Cups and Pots

Almost done!

I know I haven't been around much lately. I seem to be in a time where I don't have much to say. Nothing's wrong - Nothing at all. Really! The kids are doing great. College boy is working more, which has reduced my stress levels considerably. Colleen is working several days a week and starts daily cross country practice tomorrow. Dave is fine, too. Working, playing golf, etc. I've been working steadily. I'm running in the mornings, and after I finish work for the day I head down to the lake for a swim and a neighborly visit. And that's about it.

Dullsville, I know.

I've signed up for stitch camp in Tulsa in November, and let me tell you...it can't get here fast enough. I'm ready right now! But in the meantime, I'm working out the flight arrangements. No worries. I'll get there by hook or by crook. One blessing is that Julie has generously offered to help me out with car transportation once I touch down in Tulsa, and not only will that save me some $$, but it makes the whole trip more fun when I know that a friend is waiting for me!

I absolutely can't wait to go back and shop in The Silver Needle. I seriously need a cross stitch shop fix. This weekend Colleen and I are going Mercyhurst College in Erie, so I called a shop in Erie that I found listed on the Hoffman site. They are open 10 till 3. Not even until 5? But I'm going to do my best to get there. Then afterwards we'll head to Edinboro University to spend the weekend for the PA West Soccer Open tournament.

It sounds insane, but I love these tournament weekends. Over the years it's become a "girls weekend" for us and I look forward to it each June. It's like it's our little getaway.

And here it is Father's Day, and I'm remembering my dad and I'm trying not to be sad, but it's not easy. This picture helps. Silly fellow, huh? Dad was always a good sport.

Well, time to put on the shoes and hit the road. It's really the hardest part of the run. From the slippers to the sidewalk. From the pj's to the pavement. It's all about just getting out there, so I had better....get out there!

First a little stitching

This Teatime sampler is so enjoyable! I'm pretty happy with my color choices so far. It won't match a thing in my house, but I truly don't care. It's too much fun. So now we have a sugar bowl, too.

Colleen and I spent a lovely day in Kittanning PA this past Sunday. We went to see a group that Dave and I discovered on our music cruise, called Gaelic Storm. They were giving a free concert as part of the Arts on the Allegheny program.

The concert was in a riverside amphitheatre in a beautiful park along the Allegheny.



What a wonderful concert! Besides the fabulous music, these guys (and one girl) are great entertainers. Funny? Does the song title, "The Night I Punched Russell Crowe in the Head" give you any clues? They announced that they'd be at the Pittsburgh Irish Festival in September, and we SO plan to be there.

Not much else is happening around the O'Neil house. A neighbor gave me a truckload of hosta plants. No. I really mean it. A truck load. I'm getting them in the ground little by little.

School is out, so now Colleen is home, too. She started her lifeguard job again this week, but the weather hasn't been cooperating. Same with John and his state park job. I think they are having second thoughts about these outdooor summer jobs. It's tough when they only have a few short months to earn spending money for the rest of the year.

We start our first round of graduation parties this weekend. I plan to eat as much cake as possible. Stay tuned for Grad Cake Reviews.

I should be grateful but...

All of this wonderful lace appeared at my doorstep the other day. Lace, ribbons, eyelet - it's all so pretty. I know I can use the laces and trims as I finish the odds and ends of stitching that are in my "Closet of Completely Stitched but Sadly Unfinished Projects".

But the lace is here because my dear, dear friend, Patricia is moving. I knew she'd be going eventually, but some unplanned things happened and now she's moving sooner than we expected. So she's cleaning out - - - and I'm bumming out.

I live in a small community and most of the time I really like it here. I've made many nice friends in the past 20+ years. But Patricia? Well, she's one in a million. We've hung together through thick and thin. We've raised our kids together. Struggled through their teenage years together. Even stopped our boys from fist fighting together, and still stayed friends. She is the one friend here who I always feel has my back, and I think she knows that I will always have hers.

Patricia's not moving across the world - only to Pittsburgh - so I know we'll still get together from time to time. It just won't be the easy neighborhood stuff, like stopping to talk on the road or sitting together at the lake or going to soccer games together.

Oh-my-oh-my. Life is changing. Turning 50 seems to just be the start of it. I hope that I can face these changes with grace. What I mean is, I want to be honest about my feelings and express them as these changes occur, but I don't want to be a blubbering idiot.

Oh who am I kidding? Blubbering idiothood seems to suit me well. I think I'll just run with that.

I feel like a housefly

I keep going from project to project and only staying a minute before I get distracted by something else. Honestly. I feel like I have the attention span of a housefly.

I finished this for the Bride's Tree SAL. The theme for May was birds:It was a UFO that only needed a little bit and a photo. I had an older finished bird piece - Cardinals - but I'm kind of tired of cardinals.

I've also been working on this, which is part of a sampler freebie called Tea Time:I'm making my own color decisions as I go along. I chose a bunch of bright flosses. I think it's because I started it during May, and it had been raining for almost three weeks straight. Originally it was for a monthly challenge with Emily, but May ends tomorrow and there's no way I'll finish it by then.

But anyway, go visit Ria's blog. She designed this sampler, along with many other things. Her blog is in German, but it's really beautiful and the photos are great and the finishing ideas...marvelous.

My Tree of Life is patiently waiting for me, as is Souvenir Sampler I have a few other projects kitted with only one or two stitches in them. Not to mention the Monthly Finishing challenge is a tin topper, and I really want to do that, too.

If you see me repeatedly taking a run and bonking my head against a window, you'll know the transformation is complete.

The Party's Over

And a good time was had by all! But I will admit that I'm tired. Bone tired. It was much easier to get married than to plan an anniversary party, that's for sure. Twenty five years ago, my mom probably did all of the work. Now I see what I have to look forward to...And speaking of me and Mom:

So much happened over the weekend. Family began to arrive Friday night, which was perfect because they brought my mom to my house. She was a huge help to me as we prepared the cookout for Saturday night, and by then all of my family was here, with the exception of some nieces and nephews. (Teens and early twenties. I completely understand.) My crazy family stayed till the wee hours Saturday night, and suddenly a good bit of my wine disappeared! My sisters were feeling no pain. Not me though. No way was I risking a hangover for Sunday! I still had too much to do and too little time in which to do it.

Sunday was a whirlwind. Running to the bakery to get the cake. Running to the state store to replace all of the disappearing wine. Moving furniture, setting tables. Then by 3PM, lots and lots of people. I think about 65. Maybe more. Food, drinks, cake, guests, kids...The last guests left (ok - it was mostly my family and my best friend and her husband) at 11PM. Mom, Colleen, and I sat on the bed and talked until well past midnight, and then do you think I could fall asleep?

Monday morning my family and friends came for coffee, then about half of the family left back for Philly, and half stayed to go sightseeing and river rafting. But before they left, we took some photos. I was way too busy on party day. I completely forgot to bring out a camera. But I'm happy to have these from Monday:

That's my family, except we're missing Dave (Golf. What can I say?), and my sister's husband, Tom. (Sleeping. Too much of a good thing from Sunday.) So we have a stand in for Tom (my friend Richard who is second from the left), and a special guest took Dave's place.

Then here's a photo of me and my mom and brothers and sisters:

And here we have me and my oldest and dearest friend (and maid of honor), Mary Lynn:

So after the rels got on the road for wherever they were going, Mom and I spent a really leisurely afternoon on the deck, in the sun, and she read and I stitched. It was good that we rested, because the remaining family and frieneds were back for dinner again on Monday night, (which was great because it helped clean out the refrigerator). The girls laughed in the kitchen while the guys watched hockey. Yup. Another late night. And then everyone was gone by noon on Tuesday.

I'm still recovering. I'm still putting away party stuff, like my roasters and crockpots, and containers and dishes and wine glasses and, and, and....

Now for the next several weeks we'll be going to party after party as so many of Colleen's friends are graduating this year.

It's going to be absolutely lovely to be a guest for a while!

I'll be back after Monday!

The checklists are getting shorter.

The house is reasonably clean.

The garden is...eh. Weeded.

The first family members will arrive tonight.

A million people are coming on Sunday, and miracle of miracles, the weather will probably cooperate!

I made an artsy-type collage of wedding and honeymoon snapshots and dragged out the wedding album so that I can force my guests to look through it and tell me how lovely and thin I was 25 years ago.

So I'm feeling calm. And I'll be back when it's all over!

Actual stitching post

Here is a small purple biscornu that I just finished.
Well, I have news for you. It looks pretty in the photo, doesn't it? But did you notice that I didn't take any closeup photos of the seams? Or of the backside? Somehow or other as I was whipstitching the last side together, I realized that I was off by six or more stitches. I had 13 backstitches to whip on the top, and 19 or more to whip stitch on the bottom. Which is all the more miraculous when you consider that the design was only 29 st X 29 st.

Here I thought I was being so careful!! So I would surely appreciate some tips for keeping my biscornu edges even.

So - this anniversary party thing? I'm starting to panic. There are far more people coming than I ever would have thought. Luckily I called the caterer this morning and he's not nearly as panicky as I am. I increased my food order a good bit and he was cool with that. And I'll take another trip to the liquour store. But right now I'm going to go down to the garage and count the beer.

Let's see. It's one for them, two for me...one for them, two for me. Gee, I hope we have enough.

I've survived another prom

And there's only one more to go and that's a year away. I think. Unless she goes to prom at another high school, which I really doubt will happen.

So, Friday really wasn't too bad. Things never go as smoothly as we would hope, but for the most part, there was only minimal stress. The most stressful part was that her date couldn't find the house where they had all gathered and he arrived rather late. But she took some good natured ribbing from her friends pretty well, and was pretty darn gracious about it when he finally arrived. That's my girl.

Well....here's the lovely young lady.

And here is the lovely young lady and her date.

And here they are on the bus on the way to prom.
The theme was Masquerade, and the Prom Committee made them wear these masks. From my point of view, the girls masks were kind of pretty and interesting, but for heavens sake, these girls had just spent a ton of time and money on hair and makeup and who wanted to cover that up with a mask, no matter how theme-like you wanted them to be. And not only did most of the boys look goofy, (like bank robbers in a silent movie), but the masks also made it hard to see. So they stepped onto the stage, into bright lights, and then had masks that made them unable to see the steps. Hm. Not a good idea. But they survived with minimal tripping and stumbling.
This is Colleen and her friend Laura, who is like a daughter to me.
And finally, I hope you can see how proud I am of her in this picture. She's a great kid.

Adjustments

I've had to remind myself over this Mother's Day weekend that adjusting to things that are out of my control are a huge part of being a mother. Actually, it's a huge part of being parent in general, but we mothers just seem to be better at it. Maybe it's because we have to deal with the consequences of not adjusting in a much more direct way.

So anyway, due to circumstances beyond my control, I didn't get to wish all of you a Happy Mother's Day. I hope your day was everything you hoped it would be, whether it included a big elaborate restaurant meal, or burgers in the backyard with your children. Whether it was a short phone call from someone you love who lives far away, or an extended visit with friends and relatives. Whether you had some much needed alone-time, or whether you were surrounded by your family for the entire day.

And I have to tell you - I loved this post by Ivy at Home Ec 101, because it talks about Mothers Day as a time to celebrate all women. Pop on over and read it. She certainly says it better than I ever could.

I had a long Mother's Day. Long because we drove almost two hours to an "away" soccer game, only to get there and play for about 5 minutes before lightning arrived. So they cleared the field, and waited about 15 minutes before the referee called the game off. Entirely. What?? We (referees) are supposed to wait 30 minutes after the last lightning strike before allowing the game to resume, so what was the harm in waiting the entire 30 minutes? Especially since we had driven two hours to get there. I think that the home team and the referees clearly didn't want to be there, so they just took ignored our situation and said "go home". So not fair. And we drove two hours home again.

Ah well, The silver lining is that we were home by a reasonable time, so dinner wasn't super late, and it was followed by fabulous dessert created by my fabulous daughter: A mocha chocolate cookie with Coffee ice cream, whipped cream and a chocolate espresso bean!! It was awesome. She's the most thoughtful daughter in the world.

More adjusting...We moved John home from college on Saturday. All in all, it wasn't so bad. We packed him, loaded the van and the car, and cleaned the room all in under two hours. Not too shabby. Now I just need to adjust to the late night schedule of a teenage/college-age boy. Already I'm not sleeping, and it's a miracle that I'm awake right now. Seriously. I didn't fall asleep until 4AM and had to be up with Colleen at 6:30. He's not that noisy - it's just that the energy of the house is entirely different and I can't sleep.

You'd think that I'd have some stitching to show, but my eyes just won't focus on close things that late at night. I can't even read. So I watch TV. Top Chef, and all of those Bravo and Style channel shows. I watched a show I had recorded a while back: Masterpiece Theatre's "A Room with a View". Eh. Ok to pass the time when you can't sleep, but not great. I expected it to be much better.

I think that another reason I was sleepless was because of the upcoming anniversary party. I had too many lists bumping around in my head. It'll help when I'm able to cross more things off that list.

Oh for heaven's sake! I forgot to tell you last week that we had our ACTUAL 25th wedding anniversary. It was on May 7. Yup, that's 25 years of Dave asking. "Where are my keys?" and "Have you seen my wallet?". And 25 years of me asking, "Hey Dave, does this make me look fat?" So Dave darling, if you're reading this, I want you to know that I'll happily look for your keys and wallet for another 25 years. Just as long as you keep telling me that nothing could possibly make me look fat.

And now it's back to work. I have meeting minutes to type for our HOA. Terribly boring stuff, and I always put it off till the last minute. Drives my boss insane, but he still loves me.

Giving something new a try

My first biscornu:

This was loads of fun and may become addicting...The design was a freebie that I downloaded from somewhere last December, but I didn't save the link. It's called Quaker Time, if that helps. And I used DMC 4210 and 4240 on 14 ct. Salem cloth. I thought to use the Salem cloth because it's softer and I thought it would be easier to manipulate as I turned those corners, but now that it's all said and done, I think linen would have held a crease better.

Well now....back to Tree of Life!

Lost another LNS

Hella called me from Germany yesterday. When she and Anna were here, they loved the things I had bought from The Needle Nook in Ligonier, PA, so they decided to take a side trip there on their way back to Philadelphia. But when they arrived at the shop, it was gone. What they discovered (from the store that's in its space) was that the owner simply retired and closed up.

Sigh.

That brings the number of shops within a 50 mile radius of me to...Zero. I can't even buy floss anywhere. Floss, even!

Then Hella and Anna went to a shop near Hershey, PA, called The Cross Stitch Cupboard, and they lucked out to find a big sale, because they're closing on June, also.

It's such a drag. I really had thought that cross stitch and embroidery were becoming more popular than ever. The blogs that I read have more amazing and diverse work than I've ever seen before. I must be completely wrong.

I admit that I do some online buying, but I try to patronize internet stores that have actual brick and mortar shops. Even so, I was good for about $100 every few months at the Needle Nook.

So I'm sad to see another one bite the dust. In the early 90's, I could go to Pittsburgh and in one trip I could hit three cross stitch stores on my way home. The shop owners knew me by name, knew my kids, and even offered me coffee or lunch somedays. I miss that. But what can you do? Life marches on.

My dwindling blog posts

Sorry gang. I know I've barely been here for the past few weeks, and my posts have been pretty short. Work, soccer, track...The days fly by.

I've stitched a little. I'm working on a biscornu or two for kicks. Our Monthly Finishing Challenge for May is a biscornu, and my Yahoo group is exchanging biscornus in July. I've been wanting to try one, so there's no better time than the present! No photos yet, but maybe I'll have one of a Quaker-style biscornu by the end of the week. I have a long track meet coming up on Tuesday, and I've become pretty good at stitching at these meets.

I had a long-distance stitching friend visit me last week! Hella is from Lubeck, Germany, and we figure that we've been pen-pals over the past 14 or so years. She's been to the US several times, and she's visited with me each time - sometimes very briefly, sometimes for a couple of days. We just seem to connect. Our kids are close in ages, we both like to stitch and quilt, and we seem to think the same about many things. Hella is a talented and generous quilter, and she and her friend Anna decided to visit Berlin, Ohio to take some quilting classes and wouldn't you know it, they ended up teaching a class themselves! Like I said...talented and generous! So on their way back to Phila. International Airport, they took a detour to my little town here, and we had a lovely visit and I made us all dinner. There was lots of stash show and tell and sharing and that's always so much fun!


Soccer? I've done so many games recently that I've lost count. My Saturdays are usually lots of fun, doing small-sided, in-house games of kids under age 10. Sundays are pretty good, too, but much more challenging for me because I've been assigned to the Under 18's and Under 17's. Those games are full length (90 minutes) and larger teams (11 vs 11) and on much bigger fields (100 yards long). Play is much faster and I'm sorry to say this, but much meaner. We've even had a fight break out this year during a U17 Boys game. Still, I'm learning many things by being exposed to all of these situations. I go to the required classes every year, but there's nothing like experiencing it on the field.

On the family front, Colleen is having an awesome track season. And prom is next Friday. The dress is hemmed, the jewelry and shoe decisions are made, and the hairdresser appointment is scheduled. I think she's pretty well organized. I'm so happy because she mentioned that she wants to do something with me before Prom, so I'll pick her up from school early and we'll go have a nice lunch somewhere before we head to the hairdresser's. We did that once before a dance last year, and she said it made the day feel more special. Is she the sweetest daughter I could ever ask for, or what?

John is moving home for the summer on Saturday. He has three finals today, so you know he'll be on my mind all day.

And I've just finished sending the invitations out for our Anniversary party. I'm keeping my fingers AND toes crossed for good weather over Memorial Day weekend!

But as for today, there are bills to be paid and bills to mail out. Money in...money out. It never ends!

Can you see it?

Those hunks of white in the air? Here it is, April 29. And it's snowing.

Saturday we absolutely cooked at the County Track Meet where it was 85 degrees and sunny by 10AM.

I just hope my pansies survive.

A quick note about that postcard

Well, as it turns out, it wasn't quite a postcard. As usual, I just plunged right in and didn't follow any directions except for the ones that rattle around in my own head and I made a card that was too thick.

So it actually was not a postcard, and not even a letter, but rather a parcel.

So my sister will be getting a housewarming parcel.

It's official, and now everyone at the post office knows it, too. I'm an idiot. But at least I'm an enthusiastic idiot.

Hmph.

Because everyone needs a fabric post card

For my sister...who had to move under less-than-perfect circumstances. I hope this brings her a smile!


This is a freebie from Barbara Ana Designs. I'm insanely busy now, but I'll edit w/a link later.

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And here's the link! Barbara Ana Free Designs

I used 14 ct. Fiddlers cloth and DMC threads.

Colleges, colleges, colleges

Now it's for the search with Kiddo Number Two. We went on our second college visit last Friday, this time to Allegheny College. Conveniently, it's where we send Kiddo Number One.

You would think that a visit there wouldn't be necessary, but I've found that since Colleen is looking for a completely different major than John, (she's somewhere between English and "undecided"), these visits involve completely different questions. Besides, I don't want her to rely on our perception of a school as she makes her decisions. She needs to see schools from her own point of view. So off we went.

Allegheny gave a wonderful, wonderful presentation. The director of admissions gave a great rundown of the programs and opportunities at Allegheny, AND gave the kids lots of things to think about as they navigate this whole college decision process. Colleen came away not only impressed with Allegheny, but very excited about attending college in general. Before this, she had been pretty blase about the whole thing. Now I'm starting to see some sparks! Absolutely exciting! Thanks to that presentation, she's taking more of an active interest in visiting colleges, and that's much better than dragging her disinterested self all over the place. I think we'll have a busy summer.

Then she went off on a campus tour and I met Johnny for some early room-packing. We packed up his winter gear, so that's one less load of stuff to haul home in May, and believe me, there was enough to fill my station wagon. Then we all met up for our free lunch (most schools give you the free lunch deal. Pretty nice!) and Colleen and I started for home.

Saturday morning I worked 4 short in-house soccer games. I love those "Under 10" kids. And on Sunday I worked 3 full-length U17 games. Three 90 minute games and the first two were constant running. Thank heaven the third game was a good bit slower and less intense. My sprint was more like a crawl towards the end! But as of Sunday I'm pretty close to having all of the $$ I'll need for Novembers Camp Wannasew, and then the rest is for stash and gadget shopping!!

Speaking of money, thanks guys for all of the "we're with you" comments on my last post. It's always a struggle, isn't it? I waver all the time about my financial philosophy. On the one hand, I think that we must always work and earn and save, save, save. Skip vacations, work overtime, and spend only on necessities at this stage of our lives. On the other hand, my life experience has shown me that...well...life can be short. People can die young. If you don't go on that trip this year, you may have more money to spend on it next year, but no husband to do it with. Ever since my dad became sick, my mother is always saying "Don't wait till it's too late." So I never know what to do. Just find a happy medium, I guess.

Stitching? I'm working on a fabric postcard stitching challenge, but don't have anything worth showing at the moment. Hopefully soon!

Feeling the pinch - Boring money talk

Like most Americans, my family is feeling a financial pinch. Three months out of the year are gone, taxes were due, and it was time to re-evaluate our spending habits.

All I can say is...we most definitely have to cut back on our spending.

It all kind of crept up on us. College tuition and housing aside, there have been college-related expenses that have crept into our family budget. And it certainly didn't help when the price of gas went way up during a year that we spent lots of time traveling hundreds of miles up and down I79. I'm starting to panic about 2009 when I'll have both kids in college. I may be living in a box alongside that very highway.

What else? Kids grow up and darn if they don't want to drive so we added another new driver in the family. Gone are the days when our car insurance didn't even reach $1000 a year. Quadruple that for today's bill. The kids kick in when they can, but we don't push it. They're good students and good athletes, and their driving is a big convenience for me, so we have a deal. We split gas money, and if they bring home really good grades, then I'll pay for car insurance. So I pay, but the trade-off feels fair to me.

Heating costs?? More than doubled. Thank goodness we added an electric heat pump a couple of years ago, or else I'd tell you that those costs tripled.

And there isn't very much I can do about those costs. We energy-save - our thermostats are set no higher than 68 all through the heating season and we dial back to about 66 at bedtime. We take advantage of every driver discount that we can find. And gasoline is a fact of life, so we try to consolidate trips to town as much as possible. So...where to cut back? Here's what I found:

I almost fainted when I added up what I've been spending on groceries each month. I'm only buying for three people and one of them is a vegetarian! When I consider it carefully, I can see that my food prep lifestyle over the past few years has changed, and not in a good way. I've become a short-term shopper. I'm forever running into and out of the store and picking up just enough for one meal. Fast, fast, fast. I really try to stay away from convenience foods, and that helps, but I'm still not shopping smart. For instance, I usually look at the specials while I'm in the store, but I don't plan shopping or meals around them. My pantry is pitiful.

So today, I'm going to turn over a new leaf. And I'm happy to say that there are terrific blogs and websites that are there to help me. Maybe you're in the same boat, so I'll share three of my favorites with you:

Check out Cheap, Healthy, Good for lots of good-sense advice about buying and preparing food. This blogger hits it all, including frugality, healthy recipes, and the organized kitchen.

I've been reading The Cleaner Plate Club, too, where I've found good advice about buying simple, additive-free food and supporting your local farms.

Here's a fun site called Home Ec 101. I've found lots of good tips and links to get organized and save money at the same time!

Maybe if I really, really work hard at this grocery budget thing, I won't have to take a hard look at my crafty budget. No. Please, no.

All's I can say is: Thank goodness blogging and blog reading are both free.

Wow...that was one LONG weekend

And now folks, we have not one, but three prom dresses.

Friday evening was a bit of a bust when we went to Macy's in Pittsburgh, where in the past they had a good selection of prom and formal dresses. But I guess that in other years we were shopping in February (because the Freshman/Sophomore dance was in April). This year we didn't start shopping until April (she was invited to prom only last week), and almost everything was gone. There were just a few lonely dresses there. It certainly took the wind out of Colleen's sails.

Still, it wasn't a total loss, because we poked around in Filene's Basement and Penney's, where she bought two dresses that were acceptable, but I knew she wasn't exactly jumping up and down for joy.

So Saturday, after working my soccer games, we got back in the car and drove to a shop in Charleroi, PA where I had taken my MIL, her sister, and her mother for their dresses for my wedding. Yep. 25 years ago.

Here's what she came home with:

It's simple, which really works best for her because she's so tiny. She's a barely a size 3, has no bustline, and she's very short, so most dresses are just way too much for her. The actual dress is teal colored, with a salmon-y waist and sash, which are good colors for her. And she'll wear the straps that came with it. It wasn't crazy expensive, either. Lucky for Colleen, because like I said before, she's paying for this deal. So now I just have to return two less-than-perfect-dresses. Fun? You betcha.

Next year we'll know from the get-go that she's going to prom, (because she'll be a senior) so we'll shop really early. Seriously.

Sunday we traveled to Bethany, WV for a soccer game. Dave decided to stay home and I was kind of glad because he got our dinner in the oven and we could have dinner at home. It's nice to come home to a cooked dinner when you've been on the road for 6 hours.

Stitching? Just a little. I finished this for a Yahoo group monthly exchange. I stitched most of it during a very, very long track meet last week. That's an from an old PS leaflet, (#10, copyright 1985!)) called a Prairie Christmas. I updated it a little, using some WDW Cocoa for the rabbit and GAST Dried Thyme for the green trees and green border.

And "rabbits" are the April theme for the Brides Tree SAL, so I think I'll do this one again, but on linen. I have some lovely flax colored linen that will work perfectly.

Our taxes are done and I don't want to talk about it. Sigh.

Guess where I'm going tonight??

Prom dress shopping!

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know my feelings on prom dresses.

"Look, these boobs cost me a fortune, so screw the dress and just showcase the boobs."

But DD was invited to the prom, so off we go. It shouldn't be terribly stressful (for me) because I've made it clear that since I paid for the whole she-bang of the junior/senior dance, this prom is on her. Dress, shoes, hair, accessories, and so on. I'll just be along to drive the car, giggle unmercifully, and shuffle aimlessly through the racks of dresses.

We've asked Dave to come along, but he'd rather go sit in the disgusting steam room at the YMCA. I'll bet they talk about prom dresses in there, too.

It's a wonder that my daughter doesn't disown me.

Five soccer games tomorrow, and it's opening day. Hooray!

Birthdays

Birthdays are the greatest. People send you the nicest things, like cards, emails, notes, and even - - - really thoughtful presents! Sometimes it's interesting how someone can know exactly what to send, even though you haven't known them for years and years.

So that brings me to this wonderful package that I received from Julie, fellow Yahoo group member and Camp Wannasew buddy.


That's two - yes, two tins of Whitman's chocolates. I'm not showing the insides because. Um. Well, Who says you can't have chocolate for breakfast? Just a couple pieces.

I wonder if she knows that I carry my own emergency teabags in my purse? Do any of you do that, too? But because of all of the kids' sports, it seems that I'm always near (if not working in) a concession stand and the coffee is notoriously bad and I'm not big on hot chocolate. So I always carry my own teabags, and now I'll have my own coffee packets, too. How did she know?

There's some adorable soccer ribbon, and folks, what would a birthday be without a noisemaker?

Thanks Julie! I'm so honored that you remembered my birthday in this special way!

Here's something I bought with my birthday $$. Like I said, I love the gadgets. It's a threadholder from Bloom Woodworks

And I'm still looking at fabrics. So many choices!
Have a great day, gang!