My son called a few days ago to tell me that he is accepting a job overseas. Specifically in Iraq. The job would allow him to use his new degree and he has always wanted to serve in Iraq. When he was in the service, he hoped he would get stationed there but it never did work out. When he got out, he joined the guard and continued to look for opportunities to serve overseas. I know this is where his heart is. But these are hard words for mothers to hear.
I like fabrics for kids. They are just so colorful. I’ve been saying that seemed kind of crazy because we don’t have any children and our kids don’t have any children. But that is all changing. My daughter called to tell us she and her husband are expecting their first baby. I am so excited! I get to be a Grandma! Their baby is due around the first part of February and I’ve been invited to come stay to help. Can you see me jumping up and down?
When I saw the pictures of this fabric at Spring Market, I thought how sweet. Then I saw this pattern and I just completely fell in love with it. Little did I know. I sent a picture of the pattern to my daughter to see what she thought. She loves it. I better get these WIPs finished up because I’ve got a baby to sew for!
This has been a fun weekend. Friday, I attended the class on drawing feathers taught by Anita Shackelford. It was very interesting to see learn how she uses math and a feather plume template to draw feathers to fit a specific area. I decided to purchase her book Infinite Feathers Quilting Designs. She has several good examples in the book. Then I spent the afternoon with my youngest daughter. We went out to eat and did some shopping. Always fun.
Yesterday evening, Mr. Nice Guy and I saw a 13 minute clip on the making of the Knight and Day movie. I like Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. The movie looked fun. Mr. Nice Guy asked if I wanted to go see the movie. It was about 7 p.m. So, what the heck, we went to the late show. I know the reviews on this movie are kind of so-so. But we liked it. You should check it out anyway. There is plenty of adventure and there is a fun chemistry between Cruise and Diaz. Tom Cruise plays a great quirky weird guy.
This morning, I left bright and early for the quilt show. I took a class by Toby Lischko on fast applique circles. It was totally cool! I’ve only used my machine once to try the decorative stitches which was in a class on how to use your sewing machine. It was a good experience to work on a project where I had to use the stitches. I am looking forward to finishing this project.
We decided to go to the movies today. What a great way to start the 3 day weekend. We went to see the Prince of Persia. I tell you Jake Gyllenhaal is a cutie. My husband thought it was predictable but ok. I really liked it. It is a good movie for a family. Then we went down the road and had lunch at Red Robin. We decided we wanted to see Robin Hood. So back to the theater after lunch. My husband thought it was a little slow in places. But I thought it was great. It is the story about how Robin becomes Robin Hood. Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett are just good actors. If you get bored this weekend, you should check them out!
Mr. Nice Guy and I decided to have our Valentine’s date Friday night. I took off a few hours early from work and we went to the early showing of Valentine’s Day. The plot leaves something to be desired and we both were a little disappointment. Not sure I would recommend spending the money. But it was good to spend time together regardless of the movie. 
A couple of weeks ago my youngest came over to visit and brought company. Isn’t he cute? He is about four months old and is very loving. I got such a kick out of him. He loved playing in the snow. While he was outside, our neighbor’s dog barked at him and he ran as fast as he could back into the house. He may or may not be cut out for watch dog material. LOL
I take back any bad thoughts I had about our insurance company. My daughter called this morning and they reinstated her policy. I am soooo relieved!
It’s just hard being young. So many lessons to learn. Our youngest is honestly a good kid. She has made some decisions like all of us, that probably weren’t what was best for her. We’d get her steered in the right direction and then she’d just take a hard left. But she has learned alot from those experiences. We would be the first to give her credit for that.
Like lots of kids, she just has never quite found her niche. After her last hard lesson, she finally found a job she really liked and was doing well at. She found a cute apartment and had kind of figured things out. Then last February, the company had a third round of layoffs and she was in that round. She was so sad. But she put a game plan together. She started looking for a new job, filed for unemployment and cut back on all of her expenses. Luckily she had done a good job of saving so she had a little bit of padding. Last summer, she moved about an hour away from us to a bigger city hopeful for more opportunity. We totally freaked out but it even furthered her growing up and independence. Her apartment was cheaper so that helped further with cutting expenses.
She did find some part-time work and supplemented that with unemployment. Around Thanksgiving time, a company offered her full time hours for a limited time. It is about an hour away from where she lives. It seemed like a good deal and she would continue to look for permanent work. Through no one’s fault, the company’s materials were tied up in customs, the weather was bad when some artic storms blew through and then the holidays. She ended up without work for about 2-3 weeks broken up over the course of December. The unemployment thing is complicated because you have to be unemployed for XXX number of days, etc. I don’t think she could have gotten help on the days when they didn’t work. She didn’t ask but we helped her out a couple of times because we knew she had to be broke. Finally the other day, she asked if she could borrow $5 for gas. Bless her heart, she didn’t have anything left. I guess she put off paying on some bills, etc to stay afloat.
Yesterday, the auto insurance company had sent her a letter. It was a check. The check was a refund of her last payment and it reads due to cancellation of policy. I’m sure it is because she made a few late payments. We talked about it today. She said, “It’s just one more thing.” I didn’t hardly know what to say to that because I know it feels like one beating after the other. As it is for so many right now. A big part of me is angry. Corporate America sucks. Starting with those greedy wall street jerks and ending up with the insurance company. It’s all about the money, nothing about the people they serve! A little part of me is disappointed that she didn’t ask for help sooner. My Dad had told me years ago that if you need help, don’t wait until you are in trouble. Back then I thought it was because we didn’t have much but now I realize it is also because it is harder to dig yourself out once you are in the hole. We had passed along this same advice. I wish she had taken us up on it. But again, I guess I have to give her credit for trying to make it on her own.
Well we put together another game plan. She’s going to call the insurance company in the morning and find out exactly what happened. She wondered if they might change her mind but we are both sure that it is final. Then I guess find a new insurance company. I can’t help but think that it will be hard to find a new company because she isn’t employed permanently. Her part-time full-time job has indicated that the job will end towards the end of February. Well that’s enough venting. My heart just aches for her.
Today was a tough day at our house. It was time to make a decision about our beloved dog. We had this dog for almost 14 years. Our dog absolutely adored my husband and my husband absolutely adored this dog, his Buddy. They were always together. For awhile, Buddy had good days and bad days. But recently, there weren’t very many good days and it was time for us to do what was best for Buddy. While I will miss Buddy, my grief is nothing compared to my husband’s sadness. His heart is so heavy tonight. While I know this is the cycle of life, it is just tough sometimes.
Our oldest left Saturday to continue on her journey before returning to her home overseas and our son is back at home. I hate saying goodbyes. It is difficult when your kids live so far away and you don’t get to see each other very often.
While everyone enjoyed being home, I think they were ready to get back to their homes and routines. I have to laugh because we are too. We have our own little non-routine now. We both work and at different times so our schedules are somewhat crazy. We eat when we want to and eat what we want to. Which isn’t always very healthy. There are lots of fend for yourself nights. We kind of forgot how much work it takes to keep the house running when it is full. I’m working on the laundry now.
