I love having a pool!

UNPACKED! (mostly)

We have landed. Arizona is wonderful. I love it here so far. The place we rented is really great. Brian might disagree. The garage isn't quite big enough and the mustang isn't even here yet. I posted a bunch of pictures for you all to see. Shadow is enjoying her spot on the cool tile floor.

Day 17

4/11
Today was very productive. Vicki came over and helped out. We worked on her project for the book, and she helped with alot of sewing, too. Mom worked on the curved diamond project and I worked on some artwork for the book. I also did some sewing this evening! My quilt top is coming together (thanks Vicki!). See.

Day 16

4/10
Whew! Actually it's already Wednesday because it's 2 a.m. I just finished the entire book layout. There are lots of blanks to fill, but at least all it all has a place and now it's just filling all those images and finshing up the projects at the back. oh and yes of course lots of sewing! I think i will celebrate with a glass of wine and then it's off to bed!!!!

Day 15

4/9
Here is some of the progress.

Wow the time is going too quickly! We won't finish before I have to go back to work. Alot will be done, but there will still be sewing to do. Today, Mom focused on sewing I finished up chapters 5-8. We also started one of the projects for the back of the book. There will be three total and two of Mom's friends are helping with the other two.
Here is the start of project #3.

Days 12-14

4/6-4/8
Finished Chapters 1-4 completely! Did alot of work on the house this weekend. We painted the garage and started to paint the livingroom. A frined of Mom's, daughter is an interior designer. She came over Friday to give me some suggestions on the livingroom. How to arrange the furniture, paint colors, etc. Brian & I were anxious to try out her suggestions so we started painting and moving furniture. We still have lots left to paint but it looks so much better from one side anyway!
See.

Day 11

Thurs 4/5
Wow! I feel like we accomplished alot today. The entire book is mapped out. We now have an idea of just how many additional images and samples we need to create. You can see some of the pages taking shape here in the picture. We've been, writing, re-writing, editing, and tweaking, all while sewing too. Over the next few days Mom is focusing on re-writng a few parts and I am focusing on sewing.

Day 10

Wed 4/4
Yikes! the time is flying by! I'm getting afraid i won't get it all done. I stayed up until midnight last night and got all the way though chapter 4, laying out the pages. I just want to get it all laid out so we can see where we need more quilts, diagrams and samples.

Day 9

Tuesday 4/3
Today was a productive day. Here I am hard at work on my awesome Janome machine. We sewed at my house today. Mom made some samples of the step-by-steps for the book. I worked some on the book layout. I emailed my fellow art directors and some friends for some cover input. Everyone seemed to like it and thought it was eye catching. Most of the day I spent sewing on my quilt.


Here you can see the work in progress on the wall.
I am really enjoying this time away from work doing something different. It's a welcome change of pace. I find I have really missed having the time to sew. I find it just as creative and challenging as my "real" job. :)

Day 8

Spent the day at Mom's working on the book. We got alot accomplished. We reworked some of the chapters, I finshed the cover design (which I will post for all your comments) and I started laying out some of the chapters. Tomorrow will be a sewing day at my house.

Days 6 & 7

Didn't get much sewing done on the weekend but I did play around with some embroidery on my MC1100 on Saturday for a few hours. I worked on piecing some of my mountain quilt too.

Day 5

Pretty much a lost day as far as sewing was concerned. I'll just sum it up in a few words. Spent the day doing the tool biz stuff. This way all the stuff we normally do on Saturday is now done. It makes for a nice relaxing weekend, and the weather is supoosed to be nice as well.

Day 4-part 2

Okay its actually been a productive day. I finshed the room and even got some sewing in. I had to take Wayne to the airport but I ended up sewing from 2-7. I wanted to get a jump on my quilt before Mom gets back from CA. She has been teaching our class and says we need to rewrite some parts for the book. I know we'll be busy Monday.


Phoebe keeps me company in her chair.

Day 4

Okay I've got some catching up to do but the last few days have been a flurry of household stuff.
Day 1: Spent unpacking from our Dallas trip, did LOADS of laundry and spent the entire day giving this house a much needed spring cleaning. Now I don't need to worry about it right? Oh and did I mention caring for a sick husband, men can be such babies.
Day 2: Started to tear apart my sewing room to get it workable afterall I am going to be in there for awhile. There is this huge 100+ lb desk in ther I want out! I am trying to take it apart to take it out in pieces. The damm thing is put together so well. I give up and will try again tomorrow. Dad and I go to purchase a new microwave which we then come back and install. Boy that was a project.
Day 3: Doesn't start out so good I get a call from Brian at 8;30 I have to drive to Fort Lupton because he forgot his computer key. I decide to hit some errands on the way back and end up getting back about 1:30. The day is half gone. I hope this whole sabbatical doesn't go as fast as this first week is! I take another stab at the desk. This time I get some of Brian's tools including a sledge hammer and suceed. Now it is in several pieces out back ready to be hauled off! The room is so much better. I also put up some shelves. I'd like to get some sewing in tomorrow!

30 days of NO work

Yes it's true I am taking a sabbatical of sorts.
For those of you who don't know. I have taken decided to take a 30 day leave of absence from work.
There were several reasons for doing this.
I was feeling burnt out, afterall I have been there doing the same job for 15 years.
I needed the dedicated time to work on the quilt book Mom and I are planning to publish together. It just wasn't happening while I was working full time. I also have a quilt that needs to be done for the book.
And lastly I wanted to celebrate my 10 year anniversary of my breast cancer diagnosis on April 1st!
I want to cherish every moment of my time off!
I will try and post for every day I am off. Already I am behind.

white

it snowed yesterday. First snow of the season. It's hard to think about anything else when it looks so beautiful-everything covered in white, like a new begining. 21 people were out of a job yesterday. i was okay.

me

favorite things: sisters, honesty, my dog, wine, brian, m&m's, motorcycles
bad things: liars, users, exes, slow drivers, people who talk on their cell phones too much
not sure where i am going with this but i am trying to make sense of it all. the current is filled with changes i'm not ready to accept, usually i embrace change but lately i fear it. to much change i have felt i want somethings to just stay.