It DOES rain in southern california!

It's raining... It's pouring... the old man is snoring!  I love when it rains and it's been raining steadily for 2 1/2 days now, with at least 1 or 2 more days of rain expected... maybe more... I just can't get enough of it... I'm so glad my shopping is done.  I have one package to mail tomorrow plus cards to mail or give out... omigosh, I almost forgot about the cards - they will be late - new year's cards I guess, but I'm not gonna stress over them... no stress this holiday! 

My poor dog hates the rain... she doesn't want to go out ever... but she just has to have some potty time, yanno?  The cats never go out - they are indoor kitties, but they hear the rain and they get a little weird when the weather turns like this - like they're all stir crazy or something.... or maybe they are simply sensing the urgency in the air over the holidays.

Slowly I am getting done all the things I need to finish - I have a tablerunner to finish the quilting on, but I think it will be a 12th night gift, so it doesn't need to be finished until Jan 5th.  All the presents are wrapped and ready for gifting on the 25th, which is a relief.  Of course they are all wrapped with Chanukah paper cuz that's what we had left on a roll lol... It's all very festive and pretty so who cares.

I got a lot of nice responses from people who saw my quilts on 'The Quilt Show' gallery... that was really a pleasant surprise!

Today I am grateful for indoor plumbing esp. toilets.  I know that sounds kinda weird, but we don't think about it much.  Having indoor plumbing is such a wonderful thing... and not having to trudge out to an outhouse, esp. in bad weather?  I'm not sure I would have survived even a century ago... I'm so arachnophobic... not to mention this rain has put me in mind to stay indoors more than usual.  To have to run out in the middle of the night in the rain to pee... well, I'm just SO grateful for the porcelain throne sitting in the next room... 'nuff said...

Holiday Cheer

Wow... I haven't posted in forever... just been busy I guess... besides, I dont think anyone besides me reads this anyway.  So it doesn't really matter, except that like keeping a journal, it's a matter of personal discipline... not my forte.  But here goes...

Since August I've been going thru a lot of periods of depression.  I'm not sure why I've been on such a rollercoaster of moods - I've been taking my meds.  Was playing a lot of Evony, but I was before August too, so that's not why I haven't posted.  I've been trying to keep myself busy with mah jong, gaming, reading, watching TV (now there's a real mental vacuum if ever there was one), and other time wasters.

I went on one quilt retreat in November and finished one quilt 'Lucy in the Garden' for my friend Janet.  It was a surprise for her birthday, and she loved it.  I need to get a new photo of it however - this one was taken prior to beading and other embellishments.

I made one tablerunner, which I'm in the process of quilting right now.  Don't think it's gonna be done in time for the holidays, so it won't be the present it was intended to be - I will give it as a 12th night gift.

I am working on designing a new quilt (really not designing, more adapting) for my guild's fabric exchange.  Designing something entirely new and different is hard - every time I think I've got something cute and original, I see the same or similar pattern somewhere on the web.  Very frustrating.  This time I am merely adapting, so I know from the outset that it's not original. 

I did manage to get through Chanukah without major upset.  I thought it was very sweet that my son's fiance, who isn't Jewish, followed along with the candle prayers with us.  Since we are a multi-cultural household, we also have a solstice tree for the holidays - and that is finally up and decorated with Star Trek ships for ornaments.  They all light up and make sounds, so it's very festive (and noisy).  The cats are fascinated with all the wires and dangly things.  Lovely. 

On an upnote for me, we are expecting a week or so of rain...  I LOVE rain!  So far we've had a full day of drizzles - tomorrow should bring some real rain coming down.  I am looking forward to it.

Today I am grateful for family and unconditional love.  I suppose even among family, love is conditional, but so far, in our small nuclear family unit, while sometimes we aren't thrilled with each other's actions or decisions, the love remains unconditional... gotta love it!