The longer, more awake version of today

So, take away my desperate need of a nap earlier (which I got), today was a great day. I slept well last night, then got up and around in time to spend about 3 hours with my aunt before she had to head back to Chicago. My Aunt Jean is one of the most creative, fun, positive, ADHD people I know-- there's no denying we're related because of our love of MAKING STUFF! She has ataxia, which is a debilitating neurological disease, but she is so positive about it, and grateful that she was one of the "lucky" few who it hit in their 60s, rather than around 20-30 years old. It is so hard to see how she struggles, but she refuses to give up and is still on of the funniest people I know. We have a family friend who was one of the last in the state to come down with polio-- also such a positive person!-- and he and my aunt make fun of their walking problems, and even danced together at my wedding reception last summer-- between them, the joke is that they only have two good legs and two canes to stand on.

I love my family. We can get through anything, as we have proved time and again.

Let's call this my early birthday present! A pile of quilting books, oh joy!

Before she left, my aunt insisted I lighten her load-- she has a trunk full of books! She handed off a pile of books, mostly quilting, but also a great book on perennials so Tim and I can landscape where ever we move. Yay!

Then Mom and I did some errands, then I came home and took that much needed nap!

I made broccoli cheese soup from scratch tonight-- I recently read that in soup, if you add the cheese last and don't let it boil, it won't get so stringy-- and, it seems to be right. I had very little problem with stringy cheese.

I'm happy that The Amazing Race began again tonight. I love seeing all the different countries and cultures. In a similar vein, I did get the fabric gathered for my EPL quilt:

It's really just the "pray" part of Eat, Pray, Love. That's all I'm going to explain for now... you'll have to wait and see what I do with this stack.

We're going house hunting sometime this week again-- Tim sent the realtor a list of what we liked online, and she's supposed to be finding some suggestions, too, so hopefully we can look at a bunch... and this time I know to eat lunch first, and bring snacks! My body  hated me for making it wait until 3:30 in the afternoon for lunch! Tim's supposed to let me know when I need to come down. YAY!

Goodnight, all. I'm hoping for another night of good sleep so my body won't keep reminding me how cod I was yesterday!