Butterfly Quilt Updated

 

This is a photo of the quilt that Dehlia made for SLs retirement. The photo does not do the quilt justice. This quilt is a beautiful work of Art. Dehlia is a Master Quilter. I loved the butterfly's. Each color in the quilt represents a segment of SLs life. Of coarse the butterfly represents a new life. 

Here is what Dahlia wrote about the quilt. SL is going to redecorate her bedroom and use the quilt for her color seam. Dahlia is happy about that because quilts are not supose to hang on the wall to look at, they are to keep you warm and cozy! 

Dearest SL

Here unfolds a portrait of our love for you and all that you contribute to others---

Purple stands for your deep passion—your lifelong commitment to making the world a better place.

Red  is here for your youthful vigor and enthusiasm, health and vitality.

Brown represents your abiding love of the earth—flora and fauna and all that is nature.

Floral  embodies your great beauty and charm—rich and eternal. 

Pink symbolizes your strength and courage, your willingness to stand tall in the face of all sorts of difficulties and challenges.

Green signifies growth, freshness, and faith in a happy future.

The Butterflies are standing in for transformation and re-creation—the miracle of unexpected joy.

The pattern itself is meant to show your complexity. You are such a wonderful blend of the modern and the traditional, the everyday and the profound, the intricate and the simple.

And most of all I hoped to characterize your incredible Magic with Relationships—seeing them where others do not, creating them, appreciating them, enriching them, and forwarding them for the good.

May the next phase of your life be filled with light and love and joy.

You can tell Dehlia  majored in English, she is a very good writer!

Heat

My gig a low says he is going to call me "boiling wifey" because every-time he hugs me he says I am "boiling." I am always so hot. I am hot from the inside out. I hate it. Not only that, it has been 100' for 3 days. Do you remember in July when we all had our parkas on? What is up with this weather?

The only time I actually felt cool today is when I was in the pool. The water was shockingly cold when you first stepped in, I jump off the stairs and submerged myself in the very cool water. Oh man, it was good. I stayed in the pool for about 50 minutes. The top of my head was the only thing that was hot. So I would swim underwater. Yes, finely my body was at a reasonable temperature.

Right now it is 82 in the house at 9:30 at night. The fog is suppose to roll in and cool us off. I wish it would hurry up.

Me, Dehlia and Fuchsia were suppose to go on a bike ride tomorrow, but Dehlia and I can't take the heat. So our ride got canceled. Hopefully we can go next week.

Valley of the Flies today

 I am going up to the Sacramento area today with my dad. It is going to be very hot today.  It is my sister in laws birthday. On the way there we have to pass the factory outlets. I love going to the factory outlets. We will be going to my nephews house. They should call the city he lives in the city of flies. I am really not fond of his city. It is flat hot and dry.  But I have not seen my family in a long time.


My schedule is getting busy.  Work (thank you God) Mon - in laws house for cards- Tues bible study - Wed- Dad comes over for dinner and survivor, Thurs - Bike ride,  every other Friday I am going to lead a journaling class. We are going to do Sermon on the Mt. Maybe I should make it a face book or skype page that way we could meet up from our own home.

Not only that I have a agreed to be on the Woman's Christmas tea committee at church.  The pastors wife said she is going to read my blog about getting kicked out of the church kitchen to everyone at the Christmas tea. Ummm ok, I guess. She thinks it is very funny.


Tomorrow,  Sy who helped and encouraged me to learn how to read and go to college (when I was over 30 years old) is retiring. She is also dyslexic. I hold her in high regards. She is the first person I met that was so much like me. She gets lost pulling out of her driveway, she has a hard time with left and right. she can't spell, she has no concept of space for example, how far is it from my house to the stop sign? She and I don't understand  blue prints. Sy went on to get her masters degree. She gave me hope that I too someday could get a degree. We did many speaking engagements together to help people understand what is like to live in our world. We also spoke to raise money for the library program to help adults learn how to read.  We even went up to Sacramento one time to lobby to keep the learn how to read program open. That was really fun. The party is going to be at the County Librarians house. Dehlia and her husband will be there too! I really look forward to seeing that network of friends.

BTW - Raider Baby is 1 year old today, can you believe it? Did I tell you Raider baby is going to have a brother or sister in a fe months. Maybe this one will be 49er baby?

Father In Law Update

Well here is the news. My father in law has a "mass" in his lymphoid behind his sternum pressing on his esophagus. It is about the size of a "small" softball.  Softballs seem kind of big to me. My mother in law used all these code words for cancer and chemo. But she did not say cancer or chemo. She used words  like "mass, cocktail, drip, lymphoma."

According to my mother in law his chemo is going to be chemo light. He will not lose his hair or anything.  "it is the best treatment for his age."  My father in law is 86, he says he wants to see his 90th birthday. My gig a low said the same thing I did. We do not want to see our dad's suffer. My father in law is tough like my dad.


God has been good to my dad, by letting him forget some of the retched things he has been through. He does not remember the Whipple surgery where they took out his pancreas, gallbladder, his spline, part of his small intestine and a scoop of his stomach. He does not remember the 10 min. surgery for his port for the chemo that took 12 hours, or that he almost bleed to death. He dose not remember all the trips to the Red section in the ER.  He dose not remember the first trip to chemo or the second or the third. He does not remember the infection he got in his port. Thank you Lord for the loss of his memory.

Do you remember the first thing my dad wanted when he got out of ICU for his Whipple surgery. He wanted Ham-hock and beans. I said dad, they just took out all your insides. He did not care. I like to tease him about that. 


My dad came over last night to watch survivor and he came over for dinner tonight. Maybe my father in law will beat the odds too.

My Father In Law

Tonight we went over to my in laws for card night. We played tripoly. It is SO FUN. We had some really good laughs. At the end of the night my father in law filled my gig a low and I in with bad news.

They are testing my father in law for bone marrow cancer and some type of lymphoma. He has had all kinds of blood test, a PET scan and bone marrow test.  He said all his test results are bad but he does not know what they mean. He has to go to the doctor tomorrow and the Oncologist on Thursday.

I feel so sad. 

My Rack

It started last night when the drug dealer stopped by. His name is the Schwan man. He brought me my drug of choice Triple Lemon ice cream. He also brought my two favorite chocoholics (my gig a low & GG-GP) Rocky Road and Chocolate and peanut butter ice cream. That made me really happy.


Today I went out to breakfast and to a neighbor garage sale. I did not find any must haves, except a town house that looked out over some open space. It was so beautiful in the rolling hills. I daydreamed of sitting by my back window looking out and seeing foxes and pheasants, quail and deer. Watching the hills turn from golden in the summer to green in the winter. What a nice dream. Then it was back to reality. I guess the $20.00 in my purse was not going to cover the price for the townhouse. Oh well.


I came home and changed my clothes and it was off to Wisteria to meet up with Dehlia for a bike ride. It was so good to see Dehlia. She had been visiting her other house on the beach.  We had a long talk over fresh cherry tomatoes she just picked. They were so tasty. We went on a 14 mile bike ride. My legs where just starting to burn, but had not turn to Jello yet when we arrived at The FRENCH Bakery. I guess we would have to stop and rest a bit and maybe get a bite to eat. I had a mini goat cheese, tomato and basil sandwich and she had a " mini BLT." Of coarse I had to buy bread because we where going to have Lasagna for dinner.  I bought some egg bread rolls, I forget the fancy French name and for dessert I bought stone- fruit tarts. OH shoot, how am I going to get all this stuff home? I am on my bike. So I asked for a bag with handles. It was a little awkward dangling the bag off my handle bars.  Me and Dehlia agreed we needed to get a basket like the one Fuchsia has on her bike. 

Oh when we got back to Dehlia's house her husband said he "liked my rack" (he had not seen my bike rack before) Me and Dehlia roared with laughter.  He looked at us kind of puzzled, Dehlia said Honey it's not very nice to tell our guest you like their "rack." we all got a good laugh.


I came home, me and my gig a low had dinner lasagna and egg bread rolls. Then my Dad came over and we watched Alice in Wonderland (2010) My dad had never seen Alice in Wonderland before. He seemed to like it.


Now it's  time for bed, Thank you God for the great day and the "safe" people I have in my life!

My Day

Today was so stressful. It all started when I got bombarded with stuff as soon as I walked into the classroom. Next I was trying to make copies. Make 2 pages into 1. So insted of having 4 pages I would have 2.  Easy right? NOOOOOO, the stupid copy machine kept jamming. Once I got the copies made I had to staple them because our copy machines stapler does not work. The staples got hung up in the stapler. Are you kidding me? Is this some kind of sadistic joke? The rest of my day went south from there. I have been censored with the threat of being fired, if I tell all. Any lawyers out there want to tell me what my rights are to write about what I want to?

I did not sleep well last night.

I saw Mr. Medic at an undisclosed location - that sounds really bad. ( I can't tell you where, you know why) It was so good to see him. He is very popular with everyone.... Staff and students alike.  Of coarse he wants to give me a hard time about politics. We always banter back and forth, he is one of the few people I can talk to about politics even though our views are very different. (My Sweet Friend is another.) He also told me that he took his vitamins so he will not get sick. I reminded him, he got sick last year. He says it was just a fluke.

Who is You Master

My foster sister got me hooked on a TV show called Master Chef. Incase you have never seen it, the premise is to take a home cook and turn them into a Master Chef. The shows chief chef is Gordon Ramsay. Gordon Ramsay is much more likable on this show.
 
The contestants do a series of cooking challenges, feed 200 truckers or Marines or a wedding party. The challenges serve as a processes of elimination.  One of the challenges is called "mystery box." Each contestant stands at a table. In front of them is a wooden crate they call the "mystery box." Under the mystery box is the secret ingredients that each wanna be chef has to prepare.  

With anticipation I watched, trying to guess what the mystery ingredient was going to be. When Ramsay told the contestants go, they all looked under their box. That night it was crab, live  Dungeness crab. Most contestants seemed gleeful to have such a yummy ingredient. All but one. Her name is Sheetal Bhagt. Almost immediately her eyes welled up. As it turns out she is Hindu, raised in a Hindu family. Sheetal said she grew up vegetarian. Sheetal had never eaten an animal let alone killed one. She said it was against her beliefs to kill that crab.


The next thing I know I was hoping and praying she would stand up to the pressure and not kill the crab. After all it is her belief. She walked off the stage in tears. Ramsay followed her off the stage. Now Sheetal was in quite a dilemma. If she held fast to her beliefs she would lose. My heart dropped as I watched her walk back across the stage, tell the crab she was sorry and plunk the crab into the bolling water. Ramsy and the other judges told her what a good job she had done, going against her beliefs. Was this a test for Sheetal? I think so.

I felt so sad for Sheetal. Greed and fame got in her way. I started to think how sad God must feel when we do things like that. We do it all the time. We turn our backs on our beliefs. We don't stand firm in the face of temptation. I understand how hard it is to do. I fail many tests.

The other day at Walmart the cashier gave me $20.00 to much in change. I got in the car and counted it
 $20.00 to much. So I drove off and the battle began. (here is my thought process) You need to take that money back, no I need the money. You need to take the money back. No it is a blessing from God, he knows I need that $20.00 he would not of given it to me otherwise. You need to take the money back. Ok, well I will pull over here and count it again to make sure I did not make the mistake and she owed me the $20.00. Ok, so I did not make a mistake. I need to take back the money. I sat there, along side of the road for a long time. Well, if I take back the money the cashier is going to be embarrassed. If I don't take back the money her books won't balance. I was glad there was no Tv cameras watching me or people encouraging me just to keep the money. I drove back to Walmart feeling victorious. I passed this test! I was doing the right thing this time!

Let there be light

My sweet friend said my blog has been to depressing. So for my sweet friend here is something good.
Yesterday I had a good day. I am working really hard at making peace with Mary (my new co-worker.) She is my sister, therefor it is my job to make peace within myself and with her.

What I am going to write is top secret and will self destruct in 1 minute.  


So yesterday, we escaped the classroom and took the students to the bay. It was so beautiful outside. The sun was shining, there was a cool salty breeze blowing. We saw kite flyer's, walkers, joggers, bicycle riders. People were eating their lunch on benches facing west looking out at the horizon. There were Canadian geese who had stop by for a rest, seagull and pigeons. At the marina the boats gently rocked as the tide rolled in. Our students looked so small compared to the vast body of water they were standing next to.


For me it was a picture of the spiritual world. We can only see a little tiny bit of it. But the spiritual world is enormous beyond our imaginations. I love to see God's handy work in all creation.

Genesis 1

 ³ And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

 ⁶ And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." ⁷ So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. ⁸od called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. 

 ⁹ And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

 ¹¹ Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. ¹² The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

 ¹⁴ And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

 ²⁰ And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." ²¹ So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

 ²⁴ And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. ²⁵ God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 

I believe God wants us to "rule" over all the above, to protect and save his good work. No doubt God would want people in future generations to be able to stand any place in nature and know just by looking around that God is real.

My Masters Thesis

I wonder what it does to a person Psyche when your birthday is on a tragic anniversary. If I was ever going to write a paper for a master degree, that would be my topic. I wonder for all those born on Sept 11, or what about during Katrina? Do they turn off the TV and radio because all they hear about on their birthday is death and distraction? Are we just spoiled Americans that don't want extremely tragic things to happen on our birthday? People die everyday, one way or another.  Maybe some people don't care about their birthday, some religions don't even recognize birthdays as a day to celebrate. What would their perspective be on what ever disastrous event happened? What would be the same and what would be different.

Sometimes I think how lucky we are here in the USA. There are so many people around the world that live in a war zone every day.

Just in case your wondering,  my birthday is NOT this month.

I am still haunted by what I saw on Sept 11.

This One is On Me

I have know a certain someone (CS) for a very long time now. Every-time even now, CS ask if I want to have 7-7. It the past most likely I would have said yes, and "drank CS under the table." meaning I could drink way more the CS could. One day I realize that drinking was not fun anymore. That it was a problem for me. (long story) So I told CS not to offer me alcohol anymore. I told CS that I can't handle it well. I am not a happy drunk. For a few years CS respected that.

Then somehow in CS mind me not drinking became a 'holier then thou" thing. CS started to tell me all about how bad it was growing up Catholic.  CS, I am sorry you had a bad experience with Christianity,  That has nothing to do with me not drinking. In my opinion if you want to drink yourself until your brain is a slushy go right ahead. God gives us all free choice. Not only that, God says everything in moderation. For me I choose not to drink at all. No big deal, but you can. CS has taken my not drinking personal.

So the other night me and my gig a low were invited to a party with CS. Ugh. Ok. So we went to the party. The first thing CS does is ask if I want a "drink" yes, 7up I say, 7-7? no. Just plain 7up. So I hear CS joking with the bartender about being a "heathen."  I never said that, I never even implied that. CS you have free choice. Go ahead and drink your self to death.

Here are the REAL reasons I don't drink

• I can not drink in moderation. I can only drink until the bar closes, than get more on the way home.
• I see how much to alcohol destroys life. It kills people in cars, it kills marriages, it kills friendships, it kills everything it can, if your not careful.
• It is an insidious drug that creeps up on you unknowingly.  You thought you were a "social drinker"

CS, I feel sad for you. BTW leave my faith out of the equation, and deal with your convictions.

Happy Salt

Call Al Gore, it was me who started global warming. (all my friends are sick of my joke, now that I have told you I can stop)

It was hot again today. Yuck. The good part is that Me and Fuchsia went on a 10 mile bike ride.

When I got to Fuchsia's house, she had on her pearl post earrings, black bike coolots, cool green lacy beater shirt, and a fancy crochet bolero jacket tied loosely around her neck. I can see the similarities in Fuchsia and Dehlia. They have many similarities, but are both very different too.

No trees, just golden rolling hills. Fuchsia said she liked the quiet too. We had a good time. I am happy I went on a bike ride because I overdosed on Triple Lemon ice cream last night. I would have had to ride 200 miles to burn that off. Oh well, a little exercise is better then nothing.

I am going to start doing a journaling class for our church. We are going to journal through the Sermon on the Mt. in Matthew. I did a word study on "blessed"in the Beatitudes.. in the Greek this blessed means Happy. "Happy" are those who morn for they will be comforted, "Happy" are the merciful for theywill be shown mercy. That really shines a new light on this scripture for me. Because I was thinking what kind of a blessing would be for those who morn? Now I understand.

I am still formulating the Salt thoughts. What is salt? Salt is a preservative and something that makes food taste good...hummm. This salt in the Greek means "prudence" the dictionary says prudence means to care for or a thought for the future. So if we are salt a preservative,  we are caring for our future and caring for others "the earth." Salty things are is good, so if we do this it be good. ;)

Who wants to come to my journaling group??? It will be twice a month. Not sure what days yet.

Me and my gig a low went to Gunpoint for breakfast the other morning. The place is called PaPa's. It is a dive, but that is our favorite breakfast place. Anyways there was a lady eating out on the front porch when we went in. She said hi to us. Sitting behind my gig a low in a booth was this very big very, beefy just got out of prison, skin head looking guy. He was like the great white shark of Gunpoint. Anyways, he had two boys running around. They went outside. Soon after the lady sitting outside peeks her head in the door and says "your 5 year old son just fell off the stairs and he is screaming bloody murder" The tatooed bald headed man says "he needs to grow up, he is fine." What? the kid is 5.  I couldn't help but to stare at the guy. The bald man gave me a hard look with icy cold blue eyes. The kind of eyes that say I kill people for fun. Oops - ok, I almost just peed my pants he scared me so bad.
So I made it a point to just look at my gig a low. Later the boy came in. He had a huge bump on his forehead. I did not want to stare at the boy. That was the very first time I was happy to get out of PaPa's.

FYI Laundry

 I just bought a very cool book- it is called "Mary Proctor's Ironing Book -1016 ways to make washing and ironing easier" printed in 1949. She must of been the Martha Stewart of her time.


Did you know their is a only one way to hang clothes on the clothes line?
Shade: Colors clothes, rayons, silks and wool
Sun: White clothes and linen.

Here is the order you put your clothes in the basket when you take them off the line
going from bottom to top (pay attention Mountain Mama)

Heavy linens and cottons
Heavy cotton & linen clothing
Light Cotton Clothing
Rayons, Nylons, silks and wool

You MUST sit while ironing. Women are very weak, and need to rest.

Use DDT on wool garments to prevent moths from eating them up.

 Some stain removers

1. Vinegar (I use it all the time)
2. pepsin
3. hydrogen proxside.
4. Turpentine (for paint)

According to Mary Proctor say " Removing stains is a thrifty art." I have to agree.
Stains that you may have to remove

• carbon paper
• cod liver oil
• India ink
• iodine
• rubber cement
• tar

Mary Proctor says if you want to get coffee or tea stain out use hydrogen proxside.

 Mary looks so happy sitting at her ironing board with her hand folded underneath her chin. The perfectly iron clothes are hanging on clothes lines attached to the kitchen cabinet handles. (so she will not have to stand up while she is ironing) I love this book.

I am having Tweats on my Blog

 I forgot to tell you that Shorty said one of her students called her a cockroach. That made us both laugh as we have both been called so much worse. Shorty and I agree the best one liner coming from a student is "you must of been a crack baby." OOPS CENSOR CENSOR.


ps I spelled tweats wrong on purpose.

Mercurochrome

Who remembers Mercurochrome? If I got a cut or a scrape and my parents found out, they would head right for the medicine cabinet to get the Mercurochrome.  I would start screaming before their hand touched the cabinet door. I hated that stuff. It burned SO bad.

Update 9/3

Shorty called to tell me her day was very stressful. She said if you could only use one word to describe her day, she said it would be chaos. . The rest of Shorty's story has been censored.  I can't tell you everything she said because BIG BROTHER is looking on the internet. My day was perfect. Not only that I got to spend my lunch break with Malinda.

You know Dehlia said something to me the other day that has been weighing heavy on my mind. She said she was surprised at my reaction with the guy at the liquor store. Unfortunately, I still have a human nature. Human nature is not kind and gentle.

For me I harden my heart when I was young. Let me put it this way, you can take the tiger out of the jungle but you can't take the jungle out of the tiger.

Take a look at little ones who want the same toy. They will grab it from one another. Why do they do that? Is it the environment? or is it something born in us?

I think we are all born with a little jungle, then life happens. For some of us the jungle turns into a dense overgrown forest that is out of control.

The good news is we can tame the jungle
(When I say tame, I do not mean burn down or kill the jungle. What I mean is to make it a thriving, growing, nurturing place. ) with some work and spirituality.  

For me, at that moment in time, there at the liquor store, I slipped back into my old ways. It can happen to anyone, Christian or not. I went right back to my jungle where my fight or flight instinct kicked in.

This was a good wake up call for me that I need to be vigilant, and meditate on Gods word.

"if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" 1 John 1:8:9

I have asked God to forgive me for acting a fool. Now I need to stop beating myself up.

July In September

Our weather is all fowled up. Right now it is 101 degrees @ 4:20 pm. In July it was 60 degrees.

We get the afternoon sun blazing into our kitchen. It is to hot to cook. We had salad last night, I don't really want salad again tonight. What am I going cook?

Things to Remember

Things to remember for tomorrow.. Do not interrupt the boss, Do not interrupt the boss...

Lotto

We did not win the lotto tonight. So I told my gig a low that  I am going to bed as poor as I woke up. My gig a low says that is true unles the gold plane flies over and drops a load.


Funny and charming