We have been in a deluge for the last three days. I finally hauled out the camera and took some photos. This one was one of my favorite.

I have finally gotten my room cleaned out and it’s all set up for crafting. First up will be Hubby’s quilt and a bag for Amanda. Photos later!

….with a little assistance from Mercury.

and my new computer:

The yarn is some Cider Moon Glacier in June Carter that I swappeed with a dear friend. I finally pulled it out for the Summer of Socks 2009 on Ravelry. I’m not really following along, but it’s nice to get some inspiration.

My husband has been asking me when I was going to make his quilt since the three that I have made previously were for other people. This week I went to my local quilt shop, I found 11 fat quarters, shashing fabric and some lovely flannel for the backing. Being in Florida, I wanted a quilt that could be used year round without the bulk. I knew that I didn’t want to do a heavy batting, but I couldn’t decide on what. Laura, the owner of Cotton Patch Quilt Shop, suggested no batting and a flannel back, which I think will be awesome. Hubby isn’t too fond of bright colors, but he LOVED these when I brought them home.

The flannel is on the far right. This will be a similar pattern as Amanda’s Wizard of Oz Quilt. I also picked up these half yard from another shop in town. Amanda saw them and loved them so I told her I’d make her whatever she wanted that I could get out of the half yards. I think she wants a tote bag for work.

I’ve also pulled out three other yarns for socks this summer.

From the top, that is Shibui Sock in Orchid, Knitterly Things Vesper in Lollipop and Toe Jamz in City of New Orleans. I’ve printed several sock patterns, so we’ll see what emerges. Busy week here, Amanda starts her new job, and my inlaws are coming for a few days. I hope that a weather system that they’re watching stays away, otherwise, we could be in for a wet 4th!

Last night, Hubby and I watched our computers and got to see the SkillsUSA National Awards Ceremony. Imagine our shock when we saw that Amanda and her team took BRONZE!  The baby Freshman team who were going to Regionals for the experience ended up THIRD at NATIONALS! We were crazy people screaming and jumping up and down. I was so thrilled that I was able to see her get her medal and see her surprise and sheer joy.I’m waiting for a couple of photos but, here are a couple as they got off the plane.

Can you tell how excited they were! The two boys on either end were in a separate category and they took fourth. It was a very successful trip and it was the first team that their adviser had anyone medal. 

We were told that several of the judges were very complimentary about Amanda and her skills as a director. One of the judges who is in the television industry told her that if he was going to hire anyone from that competition, he would hire Amanda. Now that they placed as Freshmen, the pressure is on for next year!

Well, it finally happened. I put my baby on a plane to go half way across the country without me or without meeting a relative! Amanda is so excited so I decided to snap a couple of photos before the trip so she would remember it.

Packing last night. She had several detailed lists of what she had to remember. It’s going to be in the high 90s all week in Kansas City. Hotter there than here in Florida. I would imagine that the humidity is less.

A very sleepy Amanda at 4:52 AM this morning. We all got about three hours of sleep last night. She was excited and couldn’t sleep. I drank Chai tea, got interested in a tv show and then had some teenage boys decide to set off massive fireworks in our yard at 1 am. I wasn’t happy and if I could have gotten ahold of them I would have rung their necks and dared a jury to find me guilty.

The whole Southeast High School contingent. The front four are Amanda, Kaylee, Ricci, and Andrew and the back two are the team for the TV/Video Competition, Alex and Ryan. This is the last we saw of them before they turned around and went through the gates to the trams. That’s the last time I talked to her. She texted to me to tell me that they got there and were at the hotel. Updates as they become available.

This is the top of Dad’s quilt. Yes, I hope to get it in the mail tomorrow. Still have to do the back and binding. Going to be a long night.

There comes a time in every woman’s life when she must say goodbye to a dear and trusted friend.  It makes us sad to have to do this, but eventually something happens to make us have to give her up.  My friend and I have been together for nearly fifteen years.  She has seen me through the long and short of things, the thick and the thin, a divorce, a move to another state and travel back to see my family. She’s been yelled at, stepped on, dropped and hidden in a drawer, yet she has never complained, never admonished or scolded. In short, she has been a loyal and steadfast friend since the day I met her in 29 Palms, California.

Recently, she has begun to smoke, smell funny and generally fall down on the job. There were days when she refused to cooperate at all and days she stayed hidden. Yesterday, she finally just gave up the ghost and went to the big hair dryer heaven in the sky. She wasn’t pretty when she went, but I’m confident that she’ll be a whole hairdryer in her new home.

With her permission, and references, I was able to secure a new, shiny, hairdryer with attachments! 

I am confident that we will have just as long a friendship as her predecessor.

See!

Even though the last day of school was Thursday, Amanda has summer homework for Spanish II and English. For Spanish, she has to make a doll of some sort and make a scrapbook detailing what the doll is doing. She has specific guidelines about what parts of speech she has to use how many times she has to use them. There has to be a total of 24 photos as well. Amanda didn’t want a traditional doll, so last Sunday as I was browsing though Etsy, I came upon a pattern for this cute owl. Amanda fell in love with it, so this weekend I made it for her. She helped out, but I did the knitting since we’d be sitting here until her senior year if she had to knit it. She is traveling this summer so she will have lots of opportunities for photo shoots with this owl. I still have to add his name or the initials of the high school in the school colors…she’s still trying to decide what she wants, but for now, it’s done. It took about three hours from start to finish, maybe not even that long. I took a break in the middle to run to Michael’s for the eyes. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!