Whew!!!

I'm exhausted!! My neighbor came over this morning and offered to remove the tree debris for me. There are some organizations around town that are helping the citizens in our city with debris removal. The only thing is, you have to take it there.

My husband is on his way home from a business trip, so he missed all of the fun! I have to tease him. I know that he was worried about us and thankful that all is well, but it sure is odd how he's always out of town when something like this happens! lol

When my neighbor offered I was a little hesitant. Afterall, they have done so much for us already, but then I started thinkng about it...I could get the major part of it over with today and tomorrow I could finish getting my projects ready for a retreat that I am going on next week.

Yes, I am outta here!!! I have had a week of kids being out of school, which means grand kids, too. Then there's dealing with roofers and the insurance company. I'm ready to let Steve be a "mom" this week!!! I can't wait!!!

Steve is one of these guys that knows how to do everything. In fact, he does it all better than me. He's so great to have around. He is a perfectionist in everything he does. I have often said that he would make a great quilter. He is a woodworker, which to me, is the same thing as quilting. He understands my need to keep my scraps for "just in case". He knows all about "squaring up". He also understands my need for good, quality tools. For every quilt magazine that I own (I never get rid of them) he has a woodworking magazine. He also understands my need to create and to keep my hands and mind busy. He even finds quilt shops for me to visit when we go on vacation!!! He loves to cook, doesn't mind cleaning, and is a great dad. Can you tell I've missed him?

Ok. Enough about Steve. Let's talk about my retreat!!!!

Every September I go on a quilting retreat where 150 women from all over the country come to take quilting classes. The beauty of it all is that it is 45 minutes from my house and my friends, including Terry, are the organizers. Am I blessed or what??

This will be my 12th year. I will get to visit people that I only see once a year or bump into them at quilt shows in Paducah and Nashville.

I am only taking one class this year. However, for the other two days I am sewing on my own projects. It's fun to take the classes and learn a new technique, but my WIP boxes are muliplying in my sewing studio and it will be great to finish some projects. I'll post pictures of what I decide to bring in the next day or so.

As I said before, I'm exhausted. I wanted to get something "fun" posted after posting damage from Ike.

How do you like my new header? A few weeks ago Steve decided to build a fence area around our garbage cans and have an place to store his tractor. He did a great job building it, as usual, but I saw it as a great backdrop to shoot pictures of my quilts. No more will my kids fingers be gripping on the tops of the quilts and my quilts look like they have feet. Well, knowing me I'll probably miss that "look"; it is kinda cute!

Thanks for all of your thoughts, prayers, and sweet comments.

Amanda