Ralph is doing much better - he even attempted a plumbing job (and didn't even need an extra trip to the hardware store!!!) yesterday.  My old faucet had a broken part that kept it from turning off unless you got the handle in just the right spot.  Now I have a brand new one!!!

Picot enjoyed the sunshine this weekend - we were up in the 80's on Sunday, but had a light wind so I didn't get the weeds sprays like I wanted to.  Now I need to find an evening after work that isn't windy....or wait until the weekend,

I finished a little sailor hat and little baby deck shoes for Malorie - too cute!!!  I was going to put the red anchor button on the hat (on the left) and then was going to put the little sail boat buttons on the shoes, but...Now I'm not too sure.  I think that the red one is too red, and maybe the little sailboats would look good around the hat instead.  Decisions, decisions.

Chewie spent the week with us last week while Margene spent Dallas' spring break with him in Vegas.  He made himself quite at  home.

Luna loved having him around - they played and played and played.  Luna is a bit bigger though - there were a couple of occasions where she sent him flying when she pushed him.

Spring is here!  My lavender plant is completely covered in bees.  I think the honey bee population is making a come-back around here.

I've really been wanting to plant stuff because the weather has been so nice, but I think we still have one more (at least) killer frost coming, so I went out and prepped the garden instead.  I pulled out those plants that did winter over, fertilized it, and put some more soil in.

I had help, too.

This is my artichoke plant that I planted last fall.  I have no idea if it is going to do anything or not - the top of it got damaged in one of our storms, but....we'll see!

I pulled out my mustard plant.  It was absolutely gorgeous, but....I never used it, and it was taking up an entire garden bed.

We have a light rain this morning, so it looks like I picked a good time to work outside.  Of course, I should have worked outside more - sprayed for weeds, etc., but.....didn't happen.

One more afghan block done (sorry it's sideways - I didn't notice until I uploaded it, and then didn't bother to take another picture)  That takes me to 3 finished blocks (out of at least 12 - yikes!!!) We a planning a baby shower on 4/23 - I may not get it done!  I think that I'm going to concentrate of some little project for her (booties,etc.) and then if I get this finished, great.  If not, I still have the quilt and the baby bag that I should have done by then.....

Today is day 9 for Ralph!  We got word yesterday that State Disability has once again reinstated his temporary disability.  They keep starting and stopping it, so I never know if or when he's gong to get paid - not my idea of a good time (it's been three weeks since his last check).  We had also gotten a letter stating that we hadn't paid the medical insurance bill, so they were going to cancel that effective 12/20.  Also not a good time, especially since they had cashed the check....and that he hasn't gotten any disability checks.   But yesterday he spoke with Social Security, and hopefully by next week he will find out if he is approved for permanent disability.  Then we get to start all over - changing insurance over to my work insurance, who do we have to pay back, etc.  The fun never ends around here.

Once again, the best laid plans.....I was all ready to go work out today after putting Alli on the bus, and the bus didn't come until 7:00.  Not enough time to work out and get to work for an 8:00 (and then an 8:30) meeting.  I guess I'll have to update the blog then, won't I?

Tonight is book club and we read Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz - good book!!!  The basic story line is that on the day he was born, the main character's grandfather (as he was dying) predicted the 5 worst days of his life.  The book goes through growing up knowing that 'today' might be a bad day, but it wasn't going to be one of the worst days of your life, and then knowing that 'today' is going to be one of the worst.  At the end of the book, at the time his daughter is born, someone in the hospital predicts the best 5 days of her life....so the bookmark is a 5!

Other exciting news - Ralph is 6 days sober today.....and is doing great.  (I guess I should have posted this yesterday - then he would have fit in with the "5 day" theme......)

I finished the blocks for my quilt this month.   I'm still struggling with my color choices.  This quilt, I am given lots of different fabrics each month, and the only suggestion is that the sky be the same color.  The rest I get to pick and choose what I want.  I think I like it better when they tell me what color to make everything.  Here's the blocks this month:

And here are all that I have done this year (so far):

I also finished up a block in the baby afghan I'm making for Malorie.  They are doing a nautical theme for the baby's room.  I found a pattern of 4 different nautical scenes, and have one done so far.  I also have one solid blue block done, so......if I make the afghan 3X4 blocks, I'm 1/6 done.....

Mom got to the house before I got in from work on Friday, so I just parked behind her, since I would drive everywhere while she was here,  I went out this morning to get the paper, and remembered why I don't park under the tree in the spring.....

Yes, that is pollen on my car.

Mom also brought me the books she was taking to the thrift store.....I may not get any more projects done.....

I managed to knock off an item on my to-do list yesterday, with a little help from Mom (okay, a LOT of help from Mom!!!)  We had the hot water solar panels removed last November, and that left perfect spot for storage shelves where the old water tanks were in the garage. Yesterday, Mom and I went in to town and picked up a 6-shelf unit, brought it home, and managed to put it together and get it set up.  I love it!!

It went together easier than I thought it would, and faster!  Dinner was almost on time- a good thing since I had invited Margene down.

Here 's a project that I finished this weekend - a new bag just for me!  This is theoretically for my work-out clothes.  It is plenty roomy for my work clothes, and even my tennis shoes fit okay in it.  Perfect!!  It may get used for other things, but at least for now.....it's working just as planned.

It has two pockets on the outside with elastic at the top - good for water bottles, and six pockets inside.  The material is little animal footprints shaped like hearts - too cute, though it's hard to see here.

I was also kind of testing this pattern out for a diaper bag, and I think it will work just fine.  Now to find some cool baby prints to use.....

I just checked in with AJ - he's settled back in his dorm and school starts this week.  He only has classes Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this semester.  Hopefully that means he can do some travelling.

Allison has been having extreme outbursts lately (screaming, hitting, spitting, etc.)  and we've been trying to get a handle on them.  It seems that she can't handle any frustration now - if she wants something and we don't 'get it' quickly, she is in rampage mode.  One bright side?  Yesterday, I kept repeating "I don't understand, show me", and eventually, she first picked up a DVD (I assumed she meant she wanted a  new movie) and then another time, she led me over to the remote controls that we use for the 'big' TV - the one that has Netflix on it and she can watch two movies at once.  Something worked, because she did not escalate into a major issue.  I don't know if it was because I figured out what she wanted, or it was just because she felt like she had a choice......who knows??  I just hope it continues to build into a reliable communication method.

My commitment to Curves isn't as strong as I would like, but better than I hoped.  I would like to go three times a week, but have only made it twice a week since joining.  I missed one day sick, and I missed one day taking AJ to the airport.   (Yes, I could have gone in when I got back, and I should have.....)  But, I have gone twice a week - good for me!  I made up for the missing day by being pretty active on the weekend.  I played with the pool yesterday - cleaning the filters all by myself!  (Well, except for the one step I forgot when I tried to prime the pump, but.....)  Today is lawn mowing day - after I go get gas, which will be after I finish the laundry.....but I'll get there.  I may not be losing weight, but I am definitely more active - which is my primary goal (though weight loss would be nice too!)

Alex is back in South Korea again - by the skin of his teeth and the kindness of strangers. We left here at 6:20, for a flight that left at 11:25 - usually plenty of time.  Not so in this case.  Between traffic, not knowing which  lane to pick (I always picked the wrong one), an ambulance required at the toll booth, construction, high winds closing lanes on the bridge, etc., we got to the airport at 10:55.  I dropped Alex off out front and went to park the car (they needed to see my credit card, since it had purchased the ticket - that was a first for me)  I had to park on the 6th floor, and the elevators were running very slowly, so I ran down the steps to the 3rd floor to cross.  (Only one slip on the stairs, but it caused my shoes to slip and cut into my feet - ouch!) and then run through the airport trying to find the ticketing area for Korean Air and/or Alex.

I found Alex first - wandering around waiting for me.  There was no one at the ticketing booth, so he assumed he missed his flight.  Okay - what's next???  Neither of us knew, but.....there was a nice elderly gentleman at the information desk right by us.  I gave him a quick run-down, and he directed us to the very end of the ticketing booth for Korean Air, where, almost hiding in the dark, were 3 Korean Air employees, finishing up paperwork.  They were able to get Alex on the flight!!!!  He landed in Seoul about 1:10 our time - and once again, was not able to sleep on the plane.  Poor baby - he also came down with the community cold before he left, and he feels terrible.  Add that to no sleep, air travel, a foreign country......poor baby!

Book club was last Wednesday, and here's the bookmarks I made for us:

We read Silver Star by Jeanette Wall (it was an okay book - not one of my favs).

The book mark was quick to make, and turned out pretty nice.  The link to the pattern is here.

We've all been fighting the sickies here.  Alli started it, and it turned into an ear infection on her.  She seems to have recovered, but still has an occasional cough and a runny nose (but that could be allergies too, who knows!)  She gave it to Ralph, and it turned into a sinus infection on him.  He seems to be on the mend from that now too.  Ralph gave it to me, and I got the slightest bout of it.  I lost my voice for a while, and still have the occasional cough - but once again, that could be allergies.  Alex caught it too - he thinks it was from Alli, but by this time......it could be from any of us.  He's trying to get rid of it as soon as he can - he flies out tomorrow to S, Korea again.  He's not looking forward to having a cold on the plane.

Work was surprising slow on Friday, and I took advantage of that - a rare occurrence for me.  I left a little bit early, and went shopping before I picked up Alli.  I joined Curves a couple of weeks ago, and really needed new shoes.  The shoes I had are ratty and falling apart, not to mention there's not much cushion left in them.  (That's what happens when they get washed a few times).  I stopped in at Payless Shoes to see what they had and.....found these:

On sale for $19.00 - black and red plaid heels.  Just too cute to pass up.  I also got a pair of leopard print flats (on sale for $9.00) and a pair of workout shoes (also on sale - $24.00)  At least I did get what I started out for - plus a couple more.

I hate not feeling well!  It started Wednesday - I was very tired at work, and not hungry at lunch (that was a shocker!)  By Wednesday night, I was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed, which I did right after Alli went down,   Thursday morning I woke up with a pounding headache and a severe sore throat. I figured the throat was from getting dry during the night, so started on my day.  I had to sit down to rest after packing Alli's lunch - not normal!!!!  I got everything together, put Alli on the bus, shot a text to a coworker, and went back to bed.  I slept until 11:00!!!  I felt so much better after I got up that I considered going in to work, but decided to take it easy.  

I woke up Friday with my right eye red and swollen - allergy season is here!!!!!  (and since I was sick the day before, I had forgotten my allergy meds - and the dogs all sleep with me, as well as two of the cats.)  I went in to work on Friday, felt fine, but tired all day. Woke up Saturday - my right eye was better, but now the other eye was swollen,  Lovely!  Did my normal Saturday stuff - still tired and my throat was a bit sore but that was it.  I fixed steak and scampi for Valentine's dinner.  Margene came over and we talked until 10:30. When I woke up Sunday - my eyes were fine, but....now I had no voice.  I'll be glad when everything is back to normal!!!!!

I took it easy yesterday and worked on my quilt.  I got the top of the baby quilt done!!  I really like this one!  I had to go by work yesterday (we had some computer work done and I needed to test some stuff) so I picked up backing for it too.

I picked up Valentine's Day cards for Alli while I was at the Dollar Tree getting things for the goody bags at work.  As I was signing them for Alli, I found out why they were there.

I finally took the plunge and joined Curves last week (what timing, right??)  I did my first workout Friday, and have another today.  Curves is just down the street from work,so I should be able to get in before work at least three days a week.

I don't think you fully appreciate something until you don't have it.  I  know I appreciate modern conveniences, but  REALLY appreciate them after a power outage.  We lost power due to the wind storm Friday night around 11:30, and got it back on Saturday around 2:30.  Alli did great, thanks to AJ pre-loading Pokemon episodes on the laptops, and on my phone.  The lap tops run through power pretty quickly, but I can recharge the phone in the car.  I don't think my phone will be the same though.  She likes poking at the screen while the movie is playing, and since it's a touch screen phone, my icons got quite scrambled.  I don't think she deleted anything, thank goodness.

I took some time yesterday and got sucked into the interwebs - looking for a pattern for a bookmark,  I really only meant to check out what was out there - I have plenty of heart patterns saved already, but....an hour later, I turned the computer off and started making hearts.  I did find a very pretty pattern that is very quick to make up:

I also dropped of the last Christmas presents yesterday.  Dawn is moving into a new place, so I dropped of her afghan to her- finally finished after almost 6 months!!!  Maybe it will help the 'new place' feel more like home.

I like how it turned out.  It is the pattern for the corner-to-corner afghan that I've made a ton of times, but worked in rows rather than corner to corner - a new twist to an old favorite.

Sandy posted some pictures of Allison playing games with the other kids at daycare.  Too cute!

Since I was going in to town yesterday to drop off the afghan, I decided to shop for valentines day goodies for work, and stopped at the Dollar Tree.  Score!!!!  They had some boa yarn in colors that I use for my gloves for a $1, and one skein of a yarn for a scarf that is just wrapped (the purple on the right.)  I made one in red and gave it to Meredith for Christmas.  The colors are gorgeous.....maybe for next year's Christmas list?  I should get started on handmade items now......(probably not!)