Lex's farm

(Why yes, I do have children other than Lexi - but she's five. 

And five is just full of stuff to remember...)

So.
Lex has started playing mine-craft. (sigh)

The other day, she was telling me all about her farm:

"I have sheep for wool,

cows for milk,

and pigs for 

*a brief pause* 

What are pigs good for?" 

"Sausage. Bacon. Pork chops. Ham." I answer.

"But what do they give you while they are still alive?" she asks.

"Umm. Nothing. 

Baby pigs?" I say.

And without missing a beat, she continued,

"I have pigs for looking at..."

(In other Lexi news, she accidentally deleted my entire texting history with Tyler.

Which means, she essentially burned 3 years of love notes.

Which makes me cry.

I don't suppose the action can be reversed??? )

coming along

I may have whipped out an outfit really quickly, 

but the quilt is coming along much more slowly.

I have all of the machine quilting done, except for the very center of the stars,

and I haven't yet decided what I'm going to do there.

We didn't watch much of the Olympics this year,

so I haven't gotten as much hand-quilting done by now as I had expected to.

(I'm maybe 1/5 done?  hard to say...)

I told Tyler the other day though, that I was actually at a point that I could bind it,

and he could start using it while I finish.

(I'll just have to make sure and stick the needle in my pin cushion every night ;-)

I'm not sure he's going to go for that - he prob'ly thinks I'd never get it finished...

I've already got over a hundred hours in this thing ~ this is one long work in progress ;-)

Linking  up with Lee

signature style

My Friday / Saturday sewing? I know ya'll we're just dying to see it ;-)
Here it is:

I don't really consider that I have much of 'a style', but if I do,

this is it.

Fitted  knit top, mostly plain, but with a little something special,

and a comfy skirt,

plus

cute, but comfortable, footwear.

I guess you could say, comfort is my style ;-)

The top,

made up in a dreamy fabric (either this or this - I think the bamboo) purchased on sale from Michael Levine, 

is made from the bodice of my tweaked and re-tweaked Lady Skater dress pattern,

(that I still haven't managed to get to fit just right in the shoulder/underarm area - or blog about...)

lengthened, and then widened at the hips,

with a sweet little bustle added.

(a fabulous idea I got from the extremely talented Anna) 

The sleeve length was determined entirely

 by the fact that I only had 1 yard of fabric,

but I quite like it.

Long enough for warmth, but not so long that they get in the way when I wash dishes.

The skirt,

is a fun knit print - also purchased from Michael Levine,

made from my Alabama Chanin pattern, but sewn entirely by machine.

I underlined it, because the fabric was super thin.

To keep my fabrics together, I used my trusty basting spray

which worked fabulously!

(but was a little trickier than basting a quilt, since both fabrics were slickery)

I did 3 rows of stitching on the neckline and hems, for added interest.

I love my bracelet from Rahab's Robe!

And here, let me show you the hem on my skirt...

Oh, wait!

You can't see it - it's a blind hem.

har har har :-)

~

So.

There you have it.

My comfy, signature style.

me - all classy with my heels sunk down in the dirt ;-)  typical.

Linking up with Project Sewn

~
I updated my last weight-loss progress report with a side by side comparison photo - which is, at once, both dis, and en couraging.

the lesson on the way to the woodshed

I never really want to go out and take care of the chickens first thing in the morning

when its cold (or even cold-ish) outside,

but I always feel a bit refreshed when I do.

This morning, as I was slipping my feet into my boots

(ugly boots - but cheap :-) 

I was thinking, 'I wonder if I'll find any gifts like Mary Anne does.

She gets the prettiest skies."

I'd already forgotten the thought when I walked out the door.

Good thing, though, 

because it's downright gloomy out, definitely no pretty sky today, and I might have had a little jealous pity party.

I was already bummed about missing out on the day's plans, after all.

I wasn't really looking around - just walking the familiar path to the chickens

and I stuck my hands in my pockets because it was a little chilly.

(it was actually the lesson on the way to the chicken coop, 

but I thought 'woodshed' sounded better ;-)

In one pocket (it was Tyler's coat) I found a glove

and in the other, some plastic.

I wondered if I'd found Tyler's missing glove, or if this was the one he knew about.

I hoped it was the missing one!

And I wondered if that plastic might just be a bag - because if it was, I could use it to carry eggs;

I'd forgotten to grab a bucket

and I was pretty sure we hadn't gathered eggs yesterday.

I pulled it out, and what do you know? It was a bag.

While stuffing the bag back into my pocket,

I heard a rustle at the pond.

I looked over, just as the blue heron was lifting off.

I watched him (I don't know why we always call it a him) fly off until I could no longer see him.

And that's when I got my lesson.

I should have been looking for gifts.

If I had gone outside, expecting to see something wonderful,

I surely would have.

And I would have been able to watch the heron on the pond,

instead of merely watching him fly away.

Now, I do try to look for goodness and beauty,

but I think maybe I need to purpose to look a little more.

grand plans

Tyler was going to a men's retreat,

and I had grand plans for the weekend.

I'd do some sewing on Friday evening,

then Saturday was going to be all about the kids.

We'd go shopping at Penny's (they were having a sale, you know ;-)

and then we'd go to the real theater (not the cheap one)

and see the new Lego movie.

The boys and I had discussed it, and we decided to see it in 2D 

instead of watching it in 3D - we were a little concerned it might overwhelm the girls.

With the money we saved from not watching 3D,

we were going to spring for popcorn!

(I was already going to spring for popcorn, but they didn't know that ;-)

I felt absolutely horrible, after the fact, that when I took the kids to see Turbo - the girls' first movie theater experience - I didn't buy popcorn.   We never get popcorn; it's ridiculously expensive, and going to the movies should be treat enough. Lily had asked were we getting popcorn? And I fussed at her for wanting more. For not being grateful with what she's given. But she didn't know that popcorn wasn't just part going to the movies. Whenever you see, in movies, people going to the movies, they eat popcorn. She thought it was free.

 Can I just tell you - I have wished and wished for a do-over for that one! Sometimes, being thrifty isn't the right call. And I blew it. So - by golly - we were having popcorn!)

Depending how much the popcorn set me back, we might even go to McDonald's for dinner.

(That one was my little secret)

Then, on Sunday, 

they (the retreat people) were asking the wives to come to the church where the guys left for the retreat from,

for a little 'welcome home' celebration when they come back.

It's a bit of a drive, but my honey's worth it, so I started planning.

I figured, since we'll need to be in Rogers at some point, 

we may as well drive up in the morning

and surprise my mom and go to church with her and Bill and Gramma Joyce.

So Bill and I texted back and forth a bit,

and I managed to get a lunch invitation, too :-)

TJ was going to come with us also.

:-)

Since we'd have some time in between lunch and picking up our Pop,

I was cooking up a plan to get together with a childhood friend who sells essential oils.

She has access to a little gizmo that tells you what e.oils your body is most in need of.

Ever since I heard of this tool, I've wanted to get scanned.

Maybe this would be my ticket to healing...

Then, we were going to surprise Tyler, by being in Rogers to pick him up!

(Only, we weren't going to be making any posters like the retreat people had mentioned,

because, 

well,

that just seemed a little silly.

I mean - they're only gone about 2 days total....)

~

My Friday sewing went well;

I made a shirt and a skirt.

(technically, I made the skirt Saturday morning, 'cause my eyes started burning around 10:30 Friday night,

so I decided against any more sewing) 

I'm quite tickled with both.

The shirt doesn't fit as perfectly as I'd like, but Lily says it is adorable, and it's certainly wearable.

The skirt, however, is perfection.

in my obviously not very humble opinion ;-)

Saturday, noonish,

we'd gotten a good bit of the house picked up and I was quickly moving boys through my haircutting station,

(high and tights with a 2 & a 4 for all of them)

when Lexi declared she wasn't feeling very good and she might throw up.

We convinced her that maybe she was just really hungry

(nobody'd asked for breakfast since they were all engrossed in their various screens - so nobody'd eaten)

and Brandon got her to eat some scrambled eggs.

She said she felt better.

The boys and I breathed a sigh of relief.

We finished picking up the house, showered and got ready to go.

Everyone even had their clothes picked out already for going to church with Gramma,

so we could have a relaxed evening once we got back home.

We went to Penny's and started the search for jeans, any jeans, sized 31x34, 35, or 36.

We didn't find one single pair.

Lexi was complaining of not feeling well again, so her Bub was holding her.

We thought maybe she was sleepy,

I had let them stay up really late. I was sewing, ya'll...

We were going to head to Aeropostale  (I may have totally butchered that) to look for jeans there

when she said, "I feel like I'm going to throw up."

We decided to head outside,

while having the 'are you sure you're sick, because if you are sick we can't go to the movie' conversation.

She thought she needed to go home.

And things just fell apart.

Jeremiah started crying.

"I've been wanting to see the Lego movie ever since it came out" (what, 2 weeks ago?)

I fussed at him.

We weren't not seeing the movie, we just weren't seeing it today....

And he was being selfish.

(actually, I was too, cause I was really bummed about not getting to spoil my kids. Or surprise my mom!)

And then, right there in the middle of JC Penny's,

Lexi threw up.

All over herself, Brandon's back,

and the floor.

And all of our grand plans went right out the window.

And we went home. 

Without even a Redbox movie as consolation.

progress, at a snail's pace

If you're counting,

(and I doubt seriously that you are ;-)

it's been 5 weeks since my last fitness/weight-loss update.

I have maintained my daily-except-Sundays workout schedule.

But I gotta admit,

there are days (many days, actually)

that I would have just skipped the dang exercise altogether,

if it weren't for the fact I'd have to confess my failure here.

It's hard to keep going at it

when the outcome doesn't seem to be in keeping with the effort.

The trampoline.

It has helped tremendously, I think.

My heel only hurts on grocery shopping days (whereas it had gotten to the point it was hurting every day).

My knees still hurt pretty much all the time,

but they don't hurt extra while I'm exercising, like they did before we bought the trampoline,

so that is a huge blessing.

I've started rubbing DMSO and wintergreen e.oil on them several times a day

and I think that's helping a bit.

Except, now I smell like an old person.

I am beginning to see some muscle definition in my arms and shoulders, so that is nice.

Although, when I mentioned it to Tyler, he said, "Where?" 

So, maybe there is not as much definition as I thought ;-)

In his defense, he thought I should have been flexing,

whereas, I think 'definition' means you can see the muscle through normal movement, without flexing.

Anybody can flex and get a little bit of a bump....

Sadly,

most of my 'definition' is still hiding under layers of fat.

sigh.

Weight-wise

I lost 1.4 lbs.

in 5 weeks.

Ya'll.

It's downright discouraging.

My friend started her husband on THM (only, we're calling it Trim Healthy Man ;-)

and in the first week, he lost 7.

7 pounds. A pound a day.

I may just have to kick him in the shins when I see him.

Measurement-wise.

I just don't even know what to say.

Except for my hip measurement, which remained the same,

every single measurement increased.

Increased!

Even my neck.

Now, my previous tape measure, a special measure-by-yourself jobbie, broke (with a little help from Lex')

right after I'd finished measuring last month,

so I can only assume that my current tape measure

is wrong.

Because...

I bought a pair of size 10 jeans this week! 

TEN! :-)

And it wasn't an anomaly,

because I tried on lots of pairs of 10's in various brands 

that fit.

And,

I even squeezed into an 8.

But they weren't flattering to anything except my pride,

so I left them at the store.

I really needed that bit of encouragement,

because I'll be honest:

this is hard!
And if I weren't so sick of being fat - I'd have given up by now.
I'm 4 days away from 6 months of THM,
and have been exercising daily for 4 months and 3 days.
I really expected to have made a lot more progress by now.

I had my appointment with the naturopath, which I mentioned a few weeks ago.

I finally got in all of the supplements I'd ordered

and have been taking them for 2 weeks now.

So far, I'm not noticing an improvement, 

but she did tell me it could take quite awhile for me to see big changes,

because I have been in this depleted state for such a long time.

Moving forward,

I'm just going to keep up with my daily workouts,

always adapting weights and movement, to keep my body guessing,

and I'll keep eating as well as I can.

I'll keep taking my supplements

(which also helps me drink plenty of water ;-).

And now that the sun is shining again, 

I'll do my best to soak up some rays on a regular basis, too.

~
edited 2/25 to add:
After my photo shoot for my latest outfit - I compared pictures from my 1st update, exactly 3 months ago.

I lost 3.8 lbs in that 3 month period,
during which, I may have mentioned ;-)
I worked out every single day, except Sundays (and maybe 3 days off around the holidays)
The difference is subtle.
Very subtle.
But it's there.

It's going to take about 4 times longer than I was expecting, but I'll get there. Eventually...

newsflash

Lexi

(who just turned 5 one day less than a month ago)

rides a bike, too now!!

And she pretty much taught herself,

although the boys did work with her a little over the past couple of weeks.

She came in Tuesday around lunch time and told me should could ride with her feet on the pedals.

And that's pretty much what she could do - she couldn't actually pedal,

she could coast, with her feet on the pedals for a few seconds.

But she kept working at it 

and by evening, she was actually riding!

She may be cursed with overconfidence, too;

Today, she tried riding with no hands...

Sunday snippets

The boys and I made a quick trip to the library Wednesday

before heading to FSM for dentist appointments.

Ya'll.

I'm just not sure its gonna work.

I didn't know if there were no Fancy Nancy books,

or if I just couldn't find any...

I actually picked up a book for myself while we were there;

I was grabbing some Clive Cussler books for Brandon, and one caught my eye.

It felt kinda wrong to be reading a paper book,

after I'd just been given a Kindle.

But I don't want to take the Kindle anywhere without a case, and I haven't figured out what I want yet...

I found a new-to-me blog recently, a photography(ish) blog.

(once you visit, you'll know why the 'ish'. There's so much more than just photography)

The blog is quite different from Alicia's,

but it's another one that I like to save for last, to really savor.

I especially like her posts about her husband.

I am not nearly as eloquent or poetic, but I feel exactly the same way about Tyler.

He is so so good to me!

(and for me)

T came down for the weekend;

he ran a 5K yesterday 

and got 3rd place in his age group!

Speaking of T - I bought him a couple of herb plants for Valentine's.

He put them out on the porch to get some sunshine today.

Later when he and the boys were going out to shoot some guns, he called,

"Mo-om! The chickens ate my plants!"

Sure enough, those little rascals thought he'd put out a fresh buffet just for them.

I don't know if I've mentioned it,

but we are trying out a year-round schedule this year for school.

We do 6 weeks on, and then get a week off.

(we'll have a bigger break in the summer, just not 3 months)

Brandon and I were calculating how behind he was in math the other day

(turns out he isn't behind at all :-)

and I got to thinking that we must be about due for another break.

I checked my calendar yesterday.

Hallelujah! 

We get next week off!!

I'm pretty tickled about that, if you couldn't tell.

I haven't told the kids yet,

but I imagine they'll be pretty pleased, too.

Tyler may even take a day off this week also :-)

I'm slowly making progress on the quilting.

I'd make more progress though, if I wouldn't decide that I needed to rip out over 200 inches of stitching...

Speaking of math,

Lily is almost finished with her 1st grade math

(5 days left)

and Josiah has already finished his 3rd grade book.

They're both just moving full steam ahead!

Lexi let Jack in our bedroom in the middle of the night.

She said she thought I'd 'appreciate him'.

I did not.

But I did appreciate very much that my love got me up with a hot cup of coffee this morning,

right before they headed out to Sunday School.

(He takes the kiddos to SS, and leaves me home to get ready by myself.

Bliss, I tell ya! 

So much better than when he used to go to SS with the big boy(s), 

and leave me home alone to get a bunch of little ones ready.)

Since I didn't have to pee,

having already gone a few hours earlier, when I promptly took Jack out of my room,

I just reached over and grabbed my Kindle,

without even getting out of bed,

and read, while I enjoyed my coffee.

'owl' always love you

So.

Several weeks ago, Kacy texted me and asked if I'd seen her pin.

Which set off a series of texts and messages

 and online shopping 

and about 8 hours of sewing

over the past few weeks,

and resulted in this:

A wallet, made especially for my li'l redhead :-)

I didn't want any owls upside down, so I made the outer panel be 2 pieces instead of one.
(I'm kinda surprised this wasn't part of the pattern, actually)

That was a ton of layers to stitch through. I broke a needle (a denim needle, at that!) before deciding to turn the wheel by hand

I thought the pocket looked a little boring inside, so I (after making it, of course)

decided to add an owl

as a fun little surprise.

Then I added a heart to the owl, to remind Kac' that 'owl' always love her :-)

After I finished, I told Tyler I needed to put a little bit of ribbon on the zipper,
'cause it was just a tiny bit tricky to grab when it was completely shut.
He said, "I wasn't going to say anything, but I thought maybe a little owl or something on there would be cute."
Which I thought was an absolutely perfect idea (and so much better than ribbon!)
so the girls and I spent 45 minutes at Hobby Lobby the other day
picking out just the right one.

Happy Valentine's Day, Kacy;
your wallet is on its way :-)

If you give a girl some fabric

If you give a girl some fabric

she'll want to iron it.

So you tell her to use the little ironing board, so the iron isn't too close to her precious face

and let her have at it.

Of course, she'll need some starch, too.

So you'll give her two choices; the homemade, in the easy-to-spray bottle,

and the magic sizing.

She'll choose the stuff you use, and say it's actually easier.

She'll spray and iron, spray and iron,

and spray and iron some more

until she is satisfied with how crisp her fabric is.

Then she will decide she wants to make a purse out of the fabric,

so you'll even up the edges,

then glue baste her seam allowances

and mark a stitching line.

You'll teach her how to love her thread, and take a few stitches through the thicker part,

then hand over the needle.

She'll concentrate very hard

and sew and sew

and even poke herself a time or three

until she has a finished purse!

Which she will, of course, want to iron.

As soon as it's all nicely pressed, she will decide she wants to add some beads to it.

because, she is your daughter, after all.

You tell her how much easier it would have been to add the beads before sewing it into a purse,

but then you explain that you totally understand.

So you find a smaller needle,

one that will go through the beads,

and show her, one time, how to sew on a bead,

and remind her that she'll have to be very careful or she'll sew her purse shut.

And then,

she will bead.

And before you know it, 

she will have a lovely little beaded purse,

(that did not get sewn closed)

just waiting for you to help her get  handles sewn on.

You just never know what will happen,

when you give a girl some fabric.

~

Lex' ~ Momma is so proud of you!

linking up with Amanda Jean's Finish it up Fridays :-)

gadget girl

Since there are so many of us, and we are home, pretty much all the time,

our 'things' see more use than many people's.

We use our stuff a lot.

To death, really.

And this old computer has been on its last leg for quite some time.

We've been looking for an affordable replacement since last summer.

About a week and a half ago, Tyler found a suitable refurbished laptop

for a good price, so we ordered it.

(It actually just arrived today. I should be typing this up on that one, huh? Not sure why I'm not. Habit; I suppose.)

Saturday (or maybe it was Friday?) Tyler told me he'd ordered my Valentine's gift.

I responded with a very loving, "We don't do Valentine's gifts."

It turns out, he hadn't actually ordered it yet, but it was in his cart - a tablet.

I wasn't really sure what I'd need a tablet for...

Plus, we'd just ordered that laptop... and we need to save money...

He was a little confused at my lack of excitement as he thought I'd mentioned to him that I wanted a tablet,

and since I rarely mention wanting something, he wanted to buy it for me.

I was fairly certain I hadn't mentioned wanting a tablet, 

seeing as how I'm still not sure what one is (or does).

But I had kinda

 sorta 

been thinking 

that I might want to think about 

considering

 maybe

 getting a Kindle.

And I had mentioned that to him.

(When kindles first came out, I was vehemently opposed to them. 

I 

like

books!

I still can't imagine one taking the place of books completely, but I can see how they have a place...)

Kindle. Tablet. You see how he was confused...

I assured him that I wasn't saying I wanted one, mind you, I was merely thinking about maybe wanting one.

Some day...

 I hadn't even begun to research which one I might want.

And I don't do much of anything without researching it (to death...)

Brandon and Tyler proceeded to tell me all about what I could do with my new tablet

(a really good one, for a great price, no less)

and I started thinking maybe I did want this tablet thing, after all.

So about 3 or 4 hours after he put it in his shopping cart, Tyler ordered it.

Then I started getting a little excited about having my own tablet.

Why, I could even take it to bed and do tablet-y things 

right before I went to sleep!

I could probably even use it as a reader?

I have several e-books that I've gotten free, but have never really had a good way to read.

I figured Brandon could get them on my tablet for me.

Tonight,

Tyler came home and said something about my Valentines' gift.

He was worried that my tablet might not come by Friday

(it's scheduled to be delivered tomorrow)

so maybe he should get another gift.

I reminded him, again, that we don't do gifts for Valentines Day

(but I didn't tell him the delivery schedule ;-)

Then 

he said he'd already bought me something and didn't I just want it now?

The man can not wait to give a gift at the 'proper' time.

If it's purchased - he has to give it :-)

So,

I told him I would rather just wait 'til V-day.

Because I am a stinker like that ;-)

But then I told him 

he could give it to me now...

So he handed me a Staples bag

(only I didn't know it was a Staples bag)

And inside of the bag was a rectangular, kinda weighty, box.

Why, would he buy me chocolates? I wondered to myself as I reached in the bag.

They must be some mighty special chocolates

I thought.

As I pulled out 

a Kindle Fire!

And now, 

this spoiled rotten gadget girl is going to go read a book. 

Sort of. 

;-)

baby quilts

Lots of bloggers churn out quilt 

after quilt 

after

 quilt.

often, they are baby quilts, or small lap sizes.

I always thought it was because they were faster

(and they most certainly would be!)

but I'm thinking it's more because 

that's what size works best in home machines...

Sundays might be my day off from exercising

(Oh, how I look forward to Sundays!)

but I sure got a workout anyways, quilting this thing.

Every time around a star, I have to turn the quilt 16 times.

(8 points, 8 valleys)

Most of those 16 times,

I have to wrestle the bulk of the quilt

through that little space.

I'm thinkin' - next time? 

Baby quilt.

still kickin'

I do believe this is the longest I've gone without posting in my 5 + years of blogging.

(Can you believe it's been 5 years?! Time is just wooshing by)

I'm sorry if you worried about me.

I'm doing okay.

~

We've had snow,

multiple times,

in the past 2 weeks.

And it is so stinkin' cold. 

This non-insulated house and all of our portable heaters just can't keep up.

I've actually gotten in quite a bit of sewing,

but save for some hastily snapped crappy cell phone shots,

(which I really don't want to torture you with)

I have no pictures to document it.

And I don't want to take time to get decent pictures so you'll just have to take my word on it.

The  hole is patched (I made a teeny tiny yo-yo and hand sewed it over the hole. 

My friend (who knew about the hole) looked right at the spot and didn't notice it, so I call that a win.)

I finished the quilt top Saturday night (I went with the patchwork border after all. Tyler liked it...)

and moved right on to the backing

which I finished Sunday morning while the snow was coming down in huge flakes outside.

Since I couldn't baste the beast at the house, and we couldn't go anywhere,

 I took a break from the quilt to start on a specially-requested wallet :-)

(I'm almost finished with it - about another hour and a half or so left)

Monday night, I went with Tyler to the church to spray baste.

(Love, LOVE spray basting! So worth the additional expense in my (and my knee's and back's) opinion!)

A friend of mine came over, too, so I could show her how I do it ~ so that was fun.

(she's always basted with pins. she was duly impressed ;-)

Tuesday, I started on the machine quilting.

I'm having to go slow or my stitches gets loose and tension goes all wacky.

Not sure what's up with that. It's a bother, to be sure.

Wednesday,

I was gone from the house almost the entire day. bleh!

Jeremiah and Lily both had dentist appointments;

Jeremiah had a cleaning and Lily, bless her heart, had her four front bottom teeth pulled!

Her teeth were coming in behind 'em, and they had to go.

Then I had my appointment with a naturopath doctor in F'ville

(where I got a big list of supplements to try - which is just what I was hoping for)

before heading further north to take Gramma Joyce out to dinner to the Village Inn.

(Wednesday is free pie night ~ you know that makes Gramma light up like the Fourth of July!)

TJ took my last turn, since the weather was yucky, 

so I was really missing her. I'm glad the weather was agreeable for me to go - it was kinda iffy there for awhile...

We had a really nice visit (TJ joined us, too, looking especially handsome :-)

and Gramma was thrilled to go home with 2 pieces of pie 

(mine and T's free slices - she ate every bit of hers!) 

which I told her not to eat all at once, but I doubt she listened to me ;-)

(Okay, fine. She went home with almost 2 pieces of pie - I took 3 bites. Sue me.)

I headed home after dinner, 

but T and Gramma decided they were going to see a movie after dinner before he took her (and her pie) home.

I made it home just in time to watch an episode of Leverage with my men, before ironing Tyler's shirt and crawling into bed.

Today,

I spent about 2 1/2 hours and a bunch of money

buying that list of supplements 

and now I've got a quilt and a sewing machine calling my name...

(there's also a clogged sink calling my name.

I'm ignoring it.)