Thanks!

Thank you all so much for your kind words of sympathy and support concerning our burglary. Many of you mentioned the feeling of having been violated in the aftermath of a burglary. Oddly enough, I don't really seem to feel that so much this time. Back a couple years ago (okay, a LOT of years ago!), when I was 20 and had my first apartment on my own (post divorce from the first husband), I came home from work one evening to find someone had broken in and stolen my 10-speed bicycle and my TV. I could see they had gone through my things--closet doors, drawers, and cupboards were left open. It was a huge shock! I remember that somehow I replaced the TV--I can't recall if I bought a new one or was given a hand-me-down--but I never was able to replace the 10-speed. On that occasion, I most definitely felt the sense of violation.

I don't know why the feeling isn't so strong this time. Age? The fact that nothing quite so valuable was taken? Or maybe it's simply that aside from the mess in our bedroom, although I could tell drawers and cupboards throughout the house had been opened, nothing was disarranged, and everything was neatly closed--or nearly closed. Given the state of the bedroom as opposed to the rest of the house, I can't help but think there were two burglars and one was much neater than the other. Given the fact that the window they came in was so small, I can't help but think the neater burglar was female. Maybe that's why it doesn't feel quite so bad this time. I don't know, really, but I DO know we're very grateful it wasn't worse than it was.

This has been a long, hard week--thank goodness the weekend is here! Work was tough with deadlines and pressure. I've been sick with something--swollen gland/sore throat/sore jaw and ear on the left side. In fact, I was hoping to leave work and come home sick the afternoon the burglary occurred, but there was too much to get done at the office--and as it turned out, that's probably a good thing! I had quilt classes/meetings on two evenings, and as much as I enjoy those, this week I would have been happy to just come home after work instead. Then, of course, the burglary.

Remember Shakespeare's Julius Caesar? Every year around now, I remember the line, "Beware the Ides of March." If you've blocked old Julius and high school English classes out of your mind, the Ides of March is March 15th, and that's when Brutus killed Caesar, as foretold by a seer. Last year, on the Ides of March, we learned that my parents had been in an automobile accident the day before--one year ago today. As a result of that accident, my dad passed away in April last year. All in all, not a real happy week for us here!

So, I've decided to be good to myself this weekend. I'm going to relax and not push myself to get things done. If I don't finish a quilt project, that's okay. If I don't feel like posting a blog entry, that's okay too. Oh, I suspect I probably will do all the "normal" stuff anyway, but I'm going to try my best to not feel I HAVE to do anything except relax and enjoy the weekend. Oh, and make corned beef for my husband, because St. Patrick's Day is just about his favorite holiday!

Although I haven't had a chance to do any quilting the last couple nights and I'm just itching to get into the Sweat Shop, the idea of taking a nice hot bath, putting on my jammies, and climbing into bed with a good book and a couple magazines is mighty attractive. I might just do that tonight!

Tomorrow though . . . . Well, tomorrow, Saturday, March 15th, is National Quilting Day. Did you know? I'm sure I'll celebrate appropriately by spending quite a lot of time in the Sweat Shop. After all, I WOULD like to finish quilting the Gardener's Touch quilt, and I also want to get my other bunny quilt done in time for Easter. And sometime this weekend, I plan to post those cutting directions for the Gardener's Touch quilt, so if you've been waiting for those, DO check back periodically.

But I think I won't worry about shaving tomorrow. Or plucking my eyebrows or my chin hairs. Or all the other many beauty enhancing rituals I often perform on Saturdays. Maybe I'll just sleep in instead. But not too late, because it is, after all, National Quilting Day! I hope you have a wonderful weekend, doing whatever makes you happiest!