Nothing much quilty going on

Dare I say it? I seem to have fallen into a bit of a quilting slump. That doesn't happen very often, so when it does I just don't know how to act. Not a good thing when I have a baby quilt to finish and Finn's Challenge to work on. I've been managing to find lots to keep myself busy - of course! - lots and lots of non-quilty things.

In my last post I mentioned that I'd committed to a challenge to plan weekly menus. Yesterday I started the process - creating a spreadsheet in Excel where I could list everything, track points, make notes about items to remember (like taking things out of the freezer the night before!), etc. I added formulas to track the daily points so I could make sure that each day's menus stayed within my allotment. I kept at it today, and have finished five of the seven days. I'll finish the rest tomorrow. I know I'm going to be very happy once I've finished each week - gone will be the last minute quandary of what to fix for dinner.

Today I made a huge pot of vegetable beef soup - love it that a big bowl is only 3 points! I used up lots of three-quarters empty bags of frozen vegetables, plus celery and carrots and fresh green beans from Farmer's market. Because the main dish was so low in points I started a loaf of sourdough bread in the bread machine. Whoops - this packet of yeast must have been past its prime - talk about a deformed loaf of bread! Still tasted great however.

I need to make some aprons like the one I made for Chelsea's birthday - two for gifts and one for a door prize for October's guild meeting. I've cut them all out but haven't started sewing yet. I finished putting sleeves on the last two quilts for the quilt show at The End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. I was glad to get those last two quilts over to Rick's and Rebecca's and out of my living room. I went through the stack of quilt magazines that I've gotten over the last few months - tore out a few patterns, filed the two or three "keepers" with like magazines, and recycled the rest.

Lucky me had three Joseph days last week instead of the usual two - delightful time spent with someone who must be the most even tempered, happiest, grandson a grandma ever had. He and I took a LONG stroller ride on Friday, walking to the Starbucks in the shopping center that's at least a couple miles away. I kept a very brisk pace, pushing the stroller and talking about the sights with Joseph. We had a great time - we will do it again this week weather allowing - but it sure didn't seem to help the weight loss much. All that brisk walking was worth only 3 exercise points as far as I can tell!

Now that school has started I'm trying to get back into a routine. I set my alarm for 6:30 so I could get up in time to watch the morning news - both local and national - while I put in my time on the exercise bicycle. I like to do that in the morning - by the time I'm really awake my exercising is over for the day LOL! Now - if I can just do that 21 days in a row I'll have created a new habit - at least that's what the experts tell us.

I've now had the tubs of fall decorations in the living room for almost two weeks. Maybe, just maybe, I'll actually get them put out sometime this week!

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Gratitudes:

1. Wonderfully cooler days

2. A sweet, juicy fresh peach

3. The smell of bread baking

4. Squirrels on the patio coming to say "Hello!"