Thursday, April 30, 2009

Last night . . .

Bob and I took Westin out to supper. We had a great time and they had an area for games for little ones. When it came time to leave and take him home after having spent the day with me, he hugged me tight and said, "Grandma I want to go home with you." It always breaks my heart, but I know other grandmas hear it as well. It is part of being 3 and a half and part of "soon you will be a big brother".

And then I thought of a couple of my good quilting friends . . . two have lost their sons in the past year, another is facing having her son half way around the world for an extended time, and two are celebrating the professional successes of their sons. I have two sons. I love them both so much. They are wonderful men, fathers, and friends.

And I thought again of this poem. I loved it when my sons were leaving the adolescent years behind. I love it now with a whole new meaning . . .

Kids are like kites . . .

You spend years trying to get them off the ground. You run with them until you are both breathless. They crash ... they hit the roof ... you patch, comfort and assure them that someday they will fly.

Finally, they are airborne. They need more string, and you have to keep letting it out. They tug, and with each twist of the twine, there is sadness that goes with joy.

The kite becomes more distant, and you know it won't be long before that beautiful creature will snap the lifeline that binds you together and will soar as meant to soar ... free and alone.

Only then do you know that you have done your job.

- Anonymous

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Things are changing

It is getting harder and harder with my self imposed time limit online each day to keep up with writing anything meaningful on my blog. I have started to "do some time" with Facebook and am going to do that for a while rather than blog much I think. It has always been fun for me to try different things. If you are on Facebook - look me up.

If I do anything worthy in my studio, I will share it here. I will also share grand kid stuff and we are getting a new one sometime in the next month. Of course that is always blog worthy, huh?

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

A couple things . . .

I am back for a minute. I just wanted to share a couple little pieces I finished for a little challenge project we did in our local art group. We met last night in a great coffee place and shared some of our pieces and will gather them again for a show the month of September in the same place.

I got quite a bit done this past week - some work quilting related and some brain stuff. We also had an episode with our ISP provider which meant no service for a couple days and we now have upgraded service so I hope it is fast enought to upload good video on iChat or Skype.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Some work to do . . .

"For peace of mind, we need to resign as general manager of the universe." Larry Eisenberg
I have a week ahead with nothing required of me from anyone or anywhere. I don't have to be anywhere or do anything. I can just breathe and enjoy the quiet. I can just be.

Even the weather is cooperating - it is snowing. I am going to use it for some deep thinking work and retreat time in my studio. It is a blessing and I am so thankful. I will be away from my blogging for a few days. See you later.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Missoula trip . . .

"Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to." John Ed Pearce

Once we got home from Florida on Monday, I headed to Missoula early Tuesday to help with the final stuff to get Mom and Dad's house ready for closing yesterday. I took Weston with me as he is fun company, loves me without any judgment (always feels so good and is mutual - kind of like home). It would help us focus on something less painful than selling the house that has meant so much to my Mom and Dad - and our family - over the past almost 20 years. It was a lovely home on a golf course overlooking Missoula. We had lots of good times gathering there as a family. Although we were all grown and gone by the time Mom and Dad moved to Missoula, it was really a wonderful place to celebrate and enjoy.

Dad is doing better and even enjoying some good times in the nursing home. The sale of the house will take away a lot of stress from Mom and I think she will do much better as well. She has lost a lot of weight and worries about finances, etc. Here is a picture of them with Weston in Dad's room. He is 90 and Mom is 88. They loved seeing him and he was just what the "doctor ordered" to keep us all smiling.

Weston and I stayed in a hotel with a pool. Here are a couple of pictures of us in our "puppy pajamas" that we ended up with there. At first he was kind of upset that his "car pajamas" didn't get packed instead, but when I showed him that my pajamas also had puppies on them, then everything was wonderful. It is so good that such funny, little things make us smile. He took the picture of me - he loves to take pictures and most of them are of the ceiling or himself in the mirror, but this one actually wasn't too bad. Of course I took the one of him - he was having a great night as we had just finished our swim and he was ready for bed. He is a wonderful little traveler.

Today I am heading to my studio. I am going to load some muslin and finally have time to try some of the upgrade features on my IQ. I have a friend coming out tomorrow who wants to see it in more detail as she is considering purchasing one now as well.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Home again . . .

We had a wonderful two weeks in Florida - but, it is always so good to get home.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Thursday . . .

Yesterday we went for a boat ride on the river in downtown Fort Lauderdale where we saw homes of the "rich and famous" - or at least the very, very rich. It was an intersting ride and here are a few pictures. The second picture is of a place they call the "White House" for it's resemblance to the real thing. It is currently on the market for 28 million. We then came back from the ride and had a great early supper at "The Cheesecake Factory" which was right on the river as well. I ordered my all time favorite meal, Thai Lettuce Wraps. It is just the best stuff and the picture shows them almost all gone. We then walked along the street with the wonderful shops and more sidewalk restaurants. It was a very nice afternoon and evening.

Today is a resort day - not going anywhere until late afternoon. We are enjoying the area and this afternoon Bob and I are driving up to another town about 45 minutes away to visit my uncle who is in a nursing home there. I have not seen him in over 17+ years and he is my Dad's only surviving sibling out of 8 children and he is the youngest. He was also born in Montana and left when he was just grown to never return again except for a rare visit. Dad and the two sisters stayed in Montana, but the other brothers all left the area permanently. Times were tough farming in the "30's" and their mother died in 1935 so I suspect things were not so good. Anyway,Uncle Jim, lived in the sunny states - first in Arizona and then for the past 20 years in Florida.