Ohh the weather outside is making me blue

Earlier this week Jen, Sherry, Cindy and I were supposed to go to Batik Club at Patched Works but the weather was icky and icy and we all figured that it was better to stay home!!!! I really wanted to go but unforturnately we couldn't go. Ohh I missed my friends, fabric and pie.

Tonight the weather is also icky. Here in WI we are under a Winter Weather Advisory...imagine that it's winter and we are having snowy weather. Yesterday we had really cold weather here and my husband worked a 12 and a half hour day outside. I know I couldn't do it.

Today I took my nephew's quilt to work and a lot of people really liked it. Especially all the fussy cutting I did around the animals. I am glad it is done and that I will be giving it to him for his birthday in March. I plan on taking it to Block of the Month at Frank's I can't wait for the next block of the month club...I wish it was more often!

Allergies and all that other stuff

Well I had to go to the allergist and guess what...we found a medication the insurance company will cover...only problem no decongestant for me. Why you may ask ... well my blood pressure has sky rocketed. It could have something to do it the caffeine I drank and the yelling match i had with HR and how nervous I was, ohh did I mention I left work late to go to the doctor's office. Anyways, it was up there and I came up with several reasons as you can tell. Tuesday I went to start immunotherapy ... weekly shots ... I asked them to check my blood pressure and my upper number went up one number and my bottom number fell eleven numbers. I have been soo worried about this. The allergist also thinks I am Vitamin D deficient as I am extremely pale. I am a red head with a pale complexion but he has seen me before and he was really shocked with how pale I am. Not good...nor is the high blood pressure. After I had my shot I got pretty sick to my stomach. This happened when i was younger and I went through allergy shots. I can't believe I have to go through them again but hopefully I will feel better soon.

Some changes I have been making is that I am doing my nails and trying to take better care of myself. I need to lose some weight ... okay a lot of weight and I need to get serious about this now...how can I do this...I am such a non-commiter on this and I have been successful on WW before. HELP! I know if I lose weight my blood pressure will go down...If you have any ideas on any of this please post a comment...Thanks for your help and support my friends.

Here's Emma!

Well I added a picture on the right hand side of my blog and it's Emma as a baby! She was such a cute puppy! I don't know about you but I wish they could stay little forever! She is sitting next to me right now watching it snow! I wish I had my winter quilt pieced and quilted...all I have left is to put the top and bottom border on it!

I can not believe how cold it is and how icky the roads are...I live a mile and a half to two miles from work...with then snow it took me 20+ minutes to get home...I drove behind someone doing 17 mph on the road. The speed limit in that area was 30 mph...it was not bad enough that we had to be going 17 mph!!! Ughhhhhh! I just wanted to get home so I could get warm. I hope tonight to take down our Christmas Tree. I am tired of it being up. I was going to take it down last night during the Packer game but it just didn't happen!

Well I hope everyone stays warm and dry!

So Sick and Tired of Allergies

I just got off the phone with the allergist. I see him tomorrow at 10:30 AM to discuss options for my allergies. My eyes are really swollen...in fact my left one was a slit this morning. I am using Patanol to help keep the itching down but well with no allergy medication I am really stuck. I have to take Prednisone to help with the swelling & itching. I am sooooooo tired of allergies. I ended up staying home today because of how bad they itched. In fact they were bright red (the upper and lower lid) and puffy. Well needless to say when I talked to my supervisor she was understanding and as people would have thought that I had pink eye or something it would not have looked good as I work with the public in a county job.

This all occurred because I was using a paper folding machine and it threw so much dust in the air that my eyes were swelling yesterday but I thought it would be fine when I woke up. No not the case in fact it was worse! I told the allergist what I was doing and he told me that I should consider getting goggles or a face mask that covers my eyes, nose and mouth. Ohh wouldn't that be attractive at work! I am sure that, that would go over well...LOL! Okay who wants to wear a mask at work if they work in an office. I have to vent my frustration as this would not be happening if my insurance company would cover my allergy medication. So I have been going without and I have been miserable. I keep hoping that the next day will be better but it doesn't in fact my allergies are getting worse and worse. I will be talking about options tomorrow and hopefully we will find an answer! I am going to call HR at work tomorrow and see if they can find out what medication will be covered as Zyrtec is soon going to be over the counter and it was the only covered medication...this should be interesting to say the least. I know he is going to want me to start on allergy shots again but can I handle it without allergy medication...that's the next question.

7 Random & Wacky Things About Me

Here are seven Random and Wacky Things about me.

1. I can't stand for my hands to be dirty. This Christmas my Mom and I made cookies and I had to roll the sticky batter into balls...I just about lost it!
2. I wash my hands all the time...it is a compulsion...see Wacky thing #1 and it will all make sense. I also worked in Dietary for 9 years and we had to wash our hands all the time.
3. I am afraid of birds. One came after me as a small child and my Dad told my uncle to pick me up...he didn't. Also when I was home sick one day my Dad made me watch the movie The Birds.
4. I am afraid of heights/ladders. You can get me up on one step shaking all the way on a stepladder. Step two just about kills me and step 3 just will never happen.
5. I think I was supposed to be left handed or I am ambidextrous. I always want to do stuff with my left hand but by habit I use my right. My Mom thinks the school didn't want me to be left handed so they stopped that.
6. I am allergic to everything in the world. In fact I am allergic to something that cause my throat to swell shut but we (the allergist and other doctors) don't know what causes it...it's a mystery. So I have to carry a EpiPen.
7. I would have a Springer Spaniel plantation if it was allowed. Emma wants to be an only dog but I would love to have a bunch of them...not quite 101 but enough!

All Day Quilt Retreat

Yesterday I was at an All Day Quilt Retreat at my friend and Quilting Mentor, Wendy Rieves' church. It was so much fun. We made these chicks...Jen is going to send me a picture and perhaps she is going to post it on her blog! They were so fun and easy to make unlike the quilt below. I had it all pieced, layered and the quilting begun...this is my nephew, Ethan's quilt. It is a really cute quilt and I am glad it is finally done! I finished quilting it and for some reason it took quite a while....it stuck to the bed of my machine, the thread had issues about clinging to the foot and wrapping around other things....all in all it just didn't want to get done...but I persisted. I love the fabric for this quilt and the backing is fun, fun, FUN!





For some reason this quilt waves! I am not sure why and it was suggested that I try steaming it but I just didn't want to do that. I figure it is a kid's quilt and it will be dragged around etc. I might try to steam it over the next few weeks but I am still unsure.

Okay I also got a block done for the BOM...two to go. I did cut out a bunch of 3" squares for a scrappy quilt I am making for my sister-in-law Terry. I know she will like it. It is all 3-dimensional box tie blocks. Needless to say it will take a lot of bow tie squares to make a quilt. I think that is all I got done but it is a lot when you think about all the putzy work that goes into the bow tie blocks. I did get 3 more of those blocks done.

All in all it was a good time...I sat at a table with Jen and really enjoyed myself! Okay the chicks we made were darn cute.

I'm Following Through

I am following though on one of my goals...I am blogging tonight! When I look out my window I can't believe it is snowing. I know it was predicted but I am just not wanting it to snow again. I love the snow but I don't like to drive in it. Depending on how much we get depends on how hard it will be to drive to work in the morning. I have a Camaro and it is not a snow car. Because of the snow Emma is feeling very snugly. She is cuddled up between Mark and I. She sure does like being between us and snuggling.

Yesterday I read others blogs and commented on them ... Yeah. It's been hard with not feeling well. I can't believe this cold is holding on ... I was really dizzy today and still feeling that way tonight. I hope this cold goes away soon.

Well tomorrow is BOM at Frank's. I can't wait ... I love going... there are so many wonderful people there. I hope I am feeling better so that I can enjoy myself.

This weekend I am going to go to a Sew Day at Wendy's church. I am going to finish my winter flannel quilt. When I worked on it at Jen's Sewing Day I didn't have enough fabric to put the top and bottom border on... I will be able to sew two pieces of fabric together and add the order. I have the backing and once I have the top done I will be able to pack it and layer it and quilt it.

I'm Going to Try to be Better

Well there are so many things I want to be better at but one of the things I want to do more is to make sure that I blog more and read my friends blogs more often! I feel like with the holidays and now this cold that I just don't write as often and I fell behind reading others blogs. I also want to learn how to be a better blogger!

Any suggestions?

I also want to get a better camera than the one I have and learn to post pictures. That way I will feel like posting pictures.

I also need to be better at weight loss...I want to be able to do weight watchers and follow though. I hope it will be alright if I blog about this as they say it takes 21 days to form a new habit...right now I am working on decreasing the amount of chocolate that I eat.

I also want to finish work on my quilt room and get it to the point I can go in there work in the room. I have a radio that I can move in there and depending on the amount of room I have left, my husband is talking about moving my treadle machine upstairs instead of in the living room. We will have to see ... I think I have something for every space once I get the storage stuff that I want. I am hoping we can go to the Home Depot this weekend for shelves and some other stuff....hopefully I will get that done soon.

Winter Colds - Yuck

Who cares what time of year it is...I do not like colds. This may actually be a sinus infection but who knows. My fever was 100 degrees when I came home from work. You can ask why I went in the first place and it is just me being me. Cathy, one of the women I work with, asked if she should call off the amounts that we were comparing as my throat sounded bad. I told her that it doesn't hurt it just sounds bad. Wasn't that nice of her though!

This afternoon I decided I was on fire - as I had a temp. and should come home. It is unusual that I take my temperature but I knew the doctor's office was calling and I wanted to be prepared for their favorite question. Anyways, the doctor called herself and checked on me. She said this could be a sinus infection but after talking to me we decided to wait a few days to see if it is a cold or an infection. I'm thinking cold. She said I sounded very congested over the phone - which was true and I told her I am taking DayQuil and NyQuil. When I am not at work - no DayQuil instead Tylenol. I have been drinking OJ and water so I'm resting and drinking fluids. I am sick of being sick. This started Saturday so I am only three days into a cold that people at work have told me lasts several weeks. I am just waiting to not be contagious.

Okay here is my whole problem...normally I go to help Block of the Month packets with three other people and Wendy, who is an incredible quilter and pattern designer, anyways as I am sick I can not be there to help...what help would I be if everyone else got this cold but I love to help! This stinks...I was so looking forward to going and being with friends and cutting fabric for the packets! Why!?!?!?!!?!??! Okay I think I have ranted enough. Obviously if I have been sleeping and resting since Saturday I did not get anything done quilting wise. I am going to work with Jen on developing a Quilting Plan/List like she has on her blog. Check it out....http://cre8tivequilter.blogspot.com/

Thanks for "listening" to me rant about my cold! I hope no one gets it and everyone stays healthy!

Happy New Year and All that Jazz!!!

Wow it's the New Year....where did the last one go? I think I blinked and it was Christmas. I also looked at so many of my friends blogs and could not believe how much they got done in one month...I am a lazy quilter! I am also having a pity party for myself today as I have a cold.

I was fine last night and woke up with a full blown cold...I was going to go to Weight Watcher (one of my promises to myself is this year I will eat better!) WW is not a diet - I know it works I lost 30 lbs. My problem is I gained all 30 back when I went off of WW because I love food. I like to think I have a relationship with food - crazy but true. I am going to try not to be an emotional eater. Okay so I got up and went into the ladies room...Emma the crazy dog went up on the dresser next to my bed and took my roll of Vitamin C tablets and took off. I was in the process of washing my hands so I took off after her. By the time I got downstairs well she had the packaging ripped apart and one Vitamin C tablet on the floor ready for hoovering! So I have to stick my hand in her mouth to remove said hoovered tablet as I don't want her eating it....well out comes the tablet and the rest of the roll that are still in her mouth. I wash my hands AGAIN and now I have to give her, her morning pill. Okay I think to myself this is doable. Now I give her her pill which is the size of a quarter and I have to push it to the back of her throat so she must swallow it! Okay AGAIN I wash my hands. Now I go get dressed and come downstairs with my pillow - I think I slept for 5 hours total on and off. I have a head cold and my brain is killing me...my sinus is sore and my ears well my ears hurt as does my throat. My lunch was some Chicken and Wild Rice Soup...soothing yes, filling not so much!

Since then I have gone on some websites and read my e-mail. Tracy from Sewthankful has a Blog called Let's get sewing (http://www.sewthankful.com/blog/) and her latest post is titled My New Motto and Challenge: Be Great in 2008! What a great idea! It is to be great at whatever you want.

Let's see what else...ohh yeah Emma is fine the little bit of Vitamin C tablet she ate did nothing to her...she is fine in fact when our mail carrier came she felt right as rain...she was ready to bark and carry on as if she would kill him the whole time wagging her little stump of a tail. What can I say Miss Emma was going to protect me from the postal carrier! I should probably sleep some more or I might watch Harry Potter movies. I tried to read but just couldn't concentrate. Also when I was typing a response on Jen's blog http://cre8tivequilter.blogspot.com/ I was having a hard time typing Plastic Shoe Boxes instead I wrote shoe box plastic is what I kept my scraps in! Okay I know when I should stop and I am about there! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years!