A Fun Weekend!

Saturday:


Well I was kinda disappointed in the turnout for the Aurora Quilter's pool party at Christine's
today as it was LOVELY pool party weather and I'm sure Christine and DH did much in preparation for this event too (thank you).  And also thank you to my girlfriend Angela for providing a swimsuit which made it possible to totally enjoy the afternoon - one of these days I'll plateau weight wise and find one that fits.


Again thank you Christine for being a most gracious hostess and definitely for the fun and games!!!  See between Ricky and Christine they made me laugh so much that I just about drowned myself (very limited swimming ability).  Yeppers it was a close call as it's hard to laugh hard and keep your mouth closed AND keep your balance on the pool noodles so you don't go under - I couldn't and lost the battle and then struggled to resurface!!!  AND someone even got pictures of it too!!!  And yes we did mention Norma a few times and wished she were here to enjoy the hysterics and also hope they're in their own home now or very soon!!!  AND some of us even got some stitching in while the rest of us just relaxed!!!  Yep it was an awesome afternoon of friendship and I thoroughly enjoyed the pool PERIOD!!!  Who knows maybe we'll have such a gathering again!!!


Then on the way home I bought myself a Bally ball and hope to strengthen my "core" muscles to improve my balance and once that is achieved maybe I'll try the exercises from the DVD included.  As long as it does not involve too much time - it would be awesome to tighten this tummy or lose it.  Then we walked the mall and I tried on an awesome swimsuit that I THOUGHT was on sale for $50 and it fit me very snuggly and was BEAUTIFUL.  Well it was in with the sale items but was actually $94 - dang it!!!  But at least I've found one that FITS!!!  Then we picked up a smoothie each and headed home! 


TALK about a very lovely day considering I just about cancelled except I'd already had the dry ribs ready and promised to pick up Florence at 10:00 - BOY am I glad I went - totally enjoyed myself! 


I can't believe it but after spending like 60-90 minutes in the pool with a pool noodle and doing bicycle like movements and sometimes arm paddles too I felt like a limp noodle and even two hours later my legs still felt like rubbery.  WELL it's like 6 hours later and I'm still feeling the tightened ab muscles and thighs/calves - weird, yet I did not want to get out of it as it felt so great.  Hope I loosen up so I can walk tomorrow.


Oh and at the mall I ran into my apartment parking lot ex-neighbour and he said WOW when he saw me so - YEAH, made me smile!!!


Sunday:


Well after all the fun and games and food and friends yesterday I vegged out in the evening so to speak and then this morning went to Assiniboine Park for my 70 min walk.  But I can say that two-thirds of the way through my legs once again felt like rubber and I was not sure I'd make it to the car and then home.  Then silly me decided to vaccuum the dog hair up before my company arrived and then cleaned up and headed to work for 3 hr OT.  SHEESH!!!  NOW I can't wait for the fun to begin!


See on the way home I picked up Florence and a bottle of Jackson Triggs Savignone(?) and home to the dogs!  While I stitched on my crazy patch block Florence tried to read and chat with me while eating nachos and salsa.  I had put potatoes/carrots/onions with Italian dressing/seasoning into the oven along with the leftover ribs with BBQ sauce and Florence brought her yummy cole slaw and along with the wine and some awesome chocolate ice cream - we enjoyed a lovely supper.


Then we are relaxed with another glass in front of the TV in these "better than sex" chairs (them's Florence's words not mine) and the dogs are sleeping.  She's quite rosie cheeked and says she enjoys my wine!!!  Okay, guess I better end this before I say anything more and she gets even with me!!!


Monday:


WELLLL I thought I was OK to walk the 4.75 km to work this morning, yeah right!!!  Hey it was only 17 C and did not believe the forecast that it felt like 33 C!!!  My big mistake and sure glad I had my iced water with me - at least it was still kinda cool half hour later when I really needed it!!!  It's supposed to be a T-stormy night - great that means the dogs are going to go squirrelie on me again and not let me sleep!!!


Okay it's time for the dogs' walk again and not sure what I'll do afterwards!!!

Gone to the Dogs!!!

Yep more truer than you think!  Yes no sooner I'm back from vacation then I'm gone to the dogs so to speak - dogs/house sitting again.  Molly and Lilla sure know how to make one feel like a big meany with their "Oh poor me" eyes!!!  Well this time I'm their caregiver for close to five weeks and just two weeks into it I think we've gotten into a routine together.  At least they've given up on barking/growling at me announcing it's bedtime - it was getting a might testy shutting down at 10:30 and then tossing and turning from 4:00 am cause I'd had enough sleep!  Now they've just given up and crash on the couch after their evenings walk until I finally say "bedtime" then it's like "it's about time get me up there now!"  Kinda funny being with them and yet at times my heart is just aching with the uncertainty too.

See one of them had a slight upset tummy (result of some table food) so had me a might worried for a day or two but then after talking with their daughter-in-law I felt better and when I got home I saw that whatever it was was OK now.  Now they've their noses out of joint as no more scraps, just doggy food and treats in smaller amounts but I think after a few days they are better with my decision and I naturally feel better too.

Well that was until Friday morning's T-storm at 5:00 am which I didn't know anything about until two dogs jumped onto my chest and then attempted to climb over my face onto my head - why I do not know - but definitely just about gave me heart failure.  Then seconds later this horrendous boomer which shook the house and then I knew what was wrong.  Well there was not staying in bed and calming them down - they were just all over each other along with me too so we got up and went down to the living room and the easy chair.  At least it was not as loud as upstairs, so I was hoping to get a nap in yet.

HUH, no such thing, the T-storm just continued and I now had two dogs in my lap, Molly quieter as long as I was stroking her back but Lilla was still strung out and still trying to get onto my head!  What gives with that?  I could not settle her and finally about 6:00 am she gave up on me and crawled under the rocker in the corner and stayed there till it ended about 7:00 am.  SHEESH what a morning start, but thank GOD it eased up as I had to get ready for work and didn't want to leave them stressed out!

Needless to say I didn't walk to work that morning - took the bus!  I was a might anxious to see what greeted me when I got home, but both were their usual happy selves and glad for me being home etc.  I pray there are no more of those middle of the night storms!!!

As for sewing, well I'm trying to get some in but not succeeding much.  Maybe this week.  As for pictures, sorry, but I need to be at home to upload them so it may be a while unless I'm over at the apt for a longer visit then I can blog something then.  Will see.

BUT I can tell you that I'm still walking my 5 km about 4 days per week and trying to get one walk of 6-9 km in too and find taking two days off is a lot easier on my legs/hips and nice to sleep in those days too.  I've been walking to work in the mornings (4.8 km) and find that very invigorating and lots easier on me than sitting on the bus too.  AND I'm still loosing either 0.5 to 1 lb a week again (did loose the couple of pounds I added on while on vacation) so I'm back on track sort of.  I've another pound to go and then I'll have made my "down 30 pounds" goal that I personally wanted to make.  Now anything more will be a bonus and very much welcomed by my doctor too!  All I can say is I feel LOTS better energy wise!

Vacation Update

OK I think I've finally uploaded my vacation and quilt show/sale pics into my Webshots albums and am letting you see these if you wish through the following links.

Quilt Show n Sale (pics)
Perrault Falls vacation (pics)

As in the previous posts you've read, I've enjoyed my vacation with my sister and brother-in-law very much this year and some of the friends too and totally did not want to return home, especially to work tomorrow!  Oh well I'm still on vacation and will enjoy my last evening with Molly and Lilla (two dogs I'm pet sitting).  I can tell you that Ann and Mike were very welcoming and she's even planning next year's visit already - with a side trip down into the States to check out some quilt shops etc - WOW!!!

Since I'm not on my own PC preparing this I can't upload any pics within this blog entry.  So just a note that the wolf panel I was hoping to have ready for the quilt show and sale did not materialize as Fran (one of Sylvia's quilting friends) really wanted me to do some intensive quilting within the sections - not the minimal amount I was thinking of doing.  Needless to say I'd been checking Sylvia's books and found some different quilting motifs to use on the various sections as I do not see basic swirls etc as appropriate in this panel.  There is a picture Sylvia took of me doing some of the quilting on the panel - it is half finished.  Then I'll be adding some white/silver beads to the stars and snow spots on the grasses etc. Should be lovely when finished - whenever that is!!!

Then I had bought some Northern Solitudes fabric along with the shops table runner wallhanging pattern and basically stitched it up in time for the show n sale but it did not sell so it'll be up on my Blog Pages (up above).  I did keep some blocks and fabric for my own wallhanging so should work on that this fall too.

At the end of my vacation we went shopping to another two quilt shops and I found some awesome birds fabric so hopefully will find some pattern to use them within too.  Then to end it off Sylvia, Len, Ann, Mike and I went into Dryden to the Ristorante and enjoyed an awesome Jack Daniels Ribs dinner for $18.99/person - WOW!!!  A good thing as Mike totally enjoyed the all you can eat option with the rest of us enjoying another part slab as they were soooooo DELICIOUS - finger licking so!!!  I was going to go home Saturday but then thought I hardly go out to eat with others so changed my mind and BOY was I ever glad - I also want to go back there another time too!!!

Well Sunday I finally headed home and stopped into Kenora to visit with Adeline who showed me some of the quilts her sister did the quilting on and very reasonably prices so I'll definitely be checking with her to maybe get my larger quilts together.  See Sylvia is doing the smaller quilts on her B-Line for us family members but she does not have the capability to do queen or king sized quilts on that frame.  Then before heading back onto the Hwy I stopped into Walmart (zippo enticement there this time) but at Marks I found a pair of everyday shorts, two t-shirts, an evening sweater top, and an awesome tank that fits me to a "T"!!!  Needless to say I was bushed and headed for home where it was like a sauna within my apt.  Oh well that only lasted two days and now I'm in AC comfort for five weeks!!!

Home Again!

Yes I finally made it home again after a lovely two-week vacation at my sister's in NW Ontario!  Now the weather was so-so and for once I could have used more summer clothes than usual - go figure!!!   So now it's  unpack, laundry and then repack for my next stint of dogs/house sitting soon! 

As for the pics from my vacation, I promise I will have them uploaded soon!  I'll also be making major changes to some of my "pages" (links found at the top before the posts) in the near future also.  So check back when you've a chance and hopefully I've suceeded in doing what I've envisioned!