Now that my stuff is here, I’ve been trying to think of what I can do to stay pre-occupied – when we’re not dealing with Army insanity, accidental cultural insults or toilet paper shortages.

I had all my art & craft supplies shipped – watercolors, scrapbook papers, my sewing machine – everything I knew I wouldn’t find easily over here.

I’ve been meaning to finish the family quilt I started back in 2002…ack!…Seven years ago!?…wait, let me think about that…

Ugh…yep, seven years ago. Well, the good news is it’s basically done. : )

But anyway…if I was going to finish-up the quilt, I needed fabric. And since there’s no Joann’s to run to, no Quilter’s Corner to spend a Saturday morning in, or anything that’s not camo-covered on base, I did what I’ve been doing since I arrived. Browsed the online shops.

In my hunt I stumbled on a quilt shop in Quitman, TX (Stichin’ Heaven) and they offer a Block of the Month club.

(*For the non-estrogen inclined readers out there, a block is a square quilt block, a block to stitch to other blocks to make a full quilt.)

Pay a small start-up fee, then a monthly subscription fee and every month they’ll send you the fabric you need, the pattern & instructions on how to do it!

For this particular quilt, it’s a 24 month project that starts in January - and it’s perfect for the 2 years I’ll be here!

Ok – so it’s 169 blocks, surrounded by 52 triangles with no pattern the same, no fabric the same…I told you I was crazy.

But it’s perfect that they’ll send everything to me – I don’t have to wander the streets of Anjung-Ri or Songtan looking for American-style cotton quilt fabric.

And perfect because it gives me 5 months to finish up the family quilt! : )

My stuff!….(well, some of it – the rest is still in boxes in a warehouse in Oklahoma).

Ever been moved by “professionals” before?…

They wrap everything in paper, box it all up, then write what’s in the box on the outside and what room they packed it in.

Which is a little disturbing & potentially embarrassing when you find a box like this…

I took one look at this & thought…’Bedroom Tools?’….

(Ok, so maybe my mind wasn’t in exactly the right place, but still…Bedroom Tools?)

Ahh…

1) Not that Eric might not be interested in spicing things up, but we don’t own anything like that…and

2) Do you really think I’d let someone else box that stuff up for me?

(Besides that, my mom reads this blog…Hi, Mom!)

So I opened up the box – anxious to see what was inside.

Hey, look! It really was tools – well, ok…you can’t see them so well in this shot.

But I completely forgot I packed a container full of things like nails, a tape measure, a screw driver (no pun intended) & a hammer…

I continued unpacking like a mad woman…throwing papers everywhere.

(Did I tell you they wrap everything?…)

And yes, before you ask, that’s a bedsheet on the window – a make-shift curtain to block the sun that beats through there like blazes during the day until my real curtains arrived.

My paper-flinging madness didn’t phase Kitten – she’s moved with me 6 times now in her short 10 year life.

Maggie’s still learning how to move – this was her first – which explains the look of shocked confusion on her face.

“Rookie…”

Kitten’s not big on patience.