Today's mammogram and ultrasound are normal  :-)

After speaking with the collision shop this morning (no they never called Monday... or Tuesday - so I called today) I found out that some repairs were necessary to my front bumper and lights.  However there was no damage under the hood, which is good news.  (Of course we didn't hit the car in front of us nearly as hard as we were hit from behind since even going slowly I wasn't tailgating his bumper.)  

Apparently the body/paint work is currently being done, although they're still waiting on parts for the exhaust system.  Mariah didn't have a time-line for when I'd have it back, but it's no biggie since I have the Corolla to buzz around in.

Maybe I'll zip up to the library after my mammogram.
Yes, another book is there waiting for me.

Looks like the clouds and rain have already moved in, so I'll be bundling up before I head out this morning for my (routine) mammogram.  Lots more rain is predicted for tonight, which will make the roads that much more treacherous for the New Year's Eve revelers.  People in Phoenix just don't know how to drive in the rain!

And yes, we're right on schedule with irrigation: 

tomorrow morning from 5-7 a.m.

One of my errands this morning was to return books to the library (and also drop off some books I am donating.)  As long as I was there I checked the Hold shelf (mostly out of habit) but since I hadn't gotten notification I wasn't too surprised to not find anything waiting for me.  Of course this afternoon I did get a notice that one of my books had come in (Cattle Kate, by Jana Bommersbach), so I popped back over to pick it up.  There still wasn't anything waiting for me under "L", but on a whim I checked under "D", and there it was.

I'd added it to my list after hearing an author interview on NPR,
which is where I get a lot of my book recs.

This afternoon I also mucked my closet shelves, easily filling up another sack of clothes to be donated.  Then I rearranged what was left so it looks nice and neat (for a change!) That also means now I have a good chance to find what I'm looking for.

Yesterday afternoon was spent sitting around the DMV with Lisa (it was even more mobbed than usual, if that's even possible?) while 'back at the ranch' Tom and Chas used that time to replace her car battery.  A lot of aggravation (months of it!) but finally all the paperwork is in order - and her car is running again.  Relief all the way around.  

And for the time being her car is out of my garage, so with mine in the shop the garage is actually empty... of vehicles, that is!  (If it just weren't so cold out it would be a good time to clear out some of the clutter in there.)  Lisa's still flying back to California with Chas on Saturday, but in January the plan is for Alex to drive her car out to her.

Tom headed to Quartzsite this morning (just for the day) to help Randy set up for the big upcoming rock show.  During January Tom will no doubt return for several weekends to hang out with the knappers from around the country.  In past years their numbers have been dwindling, in no small part due to the cost of gas to haul trailer-loads of rocks across the county.  But now with gas prices so low (under $2 here), it could bode well for the rock show.

I have a few more piddly errands to run today, plus Cindy is coming by for a visit later on (and to pick up her T-shirt 'quilt' that has been languishing here for years.) The rest of the day I plan to attack more of the clothes in my closet.  It sure did feel good to get rid of the first two bags of clothes that were doing nothing except just taking up room. So I'm feeling somewhat motivated.

It's been a week since I last posted - very unusual for me, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I've gotten calls/e-mails checking up on me, wondering if I'm okay.  Just had the blahs, and didn't feel like doing much of anything.  Luckily we had a pretty low-key holiday season.  We've seen Lisa and Chas a couple of times (and maybe again this afternoon) and the usual amount of Alex when he flits by, but mostly they're out and about, busy with friends. 

Alex may not be moving out of the guest house after all.  Mom has decided not to travel any more so he doesn't have to vacate for her, and Alex sees the wisdom of saving thousands of dollars by not moving into that high-rent apartment in Tempe for several months.  He and his friend are still planning to get a place together "sometime" (soon?)  

So Mom won't be coming out for the Lake Havasu Balloon Festival, and I may not attend either since Tami is going to be out of town that weekend.  Her daughter's company is moving her to NYC, and that's the weekend the company chose.  Tami is going with her to help her look for a place to live.  I think Leah's office is near the Empire State Building, but assume <g> she'll be renting in a lower rent district!

Friday I heard from the teen's insurance company (they're going to cover the repairs on my car, and pay for a rental car) and the car repair shop (damage to the rear and exhaust system will cost about $5000) but now I'm waiting for them to take a look at the front; they didn't realize that after I'd been rear-ended I hit the car in front of me.  (Though they would have if the person in charge of my claim had returned my messages....)

This morning I finally got a rental, a Toyota Corolla.  (I tried on Friday, but nobody had any cars!)  The first one they planned to give me smelled like a dirty ashtray, but the second one was nice and clean.  Back in the driver's seat again (I really don't like driving Tom's big truck) I ran a few errands.  I've been trying to do some mucking around the house, and dropped off two large garbage sacks of clothes.

  

It's been cold here recently (temps at night were the lowest they've been in a couple of years, around freezing) so I've been bundled up and also using the heating pad a lot.  At least during the day the sun is out and the sky is blue, and it does give me a chance to wear some of my sweaters.  

Pokey is happy to hang out in her crate with a heat lamp, but during the "heat" of the day I turn it off and remove the towel door to encourage her to get out a bit and grab a bite to eat.  So far none of my knitter friends have made her a custom sweater....  

The turkey that Tom smoked for Christmas turned out yummy (as always), but he's apparently getting tired of leftovers; he picked up a couple of steaks for dinner tonight!

That's it for this post.  Hoping to get more decluttering done this afternoon.  

 Aside from getting my 24" x 24" challenge project quilted (it's squarer than it looks up on the design wall), and finishing up Gutenberg's Apprentice, I didn't get a whole lot accomplished yesterday.

In fact I crawled into bed early (8:00!)  Woke up at 11:00 to use the bathroom, read a little in my new book (A Deadly Wandering) and then slept until 7:00 (!) this morning.  Obviously I was wiped out!

Eight years ago, a 19-year-old college student in Utah was driving in the Rocky Mountains. His car jumped a divider and hit another car, causing an accident that killed two scientists on their way to work. The driver said he had no idea what happened, but phone records showed he was texting. The case was one of the first texting-while-driving accidents and helped spark state laws and a national awareness campaign. A New York Times journalist, who won a Pulitzer prize for his reporting on the use of cell phones while driving, is out with a new book about the accident. Matt Richtel argues texting while driving could be as dangerous as drunk driving, but may prove even harder to curb.

The teen who rear-ended me on Saturday admitted she "wasn't paying attention", although she denied texting.  Guess her insurance company will be checking into that.

Lisa (and Chas?) coming over this afternoon for dinner and the final night of Chanukah, and Alex will be here also.

  

Today I made calls to the insurance companies, and now am waiting for the claims adjuster to call back and get the ball rolling.  

I called the repair shop in hopes of finding out if my car had even been looked at yet; the extent of the damage could give me a clue as to how long I can expect to be without it, but I only got "my" person's voice mail.  

IF the teen's insurance company (Allstate) accepts responsibility for the accident (and I sure can't see why they wouldn't!) they'll pay for a rental car. 

BUT until I know for sure 

I'll go without and deal with the inconvenience.  Still, because of the holiday Katrina said it might be next week (!) before the adjuster even gets over to look at my car and see what repairs need to be done... in which case another vehicle would sure come in handy.

And that's how my Monday is going.  Think I'll go bind my challenge project while I wait for some return phone calls.

This morning I woke up achey, so I spent some time on the heating pad and also made several trips to the hot tub in between lounging on the couch.

Late this afternoon I got to meet Mushroom over at Alex's. 

He sure is cute, though a little skittish about being taken out of his cage.  

Once out, though, he seemed quite content to be held and petted.  

For Chanukah tonight I got a wonderful quilt book from Tom,
with pictures of 500 art quilts.  Overload!

I also opened two (of the four) gifts Kathi had delivered.  

One turned out to be several interesting <g> cuts of fabric (one featured different types of Sushi...) she found when she was decluttering drawers; she figures that I can figure out "something" to do with them.  Another was the Peter Spier Noah's Ark book I'd lent her (a long time ago!) that she also came across, and was returned with a penguin bookmark.  :-)  Tomorrow I'll open the remaining two packages.

In between relaxing and soaking I did work some quilting on the AQG Fabric Challenge piece, so that's almost done.

The Quiltmaker's Gift was delightful - very creative - and we both enjoyed it.  Afterward, Patti suggested we go get some dessert, so I was exiting the 101 onto Bell (heading toward the Cheesecake Factory or Elephant Bar) when a car slammed into us, pushing us into the car in front of us.  Everyone in all three cars was belted, so nobody got hurt.  But the car that hit us looked pretty totaled, and mine also had to be towed (whole exhaust system was on the ground, and who knows if there is any damage under the hood.)  

So Patti and I never did get our dessert 

since we were otherwise occupied killing a couple of hours roadside.

I did, however, get a wonderful Chanukah gift from Patti this afternoon: a pretty sweater, an adorable snowman soap dispenser, and a snowman candy bar.

Now Tom and I are off to Jeannie's for a potluck dinner (he made some mango salsa to go with her tamales) and an evening of Mexican Train.

Something I ate yesterday did not agree with me, so I didn't get much accomplished beyond a movie marathon on TCM: The Great Race, The Wackiest Ship in the Army, The Apartment, High Society.

This morning, however, I worked on the AQG fabric challenge.  These are the 3 fabrics we were given.

I decided to make up disappearing 4-patches,

added black borders,

and sewed them together.

The leftover focus fabric made an eye-catching border.

Now I just have to decide how to quilt it.  No time, though, because I'm off to the theater with Patti.  We're going to see The Quiltmaker's Gift.

Brazen Bluebirds top was pieced many (more than 10?) years ago (I think it was only the second machine-pieced quilt I attempted, after 20 years of hand-piecing) but I just got around to having it quilted, by Jeannie. Ya gotta feel sorry for the cat, right?

The edge-to-edge pattern I chose turned out perfectly.  You probably can't see it in the large photo, so here's a close-up.  The color is way off - because I had the flash turned off?

Alex had mentioned that he was going to be bunny-rabbit-sitting over the holidays, but I'd forgotten.  So it was sort of a surprise when I went back there with the exterminator yesterday and found Mushroom (in her cage) in the kitchen.  Sure is cute, though a little messy with her shavings..

Last night I finished the binding (YAY) on the Brazen Bluebird quilt, and put the quilt to use right away.  Even with the heater cranked up (boy do I dread when the electric bill arrives) I've been having trouble staying warm.  It's supposed to start warming up now, and that's just fine with me!

After all the early mornings it was no surprise I fell asleep in front of the TV last evening, so at 9:00 I packed it in and headed to bed... where I was still awake <sigh> at 10:00.  Very frustrating, because I need my sleep! 

This morning I slept until after 5:00, which is an improvement.