What Would You Do

with 540 million dollars??  Now, I don't play the lottery.  I think I've only played it once back in PA when it was over $200 million but generally as a rule, I don't play.  Now I don't have a problem with anyone else playing.  I'm just too cheap to toss money after a dream that I have a 1 in 176 million chance to win.  Sure, it could happen.  But things like that just don't usually happen to me.  But I was thinking the other day of what I would do if I did win the lottery.  There's the usual things like tithing, making sure my kids were taken care of , paying off my mortgage,  yada yada yada.  Then I thought maybe I'd buy or set up a needlework store.  But having worked in the industry for 17 years, I've decided being a owner is not for me.  Especially in this economy.  The business is too cyclical and with the prices of everything going up with no sign of stopping, well, a LNS can be a money pit for the owner.  Now don't get me wrong but I think anyone who owns a LNS and keeps it running is a miracle worker.  But it's just not for me.  So what would I do with my money?  I'd buy an apartment on the Residensea, a floating city.  Ever since I saw a TV special on it, I have wanted to buy an apartment on the ship.  It's a cruise liner with actual apartments that you can buy and live in while the ship travels the world.  They have stores on board, restaurants, libraries, theaters, and just about anything you can imagine to make life a breeze.  Imagine never having to unpack, being able to have home-cooked meals, all while seeing the world.  Gosh, now I want to run out and buy a lottery ticket.  Better go while there's still time!

Quaker Gone Tropic Update

So this is my weekly update for Quaker Gone Tropic.  I haven't felt this enthusiastic about a project in a long time.  I'm having a lot of fun picking out colors or changing them as I go.  I'm even feeling better about the color of the large motif at the top. Last night I decided that it needed a touch of pink in it.  I think that will tie in really nicely with the variegated color at the top.  I think it's going to be either one of the 2 pinks I have shown here.  I'm leaning towards the lighter one but I think I will stitch a sample of both in the corner of the fabric to see which one I like the best.  I haven't frogged anything on it in a while either so that makes this even nicer.  Let's hope I haven't jinxed myself now.

Scary Thoughts

Now I don't often get very serious here in my blog.  I figure this is a place to come and tell everyone about my successes and sometimes my failures.  I like writing about things I like or that make me happy.  But I've had some rather disturbing, okay to me it's downright scary, news.  I've been being treated for glaucoma for about 10 years now.  My pressure has always been somewhat higher than it should be but it's been manageable.  But for the last couple of years, no matter what drops I've used, the pressure has been much higher than usual.  So it was recommended that I see a specialist in glaucoma and begin treatment with her.  Well, apparently the vision in my left eye has deteriorated more rapidly that we anticipated and the "easy" laser surgery is no longer an option.  Now I'm looking at a canaloplasty  which isn't quite as hard as the remaining surgery but certainly not as easy as simply cutting a few holes in the back of my eyeball with a laser.  Now we're not just looking at controlling the glaucoma, we're looking at preserving what's left of my vision in that eye.  I've always had bad eyesight so I've never taken my sight for granted but the idea of losing my sight even partially scares me.  Now I can still do everything that I could before I got this news.  I'm not restricted at all although sometimes I do have a blurry area that I have to contend with.  But the idea that there may come a time when I can't drive or read or knit or stitch bothers me.  So I know God has everything in control and I'm sure there's something He wants me to learn from this but it's still very scary to me.

Quaker Gone Tropic Update

Here's my weekly update for the Quaker Gone Tropic I've been working on.  I'm still not convinced that I like the color of the large central motif but I've decided not to mess with it for right now.  I did find a orangeish-red and a peachy orange that I really like and plan on incorporating them into the piece.  If I decided to keep the color at the top, I'll also find another motif I can use it for so it doesn't look quite so lonely up there.  I also switched out the light purple for a bright teal and I really like that change.  So all in all, I'm quite happy with the way this is turning out.  I just wish I had more time to stitch.

What Happens in Vegas...

usually stays in Vegas, right?  Well, Dave and I had an unplanned trip to Sin City last weekend.  Seems my oldest boy decided to go and elope with his girlfriend.  The original plan was for them to get married in June down here but I guess that they just couldn't wait and decided to celebrate their anniversary of becoming a couple with a marriage.  Now I'm thrilled that they got married.  I just wish they could have stuck with the original plan and gotten married  here.  But it was their decision and it was the right one for them.  They got married in a little (and I do mean little) chapel called Wee Kirk O' the Heather by a minister who looked just like Elvis.  Now he wasn't dressed like Elvis but when you looked at his face, he sure looked like him.  It was a short ceremony.  We took the newlyweds (and the groom's best friend who flew out from PA) out to dinner then played a couple dollars on the slots.  We came home Sunday morning and they went back to Flagstaff.  It was a quick trip but I wouldn't have missed it for the world.  I will ask them if they mind if I post a few of my pictures here so you can all see the happy couple.  Hard to believe I have 2 married kids now.