December 24: Happy Christmas Eve

Life has been moving by at flank speed, but today I am mainly just kicking back.  After reading through many posts from others, I felt moved to actually do a bit of writing, or maybe what I have decided is to list things that have happened within me, to me, and around me.

Since I last wrote in mid-October, I have....

• finished yet another semester of school, as a student
• made 2 small quilts
• done lots of cutting, sanding, and drilling
• started a Face book page for the woodworking business
• cleaned house, but not enough
• cooked, but not necessarily often
• written reams of papers
• learned more about business insurance than I ever wanted
• prayed for many others and for myself
• played with my grandchildren
• done business bookwork, but am always behind
• dreamed about the life of a quilter
• worked as a vendor in our business's booth at several craft shows
• opened a more permanent booth for our Woodworking business at The Warehouse in Brandon (year-round)
• gained weight I do not want
• gotten re-acquainted with old friends
• contemplated getting a puppy
• read a few novels and lots of textbooks
• started planning two family reunions at our house for July
• enjoyed a great Thanksgiving Day with many of my family
• Shredded lots of paper
• been through several good snow storms
• laughed at some funny movies
• enjoyed several delightful evenings with friends
• finished some small sewing projects for Dad
• promised myself I would get organized before the end of the year - I am getting closer and so is the end of the year
• love much
• counted my blessings daily
• considered the future, but enjoyed the present
• read many recipes and made a few
• considered once again the idea of writing a book
• made thousands of quilts in my head
• found so new friends
• considered myself very fortunate and blessed
• thought about a new hobby, but have not invested much time in starting one

I do not live in a dream world but love the world I am living in.

Life is GOOD!

October 11: Losing Focus or Maybe Just Different Focus?

I have not been very faithful about writing my posts.  School and the business are winning all of my time.  Love all of it - mostly.  However, I do miss writing and reading blog posts. 

In two weeks, I will finish my most involved class, but we are now entering the holiday craft show phase, so I am sure I will still be quite busy.  If you want to check us out on our custom woodworking web site, it is finally working the way I wanted it to.


www.krhwoodllc.com

September 21: Random Thoughts

Here we go again!  Can't upload with this program.  Wonder how long it will take for Blogger to get it fixed.  GRRRRRRRRR...... The major reason for writing this post was to share a few photos.  I will when the system starts working again.

Considered dropping out of school for a few hours on Tuesday.  Computer was driving me crazy, I had created the problems myself and also corrected them myself.  Got back on track!

Had to take a series of random photos with strangers for models.  Had to tell them what I was doing and have them sign a model release.  I am not so good with walking up to strangers for this kind of thing, but everyone of them accepted.

Homework this week has mostly been enjoyable and easy to accomplish - just time consuming for a few assignments.

Worked in the shop Wednesday morning.  Stained my new creations, sanded picture frames, and held the ends of long boards for cutting.  Did homework whenever I took a 10 minute break.

Photos should go here.

Did my share of painting the house, or at least the low parts of the addition.  Now that is done, our place looks like it fits into the neighborhood.

Yesterday, I working in the shop, did homework, did laundry, and helped a bit at a rehearsal dinner.

Photo should go here.

Thought I would share one photo of how my new creation will be used,  Kevin and I collaborated on building wooden stands to display small embroidered projects that Dad will be selling a couple of craft shows.  The design is our creation so I am not revealing how it is put together - copyrighted.  We are planning to sell these stands to customers for a variety of different handcrafted fabric projects.  I can envision them with miniature quilts, Dad's embroidery projects, needlepoint, and appliqued pieces.  Why not just buy something out there? 

• Well, having handwork framed can be very expensive.
• Wooden frames don't display these projects as something fully completed by the "artist".
• Designs can be changed regularly.
• Just a couple of changes and a larger or smaller piece can be used.
• The stand looks great on the fireplace mantle or on a shelf.
• Handmade gifts are showcased, not the frames,
• Etc.
• Etc.

Even if the system is not working............

Life is GOOD!

September 15: Enjoying Sunday

We began the day with church, and then I was on the "corn" team for our annual church turkey dinner.  We used lobster size stockpots and prepared pan after pan of it.  After my 2 hour shift, Kevin and Dad joined me for a delicious dinner.  Great way to spend the morning!

Afterwards, it was time to work on a design in the shop.  Sunday is our day to be creative and do what we enjoy.  We designed a stand for displaying small quilts and other needlework designs.  Dad loves to embroider and I love quilts, so these stands are a great idea.  We also made very simple frames to use in a like manner.  4 hours of work/play was well worth it.

After a huge turkey dinner, we did not really need or want a real dinner, so we made popcorn, played with our laptops, and are still watching Avatar. This is the way to end this day of rest. 

Life is GOOD!

September 8: Quilting and Relaxing

Today is our day to step back from the hectic parts of our life.  Kevin and I have decided that we will use Sunday, each week, to do things that we love.  It can be woodworking or quilting or pontooning (if the wind and weather cooperate) or even homework, but what we are doing must be relaxing.

I started out with feeling miserable because of this cold, but I got up and knew I could do whatever I wanted today and that the world would not fall apart if I did nothing at all.  I put a roast in the crockpot, spent a few hours taking pictures with my camera for my photography class - lots of fun! Then I went down to the studio and decided to do brainless piecing.  My cold makes me feel a little fuzzy!

I am making another half-square triangle quilt - a pinwheel.  It is being made up of coin strips that are made from
all kinds of leftover strips and some green fabric that will never be used for anything else.  This quilt will be the last of the quilts needed for the grandkids' bunk room.
 Each pinwheel measures 10" x 10".  Many of the strips are leftover from the Byrnes cousin quilts, but there are quite a few other memories being sewn into this one.  When I quilt it, I plan to use loops or swirls, but as always, the goal will be to make it light and airy.

Just think of it is a HAPPY quilt.

Life is GOOD!

August 30: Goodbye Summer, Hello Favorite Seasons

Not one to love summer except for some of the fruits and veggies.  Pontooning is great, but ours has not seen much water this summer.  Hot and sweaty is definitely one of my favorite conditions of life, either.

Temps are supposed to break this weekend.  Can't wait for the promise of longer walks on the trails.  As I said, I don't do sweat well.

Hope all of you have a chance to rest from your normal labors and enjoy a long weekend.  I am going to do all of it >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

• study
• pay household bills
• complete all the business paperwork and file
• study
• study
• play with my software
• study
• play with my digital camera
• study
• BEST OF ALL, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TWO OF THE GRANDKIDS AND THEIR PARENTS HERE FOR THE WEEKEND! (PARTY)

Life is GOOD!

August 29: Adjustment Takes Time

I have finished the first week of classes.  I am taking 6 classes.  Business Communications, Marketing Public Relations, Integrated Marketing Advertising, Illustrator Essentials, Photoshop, and Photography.  All but the Bus Comm are on Tues/Thurs so I am at school from 7:15 to 6:30, but  couple of the hours include time for lunch and studying. I am excited about each and every one of them.
 Most of the classes are very hands-on, but there will be a learning curve as well as a readjustment to monitoring things on the home front.  I have not monitored all that goes on in the kitchen because I have not eaten with the guys several nights this week, Jamie's family is coming for the weekend, and last week, I had already planned to bake just one kind of bars.  Dad does a lot of the baking, but he does not tell me or write on the grocery list when he uses things up.  Brown sugar is a staple for the man.  Oatmeal on the other hand is not.  Even so, he used them all up and did not even mention it when we were at the store this evening discussing this evening's baking.  So I improvised and used just plain white sugar instead of brown and used my steel cut oatmeal (did not consider how that would be different).  Think these bars will be a little different and maybe a bit crunchy.  Fortunately, I made only a single batch so if the experiment does not work we won't be out much.
On the other hand, it has been very hot and humid this week and working in the shop needs to end by early afternoon - no air conditioning.  When I arrived home tonight there was a delightful surprise waiting.  The guys vacuumed, dusted, and made guest beds for our weekend's company.  All we had left was grocery shopping and the bars.  These are now done, so tomorrow will be used for business paperwork, homework, shop assisting, and more practice with the hands-on classes.

Adjusting to changes is always a bit of a challenge, but we will get back into the swing of things.

Life is GOOD!