Five Days? Or Five Weeks?

It's been "just" five days since I last blogged, but it feels like it's been five weeks!  Maybe because that's how long it's been since I have quilted. :-o

A lot has happened in those five days ... nothing terribly exciting, but they've been good days for me ... and since I know you all are on the edges of your seats, waiting to find out what I've been up to, I'll cut the suspense and share. Thank you. 

Winter is still alive and well here in southwestern Illinois. 

Thursday I ended up staying at DD's after she got home ... she and the Ts threw a surprise (early) birthday party for me.  They ordered pizza delivered from my favorite pizza place and gave me my gift.

I have to admit that I teared up when I saw it (and yes, photos of my Ts are coming after their spring photo session). 

Friday morning, we packed up to head to Hannibal for another 3-day swim meet.  DH and I left early so I could visit the quilt shop (yes, my hubby is definitely a keeper!). I didn't see many fabrics I was interested in (they carry mostly batiks, 30s reproductions, and flannels), but the fabrics I loved just happened to be in the half price section!  Happy birthday to me!  

On our way to the Y for Friday night's events, I saw that even the local gas station wanted to wish me a happy birthday, too!  

I had every intention of staying caught up with blog reading and maybe even posting during the down times between events at the meet, but thanks to my cell phone provider's decision not to place any towers in northeastern Missouri, I had to suffer through slooooooooooooow internet speeds and phone calls going directly to voice mail.  Argh! Not only did DD and DSIL have excellent coverage, they get 4G (I have the same model iPhone as DD and I can only get 3G ... but only in my coverage area).  Don't ask me what that means ... all I know is I want that extra G!  ;-)  Needless to say, we will be changing providers as soon as our contract is up.

And while I was out of town, I got an email from the Managing Director of Gutermann Thread ... it was called to his attention that I had voiced my frustration with how twisty and tangly the Gutermann hand quilting thread that I'm using on my Storm at Sea.  They want to test this thread to see if they can determine where the problem might have occurred so they can correct it.  They've asked me to send the offending spool to them and they'll return a replacement spool to me in exchange.  Wow!  I'm VERY impressed ... they are certainly showing that they're serious about providing a quality product. 

There were 650 swimmers at this meet, so that meant some long, long days ... add in an early get-up this morning and then driving out to my dad's this afternoon to help him with an insurance program appointment ... and I am exxxxxxhausted!  I'm going to crash as soon as I wrap this up ... watch a little Olympics, get to bed early ... and get back to my normal routine tomorrow, including (but not limited to) plenty of time with needle and thread.

Have a marvelous Monday!