Weil Week 3 Update

We did pretty well with Week 3, but I'm still struggling with the meditation. Vitamins and broccoli are no problem but meditating is just not happening. And I actually like meditating, so that's not even the problem!

Since there are a few more things I'd like to work on (meditating and stretching especially), and since I didn't sit down and plan the new projects for Week 4 yet, I'm going to repeat Week 3 this week and move on to Week 4 next week. That should help me get a little bit more settled into the meditating routine (I hope).

Iraqi Bundles of Love

I first read about this project on Ellen's blog and thought it sounded really cool. Basically, a soldier stationed in Iraq noticed that the local folks had a strong tradition of making handcrafted goods but badly needed sewing and knitting supplies, and he asked people to send over "bundles" of excess fabric and other supplies for his unit to distribute to the locals. Since I'm such a new quilter, I don't really have much of a stash yet (although I'm definitely working on it) and I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to put anything together by the September 7 deadline.

Then I saw Sew Mama Sew's post about Iraqi Bundles of Love and noticed that they are selling "bundles" through their online store. For $15, you can buy a bundle, which they will ship to Iraq for you. The $15 includes fabric, sewing needles, pins, scissors, a pincushion -- and shipping to Iraq. It's the perfect way to contribute if you can't put your own bundle together. What a wonderful project -- and 2 great ways to help out!

What a Weekend

The last week or so has been really fun and busy, especially last weekend!

I finished a baby gift for a dear friend who is expecting her 2nd baby in October and had lunch with her and several other friends on Saturday. (Pictures of the gift to come!). It was great to catch up with everyone!

My husband and I had craft night with Ellen and her husband (who grilled an absolutely delicious meal to sustain all that sewing) and got a ton of sewing done on the first of my 5 secret surprise projects. I'm hoping to get the quilt top finished in the next day or so. Can't share pictures of that one until it's delivered but let me just say that I am thrilled with how it's turning out!

I had lunch with my husband's family -- my father-in-law's top-secret chili recipe and mother-in-law's banana pudding really hit the spot. Then Ellen and I went to the first meeting of the Rockwall Project Linus group. Abby and Jennifer of Texas Quiltworks in Rockwall set up the meeting for folks who were interested in working with the Dallas group but needed a closer meeting place. I had been thinking about making blankets for Project Linus "someday" and when Abby and Ellen mentioned the meeting to me, I just had to go. (It didn't hurt that Ellen was going to go too and willing to carpool -- turns out that Rockwall isn't really closer for me...)

We hung out at Texas Quiltworks for several hours, sewing and chatting and eating Ellen's cupcakes (made from scratch, no less!). I was super excited to make my first-ever string block, and of course I didn't think to take a picture of it because I was so excited to finish it! I brought more fabric home to make a few more blocks, though, so I'll take pictures of those when they're done. I also grabbed a kit to make a small quilt. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to get that done (my to-do list is growing longer by the day!) but I couldn't pass it up.

Then back home for a lovely dinner with my husband and more sewing on the secret surprise quilt #1. Not quite what I would call a relaxing weekend, but fun nonetheless!

Weil Week 3

This week's to-do list:

• Eat extra fruits and vegetables with at least one meal this week.
• Eat fish at least twice.
• Replace at least one serving of meat with a soy food.
• Keep taking vitamins & supplements.
• Walk 20 mins/day.
• Do some simple stretches daily.
• Keep meditating.
• Ask for recommendations for inspirational books (anybody have any suggestions?)
• Make a list of friends in whose company you feel happier and more optimistic, and make plans to spend time with one of them this week.
• One-day news fast.
• Buy more flowers.
• Find out how to grow some of your own food (this one is optional!).

I think my main focus this week is going to be on the meditation! That one seems to be the hardest for me right now.

Weil Week 2 Update

Here's how we did with our 2nd week of optimum health:

• We are not planning to get a water-purifying system because our fridge has a built-in filter that is supposed to removed chlorine, among other things.
• I'm pretty sure each of us managed to eat fish at least once and broccoli at least twice.
• We ate some whole grains.
• We tried edamame, and I continued to drink soy milk with my cereal.
• Drinking green tea pretty much daily.
• Still taking the vitamins & supplements.
• Got our walking in nearly every day.
• Made plans to got to the mountains for Labor Day (that's our visit to a natural place, in addition to walking with the dog in the evenings).
• Took a news fast -- I managed to go most of the week without reading the news!
• Meditating is still hard for me but I'm working on it.
• I did buy flowers -- yellow roses -- and put them in a place of honor on the dining room table next to the Frog-O-Sphere.

Moving on to Week 3!

Quilt Plano

The Plano Quilt Guild's show was this weekend! What a wonderful day!

My husband and I met Ellen, Abby, and Abby's friend Jane at the show. Ellen and I also ran into Sharon, who we had met at the Garland Quilt Guild meeting earlier this month -- it's a small world! We saw so many beautiful, incredible, inspiring quilts. I can't begin to decribe them all!

Then we shopped. I wasn't even planning to buy anything but I just couldn't help myself! I met Michelle, who designs fabrics and quilt patterns in a Southwestern style. I loved everything in her booth! The designs are gorgeous and unique and I want to make them all. I ended up buying 2 applique patterns -- 1 features blocks that look like Mexican tiles, and 1 features a variety of different Southwestern-style crosses. Then I ended up buying some solid fabrics from another vendor so I can get started on the Mexican tile quilt.

We also stopped at the booth for England Design Studios, which also had patterns and fabric for sale. The patterns all have a naturalistic style -- we were especially drawn to the bird patterns -- and are made using a technique called picture piecing. It's similar to foundation paper piecing except you don't have to sew the pieces to foundation paper. I'm not sure how hard it's going to be but I just had to try it, so we got a pattern and fabric kit to make a small bird feeder wallhanging.

Plus I got a Norman Rockwell Santa Claus panel (no idea what I'm going to do with that), a kit (including backing!) for a cute Christmas wallhanging, a set of fat quarters from the Katie Jump Rope line (also no idea what I'm going to use it for), and some yellow fat quarters for a baby gift I need to make.

And then we bought Ellen an early Christmas present -- a lovely old quilt. I don't know anything about how old it is or where it came from, and it has a few tears and 1 unfortunate coffee stain, but it's pretty, and we liked it, and Ellen liked it, and it was affordable, so we got it. I don't have a picture of it because we already gave it to her -- nothing like instant gratification! -- but maybe she will post a pic of it.

And then after all that I managed to get a ton of sewing done on 1 of the 5 surprise gift quilts I'm working on. Plus I washed and ironed some of the new fabrics. So I did manage to do some sewing in addition to all the shopping!

Weil Week 2

We're starting our second week with Dr. Weil. Our action items for this week include:

• Get information about a water-purifying system. Dr. Weil is especially adamant about avoiding chlorinated water.
• Eat fish once this week.
• Eat broccoli twice.
• Eat more whole grains.
• Try a soy product (I'm thinking edamame rather than tofu....).
• Drink green tea (we've been doing this already but I'm going to buy more tea for us to try at home).
• Keep taking the vitamins & supplements.
• Walk 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week.
• Visit a park or other natural space.
• Take a one-day "news fast" -- no reading, watching, or listening to the news for an entire day.
• Continue meditating 5 minutes a day and add a 1-minute meditation exercise.
• Buy fresh flowers (we were supposed to do this last week but didn't get around to it).

So far, so good. Everything on this week's seems pretty do-able!