Can't Seem to get going

I'm having to force myself to get things accomplished during this cold spell we're in.  I got up this morning before 8 because Maggie the dog was coming to stay for a couple weeks.  I showered and got dressed, had a light breakfast, read the paper, washed two loads of laundry, put fresh sheets on the bed, washed the dishes, put away all the laundry, worked on the baby quilt I've got started, and wrote a couple emails. I had lunch and then all I wanted to do was take a nap. So I did.

Jenni came back from Walmart and both dogs made a big to-do over her arrival. So cute to watch them.  They had both been napping with me. Sammy on my lap. Maggie at my feet.  By this time, I was STILL tired...and cold!  Decided the hell with it and I went to change into my long johns and pj bottoms and top.  Since my nap had only amounted to 40 minutes, I debated about whether or not to go to bed and take a REAL nap.  Decided against it.  I've noticed that a definite slump period arrives for me every day around 3 or 4 and lasts for a good two hours.  I've got to figure out a regular time to take a nap. Jenni thinks I need to go into my bedroom and do it and not try to catnap in my recliner. She's probably right.

Anyhow, I plan to work on this quilt a little every day.  I thought I was picking a fairly easy and quick pattern but I should have chosen larger templates as it's not going together quite as quickly as I thought it would.  I only need 36 squares and each square is only 9" but it does take time to try and match up corners and colors. I figured I had cut everything out fairly accurately but it seems not  because now that I'm trying to make things match perfectly, the chore is becoming a chore.  Then again, most all of my creations are less than blue ribbon material so why should this time be any different. It'll be okay once I get it done, I suppose. Don't imagine the baby will notice, at any rate.

I've been working on this blanket in stages.  I cut everything out and now I'm strip sewing pieces as I go along.  I take time in between to iron them and let them sit so I can come back to it later.  My goal is 6 squares a day.  I wasn't going to do any sewing until my book is done but the book is going to take me a while and I decided I needed a diversion.  Wanted something interesting to have on tv since I set my machine up in the kitchen area and I finally landed on 'Call the Midwife' on Netflix. I've seen them all, of course, but I wanted something calming to sew by.

My HBO subscription runs through this month and then I'll cancel it. Yesterday I discovered a ton of documentaries that looked good. Watched one with David McCullough, the historian.  I liked it a lot.
I also watched one called 'Paradise Lost' about these three young teenagers in Arkansas who were sent to prison for life (one to death row) for killing three 8-year-old boys.  Fascinating stuff about how the town went on a witch hunt and the police didn't investigate correctly.  Then I  found a sequel about the story that told of thousands of people all over the world jumping on the bandwagon to help them. Johnny Depp, Eddie Vedder, the Dixie Chicks, and others.  It took years but eventually the teens were released. I'd recommend these shows to everyone.

I kept looking for more things to watch but found my mood getting worse and worse as I tuned in on stories about people dying of incurable diseases and living with Alzheimers.  They were all pretty interesting but you have to be in the right frame of mind to watch that stuff.  Later on that night I tuned in to the Discovery channel to watch a couple episodes of Alaska, the Lost Frontier.  Love that show but WAY TOO MANY COMMERCIALS.  I'm looking forward to the day they end up on Netflix or Amazon.

Interesting story in the Port Angeles paper yesterday about the Yarr sisters in Chimacum and their dairy farm.  I'm still kicking myself for not going out to visit the Yarrs when I was searching for info on my mother's family.  I read that they knew everyone and I'm betting I could have learned a thing or two.  Regrets.

My book is coming right along. I've been editing like crazy as I struggled with how I wanted the chapters to run.  I always intended to have my family genealogy included at some point as this book is as much for my relatives to come after me as it is for my friends today.  I've got over 6200 words so far and I've still got the family data to work in.  I was anxious to get to that part but wasn't sure how  to weave it in among the other stories and old blog posts I'm sharing.  And then I'll have to work on which pictures to use.  That will be the hard part -- getting those pictures to fit among the written words. Always a tough thing to work with when you're using Word.

Jenni got her new neurologist appt set up today and that's a big relief for her.  So hard to switch doctors midstream but her new insurance won't cover her doctor at Swedish in Seattle.  It's just terrible the hoops she's had to jump through navigating this whole scenario.  Her new doctor is one she has been to in the past (and she liked him fine) but she wanted to try out the MS Specialty Clinic at Swedish.  She'll see him in February and I think her infusions might be done at Port Townsend now. That will be so much easier travel wise and I'll get a chance to see people more often.

Pictures for today...

 Maggie will be staying here for two weeks while Kathy is in Hawaii. So far her and Sammy are getting along okay.

 Mary shared this one of Jake blowing on a hot muffin he's eager to try out.

 My brother, Les, posted this picture of himself on Facebook.

 Sitting in the front is my grandmother, Lillian Blanchard before she married John Nisbet

 Ruth at a surprise 70th birthday party for her brother, Richard, on the left. Her son, John on right.

The first six squares of my quilt. They actually look a little better than they appear in this photo.

                                  Jake enjoying his afternoon at Monster Jam in Tacoma.

                 Cousin Cindy with her daughter, Mirinda and grandchildren, Jon and Pearl.