Playing phone tag

You know how you become eligible for an "upgrade" when you have reached a certain point in your cell phone contract? Well, first let me say that I really liked my Samsung slider phone. A lot. Did what I needed it to do, you know, like make and receive phone calls. But my phone was kinda dinged up and I could get a new one for free. "Free" meaning that I only had to pay activation and tax. So not really free. And speaking of activation: what part does AT&T actually play in activation when I take the sim card out of the old phone and put it in the new phone? They should be paying ME an activation fee. But I digress.

So I got the free (ahem...) phone, the exact same phone but this time in shiny red. Really awesome.

But then I started thinking, hmmm, did I make a mistake by not upgrading to an iPhone while I had the chance? It was now...or wait another two years.

So Saturday I went to AT&T to bite the bullet, spend the big bucks and upgrade to an iPhone. At Store #1, they told me that since I had upgraded online, they could start the paperwork but could not give me the actual phone. I had to go to Store #2, a "corporate" store, to get the phone. So I got in my car and drove to Store #2. Store #2 was out of iPhones (what??) but were getting a shipment that afternoon and would hold one for me.

Went home, ate lunch, tried to call Mark (who was at Lakeview Cottages) and found out my (red) phone did not work at all. Went back to Store #2 and indeed my phone had been blocked by Store #1, they couldn't undo it, and I would have to go back to Store #1 to get it unblocked. Went back to Store #1, they tried to unblock my red phone, couldn't do it themselves, so they actually had to call AT&T (which I found sort of funny, but by then I was really tired of driving back and forth).

Went back to Store #2, turned in my red phone along with the box it came in, and (finally) got my new iPhone. And as I was ready to leave the store, the customer service guy said, "The phone charger isn't in the box. Do you have it at home?" *sigh* Back home, back to Store #2 to return the phone charger.

And then Mark and I spent the rest of the weekend playing with this:

And while of course I don't actually believe horoscopes have anything to do with real life (because how could the same advice possibly apply to everyone born between November 22 and December 21??), it is kind of amusing that my horoscope on Saturday said "check out the pros and cons of an investment. What makes you feel you must spend or do something with your money?" Who cares? We have it, and boy is it cool!!

Notice of Immediate Termination of Tenancy

Over the years, we have opened up our spare bedroom to many guests. We either extended the invition ourselves or they asked and we said, "Sure. Come live with us..." Some college students have even stayed for up to a semester.

So yesterday, I was cleaning up/organizing the glass workshop so we could finally get back to work in there. And I happened to notice evidence that someone had been living there. Completely uninvited. No, not a person. Nope, I think it was something furry. With a tail. Ewwwww. I didn't hear anything scurrying when I walked in. So that's a good sign, right? I have tentatively opened up the door a couple more times. No sounds. As we never gave him permission to be there in the first place, I hope he has moved on, or I will take the necessary steps.

While I'm not usually a fan of blog posts without pictures, sometimes it's just the right thing to do. So I'm not going to gross you out with a picture to go along with this post. Because I'm just thoughtful that way.

Letter to the Work Scheduling gods:

To whom it may concern:

I'm trying really hard to get caught up on medical transcription after being gone a week. I've been a good girl and have remained pretty much chained to my computer, typing practically nonstop about knee replacements, assorted other problems with assorted other joints, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, migraine headaches. Consequently, I think I'm developing my own migraine.

Please, please...schedule in just a little time with my sewing machine and I'll be MUCH less crabby happier.

My family and friends will thank you for it.

Find the common thread

What do this,

this,

and thishave in common?

I'm making a quilt, using my Charm Parade pattern, in Paula Prass's fabulous new line, Summer Soiree, for fabricworm's new real "store," Birch.

Just a common thread tying them all together...

Weekend Snapshots

We spent the weekend at Pismo, on the central coast of California. While it was a bit cooler in Fresno, it was still the perfect weather break for us--gray and a little misty in the morning, burning off to a sunny day. Sweatshirt and shorts weather. Ahh...


Like every other year, we park our car when we get to the hotel, and if we can't get to where we want to go by walking, well, we just don't go.

For Sunday lunch, we split a fabulous burrito. This is only 1/3 of it. Monstrous.
And this was our view as we sat on our deck eating our burrito and chips. Tough life...but somebody's gotta do it.

Yeah, I know. Pretty much the same view, sunnier this time. But really, how could anyone get tired of this view?

And remember how I planned on sewing at Lakeview but the weather was too nice to stay inside? Well, we just set up our tables facing the ocean and opened up the sliding glass door.

I know you are thinking to yourself: "Two sewing machines?" Mark cut, he pressed fabric and he sewed. We both worked on Matt and Samantha's wedding quilt. Here are parts of it...can't give away too many details, in case they happen to read this post, so there is another project on the table just to keep them guessing.
In the category of "what the heck is this guy doing?" We see him nearly every time we are here. He "crab walks" the beach, back and forth, only on Sundays. Why? I wish I could tell ya.
As a bonus, on Monday I got to meet Cynthia Mann of fabricworm, an etsy shop where I have spent many a dollar. So fun to meet her in person, and what better way (for me, at least...) to end the weekend than with a bag of gorgeous new fabric?