Change is coming!

I received some shocking news yesterday while I was at the gym, and big changes are coming for me! OK -- I'm exaggerating, but for me, it will be a big change. I will not be like my parents -- I will embrace the change, although it's very upsetting. What happened? 

I learned that Joseph, the most amazing spin class instructor, was LET GO!!! No one seems to know why, and I don't have his contact information, but I'm going to try to find it so I can reach out to him. I'm also going to write a few emails to the local club and to the head office in the US. 

I'm sure he would only have been let go because of complaints, since this is a person who went above and beyond to ensure everyone was having a great time in his classes. He prepped videos to keep us entertained while we cycled; his music playlist was amazing and so motivating. Apparently, the class participants found out on Wednesday (I didn't go because I was getting ready to drive to London), and everyone is in an uproar. 

Will there be an uprising? I don't know, but I'm going to find out. I'm not sure I will go to spin class on Monday—it's kind of... Should I boycott the classes because of what happened? Or embrace the change as if nothing happened and continue attending the class. I need to see how the others are going to react. He was so well-loved! 

He must be devastated (OK—men don't get devastated over stuff like that), but he was so passionate about what he did. I can envision TWO people in our class who would potentially have precipitated such an action. One of them I heard is no longer a member of the club. Apparently, she was asked to leave about two weeks ago. She was very annoying! She told the story of health reasons that caused this behavior, but somehow I don't think so. But let's just say that she was LOUD and very disruptive across the entire gym, and it's a huge place. When you notice someone is NOT in the gym, that means they were extremely visible or vocal. Let's call her Jane. 

The other person who could be involved considered herself a close friend of Jane. Let's call her Mary. Mary was so grumpy and never smiled. Once, when there was an issue with sitting on the wrong bike (we are creatures of habit and like to sit on the bike we have reserved), I mentioned after class that perhaps we could just agree on which bike each of us would sit on. I mentioned it to the other ladies who sat in this one area of the spin room. Mary looked at me with daggers in her eyes and said, "I need to be with Jane because Jane needs me now."

Meanwhile, Jane is chatting with Joseph with not a care in the world, but according to Mary, she is grieving because something happened to her son. Anyway --- it's a very mixed-up affair, and if this has something to do with Jane and Mary, I'll scream bloody murder. Thankfully, Jane is gone. She was very socially awkward. 

Obviously, there is more to that story between those two and their interactions with Joseph, but I never gave it more thought than that -- both of them liked chatting him up, but I don't know all the details. But if Jane was getting negative vibes from the club management, I can see her trying to take others down with her. 

I'm not sure you'll appreciate these next pictures. They show up, but not as well as seeing them in person. Here are two table runners that I've done - I stitched them with edge-to-edge quilting on my embroidery machine. The first one has a black thread on the front and back. See how the black disappears into the black fabric and stands out quite a lot on the lighter parts? 

The black thread disappears on the black fabric and is very visible on the lighter fabrics.

And the black thread is very visible on the orange backing. 

The black thread is very visible on the back.

Then I tried a gold thread on the top for the second one, and you can see it more evenly across all the different fabrics on the top. 

The gold shows up equally on all fabrics.

The orange thread on the back literally disappears into the fabric. I like the second one much better than the first one.

The orange thread disappears into the backing.

All the cables and tripods got packed up into their labeled bags, and it's great knowing that when I need them again, it'll be easy to find all the bits. There are a lot of other cables in that white bin, but all I need for Facebook is right here! I must remember to order a new power cord for that switch box, as I still haven't found it and am using the one from my Cricut machine, which I'm selling. So I will need a new one. 

The bag of cables for the Facebook Lives

I got some machine embroidery done yesterday, and while I was babysitting it, I decided to forge ahead and finish the puzzle. Yikes --- that green in the bottom was a bit of a challenge, and it was after 10 PM when I finally went to bed. That is very late for me, but I was determined!!! I will hang on to this puzzle, as it was purchased especially for me in anticipation of my upcoming vacation!

My Mount Etna puzzle is complete!

I'm not sure I'll start another until I'm back from my vacation, but we'll see how it goes. I also started working on the two online presentations for this weekend, and I have mostly completed my part, which is always the largest. Now I wait for the participants to send me their homework pictures, and I insert them. There is SO much to discuss. In a way, I compare myself to Joseph. We are both passionate about what we do, and we don't get paid for all that prep time, but we don't care. While I love the time I spend with the groups, I thoroughly enjoy the prep, especially when I have loads of time to do research. And OH yes—I've been doing some research!!!!

I needed to go back to the library yesterday—yep, I'm becoming very friendly with the librarians, and it's all in the name of research. Research that can't be done online! And that's all I'm going to say about that. And when I got back, it was warm, so I sat in the back with the girls for a bit. 

And guess who was up to her tricks? The instant I sat down, Murphy threw her stuffed fish into the pond. Dogs are very intelligent. She knows that she will get a reaction from me when she does this. 

MOM -- the stuffed fish JUMPED into the pond!

Thankfully, it was close enough so she could dig it out herself. Did you notice that Lexi is just happy to lie down beside me? 

MOM - I rescued the stuffed fish!

Not content with the stuffed fish, she went into the house and grabbed a ball, then dumped it on the ground. I swear she is losing it, though, because she stares at that ball like she expects it to move. 

MOM - Why won't the ball move?

And when it doesn't move on its own, she takes action and grabs it and throws it in the pond. 

MOM -- the ball moved - into the pond! 

Knowing that I wasn't going to get up, she decided to stare at it in the water. 

MOM - the ball is going to drown!!

And when I still wouldn't get up, she rescued the ball herself. 

MOMO - no worries - I saved the ball

The same thing happens when I sit at the kitchen table to eat. Murphy decides that it is the perfect time to play ball, and we are no longer going to play ball in the house. Well, then you can pet me!!!! She is relentless in her attention-seeking. I try to spend some quality time with her every day, but that is not enough. 

I put on my headphones and listened to an audiobook -- I have a few that I downloaded in the last couple of days. Focusing on the book put me in the zone, and I puttered around doing some machine embroidery, getting the tables back where they belong, and actually attempting to clear the cutting table. There is literally NO room on it at the moment, but I don't need to cut anything yet. 

Work continues on the two presentations for the weekend, as well as the in-person ones. I need to make a few samples, review the already-made presentations, and gather more samples that have already been made. 

And if you are looking for a retreat house and you live on the east side of the city, here's the link to the house I was at several weeks ago. It's called My Quilting Retreat. The house is large and in a beautiful, rural spot, but it is about 6 minutes from Annie's Quilt Shop. Lots of bright light in the sewing room and everyone gets a double bed!!!! Check out the link. 

On that note, I'd better get organized as it's going to be a lot happening today, but at my new relaxed pace! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Change is good!

They say that change is good and sometimes I'm good with change and sometimes, I resist.  

But it's time to make some changes - well do things differently.  A normal Friday morning involves going to the gym near my house.  I work out, have a moment of reflection in the steam room and then on the road by 7:30 AM.  Then depending on the traffic, I could spend almost one hour driving to work. I really, really hate wasting that time. 

LifeTime Athletic - Mississauga

A while back, I mentioned that LifeTime was opening up a new location near my work. This was the best news.  The new facility opened last week and I decided to try it out this morning. 

It took me 30 minutes to get to the gym.  I could NOT have gotten there faster unless I really broke the speed limit.  Let's say, there was ZERO time waiting and the longest part was getting from my house to the highway! Well one third of the time.  That was EASY!!

LifeTime Vaughn

The facilities are VERY different on the inside.  The locker rooms are the same - more or less.  Some new locking system that uses your membership card which I had to ask someone else how to use.  Just didn't push hard enough!

The equipment is all brand new with HDTV on all the cardio pieces.  WOW.   Beautiful large bright spaces - tons of windows. BRAND new different cycles in the cycle studio. I took a tour of the entire facility (OK - so not the men's locker room), and I'm in love!   Yes - I know I'm spoiled to go to this kind of a gym, but it's worth it to me and I get my money's worth from it.  We all have our priorities in life and this is one of them for me. I wish I was richer so I could partake of the Spa, Cafe and other services. I only go for those that are included for "Free" in my membership. 

So I did my workout, had a good look around, had a reflective moment in the steam room, shower and was in the car by 7:30 AM.  Instead of a potential 50 - 60 commute, I had maybe 10 minutes and that included stopping at Tim's (with a significantly shorter line than usual) and then I was at work.  

Guess what?  I'll be changing my routine.  I can gain about 30 minutes every day by doing this. Is that worth it to me?  You bet.  Will I do it every day?  Not sure. 

What else did I do that was new yesterday?  Went out to dinner before our guild meeting. Don't usually do that. But it was WHAT we had for dinner that was new.  Forget about the salads, forget about the burgers.  Nope - the four of us had BROWNIES!   Isn't that a hoot? 

Brownie to share with one other person

There were four of us and I'm going to blame this all on Ronda.  It was her fault and she had Lynn and Tish under her spell and they all agreed to eat just the brownies. I had no choice. But it was worth it!!!  

The other thing that is new is our garbage pick-up system.  One of things that I'm missing because I'm in the office all day is what goes on in my neighbourhood.  I used to be aware of stuff that happened right away instead of days later. But that's just life.  I still have a LOT more years after I retire to check out the neighbourhood.  

So we moved to the new cart garbage system in January.  I know - here I am finally getting pictures - MONTHS later.  For some reason, the truck came by late - after I got home from work and I grabbed the camera to snap some pictures.  I did feel for the driver as I watched him pick up several bins. One house, he had to get out to wing the extra bags of recycling that had been left beside the bin into the truck.  At the next house, he knocked over the recycling bin and all the bottles, cans, etc. went spilling onto the driveway.  Poor guy - so he had to pick them up by hand and throw them in the truck.  

Grab

Dump

Release

It's rather a fascinating system. I still feel guilty as heck to put ALL the recycling into one bin.  I was still separating stuff even though it all went into the same truck!

So change is a really, really good thing.  I think we need to embrace change and I think it also helps to keep our brain active.  If you do the same thing everyday, your brain doesn't even need to work!  This way, my brain never knows what's going to happen that day so it better stay on its' toes!

On that note, I'm off to find out how else I can bring more changes into my day!

Have a super duper day!


Ciao!

The lottery!

Last week someone in the office organized a group ticket purchase for the Lotto Max which was $50 Million.  Out of all the tickets we purchased, we won a SINGLE free ticket.  Good grief!  That same person did NOT want to organize a group draw this week so I decided that I would do it.  Then I thought to mayself - do I want to organize one more thing?  NO!!!   But then Marilou asked me again and so I relented and decided to organize the draw.  

So yesterday I was at the mall buying the tickets so they could be photocopied and distributed amongst the group members.  Well - imagine my surprise when I got back to the office and realized that I had NOT put money in so I was out of the group!!!!   Oh boy - I have done stupid things in my life - but seriously????   Off I went back to the mall to buy my share of tickets.

But that was actually a good thing as I had wanted to take a couple of pictures at the mall (Vaughn Mills) and I had forgotten my phone on my desk.  

There is a Legoland at Vaughn Mills. I love Lego!!!!!   Look at this gorgeous picture - and yep - it is all done with Lego!!!!

Toronto waterfront in Lego

Detail of the waterfront

I had a quick look around as I was in a hurry.   Saw the Lego bike. I have one of these in my office but I had to purchase an entire Lego Friends set in order to get the bike!!!!

Lego bike

They had all kinds of key chains - mostly with Star Wars stuff, but no bikes on their own. Drat!  Well - I don't need a second one either. Unless - they give me this one....................

Lego bike

Yep - I covet that big Lego bike.  It is pretty cute and well - I want it just because.  Perhaps if we win the lottery - I can convince them to sell it to me.

I am NOT good at checking lottery numbers.  I see that ONE ticket in Ontario won the $60 million.  Wow!!!!   It blows my mind to even think about that much money.  I suppose I will check later today, but since others have the numbers - I bet they have already checked!


One other neat thing about Vaughn (besides the Lego store in the mall) is this.   I am a member of LifeTime Athletics.  A great gym - yes it is expensive but to me it is worth it and I feel I get my money's worth from it.

LifeTime  Mississauga

 They were supposed to open a second gym - in Vaughn, but plans got scraped and they opened in Ajax instead.  I heard that the plans were back on for a third gym in Vaughn.  One of my gym friends mentioned that it was on Weston Road, but I wasn't sure where.

I exit the 407 at Weston and the other day when I was sitting at the stop light to turn left onto Weston, I had a bit of an ephipany.   YEP - that is a LifeTime gym.  Now the sun was shining and lots of stuff in the way but that is the location of the new LifeTime.  Corner of Weston Road and 407.

Vaughn location of LifeTime

 I recognized the front top part of the building.  Then got to work and confirmed it on the internet.  That means that once it is open - I can zip to the gym when there is less traffic - it is not the 407, but getting to the 407 that bogs me down.  Then I can work out, have breakfast at the gym or Tim's and zip to work.  I love it and can't wait for the building to be finished.  Not sure the scheduled completion date - I'll check with the gym friends next week.  One of them works for LifeTime so I can get the scoop from her!!!


More cutting on Misty Pines.  I finished a 10 meter bolt last night and all I had left was this skinny little strip.  I still need about 14 inches and will try to get it at Ruti's today. Drat!!!!!!

Last of that 10 meter bolt!!!!

Making progress, but it is hard when I have not so much time!!!!!

Anyway - I have three classes to teach today - two are just one hour long, but all still required prep work and I must get that finished.

Have a great day!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!

It's here......................

I wrote a series of Tech Tips that appeared in A Needle Pulling Thread magazine from Spring 2010 until Fall 2014. These articles were chock full of information about rotary cutting, quarter inch seam allowance, pressing and a whole lot more.

To be truthful - those Tech Tips originated back in 2002 when I did a Block of the Month for the Mississauga Guild. I felt that providing a block pattern each month wasn't enough (yep - call me crazy) so I created a series of handouts that became the base for these Tech Tips. The ones in the book have pictures and of course as I learned stuff - I updated them.

Funny when I think back that I started to quilt in late 1998 and wrote a series of technical articles about quilting in 2002!!!!!    But I am a quick learner and MOST of the information in that original series is still true today!!!!   I learned so much from keeping ahead of the students when I became a teacher and of course - I have made a LOT of mistakes over the years.

When QUILSocial was released in June 2014, the articles were assembled into a booklet that was "published" as an e-book. If you signed up for QUILTSocial, you should have received half of the e-book for free. You had the option to purchase the entire e-book or you could also order as a physical book.

I have had loads of requests for the actual book and guess what - the books have arrived!!!

Tech Tip book

Of course - I am very excited to finally see the book in print (well I have had a copy for a while) but exciting to be able to offer it to you!

Have a quick peek at my original copy that I ordered on-line.

The original book

Do you see any difference between them???

The difference between the old (on the left) and the new (on the right)??

How about now???   Yes - it is very subtle, but before the book went to print, Carla changed the colours on the cover and the inside cover from pink to ORANGE!!!!   Very appropriate!

Bottom line - I have books for SALE!!!!!   They are $15.00 and I shall be flogging them over the next month. They will be available for sale at the Brampton Quilt Show which is on May 2 and 3 at the Jim Archdekin Arena in Brampton. I will have them at the Mississauga Guild meeting, at my sewing days and any classes that I am teaching. And yes - I will sign them if you want.

I have lots so don't worry about not getting a copy and if they disappear quickly, I shall reorder again.


Now I have a little task for you. Remember my "While I'm Away Challenge??"   I haven't received much so I guess that means you are giving me a break while I am away????   If you still want to be part of that challenge (all you have to do is give me something) - check out the post so you can get all the details. That deadline is fast approaching - well you have ONE month.


On that note - I am off to spin class.    Oh boy - I forgot. This is the start of the locker room switcharoo!   They need to do some renovations to the ladies locker room, and because all the workers are men - they are switching the locker rooms for a couple of weeks.

No danger of going into the wrong locker room with that huge sign!!!

Let's just say that the men have a beautiful locker room. OK - so do we, but theirs is much bigger (well it seems bigger) because it is much more open and spacious.  Apparently we have more lockers?  I'm thinking moms with their strollers would LOVE this locker room. None there early in the morning, but during the day - it can be a zoo.

It was pretty funny this morning because we didn't get to see our usual people as everyone spread out and there was a TON of people that I have never seen before. Where did they come from???   Or are they always there, but tucked into the bowels of the ladies' locker room??  Going into the steam room was a bit challenging as when I entered, it was full of steam. ACK - can't see a thing - where do I sit down? How big is this place? And then when I did sit down - OH - where is the door?????  And I could hear someone in there so not as if I could go feeling around!   But it was fine once I got my bearings. Hey - LIFETIME - I love the men's locker room. We should switch!  Don't worry  - already told them that - numerous times this morning.


Ok - off to Monday sewing where I will be doing some hand stitching. Got to finish up a binding for a quilt in the Brampton show this weekend. I am so glad that I was reasonable in what I could get done for the show! (one quilt!)  Making a bit of headway on cleaning up and putting away. I'll keep you up to date on that!

Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!

Change is good!

Have you ever wondered about people and their weight?  Why is that person overweight, why is that person just right or why is that person so skinny?

We have a tendency to assume that a skinny person is a healthy person, however that is not always the case. I have struggled with my weight all my life. Well struggle may not be a good word, but I have been conscious of my weight my entire life.  When I was little - I was the BIG kid at school which translated into the FAT kid.  I know - things like that don't ever leave you!

While I am OK with my current weight,  I see a few pounds crept on over the holidays. All those damn cookies!!!!  Even though I work out in spin class, that is not enough. I do not do weights, I do not stretch, I eat OK, but not the best and I love my snacks. And while snacking is a good thing, the kind of snacks I eat are not good. And my posture sucks!

My gym (Lifetime Athletic) is having another 90-day challenge.  There are two aspects - you can sign up for weight loss or transformation. Cost is $25 for the 90 days. Each week we get to try a new activity (OK - so there is a hidden sales pitch in there but many activities are free - just trying to get people to use them more), we get some lectures on nutrition (where I am going to take copious notes and ASK many questions).   It is TIME for me to make some changes. I only have one life to live and I want to be able to enjoy it as best I can.  I want to be able to roll around on the floor with my girls, I want to remain somewhat agile as I age and I just want to live a better lifestyle and I want to ride my bike for a long long time.  AHA - that is the key - I have to WANT that - no one can make me!!!!

Had my weigh in this morning (I'm not telling you the number - it is just a number!) and my body fat (again - it is just a number) BUT I will share with you my results at the end (the percentage change!!).  OH gosh - now that I have made that public - I had better get my butt in gear.  I do not want to disappoint myself!!!


Wow - but I did have a great workout and well - I love that gym. What can I say!


The other night, I had the privilege of visiting a printing press.  I know - how exciting!  Well - I love to look at all kinds of stuff like that (that is the part of me that came from my Dad!).  When we went into the back to have a look at the proofs (of the latest issue of A Needle Pulling Thread), I wanted to have a better look at the printing press.  Since they were NOT printing anything at the time - they let me have a good look around.  I even took pictures (after I asked).  Have a look - it is pretty cool.

I do not remember the type of press that this was, but the sheet of paper (or whatever they call that) goes right through this printer which is VERY long. It prints one side first - then the other side. NO TURNING - the sheet of paper goes right through.

The printing press

 The printer is so big that there is a catwalk on the top which I got to have a walk on.

The catwalk on top of the printer

This first part is where the top side of the page is printed.

Here are the inks!!!!  That is amazing!

I did NOT dare touch that, but it looked so intriguing. When I asked if it was GOOPY - the answer was yes. Good thing I didn't touch - I would have been branded!!!!    

The second half of the press is where the underside of the paper gets printed.

The ink rollers in a different configuration. Ooh - look at all those dials!!!!

Checking the proofs for colour - wouldn't you love a big workstation like that!!!!

Getting the proofs or are they called strike-offs???   Anyway - it is a very long tedious process, but apparently once the colours are correct - then the actual printing doesn't take too long.

I think this is a guide for when the printing is done

Oh look - more goopy stuff!!!!   I touched NOTHING!!!!

It was really interesting to have a visit and we had a fabulous brain storming session as well.  May be some new stuff in the works. Have to wait to see about that.


I was at the Hobby Horse the other day and I love to poke around to see what is new. I found these great GRAB n GO kits.  Everything you need is in the kit and PRE-CUT!!!!!   How fun is that. I thought it might be a great summer project.

Grab n Go Kits.

M and I went to Target yesterday. It is very sad to see that store close. I know they haven't been in Canada very long, but someone made a big mistake in checking the market.  Very sad and I feel for those employees - many of whom probably worked at Zellers.  Anyway - we went to check out the bargains. 10 to 30% - not that great, but we did buy a few things. I was on the hunt for that video baby monitor.  OH MY GOD - they are over $200.  I do NOT want to pay that price for one. They were only 10% off as well.  So just saying - if anyone has a video baby monitor that they no longer need/want - I would be happy to negotiate!!!!

Let's not forget QUILTSocial today.  There is a FABULOUS project. Check it out - I think you will like it!!!



On that note - I am a bit late - was chatting up everyone at the gym this morning!!

Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!

ME - in the kitchen? There must be a mistake!!!!

I am not sure where this whole business of ME not liking to cook has come about. But I guess I promote it all the time!!!!   I don't mind to cook, but given the choice between cooking and doing something else - I would most likely choose the something else!  Well in most cases!!!!

So when LifeTime decided to have a "cooking" competition this past weekend with people from their TEAM classes, I signed up!!!!  I know - why do I do this to myself????   I'm just "looking for a good time!!!"

The timing worked out for me and there I am at the gym on Saturday afternoon. There are THREE TEAMS - Team Boot Camp, Team Fitness and Team Weight Loss. I think the idea was to have THREE people from each team. Well when I arrived and found my team mate (Carol), we realized that they were only going to have TWO teams and so we had to split up. DRAT!!!!!

We were working in the LifeCafe and NO access to the kitchen so you know this is going to be EASY!!!!!  

Anyway - sit back and enjoy - it was a a lot of fun .............


We had to make FOUR different salad dressings in 30 minutes and then make a salad.

Here are the salad ingredients!

The dressing ingredients (we even had recipes for these - how easy is that!!!!)

Our team - (gosh I didn't even get the names of the others - too focused!!!)

Our competition  (that is Carol in the middle)

Hard at work!!!!

Making a mess and loving it!!!!

Isn't this just the best cafe in a gym?????   It really is an amazing place!!!!!

Our FOUR dressings ready to go. Now they would be WAY BETTER if we had had a way to blend, shake or whatever. But stirring just didn't mix the ingredients up enough and a couple tasted only like oil. I even have a feeling that one or two had WAY TOO MUCH oil in them. 

Starting to work on our salad. We had to choose FOUR of the salad ingredients and one of our dressings. 

The competition's salad

Our salad

The competition (OK - so their presentation was nicer!!!!)

The judges with OUR salad (see how they are all smiling)

The judges with the competition salad (see - now they are NOT smiling)

All the cooking participants with the nutritionist in the grey t-shirt in the middle

The competition

Our team and the lady on the extreme right was SUPPOSED to be cooking but she gave her spot up for me. Her name is ELAINE - how cool is that. She took all the pictures. Thanks ELAINE!!!!!!

On our way home from the museum, we had to pass the big thimble in the Toronto fashion district. I am yelling at M to take a picture. I love this even though I already have pictures. She grabs the camera and starts snapping and YUP - we got one!!!!!

Thimble in Toronto's Fashion District

Oh - you want to know who won the competition????   The judges graded them on a scale of 1 - 10. I think they fixed it because the other team won by .5, but that was for their presentation!!!!!!  

Actually we are all winners. I had a lot of fun and I WILL make my own dressings in the future (they are NOT hard) and we got to meet new people. I can't wait until they do it again!!!!!!!!!!!


On that note - I was going to quilt a quilt today, but I am on a roll to get the rest of this mess dealt with and that is what I am going to do today.


Have a good day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!