Hint #15

Saturday was a big, important day in my "mystery journey". If you'll recall, back in early March, I mentioned 3 new people in my life. Well, I'm delighted to say that I can now wash my hands of them. They served me absolutely no purpose, and I'm glad to be rid of them. I hate to think they might receive some benefit from my hard work when they seem to have put in absolutely no effort whatsoever! When I checked in with our "leader" (for lack of a better word) Saturday, I was informed I was in first place. I've not heard yet whether or not I won or if someone from another team beat me out. Oh well, win or lose, I'm still a winner.
Okay, so Saturday was an important day for another reason, it marked a turning point for me, a major milestone. A half-way point. I was near giddy with delight. So to help me celebrate my half-way point, I give you Crystal Gayle singing "Meet Me 1/2 the Way"






And for a bonus clue, The Little River Band singing "Lonesome Loser"

Quilting progress fotoz & other random stuff

(DISCLAIMER: That horrible red carpeting is NOT in my house... I have horrible gray carpet in my home, this red crap is at work).
Anyway...

It's a work in progress. I gave up ripping it apart to correct things a couple of weeks ago and finally decided to chalk up all the mistakes to it being a learning experience.

I've got the majority of it quilted, I'm just working on the final panel and then have to finish up some of the sashing, then add the binding around the edges and I'll be done. Needless to say, the backside isn't very pretty with my drunken stitching.

My spider web.

The bow-ties. Oddly enough, it started off being the hardest thing to figure out, but ended up being the simplest to do. And I love that there were different ways to assemble it to change the look of it.

And the Dresden plate. Aye-yi-yi!! It started off going together so easily I was loving it, but then came the hard part. Appliqueing it to the panel. I SUCK at applique. And my dot in the middle, well, needless to say I didn't center it very well, and found out just how badly off it was when I was doing the quilting. Oh well, as I said, it's been a learning experience.

I should've left well enough alone with my Ohio Star. I had it all put together, it looked pretty darned good, except for one little place it wasn't quite lined up. I took it apart and made things worse, now it's really a mess.

On to other things now...

HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY BOOTSY-GIRL!!!

It's been a couple of weeks since we learned of Bootsy's ailment. She's been on antibiotics since then and they've done absolutely no good that we can discern, so I would say that an infection was not the problem and that cancer is definitely the culprit. The lump hasn't decreased in size, and she's still favoring that leg, but she's still a happy dog and that's all I can ask for.

I tried taking a picture of her leg to show the lump, but she wasn't cooperating.

What a sweet face!!

It never ceases to amaze or amuse me at the way giant dogs (or at least, Great Danes) will sit on the edge of a chair or couch the way a human would.

A couple of weeks ago, Liv and I participated in the MS Walk for the 3rd year.

We both look thrilled, don't we?

And these were taken last night, just to show off my sunburn...

If only it had been spread more evenly over my entire bod instead of scattered randomly. Notice my left arm is several shades darker than everything else.

And my feet are quite puffy still. Geesh, I'm in desperate need of a pedicure. And for the record, my big toe isn't really that discombobulated, it was because of the space between the boards. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Yes, finding shoes to wear right now is a chore. I've had to cancel my riding lesson for the evening because I knew I couldn't tolerate the shoes AND because I couldn't tolerate the helmet on my burned scalp.

Okay, must get back to my quilting now.

hint #14

Stupid blogger! I had this whole blog typed out and then it had a nervous breakdown, losing everything I'd typed. The big reveal is in 2 weeks!!
Well, the short version of what I had blogged is this: I got majorly sunburned yesterday, especially the tops of my feet and toes, making it near impossible to wear shoes. 'Tis fortunate that I don't have any events/5ks planned for this weekend, as I don't think I could manage it. And it really sucks for any other physical activities I had planned over the next few days that require me to wear shoes...






PHYSICAL lyrics
I'm saying all the things that I know you'll like, makin' good conversation
I gotta handle you just right, you know what I mean
I took you to an intimate restaurant, then to a suggestive movie
There's nothin' left to talk about, unless it's horizontally

CHORUS
Let's get physical, physical, I wanna get physical, let's get into physical
Let me hear your body talk, your body talk, let me hear your body talk

repeat CHORUS

I've been patient, I've been good, tried to keep my hands on the table
It's gettin' hard this holdin' back, you know what I mean
I'm sure you'll understand my point of view, we know each other mentally
You gotta know that you're bringin' out the animal in me

CHORUS repeats 2x



Oh, let's get physical, physical, I wanna get physical, let's get into physical
Let me hear your body talk, your body talk, let me hear your body talk

Let's get animal, animal, I wanna get animal, let's get into animal
Let me hear your body talk, your body talk, let me hear your body talk



Let me hear your body talk
Let me hear your body talk

Pet Peeve

Touchy-Feely people. I'm not one of them. Touchy-Feely people annoy the sh*t out of me. Keep your freaking hands to yourself! Why do some people feel a need to constantly have their hands on other people? Especially people that they aren't intimately close to? Haven't they ever heard of "personal space" and not crossing the line into others unless invited? In the past year and a half, I've become subject to one of these people thru my daytime life. Fortunately, I don't have to deal with this particular person on a daily basis, but when we do cross pathes, she can't keep her hands to herself and it just annoys me to no end. Every time she walks in, she feels a need to either run her hands across my shaved head, or touch my earrings, or scratch my shoulder (even though it doesn't itch), or in some other manner touch my clothing. Why? Why does she do this? It drives me up a freaking wall!!!!! It's getting to the point that I'm going to have to be rude and tell her to keep her hands to herself, and I know it's going to hurt her feelings, but I don't know what else to do. I suppose when I hear her coming, I could get up and start moving around to stay out of reach of her, but honestly, this isn't going to be a practical solution every time. I'd really like to have a door or some other kind of barrier across my doorway to stop people from entering my domain, but apparently this isn't an option either.

Hint #13

No music this time, I promise. According to my birth certificate, my drivers license and countless other sources, I turned 43 a little over 2 months ago. As I was getting ready for work this morning, I suddenly realized: I'M 43 TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More quilting 101

Technically, our quilting class ended last week. Officially though, last night was the last class. Our instructor was able to procure the classroom for an extra week and five of us showed up for the extra class. I think we were all sad to see it end. Of course, none of us are done with our project, but the instructor has said that she'd gather us all together again about mid-June to see how we had done or to help us finish them up. I joked we should take her quilting 101 class again next time she offers it, and we would all look brilliant to the other new students. Of the five of us that showed up, we are all pretty much at the same point in our projects. The backing, batting and top/design are pinned together and we've put a frame in place and started quilting. Some are going for fancier designs with their stitching. I'm keeping it simple and following the ditch (seams). It is for certain that you'll be able to tell mine is completely hand-sewn once I'm through, as my stitches aren't uniform in size as they would be on a sewing machine, and at times you'd wonder if I had been drunk, as the stitches aren't in a perfectly straight line as they should be. But that's okay, I'm chalking it all up to a learning experience. Three of us were talking last night before class started and one of the ladies commented that she had already learned so much in our 7 weeks together. I agreed, although I said I'd learned more of "what NOT to do", then of what I should do. It's been a fun time and I'm sorry to see it end, if only because I enjoyed the peacefulness of the class and the companion/fellowship of the other women that shared a common interest. I'll take some pictures soon and get them posted of my quilting project progress.

More quilting 101

Last Wednesday was to have been our last quilting class, but our instructor, bless her!, and U of L, bless them!!, have extended the class for at least one more week, if not two, at no extra charge. I've become a pro at ripping things apart and starting over from scratch. Argh!, what a waste of time, energy and thread, all in an attempt to line things up perfectly. Sometimes it works, sometimes it ends up being worse and I wish I'd just left it alone. After much starting over and a lot of frustration, I've decided to heck with it! I'm chalking it up to a learning experience and not ripping anything else apart. If it doesn't line up (and believe me, it doesn't!!), then so be it. I'll be able to look back at this project in years to come and compare it to how far I've progressed (hopefully!). The sashing has been the worst so far, at least as far as lining up goes. It is soooo far off it's just awful. I've been so careful about measuring the pieces before I cut them out, I swear I don't know how I've gotten so out of alignment. But what is done is done. The blocks are done, the sashing is done, the border is done. The backing, batting and piecework are being held together now with safety pins and I've got a quilting frame in place as I "stitch the ditches". Ugh, what tedious work! I can't make my stitches small enough, evenly spaced enough, nor straight enough to compare to professional quilters (like I really expected to? Not!!), but I think it will hold together once I'm done. Once I get the quiliting done all that will be left to do is put on the binding. Really, I'm not looking forward to that. Our instructor is s'posed to show us this week how to make the binding. Some of the girls in the class are further along with their projects, because they are doing much of theirs (if not all) on sewing machines. I on the other hand am bound and determined to do it all by hand, so my progress is going slower. Also, I'm bound and determined to do my 100% on my own without any help. Several of the girls have let the teacher either cut their material or do part of their applique' for them or pin their layers together. Granted, theirs will probably come out looking better than mine, but at least I'll have the satisfaction of knowing I did it all on my own. Isn't that the best way to learn, from doing it yourself?? I just wish I had more time through the week to work on my project, I'm lucky if I get one hour an evening to do mine. I'll get it done... eventually.

Weekend in review & Hint #12

Yikes but it was hot this weekend! I hate to admit it, but I had to turn the a/c on this past week. A/C, seriously? In April??? What is this world coming to??? Olivia and I had our 2nd 5k of the year (the first being on 4/2), and we went from rather chilly weather last weekend to sweltering this weekend. Not much chance in between to acclimate to the change. This weekends event was a new one for us, it was the "Camp Quality Fundracer" put on by Bellarmine University. Camp Quality is a camp for children with cancer, giving them the chance to "just be a kid again". On the drive to Bellarmine, I discovered what an east-end snob I've become in the past 23 years. For those of you not familiar with our towns east vs. west. vs. south ends vs. downtown, the east end is considered the "good" end of town, west end the bad side of town, and the south end, well, it's just redneck country. I'm sorry, please don't anybody take offense at what I'm saying, it's just the way it's always been. It's what has been drilled into my head for ever and ever. And while we live in the "good" end of town, that's not to say that it's all wealth and privilege, far from it. We're living proof of that. There are plenty of neighborhoods that are middle-class, and many of us struggling to make ends meet that drive 12 year old cars, yet just around the corner (figuratively speaking) is considerable wealth. It's a nice mix. Anyway, the area of town that I was headed to yesterday, Newburg area, I had always considered a not-so-nice part of town. Admittedly, not an area I ever venture in to. OMG! I was amazed at some of the neighborhoods I passed on the way to the race. There are some really, really nice homes with beautiful lawns in picturesque settings. It's an area I wouldn't mind living in (if I could afford it). So yes, I discovered I've been an east-end snob. My apologies to those that live in the other neighborhoods! Back to the race... I tend to avoid races that have hilly courses. I just don't do well with hills, especially if Olivia starts to tire and I have to drag her behind me. And since I'd never been to that area of town, I had no idea there would be hills. So imagine my surprise as I'm driving in and it's nothing but hills. Yikes!! Oh was this ever going to be a mistake!! And with the heat on top of that. Blecch!! I suddenly wasn't looking forward to this event. We got registered and staked out a spot in the shade and waited for the race to begin. The race-gods smiled upon us when they announced that the walkers (that would be us!!) would be taking a slightly shorter course than the runners. Yea!!! There were still plenty of hills, but it really didn't seem too bad. There was a nice breeze blowing so the heat was tolerable and we did our just-under-2-miles without incident. Afterwards, we all gathered in Knights Hall (that's where the 2011 NCAA men's division II national champs play basketball) to relax. Liv passed out on the floor and I sat there eavesdropping on the conversations of the many 20-somethings that surrounded us. I couldn't help but smile at the young man sitting behind me that was griping to his friends how he never thought at the age of 20, he'd have to be concerned about what he ate, and his friends were agreeing that it was a life-style change. One girl was commenting on how torturous it was when she had hurt her foot and was unable to run for a few weeks, as it drove her crazy not being able to exercise and she was glad she was finally able to run again. I thought, "yeah honey, let's check back with you in 10 years when you're married with a couple of kids, working a full-time job and trying to be a soccer mom, and see how much time you have for running and staying fit". Of course these college kids were saying this as they ate bagels smeared with peanut butter and Entemanns donuts that had been set out for the runners to snack on after the race. Real healthnuts! Okay, so on to this weeks musical hint. Only 3 weeks to go before the big reveal. My husband has started referring to me as a "___-rat". Sorry, I can't fill in the blank as it would be a dead-giveaway.





And on a slightly different note...
I had called BW3's Friday afternoon to see if they would be showing the Strikeforce fights. As they weren't pay-per-view, I wasn't sure, as they are shown on Showtime. The guy that answered said it wouldn't be any problem to turn one of the tv's over so we could watch the fights. Cool! So John & I got there about 9:45 Saturday night, the fights were to come on at 10. I asked our waitress to please turn over one of the tv's for us, and she came back and promptly informed us they didn't have Showtime. Gasp!! Needless to say I was horrified after having been informed they would show the fights. I voiced my unhappiness and said if that were the case, we'd just go back home. She went to double-check with the manager who hurried on over to try and smooth things over with us. He offered us half-off of our meal, but "no thanks", I really hadn't wanted to eat that late in the first place, had only planned on doing so because we were tying up a table for 2+ hours. Since we couldn't see the fights, we went back home. I was doubly bummed this morning when I read the reviews on how the fights went. I really, really wish we'd gotten to see them. **pout**

Debtors prison?

Geesh what an expensive week this has been, and I'm only talking about veterinary expenses. Saturday was Eliott's yearly visit to the vet for an exam and to get a titers test for rabies & distemper. That bill was well over $300. And poor Eliott seems to be pre-disposed to tartar build-up on his teeth. He eats the same food & treats as the girls, yet their teeth are fine, his on the other hand, were disgusting. He's had his cleaned before, about 3 or 4 years ago, but it just built right back up again. I have to say, the new vets did a much better job than the previous vet, his teeth haven't been this pearly white since he was a pup. So that bill was another $200. I was half way to work this morning when my husband called and asked me to come back home, as there was something wrong with Bootsy's leg and she couldn't walk, but was practically dragging herself around the house. What now?? I got off at the next exit and headed back home. When I walked in, she was walking now, but certainly she was favoring her hind left leg a bit. I just looked at her and said, "this had better not be a ploy for sympathy because Eliott got all the attention yesterday." I stood behind her and ran a hand down each leg at the same time so I could compare the feel of them. The "knee" on her left leg was definitely swollen. I called the vet, but they couldn't get her in until after 10am, so I just swapped cars with the husband and went on to work. Bootsy was having trouble with that same leg a few weeks ago, although I hadn't noticed the swelling in the joint. I noticed her limping and sitting strangely right after coming in from running around the back yard, so I thought perhaps she had strained a muscle. After a couple of days, she seemed back to her old self, so I really didn't give it another thought... 'til now. John called a few minutes ago after leaving the vets office. Of course he doesn't relay information to me very well especially of a medical nature, so I've got a call into the vet so I can get it straight from him. I don't know if John was blowing things out of proportion or what, but it certainly brought tears to my eyes and left a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, and made me realize just how very much I do love Bootsy. You never really know how much you love a pet until something of this nature occurs. I've always loved Bootsy, but admittedly, she's always been at the bottom of the totem pole where our danes are concerned. She's often aggravated me (us) with her anti-social behavior towards other animals and most people, her instance upon eating poop in the back yard, and her bony butt that has created large holes in our drywall. I've joked a few times about sending her back to live at "grandma's house" if she didn't straighten up. I even recently told our breeder if her litter she's expecting at the end of this week has a deaf/blind pup, she'd better not get rid of it. She asked where we would fit another dog and I again joked that I'd trade Bootsy in for the pup. Of course I was joking, as I (we) do love Bootsy very much. As anti-social as she is with others, she's actually very loving and affectionate where John & I are concerned. But after hearing John's news, I feel absolutely horrible for all my jokes about sending her away. If what he told me is true, she may only have a few months left with us. According to John, she has a form of cancer in her joint. Bootsy will be 8 years old later this month. Sure, we could try to treat it, but at her age, it wouldn't be practical (not to mention financially possible). The vet told John we could have surgery done on her to remove the leg above the joint (he'd had a dog with the same condition, had it's leg removed, and the dog died a few weeks later), but he said it would probably be better just to let her go home and be a dog for as long as she has left. She'll have good days where it won't bother her and she'll have bad days where it will flare up and severely limit her mobility. After what we went through with Kelsey and her problems, I learned my lesson. Even if finances weren't an issue, I realized that we put our pets through these treatments for US, for our sake because we don't want to let go and that amounts to being selfish. Perhaps the treatments would give us a few more weeks, months, or even another year, but is it really fair to the animal to put them through torture for our own sake? As long as the animal doesn't appear to be suffering unduly and still has good days where she can "be a dog" and no one is at risk, then I'll let her live out her days until she is no longer happy. I'm hoping when the vet calls me back, it won't be as bleak as what John painted it out to be, but the pit of my stomach is telling me otherwise. While part of me (my heart) is willing to go to debtors prison and to the ends of the earth to help my furbabies, the logical side of me refuses. Update: Just got a return call from the vet. He took an x-ray of Bootsy's joint and it showed a mass. It could be one of two things: either a osteomyelitis (bone infection) or osteosarcoma (cancer). While the infection is the lesser of the two evils, it still isn't a good thing. Right now, we're treating her with anti-biotics in hopes that that is all it is, but in reality, it's probably the latter diagnosis. He said he could do a biopsy on the area to confirm, but doing so might cause more harm than good. Given her age and size, if it's not an infection that will clear up with the anti-biotics, there isn't much to be done. If it is a tumor (and that's what he strongly suspects), it's a very aggressive form that can go from a golf-ball size mass to tennis ball in about a 36-48 hour time frame, then level out (so to speak) and then it will start to rapidly grow again. It's when it has those leveling out moments that she is having her good days, and when it starts suddenly growing that we see her favoring it. Basically, if it is the cancer, we have two options (aside from surgery), we can let her go about her life as she's always done, making a mad dash out the back door and leaping off the deck as she chases after birds, bunnies or people walking down the sidewalk and just wait for her leg to break and then put her down, or we can start limiting her activity to being walked on a leash at all times to reduce the stress on the bone and perhaps allow the leg to last a little longer. Because the vet said it's basically just a matter of time before the bone is weakened to the point it's going to break. Not a very happy outlook for my sweet Bootsy. :(

Hint #11

Chalk up 1 more person as having figured out the big mystery, although I'm not so sure they didn't have help from another who had already figured it out.
Well, I'm still not sure how my other three team mates are doing, as they are still remaining quiet. Seems rather unfair they aren't playing by the rules, not just ufair to me, but all the other people on the other teams as well. How did I get saddled with these people?? A mystery person left me an "atta-girl" note on the board the other day, as thus far, I'm smokin' the competition. I know it's too soon to celebrate, but it did make me feel good that others are (or at least, one other) taking notice of my accomplishments and nobody else has had such a note left for them. I know, pride is sinful, but I can't help it.
So on to the latest hint. I'm not particularly fond of rap music or these artist, but I do so love this song. It was featured in a commercial last fall (and I don't mean for the movie "The Fighter", but another commercial) and I found myself glued to the tv everytime it came on, not because of the song, but because of the images on the screen, but as a result, the tune soon became stuck in my head and I now find myself listening to it several times a day. So while I initally enjoyed the song because of the images that went with it, I now find that some of the lyrics absolutely fit what's going on in my life right now. I apologize for some of the profanity in the lyrics, I didn't write the song.