Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This . . .

I have a cold. I think. Allergies have been bad, but I'm thinking this is feeling like more than allergies.

My boy boss has a cold. He thought he started coming down with it at the end of last week. Then again, I spent two days of quality time cooped up with 100 prospective jurors, so who knows what bug I may have picked up there.

Because I had a quilt class tonight and wouldn't be home for dinner, I picked up lunch at Panda Express--plenty of leftovers for dinner before class. But you know what? I ate my fortune, I think. All I know for sure is that I opened the wrapper of the fortune cookie and without paying any attention whatsoever because I was reading a book, I broke it in half and popped half of it in my mouth. And chewed a lot. When I looked down at the remaining half, I remembered I hadn't pulled the fortune out. And there was no fortune to be found. So either I got a cookie without a fortune or I ate it. Seriously, I think I ate it. I can only imagine what it may have said. Probably something like Surrender Dorothy. Or Give Up and Go Home Kim. But no. I couldn't do that. I had loaded up my sewing machine and all my sewing stuff in my car this morning, and I didn't want to miss class.

So after work, I headed to the quilt shop. Guess what? It was the wrong class. This particular class is offered two evenings a month, and I had put the wrong one in my calendar. So I gave up and went home.

Life is funny. I think I'll take some Nyquil and go to bed. Let's just hope my pillow won't go the way of my fortune. I'm such an idiot sometimes!

Cherries

I promised you cherries, so I'm giving you cherries! This is my first attempt at converting this particular design from paper into fabric.

I see some things I'll change when I make a "final" version of the design, but I think it will end up looking pretty cute eventually.

In case you're curious, the fabric I used, except for the center background and the tree limb, is from the line Bees Knees from Maywood--I think it looks awfully cheerful and summery, don't you? Over the next few days, I'll "fix" the design and make a second one using the same line of fabric, and then I'll make another using cotton and wool. This particular one, though, may well end up hanging at my desk at work.

I'm glad you could stop in and see what I've been up to!

Deja Vu

Another day spent in jury duty and it was much the same as yesterday, so I won't go into detail. Feel free to read yesterday's post again if you didn't get enough already. The main difference today, though, was that at one point, they gave us a really loooooong break, and when we came back, they told us the case had been resolved and we were all free to go. Of course, they don't tell us what the outcome was, but presumably they worked out a plea deal or dismissed the charges. I know from working in the civil field that it's much the same--quite often cases don't get resolved until the last minute.

Aside from my fascinating jury duty exploits, I've been working on a little project in the evenings. Remember I mentioned cherries the other day? I should be at a point to take a photo to show you tomorrow. And after that? I have another cherry project in the works. Life really IS a bowl of cherries--especially now that I'm free from jury duty for another 18 months!

Court News

Yep, I went down to the court for jury duty today.

The jury parking lot was full, so I had to park in the overflow lot. It was not easy to find. The court gave us a little map of the area, showing the two parking lots, but the streets are nearly all one-way streets, and every time I'd turn a corner, I'd have to reorient the map. The problem with that was that the street signs would tell me which street I was crossing or turning onto but not the street I was on. Of course, there was nowhere to pull over and figure it out either. So around and around I went for about ten minutes before I finally figured it out.

After a four block trek from the parking lot, I reached the courthouse and didn't have too much trouble with security, although they DID run my purse through the x-ray machine twice. Sheesh! Then up to the third floor, where I found a sign posted on the courtroom door directing me back down to the first floor--the crowd I'd noticed by the security area when I came in were my fellow jurors.

After standing in line a few minutes, I noticed everyone had their juror badges clipped on, so I headed back up to the second floor to pick up a badge holder from the jury waiting room and then went back down to the first floor where we all waited. And waited. And waited some more.

Finally the bailiff came out and ushered us into a small antechamber and hallway where she conducted roll call. There were about 100 of us. The high temperature in Sacramento today was a bit over 80 degrees. The air conditioning in the hallway, antechamber, and courtroom was malfunctioning, although we were assured maintenance was taking care of the problem. And eventually they did.

We were to arrive at the courthouse at 9 a.m., but it was around 10:15 a.m. before we were allowed into the courtroom. The first 18 prospective jurors were seated, and questioning by the judge began.

I won't go over the rest of the day in detail, but there followed a morning break, an hour and a half lunch break, and another break in the afternoon. At the conclusion of each break, there was a delay before we were brought back into the courtroom, usually between 15 minutes and a half hour. By around 4 p.m., the court finished with the first 18 prospective jurors, dismissed 7, and called 7 new prospective jurors up to the box to began the questioning. At the end of the day, I was still sitting in the "audience" section with the jury not yet selected. Needless to say, I go back again tomorrow at 9 a.m. for more fun.

Seriously, it wasn't bad though. Other than the standing and waiting, it was a WHOLE lot less stressful than going into the office. And listening to the judge and attorneys question prospective jurors about their lives was kind of interesting. It seems that just about everyone is closely related to someone in law enforcement AND just about everyone is closely related to someone who has been arrested and/or convicted of a crime. Go figure! One juror's mother, brother, and sister had all been arrested at one time or another for driving under the influence of alcohol, and I believe the juror's father is a retired highway patrol officer. Most of the questioning, in fact, focused on (1) relationships with people in law enforcement and (2) prior experiences with crime.

The judge asked one juror to tell him about the time her sister was car jacked. As she related the story, the sister was stopped at a stop light when a man approached, showed her a gun, and told her to get out of her car. She promptly complied. The judge then asked whether the sister ever recovered her property. "Yes," the juror said, "the man got in the car and couldn't drive a stick shift, so he got back out again and ran off." Well, as you can imagine, we all had a good laugh at that one!

Oh, and did I mention? The defense attorney had really excellent shoes! (Yes, the defendant has a female attorney.) I think I might be biased as a result of good taste in footwear, but how do you bring that up during juror questioning? Well, maybe they'll select a jury before they call me up there to answer questions and I won't have to wrestle with my conscience. Or maybe the prosecution will have better shoes tomorrow, although the prosecutor is a man, so I kind of doubt that.

Well, enough chit chat. Time to get to sleep, because I have to be back in court in the morning. Thanks for stopping by!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail . . .

Cheep!

Can you believe this is my 802nd post? I just noticed when I signed in. What have I had to talk so much about?!

Tomorrow I go back to court to find out whether they'd like me to be on the jury for the murder trial. Work has been SOOOO hectic and stressful lately, I'm seriously thinking that serving as a juror on a murder trial would be a nice little vacation! We'd get an hour and a half for lunch each day, and court would be in session most days from around 9 a.m. to 4:30 or 5 p.m. Not to mention the fact that the rest of the day would be a little like watching Court TV all day except I couldn't do it in my pajamas. As for tomorrow morning, at least I don't have to get up before the roosters this time--I just have to be there by 9, which really means getting there at 8:30 to get parking, etc. The BIG question is: Should I clean out my purse again? I think I'll opt for not cleaning it out. Remember my wish list from the other night? The wish about going to bed early with a good book? I'm planning to do that tonight, and cleaning out my purse might mean staying up half the night!

Speaking of staying up half the night, it feels like that's what I did last night. I spent a good part of Saturday cleaning house and decorating for Spring, and I didn't turn out my light until around 2:30 a.m. At around 4 a.m., I woke up with one of those nasty, nasty calf muscle cramps. You know the ones, right? I think I moved a little to fast to try to stretch it out and I could feel it all the way down to my foot. In fact, it's still sore tonight. Once I went back to sleep, every time I moved, it woke me up again. ARGH! Then Spike--our pesky cat. She started climbing on my desk and pulling up the tabletopper on my dresser around 7 a.m. in an effort to wake me up to feed her. I finally got up long enough to escort her to the bedroom door and close it behind her. Yes, all in all, NOT a restful night's sleep!

I thought I'd throw a few photos at you--some of you have mentioned you enjoy seeing how I decorate the little areas of my home for each season, so I wanted to share. You'll notice the photos sprinkled here and there throughout this post.

Both of my Bette Bunny wallhangings are currently residing at the quilt shop, so the wall above my dresser in the kitchen looks a little bare. Since I have a few kits cut, I thought about making another one but seriously--I've made three including Buckey and that's plenty for now. And that lampshade? It really should be white, I think. Unfortunately the white lampshade suffered a little accident when Hubby dropped that three drawer shelf on it. I think there's some unwritten law that says men should break at least as many things as they fix!

The thrift store Beatrix Potter print ended up on my mantle along with the wool bunny pincushion. And see the blue and green things on top of the candleholders? Those are two really cute felted wool eggs that Bearpaws & Hollyhocks carried--really darling!

Well, it's time for me to take a nice, hot bath and head to bed with that book. I hope you enjoyed your weekend! Thanks for hopping in to visit!

A Star is Born

I think I've mentioned that the Wild Child is in a band, right? I thought I'd share a few photos she's sent and tell you a little bit about it. Here's the band--The Over the Garage Band. The Wild Child is the one leaning out the window the furthest. She's also the only girl. And the youngest. By a couple decades, I think.

Mostly they play old rock and roll songs. The Wild Child told us they play a few "newer" things by Sublime and Nirvana, but I'm thinking those must be getting pretty old too since some of those band members went to rock and roll heaven awhile back. Recently the band's begun writing some of their own songs. I mentioned one of them HERE--"Sweatin' Out The Alcohol." Hummmm. Well what do you expect from someone whose "day job" is bartending?

Their first real gig took place in a pizza parlor/bar. On that occasion, she received her first fan letter. It was written on a paper plate and said something like "Love your voice. Lose the band."

Their next gig, I think, was playing at a house party. It went pretty well, but I believe I recall her saying they had a little trouble with the electricity at that one. I think they blew the power out near the end and didn't get to finish their set.

The most recent gig was actually a paying one. Of course, she could have made more money working her regular bartending job, but still . . . . This gig was a rail jam. Know what that is? Here, I'll show you some photos and let her tell it in her words:

"Last week I had a show in Donner. It was a party and rail jam. If you didn't know, a rail jam is a competition between snowboarders or skiers (or both) to see who can pull off the best trick on a rail or obstacle. It was a really cool setting. We were set up on an outdoor stage in the snow. We faced the rail jam competition. So I was singing and watching guys pull flips and spins off these crazy jumps."

"There were a few minor obstacles to overcome though. We were setting up the equipment and about to do a sound check when the power went out on the whole block. PG&E said there were 200 homes in that area without power. Now, it's important to tell you that the power to the stage was this crazy rig where there was a large cable coming out of the fuse box on the second story deck of the house nearby. This large cable then ran to the stage at least 300 ft away. So when the power went out the guy running the event was worried they would get in trouble for the strange set up and disconnected it. The power finally came on at about 6:20 pm but it took us another 20 minutes to wake up the guy who did the power set up from his drug and alcohol induced slumber. Finally with only about an hour of light, and thus warmth, left, we performed as snowboarders hucked themselves off jumps, rails, and log rides, and the crowd built a bonfire."

So here's my girl, singing her heart out.

Hey! Is anyone paying attention?!

I wonder what proper etiquette is at one of these things if someone wipes out really bad and breaks stuff? Does the band keep playing?

If any record producers happen to be reading this, give that girl a contract, okay? I'm expecting my kids to support me when I retire, and she's going to need a lot of money to keep me supplied with fabric!

Wish Fulfillment

Friday night at last! I may not be in bed early eating bonbons, but I'm most definitely going to bed with a good book and getting a good night's sleep--and sleeping in on Saturday!

I know you're waiting to find out if you won the wool Easter egg needle case kit, so I won't keep you in suspense. The winner is Arlene (No-Blog) who commented: "Kim, The needle case is absolutely adorable! I never miss checking in on your blog. It makes my day!" (I know it probably sometimes seems like flattery could play a role in the winners I select, but truly it's all just luck, although I certainly appreciate the kind comments!) Arlene, please email me your mailing address and, if I receive it in time, I'll get the kit in the mail to you on Saturday. Congratulations!

I wanted to share a photo with you of the red, white, and blue quilt. It was VERY windy today, but I was determined to get a good photo. I'm sure it was quite comical to watch me trying to photograph a quilt in gale force winds, climbing up and down a smallish ivy covered hill carrying quilt, push pins and a camera! Every time the wind would blow, I'd climb back up that hill and add another push pin!

Since most of the classes I teach are based on quilt patterns of my own design, I'll be publishing this pattern soon, so I needed a decent photo for the pattern cover. By the way, I think I'm also going to have a little contest soon because I need to come up with a good name for this pattern, and I thought you all could help--so watch for it in the next week or two, and in the meantime, put your thinking caps on!

I spent this evening--now that the rush to complete quilts for the quilt shop open house is finally over--putting together the last few Bette Bunny wool kits. I had sold out what I'd kitted up originally, and with Easter only a week away, I suspect I won't sell all of these last few kits, but it might be nice to hold onto them for next year. And I have a special little treat for the Sacramento locals--I dropped off the class quilts at Bearpaws & Hollyhocks tonight and asked Lindy, the owner, whether she'd mind if I had a little giveaway of a Bette Bunny kit at the open house. She approved, so if you don't have any other big plans on Sunday, stop by the shop and put your name in the drawing!

And what am I planning NEXT? Well, as soon as Easter is over, you can expect to see a few cherries around here! Thanks for stopping in to visit with me.

Wish List

The one drawback to writing my blog just before bed is that by the time I sit down to write, I'm getting tired and I've forgotten half the stuff I thought I might write about! Well, it probably wasn't important anyway.

I'm reminded, though, that I have a wish list and I thought I'd share.

1. Sleep. Yep, it sure would be nice to sleep more than five hours a night sometime soon. Maybe tomorrow night. That would be good.

2. A night of not having to do anything. This kind of goes along with #1. I've been getting the Hats quilt and the Patriotic Patchwork quilt ready to drop off at the quilt shop for the open house and I haven't really had a spare moment to do anything else. Sure would be nice to go to bed early with a good book and eat bonbons or something decadent one of these nights. No pressures. No "stuff" to do. Just relax.

3. Changing gears a little here, because despite the fact that this is MY blog and MY wish list, it really doesn't have to all be about me--I'm nice that way. I thought I'd mention a friend's "wish" in hopes you might be able to help. She's looking for a quilt pattern with something like Japanese houses/temples. I don't really "do" Asian fabrics/patterns, so I'm at a loss. Any ideas?

Hummmm. I think I've run out of wishes for now--reasonably achieveable ones, anyway. Tomorrow night I'll draw a winner for the little Easter egg needle case kit, so check back late tomorrow night or early Saturday morning to see who won. And if you're in Sacramento or the surrounding area on Sunday, come by Bearpaws & Hollyhocks quilt shop between noon and 4 p.m. for the open house/meet the teachers event--I'd love to see you there!

Look What I Bought You!

Okay, it's time for another giveaway! I was at Bearpaws & Hollyhocks tonight for the monthly Jo's Little Women Club meeting and Lindy had the monthly little wool kits available for April. This month, they're Easter egg needle cases.

These are so darn cute, I couldn't resist getting one for me and one for one of you! Leave me a comment and I'll draw a winner Friday night. Stop back by to visit Saturday morning to see if your name was drawn, and if the winner sends me his/her snail mail address early enough in the day, Hubby will head down to the post office and put the kit in the mail Saturday. Good luck!

COMMENTS CLOSED--WINNER TO BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY!

True? Or Not?

This news story was brought to my attention today, and I thought it was worth sharing:

"In Stuttgart, Germany, a court judge must decide on a case of honorable intentions in a situation where a man hired his neighbor to get his wife pregnant.

It seems that Demetrius Soupolos, 29, and his former beauty queen wife, Traute, wanted a child badly, but Demetrius was told by a doctor that he was sterile. So, Soupolos, after calming his wife's protests, hired his neighbor, Frank Maus, 34, to impregnate her. Since Maus was already married and the father of two children, plus looked very much like Soupolos to boot, the plan seemed good.

Soupolos paid Maus $2,500 for the job and for three evenings a week for the next six months, Maus tried desperately, a total of 72 different times, to impregnate Traute. When his own wife objected, he explained, "I don't like this any more than you. I'm simply doing it for the money. Try and understand."

When Traute failed to get pregnant after six months, however, Soupolos was not understanding and insisted that Maus have a medical examination, which he did. The doctor's announcement that Maus was also sterile shocked everyone except his wife, who was forced to confess that Maus was not the real father of their two children.

Now Soupolos is suing Maus for breach of contract in an effort to get his money back, but Maus refuses to give it up because he said he did not guarantee conception, but only that he would give an honest effort."

In fact, I thought the story was worth sharing with my husband too--since he's unemployed I'm always trying to think up ways to bring in a little extra income!

Now I should mention that I don't know if there's any truth to the story. I've done a little internet research and there are conflicting opinions. Either way, though, I figured it made for an entertaining story, particularly since today's April Fool's Day.

I hope you'll go out today and play an April Fool's trick or two. Do you have a story about one that's been pulled on you or a favorite that you've successfully pulled on someone else? I'm always looking for good ideas!