Merry Christmas to All!

I'm writing tonight with a full heart (and a full tummy) at the end of a wonderful Christmas Day. I hope that all of you had a great day, too. We hosted our children, granddaughters, DMIL, my sister, her husband, and their son. Everything I planned for dinner turned out great, thanks to my nephew, Karl, who sauted the broccoli dish at the last minute. It was like herding cats, trying to get everyone to the table! There was a phone call, a diaper change, an intense conversation about a medical matter--but they all made it in and we enjoyed our meal. The younger granddaughter stuffed her face, and the older one would only eat Wheat Thins. Everyone else tried everything!

The best part of the day was watching the girls open their presents. Avery can read her name on the tags, so she delighted in finding the ones for her. Addison ripped away on the paper. Both of them rewarded us with smiles and gasps of surprise when they saw their new toys. Then we got to play with all of them!

I received a gift certificate to a quilt shop and a bundle of fat quarters selected by Avery. It was a great day!

Construction Progress

Look at this! I'm posting two days in a row!

We have a lot going on around here. DMIL is going to move here from Tulsa next spring. She will be 89 by then, and it is just time, if you know what I mean. She refuses to live in an apartment or senior residence so....we're building on to our house, with her help. She will have a suite with bedroom, sitting area with small gas fireplace, luxury bath, and walk-in closet.

The builders are at a stage now where we are seeing a lot of progress. Yesterday two exterior walls went up, and today they built the interior walls. Tomorrow the third wall will go up, and we'll be ready for the roof trusses. (The fourth wall is already there, as the addition will join on to the back of the garage and will be accessed through our former back door. My old laundry room will turn into a hall, and I'll get a new laundry area.)

I'm Back with "Eye Candy"

I'm baaaaack! Poor neglected blog! I recently returned from a weekend trip to Dallas, where it was mentioned that my blog was severly neglected, so I will try to do better. At least I know a few people were reading it! (You like me, you really, really like me! Apologies to Sally Field.)

I had a marvelous time on my adventure to Dallas. Of course, it was made much easier by my hostess, Debi, who graciously chauffeured me all over the area and allowed me to stay in her beautiful home. Many thanks to Debi for a wonderful weekend and also to her husband, Kit, and her sweet dogs who accepted me immediately. (And thanks to that nice guy who got my carryon into the overhead compartment for the trip home. It was heavy!)

While in the Dallas area, I got to visit four quilt shops and attend the Christmas party of the DFW Gang, whose members all met on the quilting forum I frequent. It was great fun! As a huge surprise, Debi arranged for a visit from my favorite pattern designer, Sindy Rodenmayer of Fat Cat Patterns. She is such a sweet, modest person, and it was such a pleasure to have several hours to get to know her while also visiting with my online buddies.

Since returning home, I have turned over three new quilts to Project Linus: Dinos, Hound Dogs, and Bright Barnraising. I'm also working on a pattern from Sindy's site, "Silly Zoo", as well as two of the BOM series that she shares on her website.

The building of the room addition to our home is in full swing. This is a suite for my DMIL, who will be moving here from Tulsa. I'll post some pictures soon. Today they are constructing the walls, reminding me of a barnraising, although we only have three guys working, not the dozens that help with an Amish barn!