Ballooning up

My husband came into the office the other day and asked if he could get on my computer for a few minutes. Needing a break and to get up and walk around a bit I happily complied. He looked down at my feet and noticed I was barefoot.

"Where are your shoes?" he asked me. I told him that I had kicked them off under my desk. When he asked why I said, "Look at my feet!! They look like Miss Piggy's especially in my Mary Janes!"

Another morning I was eating my piece of toast and talking to my husband, clenching and unclenching my hands.

"What's the matter with your hands?" he asked me. I told him, "Look at them, they look like Shrek's hands!"

He laughed and said "Yes, you look like an animated character." Thanks.

Another hot stuffy day; I laid on our bed with the fan blowing at full speed in front of me.

"What are you doing?" my husband asked me. I explained that it's hot and I'm trying to cool off. Then I said, "Man, I feel like a beached whale right now."

My husband's reply, "You don't look like a whale, a walrus maybe, but not a whale."

Logan being born in the winter (the coldest day of the year in fact), I never swelled up. With this little one, and the 85-102 degree heat, I am just ballooning up. I think of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" when Violet eats the piece of gum that gives you a three course meal. At dessert (blueberry pie) she expanded and swelled until the oompa-loompas had to roll her out of the room. That's how I feel, but without turning blue!

Ahhh, pregnancy bliss.

Pillowcases for Charity

Every year the local quilt shop I like to go to has a "garage sale". For one night (usually a Friday) they fill their class room area full of fabric that they sell for $1.00-$2.50 a yard. Last year I dragged my husband and Logan to attend and went...ummm...should we say a little crazy. I was buying fabric I liked five yards at a time!

A year later and all this fabric was still folded up in my quilting basket - untouched. Then I read about "One Million Pillowcase Challenge" in one of my quilting magazines. The idea of this is to make and donate pillowcases to local charities in your community. The pillowcases go anywhere from homeless shelters, YMCA, YWCA, children's hospitals, cancer patients, foster children, the list goes on and on. My first thought was - "What a great way to use up some of this fabric."

So I got busy measuring and cutting out my five yards of fabrics and any other large pieces I had laying around from quilts I had made. I am currently at 11 pillowcases; though I think I will run out of large enough pieces of fabric at 14 or 15.

I always say that I was put here to make a difference, for a purpose. Though this is small in comparison to what some do, at least it's something.

Whenever I bring up volunteer work, my husband (who's "funny" about charity or volunteering) always says I picked the wrong life to save the world. If I want to make a difference than I should have never got married or had kids. My retaliation is always, why can't I do both? I'm not flying off to less fortunate countries, or abandoning and neglecting my family to help others. All the "small" things matter too. Whether it be cleaning up a local park, walking/running for a specific charity/organization, or making a few pillowcases. Besides, it makes me happy, and we all know "A home is not a happy home unless mom is happy."

Chama, NM

We finally took a much needed weekend away this Father's Day. The last time we received any time off was a weekend in August of 2009; so we were way overdue.

The weekend was spent in Chama, NM. A small, cute little town. The main attraction is the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. An old steam train that, for a few months out of the year, takes tourists and visitors from Chama, NM to Antonito, CO.

Logan was - as all little boys - extremely excited about the whole trip; from the motel room to the train itself. He giggled and shouted "Woooowww". In the open compartment car, Logan laid flat out and watched the train go through the cracks in the floor.

On our way home, we stopped and "toured" the Ghost Ranch. Another ranch here in New Mexico that films many movies (the cabin is from the movie "City Slickers".) Here, there is evidence of dinosaurs so of course we had to go through the Archaeological Dinosaur exhibit!

A lovely family weekend!!!