This cold <g> weather is making my bones ache, and (possibly even worse than that!) sending creepy crawlies inside.  Yesterday morning I almost stepped on a big spider in the bathroom - scary!  And it wasn't a fake Halloween one, either.

At Busy Bees yesterday Patty Woodford showed a quilt 

for the class she'll be teaching next Wednesday.

  

It's a dramatic pattern yet the method of construction is so simple I've decided to do it.  (Nothing else to do, right?!?!) 

In fact, when I got home from class and was waiting for Cindy to show up I pulled out the scrap of white-on-white that Jeannie gave me (leftover from Patricia's quilt) and started cutting out some pieces. While I was not surprised that Cindy didn't make it here by noon, as planned -

I was surprised that she still was determined to make an appearance, as late as she arrived (3:00).  She did call several times with ETA 'updates', and also checked to make sure it was still okay to come that late.  And we are making progress on her daughter's quilt, though, which is encouraging.

Cindy's next 'appointment' for Quilt Camp is Monday, again noonish (after my PT.)  Maybe if she shoots for 10:00?  <g>

Today is PT again, and then (finally!) I'm meeting Amy for lunch (at Mimi's) between her OT patients.  We might even get in a game of Scrabble!  

Hope I can stay awake this evening for our Trick-or-Treaters; I woke up at 3:00 this morning, and <sigh> finally turned on the light to read at 4:00.  

Last night we watched an interesting documentary on the evolution of Halloween, its symbols and customs, and I learned a whole bunch of interesting stuff!

As you can see, I am back today, having survived subbing at the high school yesterday.  (And no, there was no 'Fidel Castro' in my class, Lisa!)  

It was actually a pretty laid back afternoon, although I did experience a bit of panic <g> when I arrived and discovered that the first class I would be subbing for would be art. (Yes, I still remember my 4th graders cracking up over my stick figure and lollipop tree illustrations on the board.)  Luckily the art students were continuing on a project started the day before, plus the teacher returned from her meeting not long after class started.

That gave me time to visit with Ms. Aroneo (who had a prep period 4th hour) and catch up on things.  She was happy to hear how well Lisa is doing (though of course not at all surprised.)  In fact she's going to be teaching a Creative Writing class next semester, and may just ask Lisa for some lesson plans! 

Then it was off to math class, where (it turned out) there was a student teacher.  So aside from taking attendance, I was free to work along with the pre-calculus students during the lesson.  Proud to say I was able to do the work.  

Mr. Jacklin stopped by during last period to say hi, and hear how Lisa and Alex are doing these days.

We're experiencing a cold front - time for blankets on the beds and socks in the house.  It's 20 degrees colder than just a couple of days ago, quite a shock to the system!

Sadly it also brought winds, and the dust storm near Piccacho Peak (midway between Phoenix and Tucson) caused a horrific accident on I-10.  Truckers said loss of visibility was quite sudden, the worst they'd seen there (and that area gets a lot of dust storms!)  I-10 was shut down in both directions for many hours, and the pictures on the news were sobering; quite a number of semis were involved, with 3 fatalities (so far) and at least another dozen people taken to the hospital.  Be careful out there!

Off to Busy Bees this morning, and then this afternoon Cindy is coming over to work on her t-shirt quilt.

Meds arrived just before 10:00 :-)

and in a little bit I'm off to sub at the high school.

  

I spent much of this afternoon/evening working on a post.... and of course saving it along the way.  But somehow, with just one touch of a button, it's gone!

I guess I have no choice but to try to recreate it.  Here goes.

This morning started out like my other Mondays, at the gym with Jim.  However, since I haven't been back there since last Monday's session (even though Alex called to 'remind' me...) it wasn't as easy as I'd hoped.  Still, it went reasonably well.

I made it home a few minutes before the plumber arrived, and now the guest house has a new disposal (and a sink that drains!)

But doesn't look like we'll be getting the ice maker working over there.  Even though just one plastic piece broke off, the entire unit would need to be replaced.  So it looks like guests will have to make do with an old-fashioned, low-tech arrangement.

There was a little time before I headed off to PT, and I finally got to see Tom's Idaho pix.  Pretty country!

And here he is, riding Blackie in the mountains.

Physical Therapy continues to go well.  On my way home afterward I stopped to pick up more vitamins, fill up the gas tank after yesterday's round trip to Tucson, and then check in with Jeannie to see the STUNNING quilt she's doing a custom job on.  It was interesting to see how she sets up Ruby to do that, but it's very labor intensive.

Once home I kicked back to read the Sunday paper.  (Who knows when I'll get to today's paper?)  While Tom was getting the elk rib-eye steaks ready for the grill, I caught up on Clash of Clans.  Dinner was wonderful; in addition to the steaks, he sauteed green beans in butter with garlic.  There were also baked potatoes, and nice sweet watermelon.

My meds (which need to be signed for) are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow.  Late this afternoon I got a call to sub a half-day for a math teacher at the high school.  IF all goes according to plan (I know, I know... how often does that happen?) the meds should arrive around 10-ish.  If they're not here by the time I have to leave (10:45) Tom can't take delivery because he has a doctor's appointment.  Luckily, Estera (across the street) is going to be around and can do it for me.  (I'll leave a sign on the door for Mr. UPS.)  Another crisis averted.

And that's all I can remember from the lost post.  

Guess I'd better post this one before it, too, disappears into cyberspace! 

Captain Phillips was a good movie yesterday - had me on the edge of my seat!  

Afterward Patti and I stopped in at Michael's to pick up some new counted cross-stitch needles since I was down to my last one!

Last night I watched Blackfish (the documentary film about killer whales in captivity) and started another name bib for one of the teachers at Lisa's school.  On the drive down to Tucson this morning I made more progress, but it was a good thing I'd gotten needles yesterday, since at one point I lost the needle I was using.  Of course I know it's there somewhere....

DOGTOBERFEST

for Handi-Dogs

was a lot of fun today.

www.handi-dogs.org

Their mission is "to promote independence, freedom, health & dignity for seniors 

and 

people with disabilities through the use of trained dogs." 

(

Diabetic Alert dogs, Service/Assistance dogs, Therapy dogs, etc.)

There were a lot of vendor booths and activities for the many, many dogs that were there.  (We got a charge out of watching the dogs paint.)  All of the dogs were friendly and well-behaved, and quite a number were dressed in their Halloween finery. After a bit I got my chair from the car and settled in by the band, which was another reason we'd headed down: Peter's band was playing.

The festival ended at 2:00, and I finished up the bib at 1:55 ...

Once over at Lisa's we ended up playing Munchkin.  Despite Lisa telling us it was an 'easy game to learn', Tom and I both struggled - though of course Lisa and Chas had no trouble at all.  By the end Tom and I were (sort-of) catching on, and I can see where it would be a fun game if we had a little more practice. 

Then it was out to dinner at the Blue Willow (great meal, fun gift shop) and then the drive home.  And that was my weekend.

  

Your smile(s!) for today.  What a creative mom!!!!!!!!!! 

http://www.boredpanda.org/wengenn-in-wonderland-sioin-queenie-liao/

As I was walking out the door last night, Tom said "have fun" (always easy) and "win lots of money" (not so easy!)  We had quite a crowd with 20 ladies, and Lisa ended up having to set up a fifth table.  It looked like I was on target end up in-the-money (with most losses) after an impressive streak of 6 losses in the first 7 rounds, but <sigh> things did even themselves out, as usual, with a streak of wins.  Then I thought I might win for most BUNKOs (3) but Rene beat me there, with her 4.  Left, Right, Center was my last chance.  Mimi and I did a lot of trading back and forth (enough so as to elicit a lot of comments), and she eventually won the pot, so I was very close there also.

This weekend could be busy.  I'm hoping to go to the movies this afternoon, and then head to Tucson tomorrow. My friend Peter is playing at a very worthwhile event from 10-2, 

DOGTOBERFEST

for Handi-Dogs

http://www.handi-dogs.org/ 

Mission: to promote independence, freedom, health & dignity 

for seniors and people with disabilities 

through the use of trained dogs 

(

Diabetic Alert dogs, Service/Assistance dogs, Therapy dogs, etc.)

Sunday, Oct. 27th
10:00 am - 2:00 pm

St. Gregory School
3231 North Craycroft Road
Tucson, AZ

A fun day of activities and contests for dogs and their people. 

Plus food, live music, raffles, vendors and even a beer garden!

And we'd also get to see Lisa afterward.  Win/Win situation!

(She does not care to join us and hang out with all those dogs.)  

Alex and his roommate were over last evening. Clay showed me a picture he took of Alex last weekend in Las Vegas, where Alex was celebrating his 21st birthday.  (And yes, I got Alex's permission to post this on my blog.)

I'm thinking Alex needs a pair of these flip flops:

Tonight is BUNCO with the ladies.  

Kathy and Bruce did not get out of here as early as they had hoped/planned yesterday.  Kathy looked at more of my quilts and fabric, 'shopped' for beads, got more rocks (and a knife) from Tom, etc.  They pulled away around the time I was leaving with Jeannie to go fabric shopping nearby; one of Jeannie's clients has been selling fabric on e-bay for years, and has decided it's time to retire.  Adrian's rather large inventory of fabric was marked WAY down, so it would have been criminal not to buy some, right?

I did get some yardwork done early in the morning before everyone was awake, and we were (more or less) ready for irrigation this morning.

I got a haircut this morning.  Shelley and I were both surprised that when I called yesterday to schedule it her first open slot (which was today) also worked for me.  Now I feel (and look) much less shaggy.

Afterwards I took a check over to Jeannie  (Adrian's sale was on a cash basis only, and I didn't have much with me) and met another one of her clients who was dropping off an absolutely adorable t-shirt quilt from all of her Mickey Mouse shirts/jammies.

Jeannie had just loaded a rush quilt for a client whose fiancee has terminal cancer and didn't have enough thread left in a perfect color, so I tagged along on a trip to Mulqueens.  What trouble could I possibly get into at a quilting store? <g>

While Jeannie was trying to decide on thread (the spool she had was old, and that color was of course discontinued) I shopped the sale rack, and ended up with blue (to go with the teddy bear fabric from yesterday) and also a little bit of Halloween fabric (to go with some I bought yesterday.

Colors are MUCH brighter, but this was the best my cell phone could do.

The teddy bears are playing Peek-A-Boo.... too cute!
Again, colors are much brighter.

Now I'm off to the library to pick up a book on Hold, and run a few more errands.

My arm is sore at the site of the shot, but otherwise feels fine.  Physical therapy went well (I've got some 4 new exercises to do at home with some putty) and when I was done I tried out the NuStep that Mom uses at Riderwood.  Noelle pointed out that the resistance factor is able to be set by the 'rider'; I'm curious to see what setting Mom's using.

While waiting for Cindy this morning, I added to my Word Wizard robe.  (My next stint is in a little over a week, so at least I didn't wait until the last minute.)  The kids enjoy figuring out what I've added each time.
Can you?

I took Cindy (and Kathy) to 35th Ave. this afternoon.  Cindy was a bit overwhelmed by the multitude of choice of fabrics for the sashing, but I think she's going to be pleased with what she ended up with.  While we were there I took the opportunity to pick up my yard of Ugly Fabric for the Foothills challenge in December.  After I made my decision (from the 40% off clearance shelves) I brought Cindy over to see what she'd choose... and it was the same bolt I'd selected.  Guess that 'proves' that it's really ugly!

Bruce and Kathy took us out to dinner (at the Chinese restaurant near the gym) and Alex joined us for his dinner break.  Delicious (as usual) so hardly any leftovers to bring home.  Alex said it's the first time he's been full since we got back from Cabo.... he sure misses all that wonderful free food!

  

Cindy and I had fun working on her t-shirt quilt today, 

and made considerable progress.    

All of the stabilizer has been applied to the shirts, and the layout decided.  She'll be over again tomorrow, when we hope to finish up the planning, 

buy some sashing fabric, and maybe even start sewing!

Tom arrived home in the late afternoon, and Kathy & Bruce (and dog Gabby) in their motor home were not far behind.  They are from Edmonton, Canada on their way to Yuma for the winter, and stopped in to see Tom about getting some obsidian. Kathy enjoyed seeing some of my quilts, and may even go to the quilt store with us tomorrow. 

This afternoon at PT Noelle evaluated my progress so far, after 4 weeks.  My range of motion is much better and my pain level is down, so she upped the ante and started me on some more difficult exercises.

Later this afternoon I finally got my flu shot.  

When I went in a month ago and they turned me away (because I'd just had the cortisone shot for my shoulder) I was worried I'd get sick for the wedding.  Happily that didn't happen, and now I'm 'good to go' during the coming flu season.  

But between the more intense PT workout and the shot in that arm, I may not be so 'good to go' tomorrow. 

Speaking of tomorrow, Cindy is scheduled to come over and do Quilt Camp.  And Tom just called - he's made it to Ely, NV where he'll spend the night, and then be home tomorrow evening.