The week in review

I planned to finish piecing together my Pick and Choose top this weekend, and made quite a bit of progress, but alas, it is still not done. All that remains to do is the half-square triangle border. Guess what I will be doing after work today? Last night, I spread out the quilt top on my guest bed, just to see what it looked like, and I couldn't help but smile and flop down on top of it. I LOVE IT!!! It is possibly my new favorite quilt.

So, no quilt photos to share, and those of you who know me know that I don't really like posting without photos. A big thank you to Molly for providing me with a photo op - check out the "not-so-squishy" mail I received from her this weekend - a crocheted rock!
Also to be known as a pattern holder-downer in my new soon-to-be finished quilt studio. (actually, who am I kidding. As with any construction project, I have NO IDEA when it will be finished, but I am hoping that it is soon!)


And then, there are always family photos. First, from last weekend's birthday party/campout for Jason. We roasted marshmallows for s'mores,
we took a night walk into the George Washington National Forest behind my house,

(check out the kid on the left looking nervously out into the darkness - he was regaling us all with stories of mountain lions and bears, much to the chagrin of some of the boys, so this makes me giggle to see that he was a little nervous, too! Of course, with the 8 of us stomping around and a dog to boot, I'm sure there was no wildlife within a mile of us.)


and we all (me and 7 boys) slept in the Taj Majal of tents with the dog keeping watch outside.




I've also rediscovered my porch. I cleaned it off, and all of a sudden, I love spending time out there again. Imagine. I wish I could truly capture the beauty of the sunset over the Allegheny Mountains from my porch, but this was the best I could get.


One of Jason's birthday gifts this year was the Karate Kid movie. He loves it, can you tell?


And then, last week, I mentioned our work retreat. It was just as wonderful as I had hoped. I didn't remember to take many photos, though. This photo gives you an idea of setting - here we are on one of the decks after our meetings were done on the first day waiting for dinner to be ready.

Then, after dinner, it was board game time in front of the fireplace at the outdoor pavilion - have you ever played Apples to Apples? Very fun!


Breakfast wasn't until 9 AM on Thursday. For someone who is up at 6 AM every day, that gave me lots of time to play in the morning. First, I went for a 2-mile run, and then I went kayaking on the Cowpasture River with another lunatic co-worker. Lunatic because it was COLD and the water was very low, so we were able to go downstream, but coming back upstream was another matter altogether. Live and learn - we weren't late to breakfast, but I didn't have time to warm up in the hot tub as I had hoped.


This weekend included karate, a birthday party, a potluck picnic for my husband's job, going to the circus, and sewing during every spare moment in between. Needless to say, being back at work today is a bit of a letdown...