I'm home from the quilt retreat, where I had a wonderful time!  

Tired, but will try to fill in before I head off to bed.

Saturday I was thrilled to "sleep in" until 5:00, a major improvement over the day before.  After breakfast I managed to get in a fair amount of sewing on my pink project before my 9:30 massage with Mandy.  (She did wonders working out the knots in my rhomboids!)  Carolyn wanted a picture to "prove" that we "provide" that service at the retreat, and I was more than happy to let her take one of me.

More sewing before the group pic at 11:30, which went faster than any other year.  Not sure how we managed that, because it seems that in previous years it was more like herding cats...

Jessica joined us for lunch, after which there was a mini Show & Tell of projects from her class last year.  Then we took a field trip to her studio, which (as expected) was most impressive.  Anyone surprised that I took lots of pix?  

I squeezed in a bit more sewing before heading to dinner at the Olive Garden at 5:00.  (I drove Marcie, Mel, Shelley, & Yetta)  It was mobbed, a bit of a surprise for how early it was.  The predicted wait was 45 minutes (which we didn't have), but luckily we managed to score the one remaining high-top in the bar area and squeezed around it.  Despite ordering the soup/salad/breadstick option (so there'd be no waiting for meals) dinner took a long time, and we barely made it back by 7:00 for Show & Tell.

The Secret Sister reveal that followed was fun to observe even though I hadn't participated.  Shelley hadn't either, but someone still left goodies for her, and the culprit never did 'fess up.

I was pretty wiped out and headed to bed after that.  Judging from the number of times I got up during the night I'm obviously drinking enough water <g>  but after my last bathroom trip at 4:30  I WENT BACK to SLEEP UNTIL ALMOST 7!

After breakfast I sat down to sew, but when I went to grab a pin from my penguin pin cushion it had gotten an 'upgrade' and was sporting a Mohawk hairdo with a heart on the back!  Thought it was Shelley (and caught her in the Uber out front on her way to the airport, when she denied it.)  Turned out it was Becky.  No way I could bring myself to ruin the heart-work, so I was "forced" to dig out my stash of extra pins.

Joy called me around 9:45.  She had come over to feed Brownie, but he was MIA.  When he didn't meet her at the door she went out in the yard and called him (and says she even looked in the pool!)    So I called Alex (and woke him up) but happily he did have Brownie.  Phew!  Joy was also quite relieved to hear that all was well.  Alex should have let her know!

Cathy took a bad fall this morning.  She was carrying one on the design wall fabrics and tripped over a piece dragging on the ground.  Her face and knees took direct hits, and she stayed on the floor for a while.  The ice made her cold, and most of the quilts had already been packed up.  But not mine, which came to the rescue.

I worked more on the pink project until check out time @ 11, and then Marcie and I shopped the craft fair across the street.  There were a lot of nice things, and I made quite a number of purchases, mostly gifts - though did find a spoon rest for our kitchen.

We must have packed the car a little better for our return drive because we actually had some empty space.  <g> I was home by 2:00, and Brownie was THRILLED to see me. 

Alex had just gotten back from gym, and took me joy riding in the Razor.  Of course he zipped around at high speed, doing his best to scare me - and it worked. <g>  I even drove it, though not nearly as fast.  

Brownie and Vera had played all day Saturday, so my worries about him being alone and lonesome were unfounded.  I made multiple trips to the garage unloading the car, with the two of them tagging along and 'supervising'.  FYI Vera learned a new trick this afternoon while she was here: how to use the dog door.

  I made some progress unpacking before Tom and Neil arrived home from their successful trip to the Grand Canyon, when I was more than happy to sit and relax.  Out of steam, and the rest will just have to wait until tomorrow.

After dinner I loaded the rest of my pix, and resized/cropped them, but I'm too tired to actually post them.  Could happen tomorrow, though I'm off to a quilt show in the morning with Linda (when I'll take more photos),  after which we'll hit the quilt store over there, and (of course) do lunch.  Then mid-afternoon I have a doc appointment, when it's 'possible' she'll be running late.