Soon I think I may just wither away to nothing!

OK this is just a blathering about this and that day. So if you have come fro my normal cheery stuff I don't have it today, come back tomorrow! LOL If you want to sit and chat with me... carry on!

First EVER trip outside the US!!

So I make it no secret that I am a big girl. I have always been. Well, I thought in High School when I was 130 lbs (5'7") that I was a big girl and I think that is because I have a very athletic shape. I take after my Mother and have broad shoulder and the girls... well they take up a whole zip code of their own if you know what I mean! LOL I always joke and say I kept 15 lbs from each pregnancy! But since my youngest is 10 I can't blame it on that! To tell you the truth I am just a big foodie! All kinds of food! So for the last five years or so I have held pretty steady between 197-202. I don't hide it as it is what it is! I am very active. I do 5k's. I play outside in the summer. I know if I would exercise regularly I could probably drop 10 or 15 lbs. But I don't! Have I ever told y'all I am brutally honest? Even to myself!

Can someone say Margaritaville??

Well the last several months I have not felt well. I have a pain in my chest under my right breast (lower rib cage area) that has gone undiagnosed. They have done blood work, an EEG, a chest x-ray, and a CT. They can find nothing. But I tell you, I have a very high threshold for pain (had three out of my four children with NO DRUGS the other was c-section, boo) and there are days I am couch ridden. I do try to keep everything running as it should in my house.  I am the CEO around here!!
Well, I am not sure what has gone on, but I have began to lose weight. Normally I would celebrate and cheer! But the problem is I am doing nothing different! I am now down to 182. Don't get me wrong I love that that dreaded 2 is not in front of my weight, but some days it really kind of scares me. I told Honeyman we will wait till the summer and see what the next few months bring. I just don't know. 

Side of the road! To cool had to stop!!

I know this is not a bight and cheery post but I just had to gripe for a moment! If you made it this far, I thank you for listening to me! Sometimes we just have to moan! I am normally the one people call to let it out and some days I have guess I have to be that person as well!
OK Done! I do so hope that everyone has a great day and an amazing weekend!!
Tomorrow will be better!!
Josie

If I go MIA...

Well here I am cursing under my breath... at whoever started this madness. (I did find out it is a Thimble Blossoms pattern by Camille Roskelley) Well, If anyone remember the material I bought for Honeyman's quilt... well, the more I looked at the squares I wanted to do, the more I decided they were NOT right... reason one, they are five or ten inch squares and I had bought quarter yard of most of the materials. Now I could have sized it down to four inch, but then I would once again get into it being to small. That and I did one of the squares with four inch squares and once it was put together...I no longer liked it!! LOL!! OK this being said, I am going to set a swoon on fire!! I have recalculated the 'pattern'(my block was only 16 inches and it should have been 24 oops!) and that means the center square is six inches... PERFECT for the 'window' material I bought!!
Now my partial woe! I decided I wanted Kona Light Grey for the background. I went to BOTH of our local Hancock Fabrics (last night) and do you know neither of them had ANY grey solid! In Kona or Wendover. Well I tell you Honeyman is on shift today so it is going to be a day of cutting and getting started so you know I did not want to wait for a package!! Well I went to JoAnn's and they had two bolts of the Med Grey. There was not six yards between the two bolts and it was in three pieces. I did have a half off coupon and since I am using it in a quilt and will be cutting it up anyway I think  the smaller pieces will be OK. It was NOT the colour I had wanted, but I think it will work fine!
Here goes all, I am jumping into a project and I do have a tenancy of getting lost for a while! So if I have not been heard form for a few days... someone be sure to throw a piece of meat into my cage!! LOL!!
I am off to swoon!!
JoCrazyMama

go for a great giveaway!!

I love me a good giveaway! Over at Lily's Quilts She is having a GREAT one!! Pop over there and check her out! She is also an amazing quilter and is ALWAYS working on something beautiful!!

Goals for the new year

Good morning! I have to start by saying you know I am not a morning person.

Liz and I at her wedding doing the shopping!!

I get up in the morning and HAVE to have my coffee. I watch kids so my work comes to me and the first two get here just before 7. I normally meet my friend while still in my bathrobe! (Liz and I have been friends for well as long as I can remember & I was in her wedding) I hurry my kids along the way normally I have to take the Brat to High School at 6:45 so I can be back for the other kids and then breakfast fix lunches dress yadda yadda for my other two and get them to two different schools and then back to my house for the bus to picl up Liz's little man who just started pre-school! And then it is 8:15 and just about ready for my other little one to get here for the day!! (however in about six months there will be two and not just one)
OK with all of that said... my favorite part of the day, is the morning. before anyone else has gotten out of bed and my house is still quiet and I can be on the computer and noone is talking or yelling or asking me for anything! This is my time! Why oh why does it have to come so early in the day! LOL I have never lived by myself and the closest I have gotten to that is when the kids are asleep and my Honeyman is on shift. Oh, he is currently off work because he hurt his back lifting a patient. So I have not had late nights alone for a while!!!
Did I mention goals?? OK I am going to keep it short and sweet
1) Finish a quilt to have for the guild show in (I think it is November)
      I am new to the quilt guild. but they have a big show every other year and each member is asked to submit something! It can be a wall hanging it can be a quilt. Your choice! You can also either have it judged or just have it participating! (please do not judge me)!! So my one and only goal is that! Simple enough!
alright so I guess I have like subgoals if you will!! I am hosting a bee and I want it to bee successful! I want to bee a great participant in the other bee I am in and I have three quilt alongs I want to keep up with!
ONE

My Honeyman offering Liz support!!

TWO
THREE
GO!!!!
hehe there you have it! Happy New Year! let it be MUCH better than last year because I am not sure I can take another one like 2011! I just have to say I am glad it is done!!
Josie

I had not opened up Liz's wedding photo's in a while and I laughed as I went through them! This one was at the end of the night as we were cleaning up and the one that follows it Liz has picked my Honeyman up and he is making a not so very nice suggestive well You can only imagine!
Have a great day all!!

Let swap my friends

So I have been trying to enter a swap and it is a lot more difficult than one would imagine! LOL SO! I have decided to be a bee keeper! Thanks to the urging of my friend Mrs. Pickles! (She is also jumping into this boat so hop on over and see her, too!)
I have not decided all of the rules because I would love for the swappers to have a say in it! I know I have said I would rather use our own stash, that way you get some of the other person in there, and it is one less package you have to mail out! But I am more than ready to play!! Let me know!! Jan is almost here and we HAVE to get this big ball rolling!! before the big ball drops!
Josie

What's in a name!

So some posts make me laugh! I think that is why I am so into reading everyones blogs (even if I am not always on top of writing my own!) So when I read As Sweet as Cinnamon's post on why did you name your blog I had to respond!
Well we all have an 'insanity defense' right! I have MANY friends who wonder how in the world I do what I do and keep sane! Between my day care, my kids, my Honeyman, my dogs, my sister (a.k.a. the troll guarding the bridge), my baby brother... where do I find time for myself! And then I decide to go and pick up something like quilting! To top it off I decide on a project like a Dear Jane! What in the world was I thinking! Well short and sweet I am just plain nutz!! All of these things add up to my insanity defense! When I finally go crazy and run down the street in nothing but my slippers there will be no question as to why I did it! LOL it is just a matter of when it will happen! Some days I think that there are betting pools as to when the mighty Mama Jo will hit the nut house!
All in all I am really probably one of the most well balanced people around! I love to party, but I love to sit home and have quite time with my family and friends! I think that I balance these things quite nicely! But in case you read about me on the front page of your newspaper you will all know why!
All the zen in the world,
Josie McRazie

I love blog hops!

So I like it when I am turned on to new bloggers! I have been following sewcalgal and they had a fall AccuQuiltGo! Baby! ummm how fun is this thing! Fo those of us who do not have a steady hand (me) or just for accuracy it is awsome! Have only seen it in the blogs and not in action but I am in love with it! go check out a few of the fall projects! There are great tutorials walking you through each one! I like that they are small and easy to get through!  Connie at Quilting by the River has a sweet center piece for your table! And there are bags and small quilts! Check out all the links with sewcalgal!!
Cool,
J

Have you ever heard of the Tug Fest? Pobably not!!

       It is here!! My home town we have a party every year!! OK If you can picture this a GIANT rope strung accross the Mississippi river (between Port Byron, IL and LeClaire, IA) and they play tug of war!! No really that is what it is all centered around!! This year is the 25th annual Tug fest!! Someone saw this in a smaller scale in Michigan and decided it would be worth it! Was of course me with resistance! The rope 2,400 feet had to be specialy cut and spliced to work!! There was talk about not continuing in 2006 when the rope had to be replaced, but I think there would have been a rumble beside the river if that had happened!!
       OK so every year there are Fireworks on Friday night, although I thought they used to be on Saturday. it used to be a rumble over the river and a battle between the two sides. They have since pooled money and let them off from a barge out on the river!! And I just have to say, they are the most spectacular fireworks I have ever seen! They last an hour and the finally is usually 15-20 min of non stop fireworks!! These two towns are VERY small (I grew up on the main drag in Port Byron) and for them to come together like this is just awsome!
       On Saturday is the Tug itself!! There are teams for each side and rules as to how many people and how much weight can be on each team! I do have to admit I have not gone to the tug since I was young. Every year it is a battle between the sides to see who will be victor! As it stands right now IL-14, IA-10! It is an even like none you have ever seen!! These people have official judges to determine if the rope has gone far enough and it is a BRUTAL undertaking!
       They also have street games (of course there is beer or as some fo us call it 'Chugfest') they have dances and the streets of Port Byron and LeClair pack in more people than they were evern intended to hold! It is a blast!! Oh, Did I forget the Kids Tug... Well the rope is WAY to much for them to handle, so they tug over a kiddie pool! It is great fun!!
On Sunday there is a Run (5K I think but not sure) and there is also a Golf Tournament! It is just something for everyone! If you would like pics sorry I do not have them, but visit the link for the tug fest!
Tonight I will be home! Get ready for me Port Byron!!
J

A little bit of this and a little bit of that!

OK so I have so many things going through my head right now! First I love summer because I am never really all that aware of what day it is or the date or even the time of day! My job is...well flexible and with Honeyman at the staion 24 on 48 off we really have no set anything!! I was doing something on the computer this morning and it hit me. Today is Aug 9th. My Mother would have been 64 today. Wow that just does not even seem right! I don't think of her as an old woman (not that I think 64 is old because it is not) but wow! I will not dwell on that. I know I do bring her up a lot and I thank people for indulging me.
Hey, have you read any good books today?? I am not a big reader. I am dyslexic and reading takes me a VERY long time. I do LOVE John Saul and have gotten through TWO of his books this summer. I like Allison Brennan and finished up one of her trilogies, I think that is why I like her! The books are 'related' but can each stand alone. You get a little bit more attatched to the charachters I think.

OK but my surprise read of the summer i guess has been the Hunger Games trilogy. I do not know when these came out. I only know my (ready to follow this) Husbands cousin told my Daughter and Mother-in-law to read them. Granny Kim (my MIL) bought them, read them passed them on to the Brat who insisted I read them. Now my ONLY problem is that they are in present tense and I have a very difficult time processing that. But They are FAST reads. I got through the first one in three days! That is like some kind of record for me (Brat had to point out that it only took her a matter of a few hours)! the first book is simply The Hunger Games, the second is Catching Fire, and the third is Mockingjay. I am half way through the second book and I just started it yesterday! Honeyman was on shift so I sat outside till 10:30 reading! I have also learned they have movie (movies?) in the make! They have Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland. Most of the other names I do not know, but they have quite a list on IMDB. I cannot wait! Some of the charachters I do hope they can do justice! Oh, I think this kind of reminds me of a more indepth kind of a Running Man, If you know what I am talking about! Read it and see!!!

Now where was I...

Camper is half way packed, squares ready for hand stitching...and we are off!! Well at 5:00 in the morning we will be off! I cannot wait!
But I also cannot wait to get back! I decided to do a stitch along!! Simple things ( tried to add the button, but either I was not doing it correctly or it was not cooperating)!! Carol and Kelly (ok first time I have tried to link something so I hope I did it right) are hosting it! Carol has a larger version and Kelly has a smaller! I know I will be behind, but when I get home I will be down a kid (mommy will have a baby while I am on vaction) So I should be able to make up lost time!! I have not gotten fabric, but I have my list of what I need and am hoping that San Antonio might have some shops!! YAY!!
I will miss reading all the blogs I follow, but I know when I get to my Brother's house I will be able to pop on over there!!
Can't wait to see my Baby Brother!!
J

Maybe I can win!!

OK if you do not already watch Jaybird Quilts, she is having a giveaway! I love joining in and maybe someday I will win!! The fabrics are Pink Chalk and some of them are just way to yummy!!
Jump over to her and check her out!! She makes such beautiful quilts and has new patterns to come out soon!!!
J

So I haven't really been doing nothing!!

Summer is here!! YAY! I have my pool set up... now hold off your jelousness is it only three feet deep and eigth feet round! But don't get me wrong I can still lay in there with my Honeyman and each of us have our own float and we still have room for the kids to splash around us!! O.K so here's the truth...my outdoor chairs and cushions were HORRID!! We bought them 6 years ago when we moved into the house and they have spend a winter (or two) covered in snow!!

 Yes my friends these were my cushions!! (and if I am being honest... this is one of the two better ones!!) We will not even begin to think what shape the REALLY bad ones were in!!
But my friends just laughed and said we were outside and it did not matter! Well it mattered to me! But my Honeyman (being the tight walleted man that he is) would not spring for new ones!! and at $30 a piece 6 chairs... that's more than we paid for the whole set

So... I went Memorial day and used my coupon and got material for half price plus 10% off and for just over $60 I had material for all 6 chairs!! In comes Jane (hehe that is what I have named my machine! That is why I got her and well it just fit!) I did decide to reuse the batting on the inside of the chairs. It was not in that bad of shape and save a little Money, too!! 
But wait...I can't end my story there!! I could not put my new beautiful cushions on the chipping old chairs... SO!!!

 The chairs go a face lift as well! They went from tan to black!!
So here is the finished product... stripped on one side and the pattern on the other!! Shhh don't make fun of me I got the first one put together and realized I had inverted the pattern on the back and seat!! OOPS!!

I

                                            So guess what... you got it they are ALL that way!! 

                                                                    Sheesh I love me!!

Thanks all! Now get outside and enjoy if you have beautiful weather!!
J

sewing machine issues...

So with the best of intention I began to cut my first 2 blocks!! I was sooooo in the mood... and then disaster!! My sewing machine (which was my grandmothers) died!! I cried!! It is a Necchi (made in Italy) that was purchased July 3,1968 (for $350 how awsome to have the original purchase reciept)!! I have done minimal sewing on this machine in the past and it is nothing fancy, but it works well untill I REALLY needed it to!! Sooo it looks like this afternoon I will be running into my local sewing center and finding out if there is anyone out there who will work on it!!
Or maybe I can talk my Honeyman into an upgrade!! Till then, I guess I will cut a few more squares and do the prep work!!
Well, I was hopeing to have a pic to post, but till I get my machine repaired, I guess I work on hand sewing, I have kids clothes to repair! Not the 'fun' I was looking forward to! But for now I guess it will have to do!
Still in limbo!!
J

Gonna Try this out!

So, I have never done the blog thing and I am about to embark on an epic journey... I have just ordered a Dear Jane book and have decided to take on my own baby jane!! I know I have found other Jane's on here and they have VERY detailed blogs that I am hopeing will help out!! I know that the quilting comunity in general are a very giving and helpful community and I am looking forward to this journey!!
I have done minimal amount of quilting and know that this will be a HUGE challenge, but I am nothing if not persistant!! (Oh, if anyone is reading this please know that my spelling and typing skills are HORRID and for that I do appologize!! I have background in Accounting, but spelling is like reading another language!!)
I am hopeing my book will get here in the begining of next week and I can start gathering up materials, go raid my Mothers stash (she has been gone for 5 years now, but wins the she who dies with the most fabric...)
Thank you in advance to those of you who will be my saviors in this endevor!! Cross your fingers and if you are the praying type pray for my ability to stay on task, my tonacity for not letting anything stop me, and most importantly MY SANITY!!
thanks all,
Josie