What have I been up to???

Hey guys, I'm still alive. I've been meaning to blog for a while but time just never presented itself. So I have a few things to show.

I finally finished my "O" quilt a few weeks ago! After a huge hiatus from it due to the biggest disaster in sewing room history (lol just kidding) I got back to work on it and once I got on a roll it only took a few weeks to finish (taking spare moments at night and on weekends). Here's a picture of it basted and ready for quilting:


After it was quilted and the binding attached I spent some hours out on my porch with Dexter stitching the binding to the back (boy that took time) but it was nice to look out at the pond and watch the ducks as I stitched. And of course he had to supervise (don't all cats?)


But after all that work, it was finally done. And I was very happy with it!
It was so late when I finished, but I wanted to take pictures and post on my Facebook. That's why the lighting is so terrible. Sorry bout that!


Also, my boyfriend and I went to Sarasota for the 4th of July weekend, to check out the beaches on the west coast of Florida (I grew up on the east coast in Satellite Beach, near Melbourne, FL). We had a great time, and they had free beach wheelchairs to use! JD pushed me all the way down near the water and set up our little area. The sky was overcast so it never got really hot, although we got sunburned. I am not used to going out in the sun and should have put more sunblock on. Oh well, live and learn. I've finally stopped peeling...yuk! Here's the two of us under our umbrella!


There were adorable terns with black heads everywhere, so I snapped a few pics of them, this one appeared to be posing just for me:


JD had a blast, and has been bugging me ever since to go back to the beach. So this weekend we are planning just a day trip to Daytona Beach, which is just an hour away.

By the way, on the way out of town, I saw this:


So I just HAD to stop in! And I finally got my Margo Pattern and some fabric to make my first Margo bag (Lazy Girl Designs).


I can't wait to get started. These are the fabrics I chose, all from the Cherish Nature line by Deb Strain for Moda Fabrics. I JUST LOVE THE BEES!!


So yeah, I know I've been gone a long time, but I spend more time thinking about quilting, blogging, etc. and less time actually doing them. LOL Hope everyone is having a fun summer, I feel like I need another vacation already... :)

Merry Christmas!

This weekend my mom and her friend Reno went to a really nice hotel for Christmas Eve. We stayed at the Sawgrass Marriot Resort and Spa in Ponte Vedra Beach. I got a really good deal if I paid in advance (2 weeks), so we got two rooms, one for me and Mom, and one for Reno. Unfortunately the weather totally STUNK! We drove over yesterday around 11 and stopped in St. Augustine to walk around, but it started raining while we were having lunch at the Columbia Restaurant. So we decided to go on to the hotel, which was about a half hour north.

I really was hoping to get to see the grounds at the hotel, which are supposed to be spectacular, with gorgeous landscaping and lagoons. But it rained the entire time we were there. Not only that, but most of the restaurants were closed for the holiday, and the ones that were didnt interest me food wise. When we got to the room, I ordered from the kids room service menu, and Mom and Reno had dinner down in the Augustine Restaurant while I got ready for bed. By 8 I was starting to fall asleep. They weren't impressed with the food.

This morning a huge storm came through,and we weren't able to leave the hotel until around 1. Luckily we were able to have late check out. We ordered 3 servings of chicken fingers from the room service menu and had them for lunch, while we watched A Christmas Story on TBS. We opened a few presents, and left the hotel.

The trip home was soggy but uneventful. We made it home around 3:30. Mom and Reno left and now Im all alone again. Merry Christmas to me!

I guess I just wanted to do something different this year, and it didnt turn out exactly as I hoped, due to the weather and all. but you can't predict weather in Florida. At least Mom says she had fun. I love her so much, and I'm just happy we were able to be together for Christmas.

Maybe next year will be different...

It's been a while - Trip to Chattanooga

Sigh, I knew I would have difficulty keeping this blog updated frequently...

It's been over a month since I posted; however, not that much has happened. Although I did take a trip to Chattanooga, TN and North Georgia last weekend (October 12-16) with my mom and her friend Reno. That was a bunch of fun. We rented a van and I slept most of the way up on Thursday in the very back seat with my BiPAP and oxygen. It gets boring and tiring riding in the car.

We stopped in Kennesaw, GA to see Reno's son Tim's new townhouse. Very nice, a two-story one car garage building. He hasn't lived there long, so it's still not completely furnished and decorated, but it has a lot of potential. I didn't go upstairs but Mom and Reno said it was surprisingly spacious. We went to McDonald's for dinner, then on to Chattanooga.

Friday we got up and went to the Tennessee Aquarium. Boy is that an amazing place. Two huge buildings (River and Ocean) each with 4 levels, and every fish I've never heard of! I took some pictures of a couple stingray's that were so interesting, black with white spots and one that looked like a cheetah or leopard!


There were cool jellyfish and seahorse exhibits as well. The butterfly exhibit was so cool, they just flew around you. One landed on a guy's head. I wish I had had the presence of mind to take more pictures and video, but I was very tired and uncomfortable in my chair, I had difficulty taking pictures. I plan to go back and either take more myself or get Reno to photograph. We drove south to Lookout Mountain but I became so exhausted (scary tired) we had to go back to the hotel so I could lie down.

Saturday we left Chattanooga and drove around North Georgia, through the Chattahoochee National Forest, to Black Rock Mountain State Park and on to Cleveland Georgia, just south of Helen, GA, a little Bavarian town. I was too tired to go to dinner, so Mom and Reno went to a German restaurant while I rested. We stayed in a Days Inn right across the street from a McDonalds. We were used to staying in Marriott hotels, and this hotel DID NOT live up to our standards. We could hear everyone walking by the door and the people above us sounded like they were jumping up and down and throwing furniture. Reno banged on their door and they shut up.


Sunday we drove north a bit to Anna Ruby Falls, in Unicoi State Park. It was so beautiful. Reno pushed me up this extremely steep path (0.4 mile) so I could witness the beauty myself. I could never have gotten up there myself. I still can't believe he was able to do that. The twin falls were so lovely. It was cold, but I could stand it long enough to drink in the surroundings, and feel a part of nature.


We got some video, and a few pictures. We left and headed to Suwannee, GA, which is ten minutes from my best friend Patsy, and I had dinner with her, her husband and her little girl Abby at Olive Garden. It was nice to spend time with them. Abby is getting so big.

Monday was the trip home, and I slept the whole way. I took the next day off from work to rest up from the trip. Which was a good idea, since I had an appointment with my doctor I had forgotten about! Thank goodness they left a message on my answering machine! I was still pretty tired from the trip, so my O2 levels were low and my heartrate and blood pressure were high from the exertion of coming in from the car to the doctor's office. So he recommended I try wearing oxygen during the day. I have been resistant for a while now, but to get him off my back I agreed, since I can control how much I wear it and when they deliver it. Only when I desperately need it...