A Busy Spring

We've had a wonderful spring and I was very productive even if I neglected my poor blog! We're looking forward to the summer months and I'm anxious to tackle more projects. The highlight of the past months was the visit by all the children, 10 people crammed into our small California home, but we had a blast and I hope it becomes an annual event. We rented a 15 passenger van and it was a stroke of brilliance, if I do say so myself! We visited the usual tourist spots, ate, laughed, shopped, ate, and laughed some more. The kids hiked the John Muir woods while Mark and I stretched out in the van and napped, we're getting old and the kids flat wore us out!

Pier 39, love the family Picture!

All the girls!

Load em up!
In between keeping up with orders from the store, I volunteered to sew and donate two outfits for a great fundraiser. They were fun to make and I do love sewing for little girls!


A cute little monkey top!

With matching shorts

An infant size dress, love the pull through ties!

A friend's little one insisted she had a loose tooth so Nana had to make a tooth fairy pillow for her!


I have sewed outfits for the girls, tried my hand at bathing suits for them and they came out cute, I think anyway!


A paramedic in Virginia, who helped Jenna and I on numerous occasions is having a baby girl in a few days, how could I resist?



The matching bloomers are ruffled on the back!

Mark decided Nana's Toy Box deserved a real sewing center and first put up the 20 feet of counter space. He custom built the cabinets this weekend and I can just stand in middle of the room and be inspired! Now keep in mind, the sewing center is in what is supposed to be the house's living room so it's what greets people when they come in the front door! On a side note, it is NOT y craft room, only my sewing room! I still have a table of fabric that is "in progress" that we hid for pictures because it is so typical me, messy, LOL!




I have set a list of personal goals for myself this year and 1.) is to get fit and healthy, I hope to run a 5K and ride a 25 mile bike race by the end of the year. I found I actually enjoy running, doing a core workout, and riding my bicycle. I alternate between speed and endurance when I ride but I fail miserably at controlling my pace when running, I'm a sprinter and while I can run 2 miles, I'm half dead when I finish because my pace is so fast. Everyone kind of laughed at this old Nana when I casually mentioned I thought I could run to the stop sign....200 yards? Not only did I run to the stop sign that first day, I sprinted home. Every day I went further and now I stride with confidence, if too fast! Adrian worked up a core fitness workout for me and her and Brian answer my fitness questions, Jeremy answers my bike questions and now has me looking at racing bikes, and Jacqueline has been one of my biggest cheerleaders, eating healthy with me, picking me back up when I take a few steps backwards, and has turned me into a fruit and veggie person! Tabetha is there to advise on the health aspects, nutrients, vitamins, etc and we enjoy swapping our "Jillian stories". I have completely changed my eating habits, laugh when I splurge and have "a can of high fructose corn syrup", ie Sprite, gave up my 4AM biscuits of greasy bacon and eggs, and being so little, I watch my intake carefully. I have gained 9 lbs of muscle and an inch to my thighs! I proved my increased upper body strength this weekend when Mark asked if I thought I could help carry the cabinets in from the garage.... piece of cake!
I also decided it was time to find the muse that deserted me and finish my novel. To exercise my brain and help shake the cobwebs out, I started writing daily ramblings which I am fortunate to have an email loop of friends and family read for me. No perfection, no editing, just writing.... and boy does it feel good!