11 goals for 2011

I don't know why but I've got a good feeling about 2011 being a great year.  This isn't a resolution list by any means but more of a list that I'd like to be able to check things off one by one saying I accomplished them.  So, in no particular order, here goes:

1. Lose 6-10lbs each month for a total of up to 120 lbs by the end of the year.  Also, use my gym membership 3-4 times a week.

2. Get back to being quilty!  My aim for finishes this year is going to be 8.  Less than last year but still a good number.

3. Move into my own apartment.  Gotta get away from my mother.  Must do this for my own sanity!

4. Buy a bigger computer than this netbook.  It's great, gets me online for the things I want and need but I'm DESPERATELY missing my photoshop.  I just can't get into the groove of other less stellar photo editing programs.

5. Put the remainder of my paychecks into my savings acct. at the end of 2 wks.  I realize you should do this as soon as you get paid but, knowing me, I'd only put $20 into savings and I typically have much more than that at the end of a pay period so it makes sense to do it backwards.

6. Get divorced.  'Nuff said there.

7. Buy a better car.  Mine is 20 years old, the radiator hose just completely obliterated itself yesterday and while it was a cheap ($20) fix that I did all by myself (thank.you.very.much.) it's not something I want to make a habit of by any means.

8. Bring my babies home!

9. Get more quilt patterns designed and printed (working on this one right now!)

10. Spend more time with my extended family.

11. Make time for friends.  I don't do this nearly enough as I should!

I'll try to revisit this list each month to update y'all on how things are going. 

Farewell 2010!

So 2010 came and went in a hurry!

January-May was a blur, finishing up paramedic school left time for nothing but school.

June saw me graduating medic school then celebrating a birthday the next day. Later that month I finally kicked the ex out of my life and the divorce began.

July had my sweet baby girl turn 7! Seems like just yesterday she was a newborn. I landed my first job as a paramedic before I had my license in hand.

August was quiet, packed stuff to move, working the new job, and getting ready for school to start for my daughter.

September I moved 60 miles from the place I called home for 6 years. Ended up making the wrong move when I moved into a house with my mother. I also lost custody of my babies to my ex for reasons I will never fully comprehend, all I can say is thank God its temporary!

October was rough, I worked A LOT, fought with my mother and watched my ex pretty much get off the hook on a dui. The one good thing? I met the new man in my life this month :)

November is when my baby boy turned 3! Always has been and will be a mommas boy, I love that boy! Thanksgiving I worked so nothing exciting there.

December, oh joy! Holidays were low key, fought with my mom some more and gave up on keeping the cat out of the tree. Worked Christmas day when id rather be spending it with my family.

So, thats my 2010 in a nutshell. Im hoping 2011 brings me a divorce and some stability in life. Next time I get around a computer I hope to have a quilty recap. I think my goal was 10 quilts done and I think I finished 12 plus some pillows.

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getting back into the swing of things

Hello everyone!

I want to extend a special thank you to my readers for their kind comments.  I also want to thank each person who has purchased a pattern, I appreciate it more than you know :)  I still don't have my kids but each day is getting slightly better.  Felt good to take a break from blogging and just focusing on life, having some fun with friends, and busting my tail at work taking any available shifts I can. 

As for quilty news, I've been working on my bee blocks, and began work on an overdue baby quilt (isn't that always the case?!).  I also have a few more patterns in the works so hopefully I can get some samples made and get some new ones out there!

Work is going well.  I'm out of my probationary period so I feel more solidified in my job now and feel like I can breathe a little easier.  It's amazing to have a job where you can go to work everyday and love what you do and look forward to doing it. 

So for now that's my update!  Hope to be around these parts a little more :)

ay yi yi

Good Lord where has time gone?!  It's darn near September!  Just a little update post on life.

Found a new house!  Yay!  I love it!  Comes with a pool table(!), a jacuzzi style bath tub with a TV in the basement bathroom, 120" projection screen theater, full size wet bar, massive back yard, 3 bedrooms, 3 full baths, and the best part?  Landlord pays ALL utilities (except cable & net) and pays for the lawn service!  Been busy packing, moving, and working.  Leaves me NO time for fun :(  Oh, and best part?  Basement is red, very easy to convert it to my red/aqua room!

Lost my camera somewhere.  Brought it to work because we see some interesting characters passing by on the streets.  Just so you know, I would *NEVER* take pics of my patients, just the goof balls on the street.  Kinda like the dude bustin' some mad moves and rockin' it out as he walked down the street.  Or the random lady sitting on a garbage can yelling at random people for random stuff.  Or funny license plates (I DOOBIE anyone??).  Or the 7 rigs we had posted at the same hospital, still trying to figure that out.  Might have fallen out in the ambulance, might have fallen out in my car (which is a pit right now due to the move), might have fallen out somewhere random.  Don't know, I'm a sad panda.

My iPod won't sync with my computer thanks to the damage the ex did to it when he threw his tantrum.  Double sad panda.

Got my little quiltie from DQS9 today!!! yay!  But can't take pics of it's awesomeness due to the above.  Made a different one for my partner because I ended up buying fabrics that totally fit her better than my original.

My cat scratched the crap outta my pooch :(  She got him real good on 2 spots on his back, he's a hurtin' dude, I feel so bad for him.  Thank God they're pretty superficial.

I decided to do a hexi quilt.  I swapped for some awesome fabrics, I need to do about 952 more for a 50x60 quilt.  Guess what I do when waiting for a call??  Yep, get paid to sew hexies!!!  How can my job not rock?

My car hates me I'm convinced of it.

I nearly burned my frozen pizza writing this blog post.

Went to see my friend @ his treatment facility where he's getting help for his alcohol problem yesterday and I must say that I'm so proud of him.  He looks SO much better than when I saw him last and he's on the path to a new life.  He's one of my best friends and I love him to pieces.  He's a fireman and used to be a paramedic and he is the one responsible for giving me the kick in the pants to follow a life long (well, since about 6th grade) dream of mine to become a paramedic.  He let his license lapse but one of his goals is to get it back.  Right now he lives close to me, but once I move I'll be about 90 mins away and that makes me cry, I'll miss being able to just go over to his house on a whim.  His face absolutely lit up when he saw me yesterday and I hope he realizes I'm totally on his side.  I met him working at the nursing home a couple years ago.  I never thought I'd meet such a great person at work.  


Realized my ex is, and always will be, an ass bag.  That's all I'm sayin' about that one.  


Well, if you don't hear from me for a little while you'll know I'm still alive!  Now I'm off to Home Depot to get more keys cut before they close!

star sampler quilt along update

I haven't abandoned you, I PROMISE!!!

Life happens to everyone and I'm no exception.  Still trying to strike a balance between newly single mom, new job, and doing all that comes along with it.  See, being in EMS you have to be part of a certain system that your employer is in and well, I have to switch systems to one other than the one where I was put in when I graduated.  That means learning new standing orders and policies and procedures. 

So please bear with me as I settle into my many new roles :)

life just got a little off balance

The husband and I are divorcing. We had a very ugly, ugly day yesterday and it did not end well. His alcoholism has come full circle and he now has to face the consequences of his often 1 bottle of Jack a nite habits. As of now I'm taking life day by day, moment by moment. Going to try and potty train my son (we're all prepared with an Elmo potty seat and Elmo undies), finish up all my swaps and sewing obligations, and enjoy the summer with my kiddos. My night ended up decent last nite by watching the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup. That was pure awesome!

This is the start of a new life for me and my kids. I can't wait to see what life has is store for me now! People normally take the word divorce very hard, to me it's a sigh of relief.

Have no worries, I still plan on keeping up with all of my obligations, right now expect no changes. I will continue to keep in contact with everyone and keep y'all updated! I love my readers :) My world may have been shaken up but I'm here to stay.

retail therapy

I indulged in some retail therapy in the last couple days because we very unexpectedly lost my grandmother on Friday morning. She was my last remaining biological grandparent and it's hit me hard, I miss her so much it hurts. She passed away 1 year and 21 days after my grandfather, her memorial is this Saturday.

Yesterday class was canceled without any advance notice, we just showed up and there was a note on the door so I headed to the mall and got an outfit for Saturday. Today I headed to Hobby Lobby and got all this (all on sale BTW), and don't you just LOVE that grey floral fabric?!



I also decided to join Uppercase Living as a demonstrator. I had been wanting to do something but I just LOVE all the stuff they have to offer and would gladly splash every wall in my house with their awesomeness so I figured it was only fitting!

just some ramblings

I find myself thinking all the time of a new life. I'm not at all satisfied in my marriage for a number of reasons, in fact, we haven't acted like a married couple at all for nearly 2 years and neither of us has worn our wedding rings in that amount of time either. There are a lot of reasons why but I'm at the point now where I just want it over and will do what it takes to get it that way.

Respect is a major issue. I ask him to do something and it never gets done. The kids see this and think it's ok. It's not. I'm not only stressed because I'm so miserable in this relationship but school isn't helping much either. We have PEPP next Monday, we start our trauma mod in 2 wks, and I still need 40 calls to be done on the ambulance. When I'm stressed I eat. My weight is getting ridiculous. So I'm stressed about that. My house looks like a bomb went off. I clean every day and if I leave for whatever reason it's always back to the way it was no matter how long I was gone.

Quilting is my stress relief. Sometimes it causes stress but that I can walk away from, it can't talk back.

I've already made up my mind to leave. Some things need to happen before I can do that (like getting my medic license and finding a job), I'm already dreaming of having a house that doesn't look (or sound) like a war zone. I'm going to take very few things with me because I have very little attachment to it. Most of what comes will belong to the kids.

Most of all I'm looking forward to being happy, something I haven't been in many years.

only 12 more weeks of school!!!

whirlwind

This week has been CRAZY!!! It started last Friday with an ER clinical, a call-less 12hr ride on Sunday, our Peds & OB/gyne mod test (which btw, I ROCKED!), an event filled ER clinical on Tuesday, more class on Weds, peds ER yesterday, and an ER tonite! I'm very thankful we have an 8 hr limit per 24 hrs on our hospital clinicals, I'm already wiped out from this week.

Tomorrow I am off! Going to take some time and spend with the kiddos tomorrow (I'm thinking the arcade would be a WONDERFUL plan!), going to one of my local quilt shops that just got some Verna yardage in for my pinwheel quilt, I need to get a new ironing board, and then work on another quilt for charity. I am SO looking forward to it! Back to the grind on Sunday for some time on L&D. Have a great weekend y'all!