Loss

I haven't written for a while as the family has been dealing with the loss of our beloved nephew. Only 45, Jeff had fought cancer for the past year and a half but left us on March 25th. He was a wonderful man with a lovely family that stood by him, cared for him in all ways, and will miss him always. The hundreds of people who came to the funeral home and attended the funeral mass can only testify to the loss all feel. It's not my place to memorialize Jeff; his wife, his children, his parents, his brother and sisters, his sisters-in-law and their families, his huge extended family of friends will do it far better than I. But I wanted to take note of his passing and to let any readers know that a man of great worth is gone.

To Do or Not To Do?

I started one day last week with a to do list -- a simple list of quilts to be finished on the longarm, some baby quilts to be pieced for the Guild Kids' Quilts project, and a few computer items that would take only a few minutes to finish. Six hours later, I turned off my laptop and went home. I had contracted the "Antivirus360" virus on my computer which is a nuisance virus that continually tries to convince you that your computer is about to crash and that all of your personal information is being broadcast onto the net. If one ignores the first popup and simply closes it, it goes away. But gullible me, I clicked on it to see what was wrong with my laptop and the virus went everywhere.


I contacted my protection provider after trying for two hours unsuccessfully to get rid of it myself. After chatting with "Aslam" for about fifteen minutes, I admitted defeat and agreed to pay to have him de-virus my laptop and turned it over to him via remote control. Fascinated, I watched my computer screen, as Aslam cleared the virus -- often going into areas of my computer that I would never attempt to enter because I would just make it worse. It took Aslam, the real expert, approximately a half hour to fix my laptop and then he gave me some advice on how to avoid this type of problem. He helped me print it and it's sort of like "protection for dummies." Basically, the biggest thing is "Don't click on any pop-up." That made sense to me as I have a program that supposedly stops all pop-ups so any that make it through must be malware (Aslam's word).

Needless to say, my to do list is still not finished, but my computer is running top-notch!

Got Socks?

I never thought of socks as an edible item but evidently, Lily, the wonder puppy, definitely does; and in spite of great care on the part of her owners, she ate a pair. They were tan with little flowers on them. One sock was immediately thrown up but the other one became lodged in her intestine. After a trip to the vet, it was decided she had to have surgery to remove it. All pet owners are distraught over any situation like this, and my daughter was definitely upset. However, my son-in-law is one of the most tender hearted animal lovers that I know.

A case in point, I was driving in extremely bad weather with Lisa and Jeremy in the back of the van when a deer leaped in front of the car. I kept my car steady and didn't hit the brakes but slowed as much as I could by taking my foot off the accelerator, and we hit the deer. Shaken, Jeremy was sure we should stop in the middle of the ice and snow to check on it. I had to share with Jeremy that if I didn't kill the deer when I hit it with my car, it certainly expired when it cartwheeled away, flew over the bridge abutment, and landed in the Licking River. Now I think deer are gorgeous when they are frolicking in the fields or standing still as stone in the morning frost, but I am a country girl and this isn't the first deer my vehicle has taken out.

Anyway, Lily, a gorgeous 6 month old chocolate lab, is totally different. We all were upset and worried about her. She is fine after surgery and comes home today from the vet's. She is officially their most expensive pet now (the vet was nice enough to neuter her at the same time). She will wear a cone around her neck for a while to keep her from licking the incision; and I am sure Lisa and Jeremy will use even more vigilance in keeping socks away from her.

Main Street

I have been sending out letters to shops in a three state area trying to entice them to be vendors or to advertise at the Heart of Ohio Quilters Show which is in October. I have noticed a phenomenon in their addresses. Of the approximately 75 I have entered into my file, 18 of them are on Main Street. Admittedly not the same street, but what does it mean?

Quilt shops tend to be in the heart of the town -- the original town - whether it's New Eagle, PA, or Columbus, OH. If they're not on Main Street, then the most common names are High (4) and Market (3) and any President's name (3). Admittedly, a few are way out there on State Route 2 or OhioPike #J, but if I were to drive to those places, most of them would be centered in a small town without its own post office.

I like that. There are great shops that are in bright shiny strip malls. But the character of the shop in an old building is more appealing to me. Maybe it's because my first shop was in an old Victorian house where I shared space with a quilt shop. My second site I was on my own in what was the original post office on Main Street in Hebron where I could still see where the post office boxes had been situated. My third location was a redone garage attached to a small building that had been one of the original restaurants on High Street in Hebron. Each had its flaws -- a really old behometh of a furnace that did little to heat my area of the shop in the first; really, really bad plumbing in the apartments over my head and no soundproofing when the tenants above decided to argue or get romantic in the second; and the sharing of a jack and jill bathroom with the landlord's second hand store in the third.

But my current location is great, if not historic. I am in a small shop area attached to the U-Store-It units, on North Street and still in Hebron. It is by far the cleanest and best of all the places I have been so I overlook it's lack of character in favor of flawlessly working plumbing, easily swept carpeting, and all the amenities of modern living.

Blah!

At the shop, I have one small window which gives me a view of North Street and at least a feeling of connection with the outdoors. But it's February and it's raining and it's grey.

Although the many days of ice and snow were difficult, I would prefer to look out at the white gleam of winter days than the slushy grey of almost spring. I know it will pass, but "BLAH!" This is the time of year I have the most trouble motivating myself; I just find myself getting easily distracted, going from project to project without completing anything.

I will now give myself an official pep talk. I know sunnier days are ahead!

Farewell Aloha

It's 8:15 am Sunday, the last day of the retreat, and things are winding down. Friday morning, there were many quilters stationed at their machines by 7:30, Saturday as well, but on Sunday even quilters are sleeping in and only a few are at their machines this early.

It has been a great time, with highlights being free 5 minute chair massages, great coffee in the Food Room, great food in the Food Room, lots of belly-busting laughter, and projects pealing off those machines. (Gotta go -be back later)

OK, I am back and it's Tuesday. I got side tracked by many things and never really got to blog while I was gone. And now after two good nights sleep, phone calls to my daughters, a visit with my grandchildren, things are getting back to normal. I have been thinking about some statistics related to the retreat.

Things I could count:

90 miles round trip for most vehicles from Licking County to Coshocton
32 rooms reserved at the Coshocton Village Inn and Suites for the Aloha Retreat
73 quilters registered to attend
4 quilters unfortunately unable to attend at the last minute
5 dollar minimum donation to the local food bank
19 boxes of food donated to a local food bank
25% Discount received at Vac Shack for each quilter who donated to the food bank
60 quilters who had chair massages
48 door prizes handed out over the three days
30 items from list found by the winner of the scavenger hunt
1 special prize for winner of the scavenger hunt
12 adorable palm tree trophies handed out for special accomplishments
2 visitors who traveled to the retreat from out of state
69 Aloha stars made and returned to the committee to later be made into service quilts
1 special prize for winner of drawing from those who made Aloha stars
1095 items in 146 goody bags handed out Friday and Saturday mornings
3 vehicles to transport all the goodies and prizes and decorations to Coshocton
15 crock pots put to good use in the Food Room
240 cups of Starbucks or Caribou coffee drunk by members
3 hours early that everyone was able to get into their rooms due to the great staff at the Coshocton Village Inn and Suites

Things I couldn't count:

hugs and laughs
thank you's to the committee
projects started, projects thought about, projects finished
excellent food and requests for recipes
smiles from quilters at seeing the staff wearing leis and hawaiian shirts for our benefit
shared expertise and good advice passed from quilter to quilter
ooh's and ah's during show and tell on Sunday
hours the committee spent on the retreat
hours of fun the committee had planning the retreat
squeals of excitement and joy upon winning something, anything
yards of fabric and patterns purchased everywhere from the Vac Shack in Coshocton, Miller's Fabric Store in Charm, to a new shop in New Philadelphia.

I am exhausted just listing it all. And we are already planning for next year!

Can you hear the hula music?

"Aloha! Welcome to the Isles of Coshocton" begins tomorrow! I leave in the morning for the Heart of Ohio Quilter's Retreat in Coshocton, Ohio. Hurrah!

I have always gone on Thursday and shopped my way there. This year I also have to load the van with all the goodies that we will be giving the quilters as favors and door prizes; and then Denise, RoseMary, and I have to set up everything in the sewing room and the food room on Thursday evening for the arrival of everyone else on Friday morning. We are excited but a bit apprehensive as it is our responsibility for the success of the retreat. I think it will be fine as we have worked really hard, but we have a bit of worry-wart in us.


Of course, we will still do a bit of shopping! We are putting Miller's in Charm off until Friday as they are having a big sale that day. But I am sure we'll find a great place for lunch and some shopping on the way on Thursday.

I am taking my laptop with me and will try to post during the retreat, but if it is too busy or I am too exhausted, my next post may be after the retreat, and I will share how it went then!

ALOHA!