Today I went into Moscow to meet up with some gals at Quilt Something!. They're the group I met when I went to Pleasant Times, and we're starting a little beginner's quilting group, with me as instructor. The trip was to help those interested pick out fabric and/or patterns to work on at our first meeting next Saturday. Unfortunately, the weather was nasty, so only 3 people showed. One is planning on repairing a 30-year-old quilt as her first project (yikes!), the other is an experienced quilter (more yikes!), and the third is the hostess. She spent a goodly chunk of money on books and fabric. She settled on making a dozen placemats, some trivets, and some potholders as her first project, so we picked out fabric enough for that.
After that, I stopped at Kris' house in Colfax to drop off a hairclip and some earrings I'd borrowed the night we went to CJ's. I met Doug, Kris' husband Gene's cousin. He seems like a real nice guy, although I was only there 15 minutes or so. Came home then, had dinner, and crashed about 11PM. I think I may have FINALLY gotten back on a sleep schedule with the rest of the house after a few weeks' weirdness.
I spent a week flat on my back. I somehow injured it (probably all the bouncing around at the club) and then when I went to stand up with Adam Saturday night (the 10th) it went completely out. Spending that long completely incapacitated was Not Fun for any of us.
I went to the quilt store Saturday (the 17th) and bought some fabric (like... 22 yards) for a quilt I'm working on. One of the fabrics I chose isn't going to work, so I went back yesterday and got a different one. I had a rough night last night, so spent a lot of time today sleeping.
The cutest thing happened today - we got a batch of thank you notes from the 4th graders for the pumpkins we took to the school. Mr. Anderson (the 4th-grade teacher this year) is really the world's best at teaching the kids the importance of writing Thank-You notes. I read them all aloud and we got such a laugh out of them - out of the mouths of babes! If you want to read, I'm sure they'll tickle your funny bone, too.
Wednesday was a mostly stay-home day, and Thursday morning Mike and Adam went to the grocery store. It was HEAVENLY. I haven't been home alone that long since Adam was born. But by the time they got back I was starting to miss them. About 3PM I got ready to go to the club. I went to my friend Kris' house, and then we drove over to pick up her friend Byron. We all went to the club and hung out (I was the designated driver). Sir Mix-a-lot showed up about 10:30, which was an hour and a half later than he was supposed to, but I guess that's typical. We ended up sitting with the radio station people, since Kris knew some of them, which was cool. We left about 1AM. I had a great time, but I was tired as hell by the time I got home. I had to take a shower before I went to bed, to get the stink of cigarette smoke off of me.
Today was another stay-home day. Not much to tell.
Sunday was mostly an email-catchup day. I did manage to make an apple strudel in the afternoon - my first. It turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. Yesterday I went to my first meeting of the Needlers, a sub-group of the Pullman guild. We met at Joan Frakes' house, which was all decked out for Fall. Maybe some day I will be at the point of decorating for each season, and keeping an immaculate house, but for right now it's pretty low on the list. The meeting was fun, though, and it was nice to get a little closer to some of the ladies I'd seen at "The Big Meeting". I worked on my honeymoon quilt, the one I started when Mike and I were on our honeymoon. I've finally finished the quilting on it (hooray!) and will start the binding next. I hope to finish it by Christmas, but am not putting much pressure on myself. I have a lot of commissions that need to be finished by then first.
Today I took a midday break and Adam and I went over to Pullman to visit Ellie and her mom Denise. We chatted for awhile, and the kids played in Ellie's rice tub (like an indoor sand box), then we left when Ellie started showing signs of needing a nap. I wasn't quite ready to go home, so we stopped at the grocery store in Colfax to get a cake, then went to the courthouse to wish my friend Kris a happy birthday. We hung out with her til almost 5, then came home. Work work work, then bed.
Today was the Quilt Lover's Luncheon at Pleasant Times. I had a TOTAL BLAST. I got there right at 1, so I didn't have much time to prowl around their great house-cum-gift shop before we were called to tea. The two gals who were supposed to join me weren't there, so I ended up sitting at a table by myself. There was a larger group that was to be seated upstairs, so I asked a couple of the nearby ladies (who were just in chairs; no table) to join me. They were completely delightful to chat with. Neither of them were quilters - the party was a group from the Math department at WSU - but Dawn's daughter is a professional quilter. We chatted and admired quilts for a bit, and I snapped some picture for Pat and Donna to post on their website. Then it was time for lunch. Dawn (who had invited everyone else to tea with her) invited me to join her and her group upstairs, for which I was very, *VERY* grateful. We got up there and I was introduced all around (unfortunately the only name that sticks out was Dawn's, although I think there was maybe a Kay and a Terry in there somewhere) and seated. Dawn had gotten little holiday favors for everyone in her group, and she offered me hers. I'll take a picture of it and post it here soon.
We had a completely wonderful lunch, chatting about quilting, and children, and grandparents, and all kinds of wonderful subjects. It turns out several in their party has been interested in learning to quilt, but found it too intimidating. I offered to teach them, if they formed a little quilting circle. They discussed it for a bit, and we've decided to do it. Dawn graciously offered her home (an empty nest with lots of space) and even will be making dinner for all who come. Each person has a different-style quilt in mind, which will be fun! I gave Dawn my name and number (and URL, of course <wink>) and she'll be in touch to schedule a time. I'm looking very much forward to it. So the day was a ton of fun.
Trick-or-treating just didn't seem like the right thing to do this year (in large part because Adam's just too young to get it), so instead we went to Spokane and had a party with his friends Alex and Ellie and their parents. Mike stayed home, though. We made popcorn and caramel apples and chocolate fondue, and played games and carved pumpkins and watched cartoons. The kids loved getting together again, since they rarely are all three in the same city anymore. I convinced Alex's mom Cresta to come spend the night at our house that night. The original plan was that she and I would go to the movies, but we got here too late to make a show, so instead we just let the boys run around the living room while the three grownups chatted.
The next day we had company. Cresta and Alex, of course, along with Cresta's sister Emma (6 years old); Denise and Ellie; Anne and her son Dimitri and her friend Melissa all came over for quilting. Cresta's not a quilter (yet!) so she spent a lot of time playing with babies and resting (she's due at the beginning of February). I played hostess, and the others got a little quilting done. Not much, but a little.
Tonight I went to the movies with my friend Kris again. We saw 13 Ghosts, which was unbelievably scary. We had fun (I screamed once and breathed hard almost the whole way through) and held hands for just about the entire movie. Next Thursday we've made plans to go to a bar in Moscow and see Sir Mix-a-lot (if you don't know, you won't want to). Tomorrow, I'm supposed to go to a quilter's luncheon at the Tea House in Endicott. Yay!