Making Progress!

Christmas tree at Rosario's Mexican Restaurant, San Antonio, Texas

We're making progress after the fire! We have turned in our initial contents list and hopefully we are finished with that. If not, we will need to add to it from the lists we didn't put on the spread sheet. SHEESH!.....43 years of marriage and so many blessings we had trouble counting them! Our oldest son has been here this week helping us. 
Yesterday, we sent the list off and then headed into town to enjoy the festivities. 
 I had never been to the Holiday River Parade before,although I grew up in San Antonio, so this was really a nice start to the season!

 I didn't include pictures of all the floats, but I have shown you a "taste" of the atmosphere. It was perfect weather for this. Although we had a "cold front" come through, it was clear and about 60 degrees on the Riverwalk. 
And take a look at this! My husband gave me an early Christmas present!!! A Handi-Quilter Sweet Sixteen! It's a "sit down" long arm. This was a demo model being sold at a local quilt shop. It is strictly for quilting. So.....

for sewing....my parents gave me my grandmother's old Singer Slantamatic! It sews beautiful stitches! This is the model 401. My grandmother was an expert seamstress. She is 105 now and doesn't do much sewing.

 That's my week! I still feel optimistic and calm. We have the check in hand from the house, we've already sold the lot the house was on, and the contents list is hopefully finished.

 Even Sugarplum is happy that things are going so well. She climbed up in my lap and cuddled up against my chest to sleep. I couldn't resist snapping a photo of her. It was this time last year that she was abandoned as a tiny kitten.
      It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Thankfulness

This time last year I was helping my grandkids set up my Christmas village and preparing for a large crowd of family to celebrate Thanksgiving at my house. This year the house is gone, but the family is not! My village pieces are gone, but the memories are still with me. What a wonderful time to be alive! I realize that even after losing my home and most of my possessions, I still am left with more blessings than many people in the world have or ever hope to have in their lifetimes.

• I have clean water to drink. 
• I have a roof over my head.
• I have a warm, soft place to sleep.
• I have a kind, loving husband and a caring family around me.
• I have enough money in my bank account to pay my bills.
• I have plenty to eat.
• I live where the weather is not bitter cold in the winter.
• I live in a modern time where family members are only a phone call or air flight away!
• I have friends like you (most of whom I've never met face to face) who are amazingly kind-hearted and generous!
• I have parents who raised me to know what is REALLY important in life!

Those are only the things I have thought of this morning. I'm sure that during this Thanksgiving weekend,  I will think of many, many more! I hope you will remember during the next few days what are really the blessings in your life, too. 
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving if you are in the United States. If you live elsewhere, have a wonderful weekend!
NOTE: I'm getting closer to being able to get back to my blogging and Blog hopping. We are almost ready to turn in the "LIST"! Then we will be ready to start on the site clean-up. That will not involve as much as my presence as the list did. I might dig up a few prized plants before the bulldozers destroy them. 
My sister and I have rented a spot in a juried craft sale on December 7th. I had a lot of quilts, wallhangings, etc. that I had made for it that I lost in the fire. I have made a few more things, but not even enough to recoup the cost of the space rental. I will be furiously working to make a few more items for that during this next week. I am on the decorating committee for a quilt guild Christmas dinner next Wednesday, and I have also started on my Kona solids project for the January hop. We have decided to have Christmas at my son's California home, but I haven't even thought about Christmas gifts yet.  (Feeling a little stressed, but that seems to go along with this time of year!) I guess that means things are feeling more normal!
             Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! (We're off to buy tamales to have along with our turkey tomorrow!)

Still Hanging in There!

 I'm looking forward to starting on this hop! My fabric is gorgeous!!!
To begin, I want everyone to know how extremely grateful I am to all of you who have sent words of encouragement, cards, and even packages to brighten my days. I have found so much enjoyment in them all! (And to whoever tried to send me a package from Tennessee, I send my apologies from UPS. They received the package here on October 28, sent it back to you on November 4, and sent me a notice to come pick it up on November 8! (Of course, that was after it had been returned!) They couldn't give me your name, so I couldn't let you know that I did not reject your package or anything like that. They to pay for a second try, but I had no way of letting you know that. I'm SO SORRY! The problem was that I must have hit the 3 key instead of the 4 key in my address. It was sent to 2035 instead of 2045. You would think they would have at least gotten close because we're out in the country and that should have been close enough to get it to us. Again, I'm so sorry! 
I am still filling out contents lists and trying to find values for things. It is quite a job. We are about to leave for an appointment with a real estate agent. We will discuss our options - selling our land, buying new land and building, or finding an existing house. 
We're still doing fine and feel so blessed in so many ways! 
( I'll find time to post soon with photos.)

Progress and a Cute Little Sewing Machine!

My dad, who is an extraordinarily creative and skillful artist, is making a few of these little sewing machines for an upcoming crafts fair! This is his own design.(He has also made little tractors, cars, etc.) What you can't see from the photo is that if you turn the wheel, the "needle" (also wood and not too sharp) goes up and down. What little girl wouldn't be thrilled with a machine like this! It is about 10" or 11" wide - a perfect size for a wantabe seamstress! I think it would be a cute addition to some of our sewing rooms!
As far as progress after the fire,I am still filling out contents lists for the insurance company. This is probably the most difficult task so far. Could you remember every item in your house, when and where you bought it, and how much you paid for it? 
 I'm still doing fine emotionally and I still feel that everything will be fine in the end. Doug and I are safely tucked away right in the heart of family and the people around us have been amazing! My sincere thanks and appreciation goes out to all of you who have written encouraging emails and cards. Some of you have sent packages and I have had so much fun opening them up and discovering the contents! Early Christmas! I plan on putting all your cards in a scrapbook so that if I find myself bogged down in discouragement, I can pull out the scrapbook and see what an amazing group of people God put in my life! Thank you so much!!
Hopefully, I will have more to show you when all this insurance business gets behind me, but I wanted to give you an update.

 Since I showed my house after the fire, I wanted to show some pictures of it before.