Wishing 2008 would slow down already..

We had a very nice visit with my aunt and uncle in NH. Lauren & I had never been there at the same time before, it made the family connection feel really strong. We ate a good meal, cuddled & relaxed on the couch, and went through some of what my aunt called "emotional hangover."
The holidays were rough. Now that the 6 month anniversary of losing Theresa has passed I'm still shocked with the reality that she's really gone. She's not coming back. Going places with Lauren is great, we've never done this before, but when the two of us are together there is a very strong feeling that Tea is missing.
Lor took this awesome photo of the trees in the sky. There was excellent light at Aunt Cathy's place yesterday morning so we took a lot of photos. So far Lor's visit has been full of what my mother would call "sisterly love and bonding,"
We took some nice shots but also a bunch of goofy ones, like one us strangling each other, which I promptly sent to our parents.
On the drive back down to MA we stopped in a small quilt shop in Kingston, NH, where I may have bought more if I wasn't on this healthy fabric diet. I got a pack of thimble-its instead. We got stuck in Friday rush-hour through Boston which wasn't too fun. By the time we made it to Quincy we were starving. We met up with some of my co-workers and introduced Lori to Japanese food (language, and culture-- at times it must have felt like we were totally in Japan..). She goodheartedly tried everything we put in front of her, much better than I did on my first trip there. After a few hours it was leaning towards becoming a more rowdy drinking party so I think she and I were both happy to get back in the car for the final stretch home.
We drove out to Marie's house for a charity sit & sew this afternoon and she got to meet a large portion of my guild. Everyone asked if she was a quilter, haha. No, not yet.
I'm pooped, tired of driving, and just want to sit down and sew something. My thumb feels better today; I gave it a rest and started working on a crocheted rag rug in NH (still squeezing in a few sewing stitches each day to keep my resolution). That's a big thick project, but it grows really fast. I'm using all the leftovers from my t-shirt quilt (still in progress, of course). Aunt Cathy mentioned that she's got 2 boxes of t-shirts that she'd like to put into a quilt. I said I'd help, but she'll have to come down for a sewing weekend at my place. That's something to look forward to. Anyway, I've run into a possible dilemma with my travel quilt #2.. I may need to order a third pack of templates, but I'd like to avoid that if possible. I have two big sections going from opposite ends and now I think I won't have enough templates to make them long enough to meet in the middle.. must take pictures and show you soon....