Quilt Friends and Shop Hop...life doesn't get much better than that!

What a great day heading up to the Lancaster Shop Hop, with a wonderful group of ladies! There were nine of us all together and we just had the best time! We laughed, we shopped, we ate and we shopped some more! We found a great quilt shop called The White House in Heath Springs and had a really nice time looking at all the wonderful things they had to offer besides fabric too! They had some beautiful vintage tablecloths, napkins, aprons and a whole room of Jim Shore figurines. There was a wonderful front porch that we enjoyed sitting on while we waited for a couple of ladies to finish their transactions. It was a lovely warm day (67 degrees!) and great company! Now to go put away my goodies! :)

When I thought things couldn't get crazier!

So as I have started to write this it is only 7:30 a.m., I've been up for an hour and a half and one of the first things I discovered about 30 minutes into my day was that Max apparently decided to knock over the Herbie Curbie and of course Harley was not completely innocent as she helped sift through the trash! So that is how my day has started and I am just looking forward to it warming up a little as the sun peeks out more, for my new clean up mission! Hopefully this day can only get better! I do have a top secret project I am working on and look forward to getting down to business with that today...you will hear about what exactly it is in the coming weeks! So for now, let me go get my gloves on...

Hump Day - and I am finally caught up!

So today the dog is itching a little less, but still not quite herself! If she's not drastically better by Friday morning I am calling the vet back. So today I had a few errands to run and get my payroll done, nothing too exciting took place today. We have been baby sitting two dogs, Max & Harley, for a friend. They get along great with our dog Judy, however, since Judy has been a little under the weather, she hasn't been as interested in playing. I played ball with Harley and of course Judy couldn't resist, and Max decided he wanted some action too, so I threw a stick for him. The picture to the left is of Max, Judy & Harley the last time they were over for a visit. Recent pics of them can be seen above in the snow photos...and check out more at my Flicker site...they are too cute in the snow!

Al and I went to dinner and as he was trying to tell me about his day, in a scrambled kind of way...I could tell he really needed to wind down! The hostess seated us and told us our server was a professional and would be with us momentarily (strange wording, but whatever!). Once she walked away Al said to me, "I am starving so when Lance gets here I am going to tell him to bring us some rolls right away." In thought to myself I don't know how he knows our waiters name, but maybe he saw a nametag on one of the servers. So our waiter walks up and says "Hello, my name is Raphael and I will be waiting on you, what would you like to drink?" Al responded very matter-of-factly, "Hi Lance, could we get some rolls and...", I can't describe the look on Raphael's face, but it was priceless! Raphael said "My name isn't Lance...it's Raphael." I just started laughing...it was so funny. Al really did need a drink! Al thought the hostess had said our waiter would be Lance, but Raphael said they don't have a Lance that works there. I told Al that I remembered he told me this morning he thought he heard voices; I guess the voices are giving him the wrong info! So when Al signed the bill...I added a note that said 'Thanks Lance...LOL! :)' Hopefully Al will get some much needed rest tonight after such a long day at work!

Busy Tuesday!

Okay, so I'm still a little behind...give a girl a break, I was really busy today! I was chauffering a couple of gentlemen from Bekins Van Lines from their hotel to our office and gave them a quick tour of Sumter. Then off to Columbia to pick up my glasses and meet up with a wonderful friend to show her how to do some hand stitching. Of course cutting the fabric and how to properly tie a knot in the end of the thread were the first main lessons! Then I rushed back to get the dog and take her to the vet.

The vet seems to think it may be a food allergy and gave her a shot of Prednisone to help stop the frantic itching...it has helped a lot, but she is still kind of itchy and not quite her spunky old self yet. So he recommended staying away from dog food with chicken or beef, rather look for duck, lamb, venison and don't worry if it has corn. He said he's not sure why all pet stores say to stay away from grains as they really aren't a problem...it's the protein that's the problem. He said to truly test out the theory we need to really commit to giving the dog nothing but whichever special food we get for 8 weeks...no treats, no people food, etc. My husband said, "How long?" and when I told him, he said, "I guess we can do that." So we shall see how this goes!

When I finally arrived home I discovered the cat had vomitted on the nice clean quilt on our bed that I had so haphazardly worked so hard to clean yesterday (see yesterday's post)! That's the way it goes I guess!

Monday, Monday!

Okay so this morning my dog Judy is itching like crazy, actually it started last night before we went to bed. It was so bad and her tummy was as red a valentine's heart, so I decided to call the vet, but they didn't open until 9, so I called Petco to see about getting her a soothing oatmeal bath to help calm her skin. They said to bring her on right away. So without taking a shower, I quickly dressed and decided to bring along my king sized quilt to wash at the laundromat in case it was causing Judy's itching. As it turns out the vet can't see her until 4:00 tomorrow!

After dropping off the dog, I stopped at the laundromat and purchased the detergent, Clorox II bleach and fabric softener from the vending machine, since i forgot mine in my haste! I thought it was odd that the machine did not have instructions for which compartment to put the detergent in vs. the fabric softener, but I went ahead and dumped in the Clorox II and then opened the Tide box, I tipped the box to dump out the packet, which I quickly discovered really wasn't a packet like the fabric softener is, as I dumped all the detergent on the floor in front of me! So I bought another box of detergent and proceeded to put it in the dispenser. Just before I put in the fabric softener, I discovered the instructions on the lid and realized I had put the bleach in the fabric softener spot. So I did the logical thing and tried to dig it out with my fingers to move it to the correct dispenser...it didn't work the best, but good enough! So I went and told the ladies that run the laundromat that there was a clean up needed on aisle 2! What could happen next?

Well as it turns out the bath did help the dog a little, but she is still itching like crazy so tonight I am going to give her some children's Benadryl to see if it will help her at least get some rest.

As you can tell...I am already slacking a little with this blog...I forgot to post this on Monday!

An Amazing Day!

It is so amazing to see how God works through so many people over so many years for the advancement of His work. I experienced a very moving Ordination service tonight at church for Scott Shipes who is now a children's minister and will be continuing on a journey that started many years ago and has now lead him to move his family to Gaborone, Botswana. It was wonderful to hear different people speak about their part in this journey and see the outpouring of love by the congregation for him, his wonderful wife Tonya and their family.

I feel so blessed to know them and am grateful that I have had the opportunity to be a part of their journey. I look forward to seeing the fruit of their work and continuing to pray for them and their family during this transition.

As I go to sleep tonight I am truly in awe of the sacrifices they are making to serve our Lord. May God bless them abundantly and keep them safe in all that they do for His glory! God is so Awesome!