My Quiltie Arrived!

Wednesday my quilt in the Four Seasons quilt swap arrived! Amazingly enough, the box came through customs without any problems and actually took less time to get here than regular letters normally do. Just in time to decorate for the holidays :-)

Without further ado, here it is:

ISN'T IT ADORABLE?! I love how the "O" in JOY forms the bottom of the snowman, and the sparkly snowflakes add just the right touch. ¡Me encanta! Also in the package were two fat quarters and some handy dandy quilting tools. I've already used the pins. Thanks so much, Sherry!

I meant to post about it yesterday but Thursday blew past without any computer time except to check e-mails. A lot going on yesterday. One of the things was a trip downtown and I think I've FINALLY found new eyeglass frames. But don't hold your breath because I haven't actually ordered them yet and might change my mind again. I thought briefly about posting a photo but decided to wait until it's a done deal.

Also did some cursory house cleaning and prep work for today's brunch with our co-workers. It's becoming a tradition -- since we've done a holiday brunch both years we've been here :-)  This year I tried a new recipe found on Pioneer Woman's blog, but changed it slightly since I didn't think the kids were overly fond of spinach (I used green and red peppers instead to add a festive touch to the dish).

I guess I can't really call it Eggs Florentine since I omitted the spinach. How about Eggs Extraordinaire Casserole? The recipe is definitely a keeper. I didn't think to get a photo before we scarfed all the food. I made two casseroles: one 9x13 with mushrooms and an 8x8 without. This is all that's left...

There was also honeydew melon, strawberries, homemade banana bread and sliced fresh tomatoes (from our garden!) and several pots of fresh coffee and hot milk to make café con leche, the beverage of choice in our crowd.

Planning to do some sewing this weekend, making a few Christmas gifts. Also some baking ahead of the Christmas party for our English conversation group on Monday evening. I tried to think/plan/organize and do the necessary grocery shopping last night since our car is in the body shop for a few days to repair the damage when the SUV backed into us. Meanwhile we'll be walking or taking taxis.

Once the party is behind me, I'll have time to concentrate on cleaning house and preparing for THE ARRIVAL OF OUR DAUGHTER ON THURSDAY. Her flight lands in Cordoba at 3:45 a.m. (yes, A.M.) and we expect her to be plenty tired after a crazy semester -- and especially an insanely busy last week (final papers, projects, exams, presentations...in addition to work). So we'll just be chillin' out for a week or so, letting her rest up.

Would appreciate your prayers as she travels Wednesday and Thursday. Especially for smooth connections, considering her layovers are very short. I'm most concerned that her flight out of Chicago leave on time, or she'll miss the connecting flight in Orlando. I guess they'd just put her on a later flight but that would mean she'd be sitting in airports a loooooooong time. I know on our last trip down we had 8 hour layovers in both Miami and Buenos Aires, and our total travel time was something like 34 hours. UGH. I'm praying she doesn't have to go through anything like that.

I plan to decorate this weekend too. Not that we have much to do. I downsized when we moved and we have a tree and some ornaments and that's about it. Had planned on doing a big Christmas garland this year with dried hydrangeas, eucalyptus and such but didn't get my act together and dry the hydrangeas or collect enough eucalyptus (or anything else) so...maybe next year. The Christmas quilt I've been working on won't be finished either. Such is life.

As my husband is fond of saying, "It is what it is."