QUILT MACHINES AND COOKIES!

Woohoo ... I made it ... and I'm back home.  There's nothing like getting up early and getting gussied up to hit the road by 7:30 in the morning.  I felt awful, but after a nice cup of joe, I was at least caffeinated.

Surprisingly, traffic wasn't bad at all.  I cruised right along keeping it under 65 so as to be a little more fuel efficient.  My usual route had been rerouted, making it a longer drive.  Way back in the dark ages I would take this back road every time.  No stop lights ... just a nice long two lane country road through the fig trees.  

NOW?  It's a seven mile four lane route with stop lights every half mile and traffic bumper to bumper.  I spent most of the time trying not to get hit by crazy drivers through the maze of solid businesses for the entire distance.  

I finally arrived and had a tall skinny kid come out to remove the longarm.  I was sure he would drop it, but he made it in the door.  While waiting for the tech guy, I sat at the counter in back.  I just happen to know where they keep the snacks!!

A couple of hours they said.  So off I went to the local Elks Lodge for some coffee and an out of the way parking spot for a snooze.  Apparently all Elks Lodges are not the same.  Ours opens the bar at 11:00 and closes at 8 pm.  This one was closed up tight until 4:00.  That won't help me much.

Maybe breakfast will be an eye opener.  Though this was not the one I was looking for, Eddy's Bakery Cafe would suffice.  

I started off with a nice cup of coffee.  Oh yeah ... white chocolate mocha!!  For $5.00, this was much better than Starbucks!!  On the other hand, the conversation coming from the next table over about the lady who came in barely alive, who died on the table and was being dissected, wasn't exactly breakfast conversation.  This guy is a doctor????  I buried my head in my phone, trying not to hear the gory details.

It's probably a good thing this kind of restaurant bakery is not near where I live.  This was the best breakfast ... eggs and bacon on a croissant ... with just the slightest flavor of MUSTARD.  Who would have thought?  It was delicious!!  The fruit just topped it off.  I was stuffed to the gills.

I took a walk down the bakery aisle just for kicks, and was accosted by some lady who would not leave me alone.  Good grief ... "I just came from the gym ... I love sourdough bread and they have the best here".  I tried to walk around her so I could see the items, but she stopped me at every turn.  What the heck?  "oh yes, sourdough will last your entire trip, it won't get stale, just stick it in the microwave" .......  she blocked me at every turn and just would not leave me alone, so I walked out the door.

Maybe Hobby Lobby would be a nice place to hang out.  Wasn't I surprised to find they had completely turned the store around, like the grocery stores do.  The harder it is to find things, the more you might buy going aisle by aisle looking for stuff!!  They now have an entire section of kitchen items including more containers than I've ever seen anywhere.  

I of course hit the fabric aisle, actually finding some 108" blue, perfect for Veterans quilt backing.  AND it was 30% off.  There was some other stuff, but I'll show that tomorrow.  From there, I went BACK to the bakery to pick up a couple of somethings for lunch.  

These were taste test items and I was hoping they would wake me up.  I was beginning to fade fast!  This was the COWBOY cookie.  NOT what I expected.  It was apparently a HEALTHY one, full of mostly oats.  There were a few chocolate pieces in there, so small I could barely see them.  This was a no, so back to the quilt shop I went.

Sadly, I had a long wait.  I spent it checking out THEIR stuff for the next THREE HOURS.  I was so rummy by then I just walked around looking at all the possibilities, trying not to fall asleep.  Just so you know, I bought ZERO fabric from them, mostly because it was all $16.00 a yard.  I don't know how they stay in business.  

I did pick up two cones of new-to-me thread.  August my repair guy said it's MUCH better than the fluff producing cotton products that gums up your machine.  

That's when he came to tell me my computer was WAY outdated.  So outdated in fact, he had to update it before even doing the final adjustments on the machine.  That took another 90 minutes.  He explained the adjustments he made, said the machine was very clean (kudos to me), and that if I had any trouble at all, just to call him.  Apparently the tension adjustment was WAY out of range, even though I had no tension problems, as was the timing.  At any rate, $500 later, they loaded it up in my truck.

That's when everything came to a screeching halt.  At 3:30, traffic was the worst I've ever seen in my life.  For 35 minutes, I never got over 25 mph.  It really didn't matter, but mostly I was concerned about Cooper being left alone for ten hours.  

Might as well taste test the last cookie.  This was a snickerdoodle.  Not bad ... not bad at all.  

I arrived home VERY tired and ready to hit the couch.  That's when I got the phone call.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  One of the cords to my machine was left in the tech's office on his desk.  WHAT?  Yessiree ... I can't use my machine until they mail it to me next week.  Nancy was mad as a wet hen.  Mostly because I even ASKED if all the cords were in the bag.  Oh yes they said ... it's all there.  NO ... NO it wasn't.  

So there will be no testing or using my longarm until that cord comes in the mail.  I'm dead in the water for another week.  

I'll be on the couch this morning .... trying to gather up some momentum to do something constructive.  

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!