Saturday, November 17, 2007

So I finally got myself a Blog!

Well Howdy folks!
Welcome to my daily ramblings...

After returning from a quilting retreat in NH, I figured it's time I "get with the program" and start a blog. Seems all of my friends have them... and I know that's not normally a reason to do something but they promised me I won't get hurt!

I was politely reminded that I have the gift of gab! It's true - I'm a talker!!! Albeit this will be a one-sided conversation... I guess if I get comments then it will be two-sided... but surely I can find SOMETHING to write about, maybe not daily but often enough. (I know- don't call you Shirley)

Are ya curious about my blogs name? Well that was easy...
I am from Texas and I call everyone Darlin'. My friends refer to me as Darlin'- it's my unofficial name.
I wear it proudly!
When I go anywhere, I always greet people with "Hello Darlin" and their immediate response is to smile! Now, that may be the only time they smiled ALL day, hopefully not- but if so, that simple greeting created that wonderful expression on their face and in their soul. I can lay my head down on my pillow at night and know that I was a success coz I made so many people smile.
It does wonders to your spirit and your overall well being. It is something I think we ALL need to share more often- kindness and a smile!

I lead a simple life... I am the wife of the luckiest man- coz he has me! He is my best friend! He is a fireman and will be retiring in less than 5 yrs. Then we are out of New Jersey and hopefully moving somewhere near OK or TX. To a place where life is not so congested, so hectic or dangerous...
Somewhere we can have some land, some space, and peace and quiet.. He loves to fly fish and hunt so in the country is our goal.

My parents, a brother and a sister still live in Texas. I have a sister in Hawaii, a brother in VA and a sister in-transit from Mass to PA.

I want to be nearer my 2 kids. They are grown and have successful lives, you guessed it, in OK and TX.
My son is in OK. He is married to a beautiful woman who is the love of his life! She is a teacher and he is in the aviation maintenance industry.
They are expecting a new baby in Jan 2008. The greatest pain in our lives was when their first son Seth died at 18 days old, nearly 2 yrs ago. They have walked a long painful road of recovery from this tragedy and are so excited about this new baby. Which they just found out is a boy! So far everything is going well with this pregnancy and we will have a new baby in Jan 08!! We are ALL so excited- but none more than they! They have a chocolate lab named Kylee that is almost 3 yrs old. She is such a smart and loving dog and has been therapy to them, with unconditional love.

My daughter is the 1st Assistant softball coach at a Jr college in TX. She had an outstanding softball career herself and loved the sport so much she decided she would make a great coach. She is working her way up the resume ladder to her goal of a Head Coach position. You know- start at the bottom coaching slot making NO money and doing all the crappy jobs and each year getting the next job up and a few more dollars and less crap. She loves her job and that makes a difference when you wake up each morning and have to face your day- it's easier when you love what you do! She has a Great Dane named Bruin who is my other Grand-dog... He is wonderful! So gentle and sweet!

I was lucky enough to find my ideal job- I was a courier. I drove 500 miles a day in the Philly, NY,PA,DE area transporting paperwork from banks and companies. I LOVED MY JOB! Then a car wreck in 2002 ended my days as a courier and changed me forever. I suffered SEVERE headaches for nearly 5 years and the only relief I found was acupuncture! Slowly I am finding my old self again.

In the fall of 2003 I took up quilting and have been hooked ever since. I have a new group of great friends (remember they are the ones that wanted me to start this blog) who inspire me by their beautiful quilting talents. All of my sisters quilt, so I guess it runs in the family. I love to make scrappy quilts and my friends help me out with their scraps.
I make scrappy quilts called "love covers" for the premature babies up in the NICU. They need them to cover the isoletes so the babies are in the dark and will continue to grow and mature. They take them home with them when they are big enough to leave- or the family keeps them if they don't "go home" I make these in honor of Seth. I have 24 quilts I am trying to finish to take up to the hospital before Thanksgiving.
I also make comfort quilts for folks who have lost a loved one. Something to wrap up in and feel safe and secure and loved... that's a quilt!

It soothes my soul to sew. I have a quilting machine, a Voyager 17 named LuLu. It's a mid-arm because it's only 17 inches... but it's long enough for my purposes... I've just started doing quilting for others and I enjoy that also.
I have a sister who rescues and refurbishes vintage sewing machines and I have the pleasure of owning a few myself and I love to sew on my treadles. (for those of you who don't know- a treadle is a human powered sewing machine) All of my machines have names,
Ruby the 1920 Singer Red Eye treadle
Phil the 1932 Singer treadle,
Ol' Blue Eyes a 1950ish White treadle that is metallic sky blue,
Homer a 1951 Singer 301 (electric)
Millie a 2006 Janome that is my only zig-zag machine
and my trophy machine I won't sew with is
Cleo a 1918 Singer Sphinx treadle- it is identical to my Grandmothers machine.

And the best things that keep me busiest on a daily basis are my babies... Duke & Tasha! Both are Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Duke is nearly a 1yr old tri color and Tasha is a 5 month old Black & Tan. Our last dog died 3 yrs ago at the age of 16 and it was a lonely and quiet house... not much to laugh about. Since May when we got Duke I constantly laugh... especially since we got Tasha and they play together. They are goofy! They have brought my husband so much joy also- he looks forward to coming home and playing with his babies!

Well that's me in a nutshell.... I can ramble on & on but it's late. I hope you will check back from time to time!
Till then, remember: Smile Darlin' !
Angels on your body!


3 comments:

Teri said...

two things
1)you have great friends to encourage you to blog and
2) consider yourself tagged twice go back to my blog and check out the "Four" (four things) and 10/20/30 posts. They are now in "older posts", easy to find.

Can't wait to see your answers.
Now if we can just get neen.

Happy Quilting!
Teri

Dawn-Marie said...

Good to see you in blogland. Keep up the posting.

Dawn-Marie

Anonymous said...

Hello there

I saw the you said you have Voyager 17 and was wondering if you could tell be the pros and cons about it. Would you buy it again? Is it louder than other machines? Any thought you have on it would really help me. Thanks so much.