I Have to Laugh

Sometimes it feels like life can really be a rollercoaster of emotions.  This season of our life could make even the most daring rollercoaster envious.  We are experiencing pressures from places/people/sides that we never anticipated.  It's been both sad and a reason to keep on keeping on. 

To distract ourselves, we try to steal away moments that give a some moment of serenity.  I am doing a Block of the Month quilt.  Basically, it's a year-long program where you do one block per month (hence the very clever name) and at the end of the year you have a quilt top.  June was the first month and I was super excited.  Not only is it my first Block of the Month quilt ever, but I love, love, love the fabric line:  Vintage Modern by Bonnie & Camille for Moda.  It's a little retro, a little bright, whimsical and so much fun. 

This is what I made:

I was so excited.  It took about 30 minutes and I got to quilt!  Then I looked at this picture and realized something was wrong.  Apparently, in my 30 minutes of "me time" I stopped reading directions and just slapped the thing together.  Now I have to take the top row out and put it on the right way so the red looks like a real pinwheel, not one that got put together by Picasso.

That's not really the big deal, but I showed this to my mom's quilt group before I realized that I can't read directions.  Bless those ladies, not a single one said anything.

Bless N, he didn't even notice! 

Another way we've been trying to steal time together is dates.  N is working only an hour from our house for a bit and I decided to head his way and surprise him for dinner one night.  He called on his way back to the hotel from work and I informed him that he needed to be ready to take me to dinner.  It's always fun surprising him because I can't usually pull it off.  We haven't been able to do during-the-week dates for over a year.  This was extremely special for both of us.

We went to a cute Mexican restaurant people at his work recommended.  The food was delicious.  We went back to the hotel to watch some television and just be.  It was wonderful.

Until...

We both got food poisoning.

I think I've learned some valuable lessons:

1) Always proof your work, even if it's a quilt square before you show it to all the seasoned quilters.

2) Always read directions a couple times.

3) Mid-week dates don't always work out the way you envision.

4) You know your marriage is made to last when you can be in a hotel room with one bathroom and you both have food poisoning.

5) Cute little Mexican restaurants aren't always so cute the next day.