This and that, life in general

Yesterday I sent a cake with Del to his office to share in honor of his first pay check. :) He brought me back a pretty "Thank You" card with messages and signatures from everybody who enjoyed the cake. It was one of my grandmother's recipes, very easy to make and very good.
I don't seem to be able to do anything creative recently except for cooking and baking. I am getting lazy.
I gave the kitchen a good scrubbing last Friday. On Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market, which I always enjoy. We were a bit early and there were hardly any people there yet. Then we did our regular grocery shopping and after lunch we decided to take a road trip. I don't get out of the house during the week (courtesy of whoever messed up my green card) and I really needed to see some landscape. We drove up north, into Rockingham County, because I wanted to see something new. The countryside is very pretty up there, lots of hills and woods with some agricultural areas in between, we saw some tobacco and corn fields. We drove through Mayodan, a very pretty little town. On the way back we stopped at the bookstore (mainly for coffe) and did some more shopping at another store as well.
I am holding my weight but I have gotten really lazy and did not do my exercise for a couple of days. I really need to get my butt moving again.
It has been very hot recently and now we are waiting for the rain that "Ernesto" is supposed to bring.
The ongoing case of my green card has now been handed over to the office of one of our senators. I hope she will be able to get something going. I have been here for almost a year and still can't drive or find work, it is very frustrating.
The long wait has given me plenty of time to think about what kind of job I actually want. I don't want to spend all day in an office again like I did the past 14 years. I would like to find a job that benefits others, maybe at the hospital or one of the retirement homes. It has also given me time to reflect on the past and the life I left behind and to overcome old hurts and disappointments. I feel like a cocooned caterpillar getting ready to hatch as a brand new butterfly. :) I do not regret coming here at all and other than a few friends I don't miss anything I left behind in Vienna.

Christmas Cards

I decided to make at least some of my Christmas cards this year myself rather than buying them. I kept it simple, just glueing pretty ribbon and fabrics to cardstock and stamping the greeting on with a rubber stamp I bought last year. I am quite happy with the results, except for two, all of them turned out nicely. On the other two the ribbon just did not want to stick and the glue left a stain, now I have to think about something I could stick over that stain.
I also finished two cards that I had made a while ago by just sewing the fabric part to the cards. They are less than perfect because I am still experimenting with the fancy stitches on my sewing machine. All things considered I had a very creative week. :)

Christmas cards

WOBQ

I allowed too many things to get in the way of keeping up with both the study and the quilt blocks. I have joined a new group now and we will start over in September. This time I will make an effort to not let anything get into the way of the study and making the blocks.
I already had the fabrics for block #22 - Bathsheba picked out so I made the block yesterday. The fabrics don't contrast as much as I was hoping for but I like the way it looks.

More Halloween Blocks

Yesterday I made two more blocks for the Halloween swap. I think I will use the simpler pattern for all of them. I am quite pleased with them, especially the one with the candy corn. ;)

This and that

With Del at work I have plenty of "me-time" now. After he leaves around 7 am I spend some time on the computer, reading emails, checking my quilting lists and the websites I usually visit, chat with my friend Faith and write some emails, then I do my exercise while watching an episode of "Highlander". I use the rest of the morning to work on my various quilt projects, they seem to multiply, every time I turn around I find something else I would like to make. :) After lunch I spend some time on the computer again, then I either sew some more or watch a movie and work on more afghans for VJGC. Oh, and sometime during the day Miss Kitty usually shows up for some schmoozing time. :-)
I have joined a new Women of the Bible Quilt group. I got so behind on both the study and my blocks that I decided to start over. It will officially start in September and I plan to stick with it and be more active in it.
On Saturday we go to the Farmer's Market, do our other grocery shopping and on Sunday we either go to church or for a long walk and then fall asleep while watching a race. :) Since fuel prices are still high and rising we do not go to church every Sunday, it is a long drive.
I know it does not sound all too exciting but it feels good after all the stress of the past year and certainly after the kind of life we had in Vienna. I am glad we made the move, the pace of life here suits us much more than the rat race in the big city. Del really enjoys his new job and likes his co-workers and I am happy about that.
Miss Kitty is her usual purry sweet self again and since we got a hummingbird feeder on the balcony she has even more critters to watch. I love watching them too, those little birdies are precious.

Boo!

I am doing a Halloween quilt block swap on my favorite quilting newsgroup and yesterday I made two blocks using different patterns to see how they would turn out. They are 6" and paper pieced. I really had fun making them and I think they turned out pretty good.

Life is good

I can feel the stress draining from me - finally.
The cat is well again, Del has a job and enjoys it, I have plenty of "me-time" and my creative juices are flowing again. I can't be creative when I am all stressed out. I am working on a secret quilt project, can't say what it is, you never know who might be reading this. ;) But it will be a gift and it is blue. :) And today I made my first fabric postcard (I was told they can become addictive).
I was not sure if the result was worth the time and effort but everybody who has seen it so far liked it. Okay, must be worth it then. Actually I spent most of the morning searching desperately for the instruction book for my sewing machine so I could use the fancy stitches. I hate it when I "know" that something is in a certain place, only to find out that it is NOT. I found it in a basket, under a big pile of fabrics. :) I have also signed up for a Christmas ornament swap on one of my mailing lists and for a quilt block swap with a Halloween theme on another. I have plenty of things to keep myself busy until my green card will finally arrive. Maybe as a birthday present?
My new stepper is out to kill me, I feel like I have to start all over again. Today I managed 15 minutes and afterwards I thought my legs are falling off. But I won't give up, I just keep trying until I get back to my 30 minutes. I am doing the cardio exercise daily now so I can get at least part of the time done that I am supposed to do according to my plan.
I also found that I eat less when I am alone and keep myself busy. I am back on track with my lifestyle change and I am feeling good.
We will go back to church on Sunday, we have not been for a long time, the high gas prices and frequent trips to Raleigh for job interviews kept us from the long drive to church. I really miss the people and look forward to going back.
It is extremely hot here today, I am glad I can keep the house cool and stay inside, so is Miss Kitty. :)

RCTQ-BOM

This is the block for July, it is a lot less complicated than it looks. ;)

Quiltstuff

This is the picture of the wall hanging I made for a friend's birthday. I finally finished the roll of film.

Kyle Petty Charity Ride

On Sunday we went to Winston-Salem to see the Kyle Petty Charity ride come in. It was a verrrry hot day and I got a good sunburn on my face, my arms and on my scalp - courtesy of my thin hair. And thanks to my sandals I now have striped feet (Del calls them zebra feet) . ;)
Here are my photos from the event.

Kitty Update

We went to the vet today, one that my friend Angie recommended (a BIG THANK YOU to her), and he was very nice and helpful. Miss Kitty behaved herself, nobody needed a band aid. He thinks we might be right with thinking it is a hairball that is bothering her. He gave her hairball medicine and some diet food to get her appetite going again. Should she not eat by Thursday we have to come back in and he will do some bloodwork. I do hope she'll be okay.
I was so scared and nervous that I have not eaten all day and I have a whale of a headache. I am going to treat myself to a nice dinner now since I have plenty of calories to splurge on and then I'll probably just fall over and sleep. :)

Stressed out

Today I found out the hard way what damage all the stress from the move and all the worrying about Del finding a job has done to my nerves. My cat is not feeling well and I simply lost it, I can not deal with it. I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and I am still not too far away from it now. I don't know what is wrong with her, maybe it is just a hairball bothering her, but all the stress and the worry just came crashing down on me and I spent most of the morning crying. If she is not doing better tomorrow we have to find a vet and take her there, I am not sure I'll be able to handle it. I can't take anymore stress in my life, just as I thought the worst of it was over, here we go again. I need a break.

This and that

My stepper broke! :(
These things are obviously not made for being used regularly, my friend Sabine has gone through a few of them as well. I had two options: fall back into being lazy or go and buy a new one. Being a good girl, we decided to invest in a new one. The one I wanted was not in stock at the store so we ordered it from their central warehouse, I hope it will be delivered soon.
In the meantime I have to get my cardio exercise in another way, today we went walking, it was not as hot as in the past few days so we did pretty good. We broke in our new running shoes, they are very comfortable, but they do get rather hot after a while. We will be walking more this week and hopefully next week I will have my new stepper.
We had a bad thunderstorm last night and it kept me awake for a long time. Even Miss Kitty came into the bedroom and slept under our bed. There was quite a mess in the park today, lots of tree limbs down and the lake sure was full.
I established a new record. I always call myself the world's slowest quilter, but this week I made an entire wall hanging in two days!!! We were invited to a birthday party and I had the idea to make a present, at first I was thinking potholders, using a horse fabric, but I don't have any horse fabric in my stash, Hobby Lobby did not have any either and pot holders are usually something for the whole family. So I decided to make a wall hanging with a poodle instead. The birthday girl liked it. :) A photo of it will follow once the film in my camera is full.
People who have not seen me in a while noticed my weight loss. I have not really lost that much in weight, but my body has changed, all the fat on the side is gone, my butt got smaller and my clothes fit better. I wore a new t-shirt yesterday that fits comfortably but also hugs the curves a bit. I felt good wearing it. And the next time I go walking I am going to wear shorts, it is way too hot to walk in long pants. ;)

Answered Prayers

God has answered our prayers - Del has found a job!
It is difficult to explain but our life here so far has not felt right. I guess we are not used to being at home all the time and we just felt that we are not really a part of society without work. I don't know why we feel this way, it must be our programming. But now we feel that we have truly arrived here and can start to put down roots.
The job is with the DMV in Winston-Salem which means we don't have to move and can stay right here in High Point, the drive is only about 30 min when traffic is bad. That is a big relief, I know I would have worried a lot if Del had to drive two hours to work one way every day.
And according to the USCIS website it can not be too long now until my green card arrives and then I can embark on my big adventure - learning to drive. :)
I know I should feel a lot happier than I am right now but I think the long wait has exhausted me, all I feel is relief that the wait is over and that life can begin now.

Monday

No nightmares last night, just a very hungry cat at 1 am. She was meowing up a storm outside the bedroom door and when we checked on her she ran straight to her food bowl to let us know she did not like what was inside and we'd better give her something else if we wanted to sleep for the rest of the night.
Our cat is NOT spoiled. :)

Nightmares and other bad things

The kittens are gone!!! Someone must have taken them and the thought that they might have been harmed or hurt in any way makes me sick. They were so cute when I saw them last playing on the lawn with their mama. Who does things like that?
I have been tormented by nightmares the last few nights and they rob me of my sleep, my energy and my creativity. I am walking around like a zombie, too tired to think straight. Usually I am in a strange city, meeting strange people (like Amish people in Moscow) and then bad things happen, like floods, my cat running away, I am trying hard to go after her and can't reach her, and one night I dreamed that someone very dear to me had died. I always wake up scared and sad and with my heart pounding like mad. Last night I was dreaming about some trouble with my mother and a lot of people in Vienna trying to keep me from leaving or delaying my departure. That is one dream that keeps coming back, me not being able to get out of there. I know the last few days in Vienna were difficult and the last day was the worst of all, I was all alone with the cat, nobody to see me off or to say good bye, but I have been here for almost 10 months, can't those dreams just stop now? Please?
I made the mistake to call my mother yesterday, I forgot how negative my parents are and how easily they can drag me down. All my life they never encouraged me in a positive way, they never had anything nice, good or positive to say about anything I did. The day I graduated from school I came home to an empty house - my parents were out walking the dog, so important was my graduation to them. When Del and I told them that we planned to get married - no reaction, they did not take part in the planning of the wedding and my mother even threatened to not show up, which gave me a nervous breakdown the evening before. When we told them that we are moving to the US, my father stopped talking to us and obviously put some pressure on my mother as well, because she did not want to take any of our stuff, her stove broke and I offered her mine, which was almost new, and at first she said she wanted it and all of a sudden she did not want it anymore. They never showed any interest in our plans or offered any kind of help, not even moral support. When I called her yesterday all she had to say was that if Del is not able to find work I won't either and what are we living off? Well, if they would have shown more interest they would know that. I felt really bad for the rest of the weekend and I am still not completely out of the hole. I have to learn not to allow other people to drag me down so much.
Del's parents are totally different, they keep sending us encouraging letters and cards and emails and they offered to help out financially, they won't let us go down.
I am very happy here and I am absolutely sure that things will work out, everything happens for a reason, maybe we needed time to slow down and get out of the hectic life the big city forced us into and that's why we got such a long vacation. God won't let us fail after he brought us that far.
I go to bed now and pray for a dreamless sleep, I can't take anymore nightmares.

Fireworks

Mother nature provided us with fireworks all night long last night. We had a thunderstorm with lots of lightning. And when I peeked out the window around 2 am I saw a rather large possum sneaking around our garbage can. We also have a litter of kittens living on the compound, I am not sure if they are completely feral or if they belong to the house across the way, but they look rather well fed and happy, two are black with white bibs and paws and the third one is grey.
Today is hot and humid, but not quite as hot as the last few days. Since we are not really used to the heat yet we decided not to go out yesterday and spent the day at home, nice and cool, watching TV, cleaning, cooking and crocheting.

Something old ...

While cleaning up my sewing corner yesterday I came across several of my old craft projects, like a sunflower cross stitch sampler and some small quilt tops.
I have decided to dedicate the second half of 2006 to finishing some of these old projects. I have not lost interest in my new ones I just feel like getting something finished. I will continue to make afghans for the camp, they need a steady supply because each camper gets to take one home and I will keep up with my RCTQ-BOM (the pattern for the July block is gorgeous).
I am going to start with the cross stitch sampler and I pulled out two little quilt tops that I want to hand quilt.

This and that

This morning I was looking at lots of photos of other people's quilts and I got so inspired, that I went and --- cleaned up my sewing area. ;) I was actually trying to find some patterns and while I was at it, I completely re-organized everything. Now I can only hope that I will be able to remember where everything is. Much to my surprise I discovered a box of scraps. I thought I had left them all behind when we moved but obviously I must have thought some of them worth saving. I found a small bag of squares, a bigger bag of triangles, a bunch of bigger pieces and some orphan blocks. I also pulled out my UFO box and fondled my Y2K-Quilt, for which I swapped 3" squares in 1998/99. I have put the 2000 squares together in blocks of 25 each and then connected the blocks with black sashing into rows. That's as far as I got, that thing is going to be HUGE. I will eventually join the rows and put a border on, and once I can afford it, I will send it off to be machine quilted, there is no way I'll ever get it hand quilted and it is just too big to fit under my sewing machine. I will also send my Round Robin off to be quilted, it is also very big. My plan for the rest of the day is to finish some afghans and watch TV. It is way too hot and humid to go outside.