I published this blog story a while back. Please take the time to re-read it. I will post an update in a week or two!!!                             

There once was this puppy-

     Boy, what a week!  On Thursday morning, as I was enjoying the peace and quiet in the office (bosses were out of town for a few days- whoo hoo,LOL) in walks one of our truck drivers. He had a little pet taxi with him. He told my shop guy and me that he had found this puppy and kennel abandoned at a truck stop- freezing and hungry. The truck driver had put a big block of snow in the kennel for her to drink from. (I am trying not the judge him- at least he rescued her, put her in his warm cab and brought her to us). As far as the ass who dumped her- I hope someday you are freezing and starving with no one to help you, you rotten bastard. The driver was going to take her to a shelter, but I took her out the kennel and she sure as hell was not going anywhere. I told him I would find her a home and shoved her in my hoody.

        I wanted to get a good look at her to see what breed she was, so I tried to stand her on the work table in the back. The poor little thing could not stand! I thought she had hurt her hind legs or her back. My shop guy poured her a big bowl of milk ( I know this is not good but at this point it was all we had to give her as my turkey sandwich and Fabian’s Captain Crunch were not interesting to her). She at first was not interested in the milk, and just slept in my arms for a while. Going to the bathroom was quite interesting as I did not want to put her down. But now I know I can do it one handed if I ever need to- haha. TMI- I know.

       I made the obligatory call to hubby-“come help me, I rescued a puppy”. Of course, he answered with “What do you need me to do?” So, while he was on his way to my work with some food for her, this sweet little girl finally woke up enough and warmed up enough to want some of that milk. And she drank, and drank, and drank. About 20 minutes later she was up and running all over the office- eyes brighter, ears up, tail wagging, and peeing all over the floor. Success!

    I was finally able to get a good picture of her and posted it on Facebook, asking if any of my friends were interested in this puppy. Bob showed up with the food and suggested I contact our vet to see if they do any pro-bono type work with stray puppies. One- I hate asking for free stuff, and two- this place is not known for being cheap, but we do love them! So, I called, and the sweet gal that answered the phone said ”yes- we do that all the time for adoptions for strays, etc.” and she told me she would have the main vet call me back.

      I got a text from a friend at one point that said “looks like you found a home for her” WHAT? I had not checked on Facebook as I had been pre-occupied cleaning up pee spots :) Actually, there were several offers to give this sweet thing a home! The first person to respond is a dear friend I worked with several years ago. She has another dog, a cat and 2 great kids- a wonderful family for a puppy! She wanted to come look at her! Fortunately she lives very close to where I work.

     She showed up a few hours later, sent a pic to her hubby and left with the puppy! I did not even cry as I knew this little one was going to be loved and well cared for. I would have loved to have kept her, but we have 4 critters and live in small place. I know we could have given her the love she needed, but I knew she was better off with my friend.

   The next morning my awesome vet called me, I gave him my friends’ number, and they have an appointment! He said they would give her a free well puppy check, and a discount on shots and getting her spayed. If you live near Lafayette, Co go see Dr. Dodge and his staff at Jasper Animal Hospital. They truly love their patients and it shows!

   I texted my friend to see how the puppy was doing- they have named her GRACIE! I think that name is absolutely perfect! She is fitting in well, and Amy says she is a joy! I promised her I would not nag her all of the time for updates- I hope I can keep that promise!

  Here is Gracie in all her glory-

    Have a great week everyone!

Oh where oh where have I been??

 Hi everyone!  I am so​ ​sorry that I have not posted since last year.  Ok, so it is more like 6 months, but after you hear what has been going on you will understand. And if you don’t, quit reading my blog. HAHA! Contrary to what you may be thinking, I was not in prison or re-hab. Though I am sure some of you will think I should be institutionalized for this latest adventure!!

Last fall a friend had told me about a trip she had taken to Missouri Star Quilt Company in Hamilton, MO. MSQC has been on my bucket list for several years. The whole town is quilt shops. It started out with one, and has now morphed into 13 different shops. A quilter’s heaven. My sweet friend explained how she met someone who worked for Missouri Star and how much they loved it. While I wasn’t really looking for a new job, the Denver housing market had really taken off- which means people were paying $1500/month for a crappy 2 bedroom apartments. This was becoming quite ridiculous for us.

On a whim, after chatting with my friend D, I got on the MSQC website and applied for a job, thinking nothing would come out of it. I had several other things fall through prior to this and figured this would just be another disappointment.

Well, here we are, 5 months later living in beautiful little Hamilton, MO with a great house and big backyard, paying wayyyyy less for the house than we were paying for our place in Denver. Every time I let the dogs out and watch them run with their little ears flapping in the wind, it makes me smile.

I basically bought our house online, and didn’t even get a chance to look at the inside until after I got here in November. I lived out of suitcases for 3 weeks, staying with my new co-workers and in other various places, while Bob stayed behind with the critters and did all the packing. Bless his heart!!! I even got FORCED to participate in a quilt retreat shortly after I arrived. That was torture, I tell you. NOT. Due to the fact I work in the retreat center they wanted me to participate in one so I could give feedback based on the experience. It was a tough assignment, but I pulled myself together enough to do it. It was fortunate I had brought my sewing machine with me, and of course several projects. Quilters are always prepared! I would highly suggest to anyone that a retreat here is fantastic, and worth every penny. I met some great people during that retreat, and some are even coming back later this year! Hi Christine and Terri!

We are loving small town life. We ended up moving into our house on Thanksgiving. Thank goodness, my brother and his wife made the 3-hour trek (Thought I was going to say 3 hour tour, didn’t you?) to help. While unpacking, our wonderful new neighbors showed up with a full turkey dinner for us all. (My plan for Thanksgiving dinner was Casey’s pizza) It made me cry. I could not even believe it. It was the nicest thing to do, and nice things just keep happening.  I love that Betty who works in the post office asked how we fared through our first tornado warning (BTW it was not fun but thank God, I had wine in the fridge), that when you check out at the grocery store your bags get taken to your car, and getting to know all of my new, wonderful co-workers. I thought I would miss the big city, but I do not. Not one bit. I do miss my kids- though one left Denver shortly after we did and moved across the country. Good thing I didn’t stick around just for her- brat. And of course I do miss my quilting peeps. A lot.  Thank goodness for social media and cell phones!

I am getting some sewing in- I have a few secret projects going on now that I cannot share quite yet. I will share them with you all very soon. Of course, my sewing room was the first thing I set up. Who needs organized bedrooms anyway? As long as I can find some clean underwear and a pair of jeans I am good. 

We have had a few visitors- my brother and his wife came and helped us move on Thanksgiving; our friends Kevin and Becky saved our lives by driving Bob to Denver, helped pack up our old storage shed and bringing all the crap valuable stuff back here; and our friends Ed and Terry surprised us with a last minute visit a few weekends ago and we had such fun! We also have some more company coming this spring and summer. I am so looking forward to all of them!

If anyone comes through Hamilton, please stop in the retreat/sewing center and say hello. If my office isn’t in there anymore someone in the shops can find me:)

Thanks for hanging in there with me, peeps! I promise not to be such a stranger.

Happy quilting!

Courtenay