Quiltcon Linky - 5 Things About Me

Well, I have delayed this post long enough waiting for a good photo of myself to magically appear.  First I was going to wait for a day when I actually got dressed in something other than workout clothes and did my hair.  I kept forgetting on those days to actually take a picture, so this morning I just decided to do it. Self portrait with bad hair, sweats and my normal un-photogenic self with the added bonus of preggo face pudge!  Probably more fitting as this will probably be how I look there anyway, although I do hope to break out of the ponytail rut for a few days!

Aside from the photo nonsense, I am so excited to be going to Quiltcon in Austin next week!  I am flying out Thursday morning and staying until Saturday night.  I am taking Anna Maria Horner's class, Every Last Stitch, on Thursday, Mini Quilts with Lizzy House on Friday and Textile Printing with Lotta Jansdotter on Saturday morning. 

****If anyone is interested, I signed up for Playing with Sheer Fabrics with Yoskiko Jinzenji on Sunday from 9-12 and I am happy to give you my spot.  I think you just have to pay a $50 transfer fee (it is a $75 class, so I know it doesn't end up being much of a discount).  I was just not able to coordinate flights/hotels/childcare to stay for that one.  Just let me know...

Okay, now on to the Quiltcon Linky Party!  Here are five things you probably don't know about me.

1.   My mother can't sew and neither could either grandmother!  They all think I am kind of crazy for even wanting to.  Growing up, if a button fell off of something in our household my dad sewed it back on.  We did have a 70's mod fabulous sewing box with random buttons and hotel sewing kits.  I used to raid it constantly to try to sew things for my dolls.  Then I would steal cotton balls from my mom's vanity to use as stuffing.  I also used the hotel freebie shoe polishing mitts as fabric.  Luckily, I did have an aunt, Cheryl, that sewed and she set me up with all kinds of cross stitching goodness.

2.  I have an awful singing voice but I refuse to let that hold me back, as I enjoy singing so much.  I do feel shame when I get caught singing in the grocery store.  I am usually in an aisle by myself, Rick Astley (or something equally awful/good) comes on and I am belting it out, but turn a corner and run into someone mid note.

3.  My biggest fear with (almost) three boys is that they will all move away when they grow up and their wives won't like me and I'll never get to see my grandkids!  Is this crazy?  I know that you are not any safer from this fate with a daughter, but as a daughter with her parents in the same neighborhood, who always spend time with their grandsons, I kind of always thought I would have the same setup later in life.  I love, love, love my boys and everything about them and that raising boys entails, so don't get me wrong, I know how lucky I am!

4.  I used to be painfully shy and then I just decided around college that you have a lot more fun if you speak up and fake confidence, because that is what most everyone else is doing anyway.  So I still have that initial panicky thing when I go somewhere I don't know people well, but I just make myself get over it.  If you meet me, you'll probably laugh at this, because once I meet you I don't shut up.

5.  My husband and I went to the same high school.  Although he is only a grade older, and we have a lot of mutual friends from high school, we never meant until we were in college at UNC.  We were out to dinner with our families one night over a fall break and he noticed me across the room.  He sent the waiter (who happened to go to our high school, too - and who we both knew just a little) over to see if I was dating anyone.  Of course I thought our waiter was hitting on me.   Andrew never talked to me at dinner, but called me later that evening.  Naturally, my dad answered the phone and then yelled upstairs "Court, it's a boy."  Oh, thanks, Dad,  I am so cool.  Luckily, that probably put nervous Andrew a little more at ease.

We've been together ever since that conversation.  That was in 1997.  He is actually coming to Quiltcon with me next week.  We have been to Austin once before for a UNC/UT football game and his food memories were too strong to resist.  He'll probably just be working remotely and checking out the town, but you might just see him around, too.  He has three sisters, and so is totally comfortable hanging out with the ladies.  In college, he would give dating advice to all of my girlfriends for hours on end.

So, that is me in a nutshell.  Although you'll probably recognize me as being the pregnant one.  Not sure there will be many other third trimester preggos there to confuse me with!   Although I am excited that Anna Maria Horner is also expecting, at least that will be something we have in common to talk about as I will most likely be too starstruck to speak during her class!

Can't wait to meet some of you next week and share how it went with the rest of you!
xo, Courtney