Sorry to disappear for a few days - it is a busy week here.  I was out of town for two days and we have house guests on their way tomorrow so I have had little computer time.  I've been battling a cold and haven't felt my best, either.  But things are on an upswing:  my wrist is doing great and my calf is much better.  Speaking of which, I am completely overwhelmed by the support you all give me.  I really appreciate your thoughts about my running and am trying to get back to everyone who commented on my last post.  Did you see the letter Susan wrote to me?  I feel blessed to have such a wonderful friend.  It works both ways - I would have never gotten as far as I did without her support either.  And I am so proud of her for going back and giving it another go.  Wow.  You bloggy people are the best - you know how to make a girl feel good!  Thanks.

Another thing that makes this girl feel good:  my projects in print!

Tuesday after school, the girls and I drove across town to Barnes and Noble in search of these books.  I let out a little "Eeee!" when I saw them on the shelves.  A Is for Apron has three of my projects in it and Pretty Little Patchwork has two more.  You will probably recognize some of my projects.  The others haven't been on the blog, but were just as much fun to make.  I am thrilled to be a part of these books - they are really wonderful.  And I am in great company - you will probably recognize some of the other contributors, too.

OK, then.  I'm done tooting my own horn.  Hope you have a great weekend!

...sometimes just don't work out.

I decided on this weekend that I will not be running the half marathon on Saturday.

I really haven't talked much about my running on the blog because it's a craft blog, you know.  But I need to write this so I get some closure for myself.  Feel free to move on if you want.  My feelings will not be hurt.

I wouldn't call myself a runner.  I'm not hard core.  Really.  Prior to February, I had never more than four miles.  And I only ran for exercise, three times a week at most.  I had thought about running a half marathon when Kate was an infant, but I couldn't string together 8 hours of sleep let alone time to train for a long distance run.  With Kate in kindergarten this past fall, I found myself running 3 miles at a time and still having time to get the grocery shopping, errands, laundry, etc., into the course of the girls' school day.  I finally had the time.  I also had the inspiration.

So I found a good training schedule, consulted the calendar, plotted my courses and I ran.  I ran in the sun and more often in the rain.  I ran in layers to combat the winter cold and in a tank top and shorts in 80 degree Florida heat.  I ran outside if I could and on the treadmill the three times the snow wouldn't let me (torture, really, I can't stand the treadmill).  I bought new shoes, orthopedic inserts and more running clothes than I wanted to.  And I cross-trained too.

I ran three races:  a 5k, a 10k and a 10 mile.  These are the only races I have ever run and they went well.  But before the 10 mile race, my left calf was tight - it took 3.5 miles for it to loosen up, but then felt fine.  The race was good - I finished 50 seconds over my goal.  My leg hurt for a couple of days, but then felt good.  I kept training, but the calf issue resurfaced after every longer run.   Lots of stretches, lots of ice and lots of ibuprofen later, it is still an issue.  I have gone out four times to run in the last week.  Three of those times I had to turn around and walk home after less than a half mile.  I think my body is trying to tell me something.

I am sad that I am not running on Saturday.  I have worked really hard for more than three months just to run this race and giving it up is a huge disappointment.  I have cried over it.  Many times.  I am trying hard to look on the bright side of things.  I can give my spot to a friend who didn't register before the race closed.  I ran in the rain and the cold and I liked it.  Of course, it was better in the sun and the warmth.  I ran three races and they were great.  I stuck to a schedule and increased my distance.  I never had my normal mid-winter funk and I give all the credit for that to exercise.  And although I only lost 3 pounds, my jeans fit better.  My muffin top is smaller.  That has got to count for something, right?

I have the best people in my life.  Thank you Fatty for encouraging and supporting me.  Thank you Flickr friends for cheering me on.  Thank you Susan for training virtually with me.  Thank you Marcia for being  my ride.  Thank you Suzanne for watching my girls and being at the finish line.  Thank you to my family for checking on me and wishing me luck.  Thank you to my friends for listening to me go on and on about it.  I know I bored you to tears and you still listened.  I am blessed to have you all.

I'm not over the disappointment.  I'm pretty sure there are more tears.  But I know I made the right decision.  Tendinitis in my wrist is all the injury I can deal with right now.  There are more half marathons out there - I might even try to run one in the fall.  Or maybe I will wait until next year.  Right now I would be happy with a nice, pain-free five mile run.  That in itself is a positive thing.  I would have never thought I would look forward, let alone WANT, to run five miles.

I guess I am a runner after all.

I'm sitting here thinking I should probably be packing our suitcases, but I don't want to.  We have had such a lovely time....it has been restful and relaxing and to top it off, the girls have been so agreeable.  And pretty nice to each other.  Kind of like a dream.  Additionally, I am not sure how I am going to fit everything in the bags.  You see, I picked up some new flip flops, a couple of skirts and fabric.  Too much fabric - well, kind of.  Can you have too much fabric?  Don't say yes.

While on vacation, I've been snooping around the net, reading your blogs, commenting a tad bit, not really too much, and dreading re-entry into normal life.  School is back in session on Monday and my big race is coming up in about two weeks.  I have a little injury so I am resting, trusting that it will be OK in time.  I have been working on checking number 2 off of my personal goal list since January.  And I will be really sad, probably devastated, if I cannot run.  I have an overnight trip to Chicago smashed in there and a family event the day after the race, too.

So I am predicting more quiet for a couple of weeks - here and elsewhere.  I'm not proclaiming a total break, but maybe a little siesta.  Back soon friends.

My week has not gone so well and I have spent the past two days whining about it.  No more.  Today I got my sorry ass moving and accomplished something.

I had finished this quilt top over the weekend.  Today I pieced the back, basted and then quilted it.

If all goes as planned, I will get to the binding tonight.

It feels good to be excited about something.  Now if I can just keep up this momentum.....

Wow - thanks for all the quilt love!  I am super excited about how it came out.  Now I just need to work up the courage to actually quilt it!  All in good time, I am sure.

One of the things that was so satisfying about making that quilt top was being inspired to just do it.  I think I am most creative when my brain is working over-time, analyzing color and pattern, thinking about scale, wondering what I can make out of a particular material.  Sarah's gocco swap is a perfect example of that.  I had to think outside of my comfort zone to come up with something mid-winter.  But you know what?  I love how it all came together.  Finding the inspiration to go with the theme, pondering the possibilities, planning, mixing ink and printing those note cards was actually fun.  I was inspired and in the end, I think it showed.

So to keep myself creating outside of my comfort zone, I asked Tracy if she would give me a word or phrase or image to use as a jump start for a new gocco project.  She readily agreed and asked me to do the same.  We gave ourselves a month to complete this project.  The month is almost up.

This is what she gave me:  tea.

I am not doing a gocco print because pushing down to print hurts my wrist (which is slowly getting better).   Instead I am working with fabric.  I am excited about this collaboration and about what I am making.  Thinking it through has been fun - I have come up with all sorts of scenarios, but finally settled on one.  I am inspired again.

In the end, I just hope it shows.

And I am dying to see what Tracy has done with the word I gave her: piece.

Sometimes I feel like a leprechaun.

I think it has something to do with being a redhead.

I went to the doctor yesterday.  The mysterious comes again, goes again wrist pain finally made me do it.  I had really put off the visit - I was so so so afraid of what I would hear.  This is my right hand - the one I use to write, cook, knit, sew, and, yes, mouse click.  Just thinking of what could be causing all this pain when I don't remember injuring my wrist has had me trembling in my boots.  There was one diagnosis I did not want to hear.  I think you know which one I mean.  I am not going to even type it.  That is how scared of it I am.

It turns out I have tendinitis.  Hopefully with some anti-inflammatories and physical therapy, I will be right as rain in a short time.  I am so thankful that this isn't some big deal.  Really, truly thankful.  But, truthfully, I could kick myself for waiting so long to get there.  If I had gone two weeks ago, maybe my tangled yoke cardigan would be further along than it is.

Don't let Scout fool you.  She may be looking out the window, but she is way more interested in that ball of yarn.  Typical cat.  Anyhow, if pain hadn't forced me to put down the needles, I wouldn't have made so much of this:

So I guess I still come out a winner.  7 down, 2 to go.  Directions on making an X coming soon.

Back to my blog break.

Thanks for all the handmade Christmas love.  I really appreciated all your thoughtful comments.  We will be repeating it again come December and I have something up my sleeve to get most of my family involved, too.  And just to be clear, the handmade Christmas was only part of our gift giving.  I wish I could make more, but 2006 nearly did me in.  So from now on, a good mix of bought and made.  It works for me.

We are eleven days into 2008 already.  Eek!  It's going fast.  Before I lose the courage, I am going to throw out my goals for the year.  Here goes nothing....

Personal Goals:
1. Get back to my pre-Kate weight.
2. Run a half marathon
3. Cut out the crap food.
4. Write more.
5. Say yes to my kids more.
6. Practice patience.
7. Have a positive attitude.
8. Don't over-commit.

House Goals:
1. Make bed skirt and pillow shams for master bedroom.
2. Finish master bedroom duvet.
3. Finish guest room curtains and pillow shams.
4. Clean out all of the closets.
5. De-clutter.
6. Work on sunroom.
7. Paint hallways.
8. Carve out office space for myself.
9. Hang Kate's window treatments.
10. Make a shower curtain.
11. Order and install new blinds for the girls.
12. Hang kids' art and family photos.

Craft goals:
1. Make a quilt.
2. Finish the granny square afghan.
3. Knit the tangled yoke cardigan.
4. Sew some clothes for myself.
5. Finish swap projects on time.
6. Finish embroidery and get it framed.
7. Take a photo a day & learn how to really use my fancy pants camera.

I think these are all reachable.  I have a tendency to be unrealistic at times so I have edited this down in a big way.  Many of these projects are already started so I just need to finish them up.

By the way, these photos have nothing to do with this post.  I just like them and I really don't like posting without photos.  Just thought you should know.

Now, what was I saying?  Oh yeah, resolutions and stuff.  I did clean up the blog a bit - kind of a spruce up for the new year.  There's a new banner and new info on the about page.  You can find answers to lots of your questions over there.  Really.  Go look.  While you're at it, look down a bit and see my new link list.  I was really torn about how to handle the 100+ blogs I enjoy.  There is no way I can link to all of them and actually keep up with the list.  So I listed a few for now.  In a month or six weeks, I will change the list.  If your blog is not on the list now, don't fret.  Your time will come.  I'm spreading the love and not overwhelming myself at the same time.  I also added a little blurb about comments.  I love your comments.  I really really do.  Thank you for taking the time to make them.  I appreciate it so much.  Here comes the bad news...I am finding that I have less and less time to answer them, though.   My inbox runneth over so to speak.  So if you have a specific question, just email me.  I will do my best to answer it.  And please don't be mad at me, okay?  I really couldn't handle that.

Allright-y then...back to our regularly scheduled crafting next week.  I have some knits to share, a new sewing machine to unbox (!) and, if all goes well, a free pattern for you knitters.  Have a great weekend.

Oh yeah - I am looking for a good slow cooker cook book with kid friendly meals (we eat meat, but do vegetarian fare, too).  If you have a suggestion, email me - hillroad at bellsouth dot net.  Gracias!