Rain on the East Coast

The weather on the East Coast has been so crazy this year! Global warming, I suppose. Anyway, we had about two inches of snow during the night, but now the temperature is 42 degrees and it's been raining for a couple of hours.......so there goes the snow. That's fine with me, as I don't seem to be in the mood to shovel snow this year, anyway!!!

Maureen's quilt is moving along. I worked on it quite a bit yesterday, until I hit some snags and could not quite figure out what to do next. I saw on my bed, and looked at it on the design wall.....and wondered.....hum.......now what! I hope my brain figured out the solution to that question during the night, and I'll be ready to finish some more of it. Maureen, you've been sooooooooooooo patient! It's really coming along, HONEST!

Mike is starting his new position at the new store this week. I'm excited to see it!!! He'll go a great job, and it'll be one more notch in his belt! Go get 'em, tiger!

Liz must be thinking, just about now, that this school thing will NEVER END! It's sort of like the ninth month of a pregnancy!! Time just seems to slow down! Hang in there girl!!! You are getting there!! I'm sure you have started to do a countdown in weeks already!

Well, I have absolutely nothing deeply profound to say today, so I guess I'll go quilt!

Time flies when you're having fun!

Time flies......I can't believe I have not blogged since before I left for California! I had a wonderful time out there! Kate and Mark, thank you so much for the plane tickets and the vacation! I really needed it, and had a blast! It was wonderful to see you both and of course, the little Miss Mina! She's so wonderful and it's hard to believe how fast she's growing! Yeah, yeah......I had three kids, but funny how I don't remember any of you growing THAT fast! I suppose you did, but when you're with a baby every day, maybe you don't notice it as much.
Everything about a first baby is an education. Some things are by trial and error......well, many things are. Or maybe we should call it "trial by fire". Anyway, it's a time of extremes. On the one side, it's all about this intense feeling of love for this little creature........and on the other side, it's the pains of knowing your nice, quiet, comfortable life has been changed forever!
For any of you who might be in THAT situation (and you know who you are!) I have one viewpoint for you to consider! Everything in a child's life seems to go in stages, and if you are in one that is not the easiest.....FEAR NOT.....it's only a stage, and you WILL get through it! The secret is to read as much as you can, and self educate yourself about your options for parenting. The second most important thing is to communicate, especially when things are the hardest. Parenting, and raising kids works best when it's a team activity. That's not to say that it will be easy because of that...but it will be easier than if each parent tries to go it alone. Don't be afraid to admit you need help....do not be afraid to admit that you're crawling up the walls! Sometimes all it takes is a free afternoon off.....a trip to a friend's house.....a spa......the movies.......out for coffee....or a nap (not all in one afternoon, though. That would be too much to pray for!)
And finally, staying home with a screaming baby is NOT EASY and will shake anyone's nerves after a while! Just take a deep breath. And if none of this works, it would not hurt to have a conversation with your doctor for some new suggestions.

Flight Day!

Well, today is the day!!! I'm all packed and ready to go on my adventure!!! I have things to read, eat and listen to! God knows I'll have stuff to look at! Get ready, Miss Mina!!! Nana's on her way!!!!! We're gonna have fun!!!

Leaving on a jet plane........

Well, tomorrow is our big day! Oh, how I HATE to fly!!! But, I'll be fine! I have everything I need for my trip. Not absolutely sure I've packed the right clothes, as I hear you've had a lot of rain out there. When I was there in September, it was chilly. Well, I'll be sure to pack sneakers along with my awesome flip-flops!!!
Besides, I'm looking forward to spending comfy time on the couch with little miss Mina!!! Oh, I know what I almost forgot!!! I need to look at a couple of my favorite cookbooks tonight, just in case I'm expected to contribute some food to the Super Bowl party on Sunday! GO PATS!!!

Almost flytime!

Three more "sleeps" and I fly to California to visit Kate, Mark and the Marvelous Mina girl!!! I can't wait! (Even though we all know how much I hate to fly......it will be easier this time, as I have my new iPod Nano all filled with awesome music to keep my mind off the sound of the engines!)

It's a Miracle!

Update on Nana's wrist: This morning I took her into Providence, to the Orthopedic doctor's office for a last check-up. They took an xray, and then the Doctor announced that her wrist is completely healed! Nana threw up both hands into the air, and yelled "IT'S A MIRACLE!!!" I thought the doctor was going to fall on the floor laughing, and then he threw up his hands and in the same tone of voice said, "YES! IT'S A MIRACLE" To which we all had a good chuckle, especially Nana.
She enjoyed her outing, although because she's lost her short term memory, she asked me 40 times...."Where are we going?" That's O.K., I have endless amounts of patience for her! Now, it's 12:30p.m. and in exactly 30 minutes, Grampa and I will leave the house to go visit Nana for two hours. She'll be tired today, that's for sure......and will be cat-naping the entire time we are there.
We all really love the new place she's in, and kinda wish we could have moved her there earlier......but that's water over the damn, as they used to say. I promise to take pictures soon....maybe even today!

Wonderful day off!

Well, as I expected, I had a wonderful day off. If there's one thing I do REALLY WELL, it's PLAY!!!! I won't write all the details, as I'm tired from my adventure. I left the house just before noon, and headed down to Charlestown, RI. Getting there took one hour from here. I found a great quilt shop that I had been reading about. The fabrics were beautiful, well priced and they had a nice staff. I bought four different fabrics that I had never seen before, including one with beautiful Dragonflies on it!
After leaving there, I crossed over route one, and went to Moonstone beach. Years ago, it used to be a nudist beach, so I've never been there. Today, I figured it was a pretty safe bet that at 20 degrees, I would not run into too many, fat, ugly, nude people.....and I was right, I didn't. I found some fantastic rocks! (Hense the name of the beach) The rocks are round, smooth, and beautiful. I filled all of my pockets, and hauled away as many as I could carry. I can't believe I forgot my camera when I left the house. (In too much of a hurry to get out to play, I guess!)
I stopped to walk abound Wickford village for a while. Then I went to see th movie Cloverfield. Cool movie.
Around 5p.m. I managed to find the new Whole Foods Market in Cranston. Nice Place!!! I bought some treats for myself for supper. I also bought some fancy tea, a music CD (Latin Lounge to put on my iPod) and some Rhode Island Soapworks hand and body lotion (Lavender Citrus). If you're reading this, and have never seen the RI Soapworks products, you should check out their website. At least I'm sure they have a website? Doesn't everyone??
My outing was over by 6:30p.m. however, my "day off" continues until late afternoon, tomorrow.......so I'll have to think of something else exciting to do tomorrow! God, this is very close to what normal people think of as a WEEKEND! I can't believe I haven't had a day OFF since December 19th, 2007.