SOME DAYS YOU WIN!

 We are on a rollercoaster of weather.  Some days you win with 76 degrees ... some days it's 95.  We were lucky yesterday with the lower of those two, going all the way down to 72 degrees for today.  What's up with that?  Didn't anyone tell Mother Nature it's SUMMER?  Not that I'm complaining, but this has been the coolest spring we've had in ages.  Maybe my grass won't die off this year after all.  

In other news, I guess the President will make Daylight Savings Time permanent.  It's going to be interesting to see how that works out.  Will we have more sunlight all year long?  I'm finding that hard to visualize.

We didn't have anything planned, me and the children.  Mr. Cooper slept the morning away while Kitters played chase around the house.  That's always a scary thing.  Is she chasing a still alive gopher?  A big fat moth?  Maybe a screaming fast lizard ..... nope ... she was chasing her tail!!  

I on the other hand was once again on my phone trying to get answers.  Yes there is a User Manuel for the van, but it affects nothing about the camping part.  And of course now, if you want to know anything, you have to go to the on-line manual that is hard to navigate.  There is no book.

Finally, after about 30 minutes of looking, Google found it for me.  There are twenty five buttons on the steering wheel.  It doesn't tell you HOW to find them, so it takes a lot of pushing ... nope ... maybe here ... nope, not there.  Hit the HOUSE button, then roller ball down to SERVICE.  This is like playing a game of Donkey Kong.  You have to start over six times,

FINALLY ... I had three choices, one of which was Particulate Filter.  That's the boogie that has been causing all the problems.  If it says 95-100, you are in regen mode.  YAY I WIN ... maybe.  It said 6%, so hopefully the regen is done and I can get it smogged.  HOPEFULLY!!

And THEN ... some days you LOSE ... on the same day of the big win!  Here I am at the quilting machine once again.  I wanted to try this pattern, though I was very hesitant.  Hey, it's been doing just fine, so GO for it Nancy.

I held my breath through the first row.  Seeeeee ... it did just fine.  It's all going to be okay.

NOPE ... NO IT'S NOT!  It came to a screeching halt making horrible scraping noises.  Big sigh.  I set it up and tried again.  It refused to pick up the bobbin thread.  The third time, there was that crunching noise again.  That grayed out my screen completely, meaning the only alternative is to reset the entire programming, in which case I will never be able to get it started at the same point.  I will have to call back East and have them walk me through it.

I think I lost big time in this endeavor however ... I'm sure it will have to go to the shop over an hour away for repairs.  I suppose it's due for maintenance and cleaning anyway.  The last time I did that I messed up the coders that live on the bottom of the machine (because no one told me about them) when I set it in my truck.  I am not looking forward to THIS one at all.  Add to that, I have no confidence in the repair shop here ... not even a little bit.  I may have to wait until December and haul it to Arizona.

Sadly, Mr. Cooper did not have a good afternoon.  His leg is okay, but he could not sit still.  I'm not feeling good about it at all.  I have to laugh though ... come on Cooper, maybe you have to go outside.  So out we go, he makes a big loop around the grass, does absolutely nothing, then runs to the counter for a treat.  He's a smart cookie.  

Back in the sewing room, I finished up this Marine quilt.  It's not my favorite, but I really needed to do something different.  I got two huge pieces of 108" backing from Hobby Lobby so I don't have to cut and paste the backing any more.  Two long cuts and I have pieces for two quilts.  That's a small win.

I finished off the late afternoon by picking fabric for the next one.  When done, I will have nine of these panel quilts for the Veterans.  Sadly, the next four will have to be quilted by my quilt shop friends.  I'm sure I won't get my machine back (if I ever get it there) for at least two months.

I'm not sure the Van knowledge trumps the broken longarm to make it a fabulous day, but at least I got SOMETHING accomplished.  

And NOW .... drum roll please ..... IT'S BINGO TIME!!  Too bad both of my backup cashiers are out of town for the next month.  Luckily I'm feeling human again and will go, but I'm not doing HALF the stuff I used to.  It's time they find someone else to help.