January happenings

I can't believe that I'll be leaving Wisconsin for the Gulf Shore in 10 days!  It's been so busy here that I've not had time to blog about what all I've been doing.  After I finished the Underground Railroad quilt and after our guest departed, I took out Don's great grandmother's quilt and finished the binding on it. Now that's ready to hang as soon as I get a quilt hanger for it. That will wait until we return in March.  I also took out 4 table runner tops I'd made this past year and got them pinned and ready to be quilted up. I plan to sew binding on them while we drive to Southern AL.  I also pinned a fish themed lap quilt I'd made at least a year ago and I'll take that with on the trip and get it quilted and finished while we vacation.

I'm taking my machine and quilting equipment with me so I'll be busy while Don's on the golf course.  I'm trying to get a couple of quilt tops cut and organized before we leave so I'll just have to sit down and sew them up.  If I'm lucky, I'll have 3 major projects to take with me. At least, I bought 3 12" plastic see-through scrapbookering boxes to carry the materials in.

This is the first time Don and I have gone south for this long, and I'm excited to see how it goes.  We found a nice looking place on the Internet so we'll see what that's like when we get there.  We have some friends who are flying down to spend some time with us during the month so we don't get all nasty with just having each other to look at all day.  :-)  The place we rented is adjacent to a nature reserve and a couple of blocks from the beach. We're taking our bikes so there should be plenty to do while we're there.

I've joined a fitness challenge at work.  Beginning January 28, we will track out weight loss, exercise and healthy diet. Some of my co-workers formed teams and the winning teams will get cash prizes. I joined as an individual and the top individual wins a Kindle Fire.  I have my sights on that little baby!  So after the initial weigh in last Monday, I began another juice fast and I must say, it's going very well.  I'd watched a documentary a few weeks ago, "Hungry for Change," and took notice of something said there:  Instead of "I want that but I can't have it" which is what most diets are, I began thinking, "I can have that but I don't want it."  That frame of mind is serving me very well.  Of course, something like a juice fast is a one-day-at-a-time venture, for me at least.  After one week, I've dropped nearly 10 pounds and I feel great, especially my arthritic fingers and knees.  I don't know how long I'll stay on the juicing--like I said, it's one day at a time.  So we'll see how it goes, but I really want that Kindle!