It's a dreary day here in SWPA. Rain, wind, cold. Last night I told Dave that I really, really, really needed to hop a plane to Tulsa to join the ladies for a weekend at stitch camp. Seriously. How hard could it be? I could be packed and off to the airport in a matter of minutes. A change of underwear, my stitching, and I'm good to go. If I need anything else - well - I have credit cards.

And that kind of leads me into the most recent SBQ:

What items do you consider essential to your needlework that you keep in your stitching bag?

I've read many of these and I've seen some great gadgets and tools and you know how I love the gadgetry. But folks....seriously....don't any of you keep

GLASSES??

My stitching glasses are always in my "kit". My everyday, all-purpose readers (+2) don't cut it for linen, so I keep +3.25's in my bag. If I don't have those, there's no stitching going on.

Besides the project and its necessary fabric and threads, I also keep:
1. Size 26 needles. They're almost always the right size.
2. A variety of scissors, but always Cuticle scissors. Tiny, perfect to drag around.
3. A Magnet board and several magnets, including a needle keeper and some kind of long narrow magnet to use as a placeholder.
4. A needle threader and Star De-Tailor
5. An additional magnifier. Believe it or not, sometimes those powerful glasses still aren't enough.
6. Pencil with a good eraser
7. My wonderful scrap holder

And that list kind of leads me to show you some of my birthday presents! First, like I said, recently I bought a wonderful scrap/ort holder. A Pre-birthday gift is always a good thing!
When I went to Stitch camp in November, everyone had these great scrap bags attached to the tables and I had been searching for one since then. I actually bought a mini-bag, and it's ok, but not nearly as useful. And awesome. Well, one day I was cruising through Etsy.com and came across these by NStitches4u. I love, love, love it. Ann's craftsmanship is really great. And cheap?? Let me tell you, I paid less for this big bag that's super-well-made than I paid for the tiny one. If you're in the market for something like this, check Ann out at Etsy. Her shop is NStitches4u.

My dear friend Elizabeth sent me this (ahem) gift:
Yes, it's my very own "Over the Hill" doll. I think that Elizabeth's doll has covered all of the bases when it comes to being OTH, but...well....She oughta know. (Tee hee. You know I love you Elizabeth!)

Wonderful Colleen gave me a yoga mat bag, so I look more like I have it together when I go to yoga. Gotta be the with-it mom in yoga, you know? And my friend Patricia gave me a book, Why Women Should Rule the World. It's definitely on my Next-to-be-Read-List. And Dave gave me cash. Cool cash which went towards the scrap bag, and some online purchases like a couple wooden thread keepers, the Star Detailor I mentioned in my list, and fabric, fabric, fabric. Never enough fabric. I'll take pics when it all arrives.

Well folks, I could wander around forever here, but it's the first week of April and that means reports and reports and reports for work. The sooner I get started, the sooner I'll finish.

Except for this wildly random info about my very favorite lunch:

Tuna salad sandwich on Italian bread
Potato chips
Pepsi
A chocolate chip cookie

What could be better?