Nice Day even though it is raining!

So, I was doing the awake every couple of hours thing last night.  It has become more the norm than the exception.  But there is good news as there were actually two nights this week when I fell asleep at a fairly normal hour and slept soundly with no waking until past the normal hour for waking.  It felt wonderful and is probably one of the reasons that my cold has gone away much faster than I expected it to go.

The house is a wreck.  I am pulling out stuff that I MAY be taking to Fancy Gap.  I am organizing projects, cleaning up Featherweights to take so the other ladies can sew, trying to consolidate things as there will be three of us in the van, so I need to leave room for other stuff besides mine.  I think it may be an exercise in futility, but I am trying it, nonetheless.

Today was a fun day.  My friend Debby Patton, had invited me to go to a local florist who was having a make it and take it class.  Debby arrived a little after noon and we headed to the shop around 1:00 PM.  It was the Fuller Floral and Gift Shoppe on Route 30 in Gap.  For $15.00 we made a lovely floral arrangement in a small bag.  Kelly (one of the co-owners) instructed us in proper design and both Debby and I ended up with some lovely arrangements.  The house smells like springtime and lifted my spirits on this rainy day.

After we left there, Debby treated me to lunch at Harry's in Sadsburyville.  The food was good... the service less than stellar.  Debby dropped me at the house and she headed out so she could prepare to babysit her grandchildren tonight.  I have been chilling in my recliner since and looking forward to some more sorting later.

Enjoy the pictures of the fun time at Fullers.

This is what we started with, stems.. fillers and bags with a cup inside.

We worked and sipped some wine under the direction of Kelly.....

Until I had this lovely arrangement.

Thanks to Kelly and her mother, Carol for a really nice event!

Felled by an unseen bug...

I had a delightful weekend with my brother and his wife in New Jersey.  We attended the ISS Trade Show in Atlantic City, staying in a TimeShare in Absecon.  We had some very interesting classes and learned some new, fun things that can be done to tee shirts and sweatshirts.  We also saw the latest and greatest trends in imprinted sportswear.  It is always a fun show.  I have a renewed enthusiasm to fire my business into more production than I have in the last couple of years.  But having the freedom to go when I want to go and not when I don't is nice, too.

HOWEVER, I must have come into close proximity to someone who was carrying a rather nasty bug.  Tuesday evening, after my GriefShare session, I returned home and began coughing and coughing.  There was an annoying tickle in the back of my throat that would not go away. It was so annoying that I headed to Walmart on Wednesday and got cough medicine and cough drops.  By Friday, I was so sore from coughing that my ribs hurt and just trying to pee caused pain in my ribs.

I pilled up enough to go to the very first Canvas and Wine night at a new store in Parkesburg called Zole.  It is a vintage shop, selling older, re-purposed shop with an art studio attached.  I joined Debby Patton and Annette Caratanuto  there to sip beverages (I had water as my meds did not mix well with wine) and under the instructions of Jenna Schuck, we all did a small painting of a flower.

We had a really nice time and I managed to keep my coughing to a minimum.

The rest of the weekend was less fun.  Saturday the waterworks began.  But if the stuff was coming out the front of my face instead of down my throat it kept the coughing from happening and my lungs and ribs are beginning to heal.  But I need to buy stock in Kleenex.  I have gotten into my tissue supply that has not been touched since 2007.  I finally dried up the nose with Nasonex last night and slept a tad more soundly than I have since Tuesday.  This morning I got up a bit before noon, took a shower and am feeling the best I have in a few days.  Not perfect.  Still more of a mouth breather than a nose breather, but more human than I did yesterday.  So I am hoping that I have turned a corner and am on the upswing.  I only have a few weeks before leaving for a month in the mountains.

And we may have more SNOW on Tuesday!!  Really????????

Quickly ticking off major boxes.....

So, as time begins to march by at a quickened pace.... I am beginning to finish the required activities before I head to Fancy Gap.  It was suddenly much later than I thought so I buckled down and started on the "Must Do" list.

Yesterday, while I really wanted to go Good's, a lovely store in East Earl and Quarryville.  But I said to myself... "Self, you need to finish the backpack orders first!"  So I worked all day long and finished the order for Rustin Wrestling.  (Take a deep breath!)

While the backpacks were in the machine, I worked on adding files and downloading programs to my new work computers.  My old work laptop died when I was in the midst of getting my knee replaced.  I bought a new Windows 8 desktop.  I started loading programs into it and found out that every one of my embroidery design creation programs would NOT work on Windows 8, so I am also building a Windows 7 laptop to handle those programs.

So back and forth between computers as each backpack stitched out on Happy.  I also pulled all of my 2013 business paperwork and culled out the needed tax information to create the reports for my tax accountant.  Then I went through all of the 2013 paperwork and tax information for me in general.  I had to track down the deeds to the last two lots in Indian Acres that I sold last year and get everything into an envelope for the accountant.

It was a very busy day of multi-tasking.

Today I finished boxing up the backpack order and headed to see the accountant.  Dropped off the information (Take another deep breath) and went to Sam's Club.  I picked up snacks for tonight's GriefShare, a big box of envelopes, some things for the trip to New Jersey this weekend and to Fancy Gap in April before heading home.

Tomorrow I am picking up Marge (a friend from church) and we are heading to Elkton to pick up Marji so we can go to lunch.  Marge and Marji have never met, so we are getting together since we will all be spending the month together in Fancy Gap.  It should be a very interesting afternoon.

Thursday I head to New Jersey for a weekend trade show.  I will be there with my brother and his wife.  Next week the Elantra is scheduled for inspection and a recall servicing for a stop lamp defect.  That Friday I am going to newly opened vintage store called Zole's in Parkesburg for a Wine and Canvas night.  It is a BYOB event where, under instructions, the participants will create a painting while enjoying wine (or other beverages) and snacks.  Should be a fun night.

In no time, it will be off to Fancy Gap!  At least the major "must do" things with time constraints are out of the way.  Now it is gathering and packing and getting excited!!!

Gearing up for Spring and Summer....

My house is a mess.  Nothing new, but I currently have some piles and areas that are a bit more messy than normal.  This week begins a string of time when I will be on the go and after this winter, I am looking forward to it.

I am finishing a job for the Rustin Wrestling Team.  I should finish that today.

I will be finishing my gathering of tax stuff and getting that to the accountant.  I have to have these done soon since I will be away on tax day.

I will be joining my brother and his wife in Atlantic City this weekend for a trade show.  Looking forward to it.

I have started piling things to pack for the trip to Fancy Gap, VA.  Marge, Marji and I will be there for a month.  We will be meeting for lunch this week to make some plans for that trip.

I will be spending my birthday in Alaska.

But the prep for all of this is resulting in a pile for the Trade Show Trip.  Piles for the Fancy Gap trip.  No piles yet, but thinking about the Alaska trip.  Work piles/boxes... but they will be out of here shortly.  Sorting of recipes tot take to Fancy Gap.... I want to try out some of the yummy looking recipes I have been gathering from Facebook!

But time is suddenly getting jammed with activities.  Funny how that happens after we "spring forward"!!

I hate SNOW!!!!!

Well, it has been a while since I have posted here.  I feel like I have been at war, down in the trenches and just trying to get from hour to hour.  It has been that kind of winter.

Following the 5 days without electricity and the kindness of my bestest friend Marji and her husband, Danny, I endured several major snow storms of over 6 inches each.  One was easily a foot.  The snow in the driveway had piles on each end of the front and kept creeping up from the driveway.  I was beginning to run out of room to put snow.

Where my house is located, to the west, across the street, is an open field.  On days when most people had plowed and shoveled, I was still plowing and shoveling.  Normally the day after a storm there is wind.  And here, that wind is usually from the west.  So all of the loose snow that is laying on the field across the street comes over and dumps additional snow on my lot.  Hence the problem with where to put so much snow.

All the time, I have three therapy sessions scheduled each week and I am trying to get plowed out in time to make it to the sessions.  There were days when I did not get there.  There were days when they were also closed.  But I got there enough to get some good movement on the knee and finish outpatient therapy... at least for now.

Most of the Lions Club meetings were cancelled.  No PABA meetings were held once I was able to drive.  GriefShare did start in January and we had to cancel one session but lucked out the rest of the weeks.  So, staying busy and fighting the weather has been interesting.

It is now March.  The field across the street is still covered with snow.  My piles are still there but they are receding.  I did manage to get the Elantra out of the garage.  I had plowed some snow in front of the door as I had no other place to put it.  I developed a cooling leak in the van, so I had to chisel the ice and snow from the garage and got the Elantra out so I did not have to drive the van until I got it fixed...(a leak around the thermostat, fixed and ready for the trip to Fancy Gap!)

I will be at a trade show with my brother, Andy, and his wife, Carol, next weekend.  I have a job for my embroidery business that needs to be done.  I am still trying to rebuild my work computer as the hard drive completely failed shortly after I got home from the nursing home and I lost many of my embroidery designs.  I saved the important ones, so I am fine, but I still have to rebuild the hoops, remake fonts and I found out that the embroidery system that I used will not work on Windows 8, so I have been scrambling to get a Windows 7 laptop just to run this program.  Yikes!!!

I am also preparing to head to Fancy Gap in the middle of April for a month.  I will have two Marge's going with me for the entire month.  My BFF, Marji, has finally decided to go.  Actually, her husband, Danny, told her she needed to go.  I also invited a newer friend, Marge, from church.  She has just retired and I thought she might enjoy getting away from the house and snow and really feel retired.  She jumped at the chance.  There will be one other visitor the week of April 25th.  Deb, from the OBX gang, is coming for a week.  Invites are out for others, like my brother and his wife, my niece/her husband/their son, any of the OBX ladies who want a week or long weekend, my son and his wife..... so it may be a very busy and fun filed month in Fancy Gap.  I just hope that if they decide to come and play that they do not all do it in the same week!

Today, I am catching up on the blog... as you can see, playing with some kitchen gadgets I just got from QVC and then working on the work computer stuff.  I have to get the backpacks done by the 23rd.  Only 10 of the, but I still have to get the work done.

So, there you are.  All caught up.  Just not a great deal that I felt like sharing during the Snowtastrophies that have been the winter of 2014.  Officially, in Philadelphia we have had almost 64 inches of snow.  I know I had more than that by a few inches.  So I would be quite happy to have several years now with no snow at all, just to get back to the average snowfall for the year in this area which is under 20 inches a year.  I HATE snow!!!!!

I am attaching a couple of pictures showing just some of the snow I had to battle.....