We managed to find the restaurant yesterday and meet Cindy for lunch. She lives NW of Houston and we are on the SW side of the city. The restaurant was about 20 miles for each of us to drive. It was good to see her. I delivered all your messages! Bill took a couple of photos and I tried to post one yesterday but either post image was being tempermental or my internet was. I'll try again today. She looks good and has lost a lot of weight. She and Sue get together most Wednesdays to quilt. They live maybe 10 miles apart. Sue is gone helping a friend down in the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas right now so I missed seeing her this year.
LORI - I hope you show us those beautiful little wool projects when they are finished. So sweet! Cindy didn't go to the quiltfest this past Nov. She and Sue were going to go on Friday, but Cindy's car was in the shop for a minor repair. It was promised to be back Thursday afternoon. But, of course, it wasn't ready until 11am on Friday - too late to go. And they were both busy on the weekend days. But she says, since Covid, there aren't nearly as many vendors or attendees as in past years. That might not be a bad thing - I've gone twice, back before Covid and there were about 22 long aisles, packed with vendor booths on both sides. And so crowded with shoppers that if you saw a booth you wanted to explore the tide of people often swept you past and you had to fight your way back to the booth. I prefer smaller shows with a slower pace and fewer people. But that quiltfest was truly something to see! Even Bill went one year. I would like to go back some day.
CHRISS - that will be an impressive trip y'all are making around the country! I think Becca will be surprised to find she lives in the middle of the country.
If my house is on the itinerary, I better scoot on home and bake a cake! Did you get to the grocery store? What's on the menu for the kids this week? Maybe one week they'll bring the little guy to visit you. And your dad and stepmom can see him, too.LYN - you are coming down to the finish line on your sewing shack! 28 feet should give you plenty of room for all your fun toys. Will one of your machines stay in there permanently or will you still take it on the road with you? You still have your sewing stuff from CO packed in your cargo trailer, don't you?
TINA - whoosh!! See ya later, alligator!
JANA - are you circling back to your OWL or were you just talking about it? Did you finish your Christmas quilt? Did it go on the LA? What about your RR project? Squirrels are running havoc in your Batt Cave, aren't they!
VALERIE - You have a lot of congestion in your area, too. I hate traffic, traffic noise, and big cities. I grew up on a farm and when a car went by we all ran to watch it! So you can imagine how happy I am to be in the 4th largest city in the U.S. Houston makes Seattle look like a po-dunk town! It is 5 times larger than Seattle. Neat to be planning your trip! I hope you didn't mean you would be in Rock Springs all in one day. That's 900 miles! Can your back take that? I think you may want a paper US map and highlight your route just to see where you are going.
JUDI - What's on tap in your world today? Your sister will love making the OWL quilt. It's a fun project, though it was a lengthy one. Mine was hanging in Autumn's library for the two weeks of her quilt show.
Have you started to pack yet? You're getting close. How is it going with the monitor? Still having trouble sticking the leads at night? Just wondering - Didn't you say you shower at night? maybe if you altered your usual schedule for the duration the leads might adhere better while you sleep?
MARY Q - you must be really rested if you slept until 9am! I just can't. My eyes spring open any time between 4 and 5 and they won't go back shut again. Even as a teenager I never slept late. Plus, I love watching dawn happen. And listening to sleepy birds as they wake up. Forty totes full is a lot of fabric! I do believe you've got me beat - by about 25 totes! lol! But maybe not Sue. She has one whole room just for fabric, all folded in floor to ceiling shelves and a big cutting table in the middle of the room. Many quilt shops would be envious! I think I told you that my grandmother was born in St. Cloud. And my great-grandmother is buried there somewhere, though I have never been able to find her grave.
FLO - a special tote just for embroidery supplies would be nice for an embroiderer. A birthday gift or 'just because'? One day I counted up my totes. I passed 30 and then found a few more the next day in a downstairs closet. I love them all but just can't use more than one at a time.
LOIS - I am really looking forward to my haircut! I am so overdue! But I'm not sure I want to go back to my usual lady. The last cut she gave me wasn't a good one though usually she does OK. She should have retired years ago but needs the money and I feel sorry for her, so I keep going. She charges $30 which, in my area, is pretty cheap.
KATY - my goodness! Still got junk? Your house must be echoing by now. Glad you are getting back to your OWL. Don't forget, there is a thread here on the forum just for that quilt to show off your progress.
So while Bill is gone today, I will do some cleaning, reading, embroidery, audio book, and walking with Scottie. Yesterday I emptied and washed out all the lower kitchen cabinets and drawers. I'll do the uppers today. I do this every year after we get home from Texas but this year I'm going to have a head start since I have time now. Today will be weird - we haven't been apart since we left home 3 months ago except for 4 hours when he was getting our new hitch installed. And even then, I was with Amara and Antonio. Today, I'll be alone for the first time since the beginning of November! For supper, I think I"ll pull a container of chicken stew from the freezer and toss a salad.
Wishing everyone a great day!
mary z
>^+^<
oh well. I went through the book instructions with the tech and we got everything except 1 thing back to normal. We were going to take it to the dealer for help but after we drove by there and ate first then that was fixed. It's under warranty so if something is wrong I'd like to get it fixed while it still is. 
I'll have Frankie check the date on it tomorrow, he can also check it to see how much life it has with something he has in the garage. We don't go very much, we usually put under 7000 miles a year total even when we had 3 vehicles LOL..... this is so new to us to be driving a computer LOL and it's 7 years old.....I can't imagine how the brand new ones are!