Life is whirling by and I feel like I’m running about 10 steps behind saying “Wait for me!”  Something has to go.  I cannot keep up.  Things have to change.

The blog is staying.  I think I put enough information on there that anyone who cares what I’m doing can keep up with everything via the blog.  I read all the comments.  I cannot respond to all the comments and email comments.  There are times when I have more time to respond than other times . . I do the best I can but I’m saying right now that I cannot respond to all comments.

Twitter is history. I never figured out the value of it anyway.

Facebook is going to be for real life friends and family.  If you’ve been my friend on Facebook and after a few days find that you’re no longer my friend, please don’t take it personally.  I’m missing out on keeping up with friends from high school and college because there’s just so much to read.  I do not want a fan page on facebook . . the blog covers anything and everything you could possibly want to know (and probably a whole lot you don’t want to know).

As best I can figure, it all comes down to what you want.  I’m very thankful for those who ordered my books but for the most part, I’m not trying to sell myself, or anything else.  I just want to stay in my basement and sew, deal with my chickens, cook for my family and if you find any or all of that interesting, I’m glad to have you as a blog reader.  If nothing I do interests you or if I talk too much about things not quilt related, I am not going to apologize for the content on my blog . . it’s where I write because I enjoy writing.  It’s my daily journal that I share with those who want to read and I’m very thankful for all who do read and enjoy the blog.

Thank you for understanding the changes I’m making.

For at least two years, I’ve known I had to cross the Baton Rouge bridge.  I’ve flip flopped between being brave and knowing I could do it and being a wimp and knowing I couldn’t do it.

Mom was happy to go with me, though I doubt she’d ever do it again!  She had no idea what she was in for but off we went to Baton Rouge.

We had to cross the Atchafalaya Swamp before we got to the Baton Rouge bridge.  The bridge over the Atchafalaya Swamp is 18 miles long.  As we got closer, I felt my courage waning.

I knew if I turned the wheel over to mom,  I’d never make it over the Baton Rouge bridge.

I did it! It wasn’t easy.  It wasn’t comfortable.  Mom kept saying “Are you ok?”

These pictures were taken by mom through my car window.  I’m not sure if she was trying to keep her mind off how nervous I was or if she was trying to entertain me to keep my mind off the bridge.

I did fine!  That’s a long bridge!  I was happy to be off it.  Several times Mom said “You cannot make it across the Baton Rouge bridge.  Just let me drive!”  I kept telling her I could do it!

Finally made it to the end of the Atchafalaya Bridge.  And next was . . the Baton Rouge bridge.

Do you think I did it?  Did I drive across the bridge?

Nope! I did not!   At the very last minute . . I had already passed up the very last exit but managed to make a hard right and get off and we switched drivers.  I could not drive across the Baton Rouge Bridge!

It’s a big darned bridge!

It’s tall and it’s scary!

And . . it won this battle!  But, someday, maybe I’ll try again.  Not any time soon though . . I hope!

I’m home and I’m shouting from the rooftop that there’s no place like home!  The trip home seemed to have taken twice as long.  I know it didn’t but I was so tired . . tired when I started and especially tired now that I’m home.

For those of you who contacted me about dates for workshops and I asked you to contact me when I get home . . now’s the time to ask me again.  I’ll respond in the order in which you originally contacted me, so long as you contact me by the end of this week.  And, there were several other questions/requests that I asked folks to remind me when I got home so please do that now too because I can’t remember anything I was supposed to do when I got home.

Maybe the brain will work better tomorrow but . . maybe not! 

Most will agree that I’m a pretty energetic person and not much of a whiner but I’m telling you . . I do not think I’ve ever been so tired in my entire life!  I’ve slept in so many different beds over the past almost month.  If I’m counting correctly, and I’m probably not, I’ve not slept in my own bed for 26 nights.

This is the sun rising over Baton Rouge, LA.  Getting to bed after midnight, getting up early, not to mention losing an hour, and doing workshops all day . . I’m beat!  This is the point where I say . . why am I doing this?

We left Baton Rouge Sunday evening, drove to Lake Charles where I had planned to spend the night at mom’s and get up and leave for home on Monday morning but I said . . heck, my stuff is mostly in the car.  Yes, I’m dead tired but I can make it three hours to a decent hotel so I threw the rest of my stuff in the car, grabbed a Dr. Pepper and hit the road.  I forgot how dark and lonely the back roads through the piney woods of east Texas are after dark and I was very glad to get to the hotel . . especially after seeing the deer standing on the side of the road looking like they were watching for some vulnerable little old lady to dart out in front of and scare the heck out of her.

Mom said .. don’t make any rash decisions; go home and rest but seriously, this traveling and leaving my husband and dog and chickens behind . . I just don’t think it’s my cup of tea.  Chad isn’t included in that list because he’s so rarely home but I do miss him too.

We’ll see how I feel about all this next week . . as I’m packing for the next trip! 

Sadly, I have nothing on my design wall.  I’m still in a hotel.  You can’t imagine how badly I want to get home and sew.  Please share what’s on your design wall.  I will live vicariously through those of you who have been able to sew.

At dinner time, I thought my chicken strips from Cane’s for lunch would be enough.  As soon as it got too late to go out, I decided I was hungry.

Dinner:

Chex Mix and Cheetos from the hotel vending machine, Gold Brick egg and Dr. Pepper from my traveling stash.  I cannot wait to get home to a real home cooked meal!