Monday, February 11, 2013

My Five

OK, OK, I have not fallen off the face of the earth.  Just real life going on here people.  What can I say??  I am still sewing whenever I can sneak it in, and getting a few things done which I will show soon.  But first - Quilt Con!!  It's almost here!  There's a linky party going on over here to help people get to know each other a bit by sharing five things people may not know about us.
First, a picture of me.  I know, it's an old photo, but I'm feeling lazy about taking another picture, and besides, I kinda still look like this.  My hair ranges at any given time in shades of blondish/brownish/reddish, with varying degrees of straight/curly.  But you get the general idea :).
OK, here we go:
1) I never wanted a sewing machine.  GASP!  Can you imagine?!  But it's true - I never set out to do this.  When my husband and I moved into our first home, I asked my mom to make curtains for our bedroom.  Apparently, it was a giant ordeal for her (sorry, Mom!), and all I know is, for Christmas that year I got a check with specific instructions to use it for a sewing machine.  Subtle, right?!  The thing is, I didn't want a sewing machine - there was a thousand other things I wanted to use that money for to decorate the house.  Of course, they said to use it for what I wanted, but in one of the conversations, my dad said these words, "Every home needs a sewing machine," and after thinking about it, I figured that kind of made sense.  Time to grow up.  Who knew that meant getting a sewing machine??  I ended up finding a good deal on a used Elna which, as the fates declared, was named Quilter's Dream.  I barely knew what a quilt was!  But the lady selling me the machine mentioned a quilt fabric shop around the corner, and with some extra time on my hands, I wandered in.  Boom.  Life changed.  My eyes could barely take in all the beautiful fabrics!  I was instantly hooked.  And those curtains my Mom made for my bedroom??  Long since taken down, you know, since tastes change over time.  I'll never live it down...

2)  My introduction to motherhood was as a single parent in a foreign country.  In the process of adopting our oldest son, we made the decision for me to move to Guatemala to be with him while the paperwork process completed.  My sweet husband held down the fort (aka - worked) while I had an adventure of a lifetime.  I will always be in his debt (for this, and many, many reasons).  Those days of touring a historical city rich with culture and tradition (and my stars, the food!) with a baby strapped to me 24/7 are some of my favorite memories.  So much so, that when I became pregnant later, I thought several times, "But I won't get to live in Antigua with this baby!"

3)   Which leads me to my next point.  My husband and I went from 0 - 3 children in 14 months.  Talk about life change!!  Turns out that baby we were expecting was actually two babies!  Our oldest turned 2 a week after the twins were born.  I don't think we left the house for months there in the beginning.  Or showered.  Or slept.  But how thankful we are!  I remember when I started to venture out of the house by myself with them, I'd pull up to a spot in the parking lot and think, "...well, now what do I do??"  I always had to stop and think how to best get everyone in the building safely.  Grocery shopping was usually with a toddler in the cart back buried in groceries, an infant in the car seat in the front of the cart, and one infant strapped to me.  And only ONCE did a jar of pasta sauce get dropped and splatter all over all of us.  Seriously.  Only once.  I think that's pretty good.

4) I'm a City/Country, Northern/Southern girl.  I grew up in Chicago but both my parents are from the south and I spent many summers on horseback on my grandparents farm in the south.  I love an urban setting, but also love my green spaces.

5)  My favorite bad movie is Tremors.  Sorry Bacon, it's not your best work.  But I love it.  I haven't seen it in years, but if it's one of those lazy days when you get to just flip through the channels (who can do that anymore??) and that movie is playing, I have to watch a few minutes of it.  It's just so bad it makes me smile!

If you're going to Quilt Con and see me there, please come say hello - I'd love to meet you!

So, what's your favorite bad movie??  You know the one I mean - do tell!