch it. There are no answers at the end of the film. Half an hour later I got up to check e-mail and then call JenQ to see if I should run the border strips down to the church. But she said she had something else she could use. So I read some e-mail, then put the Netflix movie in the mail. I took the angel box into the basement to find wrapping paper for it. I found a lot of used wrapping paper that was saved. But none with useable parts big enough for the box. I found some unused at the bottom of a roll. Apparently I wrap multiple papers on each roll to save space. I used my large square ruler to precisely cut a rectangle the right size. Then I laid the box on the paper and oriented it just right to that the edges of paper lined up when I covered the box. I had to decide what to do with the gift card. I ended up putting it inside the box just before I wrapped it. I put it on the stairs and cleaned up the mess of papers and tape. Then I started juicing the leftover vegetables. The doorbell rang, signifying that the mailman had brought me packages. The smaller one was a watch and it had a gift message from Chris. That made me cry but I don't know why. The larger one was a cutting mat from my in-laws. I finished juicing, drinking and cleaning up. Then I got on the computer to thank them and cross those items off of my Amazon wish list. I listened to a meditation audio, the last one for the week. Then I made breakfast, and delved into Donnie Darko and read a whole bunch of stuff about it that I swear wasn't in the movie. My mother In law wrote back that she did not send mat so I went back to the box to look and it was from Chris. I went outside to do yardwork and get fresh air but it was too wet. Denise called to find out the latest on our house in Pinehurst. I set out a piece of fish to thaw. I stacked the dishwasher and put soap in it. I gathered the laundry and put it in the machine. I repaired the Princess of Power sleeping bag. I did some sorting of scraps, then made border strips and sewed them together. I was sewing them on the red and blue quilt when the washer finished. I put the laundry in the dryer then went up to start the dishwasher. I ate the fish while listening to an audio interview on intuitives. I worked some puzzles on the Jackie Lawson advent calendar site. I looked around the house for cylindrical items that might work as rollers for a homemade quilt frame like the one John Flynn uses. I found a roll of netting, also that I could load two balls of crochet cotton on a narrow pole of PVC. I finished the laundry, picked off the lint, mended and folded. I vacuumed the lint trap. I finished sewing the border for the Linus quilt. I searched for all my Christmas CD's, loaded them all in CD changer, and set it to play all. I looked in the computer room for more Christmas CD's, but only found classical ones. I watched a video on relationships. I cut a strip of red jersey, and some small pieces of red and white scraps. I checked for Chris on skype and left him a message. I ate a few spoonsful of the sweet potato casserole. It needs more cranberries, which I can buy tomorrow. I looked at a Pinterest site that was supposed to be Christmas items, but further down it was quilts, and most of mine were in there. Hmm. Chris returned my skype call, then went back to bed. I found myself unable to stop looking at quilt pics. But I need to go to bed so I can get up early to see the kids Christmas program at church.

Busy day

Last night I looked for dump fees online and could not find any. I also looked up Freecycle for the handyman so he won't have to haul the big items. I was just getting a drink of water before going to bed, but then saw the dish of sweet potatoes. I hadn't eaten supper, so I peeled them, ate the skins and mashed them with nuts and cranberries and butter. Then went to bed.

I heard the phone ring from far away. It wasn't far away but my door shut during the night. However it had stopped ringing by the time I got to it and Parker was leaving a message. She apologized for calling so early, but I did not know the time so it didn't matter. By the time we hung up it was 8:30. She told me that it appeared that Ralph was not supervising his men and that one man was painting crown moldings and the other one wasn't. The carpet people are coming out Monday to measure, and she will inspect the HVAC work and then give me the go-ahead to pay them. After the call, I went outside to look in the trashcan to see if Bob left the old ceiling there. But instead, I found the old ceiling, the extra pieces of new ceiling, and a two by four leaning up against the garage. I wondered if they were coming back for it or if I could throw away the old stuff and make something out of the new. I rubbed magnesium oil on my feet, and lower back. I swished, and read with the Happy Light. I exercised, and checked e-mail. I looked for a box to wrap the angel gift. I started processing the rainwater through the coffee maker. I watched a short video of John Flynn speaking humorously about his quilt frame system. I looked it up on Amazon and read the reviews, then I went looking for a video of the frame being used since the reviews were mixed. I put more water through the coffee maker. I juiced arugula and mung bean sprouts. I refilled the coffee maker again. I cleaned up the juicer and finished the last of the rainwater. I listened to a meditation audio and watched the Jackie Lawson animation for day 5. Actually it involved decorating several ornaments which then become part of the advent calendar. I cleaned up in the garage, sweeping out dirt out, piling up empty boxes, putting away the tent and poles, and stakes. I found a working outlet in the basement bathroom.  But it only works when the shower light is on.  It was loose so I took it apart and tightened the screws.  Then the lamp I plugged it did not work.  So I called Bob and reported that it needed fixing but should be an easy fix.  I got out an extension cord to power the air purifier when I placed it in the bathroom.  I went back to the garage. I rolled up one sleeping bag and thought about repairing the bad batting in the other one.  Just as I closed the garage door, the doorbell rang. It was my neighbor and his son asking if I wanted a cat or two that had been abandoned. Ha, ha. He thought I might want the company, but I did not want the responsibility. I ate a piece of frozen fish and watched my DVD “The Butterfly Effect”. It was quite a movie. But I watched the director's cut and the take-away from the ending was very depressing. I wanted to watch the theatrical version, but it was not on the Netflix DVD. So I looked it up on the internet. I read lots of reviews looking for the other ending. Several of them mentioned another movie called Donnie Darko. So I went looking for a link to watch that. Chris skyped me and we talked for awhile. I downloaded updates to my Flash player. Then I found a working link to watch the movie. I couldn't not believe what a waste of time it was. Butterfly Effect was much better and more to the point. Before I could finish it, it was past time to post to my blog and go to bed.

Back to basics

Having stayed up so late playing with balls and bombs, I stayed in bed late, too. I got up with the alarm, retrieved the phone, and went back to bed. Parker did not call, which should not have surprised me. When I got up, it was 9. I put the recyclables in plastic bags. I was surprised to see how quickly I was running out of grocery sacks now that I am using the reusable ones. I took the bin out to the street. I watched an audio while exercising. When I was ready to juice, I noticed the ants at the kitchen sink: still coming back for more ant bait. They love the stuff. I pulled out the bottle and shook it up good. Then I saw that it had borax in it. Well, maybe it needed a little more. So I reached down to grab the box of Borax and my back spasmed. At first I could not move. The motion of shifting my weight to one foot so I could step with the other gave me warning pain. But I figured out if I put my arms behind me and held onto my lower back, I could walk slowly. I went to the bathroom and took the rolling walker with me so I could get back up. I decided it was too risky to go to quilting. Sitting down only made my lower back stiff, so I went outside to rake. As my back loosened a little, I was able to dig a potato and cover the flower beds with leaves. I came in to fold laundry and check e-mail. Bob and Darren came by to replace bathroom ceiling. I cleaned up in the den and checked e-mail, and had a bite to eat. After they left, I went down to try my embroidery card with the new design in my old embroidery machine. It showed all the signs of recognition. But I wanted it bigger. I emptied the vacuum bag. Darren came back to caulk. I booted up the old computer and got fatal exception errors, so I looked them up and the 'fix' was to rename the soundblaster file. I did not see how that could be a good idea. I played a CD and listened via headphones. I could hear it so figured the sound card driver must be working. No speakers were hooked up, so I couldn't try them. Darren finished and he left. I went down to turn the lights off, again. I used the Kirby to clean dustbunnies in my sewing room and the TV area. I brought up ornaments and hung them on my branch-bare tree. I putt on Christmas music. I e-mailed Chris what came in the postal mail. I did an antenna and cell tower search, and found that the nearest ones are over .5 but less than one mile from here. I washed all the sweet potatoes, and coated them in coconut oil, and put them in the oven. I went back to the old computer but got so many fatal exception errors that even cntl-alt-dlt wouldn't work. I had to turn the power off. I read more about it on the other computer. l did some tapping, Checked on the sweet potatoes after an hour and added another 30 minutes to the time. I removed the memory sticks and used a hairdryer to blow dust out before replacing them. I resized the embroidery design, but I messed it up and couldn't get the original file back so I had to go back to the copy on the flashdrive. I called the handyman to ask about the wall paint on the crown moldings. He said it looked better than the shiny white against the ceiling. Chris skyped me and we talked until 9. I took a break to take the sweet potatoes out of the oven. Then after our call, I resumed enlarging the embroidery design and checking to see that it was saved properly. Then I posted to my blog in anticipation of going to bed – or playing the game again.

Still no laptop

Even though I stayed up late to play the Rubik ball puzzle, I got up soon after 8 to call Parker. Morning seems to be best for that. We talked about everything I could think of. The handyman is correcting errors, but has a team with him. The HVAC people had ripped out the old system and were installing the new. After the call, I wrote down what we talked about and sent it to Chris. I read for 20 minutes with the HappyLight. I exercised, drybrushed and detoxed. During the waiting periods, I watched a video by a gardener/evangelist. God showed him how to garden with woodchips and grow great vegetables without a lot of work. When the detox was done, I juiced and packed for the gym. I stopped on the way at the post office to mail a card to Michele. Then I sweated in the sauna for an hour or so. I had brought a book but did more thinking than reading. It occurred to me that it is the periods of brain fog that scare me most about driving. I don't want to be driving (particularly in Chris' car) or in an airport when one hits. Best to be at home. After ruminating, I got out and took a shower. On the way home I stopped by the computer store to return the 2 64MB sticks. He said the fan he ordered for my laptop wasn't working so he ordered another one, and hopes it will be in and done on Friday. I told him I was having problems with the old computer and he told me a few things to try. I drove home, praying for green lights all the way so I wouldn't have to shift gears so much. I guess God thought I needed the practice 'cause his answer was mostly 'no'. When I got home, it was almost dark. I made breakfast and checked e-mail. My brother called to tell me about some Christmas trees he found at Goodwill. The doorbell rang, and there was another shipment of supplements. I made fermented nut cheese with the nuts that soaked overnight. I finished the gardening audio and cleared e-mail. I watched the Day 3 animation from the Jackie Lawson virtual advent calendar. And then it was time for choir practice. I got there 5 minutes early, and the children were practicing for their Christmas play. The practice went long so our practice started late. We only practiced two songs, one for this Sunday and one for Christmas Eve. Jennifer Q needed some crowns for the Christmas play so I told her I had some bulletin board border strips in yellow that would do nicely. She asked me to drop them off at the church. I took Roz to her condo on my way home. When I got home, I looked for my border strips and put them in a prominent place. Then I checked e-mail. I listened to a health meditation audio and then Chris skyped me. After the call, I should have gone to bed, but I played the Rubik ball puzzle again.

*  I did not take any pics today so here is one from the guild show-n-tell  *

Computers are supposed to be time-saving devices

I got up at 7:45. It was raining so I put out my collection tubs. It was also cold in the house because I had forgotten to turn the heat back on. I turned the heat back on. I swished while I read e-mail. William called to give me another name brand of Christmas trees to check out. Then I read for 20 minutes with my HappyLight. Then I read more e-mail, and juiced. I rested while listening to Christmas music to digest. Then I cleaned up the juicer. I put out the mail. I found my sack of something to do, and drove in my car to quilting. Beverly showed me her t-shirt quilt. I looked at another woman's laptop but did not know enough to help her get it online. As we left, there were small vases of flowers on a table and we were encouraged to take them to pass out. I wasn't going to take any, but there were two left and I felt sorry for Jane who would have to carry them along with all her other stuff. So I put them in my car in the cup holders. One tipped over and the water spilled out. As usual, I stopped for kimbap. I also got sprouts and kimchi. I gave the proprietor one of the vases. I ate some of the kimbap in my car. Then I went to the computer store for another memory stick. The price had gone up $4 from last week. My laptop wasn't ready yet. He had a 250GB SSD for over a hundred dollars to sell me. He said it would make my laptop go a lot faster. When I got home, I e-mailed Chris to see if it was a good idea and Chris wrote back that it would not help much. I watched videos of how to install a solid state drive. It seemed like a good idea to have it done by someone who has done it before. I ate the rest of the kimbap with my leftover kimchi. I transferred the new kimchi to the old kimchi jar. Then I went to the seafood store. I gave the other vase to her. She asked about Chris and my dad. She showed me lots of pictures of her daughter who just got accepted to a major college. When I came home, I ate one piece of fish and froze the rest. I looked up how to grow carrot tops. Actually I seem to be doing quite well at sprouting them, but the ones I plant in dirt don't do as well. I installed the new memory stick and turned on the old computer. I listened to a binaural meditation.  I added the maxcache line to the system.ini file, and rebooted. It was in the wrong place and caused all sorts of problems. I e-mailed Chris and tried it again without the old memory. The good news was that I developed an appreciation of how the computer ran before I tried to improve it. I moved the maxcache line and rebooted.  I tried playing a rudimentary game and it did ok.  But everything else ran very slowly so it gave me time between key strokes to check e-mail, put cashews and sunflower seeds in a jar to soak, and make hummus. The tahini had separated into a solid mass and a liquid. Stirring was impossible, so I fashioned a double boiler to warm it up. Eventually that worked, and I finished the hummus. I filled a jar and ate what wouldn't fit in. Then I got PE-Design working on the old computer. I downloaded an embroidery file from a place on the internet and saved it to the flashdrive. Then I moved the flash to the old computer. But I had to reboot to get it to recognize the drive. I had just finished that and was getting the file written to the card that goes in my embroidery machine when Chris skyped me. We talked for an hour. He wants me to visit him in Honduras, but also in San Antonio at a conference he just found out about today. He put no pressure on me so I have time to think about it. I got out the camcorder and tried to revive the battery in the manner that worked on the DeWalt drill. I finished an audio interview with Dr. Norm Shealy. I wrote down what I could remember of my day and posted it to my blog. Now I plan to go to bed.

And so begins the Christmas season

I heard the alarm but stayed in bed to do some mental programming. When I got up, I swished and exercised without looking at the clock. I started reading e-mail. I saw that Debbie had sent out my block for December. It occurred to me that I should have a sample, so I went looking in my sewing room. I looked first in my unfinished project box, and then laughed at the idea that all my unfinished projects could possibly be in one box. I searched the sewing room with no luck. I found the leftovers from making the block 10 years ago, but no block. I came up to read e-mail and call William for tips on buying a tree. I cleared some e-mail, then juiced and made breakfast. I packed the last of the hummus and some broccoli heads for lunch. I replaced the cardboard box of sewing supplies with a strong plastic one. I moved the important stuff from one box to the other. Then I put the supplies in Chris' car. I drove to the church. The ladies were just finishing lunch. I set up my machine in the back of the room. I worked on the 'stacked books' block from October. Dinah found some of my blocks in the cabinet from last week. I trimmed them all and one was short. But two were long so I borrowed from them. Joan asked about the December block and I did not have a copy of the instructions. The ladies Bible study went long and then everyone left. So I was home by 3. I minced some fresh garlic into the hummus and ate my lunch out on the deck. Then I raked leaves in the front yard. Most of them went around the azaleas. Some went on the garden in the back. The day was so warm that I opened the windows and turned on the fan. I read e-mail and looked at artificial trees on Amazon. I chose one and added to my cart. It said if I ordered another $4 of stuff, I could get free shipping. So I parsed out another week of supplements to see what I needed to reorder. Then I added those to my AmazonSmile cart. I rearranged the branches on the tree to be in a more spiral arrangement. That was better but the effect was lost because of inconsistent spacing. I printed out the rhombus for the hexe-whatever-dron. I got out the last half of sweet potato. I melted butter over hot water and put it on the potato. I also added cranberries, pumpkin seeds and cinnamon. The effect was quite good. Maybe that will be my dish for the party next week. After supper, I read more e-mail and finished an audio. Then I sat in the den to tap and make a list of things to do as they came up. I heard the skype sound, so I went back to skype with Chris. That lasted maybe an hour. He was tired. I added a few things to my list. After he hung up, I accomplished the printing and e-mail tasks. Then I took notes for my blog so I could finish the evening doing tasks that did not require the computer. I put on some Christmas music and readied items for the mail.  I put the Christmas tree skirt around the tree.  I also ironed the quilt top in the picture, and wrapped the swap gift for Sunday.