Good Friends, Great Memories

And complete and total exhaustion when I finally got home.

But SO worth it. I’m just not sure how it’s possible to have that much fun in such a short time! Really . . . We sewed, and laughed, and shopped, and sewed, and ate, and talked, and sewed, and slept very little, and the time flew by with an audible whooshing sound, I swear!

Toni and Doris broke me in good right from the very start. They took me to an IKEA Thursday night. My first time ever in an IKEA. Wow! It was mind-bottling (as Will Farrell would say — name that movie!) . . . and exhausting. I didn’t even buy anything, but I got lots of ideas.

We went to the Mall of America after that, another place I had never been before. However, we were only there to eat dinner, so my daughter will be sorely disappointed that I wasn’t there to just shop till I dropped. Let’s not tell her . . . she’ll disown me.

Retreat began Friday morning at 9:00, and ended way too soon. There was show & tell, and discussions on too many topics to name, laughter on too many subjects to name, and lots of eating and shopping. And sewing! I got quite a bit done. It’s nice to have everything laid out and just be able to sew uninterrupted for hours at a time.

Having only a certain number of projects with me, it really curbed my flitting nature, too, so I was more devoted to one particular project at a time. I know, hard to believe, but I did it! Here’s one of the projects I took along . . . my Crayon Challenge:

It’s also absolute fun for me to get to see what everyone else is working on. I come away so inspired. I’ll probably start 8 new projects this week just because of retreat! Heaven help me . . . In fact, I got to see, live and in person, one of the quilts I’ve been thinking about making . . . Amanda Jean’s “Running in Circles” quilt . . . LOVE it!

I already confessed what I bought in my last stash report, and in the post before that, you can find links to all the blogs of the girls I hung out with over the weekend. We managed to get a group picture, thanks to Doris:

That’s Toni (on the left) and me, sitting in front, and in back, from left to right: Doris, Michelle, Rene, Terri, Amanda, Mary, Cindy, and Stephanie.

And naturally, I collected quotes all weekend! So now you can share in some of the laughter that we had . . . it’ll be almost like being there!

“I’m never short on opinions.”

“My cholesterol has never been so good.”

“That’s what I love about retreat. The further into it we get, the more jokes we make . . . and the longer my lists get.”

“There’s a lot more discussing that needs to take place, and not a lot of time left.”

“I am not a mathlete.”

“I’m not drunk enough to make this up.”

“She’s tryin’ to be inspirational, but it’s not workin’.”

“I don’t know how this is gonna come across, but I’m gonna say it ’cause I’m feelin’ gutsy.”

“We’re drinking and sewing, so beat THAT!”

“It was my New Year’s resolution to be a better mother, but I’m gettin’ worried that I’m gonna light one of my kids on fire by December.”

“I derailed for a little bit, but that’s not uncommon.”

“Do we need to call 9-1-1?”  . . . “No, we need more wine.”

“I slipped you a mickey? I don’t even know what a mickey is!”

“I might swear a little bit when I get home.”

“I apologize for myself tomorrow in advance.”

“I am done with you, Farmer’s Wife.”

“I’m not doing anything that’ll make me breathe hard.”