Cheri and I had fun working on the Mom project together. Naturally mine don't look as good as hers - but I'm hoping to see improvement as I make each one.  Unfortunately I can't share any pix because Mom is a loyal follower of my blog. 

  Cheri had brought delicious banana bread with her, and I whipped up some of my 'special' tuna, and cut up the mega-strawberries Tom had brought home, so it was a wonderful lunch. 

She also had a wonderful embellishment suggestion for the UGLY quilt, so I need to make another (hopefully quick) trip up to Michael's for that supply.  Luckily it isn't raining yet (we've actually had quite a bit of sunshine today) so I'm off to do that, go to the bank (I'm out of registers, which makes it hard to balance my checkbook) and pick up some groceries for the guest house before the weather gets serious.  They're saying Phoenix could get as much as an inch of rain from this storm.

Mom did give me a bit of a hard time this morning when I 'complained' to her that our temps are going to plummet into the 60s this weekend.

That rain that we're expecting?  

It's great news for Alex and his snowboarding friends:

A snow storm is coming! The forecast says Arizona Snowbowl can expect to receive between 24-36 inches of fresh powder by the end of this weekend!

Of course they're heading up on Sunday to take advantage of it.

Stopped in at Jeannie's this afternoon on my way to run some errands, and got some ideas on how to quilt the UGLY quilt.  Of course as a (very talented!) longarm quilter Jeannie had some really grandiose ideas.

Is it even necessary for me to say I won't be doing any of those?! 

But she also gave me some great do-able suggestions.

Cheri is coming over tomorrow to show me how to do a project, and then Neil and Terry arrive on Saturday, so I probably won't be able to start quilting until next week after they leave.  The deadline, March 12, will be looming large by the time I start.

So I assume I'll be very inspired!  

Wonder what aisle this can is on?

Last night I got a great night's sleep - guess I was more tired than I realized!  

So far this morning I've gotten the top/batting/backing pinned together and ready to quilt, and mowed the east side of the backyard. 

And it's not even noon yet!

Plus just to make my day even brighter, Alex came by this morning 

and paid me a good-sized chunk of the money he owes me.

Of course I'm looking at a stack of bills here on my desk that I'll take care of today, and which will most likely (more than) wipe out this morning's windfall.  Still -

Break time is over; time to go out and mow the other (bigger) side of the front yard before it rains this weekend.  FYI we haven't had any precipitation since 2013, and we really need it. 

But why does it have to (finally) happen the day friends from Colorado are arriving for a few days of sunshine and warm weather?  Oh yeah...

Another fun day at quilting, 

followed by a (surprise!) birthday pot-luck lunch for Jean.

  

And here's the happy birthday girl.  The picture isn't as sharp as it could be because I'm not as sharp as I used to be... I changed the setting on my camera to take some close-ups of some of the handwork, and then <duh> forgot to change it back to the normal setting.

Melissa won a ribbon for her doll quilt.

I was inspired enough to finish up the UGLY quilt top once I got home; after adding the 'missing' embellishment I used some of the backing fabric to make a border.  Every little bit helps...  

And I found a perfect-sized piece of leftover batting that will do just fine, so there's no excuse not to start quilting it tomorrow, right?  Of course right! 

Up early; Tom left at 5:30 (to head north to collect more rock) so I've already gotten a bunch of stuff done this morning (like a trip to the grocery store) before it's time to head out for Busy Bees.  We're having a pot luck today to celebrate Jean's 90th birthday.

At least I'm off KP duty tonight 

since Tom doesn't know what time he'll be back.  It's a good thing, because despite sincere effort on my part I'm 0-2 for Monday and Tuesday's dinners.

So while I'm obviously not on a roll, some people are....

And here's a handy idea for another roll...

I took a couple of phone pix this morning in the parking lot of the grocery store that I planned to share once I got home, but for some reason (!) my phone will no longer allow me to mail pix to my e-mail.

I just keep getting the same error message:
No more sent message can be saved

My first plan of attack was to empty all the message folders on my phone.

Sad to report that apparently was not the problem.

Since I've been able to do it (many times!) before,
I have NO clue why it won't work now.

So... is it too early for chocolate?

Mine yesterday weren't quite so simple <g> 

so yes, I woke up sore this morning.

No surprise that I'm off to the hot tub to soak
before I head to my tax appointment. 

We all know that 'that time' is fast approaching again!
While no one likes paying taxes, 

I belong to that (ever-shrinking?) group of folks who understands (and is grateful for!) the myriad of things those taxes do for me, so I try not to complain!

My real gripe is this: I don't mind paying MY fair share; it's those wealthy folks who find all sorts of loopholes to avoid paying their fair share that make me crazy!  

In case you missed my rant in earlier years, here it is again: my first year teaching (on a salary of $8,000!) I paid more in taxes than then President Richard Nixon.  (The Washington Post helpfully posted his return.)

And more recently we heard about Mitt's off-shore accounts.  SIGH!

I can feel my blood pressure rising - definitely time to go soak!

I should have posted these
15 Reasons You Should Find Yourself a Workout BFF
when I mentioned my gym workout earlier...
but I just found it.

I dare you not to laugh... but if you don't at least giggle, there may be something seriously wrong with you.

I especially like #11, but off course you can pick you own favorite.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ziploc/15-reasons-you-should-find-yourself-a-workout-bff?b=1

My cubic yard of potting soil didn't stretch as far as I thought it would, so not everything on the front porch got repotted this afternoon.  (But those that did sure look happy!)  

My aloes desperately needed to be thinned out.  

Here's how some of them ended up.

  And I even found a small trellis for the two tomato plants 

while scavenging among my 'dead' pots.  

Here's hoping everything is satisfied with the new dirt and just digs right in!

Of course my gardening took longer than I expected (doesn't everything?) 

since I also putzed with the volunteer lantanas 

and wandering Jew that have sprouted just off the front porch.  

This inner pot is tipsy on purpose to accommodate Mr. Turtle.  

I think they make a great team!

Now we'll all just have to wait and see how my green thumb works out.

I rewarded my hard work with a nice tall glass of cold OJ - 

and thus finished up the latest batch of juice.  

Now I'm thinking of working up that last embellishment for the UGLY quilt so I can start quilting it.  Not quite sure I have anything ugly enough <g> for the backing, though.