Time to Catch Up...

It is March already!  I sound surprised.  Right?  Well, sometimes I have difficulty remembering which month it is.  Not because I'm having memory problems, but because the weather is so different (read great!) here as compared to the weather in Wisconsin.

I joined a gym!  Anytime Fitness!  So psyched to get this body into better shape.  I also belong to Weight Watchers.   It's been good and bad...mostly good.  Slowly, slowly.  But I am not giving up.

Mom is feeling better and better...in fact, she joined Anytime Fitness, too!  She rides on the recumbent bike to strengthen her leg muscles and she works on the hip abduction machine.  Her difficulties with walking - due to her Parkinson's - should improve as she continues to work at it.  

Those of you not on Facebook have missed seeing the photos I post of Mom, so here are a few of the most recent.

Walking to get my mail...

Out to lunch.

At my table eating a huge hot fudge sundae!  (Yes, she ate the entire thing!)

I have gotten the embroidery piece almost finished...should really take the time to do the rest.  Any ideas on how to finish it?  The pattern is printed relatively close to the edge of the fabric, so I added strips to help keep it in the hoop.  I may do more stitching.

I have been knitting, also!  Face cloths.  I love them made with Cotlin, a blend of linen and cotton. These two are knitted with the color Harbor...a deeper blue/green than it shows here.

No pattern...just garter stitch with a few rows of purling here and there.

And.  Yes.  Sewing.  Not as much as I would like, but quite a bit since I last posted. 

I made a quilt for Tony (nephew) and Sabrina's soon-to-be-born baby boy.  Just a simple patchwork. The red/white striped piece with the dotted binding in the lower right corner are a just a little bit of a nod to Baby Alexander's parents...Sabrina was in the service and Tony is currently in the Air Force.   I think this measures about 42 inches square.  

2 cat quilt pallets for donation to the Humane Society of Fremont County. 

A  baby quilt I made a few years ago with fabric from Cathy that I just finished.
Measures ~38" square.

A soft gray for the backing with a scrappy binding in Kona solids.
I quilted it with straight lines on each side of every seam
and diagonally down the center of each block...both ways.
   

I have more to show you, but I am running out of time.  Mom and sister Julie are coming for lunch and to play cards.    

Have a great weekend!


"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Donations NEEDED!

Any size, any amount, lump sum, monthly payment.  Whatever works best for you.

Yeah.  So.  I went for my first visit to the fitness center yesterday.  Nice!  I did some cycling and then some strength stuff...worked my back, my lats, my bis, my tris, my blah, blah, blah.  Today was the appointment to have my body assessed.  ha!  What a  hoot!  Actually.  They're kinda mean.  The fitness place.  They signed me up with a young hot hard-bodied boy!  To assess me.  How unfair.  Mike...an EMT/volunteer fireman (just like my son).  Just adorable.  And, by the way, has PSALM 91 tattooed on his left forearm (not the entire psalm, but the words, 'psalm 91').  Made me smile even more!  Anyway.  I totally left my inhibitions at the door, so the hour with Mike was more fun than embarrassing.  It was also very interesting.  I learned a lot, did a lot and was pleasantly surprised to hear that I am more flexible than he thought I would be. 

Okay.  The donations.  Needed!!!  So that I can have Mike be my personal trainer.  

I am just kidding.  Well, I do want a personal trainer, but it's very, very expensive.  So, I'll pass.  For now.  Until I strike it rich.  Or, win the lottery!

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Must leave something for you to look at...

so here's a photo of my current project.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

Momentum...

I am over the top excited and about to bust my seams!  And, it sure wouldn't be a pretty sight for anyone's eyes to behold.  hahaha.

Here's the first thing.  I quit smoking.  Quit.  Done.  No more.  7 days smoke-free and feeling strong.  Kinda like the Helen Reddy song, "I am woman...hear me roar!"  Empowered is my word of the day.

I've been doing a lot thinking about myself.   Trying to figure out what it is that I need.  Praying and asking God for direction.  Considering all that I do and don't do to take care of myself.  I made up my mind that - once and for all - I need to quit smoking, lose weight and become healthy.  So.  That's what I'm doing.  

I feel great.  How did I quit smoking, you ask?  I smoked one night up until bedtime and didn't smoke the next morning.  Or since.  Easy as that.  No nicotine patches, no nicotine chewing gum, no drugs, no hypnosis.  What then, you ask?  

God.  It's me and God.  I asked for His help and He is giving it.  He definitely has my back on this one.   

And, I joined a fitness club!  Today.  Yup, I did!  I am sooo excited!  It is really time for me.  Ya know when you feel a nudge...inside of yourself...like a 'come on, you can do it' sort of thing.  Or, like a 'well, I really should try this...' but then you don't.  Today I feel as if the wind is at my back...moving me forward.  Momentum...moving toward...what? 

So, that's what I'm feeling.  

My Faith in God and a wee bit of my Irish heritage.  

Awesome! 

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10