What's your Plan B?

Yesterday my house was busier than an Amazon distribution hub! There was stuff being picked up and dropped off the ENTIRE day, and I was trying to work!!

I started to assemble the quilt top and had two rows together before the first interruption. I thought I was doing great. 

Lynn was first, and she couldn't pick up the stuff any earlier as I had to make a pick-up from somewhere else, and I only did that the night before. 

Back to work. 

Then Emily stopped by to pick up something, and we hadn't seen each other in a while, so we had things to talk about. 

Then I spotted my neighbor out walking her dog, so I had to chat with her to see if she would help with the girls. I tried talking with her several times, but it never worked out. See -- things work best for me at the last minute. 

OK -- back to work. 

Then Kathi called me, and she was at the door with ONE of my Plan Bs. More on that in a minute. 

Back to work. 

Then the neighbor came over so I could show her around. I still have to write out a list of instructions for her. She's a sweetheart, and I need to make them quilts. They are FIVE in the family. 

Back to work. It might have been around this time that I realized I had turned some of the blocks upside down when I started to sew the rows together. NO!!!!! 

I got a call from a random person (or so it seemed), and he's the blind installer for my Hunter Douglas blinds that had to be repaired. They had been off the windows in Studio U since we had the windows replaced. Blinds to Go did NOT charge me to fix the blinds. Yeah, Blinds to Go. The installer arrived, and within minutes, he had the blinds back up. It's a shame that we can no longer get these bottom-up blinds. Since May 1, they can no longer sell blinds with cords attached to them. 

So someone needs to invent a tracking system along the sides of the window. Maybe more money but cleaner and I'd buy them for the front window. Hunter Douglas??? Where are you??? I love them because they give you privacy, yet the entire window is not covered. Pella used to see built-in bottom-up blinds, but they discontinued this feature due to too many repairs. 

The blinds are back in Studio U

Back to work. Let's say that the top was finished shortly after 3 PM. I had already made the backing earlier in the day, and it was loaded on the long arm. 

I was just about to start quilting when Mary stopped by to drop something off and pick something up! Nice new car - Mary! 

Back to work!

Then my boss called to chat briefly. 

Back to work. 

Around 6 PM, I was working on the binding, and DH called me and said something has been delivered. WHAT???? I immediately dropped what I was doing to check that out. More on that in a minute. 

Then I walked to Diane's to drop off some fabric sitting here for a week and pick up quilts. When I got back, there was another package on the front step. WHAT???? And that is SIX full quilts that I got from Diane!! She's a machine! 

Six more community project quilts

All in all, it was the craziest day ever at our house. Of course, just the day when I needed to be focused. DH shook his head and said, "you do this to yourself every time!". HEY -- I did NOT plan for all those pick-ups and drop-offs on the same day. The blind installer called out of the blue, although that was on my list of things to follow up on. 

So do you have a Plan B when Plan A may not work out? I try, and sometimes my Plan B is real, and sometimes, I just pretend I have a Plan B. 

In 2010, I took my first extended bicycle trip from Vancouver, BC, to Inuvik in the Northwest Territories through some fantastic wilderness and unpaved highways, which was glorious. 

However, I did NOT have fenders for my bike. I could have bought them, but I didn't. You know what happens if you have ever ridden in the rain or the mud. You get mud all up your back, wet and dirty. 

There was nowhere to buy a fender, so we improvised with Plan B. Do you know what we did? Do you know what this is? 

My bike rack

I had a rack on my bike to carry a small pack for food and rain gear. I found a pair of rigid swimming flippers at a dollar store, and someone had electrical tape so that flipper got taped to the rack. It's still there and still working! It was hilarious, but we all had a good chuckle. It was dubbed the "flender!"

The flender

So between DH and I, four things got ordered at the last minute. OK -- so it was ordered on Friday, but when you leave on Wednesday and things need to ship, that's last minute. My quick-dry undies came on Monday with the other three items ordered from Amazon (notice I even said their name out loud TWICE today) not scheduled to arrive until Friday. When we placed the order, did I want to proceed? 

You know me -- let's wing it and see what happens. Last night at dinner time, a package arrived, and this was in it. 

My water bottle clips

These are clips for disposable water bottles (many people use them for hiking but refill as they go), and they are attached to a carabiner so they can hang off anywhere on your backpack. I'm not sure I will like the swinging motion, but I now have them and will take one or two with me and test them out. Nothing like trial by fire. 

I was sure we would NOT see the other two packages until today, and I would be gone by then. So imagine my surprise when I got home from Diane's to discover another package on the doorstep. OK -- so the Amazon driver either missed that and had to come back, or there was a second truck in the neighborhood. Not super efficient, but I didn't care!

This time, the package contained the mesh water bottle holder that attaches to the backpack strap. This is the one that I REALLY wanted to arrive in time, and it did. This fits a SMART (it's a disposable water bottle branded SMARTwater) water bottle, and I'll buy one on the other side of security later today. It has a strap on the back to secure it, so it doesn't swing. 

The second water bottle holder

Maybe I'll like them, maybe I'll hate them, but at least I have them. I've heard good reviews from other hikers about how much they like them and the no hassle of filling and keeping the water bladder clean. 

The last item that hasn't arrived yet was a waist belt. But Kathi came to the rescue on that one. She was at the CAA store (and I had checked online the night before). She delivered it at Noon. Thank you, Kathi!!!!

The waist belt

I took it for a test walk last night on the way to Diane's, and it's PERFECT. When the other one comes, I'll have two, but these are things I will use ALL the time. It's like a fanny pack, but it's super FLAT as it's only meant to hold your phone, money, and ID. I should have investigated this years ago for my daily walks in the summer. Now the cell phone is right handy in front! 

My waist belt

I also have a chest wallet, so I'll be splitting up my valuables amongst the various places and have some cash in several places. I MUST photocopy all that documentation. All that documentation -- there are four things, two of which are debit and credit cards! OH DH -- needs to pick up my cash today -- I wonder if he forgot? 

Did I have a Plan B for the water bottles and the phone? Not really -- I can hold them in my hands as I'm walking. I might be able to buy those products when I arrive. Thankfully the Amazon gods were looking down on me! See --- I have no issues buying from them when I have no other choice! 

I know you're curious if anything got done yesterday. I was shocked, but the quilt was DONE before bed. It's quilted, bound, and ready to be shoved into a box and walked to the post office today. The fourth writing assignment was edited and sent last night. That leaves one more writing assignment for this morning. The sewing machines are off and unplugged! 

Have I packed yet? Nope -- the tags are still on the clothes. And I can't just throw stuff willy-nilly in and hope it works out on the other end. I had to be very aware of the weight. That's the plan for this afternoon. I still have a few e-mails to send, and I have NO IDEA how to set an OUT OF OFFICE notice on my e-mail. I have looked in the past, and on this version of Outlook, it just doesn't exist. Trust me -- I've Googled it several times. It should be a big box, but I don't have that big box on my e-mail. Sigh...........................

There were two blog posts yesterday, one with my usual ramblings and one with classes. Hopefully, you didn't miss the one on the classes as it's important and has all the classes/clubs I'm teaching over the next while. Here's the link in case you didn't see it. 

OH -- I had fun sewing my patch onto my backpack. I had to go from the left and then from the right because the rigid structure of the pack would NOT fit under the arm. 

Sewing my patch onto the backpack

But there it is!!! People will know I'm from Canada! It doesn't look like it's completely stitched down in that photo, but it is!

My Camino patch

And do you think we've had a lot of rain lately??? I saw these little fungi growing in my front yard. 

Fungi in the front yard

Well, that about wraps up today. There should be NO interruptions today - thankfully. It should be quiet, and I can get the last of my stuff done as there's no option for -- "I'll send that e-mail when I arrive." I do NOT want to be doing that so if it doesn't get done - it doesn't get done! 

I'm off to spin class -- yep, more torture session (OK -- I like it) before I go, and I'm bursting with energy this morning. Then laundry to get rid of all the stinky clothes and pack. I'm checked in -- you have to love the Air Canada app. So far, so good; the flight is on time. Keeping my fingers crossed. I just need to book an Uber as it will not make sense for DH to take me to the airport at that time of day. It will take mere minutes to get there with the HOV lanes, but coming back in the traffic? It will take hours! and I'm a big girl! 

Oh yes -- don't forget the Virtual Retreat this weekend. Here are the links for Saturday and Sunday. There are scheduled blog posts for the remainder of this week with those links. And there will be a Virtual Retreat in September, and I must also get those links up. It's the same link, so if something screws up, just check back in the blog for the links. You have to love technology!!!

Saturday, August 27 --- starts at 6 PM EST

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89254233911?pwd=VGQrTnFybW1HMWpleHA4M2Q2NGVwZz09 Meeting ID: 892 5423 3911 Passcode: 982797

Sunday, August 28 - starts at NOON.

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81693717518?pwd=STNoVVQzbDd4ZnROQndNNlpvcC90QT09 Meeting ID: 816 9371 7518 Passcode: 579285

I have no idea how quickly I'll get back to blogging, but keep in mind my schedule will be six hours off. I hope to blog in the afternoon, so it'll be there the following day for those who read it during your coffee. Just know that it might be a bit irregular as I get myself organized. But I hope to be posting pictures on Facebook as well. 

Have a super day!!!! Or I should be saying this   -- que tengas un buen día

Ciao!!!