Mini-Vacation

We drove to Laughlin, NV this past Sunday (15th) and it was a wonderful trip.  Spent 2 nights at the Riverview - special deal with two prime rib dinners and 2 movie tickets thrown in - and had a wonderful time.  Walked along the River Walk and checked out all of the other casinos, did a little (VERY little!) gambling, relaxed in our very nice room overlooking the Colorado river.  Lovely!  Left on Tuesday AM and drove through some stark-but-beautiful country and the Joshua Tree forest on our way to the Grand Canyon Skywalk on the Hualapai Indian Reservation. Spent the day touring that area (via bus, cost: $73 each) and yes, we DID go out on the glass skywalk.  The western end of the Grand Canyon is as spectacular as the more-visited sites.  The skywalk was ok.  Spent Tuesday night in Williams and woke up to rain.  Yay!  Moisture!  After breakfast we drove up to Grand Canyon Village.  Rain. Snow. Hail. Wind. Bitter.  Phil took some video and then hot-footed it back to the car...where I sat contentedly crocheting, all warm and cozy.  He, on the other hand, looked somewhat like frozen Rizzo the Rat after his dunking in the water barrel (Muppets Christmas Carol).  Took a bit to get him (Phil) to bend at the middle after he wedged himself back into the car.  Headed home after that, going back through Flagstaff.  It snowed/hailed for quite awhile and there were some cars in the median and off the side of the road that had spun out.  One had rolled.  It was weird to drive through snow and then a couple of hours later drive on dry pavement in 70 degree weather. 
Stopped at a quilt shop in Williams and then one in Flagstaff.  No noteworthy purchases.  Arrived home at about 9PM Wednesday night.  Gotta love those road trips!!!
Now, packing for the trip to Portland.  Am SO thankful for my girlfriends who stepped up and took my work days so I could be with my daughter!!!

Crohn's

My daughter has Crohn's.  It has messed up her insides and she has been sick from the latest outbreak for over a year now.  She has been patiently healing and putting up with the pain of it for soooo long.  We thought she was going to be able to have the drains removed and the temporary colostomy reversed by summer, but instead she has to undergo another procedure very soon to make the colostomy more permanent "for awhile", until things heal up a bit better.  The big bombshell the surgeon delivered on Monday is that, in this procedure he may find that the tissue is unable to sustain the staples he plans to add.  If that is the case, he will have to close up the existing colostomy and open a new one on the other side of her abdomen.  She called me.  We cried.  A lot. 

Crohn's is a hateful, horrible, incurable disease that just makes life a living hell and turns healthy, vibrant people into semi-invalids (or worse).  I am furious at the disease.  And my heart hurts.  

Happy Mother's Day 2011!

Wishing you a gentle, peaceful day. 
         A day for loving your family...
                 A day for loving your friends...
                         A day for loving your life...
                                  A day for loving yourself...

                                          

A day in which all your loving comes back to you a thousandfold.

Happy Mother's Day, with love.

A Truth I Don't Want To Forget

"The message of Jesus doesn’t need to be reshaped for today’s culture. It doesn’t need to be trendy or easy. The gospel is bigger than all of those things."  -Christian Byrd (from www.d365.org)


Sometimes I need to say things that I want to remember; to write them down so I can come back to them later.  My blog is perfect for saving what is important to me...thoughts, creative endeavors.  I get to come back and think it through again or relive the accomplishments.  This quote is one of those things.

Rest in peace on Sunday.

Oh Yes, I DO Still Quilt!

I finished this sampler quilt for the shop (Hearts and Hands Quilts) a couple of weeks ago but just figured out today how to get the photos transferred from my iPhone to my laptop. Wasn't hard, I was just putting it off. Technology doesn't intimidate me, I just get tired of it sometimes!  Its so needy and time-hoggish.  Anyway, back to quilts.  This pattern is called "Night Weave" (by Patricia Pepe) and uses the 7 1/2" X-Block ruler.  I used ombre fabrics in yellow/orange and blue/aqua (manufacturer?), with a black (Michael Miller) background.  The border is made from the wedge pieces left over from cutting the X-blocks, and the binding is left-over ombre fabric.  Almost ALL of the fabric was used up in the quilt...a first for me!  The quilt was simpler to construct than it looks and a fun way to use ombre fabrics.

Facebook Divorce

So today I elected to "divorce" Facebook for various reasons, none of which are interesting enough to report here.  I have to tell ya, it feels pretty good!  One less thing to track.  One less place of irritation.  One less place to stick my foot in my mouth.  One less place of public exposure.  Next I'm headed to various Yahoo and other group sites to unhitch myself from them.  For now I will be content with my little blog where I can keep track of my thoughts as I wish, with no danger of it becoming so popular that I have to fold it up, too.

Decluttering is Good.