Dave's birthday

I'm not sure where the last month has gone; so much for faithfully writing every week. Doug has gone to bed but I have a splitting headache so thought I'd jot down a few thoughts until the Tylenol kicks in.  Dave came up for dinner tonight. It's his birthday tomorrow so we had an impromptu party. Doug did a quick decorating job on a cake I baked, we made homemade strawberry ice cream and then I texted Chad to see if they wanted to come over for dessert. Finley was shy around Dave but did tell him Happy Birthday. After everyone left we went for a short walk. I wanted to go longer but this dumb left knee is giving me fits. I'm trying hard to exercise faithfully but the knee is making it difficult. I can't even ride my stationary bike, that I bought specifically since it would be easier on the knees than a weight bearing exercise such as walking.  So frustrating. I keep putting off going to the doctor but mayhave to make an appointment. I had hoped to do some hiking at Moon Lake this year (only five weeks away!!) but I'll be doing good to navigate over the uneven ground and beach. Sigh.

Every year Jerri and I look forward to the big quilting show in SLC in May. We put it on our calendars months in advance. Well, this year I managed to really hurt my knee on the Monday before the show on Thursday and I couldn't even bear weight on the leg at all for a few days. I spent three days basically in the chair with ice on the knee. I was SO disappointed.  We love looking at the quilts, getting ideas, taking pictures, and visiting the vendors. I was seriously considering getting a small quilting machine this year and wanted to visit with vendors and try different machines out. I'd like to do more donation quilts but don't want to, and can't afford to, send them all out to be quilted. It would be so nice to be able to do it myself. It would be an investment at first but would pay for itself fairly quickly. I have more fabric than I'll use in my lifetime normally but I could make a lot of donation quilts with it. I think that's a win/win situation. I get the joy (and therapy) from sewing and creating and someone in need gets a homemade quilt.We'll see if I can talk myself into getting a machine. I was ready to buy then but in the interim have managed to spend some of the money I had carefully saved.

My recliner broke and since one thing always leads to another we took it to the dump, ripped up carpet and pulled down closet doors and hauled them away too. The room needed to be painted, and as long as I was hiring painters I wanted the hall, laundry, stairwell area painted as well. I'm sure that part of the house hasn't been painted since the home was built in 1962. It needed painting badly when we moved in 20 years ago....  Suffice it to say we've been in upheaval state for longer than I wanted. The painting finally got done last week, the carpet will be installed on Tuesday and the new recliner will be delivered on Wednesday. The closet doors are on back order so they'll be a while. I'll be glad to have the room back and everything moved out of the sun room where it's been piled for nearly a month.