It Was Great--Except for the Bruising!

When the California bar results are posted, they are first available at the appointed time on the internet and only to the person who took the examination. Each potential new attorney is assigned a log-in code so they can access their own results. Once logged in, there's a screen with the person's name and a bunch of other information. In teeny tiny print, somewhere near the bottom of that screen, it will say, "[name]'s name appears on the pass list." Of course, attorneys are well known for their affinity for fine print, so I suppose that makes some sense. However, if you're nervous, if you've already had a few "adult beverages," and/or if you're looking at your results on a lap top in a room full of people, finding those words on the screen can be difficult and nerve wracking!

The day has already been suspenseful enough, so I'll just tell you up front that both my "kids" passed. Occasionally throughout the day, I'd check on my boy boss and he was calm as could be, even up to the time he was logging onto the state bar website on that laptop in the room full of people. My girl boss, on the other hand, has been doing breathing exercises for the past few days and we weren't sure how she was going to make it until 6 p.m. when the results were to be posted.

In an effort to help out, our senior partner took the two of them out for a late, long, and somewhat wet lunch which kept them occupied until a little bit before 4 p.m. Oddly enough, they seemed somewhat relaxed when they returned to the office. Imagine that, huh?! Also in an effort to help them and the rest of us pass the time, my former boss broke out the blender and margarita makings and we all sat around laughing, talking, drinking, and entertaining the "kids" until 6 p.m. Boy did time move slow! Shortly before 6 p.m., my girl boss retreated to her office and obtained her results behind her closed office door while my boy boss gutted it out in front of an avid audience.

It's been a long time since I recall seeing and feeling that level of excitement and emotion. We laughed, we screamed, we jumped up and down, we cried, we drank some more, and we hugged--boy did we hug! Everyone was hugging the "kids" and they were hugging everyone, absolutely beside themselves with joy. We hugged so much and so hard, I wouldn't be surprised to find bruises in the morning!

When I left the office at 6:30, some of the attorneys were planning to continue the celebration by going to dinner at a local restaurant--I can only imagine the hangovers tomorrow from alcohol, tears, and adrenaline. But it was a fantastic day! In fact, I can't imagine a better way to start an absolutely fantastic week of vacation time! Wooo-hoooooo! Congrats to "my kids"! I knew you could do it, but it sure is a relief to get that confirmation from the state bar!

One More Day . . .

Today's a big day!

Today is my last day of work for a week. I'm pretty excited about that, believe me! My daughter's coming from Tahoe on Monday to stay for a couple days(yep, WITH the drooling dog!) and we'll have our Thanksgiving celebration on Monday. After that, the fall decorations will be packed away until next fall, and I'll start to decorate for Christmas.

Today is also the day that my work "kids" get their bar results. Passing the bar examination in California is by no means an easy thing to do, and I have known other very good attorneys who didn't pass the first time they took it. Then again, I've known several idiots who passed on the first attempt. Come to think of it, maybe it's a little like getting a driver's license--there are plenty of idiots out on the road!

I've worked with the "kids" for a couple months now and I'm pretty confident they'll both pass, but you just never know. I hear the pass rate in California for this sitting is somewhere around 70 to 75 percent. They'll get their results at 6 p.m. tonight, and you can bet I'll be staying a little bit late at work to find out how they did.

When I checked my email Thursday, I found that my niece Kelly had left a comment to my post about the difficulties of giving my older cat antibiotics. You just never know who's reading your blog, do you?! Hey, Kelly! Just in case you're reading, thanks for leaving me a comment! Unfortunately, I don't have Kelly's email address--as an aunt, I guess I'm a bit of a slacker. I DID make her a quilt for Christmas last year though. Kelly's been involved with riding horses all her life and has been in a number of big shows--her accomplishments are really impressive. Anyway, this "cowboy" focus fabric cracked me up and I decided to make her a quilt using it. Truthfully, though, I think one of my nephews liked the fabric a lot more than she did, but that's another story. Anyway, here's the quilt:

And by way of catching up, my cat finished her course of antibiotics a couple days ago and seems to be doing fine. Not only that, but I still have all my fingers and nothing's infected from scratches or bites. We finally worked out a system where most of the time, I'd hold the cat cradled in my arms with a good grip on her paws, and my husband would pry her jaws open and pop the pill in. As soon as he got it in, he'd hold her jaws shut until she swallowed. That really worked out well. Thanks for all your suggestions and help!

It seems like there were one or two other "updates" I was going to mention but I can't remember them now. I really shouldn't be messing around on the computer in the wee hours of the morning because I think portions of my brain have already gone to sleep. Both last night and tonight, I sent emails, logged out of my email program (last night I had actually shut down the computer!), and had to log back in to double check that I really DID send the emails to the people I meant to send them to.

I think one of my problems is just not having enough time on the computer during normal waking hours. I've even fallen behind on a lot of my blog reading. I plan to remedy that, though, while I'm off work. Just one more day . . . .

Back to . . . uh . . . Normal?

Thanks for all your good wishes on my swift recovery from the agony of low back pain! They seem to have worked. Either that or it was the ice, Vicodin, and chocolate. Do you think it's like antibiotics, by the way, where you have to keep up the medication a full ten days even though you're feeling better? I'll go with "yes." So another eight or nine days of chocolate and Vicodin. Poor me!

I made it though a full day of work AND a Thimbleberries Club meeting after that. The RJR representative came to our meeting bearing fabric samples, and as you can imagine, I didn't want to miss that! Thimbleberries is coming out with a spring line that I liked. They'll also be coming out with four new Cover Story panels. I should have brought my camera. Blame my oversight on the Vicodin. I guess you'll just have to wait to see it.

When I was a kid and was sick in bed, my mom would often come home from work with a brand new sticker book so I'd have something to keep me busy while I recuperated. I loved licking those stickers and putting them in the right spots in the book and then coloring the rest. I blame her for any tendency toward hypochondria I may have now, of course. (I'm glad to say that my grandma's mustard plasters don't seem to have left any lingering impressions, however.) Carrying on the tradition my mother began, I decided I probably ought to buy myself some new fabric tonight--just in case that back pain came back to bother me. Finally I have a couple photos for you. (I did think last night about posting a photo of my ceiling so you could see what I'VE been seeing for the last couple days, but decided against it.) So, first is the fabric I bought--three pieces of 1800s repros. I also bought--but didn't take a photo of--a lime green from the Scaredy Cat line at 50% off, but it would have clashed with these lovely fabrics.

I really like that center fabric by Jo Morton. I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but I think whatever I make would look very nice with my living room Christmas decor. I'm just not certain it will find its way into my living room THIS year. Maybe though.

Oh, and I finished something--which also justifies the fabric purchase, don't you think? Replenishing supplies? Or maybe it's a supply and demand kind of thing?

Anyway, this is just a simple Thimbleberries pattern that I started at the Thimbleberries "camp" that was held at my local quilt shop about a month ago. You can't really see the quilting, but it's fairly simple--just crosses through the 9-patches and stitch in the ditch for the borders. I did quilt stencil patterns in the larger center blocks and the border, but you can't really see them. I'm thinking this will be a Christmas gift for someone--can't say who just in case that person reads my blog. I don't think so, but you never know.

The next project I'm working on is for a tree skirt exchange that my online Thimbleberries group is doing. I've pieced my tree skirt but I still need to add the applique. I have the pieces ready to sew on and hope to get that done in the next day or two; then I'll just need to quilt it and bind it. Progress feels good. It sure feels a lot better than looking at the ceiling and wishing I could sew instead! I'm signing out now, so I can go find my ice, chocolate, and Vicodin. I wouldn't want to suffer a set back. Thanks for stopping in to visit!

Blog Surfing

I don't really have much to say tonight, although my friend Eileen is sure to say that's never stopped me from saying a lot anyway.

I stayed home from work and iced my back and laid in bed and read and slept and iced my back some more throughout the day. Not very interesting, is it? I didn't think so. On the up side, my back finally felt decent enough by late afternoon to sit in a chair and do a little bit of quilting. Of course, I didn't get as much done as I would have liked. Tomorrow (Wednesday) night I have my Thimbleberries Club meeting and I had planned to bring a bit more for show and tell, but having been out of commission for a few days has put a damper on some of my plans.

I also did a little blog surfing today and came across a blog I thought might interest those of you who like to decorate for the holidays. This gal at Warm Pie, Happy Home has already gotten her Christmas decorations up, and just looking at the photos has given me a couple ideas and inspiration. I love the little quilt and books in the basket on the buggy at the start of her blog. If you scroll down further, you'll see how great her fireplace looks.

If you scroll down even further to her November 1st entry, you'll see some of her Fall decorations. Darn, I really want to just move into her house! I thought the Canterbearies figurines were so cute that I had to click over from her link and check them out. And darned if they don't have Christmas figurines that are every bit as cute! Anyway, since I'm kind of boring right now, click over there and take a look. Put on a bib first, though--you don't want to get drool on your keyboard!

ARGH!

I did something to my back. I'm not sure what--but then I think back pain is often that way--it comes along for no identifiable reason. I didn't do anything too strenuous yesterday. The only thing I can think that may have caused it was walking all over the flea market for a few hours. It didn't really start hurting much, though, until I had taken a bath and gotten ready for bed. One might wonder what I did in my bath or bed, but truly I did nothing acrobatic and the bath is too small for laps, so no, that's not it.

The pain is in my low back, wraps around my waist in the back and goes down into my thighs. Standing's okay, but sitting--well, that's another story. I went to work today, but I only worked for about a half day before I couldn't stand it any longer. Getting home was a whole other adventure. My route takes me past a mall, and with the holiday and all, traffic was super heavy, and a commute that normally takes me about 20 to 30 minutes took closer to 50 minutes. Thank goodness for the seat warmer control in my car, which really felt pretty good on my back. Then I had to stop at the grocery store--absolutely, as in "I'm out of cat food and coffee creamer," HAD to stop. That wasn't too bad since it didn't involve sitting, but I was pretty tired of the whole ordeal by the time I was up at the register. Then--and doesn't this kind of thing ALWAYS happen when you're not feeling well?--some grandma in line directly behind me kept screaming at her grandson. When he wandered over to the front door of the store, she moved closer to me, still screaming, but now screaming in my ear. I coulda slapped her. I wish I had. Instead, I gave her the LOOK OF DEATH, and she apologized. By that time, the grocery-bagger-kid had wandered off (probably because of screaming granny), so I had to help the checker bag my groceries. It was either that or watch the checker bag my groceries while I bashed grandma in the teeth with the can of hairspray I was buying. Then, once I made it to the car and was loading my groceries, the grocery-bagger-kid showed up with a stray can of soup that had failed to make its way into my bags. Only when you don't feel well, right?! Oh, and if that wasn't enough, when I pulled into my driveway and turned off the ignition, my car alarm went off. What's up with that?

I remember the first time I threw my back out, probably about eight years ago or so. I was putting on pantyhose. Isn't that embarrassing? And of course everyone asks you what you did. And I can't lie. I just can't. So everyone knew I threw out my back putting on pantyhose. I really wish I was better at lying. I could have made up something much more interesting like bungee jumping or sky diving. Sheesh!

That time, I went to the doctor and got some good pills. Pain pills--Darvocet, I think--and a muscle relaxant--Flexeril. I had never taken muscle relaxants before and I thought they'd just relax my muscles. You're probably laughing, right? The first one I took, I took at work. About an hour after taking it, I had to go sleep in my car for two hours before I could manage to drive home.

Today, I thought maybe my husband would have some muscle relaxants so I could take one tonight, but he doesn't. He did offer me a Vicodin, but those make me a little hyper and much too happy to want to sleep. In fact, I like Vicodin. I could easily become addicted. So no Vicodin. I'll save it for tomorrow in case I need it then. Meanwhile, I think I'll take a couple Tylenol PM and lay on an ice pack for a bit.

The worst thing is not being able to quilt or do anything else that involves sitting. If I'm going to have back problems, I think I need to do something about these ceilings. Looking at a plain, old, boring white ceiling gets old real quick. Where's Michelangelo when you need him? Or at least a flat panel TV mounted up there. Oh, and if you feel really sorry for me, send chocolate, okay? I think it helps back pain, right? Or send Vicodin. Hummmm. Chocolate and Vicodin--sounds like a party to me!

P.S.: I bet that after reading this post, my friend Eileen will tell me once again that I always manage to talk a lot about nothing!

Treasures

The weekend's over. Here in the US, we have the Veteran's Day observance on Monday, but my office is open and we're all working. No mail service. The courts are closed. But we're working. So sad! Aren't you sorry for me?

I'd be really sorry for me except that this has been a really nice weekend. Why? Well, I'm not quite sure. With all the cleaning and organizing I did on Saturday, you'd think I'd feel I needed another day off, but I don't. By the time I went to bed Saturday night, I felt like I had accomplished a lot, and it felt really good. I even managed to hook up my printer.

On Sunday, a good friend and I went out to the local flea market/farmers' market, hunting for treasures. I wrote a week or so ago about the Somerset Home magazine I had found at the bookstore; since then, I've gotten a couple more of their publications, and I'm terribly fascinated by some of these "altered art" techniques. In fact, over the past week, I've been shopping and collecting all kinds of "art" stuff, like scrapbook papers and various other miscellaneous items. We took the trip to the flea market today to see what I could find that might be interesting to incorporate into some of the projects I'd like to work on.

It rained all day Saturday and we were afraid we might get rained on. The clouds were threatening when we first started out (photo at the top), but the sky soon cleared and the day was pretty nice. Our local flea market is huge, and many of the vendors have permanent booths, selling cheap, plastic, imported junk. There is a section of day vendors though--people who come to sell at the flea market instead of having a garage sale at home. Then there are a few vendors who fall somewhere in between--they don't have the commercial, cheap "junk" but they do have a nicer quality of used "treasures," and those are the ones we headed for, although we did browse a few "garage sale" booths.

Here are some of the "treasures" I brought home.

I think those flasks will look pretty neat covered with decorative paper and images and "stuff." And who could resist the Mona Lisa? Especially when she was only $1? I don't know what I'll do with her, but I like the strong graphics. There are several projects I've seen that use plated flatware, so I picked up a few items. Then there's a little metal tray and sitting on that is a perfume bottle--something I also thought would look pretty neat if it was decorated.

We found one booth that had all sorts of little things--coins, keys, pins, dice, nails, etc. I bought several things from that guy--these can all be added to creations such as journals and random "art" projects. The metal stars are new items that I purchased from another vendor.

Then the books. The same guy who had the coins and things had this dues book from the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America dated from the mid 40s. My friend talked him down to $2 for the book--a piece of history that may well turn up in a project one day. We moved on, and at another booth, for another couple dollars I got a McGuffey "Third Eclectic Reader." There's no publishing date on it, but I know they were used in schools when my parents were kids and even before. It's pretty tattered and beat up, but the pages will make a great background for a few projects. At a large used book booth, I found a song book and two art history books, all of which can be incorporated into whatever I make.

Finally, before we left, we visited the farmers' market located on the other side of the flea market grounds. I was surprised at how many fruits and vegetables are still available as we're approaching the winter months.

Good prices too! We both left with several bags of produce. We had a little mishap, though, when my friend dropped her bag of avocados. Actually, she dropped them twice! I sure hope she made a batch of guacamole, 'cause those babies are going to be mush!

We ended our trip by going out to lunch and having salads and sandwiches. Oh, and did I mention we started out at Starbucks before the flea market? But you probably figured that out, right? In my world, every adventure starts at Starbucks!

After I returned home, the rest of the day was spent making a big pot of homemade chicken and veggie soup and working on that tree skirt I didn't get to on Saturday. I've finished piecing the top but I still need to add some applique.

Now it's bed time and the weekend's over, but I've enjoyed it. I think that facing the work week isn't quite so bad when you've had a nice weekend, don't you? I hope you've enjoyed yours!

I Didn't Mean To Do It

I had my day all planned out. I was going to clean house early and then work on a tree skirt for a swap. I was going to hook up the printer I got with my computer last year. The one I still haven't hooked up. The one I bought paper for the other day.

I decided to eat some cereal before starting on the house cleaning, so I carried my bowl into the Sweat Shop and turned on the TV. While munching and crunching, I looked around and I realized the Sweat Shop was no longer my happy little sanctuary--it was a disorganized, cluttered mess! By the time I finished my cereal, I had decided that I really MUST clean up my room.

Three hours later and things were looking much nicer in the Sweat Shop, but the rest of the house still needed to be cleaned. AND I still had a few Halloween decorations up that needed to be put away. AND I still had a few Thanksgiving decorations to get out.

Four and a half hours later, and the rest of the house was looking pretty good! The photo at the top is one of two placemats I made last year. Since I had my new Halloween placemats on the table this year, these haven't seen much action until now. Now these are out. Along with a few other Thanksgiving/Fall goodies.

In cleaning up the Sweat Shop, I came across a BOM kit from a class I had taken about a year and a half ago. I had almost finished the first block--it just had a little applique left. Ah ha! The applique pieces were all prepped, so I set the block and the pieces aside--it seemed a good project to take to work and work on during my lunch hour.

After cleaning the rest of the house, I returned to the Sweat Shop, thinking about that tree skirt. Then I saw the BOM block. And I realized my piecing really, really sucked! How did that happen?! And the fabrics I had used didn't have enough contrast. So I thought I'd just fix that block up so I could take it to work this week and finish the applique.

Four hours later and the block is fixed. Here's a photo:

Of course, it still needs that applique finished. And I still need to make five more blocks. And set them. And border them. So, just a bit left to do before that one's done. But I didn't mean to work on that block at all. I meant to work on a tree skirt. And I didn't mean to clean the Sweat Shop either. But I'm glad I did! Here are a couple photos of my tidy work space--sorry they're kind of dark, but it's getting late, the light's not that great, and I've spent the day doing stuff I never planned to do in the first place!

Hometown Christmas and an Irish Ghost Story

Thanks, everyone, for the tips on administering antibiotics to a devil cat. Next time I'm opting for a blow gun so I can shoot a little needle in her neck twice a day. I think it will be fun! Giving her the pill Friday night went a little easier and I didn't sustain a single injury. Then again, that's probably because I made my husband do it!

This month seems to be speeding by--before long, Thanksgiving will be here. And Christmas will follow close on its heels. It seems odd to see the ads on TV and in the newspaper and magazines for Christmas already--wasn't it just September?

Next week I want to get some quilting done since I seem to be amassing a large pile of small quilts, so I decided to get two piecing projects done now before I switch out my machines. First of all, the next section of Hometown Christmas which is due by the 15th. This is the fifth section; one more and we'll be halfway done! Here's a photo of mine:

This is the right side section of the first row. If you'll remember, I decided to move the tree from the center section to this one, so I have a tree and house. If you're making this project too and are following the original pattern, you'll have the house and a couple pinwheel blocks, I think.

The second project is a tree skirt for a swap I'm participating in--I'll start on that tomorrow. I'll be adding some applique so that will take a little time, but I want to get the piecing done as soon as possible.

Yes, I know Halloween is behind us, but a friend sent me a good Irish ghost story, and I wanted to share it with you--I hope you'll enjoy it! This story happened a while ago in Dublin, and even though it sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock tale, its true!

John Bradford, a Dublin University student, was on the side of the road hitchhiking on a very dark night, in the midst of a storm. The night was rolling on and no car went by. The storm was so strong, John could hardly see a few feet ahead of him. Suddenly, he saw a car slowly coming towards him and stop.

John, desperate for shelter and without thinking about it, got into the car and closed the door, only to realise there was nobody behind the wheel and the engine wasn't running!!

Slowly, the car started moving. John looked at the road ahead and saw a curve approaching. Scared, he began to pray, begging for his life. Then, just before the car hit the curve, a hand appeared through the window and turned the wheel. John, paralysed with terror, watched as the hand repeatedly came through the window, but never touched or harmed him.

Shortly thereafter John saw the lights of a pub appear down the road, so gathering strength, he jumped out of the car and ran to the pub. Wet and out of breath, he rushed inside and started telling everybody about the horrible experience he just had. A silence enveloped the pub when everybody realised he was crying . . . and wasn't drunk.

Suddenly, the door opened, and two other people walked in from the stormy night. They, like John, were also soaked and out of breath. Looking around, and seeing John Bradford sobbing at the bar, one said to the other, "Look Paddy . . . there's that bloody idiot that got in the car while we were pushing it!!!!"

Enjoy your Saturday! And if you're looking for a Saturday day-of-beauty routine tip, trim your toenails. That's what I did. After all, the holidays are coming and it's important to make a good impression!

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie . . . .

Giving a mouse a cookie is one thing, but how in the heck do you give antibiotic pills to a cat? I'm starting to think it would be a whole lot simpler just to kill the stupid cat! Oh! Do I still sound grumpy? Well I'm not--or I wasn't until I had to battle the cat this morning.

I'm tempted to call into work and tell them I can't make it in today because my hands have been mangled by a pack of wild animals. I have proof too! One hand has all kinds of scratches and small puncture marks while the other hand has three or four good holes in the thumb made by cat teeth. And it took four--FOUR!--times today before I got the pill far enough into her throat for her to swallow it and not spit it out. Sheesh!

I hear they have liquid antibiotics that taste good. I think my vet hates me.

So, am I doing this wrong? Is there an easier way? It's not so much the part about holding the cat--it's mainly the part where you get her jaws open and try to stick the pill far enough into her throat before she makes a meal of your fingers--that's the killer! And no, I can't hide the pill in food--she probably wouldn't eat it and if she did, I'm pretty sure she'd delicately eat around the pill.

That's the devil cat up there--a photo I took of her last spring after she helped my husband with his baking. Any suggestions would be appreciated. We're on day six of a ten day course of these pills, and at the rate we're going, by Tuesday, I fully expect my hands will be too mangled to quilt. Or they'll be infected and fall off.

My Personal Quilting "Holy Grail"

Boy have I been a grump tonight! The truly annoying thing is that I have absolutely no idea why. A quick calculation tells me that nope, it's not PMS. Menopause? Humph. Maybe. Maybe I need chocolate. Send chocolate, okay?! Hurry!

Work was good--and it has been lately. The "kids" are fine to work with--I enjoy them. They only have a little over a week to go before they find out whether they passed the California Bar and get to start practising "real" law. And I've been indulging in some retail therapy, but more about that later. So why have I been a grump? Could it be having to cram antibiotics down the throat of a pissed off cat twice a day? Maybe.

My husband is feeling really sorry for our remaining dog, and I think he's been over-compensating with the attention he's given him. So much so that when my husband put the dog in his run tonight, the dog did nothing but bark and whine. He never used to do that. Yes, he did bark sometimes, but it was only when people were passing by on the street. Now it's different. And he's not supposed to BE a house dog--he lives outside. I'm sure the neighbors are pleased with us. Yeah, that's sarcasm. So that was bugging me. But was that making me grumpy, or was it bothering me because I was already grumpy? I think the latter.

So, anyway, the title of this post--you're probably wondering what that has to do with me living in grump-dom. Nothing. Actually, it's just another reason why I SHOULDN'T be grumpy.

I think you probably know that I like Thimbleberries stuff. For several years now, I've been hunting down a fabric that I'd consider my own holy grail of quilting. I had a bit of it, but it's really a border print and I didn't have enough for a border. Today I won an eBay auction and scored a little over 2 yards--YES! Woo-hoo! Yippeee! Retail therapy! That's the print at the top. It's probably not really that exciting to most of you and it's almost too "cute" for my tastes now, but for some reason, I just love that print. So today I accomplished my fabric-finding mission!

Is my life complete though? Well, there's actually something else I've been watching for--Thimbleberries stuff again. Have you seen the new Cover Story panels? Well, they're awfully cute and all, but I don't think they're nearly as cool as the originals that were released back in the 90s sometime. I know Kristie could tell you about them and be more accurate than me, but here's what I think/know. I believe there were something like 10 original cover story panels. The panels were vintage reproduction art/greeting card-type prints printed onto muslin. I have four of them--I'd surely like to add some of the others to my "collection" one of these days. Here are the four I have:

And here's a photo of one of the Christmas panels so you can get an idea what these look like:

And just in case you have any of these hanging around in a drawer or cupboard and don't want them, send them to me. I promise I'll give them a good home! Or if you ever see any around anywhere for sale, let me know. It's good to have a goal, isn't it? Is there anything you collect or have been looking for for ages?

Oh, yeah, and I'm still looking for that non-grumpy, happy Kim. If you see her, send her home--I miss her! Tell her to bring chocolate. Time for bed--I'm hoping she'll be here by the time I wake up.