On the Road Again

Well, we're on the road again; heading back home to California. I intentionally flew into Virginia on the 15th to attend the pinning ceremony on the 16th of a nursing student I was so privileged to precept and an LPN, Kevin, who bridged to RN. Crystal was an absolute pleasure to teach, she was a sponge who wanted to soak up everything and I am so incredibly proud of her. She was hired in the ER and I have no doubt she will be an awesome nurse. Kevin, whom I call my son, spent many hours in the ER with us, learning, helping, visiting, and eating! We laughed about my being his Jewish mama who always wanted to feed him.

Me, Crystal, and my best friend and work partner, Jenna

Me and Kevin

After an emotionally exhausting week of good byes, we enjoyed Mark's Change of Command Ceremony yesterday and hit the road later that evening. Mark worked all week, I spent most of the day each day in my jammies and piddled around the empty house, playing on my iPod or on the computer, reading, doing some hand sewing and just relaxing. We spent the evenings visiting with friends, out to dinner with some, just spending time with others. The fire dept had a dinner for us on Thursday night and we were so glad to have the time with the people we spent so much time with over the past four years.

Sista Brains
Saying goodbye to my best friend, Jenna, was the hardest thing to do. She and I are truly connected, sharing a brain cell, and we flowed as one at work. I am so looking forward to her and her son Ty coming to visit in August!!

The Change of Command was wonderful! After a week of cold temperatures, the sun came out and we had a beautiful sunny day for the ceremony. Mark was so handsome and it was great watching him with "his kids". The interaction was so indicative of how he leads and it was so obvious that he means a great deal to his crew. He choked up a few times during his speech but recovered well and continued on. He received a Coast Guard Commendation medal from his sector commander and I have to tell you, I know my husband well, and even I was impressed. Maybe it is because I am so used to him wonderful things, that we take it as just part of normal life! I teased him about being "homeless" until he assumes command in Vallejo and he quickly reminded me that I am homeless too until I find a job! Smart alack!




We are in Kentucky tonight, a short travel day to due to the time we put in last night. No pets on this trip, but we are in a UHaul and towing a car so mountains are slow and gas is expensive! We are taking the more northern route this trip and will travel through 12 states, including Colorado where we will spend the night with Tabetha, Jeremy, and the grand babies!


Goodbye Parksley, Virginia! It's been a great 4 years!

Spring Time Sewing

I have only a few days before I fly to Virginia to meet up with Mark, will spend a week and then we'll rent a UHaul to tote the rest of our belongings to our new home in California. I can't wait to see my honey, for sure. I have had the sewing machine humming this week, trying to get some things done because I know once I come home, it will be job hunting and then working. I made sundresses for the girls, same pattern, coordinating fabric and I think they will look adorable in them! I have some more fabric to make Ayla another outfit since Nana wants her to have some new outfits to start preschool in August.

I finally made a practive block to try my hand at free motion machine quilting and after a half dozen broken needles, I finally got my hand speed to coordinate with the speed of the machine and I don't think this first try is too shabby.

I'm not one to waste time practicing, I like to walk the edge and jump headlong into things. Sometimes I fall flat on my face, but not always! I decided to make myself a new bag before I leave Friday morning and had these beautiful spring like charm packs. Okay, so I jumped head first into quilting it, pondering the fact that I may make a total mess of it and waste this beautiful fabric. I am certainly not a quilter by any stretch of the imagination but I have to tell you, I have discovered the love of "drawing on fabric with a needle" and I know once I get some more practice in, it will add an awesome addition to my creations! This panel is just the front of the bag and admittedly, I impressed myself with the quilting! I hope to finish the back tomorrow and get it assembled.

A Long Week

OK, as much as I love California, our new hometown, the convenience of everything, I have to admit, I'm lonely without Mark and my friends. While the Internet and phones allow me to touch base with everyone, it would be nice to turn around and share a moment with my honey. But, I fly back to Virginia in 9 days and then we'll make the long haul back home again, this time we will both stay here. I am incredibly proud of the way I have learned the area; I no longer have to depend on map quest or Bertha, our GPS. I've even found shortcuts to some of the places I travel. The dead battery issue in the truck finally forced me to buy a new one. Of course, I couldn't even lift the old one out, never mind put a new one in so I talked some toothless old man in the auto parts store into doing it for me. I tried to pay him but he just laughed and said welcome to California. Yes, I do believe in paying it forward.
I have finished our bedroom and the room is larger now that it's not stacked with boxes. The living room/dining room is pretty finished, although I still have some things to do in there. I've been feeling down in the dumps the last day or two, feeling sorry for myself really, and decided to fore go working on the house and doing something for myself so I have spent the last two days sewing. I have completed a baby doll sling and a carrier, did the parts for some stuffies (still waiting to be assembled, and am working on some wool felt peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, although I think they need a carton of milk and maybe some carrot sticks to make a complete and balanced lunch!
We've had rain for several days but today the sun poked it's marvelous head out and the weather was beautiful. A wonderful breeze prompted me to open windows and it was GREAT! A pet sitter came by yesterday and she will tend to the animals while I'm in VA. I found myself babbling and had to apologize to her and explain the only real conversation I've had in the past two weeks was "do you want paper or plastic" at the grocery store! She is a very nice lady and I'm comfortable with her caring for the critters. We laughed about the illegal ferret that we own and I told her we had to plead ignorance. We would never have thought that they were illegal in CA. Mark discovered this bit of trivia on his flight to VA and since then, I've done some research. Apparently, they ARE illegal to own here and there are a large number of underground groups that provide rescue, resources, ferret friendly vets, and info. I guess we were lucky to not him confiscated at the border agriculture stop and had the inspector asked the right questions, we would have told him we had a ferret, ignorant as we were. There is a major push to have the law changed, lobbyists, fundraisers, motorcycle runs to Legalize Ferrets. Unbelievable to me, and actually I find it quite comical. Bandit is no longer a ferret, he is mutant rabbit. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.


A Baby sling holding a baby naked sans a cloth diaper!


I really need a new model for baby doll accessories because Mr Snowman, while quite willing to model things, just isn't cutting it! My goodness, I should have brushed the little one's hair!