If I had a brain I might be dangerous...

Guess what I got? A new camera!! Thrilled with it, but like all new things in technology, it takes a while to figure out. And it takes some of us a while longer than others. I just need to know how all of this works. It works, but how? Where did that file come from and where is it stored? If you can't find a file, does it really exist? What's the point of creating a file if it is hiding somewhere on the harddrive behind some kind of cyber-bully. It is more difficult to be excited about taking new pictures when you have to face the new software that isn't like the comfy pair of jeans the old software felt like. Nothing soft about it. And then it happened. Every last picture on my old software transferred to the new- how? Why? I have no idea. Maybe I should just accept it. As long as it plays nice.

I am getting ready for the big event. Sarah had this idea, along with her DMom, that we should get together for a little mini-retreat sometime near our birthdays. So I am driving down to Nashville and Sarah is driving up to Nashville and we are spending the week with her folks. I am taking Eva and Bekah with me and she is toting up her Maddie and Ian. So they will have a fun week, too. Grandma has volunteered to cook and watch kiddos- yes, she is a saint. Sarah is all about the plan. I tease her about this, but really she is the ideal tour guide. She Googles and Mapquests and finds all the cool places (quiltshops) and such(restaurants) to visit. Then she graphs it all out on a spread sheet on the sequence of events... I jest. But it isn't far off the mark. But she says, "What's the point of going somewhere if you spend your whole day wandering around trying to find what you're looking for?" What's the point, indeed. I intend to do all that kind of stuff, and then fizzle out before I accomplish anything. So, I'll drive down on Monday. Tuesday looks like the shopping day. My cousin Beth might be joining us. Wednesday looks like a sewing day- we are hoping to make a Quilt of Valor, each, and another little quilting project which can't be mentioned here 'cause you never know who might be lurking. Thursday is rounding up with some dyeing- woohoo! I whined lots and lots about her dyeing without me. Now we're going to dye together. That's true friends for ya. And then, I'll be driving back on Friday.

Am I ready? Hmmmm. Well, you see, oh this is gonna be bad, huh? Well, um, yes, I think I am pretty ready. All things considered.

• Last September, Sarah instigated a quilt challenge- the girl with a plan. She gave me 3 yards of fabric(wouldn't you know it's blue?) that needed to be made into a quilt by our birthdays. In June. I gave her 3 yards of orange- seemed only fair. The quilt is done- the binding still needs to be done- the hand part, and sewing on the label.
• I need to bind another small project for her, too. Again, the handwork.
• Then the girls' dresses. I made the three girls each a dress using the redwork embroidery that I did on my sister's sewing machine. I need to sew on the buttons and make the button holes- again, with the handwork.
• Then I need to pack. Laundry. Could that be called handwork? I don't see why not.

All in all, I think I will be ready in a few days... Oh, that's right, I need to be ready in one day. Sarah asked yesterday if I were hyper, too. I said I'm 2 years older that her and way past hyper. Actually I just said that I'm too tired to be hyper. But I'll rest up and be ready to cut a wide swath in Tennessee. So... If I don't talk to you guys before I go, have a great week- I plan on it. Taking lots of pictures with my new camara. (Oh, and Sarah might even show me how to make a favorite reads list and a profile picture- so some of you - and you know who you are- might be happier when I return!)