So far behind

Well today is the 22nd so I am ten days behind in my posting. sigh. I knew when I started this I probably wouldn't be able to post daily but I didn't expect to get this far behind.

Day 13 - I'm thankful that I have eyes that allow me to see all of God's beauty.



Day 14 - I am thankful for books. This one of course ties in the Day 13. I'm thankful that I can lose myself in books. I can go places I will never go in my lifetime. I can "meet" new friends and in the lucky event that the author makes the book into a series I can see my new friends again and again.



Day 15 - I'm thankful for Angel Food Ministries. I'm not sure how this program was started but I'm so glad I found it. Its a group that provides inexpensive food in these tough times. We're all pinching our pennies now and this program provides good food for a low prices. The menu changes each month and some things are better than others but it is certainly a wonderful program.



Day 16 - I'm thankful for our dog Thunder. He's a big goofy lovable mess and he gives us unconditional love.



Day 17 - I'm thankful for Penn State football. They are having a great season and that makes my hubby happy. And of course I'm always thankful for anything that makes hubby happy. :0)



Well I have some other things that simply must get done tonight so I'll be happy with catching up on 5 days and hope that tomorrow I can do more.

Until then, hugs and stitches. Jody

Thanksgiving Days 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 YIKES!!

Well I haven't done a very good job of posting these things daily and so I am five days behind. Of course I have so many things to be thankful for it won't be hard to come up with five for here.

Day 8 is color. God has given us so many vibrant colors to brighten our world. When I think of color I think of crayons. And of course you have to have the big box. lol. Although I believe you can get larger boxes now when I was growing up the 64 box was the big box.



Day 9 is a day off. I have been working six days a week and November 9th was a day off and I thoroughly enjoyed being home.

Day 10 I am thankful for two wonderful ladies named Melissa and Susy. These ladies drive school buses. Melissa takes my daughter and Susy takes my boys. I can't express how much these ladies mean to me. Melissa I have known for probably 35 years. Susy I have know for about 12 or 13 years. I completely trust these ladies with my kiddos and I can't begin to explain all the wonderful ways they have taken care of them over the years.



Day 11 was Veteran's Day. My Daddy is a Veteran. My father-in-law and my husband's step-father are Veterans. My Uncle Chubb died in the Korean War. Three of my brothers-in-law are Veterans. Many of the things we enjoy we have because of the sacrifice men and women have made in service to our country. So, in true military form, I salute them.



Day 12 I am thankful for my computer. I have learned so many things from having a computer. I have made friends I would never have known. I have seen things I would never have seen. I even used my computer to earn money for a time.



Until tomorrow, hugs and stitches. Jody

Thanksgiving - Day 7

Normally by November we are in to heavy sweaters and sometimes even winter coats but today we are having Indian Summer. And that's what I'm thankful for today. In the middle of wet and cold weather God blessed us with a gorgeous day. It was over 70 degrees and the sunshine was incredible!

So I went looking around online for a picture to post and this is what I found:



What's so special about this picture is it's actually from my town. And it's on a road not far from me. Welcome to my world! Isn't it beautiful?

Until tomorrow, hugs and stitches. Jody

Thanksgiving - Day 6

I thought for quite a while about today's thanksgiving. I really have so many things to be thankful for it's hard to pick which to post.

But today I'm thankful for my washer and dryer.



It's so easy to just pitch something in the washer and it comes out clean, pitch it in the dryer and it comes out dry. When you think of how our ancestors had to wash their clothes I am so thankful that I have it much easier.

Until tomorrow, hugs and stitches. Jody

Thanksgiving - Day 5

This past March I went back to work. Not that being a wife and mother isn't work - but you don't generally get paid for it. I had been earning some money at home for a couple of years but this was an honest to goodness get up every morning, put on a uniform, leave the house, punch a time clock, earn a paycheck job. And I love it - but that's for another day.

Today I worked an eight hour shift. I work at a restaurant so this is eight hours on my feet. Over the summer I worked six hours almost daily but here lately I have been working four, maybe five hours a day. I am definitely not used to being on my feet for eight straight hours.

So when I came home I had a nice long soak in the tub. And that is what I am thankful for. Bath tubs filled with steaming hot water.

Now in keeping with my days of thanksgiving so far I have provided a picture of what I'm thankful for so I went in search of a picture of a nice relaxing tub of water. I found tubs with bubbles (I don't do bubbles), tubs with candles, tubs with flowers - in the tub and on the side of the tub.

None of them seemed just right - until I saw this one:



Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

More Thanksgiving

Today I'm thankful for the right to vote. I think far too often voting is seen as a "given". It's not. It's a privilege and an honor. It gives us a say in our government. If you voted in this election I say thank you for helping to make a difference. If you didn't vote in this election I urge you to make sure that you do vote in the next election. And not just the "big one". There are many offices we elect officials to and you should be voting from the local level on up.



Over the weekend I was able to get some quilting work done. I finished up a Christmas present (that I will post a picture of after Christmas naturally).

I finally got the last border on my roosting robin. It's not the best picture because the last border is black on black and it's hanging against my navy blue drapes but here's a picture:



And I have put another border on my Christmas roosting robin.



This will be the last round for a while because I'm up to the final round and it will be what my friend Carol calls the "WOW" round. It's a sort of save your best for last concept. And if I can actually pull off what I'm planning it will be nothing short of a miracle. lol. But it's going to take some time.

It's been a while since I've posted a picture of Thunder. This one is an old one but he's soooo cute in it and besides, he's laying on my patriotic quilt and what better day than today?



Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving fast approaching I'm planning to do a month long thanks for my blessings. Since I very seldom post daily I'm probably going to end up posting a few things at a time. Since this is the 3rd day of November I already have three things to be thankful for and here they are:

For November 1 I have chosen the biggest blessing in my life - the gift of everlasting life I have in my Savior Christ Jesus. I can't even begin to describe what this gift has meant to me. And it is a gift. I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it. And the good news is if you haven't accepted this gift for yourself it's there just waiting for you to claim it. If you are unsure how to go about this please scroll down to the red "ready" button on the right side of my blog. Click on that link and it will take you to a website that will explain it all to you. I looked around online for a picture to go with this and when I saw this one I knew immediately it was the one.

The reason I chose this one is something someone explained to me years ago when I inquired about crucifixes. I was told that there were no crucifixes in the church I attended because we serve a risen God. Jesus had to rise to complete His purpose. He had to come back from that grave for me - and you. So this is my Lord and Savior after conquering death.




November 2 is my family. I don't know what I would do without this crazy group of folks. We may not have a conventional home life (although I'm not even sure what "normal" or "regular" would be considered anymore) but there is lots of love in this house.



November 3 is quilting. I have loved quilts for years and I am thankful for the opportunity I had to learn to make quilts. Quilting is my stress reliever and creative outlet.



Until tomorrow, hugs and stitches. Jody

A Day Late

My mother was very punctual. As a matter of fact she was always early. And she made sure that I understood that you should not make people wait for you. So I wonder if that's why I'm chronically late. Not so much time wise - I'm always early for work. But when I do send cards (which isn't often - I'm not a "mailer") I'm normally late. Of course it doesn't really help that my darling husband doesn't know how to tell time. Okay, he does know how - he just doesn't do it. After living with him for over 27 years it's no wonder I am becoming more and more time challenged.

So today, on the first of November, I finally finished up my Halloween quilt. lol. I machine quilted it - I got some nice thread that goes from red to orange to yellow that I thought would look really nice in a meandering stitch. I even got a solid brown backing so the stitches would show up. The problem - oh right, I don't know how to do a meandering stitch. lol. I was going to practice. Then I got cold feet and decided to do a grid. And I did a grid but not like I was going to do. I got very discouraged - as I normally do when I machine quilt. I keep thinking I'll get better the more I do it but it doesn't seem to be working that way.

Well it will pass the galloping horse test so I'm happy with it.



Since it's a holiday quilt it won't be out all the time and I think I can stand the mistakes for a month or so every year.

Now it's time to work on a few more things. As we get closer and closer to the end of the year I want to get some things finished up. I like to end the year with more in the finished column than I started the year with in the to do column.

So I'm off to the quilting room. Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody