Where Have I Been Hiding?

I ran into Rebecca at the doctor's office the other day and she wanted to know if I had gone underground. And then I posted to Debra's blog and she wanted to know where I have been hiding. I have been enjoying the saga of Rian's new house, and am glad Jim is feeling better. So, here is what's up...

We moved into the new house three weeks ago. Boy is it great, although still predominantly purple. The boys rooms are blue. (Thank goodness for professional painters!) The house is much bigger, which means the kids can spread out. The ceilings are higher, which means more stairs, and a tighter behind from climbing them. (Don't I wish?) The sewing room is a huge mess. I would post a picture but I am not sure where the digital camera is. I WILL spend some time down there this weekend getting things organized and quilting a quilt top that has been done for ages. (I hope I can find the basting spray this afternoon. The top is basted to the batting, but not the backing, yet. Oh crap, I have to find the iron, too... Who wants to iron when it is 97 degree outside?)

I have been hiding at soccer camp and swim team practice. My boys went to soccer camp for a week. It was local, so it was a day camp, although my younger son wanted to spend the night at the Y. The 5 year old's camp was 9-noon, and the 11 year old's camp was 9-4. Needless to say, he was wiped at the end of the day. Swim team has been going on since before school let out. It will be over next week. Except the week of soccer camp, we have been at swim team practice every week day. The week of soccer camp, on the swim meet night, my oldest played soccer from 9-4, and then jumped in the pool for warm ups at 5:15. In between, he ate a banana, a bagel, a power bar, a Snickers bar, and drank 32 ounces of Gatorade. I was very proud that he swam the IM ( a lap of each of the four strokes nonstop) without drowning or even coming in last. So, I have been really busy with the kids.

We also had middle school orientation this week. Am I old enough to have a kid going to middle school? I guess so, although I bet I was the youngest parent in the room at the orientation lunch today... This orientation program is unique to this middle school, as far as I can tell. It was 9-12 every day this week. They did activities to get to know the other kids. They also worked on some study skills and learning about the school. I think it was a great program to help lower the anxiety level of starting middle school. And, since we only paid $10 for the entire week, which included lunch for the entire family today and a snack for my son every day, I am pretty sure the teachers did this out of the goodness of their hearts and did not get paid. So thank you to the teachers and staff.

I have broken out the EQ5 that I got for my birthday. I have been having fun designing a quilt for one of our swim team coaches. He attends the Univeristy of Georgia, so I am working on a red and black quilt. Being a Georgia Tech alumnae, this task has been interesting.

This picture from EQ5 looks pretty bad. I don't think I have the hang of things, yet. I mean, I like the quilt, I just don't think I have the exporting pictures thing down. Oh, and it has a solid black border, too.

Well, that is the news from here. I am going to try to get back into life now. I still have boxes everywhere. Some of them will stay packed until all of the painting is done. Some may never get unpacked. Some get unpacked as we need them.

One more thing... The day my daughter was born, one of my friends, whose son is our swim team coach, died of ovarian cancer. I recently discovered that the day my daughter was admitted to Scottish Rite Hospital this spring was that friend's birthday. My daughter's life was saved by a miracle that night. I think Linda, my late friend, is her guardian angel. My daughter has always loved our swim team coach, and still goes to him, even though she is going through that stranger anxiety thing. There is a definite connection there. It is that coach for whom the UGA quilt will be made...