10 Random Things From The Last Week

1. My accountant asked how my weight loss program is going. He's the last person I would have ever expected to ask me.

2. Lanny told me that our sewer line froze. The thing is that no one's been home for two weeks so there shouldn't have been any water going through the pipe anyway.

3. I fell asleep before 11pm two nights in a row! (First time that's happened in a while)

4. I woke up 45 minutes before I needed to be up and decided to unload the dishwasher and read instead of going back to bed.

5. I figured out how to play some of the songs from the song book on the piano. No need to make me play for church, though... I can only play with the right hand and I can't play chords.

6. I made a cherry cheesecake but didn't eat a single piece of it. I also managed to stay away from the ice cream most of the time.

7. The big toe on my left foot remains sore despite the fact that the ungrateful cow stepped on it three weeks ago. I discovered this by stubbing it painfully on a dresser the other morning. (Lanny didn't think that I stubbed my toe on accident... He thought I did it just to see if it was still sore...)

8. I realized that my dog Mindy is most likely going to have puppies within a few months. (If she does, any takers? The mother is 1/2 Australian Shepherd, part Alaskan Husky, part Malamute, and part Golden Lab. The father is a philandering chocolate lab+who know's what? that needs to be neutered.)

9. I learned to love an automatic dishwasher.

10. I have the night off of chores and am absolutely loving it!

Tax Time

I just love this time of year...(note the heavy sarcasm in that statement) Lanny and I are going to be meeting with our accountant tomorrow to turn in our tax paperwork. I must say that I am both looking forward to and dreading this appointment. I am looking forward to it because then we will be done for another year, but dreading it because we will find out how much we owe the IRS for the last year. I am also dreading it because Lanny and I have this tradition of going to DQ after the appointment to 'celebrate'. Unfortunately, while I have been slipping in the dieting area, fast food and ice cream still make me sick if I have too much. Perhaps we will have to change our 'celebrate' tradition to Subway instead....

I must also add that I took for granted how easy it was to do my taxes before I married a self-employed farmer. It's times like this that I miss a paycheck with taxes already deducted, EZ-tax forms, and my dad's proficient use of the TurboTax computer program.

Bits and Pieces

I love to quilt. I love that I can take a seemingly innocuous piece of material and change it into something unique. I love that I can put together the same pattern but it's never the same quilt as the last. I also love that quilts keep you warm and cozy on cold winter days. I love how quilts show just how much love was put into them. They are a wonderfully useful gift and, in my opinion, you can never have enough of them!

I made my brother Tommy a quilt with the "Sunbonnet Sam' pattern. It's so cute with a little straw-hatted boy in overalls and a flannel shirt with his 'fishin' pole over his shoulder. I added a "not-so-secret" pocket in one corner just to make it different. Greg and Aaron both have homemade quilts courtesy of me. The fun thing about those quilts (just a basic block pattern) is that I used pieces from my oldest, favorite pair of jeans (that no longer fit) for some of the blocks. I also found that bandanas make really fun corner pieces for the borders.

I guess that's my favorite part of quilting. I can take a treasured cloth item that's meant for the ragbag and reuse it. It adds character to the quilt and then there's a history to go along with it. I have this dream that my kids will all have a "Mom Made" quilt with a story behind each patch. I have a good start on one quilt already. (I've also been toying with the idea of 're-doing' my wedding dress. I heard of a lady who made her's into baptismal gowns for her kids and I think I have fallen in love with the idea.)

Catching some Zzzzzzz....

Before I met Lanny, I was not a napper unless I was 1. sick or 2. working night shift at the Old Folk's Home. Even after we first were married, I still did not grasp the concept of an all-day Sunday snooze marathon. It drove me nuts that Lanny loved nothing more than sleeping all day when I had all of this energy and wanted to 'get out'. Fast forward to May 2008. I had started to nap on Sundays, just not as much as he was, but then I started doing chores on a regular basis. Now, I out-nap my husband some days. Like today... I won't admit it unless he asks, but I did fall back asleep after he left this afternoon. To recap my day, we climbed into bed for our daily, after-breakfast snooze. Total time-30 minutes. He hit the 'snooze' button a few times. Total time-15 minutes. He climbed out of bed and got to work finishing up our tax stuff, I slept on. Total time-60 minutes. He left on an errand, I was supposed to get up and get my act together but continued napping. Total time-55 minutes. I woke up but didn't get out of bed and fell back asleep. Total time-16 minutes. Total napping time this afternoon-176 minutes. And I feel like I need to go to bed right now, I am that tired. Darn those late nights of visiting and sauna-ing after evening chores and having a sick husband who hacks and coughs half the night....