a winter's day

in a deep and dark november ... yes, i do know that technically it isn't winter till the solstice ... try telling that to my freezing fingers and cold nose ...... today was our fifth Saturday Sampler 3 meeting at The Quilter's Studio ... i forgot to put some kleenex in my pocket so Auntia went in without me while i headed back to the car ... when i arrived on the scene there was only one chair left and it wasn't next to my baby girl ... Auntia gave me an i'm so very, very sorry look ... we don't know the names of most of the people who frequent the shop, so we've made up names for some of them ... the quilter next to the empty chair is the one we call More Than a Gardener ... More Than a Gardener said your daughter told me that she was saving this seat for you ... no-she-didn't-we-always-sit-next-to-each-other-she-wouldn't-do-that-to-me ... oh yes she did ... mutter mutter mutter ... so i sat down next to More Than a Gardener ... in the front row ... far far away from my baby girl ... i kept looking back at her and giving her my pathetic how could you do this to me? look ... we need to get there earlier next time ... anywho - Sheri gave us our new fat quarters and the instructions for this month's block ... we wandered around the shop after the meeting and Auntia found the dark blue sky fabric (thank you for the suggestion, Jennifer!) from the Lone Wolves line ... i think i am going to use it for the outer border of The Other One's quilt ... now i won't have to order it and wait and wait and wait ... and now i don't have an excuse to not work on the inner border, either ... mutter mutter mutter ... anywho, this is where we found Mingo when we walked out the back door...looks like Mingo has been a bad little flamingo

yep - there he is, sitting on the naughty spot

there is a temporary ban (due to the H1N1 virus) on children under the age of 14 visiting the assisted living center where Little Nonnie resides ... none of her great-grandchildren have been able to visit her for several months ... my sister offered to help Little Nonnie escape for a few hours today so we could celebrate her 85th plus two weeks and 3 days birthday ... i baked a cake...yo - Traveling Man - german chocolate cake - your favorite! don't worry - i ate a piece or two for you!
...and brought a crockpot filled with meatballs and italian sausage and sauce for sandwiches ... and grilled peppers and onions and lottsa mozzarella ... man oh man were they good... NoJo and Gumdrop and Itty Bitty colored and stickered while Little Nonnie whacked away at the cake...mwaaahhhhahhhahhha! whack whack whack!!!
...Mrs. Moth and LuLu were the only ones brave enough to sit near the knife-wielder...rubber ducky, you're the one
...did you notice the sign behind LuLu?ha ha ha! does my sister have some cool stuff or what?
Mr. Husker doesn't like eye-talian food or a house filled with women and he stayed outside and did whatever it is he does when he's out there - so NoJo was outnumbered by women nine to one - i heard some noise in the breezeway and when i looked around the corner, i saw Mr. Husker backed up to the wood stove, trying to warm up his bum ... he said it's kinda cold out there ... ya think?!? it didn't get above freezing all day!!! if you look up understatement in the dictionary, you'll find his picture
and now it is snowing like crazy ... we're supposed to see 8-12 inches by this time tomorrow ... brrrr!!!

this is Earth Science's birthday ... thirty-three years ago i found myself lying in a little room in St. Joseph's Hospital totally in love with and hopelessly enamored of my beautiful little baby boy ... and i hope that today he has had the happiest birthday ever!!!