Tuesday Ramblings

I am still trying to get into a routine and get situated in Santa Fe and I realized I have neglected the blog AGAIN.  I started working last Monday at Starbucks here in Santa Fe so I've been getting used to a new store, new coworkers, new boss, new customers, and everything else that goes along with a new job.  Lots of new, which is more than slightly nerve-wracking for me (who is very much a creature of habit).

I'm still sorting through boxes and trying to get my sewing space somewhat sewable. It's also the guest bedroom so hopefully guests will like looking at bins of fabric..... The house we are renting is smaller than my house in Georgia with less closet space (hardly imaginable!) and less wall space for bookshelves.  It's basically a big jigsaw puzzle trying to get things unpacked and organized. (We won't even discuss all the stuff in the rented storage space....)

For instance, I unpacked this box once and turned around to find it occupied again

 Not wanting to disturb Remy's "new favorite" box, I left it for awhile and came back to find....

.....and I wonder why it's taking so long to get organized.

How to Procrastinate Cleaning Out an Attic on a Tuesday

Rewatching the Season 3 premiere of "Sherlock".

I highly recommend it.

Couch-Bound

I've been couch-bound these past couple of days with a hurt foot. Don't know what I did to it, but I must have pulled a tendon/ligament/muscle or combination.  So I basically hobbled through working all weekend and came home and put my foot up with a heating pad on it.  I missed Silver Thimbles Quilt Club Friday night and haven't sewn since Wednesday.

Now you know it was bad.

Today it's better and I'm no longer shuffling around like the walking dead.  (Mooooooannnnnn)

Hope to have some photos of a finished project soon.  Until then, here is a gratuitous cat photo of sleeping Gomez.

It's the Humidity

This is the kind of weather that makes you ever so thankful for air-conditioning.  Mid-90s and about 2,000% humidity in Atlanta.  Seriously.

OK so checked NOAA and it's 50% humidity.

So I was close.

Anyway---

S. has done a tremendous amount of yard work and outside chores this weekend including washing the siding and making pea gravel paths.  My house and yard look great.  Better than great--amazing!

Saturday, I stayed inside and cleaned house, cooked, and prepped hexies.

Today, I worked at Starbucks, did laundry, made blackberry cobbler, and am sewing binding.

 I really would like to say we are tied for the amount of work done this weekend, but I'll admit washing the siding in this humidity is winning.

Better.

Remy and Edgar Poe

Did everyone have a good Mother's Day?   The cats were on their best behavior yesterday and enjoyed another day in bed.  The cats loved the peace and quiet, all piled on the bed napping.

S. brought me ice cream and good (soft) food to eat. And many cups of tea.  He's a good nurse for someone who is not a very good patient.

I Skyped with the family in Michigan and explained to Mackenzie how I had an "ow-ie" And then we talked about how everyone has teeth--Aunt Gretchen, Grandma, Shiloh doggie, Remy kitty, Mackenzie.  I love conversations with two-year olds; they are very factual.

 

Today, I am finally starting to feel better.  My last sick day off of day job and Starbucks so I better be right as rain tomorrow (or at least tolerable).

I finished reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.  I am so happy I had a great, big, well written book to read as everything else made my teeth hurt.

Watching TV, eating, noise, talking, sitting, smiling, forget it.   I didn't even sleep that much.

It was a really great biography and a wonderful insight into a person who has revolutionized our modern life.  It made me love my Apple products more and really really really wish he had developed an iIron. Can you imagine an Apple iIron?  A quilter's dream!!  A perfectly designed, weighted, proportioned, temperature controlled iron.  Perfect steam. Perfect heat for different fabrics. Sigh.


I did venture out of bed to do laundry and iron S.'s shirts and decided that I was going to sew a little.  I finished two blocks of Doc and have the rest sorted.

The color placement is tricky in these blocks so I used my block design board that I made during retreat in February, which I had buried in the sewing room handy and ready to use.

Today was a fun mail day too.  For last month's Schnibbles parade, I won 2 charm packs of the new French General fabric from Sherri.  Thank you so much Sherri!!!  I can't wait to use these in a Schnibble later this year.

I also had a sweet note with some funny stickers from my dear friend Karmen.  Love you Karmen!!  You are the best!  Let's all be jealous of her going to Spring Quilt Market in Kansas City.  I can't wait for the report on all the great new fabrics and wonderful photos. (Karmen is a great photographer.)  Make sure you wear your boots for Sample Spree so you don't get your feet trampled.

Oh and look at how pitiful that is.  I am at 99 followers.  Anyone up for being #100?  I'll do a giveaway soon if someone will round up the number to three digits.  Just sayin'.

Recovering

I am recovering slowly it seems from my wisdom teeth surgery.  Thank you all for the wonderful not-scary stories and all the well wishes in the comments.  Y'all are the best!!  Truly the best!!

The surgeon did have to do more work than she originally thought to get the lower impacted teeth out so I look less like a






cute little chipmunk

and more like a




puffer fish.

Seriously swollen.  Even after bags and bags of ice.

The pain has been manageable with the pain meds I am on. I'm not as sleepy as I thought I would be and I've spent a lot of time catching up on blogs and websites.

I'm also started reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and am about halfway through already.  

The cats have enjoyed having me stuck in bed for three days now and we all are camped out on the bed with toys (for the cats), books, magazines, iPhone, and a laptop. 

Before my surgery, I picked out fabrics for this month's Schnibble and got the pieces all cut. (no cutting on pain meds!!)  I think I can draw the lines for the HSTs but that's about it for today.

I just love Kate Spain fabric and I think Doc is going to be a great fit for "Good Fortune." I'm using gray as a background again and a deep purple for the cornerstones and binding.  Big purple floral is for the backing.

On Wisdom...

...teeth that is.  I am getting my four wisdom teeth taken out Thursday and ...

Public Service Announcement:  fretting, worrying, general freaking out about it starts...

...about now.

Please don't tell me any horror stories about it.

I have been trying to avoid all possible stories about it.  I WILL NOT and HAVE NOT looked it up on the Internets.  (What I don't know, makes my nerves calmer.)

My surgeon already said that since I am older, it will take longer to bounce back.  Thanks, doc! Yes, I know I should have had this done 20 (!!!!!) years ago.

There are IVs involved.  I do not "do" IVs. The thought makes my arms ache.  (I haz IV/doctor/hospital issues).

Also, "do you bruise easy?  There can be extensive bruising."  Yes, I do.  "And swelling." Great.  I am going to look like a chipmunk who went 3 round with Mike Tyson.

My unhelpful dad said "It's terrible. Be prepared to be on the couch.  I was on the couch forever. It was miserable." Thank you Dad.  I love you.

One of my regular customers at Starbucks said "You know there's a nerve that runs along your jaw. You could lose all feeling in your face." OMG! WHAT????!!!?

Good thing "The Walking Dead" TV show is filming Season 3 in the Atlanta area because I'll be an excellent candidate for a drugged-out, shuffling, drooling, bruised face, moaning, chipmunk-cheeked ZOMBIE!!

Paging Dr. Gregory House

Well not much sewing going on here.  I hope to get back to it this weekend.  

Please feel free to stop reading now because I really just want to vent.

Really, I'll understand.

Have a great day/evening & I'll get back to sewing or cute cats in the next post. Promise.

Oh and Remy is wonderful, made himself right at home, and loves life here.   We love him right back. Thank you for asking. You can stop reading now.  Thanks.



OK you were warned......

I hesitated to mention this ongoing, annoying, mysterious health issue I've had but thought what-the-hey, all you long-time readers have followed me through the rest of the Series of Unfortunate Events this year (yes, for all you Lemony Snicket fans I am considering changing my last name to Baudelaire).  Also, I didn't want anyone to think that my six (6!!!!!!!!!) months of bad luck had suddenly gone away.

Let me start out by saying, I have had bad luck with medical professionals in the past so I have a wary, distrust of the medical profession since childhood (except for Dr. House because he is brutally honest, makes no bones about not caring about the patient--only the puzzle of the disease, and usually figures out what is wrong with the patient in a hour. I like that.)

Since late July, I have had a weird allergic reaction to something. I have been to a dermatologist, my G.P. (twice), and a specialist in allergy & immunology.  I have been given various strengths of corticosteroids both orally, lotions, creams, and the last time a shot and each time the reaction comes back worse.  I have stopped using all my usual makeup, face stuff, shampoo, conditioner, soap, cleaning products, etc. and have rewashed everything in my house with dye/fragrance-free laundry soap (which I use anyway).

It has been extremely frustrating  because I look like an  EXTRA FROM THE WALKING DEAD!!!!! (that's a zombie apocalypse show that takes place in Atlanta for those of you who aren't up on your zombie pop culture)

Or a CHIPMUNK WITH MANGE (by-the-way Chipmunks with Mange would be a great name for a band please give me 20% of proceeds if you use this name thx.).   With a horrible non-itchy red rash everywhere and peeling dry flaky skin.

For the first few months, I got by in public OK but since the beginning of this month with not being able to use makeup (hello) and it getting worse, I have been a recluse and missed days of day-job and days at Starbucks, which is not good. I have also been very depressed and frequently despaired about this whole situation (and everything else that has happened this year...)

Skip next paragraph if you want  I digress into dangerous territory....

WARNING:  rant within a rant digression here:  [Because I now have really crappy health insurance from the state because not only do we not get performance or cost-of-living raises anymore (going on 10 years now), we also get really crappy health insurance--thank you past and now present governors.  And this has cost more money than I care to add up and yes I have to work two jobs to help pay for my crappy health care--which is going up in cost next year, and down in benefits]

DIGRESSION OVER

Today, I went the allergy/immunology specialist person who was dismayed that this hasn't gone away and said he didn't have any other ideas except for mega-doses of prednisone (again) and referred me back to the same dermatologist.  Sigh.

I am BESIDE myself with this.  A friend gave me a referral to another dermatologist that is supposed to be very good.  So I hope to get an appointment and get a &^%$#@%$^&** MIRACLE.

I really want Dr. House to be real-life doctor, although I think Hugh Laurie is pretty hot and wouldn't really want him to see me looking like a bloody zombie or chipmunk with mange so that is a quandary.  Oh he probably wouldn't be an in-network doctor anyway. Foo!

That is all. And now back to our regularly schedule cute cats & quilting.  

Tales from the Couch

Got back from Michigan Tuesday night.  It was a very sad, emotionally draining, and exhausting trip.   I was so glad that S. came too and everyone appreciated his love and support. I did get to see all my cousins (10 of us!) and their kids and spouses plus all my aunts and uncles and other relatives.  I spoke at the funeral, which was very difficult but I thought it was important and I made it through with a choked up voice.

And of course, I got to see my niece Mackenzie.  She is 19 months old and as cute and brilliant as ever (being the non-bias opinion of an aunt you know).  She is speaking in complete sentences (!!!!) and said "I want to go outside."    And I taught her how to make monster sounds (very important). She also learned how to say my name which is really hard to say when you are young. Did  I mention that she is brilliant?

On Wednesday, I came down with the most horrible, dreadful, awful cold virus ever (code name MHDACVE) and was stuck on the couch sick for three days straight.  Thank goodness for BBC America, which has saved my sanity from certain boredom.  I highly recommend watching the shows "Luther" and "The Hour."     I did very little else but complain about how sick I was to the cats.  They sympathized but were unable to make tea or soup so I had to do it myself (S. was out of town for work). 

Today I found out from the pharmacist (where I had to stock up on more cold medicine) that the MHDACVE is going around and it lasts for about a week and a half and is just as horrible, dreadful, and awful for anyone who gets it.  I called my mom and she has it too.  My advice:  stay away from people and wear a haz-mat suit!   

Missing Normal

Well everyone at Stella Bella Quilts is missing our normal everyday life.
We are still living like mole people in the dark (well not the cats cause they can see perfectly fine in the dark thankyouverymuch).
We are completely sick of eating every meal out and having to drive to get food and having to drink Starbucks Via in cold water, which is better than nothing....

and better than chewing on coffee beans...


and definitely better than me not having any time of caffeine in the AM (see image right )






Not much else is new.

I did receive two great new quilt books in the mail.  The first is Fat Quarter Winners by Monique Dillard. 

You may have seen the blog hop for this book last month with Thelma of Cupcakes 'n Daisies
Lisa of Stashmaster, Nicole of Sister's Choice, and of course the author/designer herself Monique. 

I love every quilt in this book!  Really fabulous designs that would look great in any fabric type.  Good clear directions and different sizes for each quilt.  I highly recommend this book. 






The second book is Jelly Roll Sampler Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott. 

This a another great book by my favorite jelly roll quilt designers!  Along with the 12 blocks from the Jelly Roll Sampler Block of the Month that I made for Mackenzie (image at left).  There are additional blocks, different size blocks, and different sampler quilt ideas.  Another highly recommended book.You can even do a block of the month from the book with your quilting friends or challenge yourself to use up some of those stacks of jelly rolls (and I know you all have stacks of jelly rolls....)

I really hope to be back up and interwebbing and blogging as usual soon.  Although I'm not commenting much, I am trying to keep up with everyone's blogs on iVan the iPhone. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend in the U.S. 

Another Busy Week = Time for a Diversion

Another busy week at work with not much time or energy for sewing in the evenings.  I am trying to catch up on some blog reading and found a fun diversion.  The March Modern Fabric Madness over at Fat Quarterly.  Now not being into basketball, I usually skip the whole March madness thing. But fabric madness I do know.
(plus I'm one of those people who love filling out forms.  Is anyone else like this? please say yes....) 
Anyway, I printed out my brackets and am playing along just for fun.  

Spring is springing here in Atlanta.  Daffodils are all out and trees are flowering and leaf buds are growing.  It's supposed to rain all weekend so I guess I get out of doing yardwork (oh darn) and will be sewing.

Oh I almost forgot to report on my UFO Challenge. 

Score is
UFOs:  2
Me:  Nil

I've got lots of catching up to do.

0.807954 miles of thread...and more to go

Well I've used up one spool of Aurifil thread (1422 yards or 0.807954 miles of thread) and am working on the second for the Roll Roll Cotton Boll quilt.  I am working like crazy on this quilt and am still piecing blocks. I have no idea how some bloggy friends (Michelle, Karin & Kristie) have already finished their tops.

the never-ending quilt project

I'm also slowly getting back into the swing of things from Atlanta's 10-day weekend otherwise known as Snow-pocalypse. There are just a few patchy snow spots left after all that drama.  It was very strange going to work on Tuesday (Monday was MLK, Jr., holiday). It was weird being out of the house and in real clothes instead of sweats/pjs.  It was weird being around people or as my boss asked "did everyone lose whatever social skills they had?" LOL!  Tuesday was a very looooooong day (what no movies, snacks, quilting, catnaps, cats?????).  An amazing amount of work piled up while everyone was stuck at home (how does that happen?).  I'm not sure if the cats were happy about getting back to their usual schedule or if they missed having their people around all day. 

My To Do List is 5 Miles Long....

Hi everyone!  Remember me ;)  I feel like I have been gone from my blog forever! Here's a quick recap of my week:  I did make it back from Michigan on Monday, later than planned because of yet another flight delay. So go home around 10:45PM and to bed way too late.

Tuesday at work was a crazypants, insane day, which reminded me of why I don't take week-long vacations and included among other things (I kid you not) a burst waterpipe in floors above which threatened our archival files and required a madcap scramble to empty bottom drawers of file cabinets, move them to cubicles and empty tables, round up empty recycle bins to hold the water and all kinds of fun and games like that. OY!!!! Home late and made up a dinner out of thin air. Note:  I have now been impacted by a snowstorm, high winds, and a flood--wow! What's next? An earthquake...wait let's not go there.

Wednesday was grocery shopping and errand running day after work. Home late again but at least there is food in the house. Did about 2,000 pounds of laundry (but now I have clean clothes to wear to work).

Thursday home late again because met friends for drinks after work then out to dinner.

Friday (finally! I made it). Home not-too-late but a little because took S. and E. to airport. Now it's on to my to do list that is 5 miles long... 

I need to post about all the fun in Michigan (which may include more photos of my sweetie pie niece Mackenzie).  I also need to unpack and upload photos from said trip. I have 350+ emails in my inbox and over 700 blog posts to catch up on.  I also need to address & mail Xmas cards, make cookies for tomorrow's Thimbles club, make cookies for gifts, catch up on steps 2-5 of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt, sort through mail, clean house, and a zillion other things...

all before Monday morning....

How long is your to do list?  

A Sunday Morning

Hello!  I feel like I have been away from my blog forever! Well it has been a week.  I have spent most of this week on the phone trying to resolve an issue with a bank.  Yes, 7 hours on the phone over several days, one day off of work, 1 1/2 hours at an actual physical bank (where no one could help me because no one in Georgia could correct the problem....), 6 days of not being able to use my checking account--all because of the BANK'S ERROR!  Grrrrr.....

The bank I've had since the mid-1990s was bought out during the financial crisis and was "converted" to this new national bank on Oct. 23. My problem started Oct. 26.  It was resolved late Friday Nov. 5. Guess who is taking their accounts and going to a new bank? 

OK enough with the evil, horrible, uncaring, too-big-to-fail, they-better-not-come-looking-for-another-bailout bank......except I have a suggestion of where they can park their stagecoach!!!!!!!

Moving on...
Yesterday was Groovy Girls at Sweet Home.  Before class, I talked with Melisa about her trip to quilt market. Can't wait for those new fabrics, patterns, & books to arrive.  Did a wee bit o' shopping.  Then it was time for class.  If your local quilt shop offers the Groovy Girls program, I highly recommend signing up and if they don't offer it, why not?  It is a super fun program with wonderful, easy projects (great for gifts) that you can make with your stash.
I came home and worked on this month's Le Petite project.

 These cute little churn dash blocks are 4 1/2 inches finished.  Sweet little blocks! The weird lighting is sunshine from the windows. It was freezing cold here in GA (in the 40s F) so I had the blinds up trying to get some warmth. I also made a big pot of beef stew and piled on the quilts.

Today is catching up on usual housework, blog reading, more sewing, etc.  Hooray for any extra hour of sleep and an extra hour to the weekend.

A Wednesday in October

Anyone else watching the "Ghost Hunters" marathon on SyFy channel?  I love watching this show and "Haunted History" shows just to see the great historic places and hear ghost stories. I'm not so sure about the evidence though their little meters, etc. All in fun.

I started working on the Le Petite project but haven't gotten very far.  I better get a move on before Nov. 1st.  For my Paganin schnibblei, I am using one charm pack of "Looking Back" and one of "Renewal" both my Brannock & Patek.

Paganini step one

Don't forget to enter my giveaway on this post. I've had so much fun reading the comments and visiting new blogs!!  A few entries were no-reply. Karen at Sew Many Ways is hosting a wonderful tutorial series and tips for using Blogger.  Check her post on how to change your blog from a no-reply to a reply! (note to Karin:  you can do this!!!!! You've already conquered applique!)

Hope everyone is having a great week! Let me know what kind of fun seasonal and/or Halloween activities everyone is doing.  I'm taking Friday off of work and plan on having a mega-fun weekend.

Retro Blog Rewind: Inaugural Edition

Does anyone else come up with great blog posts in their mind then proceed to not blog about the events, then realize that too much time has past for the blog post to be timely, and then well, there it goes, missed blog opportunity? I hope so because I do this all the time.

So today's post is a Retro Blog Rewind Post! If I was clever and tech savvy, I would design a cute button for other bloggers to put on their blogs and start a whole trend.

Because I am not tech-savvy, I'll wait for someone else to co-opt my idea.

This inaugural Retro Blog Rewind Post is made under duress.

Seriously, if I don't post these photos, Sarah no-blog is going to come and get me. She is a physical therapist and they have ways of making you do painful things that you don't want to.

Not that blogging is painful; I'm just under pressure. So without further ado, here are photos taken by Sarah no-blog to go along with the previous post about the Party on the Porch at Sweet Home.

Here is Bad Melisa casting a spell on quilters in the surrounding five counties
("you shall come to Sweet Home and buy fabric, books, notions and patterns")
(see look what happened to Carol!!!)
And Cindi and Karin

Sarah no-blog is toting how many bolts???!!?? Don't you love her big bag? She is super sweet, a gifted quilter, and really needs to write her own blog.....

As reported previously, we started a new tradition this year with a post-Party on the Porch side trip to Bruster's Ice Cream
Say "Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Hot Fudge Sundae!!!!!"

The nice ice cream "dealers" at Bruster's took our photo
The End.

I really hope Sarah no-blog liked this post. And now back to our regularly scheduled blog....

DIY for Quilters: Plumbing

This weekend it was time to tackle a pesky leaky bathtub faucet. I have been putting this off because (1) I didn't want to spend the money to hire a plumber and (2) although I've done two minor plumbing jobs, this seemed more complicated.

Step one in any DIY project when you are a quilter is:

Go to your favorite LQS. Yes that is step one. You need to visit your favorite place and hang out with some friends and soak up some good vibes.

I went to Sweet Home Quilt Co. to see what was new and sign up for Melisa's new Groovy Girls club that starts in September. Karin was there and she *made* me buy this cute-as-can-be little kit to make little Halloween treat bags from the new Quilts and More magazine

well actually I think it's Bad Melisa's fault because how can you resist this cute little bundle???
A bitty piece of Halloween fabric "just because", two charm packs for a future Schnibble, and some matching on-sale Moda marble and I was ready to tackle home repair. Trust me it works. Girl Power!!!

Step two: go home and drink some more coffee. While you fuel up on caffeine, check emails and blogs.

Step three: Call your dad and find out if he remembers where the main water shut off valve is. This serves two purposes (1) my dad has a good memory and can describe things over the phone well and (2) puts him on notice to keep his cell phone handy in case problem arise. After describing the water meter and lines under the house, sure enough, dad knew where it was. Turn off the water all the way. Remember righty tighty, lefty loosey. These things really need labels. Nice decorative hang tags or a small sign. As soon as I finish this plumbing job, I'm labeling everything in the crawl space.
With Martha Stewart gift tags.

Step four: Get your tool box and most importantly your laptop. Having a wireless router is so worth it just to be able to take my laptop all around the house.
Luckily the bathroom has a handy laptop holder. Use the power of Google to find several websites showing step-by-step instructions on how to take apart your faucet. Verify that the water is off completely, cover the drain with a old towel so you don't drop important pieces down the drain, and take apart the faucet. Use your favorite tools and cuss words here. Take all pieces and parts and put them in a quilt project bag (aka ziploc baggie).

Step five: Get thee to Home Depot. Wait do not go directly to the store go to.....

Step four and a half: Add more power steering fluid to Xena because along with everything else, Xena the truck is leaking power steering fluid. Geez... Realize you can't wash your hands because you turned off the water....

Step five: go to Home Depot with your quilt project bag and match old pieces to new pieces in the plumbing aisle. This takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Spend a few minutes wondering why the silicone caulk and teflon tape are not with the plumbing supplies. Wander around and get these items from their most unlikely places.

Step six: go home and start replacing pieces which requires three hands. I only have two. Use whatever tools seem helpful. Bash your knuckle and drop crucial piece down inside the wall. Use more favorite cuss words here.

Step seven: go to Lowe's. It's closer and you are now sweaty and grumpy and still can't wash your hands. Wonder why they don't sell big bags of M&Ms and wine at Lowe's because you could really use some of both right about now. Buy replacement piece.

Step eight: Get back home. Say in a loud voice "let's do this!" Cats think you are crazy and wonder why you are playing in the bathtub. Finish putting faucet back together. Be amazed with yourself.

Step nine: turn the water back on, remove camera, laptop, cell phone from bathroom--just in case... Be even more amazed with yourself when nothing leaks and faucet is working correctly. Finish tightening all fittings and get silicone caulk all over everything. Realize you are even more sweaty, gross, and now sticky and you can't take a shower for three hours until the caulk is set. The bathtub is dirty with footprints and ooky stuff from the old pieces. Be happy no one is around except the cats.

Step ten call your dad so he can be proud of you. Be proud of yourself. Wonder if you can join the plumbers union.

Step eleven: Call for take out and quilt the rest of the weekend. You did good.

Nearly Mid-Week Randomness

Oh I wish it was Friday!! Not much happening around here. Morpheus is doing much better and I haven't told him that he gets to go back to the vet on Friday (another car ride!). The vet wants to make sure Morph's tooth extraction site is healing OK. Morph is much too clever for his own good and it has been series of tricks to get him to take his antibiotic (liquid and yucky tasting I'm sure).

Gomez is waiting for the next quilt project. I need to work on my jelly roll BOMs and Scrappy Nines so look for more Gomez helping fun soon.

We have been eating vats of homemade salsa.
Another great use for Vidalia onions and tomatoes! Just chop up tomatoes (these are Romas and yellow-ones-I-don't-know-the-name-of and I leave the seeds out), onions, jalapeno peppers (de-seed these too), fresh cilantro, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and just a smidge of a smidge of sugar. Mix well and let sit for a bit for the flavors to meld. Eat tons with tortilla chips because it's veggies and good for you! Still no rain here so I don't know how much longer the tomatoes will continue.

I keep forgetting to post a photo of my make-do bird bath for Becky (Quilting Booklady). If you look close (and ignore the fact that I took this from inside the house), there is a robin splashing around in there. S. created this bird bath by stacking some large clay pots and 2 clay saucers. Easy to clean and fill. No cost because we already had the pots. We have seen lots of bluebirds, robins, blue jays, and even squirrels splashing around.
My cats are inside-only cats so they enjoy watching from the windows.

Randomness over and out!

Some Days are Like a Dilbert Cartoon

Day job has been exceedingly busy lately (maybe because we have lost nearly a third of our staff since the Great Recession....). I seem to spend more and more of my time in meetings.

Today I went to a meeting at 10AM. As the meeting went along, I lost track of all sense of time, which was easy since I didn't have a watch. The meeting went on and on and on. The discussion topics moved along incrementally at a nearly imperceptible pace.

I knew it had to be at least 2:30.

Maybe even 3:00.

Did this meeting start before or after lunch?

Finally! Done with meeting.

I bet it's nearly time to go home.

It was only 11:30AM...

On the same day...

My Arch Nemesis

I have met my arch nemesis and its name is POLLEN!!! Does anyone else in the country or world have a problem with spring pollen or is it just Atlanta? I somehow think it's just here and everyone will think I'm crazy but here in Atlanta, we have pollen season. I am highly allergic to most pollens (trees, grasses, and weeds) so unfortunately, beautiful spring weather can be a nightmare for me.

See the yellow stuff on my steps? That's pollen. The stuff you see is pine tree pollen and it doesn't cause allergies because it is too big but it does cover everything in a sticky yellow-green dust. Like this black patio table.

It is a visible sign of what is floating around in the air--lots and lots of too small-to-see pollen grains.
Reflected in my truck Xena's hood (which should be black) is a big oak tree, a major source of pollen too.
(In crazy town (Atlanta), the local paper posts the daily pollen count on a scale from 0 to 120. 120 is extremely high. This week the number reached 5,733!!!! This means there is so much pollen in the air that the air turns yellow-green too and you can taste it. Really. Lots of people have been sick this week because of the pollen and are taking lots of medication (or at least I am...) Karin mentioned that I might emerge from my house around July. I wish. Or at least I wish I had a stylin' haz-mat suit to wear when I venture out to go to work. Here is my footprint in the pollen.

Today's pollen county is *only* 1,941...
I am hoping for a huge rainstorm to wash it all away so I can get something done besides supporting the antihistamine industry and vacuuming.