My progress on No Place Like Home. One house to go!

It's been an ordinary week, which doesn't make for exciting blog writing. Our local Halloween parade was last night, and as usual I was amazed by the creative costumes that we saw. It amazes me particularly because I really stink at Halloween costumes.

Which brings me to another point - It looks like I've been blogging for over a year. The "I stink at Halloween" theme sounded familiar and sure enough, I was saying the same thing about a year ago, in this very same blog.

I'm surprised that I've stuck with blogging this long. My attempts at personal journals have always faded out after a couple of weeks, and totally disappeared after a month. I think it's the inspiration I get from reading other blogs and from the thought that someone else may be reading this. It's like having an exercise partner. You may not feel like doing it from time to time, but there's your buddy out there doing it. So you don't want to let them down, nor do you want them to outpace you....Kind of like be selfless and selfish at the same time? Well, whatever. It's still surprising to me.

My capricious behavior of last week seems to have gone away. I've actually stuck to a single job from beginning to end. My office is (relatively) neat and clean. My important files are in order. I wish I knew why my attention span disappeared temporarily.

I finished the third (winter) house in No Place Like Home, and now I'll head back to the baby sampler. DSIL's baby shower is in two weeks, but I'll hold on to this till Christmas. Instead, we're getting her a stroller.

I've been thinking and thinking about these Embroidered envelopes. I seem to remember someone blogging about them a while back, but can't find it now. If it was you, please let me know?

Last soccer weekend of the year. I'm looking forward to the end - I'm tired!

I have just 20 minutes to zip out a blog entry before I have to go out into the dark night in search of yet another child. Or to be far less dramatic, before I have to pick up DD from the junior high dance, and DS from the band bus after a football game.

This was a week of great intentions for my stitching, but very little action.

For two weeks now I’ve had a very, very difficult time focusing on any task at hand. If I’m supposed to be working, I’m daydreaming about other things. Computer games, soccer games, TV shows. If I’m lining a soccer game, I find myself off in never-never land for at least a play or two. If I’m stitching, it’s not long before I’m up and moving around and doing stuff like sorting laundry or dusting.

I swear it’s hormonal. How else could I be feeling so scatterbrained?? And the result is, I don’t accomplish much of anything. Am I deluding myself into thinking I’m multitasking, but in fact I’m just screwing around?? Probably.

But let’s move on. Or maybe backwards, to follow up on my previous sport rant:

I found a GREAT website about sport parenting. I think I’ll publish this in our next soccer newsletter:

It’s called The Six Things Parents Should Say to Their Children:

For best results, parents should memorize and use the following phrases.

Before the match/game/meet
1. I love you
2. Good luck
3. Have fun

After the match/game/meet
1. I love you
2. It was great to see you play
3. What would you like to eat?

Pretty awesome, huh? Let’s see if I can make it through the weekend with this lesson in mind! See you afterwards….

As predicted, it was a cold and wet weekend. There's nothing like standing on the sideline of a soccer game, trying to watch the ball and the players, with wind, rain, sleet and yes....SNOW pelting you in the face. We all had a good laugh as we asked ourselves, "Now - WHY do we do this??"

So – here was my Saturday: I was the AR for Colleen’s game at 1:30PM. That’s about when the cold rain was at its worst. However, that being said, at least I was on the sideline with a raincoat on. My poor daughter was running in the rain, getting soaked. Then I hung out for the next hour or so, working in the concession stand. Definitely more dry, but just as cold. Next I was AR for a 10-12 game, and that’s when the sleet and snow hit. During quarter breaks and half time I was jogging the sideline to stay warm. Finally got home around 6PM. Made dinner. Cleaned up a bit. Fell asleep in a chair at 9PM, went to bed, and slept till 9AM.

Well, at least I’m sleeping better.

And I went out this week to invest in better sports bras (cotton gets wet and STAYS wet), and more long undies. Hmmm. Made a whole $10 on the field this weekend. Spent half of it at the concession stand, and $25 on proper underwear. So I’m $20 in the hole. Insane? Yup. But it’s a fun insanity.

As for stitching, I spent a wonderful late Sunday afternoon stitching during the Steeler Game. It was wonderful to be cocooned in my favorite chair, watching the wind blow outside and with my stitching in my hand. I’m almost done with the 3rd house of 4. It’s a winter house. Lots of fun! Once that’s done I’ll move back to the baby boy project.

Nothing much else to write about. Till next time….

Brrrr - looks like we're in for the first cold weekend of the year! 46 degrees and windy. I'll be wearing my long johns under my referee uniform!

OK...Time for a sports rant. I am so disillusioned with sports parents. The level of anger at various games is so out of control anymore, from rec sports leagues to junior high to high school. Parents AND PLAYERS cussing out coaches; football officials at a high school game being led off the field by security guards, and they were still bombarded by out of control fans; fights between kids and adults in parking lots after games. Really - this has to stop. Has everyone lost their minds?

I think what bugs me the most is the parent cussing out a coach. I'm not saying that the kid doing it is acceptable. But we realize that it's a kid and they can be forgiven for being a stupid idiot. Teenagers are for the most part lacking in diplomatic ability. Sometimes they're like 2 year olds with acne. They'll learn. But give me a break - a 45-50 year old woman and her husband?? You've got to be kidding me.

What on earth is the big deal?? 99% of the time, there are no scholarships, careers, or livelihoods at stake here. It's a freakin' game! And what kind of an example are we setting for our children? That tantrums are acceptable methods of dealing with disappointment?

And folks, get a life. Realize that this is NOT a Jerry Springer-esque world. Oh Jeez - what an awful visualization. Mom gets mad that daughter doesn't get enough playing time, so she runs onto the field baring her pendulous breasts. Dad deosn't like a tripping call, so he shows his hairy butt on the 50 yard line. Won't your family be proud?

Can't we just enjoy a fall afternoon or evening outside, watching a game and feeling blessed that we have healthy kids who can run the field? At most of the games, we're sitting with our friends, shooting the breeze, and commiserating over the cold/heat/rain/snow. Then afterwards, we're happy to see our kids with their teammates, or even chatting with kids from the other team. We congratulate them or commiserate with them, and we tell them that all that matters is that they did their best. Then we go out for something to eat, or maybe a piece of pie, and we go home. Back to the real world.

So - to all the volatile sports parents out there: Don't you dare ruin this for the rest of us. If you keep it up, nobody will want to coach our kids. And without a coach, there will be no team. Nobody will want to officiate our games, and without referees, there will be no games. So find something else to become crazy about. Or have your kid take up an individual sport. Tennis, boxing, fencing, or marathon running, to name a few. And leave the rest of us in peace.

OK, rant over. See you after the weekend!

Since I don't have any recent completions, here are a few OLD autumn themed projects I've done in the past. This is what happens when you clean closets....


This one is super old, probably from 1986 or so. It was a fun series of small seasonal samplers. You know what, though? Once you become used to looking at the newer overdyeds and variegated threads, this sampler begins to look a little flat. Hmmm. Compare it to the scan below with lots of color variation. Don't get me wrong, I still like it. Just not as much.


A finish from 2 years ago. My first try with Sampler threads. Lots of fun!

I'll tell you what else - now I feel really old. And feeble. Feeble because I still have unframed projects in my closet that are over 15 years old. That's older than my kids. And I even had a life back then. And money.

OK that settles it. No more cleaning closets. They can clean them when I'm six feet under and marvel at my skill at stitching, and my laziness at framing.

We had such a beautiful weekend! DH and I went for a walk around the lake Sunday morning and took some pictures:













Unfortunately, by the time we got home, we had lost electricity again. Evidently there was a major car wreck on the main road that took out some poles and wires....and we didn't get power back till almost 6PM. I'm beginning to feel a little Amish. And grumpy Amish at that....

Here is something that Rotation Stitching has taught me: I spend very few hours stitching. My goals for September included 10 hours each on two projects, and stitching a small bookmark. I barely eked those hours in on the first two, and didn't even touch the bookmark. Mind you - not for lack of desire. Just for lack of time.

Wow - that means I only stitch 5 hours a week. I know I get one in on Thursday evening (dd's riding lesson). And maybe I get 2 in during football. And two interspersed during the rest of the week.

Hmmmm - that's quite a reality check. But in a good way, I guess. It alleviates some of the frustrations I was feeling about having so many great projects gathering dust. I just don't have the "hours" to give to stitching. So I'll be patient and quit beating myself up over it. And how's this for spin? I may only have 20 hours, but I like what I'm accomplishing in those 20 hours.

On other fronts - DS had a cross-country meet yesterday against their cross-town archrivals, Laurel Highlands HS. These boys were really pumped (and really nervous) about this race. And DS still isn't 100% health-wise. But they won! In fact, both the boys and the girls team won - quite an accomplishment. And DS ran his best time ever: 18:59! Breaking the 19 minute mark! He rocked.

DD has a race this afternoon - I know she'll do well and run an even better time than the last race. She's really coming along.

Rec soccer is in full swing again, now that the golf tournament is over. I ref'ed three games Saturday and one Sunday. It was a good weekend. I'm really happy to be doing this in our mountain league - it's a great learning place. I actually head ref'ed with DD working the sideline on Saturday, and we made a really good team. Next week the three of us will work a game. DS will head, and DD and I will side line. Should be interesting. Especially if we start to fuss at each other...Loving, gracious family that we are....

It was back to the docs yesterday w/DS, meaning I spent another whole day in Pittsburgh and got nothing else done. So I'm allowing myself exactly 5 minutes to blog and then I have to buckle down to work...

I finished the wording on Little Boys, so it's put away for a while and I'm back to working on No Place Like Home. This rotation deal (even tho my rotation is small) seems to be working out. I may actually finish the baby piece shortly after the baby is born! I know the baby's name - I just need a birthday.

I can hardly believe that September is almost gone. Where are all the apple pies and the apple butter and the apple crisps I had intended to make? My days are too short.

I don't have much news today. DS has bronchitis, and his pediatrician is in Pittsburgh, so it was a driving kind of day. It's all good though - he's on the mend.

The cross country boosters are busy putting together our invitational meet, so I've been on the phone begging for donations. I wish I were better at it. I'm so lame at asking people for things.

I guess there was no escaping Hurricane Ivan, even this far north. But all in all we were lucky. Just a few downed trees and minor wind damage. The Pittsburgh area was hit much harder than we were, just 50 miles south.

The only problem was that a tree took out power lines on our "main" road, and we lost electricity for 24 hours. From about 9PM Friday till about 9PM Saturday, we were roughing it. That's because a complication of living in the boonies is that virtually everything in your house depends on electricity. Heat, water, cooking stoves, etc. So when the power is out, everything is out.

We've been on the fence about buying a generator, but after this last power outage, I think I want one. I don't need a whole house generator, but I'd like one large enough to run the furnace, freezer, and well pump. Maybe a light bulb here and there would be nice, too, but I'm not asking for luxury!

In 1999 we had an ice storm that was huge, and lost power for about 48 hours. Power outages in the winter are of particular concern, because if your pipes freeze.....bad scene. Some of us talked about buying generators, but remember the winter of 1999 - 2000? And all the fear mongering about the millenium bug that sounded like the end of the world? So generators were scarce and expensive that winter, and we decided to forget about it. But now - maybe it's time to rethink that decision.

No stitching this weekend. I just read somewhere (probably in a light bulb ad) that as we get older, we require 4 times the amount of light to see well. So there was no way I was going to attempt candlelight stitching. I'll tell you, life without electricity isn't only fretful - it's boring!

Ok, here are the pictures I promised. Don't be alarmed...I'm a very slow stitcher!

Ahhh, it's been a good week. I've continued work on Little Boys. Just love it! I hope my brother likes it. I think I'm past my 10 hours for the rotation, but I'm going to keep going till I finish all the word lettering. Heck, I'm on a roll. I'll post a picture soon.

Work is great. It's amazing what one can accomplish in an 8 hour work day without long interruptions from kids needing rides! I was even able to complete our neighborhood newsletter this week. Now my next job will be the local Soccer newsletter. Man, I wish I was a faster writer and typist! Especially since I have no info from the soccer officers. And they want it done by Saturday (supressed laugh)... I'll not complain. I volunteered to do this, and I like doing it. Pressure is a good thing. (supressed maniacal laugh)

Yesterday, DS ran his personal best on the home course for his cross country team. If you're not familiar with cross country running, it's a 5K run over fields, hills, and woods. Much more complicated than a road race. I'm so proud of this kid, I could bust.

DD is feeling the pinch of playing two sports at once. I hope remembers and pays attention to the signs her body is giving her now for next year. She's tired. I think she'll need to make a choice....Cross country or soccer.

DH is looking forward to the 84 Lumber Golf Classic next week. All the biggies will be here. Yes, here. In Fayette County. About 3 miles away. Tiger, Vijay, John Daly. And the traffic is going to be un-freakin' believable. But that's for a blog at a later date.

There's nothing much new to write about this morning.

Stitching-wise, I received a lovely package in the mail from The Drawn Thread. I just couldn't resist the Souvenir Sampler, which is odd because I don't usually like spot motif samplers like that, but the Souvenir Sampler was really charming. Nothing like a nice package at the post office to brighten your day!

The other reason I had placed an order was because my pain-in-the-butt dog chewed up the chart for No Place Like Home. Being that I was half way through, and she had chewed through the center portion of the chart, I knew I had to replace it.

That's the second time she's gone after this piece. One day I came home to find hunks of dark stringy stuff on the floor. I thought it was a hunk of old carpet or something, so I carried it upstairs to throw away, and about cried when I saw that she had chewed through all of the Sampler threads I had pulled out for this.

So a week or so later when I came home to find that she had chewed through the chart....I was pretty dismayed! In 9 years, this dog has never touched my stitching before. But lately she's been ornery and - if you can attribute this to a dog - demanding.

Don't I have enough to deal with? Two teenagers and now an ornery and demanding dog, too? Whatever did I do to deserve this?? (Pause here for a brief pity party)

OK, so I moved on to the next piece in my rotation and all's well that ends well. I started the Little Boys project (mentioned below) and it's so simple and great fun.

And the dog will get to live here a while longer.....

Oh, but BTW, ordering from Drawn Thread was a breeze. No backorders, no exhorbitant shipping fee or handling fee. (I believe I just paid actual priority mail postage). Placed the order on Thursday, and had it by Tuesday of the next week. Taking into account the Labor Day holiday, I think that's pretty darn good.

Ahh, Day Two of school, and life is wonderful!

I even have time for the Stitchers QOTW!

Do you feel cross stitching requires patience?

No, I really don't think so. Patience to me means waiting. Mostly waiting to see what happens, or waiting to see results. To me, it implies inactivity. I think it implies peaceful inactivity, but inactivity none the less.

Now, I hate to wait. I have no time for waiting. If I have to wait, I may just move on. Cancel my appointment. Leave without you. Get out of line and leave the store. (That's not a big stretch - I hate to shop, so I'll find any excuse to leave)

So, how does this translate to stitching? I'm not patiently doing something. I'm actively working on something. It could take 100 years, but I'm not waiting... I'm working. So there's no need for me to be employ patience. Only endurance! And heck, I've got lots of that. Being realistic and knowing that most things don't come instantly (riches, weight loss, or maturity, to name a few) doesn't necessarily mean that I'm patient. Just that I'm realistic.

Now, let's see how this translates...There are some of us out there who are like marathon runners. They train for the BIG stuff. It takes them several hours a day, but they are dedicated to their calling and they finish the giant angels, complicated castles, and exquisite intricate samplers. Then we have some 5K runners. They also train, but not as many hours a day and so they like more medium sized projects. Some of us are sprinters - Finishing one quick project after another. And others are strollers. We don't care how long it takes us to get there, we just like strolling. Happy with finishing a project every year or so. Now, when you talk to runners, patience isn't questioned. It has more to do with enjoyment and dedication. I guess I feel the same way about stitching!

Oh My - this is bad. B-A-D, bad. This book is taking over my waking consciousness. I'm daydreaming of swarthy young men in kilts...Men who take your chin in their strong hand and say they'd lay down life and limb for you. Just for chivalry. (***goosebumps***)

Sounds like a romance novel, doesn't it? But I don't like romance novels. Go figure.

More "reviews" later...Gotta finish my work so I can go read!

Too ridiculously busy to post much this week. Two teens, two separate marching bands, three separate sports practices (cross-country for DS, soccer and CC for DD), two bookkeeping jobs screaming for attention....If only there were two of me! And I stayed up way, way too late last night reading. I started Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon. A serious mistake, because I can't put it down. For me, it's one of those books that you're thinking about all the time and wishing you were reading it when you should be thinking of other things....like paying bills. And balancing checking accounts. Sigh.

Well, I'm back from my travels of the week. It's sure nice to get away.

Packed DS off for band camp on Sunday, and then DD and I hopped on the PA turnpike to Philadelphia to visit my parents. I hadn't been home in almost a year, and even then I was only there for very brief visits because of a family wedding shower and subsequent wedding. So this time I visited solely to spend time with my parents, and it's made me realize that I need to do it more frequently. In my short trips last year, I blew by without understanding that my parents had gotten older. Much older. I don't want to explain a lot about their difficulties and open up their lives in this blog - that wouldn't be fair to them. But I'll tell you that they are both not well. They're trying to put on a brave face, but I now know that they need help. I feel like my eyes can suddenly see. So - - - I think I've come to the realization that I need to visit more often. And regularly. I need to make it a priority - not something I try to fit in once every year or so.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not the only child involved with mom and dad. I'm blessed to have brothers and sisters that live near my parents, and they are good, caring adults. So I guess my need to visit is purely my own.

Well anyway - it was a nice visit. We spent one day shopping w/DD for school clothes. Fayette County malls are pitiful, and the suburban Philadelphia malls seem downright decadent, so Colleen was practically in heaven with all the choices of stores! Then on Tuesday we (Mom, Colleen, and I) drove to Longwood Gardens.


It was just wonderful! Still full of color and beauty, even this late in the season. I'd love to go back when they do their mum displays - maybe I'll make it there in November.

We also stopped at the Stawberry Sampler in Chadd's Ford. Good thing I had a single project in mind - a baby gift for my brother and his wife who are expecting a boy in December. Otherwise no doubt about it - I could have emptied the bank. There is a local designer named Abby Middleton in Chadd's Ford, and her charts' names are "X-Appeal". And I just love her designs. Come to think of it, her mother may own the Strawberry Sampler. Well, last time I was there - maybe 4 years ago - there weren't many charts, but I liked what I saw. This time I saw several X-Appeal charts in several "categories", and they were all wonderful. Check them out if you like Lizzie Kate or the Trilogy or Bent Creek. You'll like these as well. (I have no affiliation with the store or the designer - I just like them both) Oh - and I found a neat X-Appeal chart to stitch for this baby gift.


We came home on Wednesday, and DH and I left on Thursday for Rocky Gap. We had driven by there several times on our way to the beach, and Dave had played golf there, but that was all. Oh my - what a beautiful place!


Our room was on the backside of the lodge - Lake view. Stunning. The atmosphere was relaxing and lovely, and the food was excellent. There were walking trails to hike, boats to rent, and a lovely beach across the way. Not to mention golf(which I won't - given my previous golf rant....)If anyone reading this plans needlework retreats for any Washington or Baltimore groups, this place would be marvelous.

And now it's back home and back to work and reality. Sigh. But the kids go back to school in EIGHT days! And I'm counting down....

Back from Philly and then went straight off w/DH to Rocky Gap Lodge and Resort. I could escape forever.... More later!

Today I'm off to Philadelphia to see my parents. Hopefully we'll get a day to visit Longwood Gardens which would be even greater with a stop at The Strawberry Sampler, too! See you here when I get back!