The First Time

Rabbit, Rabbit! Do you know about that? I'd forgotten until I was about to post and realized the date. Click HERE if you don't know. I need the good luck this month!

You can only do something for the first time once, but isn't it fun finding new things to do and new places to go? Today I did something for the first time, and it was most excellent.

I spent a little time cleaning the office this morning, but I was easily diverted over to Gran's house and didn't quite finish. That's alright though--it was worth it.

We hadn't gotten together since Gran returned from Quilt Market, so today seemed like the perfect day to visit and chat. As I mentioned yesterday, Gran had fallen on Saturday and banged herself up, and she was still pretty stiff and sore today, so she wasn't up to doing much more today than sitting around and chatting. Her Hubby had some errands to run, and she was on her own, so we sat down in her kitchen and looked through a laundry basket full of goodies she'd brought back from Market. Finally I got to hear about the classes she took, the new products she was enthusiastic about, and the new designers who had sparked her imagination and got her creative juices flowing. (Yes, I'm still jealous that she went and I didn't!)

After we'd looked through all her Quilt Market treasures, I loaded her into my car and drove over to a nearby Starbucks. There we poured through a folder of "ideas" I'd torn out of quilting and craft magazines and talked about what else we could do. If only we had enough time to DO all our imaginations come up with!

But, of course, none of what we'd done so far today was a FIRST. The FIRST came when I looked across the parking lot and asked Gran if she was up to coming with me over to Whole Foods. Yep, it was my FIRST TIME in Whole Foods! Of course, I'd heard stories. And of course, I knew it was one of those places that should be avoided for the health of my finances. But it was just too much to resist today since it was RIGHT THERE.

Remember the BBQ's hamburgers I mentioned in yesterday's post? Well, at Whole Foods my appetite for hamburgers turned into a desire for a portobello mushroom stuffed with shrimp and crab accompanied by smoked mozarella pasta salad. Also too good not to take home? Cinnamon bread, a smooth and creamy blue cheese that's dynamite when paired with hazelnut and fig crackers, and a small wedge of handmilled soap. I guess when you're going to do something for the first time, you should really, really enjoy yourself; don't you agree?

And another first? I suspect you remember I was drawing a winner for the box of scraps tonight, right? Well, in honor of firsts and because the first entry in a contest rarely ever seems to be the one picked, I thought the winner tonight should be the first commenter, Ellen in VA. And, as a bonus, Ellen entered on behalf of a worthy cause. Here's what she said:

"I so enjoy reading your blog. Our group would love to be entered to win the box of scraps. Our blog is: http://stitchersforacause.wordpress.com/"

Ellen, please email me your mailing address and I'll get the box in the mail this week.

As I've been continuing to clean, I've found a few more things to get rid of give away, so stay tuned. I never heard from an earlier winner--one of the two winners of the fabric to make the charm bags--so if I don't hear from Jenesq in the next couple days, I'll have another giveaway for that prize. I also have a few random patterns and who knows what else might show up? Anyway, I'll get back to more cleaning tomorrow and see what I can find. And there's still a BBQ'd hamburger out there, calling my name. Besides all that other stuff I bought at Whole Foods? I also got what I originally went in for--some macaroni salad to go with my burger. Yum!