Yesterday morning I bit the bullet and (FINALLY) whipped up Tyga's Rockstar bandana.  As expected there were the usual setbacks (good thing Alex had given me two "just in case") like first star cut upside down.  Here he is last night, modeling it.

I got done in plenty of time before I needed to be at Dillon's to help set up for the Foothills party, so I headed over to the copy shop.  I wanted to show Donna the finished pillow (she had blown up Robin's painting for the pattern) since I had it with me for Show&Tell before I pop it in the mail (today? tomorrow?) and also needed her to blow up the Taj Mahal pattern for Hilda's pillow. I'm hoping (!) to get that made in time to at least mail it <g> before Christmas. Terry going to be visiting her in Texas so would be nice for her to get to personally see the pillow instead of just a picture.

Next I popped across parking lot to show the pillow to Sheri at TOSQ (she also loved it) - and is anyone surprised that I walked out of there with 2 patterns and a bagful of fabrics? Looked at a stunning line of fabrics/colors that would be perfect for Ed & Emily's wedding quilt. FYI Later in the afternoon the wedding photographers had posted all the pix from that happy day,and they are WONDERFUL! Emily certainly looked happy - but Eddie positively glowed. And the four kids (one maid of honor, one ring bearer, and two best men) were adorable.

Then I was off to help Judy and Linda set up for the Foothills party. Mary couldn't stay because Jack was having his surgery that afternoon. (On Saturday, when she and I went to the movies, he had called asking her to pick up something at the drug store because his stomach was bothering him. Turned out to be a tumor, but got this good news this morning.

Jack was in surgery for 3 hours as things were more complicated than the doctor anticipated. Was supposed to be done laproscopically but ended up with large incision as the blockage was too large to handle otherwise. But, good news, the doctor said all tissue around the tumor appears healthy! So biopsy results will come in about 6 days for the lymph nodes and if they are normal, no chemo. 

  Technology woes stories abounded at our table, and Linda sure cracked up from my comments about the kids rolling their eyes at their technologically impaired mother. She loved her basket blocks that each of the Foothills members made as an end-of-year Thank You for her hard work as Chapter Chair. They're going to make a beautiful Fall quilt! (That's my block, on the right.)

With winter officially only days away (and Old Man WINTER seriously slamming so many places around the country, with lots of snow and accompanying temps as much as 40 degrees below normal) here I had to turn on the AC in the car. It was 75 yesterday, with 80 forecast for today - and definitely makes our "warm" summers worth it!

In the afternoon I made a return trip to copy shop so Donna could blow up another picture I need for Aja's gift, and then back to TOQS where I got the additional needed fabrics for that quilt. Should have her top done by the time the kids return from Georgia (I pulled the necessary pre-cut lumberyard pieces after I got home, so the quilt is practically <g> made already....) even if it's not quilted, or bound.

Dinner at Carrabba's last night. The three of us had the usual delicious dinner, though unfortunately Tom (who is often critical of service, or food, or cost) did get a pretty inedible piece of steak (Alex and I each sampled a bite, and agreed) but in the end we all went home stuffed, though with enough strength to dive into the pile of gifts.

I knew the kids were taking a late flight, but thought it was tonight. So did they... until yesterday. Technically their Red Eye left this morning, but for all practical purposes it was last night - and they hadn't packed yet. (Gee, reminds me of a story with Richie...!)

I suggested putting off the gift exchange until their return but Alex said packing would only take him 10 minutes. Tyga was supposed to fly with them, but there was a major snafu with the airline as of yesterday afternoon so he's staying here with us until their return. He wasn't terribly impressed with his new bandana (though Alex and Aja seemed to really like it) but was interested in one of his other presents, a new treat toy. Unfortunately he doesn't seem to have enough strength to press the circular opening enough to turn it into a slot to let the treat fall out, so it seemed like more like of a tease than a treat. But he may get better with time.

Alex loved his gifts (well at least most of them), and was truly surprised to open his biggie, the Apple TV he had forgotten that he requested.  Luckily for me - and my bank account! - it's not not actually a TV (phew!) but a replacement for his Roku unit, which died.

He was also happy with the annual deposit into his IRA, and the spiffy new dopp kit I found, also on his list.

(Tom pointedly asked if I'd gotten the Dopp kit locally or had to order it, commenting on how old the one he currently uses is (that one pre-dates me.) So I know he'll be glad to open that gift of his on Christmas morning. The snowboard mesh bag was less of a hit (when I made it for Alex Tom looked at me sideways) and was the butt of joke the rest of the evening, so the big question is whether it will actually get used (to bring home all his wet gear at the end of the day) or not.



Tom got lots of stuff for grilling/smoking.  While "real men" don't wear aprons when grilling, the light that attaches to the grill is going to come in really, really handy! One of Aja's gifts to him, at Alex's suggestion, was a bag of pecan chips. "Do you really think he'll like a bag of wood?"  He was thrilled, and I may even have gotten the shot of Tom hugging the bag. She also found a frame with a huge "arrow" and "arrowhead" that will be a great addition to his shop 'decor'.

I got lots of wonderful goodies, including 4 bottles of flavored olive oils and balsalmic vinegars (yum!), a device for melting aromatic wax (house smells great now) with a generous supply of various scents,  a delightfully snuggly (and adorable) minke penguin throw (which I enjoyed early this morning while I drank my coffee), lots of scented candles for the hot tub (sure hope to get to use them soon!), penguin socks, etc.

In a bit I'm off to Fletcher's for an oil change (badly needed) and this afternoon another tune-up for me at the chiropractor.  In between I can bounce back and forth between Hilda's pillow and Aja's quilt, and also load (and fix up) all the pix I took at Foothills yesterday afternoon, and from the gift bacchanalia last night.