The Many Faces of Mr. Gee

So ... The Gees were with me this lovely Memorial Day weekend. L'il Gee was the most fun, let's be honest. (Mom and Dad Gee: you were fun ... you just weren't the most fun.) This top pic is of the l'il guy perfecting his badmitton serve.

Here he is with the Go-To Grin.

This would be the Fake Pouty Face.

Not really sure what to call this one.

I guess he just gets tired of the paparazzi. It's tough to be so popular.

Good Things - Small Packages

So ... I am (somewhat) caught up on all of my projects that I need to do for my teaching duties at this store. This little beauty pictured above is the Club sample that I'll be teaching this Wednesday. It comes from the book, Fat Quarter Quilting by Lori Smith. All of our club projects for the next while will come from that book.

Just so you know ... this puppy is just a wee thing, measuring only about 16" x 22". But if you are thinking I whipped her up in a couple of hours, you would be sorely mistaken. That there's a lot of piecing and a lot of applique.

And a LOT of fun ... who are we kidding?

A Whale of a Good Time

So ... yesterday afternoon I did something I had been excitedly thinking about for a couple of weeks. I wandered up to my local Cinema and spent 1.5 glorious hours in a trance as I watch the aforementioned documentary. I was mesmerized as I believe the other two people in the theatre were also.

I love, love, love everything to do with the ocean and to see it all on the big screen was absolutely a thrill to me. My favorites, of course, were the whales, but there was nary a creature I didn't feel absolutely facinated by.

There is only a short message at the end regarding the obvious (but unheeded) call to quit throwing your trash in the ocean people, a point already beautifully well made by then.

See. This. Movie. Then go to the beach (with a trash bag in tow) and see it for yourself.

Good Morning New York!

So ... along with being a shout-out to Sonny Boy and the Mrs. who have a *New York Sunrise* in their life every single day, I just wanted to show you that procrastination didn't exactly pay, but it did eventually pay off. Remember how I put myself under the gun and full of stress when I made a last minute decision to make this New York Beauty quilt to teach? Well, I finished it in time and I must say I'm tickled pink about it.

The pattern is my own but was inspired (as was the quilting) by several quilts I saw in Radiant New York Beauties by Valorie Wells. I'll be teaching *New York Sunrise* in August at Bernina Connection. It's on a Saturday, so I know you all can be there.

You heard me. Be there.

Gee Whiz!!

So ... I haven't been the best of bloggers lately. (Oh reaaaaaallllly.) If you must know, my services were called upon to spend the week in delightful So Cal and take care of my precious Mr. Gee for half the week and then spend the rest of the week with all the Gees, soaking up the sun and celebrating motherhood.

And Grand Motherhood.

The top pic is from our day at the "small park". (Mr. Gee has many, many parks from which to choose, but on our first day alone, he chose the smallest one.) Several days later, I took him to Pretend City where he participated in several grown-up-type jobs and drove several grown-up-type vehicles. The picture above is of him driving his favorite truck. It was my favorite also because it allowed me some rest from hauling my gi-normous purse around. Some people might think this is an activity to be reported to those who enforce child labor laws ... but I beg to differ.

This last pic is from our Mother's Day FunFest. The water in this pool was heated and he was oh-so-tempted by it.

Thank you Gees for letting me be a part of the festivities and for trusting me to spend all that (exhausting) quality time with the Mister. Now that there will be two, two, two Gee children to look after (yep ... and the next one is pink!) I am definitely going to have to do some endurance training.

Starting ... tomorrow.

Tinkerbell is Alive and Well!

So ... I'm guessing that you probably want to learn to fly too. First, you must know that it's all about the Magic Fairy Dust.

Combined with the delightful exuberance of Miss Dub1.

A lesson in Blue and White

So ... my dearest Sonny Boy and Mrs. Boy were here this weekend, and I cannot stress enough how much I enjoyed their visit.

While they were here, Sonny Boy was very helpful with some man-around-the-house/tall-person jobs. I even mentioned to him that I might want him to go a certain store where exotic rugs are sold, to help me buy a rug I had had my eye on for many moons and then help me move the furniture necessary to lay it down.

Just yesterday when we had a few minutes before taking them to the airport, he mentioned it to me, but I foolishly declined and made him haul around pool tablets at a different store instead. Besides, I hadn't entirely made up my mind on the rug and wanted to add a few more months to the decision making process ... because that is what I do.

And yet today, when I just happened to make my way to that store and happened to pass by the exotic rug department I decided, what the heck, I can do this thing by myself.

Which I did ... while expending much sweat in the process. The moral of this story:

Moms ... listen to your children. They are generally smarter than you.

A Pile of Pink Procrastination

So ... I have finally sewn something to blog about (I have actually been sewing my brains out, but I'm not ready to blog about that stuff quite yet) but it comes with a cautionary tale attached. Yesterday morning, while on the treadmill, I started thinking about what I would present that evening at the Teacher's Meeting at Bernina Connection. Most of the classes I teach are "Basics" and I repeat them each time ... hence no need to do anything but paperwork before the aforementioned meeting. However, it's nice to have something new and normally I would have been planning it for at least a couple of months ... or at worst a couple of weeks.

While thinking about it yesterday morning, I realized I had approximately 6.78 hours to plan, prepare and 'patch', that is if I chose not to eat, shower or use the facilities during that block of time. Despite those unpleasant odds, I still decided to go ahead and "whip up" as much as I could, knowing I do have a couple more weeks to actually turn the sample in.

It took me a couple of hours to pick and draft the pattern that I wanted and another couple to make this one measly block. I have a vague idea what it is I will do when other blocks of a similar nature are added to it, a point I was able to bluff my way around while showing off my pseudo-sample at the meeting.

I will say that my pinks and greens drew some oohs and aahs. I was also chided by a few close friends who held completed samples. I vowed (in my head ... not in public) to finish this one with flare and then go on to learn my lesson.

But you've got to admit that the pinks and greens and ... dots ... do make up for a multitude of personal shortcomings.

Right??

Let there be Light ...

So ... one of the things that I love most about my house is the face that it lets in so much light. After living in the Sunny Land of AZ for over 20 years, light pretty much must be injected into my veins on a daily basis or I am not a happy camper. The picture above is of the Dining Room where I recently removed the heavier toile curtains and replaced them with these white and gauzy beauties.

More light in the Family Room.

Ditto ... my Bedroom.

Oh ... I just found this picture on my other camera when I downloaded it. If that isn't the lightest, brightest bit of sunshine you've ever seen, then I don't know what is.

Here's to a Pastelicious Weekend ...

So ... yesterday a friend brought me this absolutely splendid flowers. And yes, they smell as lovely as they look.

A few weeks ago when the Dub Girls were here, they picked out this scrumptious bunny for me. It's no surprise that she is dressed in pink. That is Miss Dub1's all-time favorite color. Consequently, this is my all-time favorite bunny.


I wish you a sunny and spectacular Easter weekend. That is indeed what has been ordered for my neck of the woods.

Life is Funny

So ... life is funny. Take today for instance. I had a busy day and upon returning home, I stopped to get my mail. It was all pretty much junk except that lo and behold, there amongst the junk was a ... magic key. (My mail comes to one of those multi-user boxes at the end of the street where, if I receive anything bigger than the usual, I am given a key to open another ... larger ... box where I will find some sort of package. I agree ... this has game show written all over it.) Much to my delight and shake-my-head-surprise it was from my friend Ginger. Let me explain:

Ginger and I have never met, we live thousands of miles apart, but we know each other three different ways. (#1) She is the sister-in-law to not one but two of my daughters' roommates. (#2) She is a quilter and a blogger and (#3) She won a Give-Away of mine back in the day when life was normal and I did stuff like ... give stuff away.

Well, my package contained these three oh-so-lovely fabrics that are oh-so-me with a note that said she was weeding through her stash and apparently found these fabrics screaming my name and so she took the time to send them on to me.

Wow. Life is funny.

And good too.

Oooh ... Shiny

So ... I got some new appliances. Let's just say that they were long overdue. Let's also say that I am in awe of their beauty first and their functionality second.

So why am not cooking up a storm and making plans to be The Next Food Network Star?

Give me time. I'm still trying to get over the fact that every time I pass the fridge, lights reflect off of it and I think it's open. That and the fact that I am having a hard time letting anything smudgeable near the stove top.

I'm sorry Ina. I promise to do you proud.

Just give me some time.