Jet Lag

If you haven't heard from me I have a really good excuse...my husband and I took a wonderful trip to see some of the places the Apostle Paul taught and preached.  We began our journey in Rome where Paul ended his journey.  This was my first time in Italy and it was easy to see how quickly you fall in love with it.

Don't we look like typical tourists?  The weather was nearly perfect everywhere, even here at The Coliseum, but we had sunny days so hats were a necessity.  Even with my big hat I got a bit of a tan I guess since that's the first thing my neighbor said to me yesterday.

We left Rome on a ship (Celebrity Silhouette) and cruised the rest of the 2 1/2 weeks we were away, stopping in Catania, Athens, Mykanos, Malta, Rhodes, Ephesus, Crete, and ended up in Venice.  The ship was very nice but I confess I'm not much for dressing up; to prove that I can though, here's a picture of dinner one night.

That may be the shortest I've ever had my hair!  I did it on purpose so I wouldn't have to do much to it on the trip and I think I've fallen in love with the ease of it.

Coming home we had a very early flight and had to get up at 3:15 a.m.  Awful!  We traveled for 25 hours I think, arriving home Friday night about 9:30 and my sleep pattern is completely messed up.  I'm hoping tonight I'll get back to normal.  Know any cures for that?

Like most quilters I saw quilt patterns everywhere I went.  :)  I saw beautiful tile floors and mosaics and tapestries and wanted to make a quilt of every one.  I kept mumbling under my breath...square in a square, hourglass, mariner's compass, ...  

It's good to be home and to see my lilies waving in welcome.

It will be good to get back into my normal routine too.  I didn't take any stitching with me and my sewing room is calling my name!  We volunteer for two months in the summer at a Methodist mission in south Louisiana and will be leaving in two weeks for our post there, but I get to take my sewing machine with me so it will be almost like home.  I even plan to attend a guild meeting or two there so I'm looking forward to that.

I've missed my blog friends.  I'll be checking in with all of you as soon as I can - the laundry pile is almost gone and as soon as I buy groceries my world will be back in order!

L Is For...

Continuing on with my personality inventory:

I'm struggling with this one.  Not because I can't think of anything but because there are two parts of my personality I can't ignore.  I'm logical, and I'm a listener.

Things have to make sense to me.  I was a math teacher because math makes sense.  There are rules and if you follow the rules you get where you're going.  I want things to be in order, desks in a row and not in circles, cans lined up on the shelves.  Get the picture?

I was also a counselor because I'm a listener.  People tell me things.  Things I don't always want to know.  For instance, one time in the drug store a man stopped me and asked where the Depends were. Then he explained why he needed them.  And because I'm kind (see a previous post), I listen.  :)

I mean, really, how many people would that happen to?  :)

A Baby Quilt UFO

Last summer when I was working at the mission in south Louisiana I found this cute flannel baby panel on sale.  All I had to do was sandwich it and quilt it and I love the way it turned out.  I used flannel for the back and the binding too and I must say, when flannel is against flannel, that fabric doesn't move!  In fact, not matter what I did it was hard to quilt because the fabric seemed to "grab" my sewing table.  I even sprayed my table with silicone spray a couple of times and still it drug.  I don't have a baby in mind for this one but I'm sure one will turn up - there are always babies happening somewhere in the family!

This is my fifth UFO completed this year - I'm pretty excited!

K Is For...

K is for kind.  I didn't even have to search for this one.  If you read the previous post you'll have expected this one.  Nice matters.  Kind is the only way.  There is no other way.  It fits perfectly with the just part of my personality.

If everyone in the world did one unexpected act of kindness to someone else every single day we could change the world.  Seriously.

Another UFO Bit The Dust

I've listed 16 or 17 UFOs on my sidebar that I want to complete this year.  I'm slow but steady...this is the fourth to be finished.  It was a panel that someone gave me or that I bought on sale, not sure which, but I thought it would make a great wall hanging for Independence Day.  I did a free motion stipple on it - that's the only stitch so far that I feel comfortable with!

Did You Know?

That if the lid comes off when you're spinning salad.....lettuce goes everywhere?

In the sink....in the floor....on the counter....on the windowsill....in your hair....on top of the stove vent....                  Oh my.