True confessions

I have a question for all my followers with the band. Are any of you drinking carbonated beverages yet? It's been 2 years and 2 months since I had my surgery and a couple of weeks ago I got to craving a Diet Dr Pepper. I mean, I didn't drink diet soda much before but occasionally it just hit the spot, you know what I mean? When I had my consultation before surgery I thought the surgeon told me never again have carbonated beverages or caffeine. I drink decaf tea or coffee most of the time. Once in a while I'll have a half cup of the real thing but I haven't tried the carbonated stuff. Well, I broke down and bought a 12 pack of it last week. I tell you it tasted so good, but the burping and gurgling is really embarrassing. My hubby and I were sitting on our deck yesterday after planting a couple of little bushes in our planter and I sipped my Dr Pepper as we relaxed. A short time later I took another little sip and gurgle, burp, gurgle. The burps I could conceal but the gurgles you can't hide. He turned and looked at me like " What the Hell?? " It tasted awesome but I was just wondering if any of you have tried drinking them since surgery. I have a problem drinking water most of the time, it gives me heartburn. Also any Crystal Light products with citrus fruit in it gives me heartburn. It seems they all have some kind of citrus in them. I have been drinking skim milk on occasion and it goes down and doesn't cause heartburn and tastes good too. I also broke a cardinal rule recently and had a glass of milk with my meal. Oh, the good old days. I have gone astray, I know. What has gotten into me? Not only am I drinking the forbidden fruits but I am drinking while eating on occasion. I think I need a serious talking to. Tell me I am not the only one.................

Almost done.......

I finished quilting the table topper the other night. I am now working on the strips for the binding to go around the edges. This is the part I don't think I will like very much. I went to the gym this morning for my two classes. Yesterday I woke up feeling exhausted. I showered and got dressed to go to the gym and felt so wiped out that I decided not to go. I had invited some friends for dinner and didn't want to cancel so I just rested in the morning and our two husbands went fishing so I vacuumed the house and went to the store for a few items I needed for dinner. The dinner turned out really good (Stuffed Shells, Antipasto Salad, and Cheesy Garlic Bread) and we even played some cards after dinner. It's so fun to get together with friends.

I have to get busy now and finish my laundry and then I have to go to the store for a couple of things for tonight's dinner. Taco Salad. Yum! It's so nice to be able to eat whatever I want even with the LapBand. I just can't eat the quantity I used to. And there are a few things I have trouble eating such as really fibrous foods like fresh pineapple or some pastas like angel hair. But most of my favorites I can still eat.

Quilting................

I put my quilt top and the batting and the backing together yesterday and last night I began quilting it. I was a little apprehensive at first since I didn't want to mess it up and then have to tear out all the stitches, but once I got started I realized it is fun. Lots of fun. I am just doing a stitch that meanders back and forth and although it's not perfect (after all it is my first one) it looks pretty darned good. Once I finish it, I will post another picture of it. That is after I sew on the binding and it's done. I hope to finish the quilting portion this afternoon when I get home from church. I can see how people get the quilting bug. I find myself looking at fabric in fabric stores or quilt shops now and before they never really interested me. I am anxious to tell my friends at church that I started it. My friend Lori will be so happy for me. She has helped me when I bought my machine and also to pick out the fabric on this table topper. I hope you can see the quilting portion of the topper. I have only quilted around the floral outer edge so far.

Our weather has been crazy the last week. We went from having beautiful sunny spring days to cold, dark and pouring down rain. It felt like winter all over again. Native Oregonians say this is part of a ten year cycle. At least the native that I talked with last night. He said this weather would continue through June. Well, not much I can do about it. It sure is different than I have been used to for most of my life. Living in Southern California for the majority of my life I am used to sunshine most of the time and when it rains it only rains for maybe a day or two or a week at the most and then the sun is out again. But you can't beat the summers here. I temperatures are so much nicer. Usually in the mid 80s and SoCal of course is in the 90s and 100s a good part of the summer. We planted a new azalea bush with bright orange flowers. I am hoping it takes and the deer leave it alone. We were driving down our driveway the other day and 7 deer were crossing our yard two of them were obviously heavy with babies. Their bellies were just bulging. I love when the fawns are born each spring. The doe keeps them hidden for the first several weeks and then she will move them to a new location and that is when we usually see them for the first time. Lots of the time the doe will have twins and they are so darned cute to watch. She will be eating grass (or one of my plants) and they romp around and chase each other. It's adorable. One of my favorite things for sure.

Well, I need to get in the shower and get ready for church. Have a Blessed Day everyone!

Monday morning dreary.......

Well, after 3 beautiful days of warm sunshine I guess it's time to "pay the piper" so to speak. It rained last night, in fact we even had some thunder and lightening. That is very unusual here. It is supposed to be rainy off and on most of the week. I am so ready for the rains to end but I know we really need it. After all that is how all those trees stay alive and thrive.

I need to get to the gym today. I have slacked off a bit in the last few weeks. Oh, I have still been going but I haven't really been applying myself all the time. So, I am determined to get back on my program of 5 days a week and working up to a sweat each of those days. My body is starting to get saggy and the skin is getting loose. So sad, but at my age I can't prevent it. I have loose skin even on my forearms. I am dreading having to wear short sleeves once the weather gets warmer. I wish I could just have all my skin pulled up and tightened. But, even with my skin being a little loose, it beats all the fat that was there before. I am still very proud of myself for all the hard work I have put into working out.

Tomorrow night I am going to a meeting at my church for a quilters group who make quilts for people who are sick. It's a prayer quilt group and the name is "Squares of Hope" I am eager to be a part of something so wonderful. I know a couple of people who went through cancer the last couple of years and they received one of these quilts. They said the quilt meant so much to them knowing it had been prayed over by the women who came together to make it that their healing was escalated and they recovered that much faster. Isn't that inspiring?

I made a pot of cauliflower cheese soup yesterday that was so yummy. I pack it into small containers and freeze them. Then I can just pop them into a bowl and microwave it when I am ready to eat it. I can't wait til lunch today to have my first bowl. Well I hear my hubby moving around so I have to get going and get to the gym. Have a good day everyone!!

My First Project........

Here is my first project. It's a table runner. I still have to put the batting in and the backing but the top is done. I am so proud of my little quilt so far. I am wishing I had picked different colors. My friend Lori helped me pick them out and I like them only they really won't look good in my dining room. Maybe I can gift them to someone.
This is my sewing center that I bought. It's a Bernina machine and the table is custom made and also has a place for your serger (if you have one). The white table with my table runner on it is the cutting table. It opens to 80 inches. Both sides lift up and it also has drawers on the ends and the whole bottom has a shelf where items can be stored.












The next picture is an additional cabinet for storage of fabric or books or whatever I want to store in it. Isn't it nice looking? The lady who sold them to me also threw in a pair of left handed scissors, a rotary cutter, a cutting mat, a whole drawer of thread, about 15 bobbins, rulers and templates for cutting and other assorted goodies including Bernina manuals. I think the price was right at $1200. What do you think?

We did lots of work in our yard yesterday. Bob got two truckloads of bark mulch and we put it around all of our trees and bushes. We also put it in our garden areas. It gives such a finished look to your plants and it helps to keep the moisture in. I also put it around the tops of our container garden on our front deck.

Last night for dinner I made Pork Carnitas and also Pinto Beans. I was only able to eat one of course but it was very good. We had two really pretty days and the temperature got up to 80 here in our town. Today a little rain is in the forecast and over the next few days showers too.










The day bed next to this cabinet needs a bedspread. I hope to make a quilt for it soon. I haven't quite decided what pattern to make but my class in beginning quilting should help me to feel more confident in making it.

I haven't been on here in a month. I have become very lax where my blog is concerned for some reason. I have still been reading yours but just have posted. My brother and his wife came and visited us for almost a week. We enjoyed their visit so much. Unfortunately, our weather wasn't the best. In fact it rained all but one day that they were here. We still had fun and spent many hours laughing and reminiscing childhood memories. I haven't taken any pictures of my sewing room yet. I promise I'll do that this weekend and post them. I am making a table topper. I also signed up for a quilt class at our local quilt shop. It's 12 squares, all different (so I can learn different techniques). They say in 4 weeks I will complete the quilt. I started to buy the fabric for it the other day. I picked out some beautiful batiks. They are such vivid colors and I can't wait to get started.

I've had a cold for the last week, and now Bob (my hubby) has it too. UGH! I hate colds. Last week we went to our local Farmers Market and I bought some salad greens from a local grower. They were so yummy, I ate salads every day last week at lunch. I plan to go back today and get another bag. We also bought a Japanese Maple and an Azalea bush with bright orange flowers on it. We planted the maple but not the azalea yet. We have to remove a small tree from the area first. I also planted some annuals in a garden area that we built out front. In order to keep the flowers we had to fence around it or the deer would feast on our plants. I'll try to get some pictures of that too. I will try to do better on posting and keeping up with the blogs I read.

I haven't reached the 100 pound point yet so I can wear my new pendant but the last time I weighed myself I was at 97 pounds. I have been fluctuating after each weigh loss. I go up and down two or three pounds for a couple of weeks and then I finally lose that weigh plus a pound. I only weigh myself first thing in the morning before I drink my tea. I keep forgetting and that is why I haven't weighed. My sister-in-law asked me if I was wearing the new pendant yet and I had to tell her not yet. She took home my old sewing machine since she didn't have one. It was about 30 years old made by Brother for Montgomery Ward. My exhusband bought it for me one Christmas. I never had a case for it or a table that it sat in. I did buy a tapestry case on wheels for it so I could wheel it around and keep it clean. My new (to me) Bernina also has one of those cases too. I have to take it with me to the quilt shop when I start the class. I am kind of rambling this morning. I guess I haven't blogged in so long that I have lots of thoughts racing through my mind.

A girlfriend of mine, who I've known since we were about 14 years old sent me an email last week and asked me about my LapBand. It's funny because when I was considering it, she blew me off and said she thought it was not the way to go to lose weight and she would never do that. So I didn't mention it again. Now she is considering it. We talked on the phone and I tried to answer all her questions. I told her the way I found out most about it was by reading LapBandtalk.com. I told her they even have a video on there of the actual surgery. She is seeing her doctor later this month for a consultation on the surgery. I wish her well and told her that I wouldn't hesitate to have the surgery all over again if I had it to do again.

Well, I am going to take my shower and get ready to go to the Farmer's Market. I promise to take pictures and get them posted of my sewing room and my garden area.

Sewing room

Well, since I last posted my hubby and I went over to some friends of ours from church for Easter dinner. She is a seasoned quilter. I have wanted to learn quilting forever but never have. As we were sitting and talking about it her husband mentioned having seen a Bernina quilting edition machine in the paper for sale. It was to include a custom made table and storage as well as an adjustable cutting table. The asking price was $1200. My friend Lori said she would call the lady and ask the questions she knew to ask, better than I. She wasn't available to talk so she said she would call Lori back. After we had gotten home Lori called and said that it seemed like a great deal. The machine was in good condition and she also was getting out of quilting because of arthritis in her hands. She said she would include many of the items that she has and wouldn't be using anymore ie. cutting boards, rulers, rotary cutter, left handed scissors, extra bobbins and thread. Even some pattern books. Lori and I went to see it on Monday and decided it was a sweet deal so I bought it. The interesting thing is the lady selling the machine and I really hit it off. I mean I could see us being friends. We have similar interests and she was just so easy to talk to and Lori felt the same way. Last night hubby Bob and I went to pick up the remaining furniture and he and her husband hit it off as well. We sat there and talked with them for 2 hours before we loaded the furniture into our truck. There were hugs and she offered to help us with everything from putting the furniture together to putting a quilt together. They want to get together socially with us and with Lori and her hubby too. Now to decide which room we will set up my new hobby. Lori and another lady at our church have been making prayer quilts to give to seriously ill patients and I will be part of their group. I am very excited to get started. Now I have great equipment to get me started. Once it's set up I will take some pictures for my blog.

Oh, and by the way, I lost another 2 pounds. I don't know if I mentioned the pendant my hubby bought me last month. We went to the jewelry store at our mall and I needed to have a ring re sized because it was too loose. I also had my wedding ring cleaned and a heart with diamonds in it that he gave me for Valentine's day changed a bit. My birthstone is Sapphire and the heart had only diamonds in it. We had 3 sapphires added in place of 3 of the diamonds to make it more interesting. While we were there he mentioned the marquise diamond that I have from when he had it replaced for a larger one in my wedding ring. He has been wanting me to have it placed in another piece of jewelry. Isn't he the greatest guy? They had a special line of jewelry that was there for the weekend and maybe something there would interest us. They had a really pretty pendant with sapphires in it and an opening in the bottom that would accommodate the diamond perfectly. So we bought it and the next day I brought the diamond in. I decided this is going to be my 100 pound reward. I am now at 95 pounds and soon, I will be able to wear that beautiful necklace proudly. I will take a picture of it also and show it on here. Well, that is what is new with me. Now I have to catch up on all your blogs that I haven't read in about a week.