January 2010 had a mission….

I started off the new year feeling very behind…it had been a very blessed yet busy June –Dec 2009 so now January was to be a time to relax and concentrate on completing rehab for my spine and arthritis. I promised my doc to take the month off from travel, airplanes, and cars as much as possible and to finally complete the dreaded exercises they had recommended to strengthen my back, therefore hopefully cutting down my constant discomfort. It has been a time to learn to adapt and try to become buddies with my arthritis. Well the month is winding down and I am proud to say I have only missed my pool time twice thus far and one of those times the pool was closed. ;-) My PT Christine has given me many hints and I can feel improvement. Wish I could say all pain has miraculously disappeared, but sadly arthritis is what it is and most people over 50 have this ailment in common. ;-0

I finally completed my mom’s lap quilt, (the one I had hoped to give her for Christmas ;-) lol.)  I am happy to report it’s the 3rd quilt I have completed “start to finish” using my HQ16 to quilt it. I look forward to completing many more quilts whether functional, art quilts or whatever ;-) with my HQ16. What fun!

This weekend my hubby and I took a run over to Ikea ;-) What a great store! I was looking for some inexpensive storage to help organize my quilting area and wow look at this great AS IS bargain I got? $9.99 ;-) I specially loved that all of the instructions were MY KIND! visual no words at all…..lol How cute huh?

So I’m off to the pool to complete my rehab! Hope it’s been a great weekend for all…..

Trying to focus….

Okay so January was to be my month to focus on my health. Everyone knows putting your health first is very important in order to hit home runs with your other day to day goals. I’ve learned the hard way I’m going to have to battle arthritis (like millions of others do) so might as well learn how to be pro-active and keep moving forward. Though it’s been fun times since June, (my retirement) me being on the road so much has not been that good for my back or a physical therapy schedule which could work to improve my situation.  So with that in mind I decided to make sure to put January as my month to focus and participate 100%, I  just got back from my PT appointment this morning and will do my pool rehab later today….but till then I gotta LEAP! ;-)

I’m off to my workroom to try to finish my quilting on a lap quiltEveryone have a great day!

LEAP!

Okay so it’s been too long since I posted!  Much too long!  Wish I could give a good explanation why but then I would have to admit a few or many of my shortcomings…. during my time off I was following one of my favorite high energy quilters throughout the holidays Pat Sloan  http://patsloan.typepad.com/pat_sloans_corner/  Pat asked her readers if we had picked a word yet for 2010?  Funny how I found it easy to think of my word , I even posted on her blogs or FB, ( I have no idea how she has the energy to do all she does, we all keep requesting she bottle her secret and hand it out ;-) OKAY back to me…..  lol….it’s so easy to shift from me then procrastinate….Anyway my word for 2010 is LEAP! I was thinking I have always found it so easy to put off myself, you know how it is ladies…we are care takers, we tend to find it much easier to take care of others then LEAP! For years I’ve taught others to feel free to develop their art, to believe in their God-given talents, yet I let my career help me not take the Leap as far as my own art was concerned. It’s very hard for some to imagine their creations are worthy, can be enjoyed, can be appreciated. Still to this day I question my own creations or ideas and let my thoughts build in my mind versus as in ‘new lingo’ a hard copy. So with this in mind I hope to stay focused and make my LEAP in 2010.

I have been very busy during my time away from my blog.  Life has kept me much too busy since I retired in June, so many life happenings have kept me busy…most I’ve already shared. I have been very blessed. During the past two months I had wonderful holiday times with my family as we all managed to gather in MI some driving through miserable weather from CO (with two babies aged about 3 months and 2 3/4) , my hubby and I driving from VA, we got out just in time to miss their record breaking snow storm.  My son and his wife flew successfully out of NY/NJ to MI.  I was reminded while sharing this picture of two of my favorite guys ;-) my dad (88yr young) and son JB.




The next picture is some of the rest of the gang along with my mom as we celebrated Christmas Eve day with my sister’s and their families. My parents were married 64 years Dec 27.





Christmas holidays went by much too quickly, the long drive back and forth along with the many other trips I’ve taken since June unfortunately flared up some of health issues I share with many aging adults. My husband calls “IT” my lumbago [n. A painful condition of the lower back, as one resulting from muscle strain or a slipped disk.]  Though I had 3 out patient injections in Nov and Dec in hopes of instant cure, we all know some things take time and even PT. ;-) so while keeping in mind my future commitment to my chosen word LEAP,  I also designated January 2010 a month to fulfill the promise I made to my doctor to finally stay put in one place and rehab all month. I want to beat this or learn as many others to live as comfortable as possible with my arthritis. Happily I can say I have not missed the pool rehab since Dec28 and PT appointments continue to not be missed.  I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I intend to aim towards my art once again. First step: I  must finish a few late Christmas presents ;-0 then as I posted on Pat’s blog , think “LEAP”!