What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I did it -- I survived the crazy month of November. OK -- so I know that November isn't over yet, and I still have things to do, but the worst of the month is over, and I can sort of coast along now! It was loads of work, but I learned a ton of stuff, and always great to stay in touch with everyone via Zoom. 

I said goodbye to three different groups this past week, and after being with them for four or six weeks, you feel connected to them! Thanks to everyone who attended the classes, and I ...

 Who knew two weeks ago that I would actually get all that work done, and I would survive and even find a few spare moments to watch The Great British Bake Off? That Paul guy is pretty darn good-looking. And I must STOP thinking about baking something. Good grief -- what is happening to me? 

I still have two presentations today, a Facebook Live and one of my own classes tonight. The weekend will be entirely on Zoom, but I have minimal prep, so it's all fun stuff, and I can't wait!

There are still two weeks of "work ...

The week is progressing quite nicely. I had two presentations yesterday, and both were almost ready, so they took no time to finish up. Just that switch-a-roo with the sewing machines and the language of the software. 

But all was good. I'm in CONTROL!! 

I prepped as much as I could for the three reveal presentations this weekend. I did a wee bit of writing and paperwork, although more needs to be done this morning. And I NEED to get to the long arm. 

I'm also a slacker, and well, I couldn't help myself. I could watch ...

Phew -- -that was a crazy week last week, and the weekend wasn't much better. However, the good news is that all the writing assignments are done. OK -- that's not exactly true, there are still four to write, but they can wait a wee bit. All the homework from the weekend classes has been sent, and that's an awesome way to start the week. 

Yep -- it's another week heavy on the presentations, and five (well, technically four, since one presentation is given twice) requires some prep work, but three of them won't require much time. So ...

Not to bore you with my UPS package, but it's in the right state, so it should be delivered on Monday! Yippee!!!!

I can't wait until I have another package to send to see how to fix this commercial invoice problem! It doesn't matter, the package is arriving one business day late, and I can certainly live with that!

It makes me laugh because when I worked for a fabric company, which was concerned about the cost of shipping things but had zero issues with shipping overnight instead of 5 days. So what's the difference? Well ...

So if anyone tells you that things are not back to normal - they are lying! Where did all the people come from yesterday? Granted, it was a rainy Saturday afternoon, so people probably had nothing better to do. The shopping plaza parking lots were jammed. I had to zip out to get dog food. The store itself wasn't that busy, but then there were other stores in that plaza. 

I went to the Costco parking lot to find a geocache. NOT a parking space to be found! I parked in the plaza beside Costco and got the cache. Then ...

So far, so good! Everything is on track; I'm puttering around and keeping the tables clear - whether the cutting table or my computer desk. I've realized that I'm using my cutting table as a general-purpose work table. As I clear part of it off, I put stuff on it that needs to be dealt with! That makes perfect sense, and I'm OK with that. The key is to NOT let things remain there, and I think I've got that habit well under control now.  

Same thing with the paper in the office. I've managed ...

It was another successful Virtual Retreat! So many people stopped in to say hello. We had people from Germany, the US, Western Canada, and all over Ontario! So nice to see a few new faces join us and to see the regulars! I left at 9 PM both nights, and they were still sewing and chatting! 

I didn't end up taking a nap yesterday, but I did take a long walk, and I slept like a log last night. I'm feeling good this morning, and all fired up to get to spin class. 

Well, I don't have ...

 I'm under control! Or should I say - I'm in control? Either way, I have most of the prep done for the classes this weekend. I believe all or most of the sewing is done - it's just a question of putting the pictures into the various presentations and trying to get the written homework done so it can be sent out in a timely fashion. I must say that it feels good to be in control, but there's still a lot of work to do to get all that information organized and in the correct presentation!

As ...

If you're looking for sewing stuff today, there isn't going to be any! Although it's hard to believe, I do other things than sewing. And even though I have tons of work to do, I decided to take the day off! I have to laugh because the other day, someone casually mentioned that there are people who might like to do what I do! Hmm - I hadn't thought about that before. But it's a crazy life - there's rarely a day off, the pay sucks, but the projects I get to work on and the ...

 As much as I get done in a day, it never seems to be enough! There's always someone sending me a message - when can I expect my project? Yikes! I was hoping to get a quilt quilted today, but there's too much paperwork to take care of, so I can only hope to get the quilt loaded and then quilt it tomorrow. 

Some parts of my day are better organized than others. I think I now have the gym (two spin classes a week) and the daily walking (3 hours) set as a priority. As busy as I ...

 I haven't been reading much lately. My brain just goes into overload mode, and I really don't want to be distracted. And I have to say that having my thoughts entirely to myself is a good thing. I think a lot, I problem solve and just reflect on who I am and what I'm doing! Something I hope to do a whole lot more next year. 

However, this morning, when I was loading a customer quilt, I listened to an audiobook. WOW -- The Midnight Library by Matt Haig finally came in! What a great concept, and honestly ...

 Oh my goodness -- I'm a MOUTH breather at the gym. I was huffing and puffing on the spin bike, then I realized I was gasping for air. OK -- I'm exaggerating. I'm not gasping, but I definitely breathe with my mouth open. I tried to breathe through my nose. Yikes -- that was hard! Even when I was not at maximum effort. That's going to take a bit of getting used to. 

It just goes to show that we are so not conscious of how we breathe. And I swear that spin class is a killer. I'm ...

 Gosh - I'm so forgetful. Before I went to bed, I filled the humidifier and got that started, but I forgot the tape for my lips! Shoot! And I woke up with a bit of a stuffed nose -- allergies? Or from mouth breathing? Got to do a bit more experimenting there. But I've definitely got tendencies to mouth breath. Not big gasps -- just slightly parted lips and breathing in. More noticeable when I'm walking. 

There are lots of suggestions -- Breath Rite strips. Hmm - what do they do? Keep the nasal passages open, I suppose. So many things to ...

 Good morning! Oh boy  -- it's been a super busy morning and well, OK - so I got up early. But that's simply because I went to bed early. I did get my required hours of sleep. But as I lay in bed this morning contemplating what I have to do - well, there's ZERO time for laying around! 

I have to say this mouth breathing versus nose breathing has me in a tizzy. I'm so conscious of it now that I'm not sure I was ever a mouth breathing. WAIT -- that's a total lie. I think ...

WOW -- more great advice in the comments. I used the humidifier last night. My nose is still dry, but not as bad as the night before. Gels? Sprays? Oh boy -- I guess I need to go to the drugstore. I don't pay much attention to all that stuff; hence - I have a dry nose! But I'm trying to be much more conscientious of whether I'm breathing through my nose or mouth. I'm definitely a nose breather. 

OK -- so yesterday was a bit of a humbling day. Besides doing one presentation, I didn't get much else ...

Bonjour!!!  I survived! The French presentation was far from perfect, but I did it! Oh my gosh -- I remember when I could slip between French and English with no thought, and I still can. It's just that there's a whole lot of new terms that are not in my vocabulary!

I have to laugh because I get an e-mail from Grammarly with my stats for all my writing. 

The walk with the girls was a little different yesterday. It was the first day of school, and there were lots of extra people around! ACK! Although I think there must still be loads of people keeping their kids at home, or they staggered the start times yesterday. The amount of traffic was not nearly as crazy as a normal first day of school. While I did see loads of people walking their kids, there were still many cars!!  I haven't spotted the speed cameras yet. 

I guess we'll be making 'new" friends as we start to see ...

I'm happy to say that I'm making great progress. Not as much as I would like, but I'm OK. The binding is on the magazine quilt - well, just one side. I have to do the topstitching this morning and add a sleeve, and then it can go. Yeah!!!

And it would have been done, except I had to do this instead. 

Remember the other day that I said I was prepping more fabric for Diane? Well, I found a panel with a partial border on it. I decided to finish off the border and get it ready ...

 I'm all set -- I finished the Appalachian Trail and confirmed the address for my medal. I started the Pacific Crest Trail. Why not just dive right in? While I will always walk the dogs in the morning, there are some days when I wonder if I need that second walk. But the aggressive goals I've set for the virtual challenges get me off my butt and onto the road. 

And here's the thing -- while it's called a Virtual Challenge, I still have to WALK the miles to make that happen. It's not like I just ...