Stopping and Starting

Here's a shot of the quilt I've just finished machine quilting, which I call "Bali Dreams." Some time back, my MIL gave me some pieces of batik fabric she'd bought in Bali years ago (that rust and black one in the lower right corner and the gold one with a black linear design in the upper left corner). I mixed them with some other batiks and can now give her a lapwarmer quilt for when she sits to read or watch tv. She's always cold, so I hope she'll enjoy this.

But now we are entering into a few transitional weeks around here. Funny, how some periods of time are all about transitions, isn't it?

I am vowing to wean myself off of CNN so I stop getting riled up about politics ... I will try to just enjoy the knowledge that there will be an excellent, smart, compassionate liberal in the presidential race. So I'm mentally shifting gears in that arena and will just enjoy the ride. YES WE CAN. (See? I can!)

[OH! Guess what? I got an actual PERSONAL EMAIL from Jeffrey Toobin after I emailed him to comment about some stuff he said on CNN. So now, when ever he appears on screen, I refer to him as "my good friend Jeff." He's in my email inbox!! Because, you know, we're just TIGHT like that. But I digress.]

I'll be taking down the quilting frame, so we can replace the carpeting in our master bedroom, due to a little (ahem) problem one of the cats had with incontinence (or purposeful, vengeful urinating) when we got the dog. (Yes, that's the same cat who chewed thru the cord on my Juki foot pedal and recently did the SAME DANG THING to my Bernina foot pedal cord. If she weren't my daughter's "familiar," I'd throttle her.) I've also taken the opportunity to buy a new bedspread and so that room will get a makeover. I'm looking forward to refreshing the room -- literally and figuratively.

Caroline will finish 6th grade in a week, so we are officially transitioning ... she into the world of middle school, Roger and I as parents of an adolescent. And we are entering the world of private school, which already (judging from the emails and meetings and uniform-buying sales) feels rather different from the public school world to which we're accustomed.

With Caroline and Roger both home from school, we have our annual summer transition -- beautiful family time, some strain of all of us home all the time ... but we have learned to retreat to our own corners when we need private time, a concept we all respect.

As the weather gets warmer, we will be heading to the pool more, and maybe I'll get myself going in other areas of the health club, too. Let's figure that this will continue my post-gall-bladder-removal-healthier-living transition.

I'm transitioning away from my point-and-shoot Panasonic camera (which I love, if it weren't for the fact that Panasonic repair has now had custody of it for longer than I've owned the thing) to a big-girl, grown-up Nikon DSLR camera. It's fun but it's a lot more complicated. So I will be making my way through the learning curve.

So, some changes, but lots of the usual, ongoing, comfortable, life pleasures. Wonderful family and friends, solid and thought-provoking work, good books to read, fun things to sew, pretty fabrics to fondle...