Steve just finished his spring break. We didn't plan to do projects but it is actually spring in north Texas and projects sort of over-took us. I don't remember how the week started – I think I got some sewing done. And I hired Hector and his crew to clean weed and cut back the dead stuff in our yard. Money extremely well-spent. On Thursday the weather turned warm and bright and we decided that we should mulch the newly wonderful yard. 

I finally remembered to take a picture after two pickup loads when we moved to the new pile. Before…

After…

It took about 5 hours, 8 loads of mulch more or less. We lost count. But the yard looks great and I managed to take off one of the three pounds I gained when I was teaching recently.

Friday I went to the Dallas Museum of Art with Chris and Lorna and the kids. It was fun! We worked tag team with Jack (who is a bit rambunctious for a museum) and Bear, who just wants to sleep and eat. Bear spent a lot of time in the sling attached to either Chris or Lorna. And then I got to carry him because I am not wearing the sling. Been there, done that.

Jack did better outside. And there was ART outside which was nice.

Of course, sometimes ART looks like something in a playground. I took the next photo before my brain kicked in, and before the nice lady said 'get off of that!!!'

Honestly, I love this photo :-).

Jack was not the kid who ran into the cellophane streamers onto the field of pink chalk dust (otherwase known as ART) who caused that piece to be locked down. That artwork was asking to be walked into.

On Saturday Steve and I talked about the projects we have committed to for the summer (so many, and mostly not at our house). And then Steve pointed out that he is in charge of the move into the new science building and he's going to be busy all of June. Oh, my. I realized that the job of painting the soffits and eaves at Mom's was on me. I volunteered to do it. I can do it. This was my project and I needed to own it. And then I thought… why wait? It's cool now. Do it now. So I spent half of Saturday and all of Sunday scraping and painting.

I wish I could say that I did this job with a song in my heart and a smile on my face. No. I did not. I had a determined look and music plugged into my ears. I took ibuprofen and am going to have to take more. But the job is now done and now I can smile! I was too tired to take a photo. You just have to imagine it. Mom's house looks better and she's happy to have this job, that I thought would be done a year ago, is now done. There's a bit more to do at Mom's but Steve and I are on that one together. It's easier with two.

I laughed til I cried. And then I did it again while Steve laughed til he was red in the face. Here's the set-up: You will see Jeff Gordon (Nascar dirver) taking an unsuspecting salesman on a test drive of a used Camero:

Seriously funny.

I got home from Indianapolis Sunday and spent the day in a frenzy: unpacking, doing laundry, and dealing with the piles on my desk. Monday morning I got up early, walked with Laurie and then showed up for jury duty. After listening to how important we all were to keeping the wheels of justice moving (which I happen to believe is true) we were cut loose after only an hour. Oh happy day – I did my civic duty and also got my week back!

I plan to get some sewing done this week in between being chained to the computer. I admit that I have also been doing a bit of browsing/goofing off online. I need to quit finding interesting stuff, but since I've already found the following, I thought I'd share.

You may have seen this already. If not, I think you'll laugh, possibly out loud. 

Then there's this article on the new world of communication etiquette. My take-away is that my children are right – texting saves time. And they text better than I do. I tend to text in complete sentences and use way too many words. I'm also guilty of sending texts and leaving voice mails that probably would be viewed at the other end as time-wasters. I am going to try to be more thoughtful of the reciever's time from now on – more texting, less calling, fewer words. Except when I call my mom.

There's this op-ed piece about living with less stuff by Graham Hill. I know that I will never have that little stuff (this is a man who does not quilt) but he makes good points. I have been cleaning out our nooks and crannies and I like our space better. There is more stuff that needs to go away. Later, not today.

And in case you are considering taking up ice climbing, you should be aware of the down-side. The guy wearing the helmet-cam was not seriously injured. I was left wondering how he got the rest of the way down…

I hope you didn't spend too much of your time on these :-). Now I am going to sew! 

I'm on the road, teaching at the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show – IHQS. A lovely show, the vendors have fun stuff (ask me how I know), the restaurants have great food. It's all good. I should be sharing photos here, but I didn't take out my camera in class. I have, however, been Instagramming. 

Right now I'm back in my room and have been checking my email. I get a few very interesting emails most days that have links to interesting information. Today, I am going to share links with you.

I'm not one to normally worry about 1984-ish events but I think that if I find someone looking at me with Google Glasses, I'm not going to be happy. And I am pretty careful about personal information that I post online, but I'll bet I am not careful enough. I hate to make you nervous, but we probably need to be more aware of the information we share, on purpose or by accident… 

    What Facebook knows, and shares, about you. Creepy.

    Google Glasses – What you haven't been hearing.

This next one is just for pretty. You can buy a topographic, under-water map made with layers of wood. Maps are wonderful, these are lovely and wonderful. I've linked to the one for San Francisco Bay, but there are more:

    Below the Boat

And then there's this article about the Post Office. What I hear from the news is that the post office is out of date, not pulling its weight, etc. But I still marvel at the fact that I can send an envelope for just $.49 (or whatever it is now) and it will go to the place I write on the envelope. Think about that for a minute… without the post office, how would you make that happen? For more $, you can send something anywhere on the planet. As I read this article, it made me realize that it's even better than just getting something from one place to another:

    Do we really want to live without the post office?

You know what? I don't begrudge the money that goes to the post office and I really wish the congressmen that represent me were not part of the group trying to bring the post office to its knees. Some institutions are worth paying for (in my humble opinion).

And now you can go back to your sewing with a variety of things to think about. 

I have no idea how I ran across this site. I sort of wish I hadn't found it, but now that I have found Grommet I know I'll be there daily.

It's sneaky. When I clicked that first link to go to the home page, I had to enter my email address and sign up for a daily email. They could have lost me right then but, no, they didn't. So far there is very little on this site that I don't think I need.

Like this. Surely Elanor needs one. You can buy it here.

Or this: Sugru, moldable silicone. I pretty sure that I need to have some on hand for those object hacking opportunities.

Then there are the Coverflex silicone lids (better than Saran wrap!). I think Steve needs at least one set. There's more. Lots more. I almost feel guilty for sharing the link. But not so guilty that I'm going to delete this post. Happy shopping :-).

I've got to quit writing about my ugly fabric challenge… it just generates more ugly fabric :-). Here are the recent additions to my pile…

Yes, those are Muppets in the back, with some sort of little clown face print next. The gold/green hexes are nice, as is the black/green print at the top. But, oh my, that Hawaiian Santa is just scary.

He is surfing, snorkeling, and sitting on the beach in other poses. I know he's in Hawaii because of the sash that says "Mele Kalikimaka", Merry Christmas in Hawaiian. And his hand is making the shaka sign. I think Hawaiians should rise up in protest, declaring this print off-limits.

I am traveling again this week – to Indiana where I will lecture to two guilds in Columbus. I leave there to teach at the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show in Bloomington. This is always a lovely show and I'm happy to be going back. Maybe I'll see you there!