Popping Up to say, "Hey!"

ohmygoodnesswheredoIevenbegintotellyouwhereI'vebeenandwhatI'vebeendoing?  breathe, Kistler, breathe.  oh.  my.  goodness.  You probably thought I forgot about you.  I haven't, I really haven't.  I've just been ridiculously busy, trying to do everything.

Yesterday I told my youngest son, "I never have time to do anything, ever!"  He looked at me like my head was on upside down.  "Never?  Anything?  Ever?  Are you serious?!!"  okay, so may I was exaggerating.

On Wednesday, we went to the water rally and Congressional hearing.  It was eye-opening, to say the least.  The government officials who have been responsible for dumping clean reservoir water into the ocean would not say how much water they have dumped, or how much water we are "short."  Our Congressman measures the number at -2,100,000 acre feet (the amount of water to cover an acre with 12" of water), the official at the hearing would not confirm or deny.  When asked how long it would take to GET a number, he hemmed and hawed and said maybe his people could get a number "in two weeks."  The Committee Chairman said, "You have two weeks!  Get us a number!"

The Undersecretary of the California Natural Resources Agency came in place of the Secretary - he couldn't be bothered.  She talked for the allotted 5 minutes, saying nothing.  When her 5 minutes were up, she was given the opportunity to summarize.  She said, "Oh?  No.  I'll just submit my report.  I'm good!"  Or something to that effect.  She'd said nothing, so there was nothing to summarize.

Later, when questioned WHY they dumped so much water during the winter, her answer was, "We didn't think there would be a drought."  say what?!!!  

How are these people in such powerful positions?

I was in the room for the bulk of the hearing, but had to leave to get back to quilt show prep.  I do know what happened for a lot of it, and all I can say is, don't believe what you read in the papers.  There were approximately 3,000 people at the rally beforehand, and the Committee hearing was standing room only, both on the main floor and in the balcony.  They also piped the audio into the foyer, and an ancillary conference room.  My sons and I were lucky to get inside the main room, shortly after it began.

whew!!

I hate political commentary on quilting blogs, but water is life, and we're being denied water by our government.  If there was any time for me to get "political," this is it.

On Thursday, we went to Fresno and looked at Craigslist vans.

On Friday, we went to Sacramento, to watch my brother's team compete in the FIRST Tech Challenge robot West Super-Regional competition.  They were in CA from Alaska.  They did very well, winning the Promote award, the Innovative Design award, being nominated for the Connect award and the Inspire award, and winning 2nd place overall.  whew!!

Their team is "Schrodinger's Hat."

On Saturday, I found a van - I've been needing a new car - so we drove to Woodland Hills (LA) to buy it.  We were back at 1:30am Sunday morning.

Today, we had a BOTV pipe-washing party, and did some bookwork.  My Committee ladies are AMAZING!!  They got everything done in under 2 hours, without working full speed, just enjoying each other's company and visiting.  Very nice.  Very, very nice.  There are still things on my quilt show "to do" list, but the list gets shorter every day.  I love it.

I don't know when I'll check in again, but it will probably be awhile.   In the meantime, my flowers are really, really happy.  I pray that more rain will come, and the happy lasts longer than a week or two of "spring."

If you're anywhere nearby, come to Lindsay April 4-6, 2014.  Check out botvquilts.com for details.