Where I've Been....
Yep, I've been gone a while and I do appreciate all your patience. This post is an update of what's been going on here that's kept me away. It rambles on a bit and I'm giving you fair warning this is a whine-y post.
To start, I had some wonky computer issues. Email distribution lists were getting truncated and messages weren't reaching their intended recipient. I couldn't attach pictures to anything. Though in my inbox, I couldn't open random emails. I couldn't access many on-line groups -- not even the SAQA website or my Yahoo groups. And, to top it all off, my sewing machine decided to take a vacation, unbeknownst to me.
You may also recall from my last post in May that my youngest daughter had a collision in gym class and had a nice hard bump at the base of her right hand. Alas, it ended up in this:
And now -- here comes the really whine-y part -- just as her hand was close to being healed, my youngest had another freak accident. (Skip this paragraph if you're squeamish.) By way of background, you have a tendon that is attached to the quadriceps muscle of your thigh on one end, covers you kneecap, and then is attached to your shin just below the knee on the other end. Somehow, my daughter managed to pull some of the tendon off at the bottom, taking a bit of the bone with it. Yech and ouch! She is now almost completely incapacitated with a full leg splint and is in pain. Poof! There goes her dream of going to sleep away camp for the first time, two weeks of biking through New Hampshire and Martha's Vineyard. There go all the other fun plans we had together. I'm just heartbroken for her. On the outside, I'm trying to keep up good spirits for her and remind her that this will, eventually, heal and all will be just fine. But on the inside, I'm a wreck; my poor little girl! Intellectually, I know this is not life threatening, but it sure stinks.
Now that that's all off my chest, I hope you can understand why I've been rather absent. From here on out, I'm going to have to do things to keep it all in perspective and to remember all the great things in my life. To that end, I can say that my computer problems have been solved and that my garden looks lovely.
Yesterday, my husband worked from home to help out. That meant my eldest daughter and I could take a little time together after her eye exam; we went to the mall, ran errands, and had such a nice time. I hate to admit it, but I had fun shopping, something I normally HATE to do. I bought a new pair of completely unnecessary shoes, a pair with high heels and sparkly bling -- very unlike me. I do have to share that I got a skinny envelope from the Main Street Gallery in Groton, NY ... and surprisingly, it included the good news that one of my pieces was juried into their 2010 National Small Art Quilt Works exhibition. Yep, very exciting! And my son golfed well enough yesterday that he qualified for a NY metropolitan Jr. PGA tournament. (I know most of you don't like golf, but this is pretty cool.)
So, you're right, my life is pretty good, and I'm just going to help my daughter along on this detour. I'm hoping that now that I'm starting to get my head (and my heart) out of my _______ and back into the game, I'll be able to post more often. Until then, here's a new piece I embellished with hand stitching to calm my nerves while my machine was AWOL. It's a resurrected piece of painted cloth I made as I experimented with triad colors. I didn't care much about it when I started -- just wanted something to occupy my hands -- but now that it's done, I kind of like it.
Circles II -- 8" x 8"
To start, I had some wonky computer issues. Email distribution lists were getting truncated and messages weren't reaching their intended recipient. I couldn't attach pictures to anything. Though in my inbox, I couldn't open random emails. I couldn't access many on-line groups -- not even the SAQA website or my Yahoo groups. And, to top it all off, my sewing machine decided to take a vacation, unbeknownst to me.
You may also recall from my last post in May that my youngest daughter had a collision in gym class and had a nice hard bump at the base of her right hand. Alas, it ended up in this:
And now -- here comes the really whine-y part -- just as her hand was close to being healed, my youngest had another freak accident. (Skip this paragraph if you're squeamish.) By way of background, you have a tendon that is attached to the quadriceps muscle of your thigh on one end, covers you kneecap, and then is attached to your shin just below the knee on the other end. Somehow, my daughter managed to pull some of the tendon off at the bottom, taking a bit of the bone with it. Yech and ouch! She is now almost completely incapacitated with a full leg splint and is in pain. Poof! There goes her dream of going to sleep away camp for the first time, two weeks of biking through New Hampshire and Martha's Vineyard. There go all the other fun plans we had together. I'm just heartbroken for her. On the outside, I'm trying to keep up good spirits for her and remind her that this will, eventually, heal and all will be just fine. But on the inside, I'm a wreck; my poor little girl! Intellectually, I know this is not life threatening, but it sure stinks.
Now that that's all off my chest, I hope you can understand why I've been rather absent. From here on out, I'm going to have to do things to keep it all in perspective and to remember all the great things in my life. To that end, I can say that my computer problems have been solved and that my garden looks lovely.
Yesterday, my husband worked from home to help out. That meant my eldest daughter and I could take a little time together after her eye exam; we went to the mall, ran errands, and had such a nice time. I hate to admit it, but I had fun shopping, something I normally HATE to do. I bought a new pair of completely unnecessary shoes, a pair with high heels and sparkly bling -- very unlike me. I do have to share that I got a skinny envelope from the Main Street Gallery in Groton, NY ... and surprisingly, it included the good news that one of my pieces was juried into their 2010 National Small Art Quilt Works exhibition. Yep, very exciting! And my son golfed well enough yesterday that he qualified for a NY metropolitan Jr. PGA tournament. (I know most of you don't like golf, but this is pretty cool.)
So, you're right, my life is pretty good, and I'm just going to help my daughter along on this detour. I'm hoping that now that I'm starting to get my head (and my heart) out of my _______ and back into the game, I'll be able to post more often. Until then, here's a new piece I embellished with hand stitching to calm my nerves while my machine was AWOL. It's a resurrected piece of painted cloth I made as I experimented with triad colors. I didn't care much about it when I started -- just wanted something to occupy my hands -- but now that it's done, I kind of like it.
Circles II -- 8" x 8"
Comments
Glad to see you're back up and running. So sorry to hear of your daughters leg (Ouch, ouch ouch!). Hope the healing works fast.
The colors on this small piece are wonderful. Isn't it great how a needle and thread calm the nerves?
I like your little piece of work and your garden grows beautifully. I hope all goes well for the rest of the summer.
I like your new little piece and a big congrats for getting into the Small Works (another one that I didn't know about).