Today my day is not starting with sunshine; it's a bit blue. My trip is coming and while very excited, I am not ready. 'Ready' is a relative term and in my case might be better if changed to 'ready enough.' I am tired, and I am worried. Have I covered everything? What might happen while I'm gone that I can 'pre-fix?' Stress can be a good motivator sometimes, and while I am much more organized than usual, it is making me too anxious. Since ironing, which still needs to be done, is probably not going to help, maybe a short walk with my dog is the best solution.

"Happiness can be as easy as opening your eyes and heart." This is what I have had engraved on a few things to remind me to look around and notice: nature, people, art, color, feelings, smells, (everything) and then see them again in my heart, with a new viewpoint. Sometimes it works.

Maybe I should take the camera on that short walk.

Oh my! Just a few days until my trip to Japan!! We were told to make or buy something small pertinent to us to give as special thank you gifts, so I made 5 little 4"x5" pouches from this St. Louis fabric to give away. They turned out really nice! The other pouch is cute with a small pocket on the outside and I like it a lot, but it has nothing special to do with my area. So that was fun to do & easy!

This trip will be very interesting and I will learn so much, but these next few days are going to be hectic getting things in order at the house. I am packed - lightly so there's room to bring back the fun things I know I will buy! - so that's not a problem. I've arranged for my dog to go play at a friend's house so my husband won't have to worry if an out-of-town business meeting comes up. Laundry will be done and house reasonably clean because I know he's not going to do much of either of those things. Two meetings are lined up to take care of business and one volunteer session I wish I could get out of, but no matter. The tasting for the reception is the day before I leave which will help get decisions made early, and that's good. What am I forgetting?!?

I want to take a few minutes to learn some basic Japanese phrases, so I hope somewhere on the internet there will be a uTube lesson! Plus I have my book to read for the long plane ride and some handwork to do. The main thing is to finish the baby quilt I want to send to Mike and Karly as an early surprise - and it has a way to go. So I need to stop writing here and go sew!

Happy April Fool's Day!!

It is such a beautiful day but beware, the weatherman says we are on our way to setting a record of heat - possibly getting as high as 90 degrees today!

So I thought I'd better take a few pictures before more of the Spring flowers are wilted by the heat. These azaleas are full of blossoms this morning. Little stars of color!

And right next to them is the dogwood tree with its delicate blossoms. I wish Spring coolness would stay longer so the flowers would last!

I am packing and getting ready for my trip to Japan, which is so exciting and really something I'd never, ever thought would be happening. But more on that later. The only thing about leaving in a few days is that I'm going to miss most of my garden's flowers! Oh well, really I should not complain and I will take photos of the beautiful cherry blossoms that will be in full bloom while I am visiting Japan!

So last Friday March 30 I went with my daughter Amanda and her fiancé Ryan to a 'tasting' for the rehearsal dinner. Oh my, such good food! We did have fun, but are trying to make things more casual - like an at home Italian dinner not a plated fancy dinner (which is more for the reception anyway.) We will start with beer, wine and sodas on the patio with a bruschetta bar until everyone arrives and gets to say their hellos.

Then we go inside for dinner with served salads, but the rest of the food we will pass around. We will have platters of spaghetti with marinara sauce, and people can add meatballs or eggplant parmesan as they choose. There will be fresh bread too, of course. Dessert is planned to be out on the patio again with a gelato cart and cannelloni. Plus more time to sit, talk, have wine or coffee and chill for a bit.

How does that sound to you? I'm hoping it is fun & relaxing!

So today is a wonderfully beautiful day outside - Thank You Mother Nature!! And I do plan to enjoy it later with my dog, but for now you see this huge pile of folders and miscellaneous? Well, there's more on the floor in a few boxes and some in the garage too, and it needs to be organized so I can store it for the next Quilt Show come March 2014.

My main goal here is to make sure there is a Red Folder for each committee that has their responsibilities, timeline and history of what was done before for the job, and with this year's suggestions and evaluations. I just didn't understand all the jobs when I said I would be chair and that made me uncomfortable since I couldn't answer even some basic questions. Last show's chair was amazing in her help and support, but hopefully next show's chair will have extra notes - plus the same great support! Plus I do like organizing things... maybe not just closets and household things.

I am almost packed and ready for my trip to Japan, and yes my clothes are probably getting more wrinkled than if I waited, but it makes me feel so much more comfortable to see the suitcase ready to go - almost. One suitcase that can not be too full because I do want to bring things home with me of course, and a carry-on big enough to have a few days' necessities since on the tour we will be without our main bags for a bit. Plus, more room to buy things, so definitely pack light!

I've been practicing and playing with the settings on my camera so I can take better pictures while there. Plus I watched a great video by Jane LaFazio about art journaling, which I'd love to do on the trip! She teaches many techniques for watercolor in the journal, but even though I'd love to do that, I think just drawing (or trying in my case) and writing will have to be enough.

Today brought a chance to spend time with a great bunch of women as we volunteered for the Assistance League by working in the resale shop, named 'Fantastic Finds,' sorting through donations, pricing items and arranging them so they hopefully sell quickly. All the money raised goes to serve the needs of children and adults in the St. Louis community.

So that was a well spent morning!

Then it was errands, a hair cut, and laundry - not the most glamorous day at all. But as a break I got to play outside in the beautiful weather with my dog and my neighbor's dogs that I'm caring for while she is off to Chicago to see her grand baby. Spending time with dogs outside on a nice day could work as a prescription for a well balanced self I think.

And now I want to play in the sewing room for a bit and make some small things to give as gifts on my trip to Japan. It is coming up so quickly and I have so much to do. Today was a good day!

What a fun day with great friends of more than 30 years! We got together to celebrate 2 birthdays and just spend the day. Here we are in Kimswick, MO where we had a great lunch and did some shop browsing.

After this we went home and played MahJongg (which we've been able to do for all those 30 years) before getting ready to go out to eat! What a fun day! We are aging pretty good, hey!