Shopping as therapy

Oh my, oh my, I feel so much better. My wallet is about $100 lighter, and by rights I could have spent lots more, but I ran out of time. (A 3 hour car service appointment turned into 5 hours.) None the less, I stitched away most of the 5 hours,I found a "new-to-me" shop, and I got some great stuff. But specifics will have to wait until the end of today, because work has piled up...
More later - I hope!

I really do stitch sometimes

And here's proof:


That's Drawn Thread's Souvenir Sampler.

I also have a small LK going, but it's slow going.

And I got hung up on one of the flower sections in DT's Wildflower Garden, so that's stalled until I get up some gumption.

So why am I going shopping tomorrow?? Because I damn well feel like it. I'm taking every referee penny I've earned and I'm spending it on stitching! I want some new threads and some fabrics and this money is burning a hole in my pocket.

Book Tag

1. Total number of books I've owned: I think that I’ve probably owned a couple of hundred. Maybe more, because if you think of all the college textbooks we had to buy – well that’s at least a hundred. And if you count the books I’ve purchased for my kids – well there’s another hundred. So maybe 300? Over the years, I’ve used our public library frequently, and I trade stuff with my friends and neighbors, so that keeps my numbers down.

2. Last book I bought. Gone for Good by Harlan Coban

3. The last book I read. Saving Grace by Lee Smith. Finished it this week.

4. Five books that mean a lot to me.
The Hobbit because I read it aloud to my kids and I’ll always remember those sweet evenings.
Bambi because my mother read it aloud to us when we were kids.
Mists of Avalon my first intro to King Arthur literature
Yes, Your Teen is Crazy for obvious reasons
And the rest of these fall into one category: The Red Tent, Ahab’s Wife, and Daughter of Fortune Because of the whole womanhood deal.

5. Which five people would you most like to see fill this out in their blog?
Mia, Trish, Cathy, Anna, Shari: Now it’s your turn!

Coach rant

Man, I’m tired.

I was a line ref for a U14 game, meaning lots of starts and stops and sprints up the line. But had a call at the end that ticked off one coach. Coaches can be such dips.

Attacking player is coming up on goal. Kicks ball into goal. Goalie catches ball BEHIND the goal line. Goes even further behind the line and holds ball behind her head. Clearly a goal, and that’s my call. As a line ref, it’s my call to make – it’s part of my job and positioning. I signal a goal to the center ref, and head up the line.

Coach starts spitting tacks. Am I SURE?? Did all or part of the ball go behind the line? Sir – the goalie’s entire body was behind the line, AND she took the ball behind her head. It was clearly a goal.

Game continues and ends in a tie. But Coach still needs to vent. At the end of the game, when everyone is supposed to be shaking hands w/each other, he’s still going on and on. “You have to be pretty brave to make that call so close to the end of the game.” “You have to be 100% sure about that call to make it.” I wanted to smack him. I just walked up the field. Why can’t they get it through their heads that this is only a GAME, after all? If you go so nuts over a game, you really need a life.

Or better yet Coach, why don’t YOU take the referee certification courses, put on a uniform and carry a whistle and a flag? Then listen to people berate you. Maybe then you’ll shut up.

Later I centered a U10 girls’ game. The beginning was a little rough. I think in my mind I was still back at the U14 game….I was definitely not at my best for the first 5 minutes. But then I settled down and the rest of the game went smoothly.

I must be insane. To think that my hobbies before this were sewing and reading….What was I thinking?

Note to Lizzie: I know you tagged me – and I’ll be back later when I’ve settled down!

Disappointing TV

Does anyone else think that the last Raymond episode fell flat on its face? I've always enjoyed this show - it never took itself very seriously. So their final episode seemed completely out of character. I was disappointed. I don't want to write any more about it, in case some of you haven't seen it yet. Besides, that's all I have time to write today. It'll be a night of soccer. The league is trying to have some make-up games for a couple of rain/snow-out Saturdays, so I'll be reffing a few of those tonight. I guess we'll have a late dinner, then I'll collapse into bed.

Finally, an easy day..

I’m reveling in a day off! It’s my day to do a minimal amount of work and relax a little. I need this, I’ve worked hard for I, and I deserve it.

So it’s time to catch up on my blog.

First things first: Pictures of my darlin’ girl Colleen going to her Eighth Grade Dance. I think she looks wonderful – the dress suited her perfectly. Kicky and a little unusual. I was glad that Dave was home that evening, so he could take a picture of both of us.



Now this is Colleen’s “date”. He arrived in a pink shirt, a purple tie, and black and pink Converse sneakers, but I had been forewarned, so I was sure to compliment him on his normal pants. Tanner is a nice boy – Very goofy, and very sweet. Seems like he has lots of self-confidence, to be such a goof.



But wait, it gets better! This was their ride to the dance:



I told you they were goofy. Tanner’s dad is a truck driver, and he asked his dad to drive them to the dance in the cab of the truck. So Craig (Tanner’s dad) really busted his butt and cleaned and polished and I’ll tell you what, that thing was shiny. And impressive. Craig was so proud, and so was Tanner and it was really very touching. We all do our best to make our kids happy, don’t we? So what if it’s a little goofy. Sometimes goofy works.

Nuts

I'm still insanely busy. I need a vacation! More later.

Happy Mother's Day!

To all of the moms, grandmas, aunts, and godmothers: Have a sweet day! Enjoy the rewards of a job well done!

A lot of this and that

I’ve just come through some very frazzling weeks, and I’m so glad that they’re over. You know when you have those stretches of weeks where you are running as fast as you can and still not catching up? That’s what April felt like to me. It was exhausting.

I’ve found that when I get exhausted, I shut down. Instead of making better use of my time, I make NO use of my time. Motivation disappears. And then nothing gets done, so I get even further behind.

Then I start to hear that inner voice that tells me that I suck as a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and even as an employee. Cripes, it sounds nuts, but that’s the way it is. Then something will snap, I’ll have a productive day, and before you know it, it’s smooth sailing again. I just wish I knew what that “snap” was, so I could bottle it and take it as needed.

Don’t even start with me about the menopause/hormonal explanation unless you want me to reach through your monitor and smack you.

But on to less introspective things….

DS wants to take his driving test this month. I really, really don’t think he’ll pass it, but we’ll see. I can’t tell if he’s a bad driver or if it’s new driver jittery-ness….Or maybe I’m just too critical. But I’m beyond nervous while I’m riding in the car with him. I’m a sweating, fast-breathing bundle of nerves. The door handle on the passenger side will forever have my grip indented in it. One time John asked me, “What are you gonna do Mom? Jump out?” My only consolation is: I know that there are other mothers out there in the same predicament. No wonder we’re half-dazed all the time. We’ve just come plummeting down a mountain with a testosterone infused driver.

Did I mention before that we live in the mountains? And so you have to go down the mountain to get to town. As you head up over the top of Mount Summit, there are all kinds of signs – Dangerous Mountain Ahead. Sharp Curves. Runaway Truck Ramp. Dense Fog Area. Oh, it’s lovely. But I never saw it as ominous until my son turned 16.

DD is getting ready for the 8th grade dance Friday night. She’s very excited, and I’m happy for her, but I ask you, how far should a parent go for the 8th grade dance??

Don’t get me wrong. I think that the dance is a great idea. The kids live through three tumultuous pre-teen middle school years, and they deserve to celebrate before they move on to high school. But it’s become a formal occasion and I think that’s too mature for 13 and 14 year olds.

Most of the girls are going in full-length gowns. As in Prom-style. Most will have hair, nails, and make-up professionally done on Friday. Some have been hitting the tanning beds for weeks. I think it’s nuts.

The school seemed to try to do something about the nature of this dance, but if you ask me, it was too little and too late. About 2 weeks ago a letter came home outlining dance policy. For instance, no limousines were allowed. (Believe me, it’s happened). No tuxedos (again – it’s happened). But the letter also said no long, formal dresses.

Now, any parent with any amount of sense had already bought their daughter’s dress. No way have you waited till two weeks before the dance to go shopping. When you are shopping with and/or for a teenager, you better leave plenty of time. And particularly if you live in a small town and know you’ll have to travel to Pittsburgh – and maybe twice. (We bought Colleen’s dress in February!) So in my opinion, this letter was lame. If we had received it back in December or January, it would have had much more impact. And then maybe the cycle of formal wear would end….

I’ve put the bad timing off to knowing that:
1. The principal of the school is a man and he only has sons.
2. The assistant principal is a youngish woman without children.
3. Neither one of them has a clue.

Having had my son go to this dance already, I have to say that the parents of boys get off pretty easily. Maybe your son needs a suit, maybe not. The year John went the theme was Tropical Island, so the boys went in tropical print shirts and khakis. But the girls – well, they were dressed to the nines.

Old person rant will begin here - - - When we were kids, our formal occasion was the prom. That’s it. Maybe you went to both the Junior and the Senior prom, or maybe you only went to one. But in your young life, that was it. The next formal occasions came when you were a young adult and began to be in weddings. Or had your own. But my son has been to 4 formals in the past two years. For him that means a new shirt and tie. For my daughter it will mean the whole shebang all over again each time.

But for tomorrow things will be relatively simple. She has a cute little knee length party dress. Not particularly formal, but more on the “kicky” side. I think she’ll be the only one in a short dress, but it suits her personality and it’s what she chose. Two inch heeled sandals. We’ll go to the hairdressers in the afternoon, because she wants some curls in her hair, and I suck at doing hair. She’ll do her own nails and makeup. And she’ll be a knock-out!

Other family issues: My in-laws are certifiable. And self-centered?? What... you mean there are other people in the world besides them?? I absolutely can’t take them. One of these days I’m going to tell each and every one of them what I think, and watch them fall over on the floor in astonishment. Most of the time they only inspire my apathy, but sometimes they go too far and I want to pound them.

I guess that’s enough rambling for today. Forgive this state-of-my-life entry and next time I’ll talk more about stitching.

Remember when I stitched Life is Good? Well, I put it aside because I was thinking I'd finish it as a flat fold but I needed just the right fabric.

And lookee what I found at the Dollar Store! This frame! Except it was a little off in size height-wise, so I added a few buttons to balance it out. I was really pleased.

Just a quick check in. I've been so busy for the past week. Life gets overwhelming at times.

We seem to be in the midst of a pretty severe referee shortage. I'm working several games each weekend. Last year I'd get maybe one block of 4 games every other week. This year - - - it's tight. I did 8 games Saturday and 2 on Sunday. And the upcoming weekend is shaping up to be the same. I'm a little tired.

I'll stop back later!

This is advice to all teenagers and parents of teenagers, and parents of little ones because one day they too will become teenagers, and maybe you’ll think of this post.

A well-timed and sincere thank-you is one of the most important things you will ever learn to do.

Thank everybody. Thank your teachers. Thank your friends. Thank anyone who ever does anything for you. It will make your life immeasurably easier.

And most important of all, thank your parents. Here’s the thing. We are your parents and we love you. You thought we loved you when you were babies, but heck, back then you were easy to love. You were sweet and adorable. You went to bed at 7:30. What’s not to love? Sure, you had your moments. Like when you peed in the neighbor kid’s sandbox. Or like when in a fit of baby anger you would bite me on the collarbone and bring me to my knees…Talk about your Vulcan Death Grip. But each day ended with a story read in my lap and a sweet kiss goodnight, and then all was right with the world.

But now you’re almost an adult and to tell the truth, lots of times you aggravate the crap out of us. You have these independent notions that usually center on you knowing everything and Dad and I being an idiots. You do block-headed things. And some of these block-headed things land you in trouble. And our day doesn’t end with looking at an adorable, freshly bathed baby lying in a bed. It ends with us saying: Puhleeze go to bed. Take a shower, because you smell funny. And by the way, don’t you miss that bus again in the morning.

So I have to tell you, often times I don’t get that “all is right in the world” feeling.

Except when you say, “Thanks, Mom.”

Like this morning, when you really had me ticked. You had missed the bus for the eleventy-seventh time this year, but when you got out of the car, you peeked back in and said, “Thanks for the ride, Mom.”

And you’re thanking me a lot lately. When you call me for a ride home from practice, and I say I’m on my way, and you end the call with “OK, Thanks Mom.” When you get up from the table after a meal, you say “Thanks Mom, that was great.” So as I drove home this morning after the wild bus chase, I reflected on this and realized how much smoother life has been between us. Here’s the thing: I think that saying a simple Thank You reminds me of that kiss goodnight.

And I’ll tell you something else. If you think we loved you when you were little…well, multiply that times a bazillion now. We really would walk through fire for you. In fact, we know we would because we’ve done it. Your parents love you with a ferocity that you can't even imagine. And e will go to bat for you every time.

So even though sometimes you may think we’re “lame” and “so stupid” even “so immature” (!), we know that you love us, too. Because you say thanks. And you don't have to say it. You choose to say it.

And then all is right with our world.

Question of the week

This week's Stitching Blogger's Question:

Have you ever been asked to do model stitching? Did you do it? If so, what was your compensation? (money, stash, etc.) If not, why not? If you haven't done it, if you were asked would you? Why or why not?

I stitched models for a Pittsburgh shop called The Thread Connection, but that was many moons ago. They had an ad in their shop newsletter, so I applied. Took several types of stitching (unframed - they wanted to see the backs, too), and I was "hired".

Let me tell you, it was a sweet deal. I'd go into the store, and we'd go thru the newest charts. Typically, the owner would pick some unusual stuff. Things that she didn't think would sell if you just looked at the leaflet or book, but when stitched up, she knew they'd fly off the shelf. I would take 2 or 3 projects, she'd kit them up (fabric, floss, etc), and I'd go home. They liked about a 4 week turnaround or less, depending on the project.

Later, I'd return the finished stitching. They would complete the project by framing it , sewing it into a pillow, etc. Then I was given a generous gift certificate to the store. If I decided that I wanted to keep the project, my certificate was a bit less. If I gave it over to the store to own, my certificate was more. Regardless, I was to keep any leftover supplies (floss, the used chart, etc)

Let's see - this would have been in 1989. DS was about a year old, and taking lovely, long, afternoon naps. I was a SAHM. So I had a few hours each afternoon and long evenings to stitch. No way could I keep that kind of stitching schedule now!

Other things have changed, too. For one thing, the Thread Connection closed in 1991. It was a lovely shop - probably the best shop in the Pittsburgh area back then. And I loved going there, even before I worked for them, but especially after I started working for them. I would make any excuse to drive the 90 minutes to get there! They treated me like wonderfully.

Secondly, printing technology has really improved over the past 15 years (duh!). You get a much more accurate photo on a leaflet when you are browsing needlework patterns. I'm not saying shop models aren't valuable - I'm just saying that they aren't as necessary.

Third: we all browse the internet, and I think that makes our LNS shopping patterns different. Before most of us had home computers and internet access, I used to go to a shop with maybe one design in mind. Maybe I'd see a tiny thumbnail photo in Just Cross Stitch magazine, and I'd want to check it out. But otherwise I was open to browsing thru the store. After all, JCS only gave us a limited number of designers.

But now, I'm much more likely to have a fairly established (and sometimes long) list when I walk into a shop. I've already seen these designs stitched countless times on the internet, usually thru message boards, or in online photo albums, or on blogs. I've watched Stitchalongs progress. Usually it's been with some alterations - switching fabrics, threads, etc. I have a pretty good idea if its my cup of tea or not. So I have most of my money spent, even before I get there! I'm just not as likely to switch my purchase decisions.

And finally, over the past 10-15 years I've seen the cost of needlework supplies go up and up and up. And framing? Well, let's not go there. The cost increases for framing are enough to make you cringe. I just don't know that a small shop could afford to use model stitchers and be as generous as the Thread Connection was. Most shop models are stitched by the owners and their staff.

In other news, we are so busy it's hard to find time for anything besides work-work and house-work. We're having a real go-round with Pella Windows over a sunroom we built about 16 years ago. It's mostly glass - skylights connecting to casement windows. And leaking like crazy. And evidently ours isn't the only one. Turns out that Pella settled with most of its sunroom clients last year. They gave customers money to tear down the sunrooms, because it was a faulty product and they couldn't honor the warranty. But of course DH and I weren't aware of this until it was too late. It's a bit more complicated than that, but you really don't want the whole long, drawn out version. The bottom line is, the skylight system isn't fixable. We simply have to tear it down and start over. Altho Pella has offered to give us the new windows at cost. Isn't that just mighty big of them? Sigh.....so there goes several thousand dollars, flying out of my pocket. Just wave....buh-bye.

Isn't that just the story of my life???

Ref falls on butt...

Well, if nothing else, I can be true to my word. I actually DID fall over a 5 year old this Saturday. Butt over teakettle. See, these little bittles get out on the soccer field don't know what to do. Which is normal. We're an instructional league, after all. So you end up handing them the ball, situating them, and talking them thru a throw-in. And backing up when you do it. Which in my case, meant backing up over another 5 year old. Graceful, I'm not! Next weekend I'll ref some U12's. (kids between 10 and 12). So the chances are good that I'll keep my feet. But I'll probably have to listen to some lip.

Sorry guys, but I have zero stitching stuff to talk about. But oh how I crave an evening of needlework.

My history of Stitching

As I was reading Mia's blog, I got to thinking about the history of my stitching. It's kind of interesting how our stitching lives evolved. We probably all have a unique story of how we became stitchers.

I remember my grandmother trying to teach me how to embroider and knit. She was incredibly talented, but I was a child of the 60's and I had too much important TV to watch. What an idiot. Nana was a tailor (ess?) for a children's clothing shop in Philadelphia (Germantown) that sold only tailor-made clothing. None of the off-the rack stuff. Besides making the clothing, she did all the embellishments, like smocking and embroidery. She custom-knit sweaters for the shop, too. If what she made for us each Christmas is any indication, she was even more talented at knitting. Boy, what I wouldn't give to have some of that time back.

Did any of you have to take needlework in Home Ec? In Junior High (1970), we took Cooking, Sewing (garments), and Embroidery. They gave us burlap (mine was yellow) and we had to sketch a design on it in pencil and then stitch it. Ewww. It was nasty. Not only were the materials gross to hold, my results were awful. I thought I really hated embroidery.

Ooops, gotta go. More later.

Ok, back to today’s topic.

After Jr. High, I never picked up a needle, but we’d sometimes tailor our jeans. Today’s kids think that they’re the bomb with their low cut jeans. Well we girls of the 70’s… we could put today’s kids to shame. Most of us couldn’t go out and buy the new style stuff, so we took our old jeans and sewed up the inseams to make our hip-huggers more like hiney huggers. Lots of us developed an interest in tooling leather, and big, wide, hand-tooled belts were all we wanted to do in High School Shop class. Jeez, we looked awful. But I think we looked nicer than today’s kids, because our tummies and undies didn’t show. We bought very long torso-ed shirts, or peasant shirts. You’d never think of showing your underwear. Or your stomach. Gross.

But I digress. So from 1972 till about 1983 I didn’t sew a stitch. And then Dave and I got married in 1983 and moved here to Uniontown. He worked locally, but I worked in Pittsburgh, so I drove 90 minutes each way to work. Yes – three hours of travel time each day. So I had almost zero opportunity to meet new friends here. All my time was spent working or driving, and Dave worked 6 and 7 days a week. It was a very lonely time, and I really needed something to do. And in my travels to and from Pittsburgh, I came across a quilt shop that was offering classes. So I took the plunge.

Quilting was fun, and I became very, very average quilter. But the shop also had some stamped embroidery kits – pillowcases, sheets, tablecloths, etc – so one day I picked up a stamped cross-stitch tablecloth to work on. I liked it, and plugged along, but never became particularly enthralled. It was boring. And huge. But I took it along with me on a business trip, and a girl I was staying with saw it and then introduced me to counted cross-stitch. Honestly, it was as if a light-bulb went on. And I’ve enjoyed counted cross-stitch and many other counted thread embroideries ever since.

All right – now what’s YOUR stitching history?

Scatterbrained

Well, I got a reprieve this weekend. I’ll ref 5 games Saturday morning, but 4 of them will be U6 (for my non-soccer playing readers, that’s players under 6 years old). It’s great – a small field, comical kids, and (usually) very relaxed parents. We don’t even keep score. But the kids tend to bunch up, so it’s hard to see sometimes. All you can see are 10 little legs kicking at one ball all at the same time. And this weekend coaches are allowed on the field during the game. So the chance that I’ll trip over someone is pretty good…. Oh well, we all need a little comic relief. And believe me, a 47-year-old ref tripping over a 5 year old can make you laugh.

There’s not much stitching news to report. I’ve worked a little on Wildflower Garden, but this stitch for the Tansy Aster is a pain.
You know how sometimes you get into the rhythm of doing a stitch and then you don’t have to think about it. Well I’m NOT there with this. So it’s taking a long time.

I’m working on DT’s Souvenir Sampler, too.

And a Spot Sampler with a Yahoo group. Maybe I’ve taken on too many projects. It feels like I’m not getting anywhere. Maybe 3 large projects at one time is over my limit. I know there are rotation stitchers that can juggle several huge pieces, but all in all, these three are making me a little nervous. Oh well, lesson learned.

Ouch...

Ouch...Ouch. I reffed my first soccer game of the Spring season last night. Two 35-minute halves. 120 yard field. Girls aged 13-14, who were awfully darn fast.
Everything hurts except my fingers. Whimper....

I have a favor to ask. I have a close friend who is going through a divorce. And her soon-to-be exhusband is behaving like a jackass. When you read this, say a little prayer for her. I'd love to give him a piece of my mind, but at this point, that would be too intrusive. So I'll just send her my thoughts and prayers, and I figure the more the better. Thanks dear readers!

OK, as promised, here is my birthday order!

It seems like my tastes are leaning towards whimsical lately. I like funny, quirky little charts. Of course, I still love big samplers, but not didn’t see anything new that I really fell for. So here’s what I ordered.

This is a whole kit. Looks like great fun!


I’m going to stitch this for Colleen, and I’d love to try it with more primary colors for John.


And this….what’s not to love?


And now you have to look at DS on his way to the Freshman Sophomore Dance.

Phew – this is such a busy time of year for my family and me. There are days that feel like they will never end. And I find myself yearning for those dark winter nights. Go figure!!

This will sound incredibly lazy, but every single day I relish putting on my pajamas, watching a little TV, and going to bed. If I can fit in a little stitching, well, then my night is really great. And in a perfect world, this all starts around 8PM. But in reality, it’s usually around 10 or 11PM. And woe to the child who comes to me at 11PM and asks for help with his/her homework. I will grouch at you like you’ve never been grouched at before. Because I know you’ve only just started it at 10:45.

Last week was kind of insane in my home. There were only 4 days of school, but between the two kids it included 6 track practices, 3 track meets, 2 soccer practices, a referee meeting, and the Freshman/Sophomore Dance. Oh – and a 40 hour workweek. I always forget about that. And my birthday was thrown in there, too, which was entirely uneventful. Well that’s not fair to say. We just delayed my birthday from Tuesday till Sunday. The great part was that I was able to heap on the guilt all week long so that by Sunday, I had them right where I wanted them. My mother didn’t raise any stupid children….

Soooo….Sunday was a day of my choosing. We went to Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh to see the Spring Flower Show. It was lovely, lovely, lovely. Of course, there were tons of tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths. I think there’s nothing like the smell of hyacinths to make you think of Spring, (and we really needed that what with getting 6 inches of snow the night before).

I think the biggest hit with my family was the Bonsai tree display. They were very, very cool. I think the average age of each tree was somewhere around 25 years. I wonder if the trees are put in wills? I would guess that they’re valuable and could become part of an estate?

It seemed like the most popular room held the orchid display, but I thought it was rather ho-hum. A few years ago, I liked it more, but it now seems like orchids are everywhere. They’re very “in”.

Another neat thing we did was go to mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was our week off for altar serving at St. Joan’s, so we had a little more freedom as far as where and when we went to mass. And St. Paul’s is right around the corner from the Conservatory, so since we were right there…

When I lived in Pittsburgh (as a student and afterwards), I often went to St. Paul’s. Especially afterwards, when I was living in an apartment just a couple of blocks away. I always thought it was a beautiful church. But now, after living in Fayette County for over 20 years, and going to one of the smallest churches in that county, I can really appreciate the beauty of the cathedral. It’s awesome.

Well, it turned out that this was a special mass, celebrated by the Bishop. It commemorated the 25th anniversary of some kind of Anti-racism statement. To be sure, the Bishop spoke about the death of the Pope, but the focus remained on anti-racism. It was a wonderful lesson.

But the mass was long - over 90 minutes long, and I kept thinking that I’d never hear the end of this from my kids…and then the coolest thing happened. As we were leaving, DS turned around and took a picture of the altar. If you have teens, or if you’ve had teens, you know how they can be so blasé most of the time. Stuff that you think is astounding, they react to with boredom. I don’t know – this sounds nuts, but I thought, wow, he gets it! He gets the beauty of this church. And it made me happy.

OK, but back to my birthday (me, me, me): So it was mass at St. Paul’s, then visiting Phipps, then dinner at the Olive Garden. And then DH asked if he could go visit his flat-screen TV at Best Buy, so I let him say hello to it, and then we came home. Since we will NOT be buying a flat screen anytime in the near future, DH good-heartedly makes do with occasional visits. Who am I to deny him this pleasure?

Oh – and another thing, I received my latest order from Shakespeare’s Peddler on my birthday! Like a little gift to me, from me! I’ll tell you what I bought in my next post. This one is getting way, way too long…