Thankfulness (is that a word?)

I haven't posted in a while mostly because I have been busy and haven't felt like it. I hate to post something negative so I don't. Let me explain.

I have had an awakening of sorts in the last month or so. I have had three funerals to attend in the last two months. All men in the prime of their lives. Not related deaths, btw. The first was a manager at my last job. He was sick with esophagal cancer and was fighting it. The last time I saw him was when I was laid off. He seemed well then and I had emailed with him a few times since and talked a couple times on the phone. I was sad to hear he lost his fight with cancer.

The second one really hit me hard. This fellow and I were colleages. We had worked together for many years. He always was a "higher up" than I but he was a friend. He pretty much got me in at my last job where he was the general manager at the time. He said he didn't do anything but give HR my resume, but that was enough. He was promoted to VP of welding over a year ago and I hardly saw him, but we had mutual friends and even had a group of us that would have lunch together whenever we could all manage it. He was a dynamic man. Everyone I know liked him. He was smart and so friendly and engaging. He always brightened a room when he came in. He made everyone feel special. He was one of a kind. He also was only 39 yrs old. (I think) He had a beautiful wife and two small children and he was very involved in their sports and such. Being a coach for his daughters soccer team, etc. He was in great shape and very attractive to boot. He had an injury that lead to his hobbling around and then developed a blood clot. They knew about it. The doctor told him to take aspirin to break it up. One Friday evening he was out to dinner with his family and took his 6 yr old son to the bathroom and collapsed right in front of his son and died. The blood clot broke loose and went to his heart and killed him instantly. It was sudden and unexpected. I miss him so much and I always will. I can't get him out of my thoughts.

The third was a friend and our mechanic to boot. He died last week in a freak motorcycle accident. It was dark and the road curved and he missed the curve and slid on some gravel. He was only 38.

I have had an awakening in my own life and my own mortality because of the last month. I am feeling extremely vulnerable and aware of my shortcomings. I am extremely aware of the importance of making every day count.

I am in terrible shape. I am the heaviest in my life and I feel very uncomfortable in my body. I asked myself...Do I want to live like this for the rest of my life? The answer was no. I decided then to take action now. No more excuses or waiting for another day to make a change. I drew the line in the sand and made a plan and started.
I started my diet on Monday Nov. 9, 2009. I have lost 9 lbs so far. I am determined to do what I need to to make my life better.
Other than the diet, I am planning several other changes.
Some of them are:

• Exercising on a regular basis to improve my body and my heart.
• Making contact with several people who I have lost contact with.
• Cleaning out my house and getting rid of the excess STUFF.
• Taking online classes to educate for a possible job change in future.
• Take stock of my quilting business and either make a better business plan or sell it.

Tomorrow, I start my thankful posts

I know....I KNOW!

I've been MIA....but I can explain...sorta.

First off I got a job about A month ago and if you know me you know that is a very big deal! I had to provide my own computer and it is only a contract job but still...I am working and that is a very good thing! I love the job, nuff said!

I have 4 quilts for others here in the house and I haven't been quilting at all. BAD GIRL! I am changing that this week for sure. I have so much I want to get done in the next month, it is crazy.
I have been sick for a week. Kind of a bronchitis type thing. How sick you ask? Sich enough that I missed 3 days of work and cancelled my trip to Quilting with Machines that I was totally looking forward to and had already paid for all my classes. Hopefully some of my classes sold so I can get back a little of my money. At any rate, I've spent 5 days in the spare room on the pull out sofa and it isn't comfortable. Slept in my own bed last night and it felt great! I am definately better now and will be going to work tomorrow. I spent the day yesterday, changing sheets and doing laundry and cleaning up the house. I just bought all new pillows, sheets and towels at Kohl's a few weeks ago. Everything 50% off! I love Kohl's! So I am washing my old pillows today and Mark will bring a couple up to the motor home next time he goes. They washed up a lot better than I thought they would (feather and down).
So I had big quilting plans for today and I WILL quilt some later. Right now I am cleaning out my closet and making a big bag for Purple Heart pick-up. I am tired of having so many clothes stuffed in my closet and still have nothing to wear.
My list of things to do today is:

• press and cut strips for strip exchange
• finish washing pillows
• clean and mop kitchen
• make cole slaw for dinnner
• finish cleaning out closet
• quilt at least 2 hrs

TA DA!

These are so stinkin' cute! They will be a house warming gift for a friend. They are having a party today. Can't wait to see their new place!

Making pot holders

I am making a few pot holders this morning. We have a house warming party to go to today and Mark is making a creamy pasta salad for our dish to pass and I am making a gift of pot holders. I am using Vicki's directions. They are easy and look great when finished. I made us about 7 of them for our kitchen and I really like them. I'll never BUY another pot holder!

Spicy Salsa

Ah, we love salsa in this house. We eat a LOT of salsa. We like a thick, chunky, spicy variety. We buy Frog Ranch Hot usually but it is around $3 a jar and we can go through 2 or 3 jars a month sometimes. Add it up, that is a lot of $$ for salsa.


My garden doesn't usually produce that well and this year was no differant. My neighbor has been most genorous with his abundant garden this year. Not only with us but several neighbors. He gave us 3 large bags of tomatoes. We tried a new recipe for salsa last week and it only made 3 quarts (= 6 pints). We liked the taste so we made a large batch this time. This has a lot of basil and cilantro and garlic and onions and peppers. It is FULL of flavor and this will last us for around 8 months. I will prolly make one more large batch before the season is through to take us through the year and also Mark loves to give it away to family and friends. We cut up the tomatoes yesterday and let them drain over night in the fridge. Today we added all the other ingrediants and here is the pot simmering. It is full to the top!




Here is the finished product. I tried it and it is delicious!

There is 2.5 hours of my time I won't get back!

My neighbor gave us a TON of tomatoes and we are making our second batch of salsa. The first came out sooooo good and only made 3 qts when it cooked down. This is at least 3 times that much. This is just the tomatoes. They need to drain for a few hours so we do it in two stages. You might not be able to tell but this is an extra deep sink and a huge colander. This will make a lot of salsa! Yummy!

Who needs the Farmer's Market....

....when you have neighbors like ours!

My neighbor Chuck brought over two bags of fresh picked veggies from thier garden. I have lots and lots of tomatoes, some peppers, both hot and mild, some cucumbers, the best green beans ever and a big zucchini. I wasn't planning on it, but Mark has already requested I make salsa tomorrow. I always make salsa first from whatever tomatoes we get because we use so much of it and it is expensive to buy....

So I cleaned the kitchen up and bleached the sink and I'm ready for a cooking day tomorrow. Maybe I'll make a dessert too.