I Don't Want to go to Bed

Last night, I stayed up past midnight, so that I could be the first to wish my friend a happy birthday. Today, I had to wake up at 5:30 a.m. to drive to the Port to pick up my daughter and her family who were coming back from a cruise. I knew this would be a long drive, and that it would turn into a long day, and yet I stayed up. Of course, once I hit the bed, I lay there with my eyes wide open, thinking about the new quilt shops we would be visiting today, the drive there, our taxes, and more. Sleep finally took over for a few hours, but I awakened at 5:30 without the help of the alarm, and I was ready to go.

Tonight, I am exhausted. After going to the Port, breakfast with the family, two quilt shops on the coast, the long drive home, and lunch with Tom, we finally arrived home. I jumped out of Tom's car and into mine to head to yet another shop with Sharon. Upon arrival back at the house, I immediatley began quilting.

I am One of Those who is exhausted, but can't sleep because I don't want to miss a thing...

April 15th

Today is April 15th, and since January..no, actually, December, I have been aware that this day was approaching. My mind was filled with memories of last year, driving all the way to the airport post office at 10:30 pm to be sure our taxes would be postmarked April 15th. In December I told myself that as soon as I received our W-2's, I would begin gathering together all the tax data for 2010 and rush to be the first to file. In January, I began putting tax data in the appropriate spot as it arrived in the mail. In February, having received our W-2's, I contemplated doing my taxes myself as I had done in years past, and I began mentally debating the pros and cons of a virtual vs actual tax program, i.e., Turbo Tax. In March, I approached Tom with the idea of getting an accountant to do the taxes this year as I recently retired, and it could get complicated. On April 1st, I attempted to do our taxes myself (virtually), and decided I was right..we need an accountant. Yesterday, I contacted an accountant and scheduled an appointment for today at 4:00. I am One of Those Who Waits to the Last Minute to File Taxes. In my defense, I would like to point out that I am apparently the ugly stepchild of the IRS, and they have not looked favorably upon me in the past multiple years. We have a love-hate relationship...they love to get my money - I hate them. And now I must close because my meeting with the accountant is in 3 hours, and I STILL don't have everything gathered. (shocking)

Seeking Perfection

Blogging may not be my "thing." I completely forgot to enter anything yesterday, although I had planned to write all about the applique class I attended.

As a quilter, I want to learn it all, but applique is at the top of my list. My dream is to one day make a stunning Baltimore Album quilt...and I want that "one day" to be in the next two years. For those of you who do not know what a Baltimore Album quilt is, I would suggest you Google it and perhaps even make a suggestion as to which one I should do. I am leaning toward the Baltimore Christmas, which I am fairly certain is not actually from the Baltimore Album.

Getting back to the subject (are you beginning to see why blogging is maybe not my thing?), I took an applique class yesterday. My friend Sharon's 60th birthday is quickly approaching, and the two of us share a love of quilting, so I thought it would be fun to treat her to an applique class for her birthday and, of course, I would join her. OK, I admit it was a birthday present with an ulterior motive, but I could have taken the class myself, so there!

Having viewed many tutorials on appliquing, I believe I already knew much of what I learned. However, I wanted reassurance that I was doing it properly, and I did learn the following:

1. why it is advantageous to use the correct foot

2. how to tie the threads in back and why they should never be left untied

3. which stitch to use

4. that the stitch length and width look best when they are equal

5. to SLOW DOWN

The result of my "learning" piece is shown above.

The most difficult lesson for me, and one I am not sure I will EVER learn, is that it is okay if the applique is not perfect. The instructor assured us that practice would help us improve and that by using the same color thread as the piece being appliqued, mistakes will not even be noticed. I, of course, want my first appliqued quilt to be perfect, and anything less will be disappointing.

I am One of Those who seeks perfection in my creativity. Aghghgghghgh

And so it begins...

I have often heard it said, "Oh, you're 'one of those," and yes, I guess I am. I am one of those happily married, retired grandmothers, who likes to quilt, but I would like to think I'm so much more. I'd like to think it, but it's probably closer to the aforesaid. Today, however, I shall be One of Those who Blogs. I have been using the computer for over half my life (amazing!), but for some reason, this whole world of blogging has been something I've turned my back on. The main reason has been that I tend to get a little over zealous in activities I enjoy doing, and I don't want my life to be sitting in front of this computer. Today is a trial run. Hopefully, I will find this to be as strange and/or complex as I find tweeting, and I will become One of Those who tried blogging and opted out. Yesterday, I commented to Tom (my husband...you'll get to know him) that I did not understand how in the world people ever accomplished anything when it appears they are always either tweeting, blogging or writing on facebook. And, of course, that means they are also reading other's tweets, bloggs, etc. I fall deeply into this abyss, and I'm not sure there is a way out. If there is, I'm not sure I would take it.