At least I wasn't late for Tuesday morning's session at the gym. <G> I did an upper body workout, and got to experience several 'new' machines. One of them talked to my muscles immediately, and Jim predicted I will be thinking about him for the next several days.

Did more mucking and cleaning around the house in the morning, and also did a little yardwork, again easily filling one of the cans with never-ending detritus from the jungle. In the afternoon I got my enlargements made at the copy shop. The construction guys were working next door (where Sheri will be moving the quilt store into larger quarters) so I got to take a peek. Of course I stopped in at the quilt store, and picked up half a yard of white-on-white polka dots to use as connectors for next month's jelly roll race. And on the sale shelf I found some  yarn-and-fishbowl fabric that will make a perfect backing for the kitty quilt. 

As long as I was in the neighborhood I popped in at Colleen's for a visit.  Along with catching up on stuff, I got to help Gracie with her math and hear her play the piano.  There wasn't any more cotton candy left, though.

In the evening I started watching Orphan Black (Andy & Sandy recommended it) and have enjoyed the first few episodes.  Interesting concept -

And speaking of enjoyed, Patti said she couldn't put down The Forgetting Time, and wanted to pass it along to Carol to read.  No problem, since I have plenty of renewals left on it. 

I've been doing some house cleaning and mucking. 

Already I've found some interesting things....

It was a productive morning, but in the afternoon I took a break and watched Of Mice and Men (the 1992 version with John Malkovich, Gary Sinese, and Ray Walston) and it was downhill from there, since I ended up watching several more.  Did enjoy a fun movie I'd never even heard of: EDtv.  The cast included a host of recognizables - including Matthew McConaughy, Woody Harrelson, Ellen DeGeneres, Jenna Elfman, Rob Reiner, and Martin Landau -  and was directed by Ron Howard.

In a desperate attempt to boost ratings, a cable channel decides to document the life of someone on a daily basis and air the footage as a show. That lucky someone turns out to be Ed Pekurny (Matthew McConaughey), a laid-back video-store clerk. While the TV series makes Ed an overnight celebrity, it also begins to wreak havoc on his personal life, complicating his relationship with his new girlfriend, Shari (Jenna Elfman), and causing tension with his brother, Ray (Woody Harrelson).

Well I did drive to the gym for Boot Camp.  But it's been so long that I apparently forgot when it started (1:00) so when I arrived a few minutes before 2:00 it was just ending. 

Of course I could have stuck around and worked out on my own,

maybe  do some cardio.... but I didn't.

There's always next Sunday, right?

Picked up Nancy's stash of bobbins for Monica yesterday afternoon, and then dropped off The Forgetting Time for Patti since I had enjoyed it so much.  She wasn't home; Joel had surprised her by 'dropping in' unexpectedly after I spoke with her earlier in the day.  He's going to drive back to Texas with his girlfriend, a teacher here who gets to spend the summer teaching there.

Last night Bill was unable to join us (a bummer for Tom), but Cindy, Tom and I enjoyed our dinner at The Rogue Tomato while listening to excellent music provided by The Sonoran Dogs. (They'll be back there again the end of August, though not sure exactly when I'll be returning from Colorado.)

Lots of reminiscing (time sure flies, doesn't it?!) remembering other concerts, like when Peter's band was Flying South, and they played at our Arizona wedding celebration in Kingman back in '88.

Tom left this morning on his annual rock-collecting trip, though he didn't get quite the early start he had hoped.  I, on the other hand, was awake and up before 4:30.  That means I should be able to get a lot accomplished today, right?

And then there's always the chance (!) that I'll make it to Boot Camp at the gym this afternoon.  Haven't been in a long time, but need to get back in that groove again.  And even if I only last 15 or 20 minutes, that's better than not going, right?

Working on my project for the hot springs auction piece, I needed to print up a pattern for the woman's swirling hair.  When it came out too small, I resized it and tried again.  Of course I thought I had enlarged it the way I wanted, but the printer decided to make it cover the entire page.  Once I realized that I hit the CANCEL button on the printer, which stopped in the middle of printing that copy and spit it out.  But then it started printing another copy.  We went through this cycle a number of times (I'm a slow learner?)  before I decided to try another tack, turning off the printer.  Unfortunately when I turned it back on it started the same cycle again.  On the printer's menu I could not find an option to actually cancel the printing, so I tried my lap top.  But unlike on my old desktop, where MY COMPUTER took me where I needed to go, on my laptop the Printer options are well hidden (because who would want to use them....?!) and I had to call Geek Squad for help.

Eventually we got that sorted out and I got my various pieces printed.  I needed to get 3 of them enlarged, so I took a drive over to the print shop.  Unfortunately when I got there I discovered <sigh> that they are closed on the weekends.... 

Since I can't move ahead on that project

I guess I can start work on the mesh bags instead.

In the meantime, enjoy a few of these landscape quilts from yesterday's 'tour' (see, I did remember the names of the quilters!)

Melody Randol:

Shirley Gisi:

Instead of the upper body workout I was expecting at the gym yesterday, Jim ran me through a core workout on the mat.  Definitely worked up a sweat, so I grabbed much-needed shower before heading over to Wanda's for our lunch date.  She wanted to try one of the avocado salads at Pollo Loco (and with her coupon we got a free third salad to bring home to Tom.)  Neither of us was able to finish our hefty salad, and left quite full - though I might have left more room if Wanda had told me before lunch about the scrumptious dessert she'd baked and had waiting at home.  

Back at her house we scrolled through sites showcasing modern quilts, looking for ideas for the one she's going to piece for Jeannie in a trade.  Then we decided to view the CD from March's AQG show, and (I'm not exaggerating) it took us about 30 minutes to figure out how to access more than just the title page.  So it was a nice surprise afterward when I was able to help with some a couple of other things on her computer. Another nice surprise was that her skittish cat Molly not only let me pet her (which amazed Wanda) but then let me pick her up and hold her - absolutely astounded Wanda.

We whiled away the hours drooling over quilts (hope I can remember the names of the quilters whose sites I want to look at again) and I had forgotten all about stopping over at Steve's afterward to pick up the bobbins for Monica.  He works from home on Fridays; I'd called in the morning to see if I could swing by after all my running around and he said that would be fine.  But around 4:00 (when I was still over at Wanda's) he called to say he would be leaving the house soon; as the husband of a quilter I assume he understood when I explained that I had gotten hung up looking at quilts with a friend!  Hopefully I can swing by today or tomorrow sometime.

There was a package from Marilyn waiting for me - a set of National Geographic discs with ALL of the back issues on it!  Here's hoping that they will be easier to view than the AQG quilt show one...

Irrigation went well (Karl had come by in the morning to mow the back) and we got an excellent flow, possibly the best cycle ever judging by flow into the west front.  (I admit I was a little worried when I saw that there was a newbie doing the gates - sometimes that does not go well!) That's the last part of the property to get water, though the most important since that Chinese Elm is what provides us with much needed (and much appreciated!!!) afternoon shade from southern exposure! 

Yesterday I finished reading The Forgetting Time (by Sharon Guskin) which I had only started the day before, and thoroughly enjoyed; I highly recommend that you add it to your list!  I was surprised to find that the case studies embedded within the novel were from a real book by Dr. Jim B. Tucker (which I will now look for.)

   

This morning our committee (Donna, Joanne, Joyce, and Sandy) met at Sandy's to address our concerns RE the Small Quilt Auction at the AQG show back in March.  We brainstormed a list of issues, and then possible solutions.  Now I'll write up a first draft to send out to the committee for feedback, and hopefully we'll end up with a ready-to-mail letter to present to the entire chapter for their approval at the next Busy Bees meeting .

I'm glad I didn't swing by the library on Tuesday but waited until today, because more books came in yesterday.  Now I've got a respectable pile of fun stuff to plow through, in between wading through the hefty The Wars of the Roosevelts.

Karl was just finishing up mowing the front yard when I got home. The heat was getting to him (starting yardwork at 10:00 is way too late this time of year!) so I suggested he come back tomorrow to mow the back yard... but start at 8:00.  He agreed it sounded like a good plan.  When Summer came to pick him up I discovered she'd also suggested that he start earlier - but hey, what do we moms know?

I got MY yardwork (about an hour's worth of pruning back everything out front with the electric trimmer ) done early this morning, finishing well before 8:00.  And even then it was already toasty! 

Last night we watched a Netflix on Mendelbrot and Fractals (it was a NOVA episode) that was quite interesting.  The applications are fascinating - and far reaching.  I loved the pure mathematics of it, and probably no surprise that I "saw" a quilt in many of the images and designs.  We were both disappointed that it was only an hour long.

By bedtime last night I was once again fighting with a recurring sore throat and swollen glands in my neck, and was worried about how I'd feel this morning.  Luckily not as bad, but it is annoying that the symptoms won't go away entirely.  Could it be allergies???  

It's been very windy this afternoon, and I didn't get any yardwork done.  Instead, I popped over to Patti's to return a book of Joel's she'd lent me a long time ago.  I never did finish it (and had actually forgotten all about it) but now Joel wants his books mailed to Dallas.  The amazing thing is that I found it right where it was supposed to be, in the very first place I looked. How often does that happen?!

Patti continues to make significant progress with her recovery.  

It appears that all of the swelling in her leg and ankle is gone; they finally look back to normal.  Inside the house she is no longer wearing the massive boot, but a much smaller supportive brace that fits inside her shoe, and using a cane instead of a crutch.  The PT was helping - not only with mobility and movement but also with the nerve pain - but after just 8 sessions (!) her insurance is making her jump through paperwork hoops to get more approved, so <sigh> she hasn't been able to go this week.  Hopefully that will get resolved soon!  On the plus side, enough teachers each donated a sick day to her so she's being paid this month.  

Shelley and Rob are coming over in a bit so Tom can school him in Creepy's intricacies and other pool maintenance.  I'm curious to hear what he has to say about fixing the diving board.

I thought the Jelly Roll Race at Foothills was this morning (and turns out I was not the only one), so I pulled out my polka dot jelly roll - only to find out that it contained only 20 strips.  At least before I started cutting another set of strips to go along with it I (wisely!) decided to check the schedule. That's when I got a welcome reprieve: that Sew Day isn't until next month!

I did pop over to quilting anyway (after stopping first to gas up since we were on fumes driving home from dinner last night) in the hopes that one of the more artistic ladies would be there and help me flesh out the floating woman for my hot springs auction piece.  Turns out that Dee used to teach art, and she gave it a shot.

Afterward I deposited Mom's check

and then swung by The Other Quilt Shop nearby to see what jelly rolls Sherri had in stock.  Turned out that she had a perfect one to coordinate with my polka dots - plus it was also a half roll.  So I should be all set to go next month! 

As a bonus Sherri carried some of the mesh in the pretty blue that 35th Ave. hadn't had yesterday, so I also bought a half yard of that. (Can anyone believe that I walked out of there with ONLY what I went in there looking for?!)

Stopped briefly at Jeannie's on the way home (to let her know about Mary worrying about her and calling me - as her neighbor - to see about checking up on her) and got to peek at her updated back yard.  Then lunched on yummy leftovers from last night: smoked brisket, potato salad, and cole slaw.

Now I'm trying to decide between doing some sewing or other stuff inside the house, or yardwork since it's "only" going to be 105 this afternoon and I do need to get some of it done before irrigation Friday afternoon.

Yesterday's colonoscopy was uneventful - mostly because (as usual) I slept through the entire procedure.  Also dozed off and on throughout the afternoon and evening, AND slept until 8:00 this morning.  Now will just wait for the biopsy results on the polyp that was removed.  I came home with 4 photos from the procedure, but assume <g> no one is interested in seeing those.

I'm still somewhat sore from Friday's upper body workout, but was back at the gym this morning for a leg session.  Again, after not working them for several weeks I do expect to be sore tomorrow (and Thursday?) at least.  The good news is that from now on I'll be going in at the same time on Tuesdays and Fridays, which should make it easier to avoid confusion and be there at the right time!

This afternoon was spent running in circles after I headed to SAS to pick up the materials to get started on the demo bags for my class the end of the summer. 

I got off I-17 at Dunlap, but when I got to 19th Ave. I turned south.  By the time I got several miles down the road and didn't find it I began to think maybe I should have turned north.  A quick call to Wanda confirmed that SAS is just north of Dunlap so I made a U-turn. But once in the store I discovered that they do not carry the plastic mesh fabric, so I had to zoom over to 35th Ave. While they did carry the mesh, their color choice was limited and they did not have some of the colors I was looking for.  Picked up what I could and then it was back to SAS to find coordinating webbing (again, some of the colors I needed weren't available.

This evening we're meeting Rich and Suzie for dinner, sort of a thank-you for their hospitality to Tom down in Rocky Point. 

Not the most pleasant of evenings last night, because not long after the meds had done what they were supposed to do, I became sick at the other end - along with dizziness, lightheadedness, and various accompanying symptoms.  Although I did get some sleep, this morning those symptoms started up again - though they do seem to have finally abated.  Once I'm sure of that I can take a shower.  Will be glad when today's adventure is over and done with!