A picture of my darlin' girl! I'm so proud of her...



She had her first high school game last night, and she actually got some playing time! When I saw her standing at the 50 waiting to go in, I'm telling you, I could feel the butterflies in her stomach. But she played well, and mother and daughter survived the evening.

Normal kids...

Just in case any young moms read my blog, I want to tell you this. Sometimes kids act up. They yell or they scream or they act like idiots. They will do things that you know you’ve taught them not to do….. I remember that I used to die a thousand deaths when my kids would misbehave – and let me tell you, while my kids weren’t the worst, they certainly weren’t the best, and so they misbehaved pretty frequently. Gawd, I was so embarrassed.

But here’s the thing: There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. In fact, your child’s occasional temper fit or sassiness is usually ok with most people, because they’ve been there and done that and sometimes it’s downright reassuring because it makes us all feel normal. Oh I know, one of your neighbors has that perfect child who finishes all of his or her school work, chews with their mouth closed, and is the most polite, compliant child you’ll ever meet. La De Da. That’s not normal. Your kid is normal. So we understand. And if you run across people who judge you or glare at you when your kid acts normally, screw ‘em.

I don’t know what prompted this post. I think it’s because last week I was carpooling some of the high school soccer girls home, and happened to be bringing home one of the “perfect” children. Listening to her talk in the car, it struck me that she had grown into a very fearful and kind of odd young woman. I don’t think I’m having sour grapes here. I remember worrying about her a few years ago, when she was in Girl Scouts with my daughter. Even at the young age of 11 or 12, I could see that her perfection was coming at quite a cost to her. She was constantly worried about doing the wrong thing.

So, be happy with your child’s imperfections and misbehavior. Each time they act up, it’s like a chance to learn. They learn first of all that behavior has consequences, and second and maybe even more important, that making a mistake, even a gigantic mistake, is NOT the end of the world. We just deal with it and move on. That’s what normal people do.

As I write this, I’m sitting near an open window, with a warm breeze moving the wind chimes, and the lovely sun is shining in. I can’t think of a more perfect place in which to be. The weather this Labor Day weekend has been glorious. And to commemorate the last holiday of the summer, I’ve finished this:



So I guess now I’ll move on to some autumn and even Christmas stitching. I’ve pulled out the supplies I’ll need for “Flying Monkeys”. Simple and fun – just my cup of tea!

You can probably tell that things around here are getting back to normal, or at least back to some days with structure. I’m not writing endlessly about losing my mind, so that’s probably your first clue…And no doubt those entries became pretty boring. But I always feel like I need to add something to my blog, because I know when someone doesn’t update for 4-6 weeks, I delete them from my Favorites. Sorry folks, but I can’t deal with the pain of possible deletion…

But anyway, now that August is over and I’m more relaxed, I can actually write about things we did last month. My parents came for a visit early in the month and stayed about a week. My dad seems well physically, but I can see his steady decline cognitively. One thing that struck me this visit was his lack of affect. Dad just doesn’t smile or laugh much anymore. We’ve always been a teasing, dry-humored group, but now Dad doesn’t seem to get it. He’s talking less and less.

And my mother is quickly becoming immobile. She can walk around the house and that’s about all. At this point, I worry more about Mom than about Dad. And then I become aggravated with her because she could do something to slow her condition. I’ve begged them to join a local YMCA, or go anywhere to get some mild exercise, and Mom will promise, but not follow through. They even had prescriptions for physical therapy last winter and they just never got there. I have to be careful though, and remind myself that I’m not in her shoes and that many things that seem simple to me are actually quite complicated for them.

Shortly after my parents left, I got the two kids packed off for band camp. And two hours later Dave and I hit the road (or rather, the air) for Pawley’s Island. Oh – what a fabulous, fabulous trip. Our room was lovely – the resort was wonderful and the weather was great. And the dining – Excellent. I only wish we had had more days because there were so many more restaurants that I wanted to try. I’d love to have tried some of the restaurants at Murrell’s Inlet. But maybe next trip.

Then in another week the kids went back to school. They’re happy in a lukewarm way. I know they wish they could sleep a lot longer everyday. After a full week of school and after-school activities, Saturday morning was a sleep-fest for them. I guess they needed it. I know I was a marathon sleeper in my teens and early twenties, so they come by it honestly….

And now we’re in for a lovely fall. John (DS) will have his knee surgery this Friday after a summer of waiting, so that will be a big relief. Colleen (DD) will be playing junior varsity soccer through October and I can’t wait to watch her games! And my referee schedule is already filling up, and I’m excited about that.

Well, it certainly felt good to write again! See you in a few days.

Yup – I’ve been away for a while.

If only I could explain my absence with interesting, delightful stories. But I can’t.

I can only be glad that the Dog Days of August are finally coming to a close. Honestly, August has sapped my energy. It’s hot. The kids are annoying. Work really blows. And not just one job, but all three jobs, so it makes me wonder…is it me???
But school starts Monday, Hallelujah and Praise God. There is a light at the end of the August tunnel! And I’m moving towards the light!

See you in a few days….

Ok, forgive this rant about Canadian geese. And the US federal government. But here it comes:

Living on a lake is absolutely wonderful. The variety of bird life is amazing. And I remember back 20 years ago how we would rush outside in the fall to get a glimpse of migrating Canada geese. I grew up in the city – we didn’t see much wildlife beyond an occasional squirrel or robin. So the honking V-shaped flocks in the sky were gorgeous to me each fall. And they were just beautiful swimming on the lake.

Hell, I even cross-stitched pictures of Canadian geese!

But 20 years later, we have 40 resident geese and piles of poop up to our eyeballs. And precious little we can do about it because the federal government protects them.

So, what’s a lake community to do? There’s nothing you can do except go directly to the federal government (who figures prominently in the problem), and contract with them (meaning pay big bucks each year) to have them minimize the problem… that they have perpetuated!

As my kids would say, “That’s soooo annoying!”

End Rant.

Good Lord, how many more days till school starts??

I’m losing my mind.

And I need every precious brain cell.

I need a schedule. I need a few reliable, uninterrupted hours each day to get the barest minimum of work done. I need some quiet. I need my kitchen to be empty for a couple of hours. I need a vacation!

Soon….soon. The kids leave for band camp in a couple of Sundays, so we’ll drop them off at the bus and then we’re zooming to the airport for a flight to Myrtle Beach. It should be fabulous. Dave will play golf, I’ll read, stitch, and sleep. We’ve planned a couple of quiet days and an evening in Charleston for dinner and music. It’ll do me a world of good.

Oh – except I was really, really bummed to find that The Sampler House had closed. I was looking forward to spending some time and stash cash there, but evidently it closed its doors in January of this year. Whooooof. I think that’s a big hit to the gut of stitching commerce. Wasn’t it one of the oldest shops in the US? If not the oldest? I wonder what happened? If anyone knows, please leave a comment or write in your blog.

In other news, I went to referee camp this past weekend. My legs still hurt, but it was a good experience. The instructors were referees at a very advanced grade (some even at international games), and their insights were wonderful and useful at any level. Even for U6 rec league games. So – after two days of soccer games and instruction, I've recertified and I feel good to go for fall. Except for my old-lady-legs. Did you know that there's a woman lacrosse referee in the US who is 80 years old woman? I think that's amazing.

At dinner Saturday night, a friend asked why I was doing this. Was it a lifelong dream or something? Honestly, I don't know. It's more like I did it on a whim, but now it's a challenge. I know that sometimes I decide to start doing something, and even if it's not quite what I expected, I hang on like a dog to a bone.

I think that's what's going on here. I know that being a referee is much harder than I thought, and I know that I'm not as good at it as I thought I would be nor as good as I'd like to be, but to give up? No. It's the only thing (outside of raising teenagers) that feels challenging to me right now. So maybe that's a good thing. Or maybe I'm truly insane.

Needless to say, I’ve been either too tired or too distracted to pick up a needle. Life goes on….

I went to a friend’s house yesterday for a beading get-together. A handful of women were there, of all different ages, making jewelry. They made pretty things, but I don’t wear much jewelry. So I made a couple of scissor fobs, which kind of confused them.



I guess beading isn’t for me.

What I did discover though, was that many bead shops sell silver charms…and those charms will work very well with some of my stitching. And even at a shop, (as opposed to wholesale or from a catalog) those charms are relatively inexpensive. Like under a dollar. So I was glad for that. Now all I need to work on is going into a bead shop and ignoring the beads because a) I won’t wear them, b) making jewelry takes more patience than I have, and c) I really, really don’t need another hobby.

There’s not so much to write about today.

The kids have been reasonably well behaved, which means that they say hello, goodbye, come home on time, and pick up their own dishes. Not to oversimplify, but that’s all it takes to make me happy sometimes. That and knowing that band camp starts on August 8, and school starts on August 29. Oh happy day!

DH has been playing golf a lot, which I find to my surprise that I’ve been rather happy with. I know – it’s such a departure from my I Hate Golf rant of last year. Either I’m mellowing or we’ve struck a working balance here.

I found the Souvenir Sampler. Remember the piles of unfinished work? It was in there. I guess it’s a lucky thing that I’ve done some work lately. So I won’t be complaining about work today.

Hmph.

So - after our Deep Creek escape, and after the kids got home from their respective camps and retreats, we packed up for a quickie trip to Philadelphia for a visit to the parental units. (I hope I’m not the only one who gets that reference….)



Mom and Dad celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary Saturday. I’m awestruck by that. It’s huge. And let me say that I could smack my sister who, as the champagne glasses were being raised, turned to me and said, “Now Lee will give the toast.” Seriously. That sort of thing calls for a smack in the head.

My brother did the same thing to me at his wedding rehearsal dinner, but at least he gave me 5 minutes to prepare. As the meals were being served, he asked me to say the blessing and I of course said yes, but just give me a few minutes. Not a problem – it takes a while to serve 30+ guests. And by then, I had some thoughts I could string into a prayer. But not my sister. Can you say impulsive? So what could you do? Ask them to wait patiently with champagne glasses in their hands while I ponder a toast? So my toast sucked. Trite and Lame-o. Luckily, only family members were there to hear it. I think I’ll write them a toast and send it in a card. I really do have some sentiments and blessings that would have made a lovely toast. They’re all here on the tips of my fingers….just not on the tip of my tongue.

Oh well, the day was really sweet, and I hope my parents enjoyed their picnic. With my dad’s condition, a small family gathering was the best choice (cognitively and physically). We had started to plan a banquet a while back, and that later changed to a family dinner at a restaurant, but then it became clear that any big shindig would have been too stressful for him. So this was a low-key, informal deal. ….sigh….. Not how we thought life would turn out for mom and dad.

Did you ever listen to the Josh Groban song, “You’re Still You”? I swear it was written about someone with Alzheimer’s disease.

Stitching? Well, I started Flip Flop days and it’s so much fun!

And some bad news….it looks like I’ve lost my Souvenir Sampler. Yikes. I remember that I packed it when I went to Edinboro for the soccer tournaments, but I haven’t seen it since then and it doesn’t seem to be in the house. This is bad. Time to send up the St. Anthony prayer again….

Sorry to say that my work piles still look the same, mostly because even tho I chip away at them, someone keeps adding to the piles. Hmmm. How does that happen?

We’ve had an absolutely lovely week.

Deep Creek was the best. Our hotel was a little run down, and access to the lake for swimming was kind of a joke, (slide in between the boats – I don’t think so) but we made it work. Actually, we went to the beach at a nearby state park, but a storm brewed up after we had been there a short time.


So we went back to the hotel, where we sat on our balcony, sipping wine and talking, as we contemplated this:





And oh the food! The hotel restaurant had fabulous crab cakes. I mean, big chunks of crab, perfectly seasoned, and cooked to perfection. Dave had crab-stuffed roughy, and it was wonderful, too. All of which was eaten from a gorgeous porch with a view of the lake. You can see the restaurant porch in the upper right corner of the photo above. I’m telling you, it was heaven.

No doubt about it, I’m a lake girl. Now, I’ll always love the beach. All of my childhood/young adult vacations were to the Jersey shore – Stone Harbor to be exact – and they were all excellent. But if I were to consider buying a vacation home somewhere, I’d pick a lake setting. The cool clear water, the lush green trees, the way everything smells, and the mist hovering over a lake – they just call to me. I live near a lake now – across the street to be exact – but my vacation spot would be much more secluded and the lake would be much bigger. Deer Lake is small (only 77 acres), and I love it, but I’d choose a big lake.

So, which are you? Lake or beach? And don’t say a waterless vacation. Sorry, that’s not a vacation.

It's hot, hot, hot. And I would love to be sitting on the back deck stitching this:



But instead I'm stuck in this un-airconditioned, flippin' office staring at this poor excuse for an inbox:



Which has overflowed to this:


And the thing I dread the most - filing the stuff I've finished:


Having a home office is both a blessing and a curse. The temptation to play hooky is way too great....

But both kids are away tonight. DD is at soccer camp, and DS is at a church retreat. So Dave and I will head to Deep Creek tonight for some R&R. For him that means golf. For me, that means some swimming, stitching, and a good book. Dinner together, a little wine, and, well....And back tomorrow.

So it's time to quit whining about work and get a move on so we can get outta here!

We had a great weekend - Really, one of the best of the summer! I made some headway in the weeds that I call a front garden. It's looking pretty nice again. Not to brag, but I've been pretty decent at my choice of plants to get blooms through most of the summer. In June I had daisies and daylilies, (which smelled heavenly). Now I have pink and white astilbe and blue balloon flowers. And in a couple of weeks, the black-eyed susans will take over. Then the sedum will bloom, and I'll plant mums in late summer. But I really, really need something red. I planted beebalm, but I have no idea where they went...I thought I saw one, but the next time I looked at it it was dead. I didn't even touch it! Any suggestions?

The back garden. Well. The garden fairies didn't visit me. It's still a mess.

Had friends over to play cards Sunday night. We had such a good time - I love to play cards. Especially when I win! Except Dave won. And he doesn't even like cards. Doesn't it always work out that way?

And our Fourth is always fun. If you've been reading here for a while, you might remember that our community does a big July 4 day. We have a bike parade and then field races (running, but sack races and wheelbarrow races,too). And water balloon tossing and ice cream eating contests, and then water races (swimming and boating). It's so great for the kids, and then the grown kids always come back and bring their children - so there are generations of families playing and laughing and it's a very cool thing. By around 3PM it breaks up, but lots of us pull out our beach chairs and spend the rest of the day on the lake. Honestly, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Now it's back to reality...at least until next weekend.

I'm having some difficult work days, with more ahead. Nothing is ever easy. I just keep reminding myself that it's called "work". Not play. Not that it makes me feel any better. The really stupid thing is that I'm more or less my own boss. So I can't even complain about a sucky boss.

And a short message for Judy (commentor on July 1) - I tried to email you, but I don't think it worked. Colleen was still too young for the CIT program at Redwing - but she spent two weeks at a camp program called Western Fun and Games and she had a fabulous time. If you'd like, you can email me at eliese58 at gmail dot com.

It looks like we'll have a quiet weekend ahead. It will be the first one of the summer, and maybe the last...On the one hand, it's kind of a relief. On the other hand, this is the first Fourth of July in years that we haven't been invited to a party or two. I'm feeling unloved. Not really. If something doesn't come up, maybe we'll create something. We'll just have to wing it.

So - these are my weekend plans so far:
1. Weed the front garden.
2. Stare in a daze at the back garden and wish the garden fairies would come and take care of the whole mess. Then go back in the house.
3. Go to the other house and weed that garden.
4. Try to get at least one run or brisk walk in.
5. Go swimming. Swim to the dock and be lazy for about an hour then swim back.
6. Stitch a little. Finish a little Christmas kit that's almost done.
7. Make a dent in the laundry. I picked Colleen up from camp yesterday. Holy cow - her laundry smelled like something died in it. To be fair, she warned me...but two weeks of camp with a few days of rain at the end made for some stinky stuff. Well, smelliness or not, I'm so glad she's home and my house feels normal again.

I saw the absolute coolest thing last night!

Dave and I came home from the movies around 11:00, and it was a really, really dark night. No moon, cloudy skies. We got out of the car, and saw what seemed like thousands of lightning bugs. Trees on the left and backsides surround my lot, and there were so many fireflies that it looked like a lightshow. Honestly, it looked like something magical.

I’ll never forget last year when my friend from Germany visited us and brought her children (it was right around this time) and they had never seen fireflies before. Those kids were so excited – I don’t think I’ll ever take a lightning bug for granted anymore.

I’ll tell you what – the month of June makes me unbelievably happy. It is without a doubt the most beautiful month of the year. Just walking outside puts me in a great mood. The air smells sweet. The trees are a lush, gorgeous green. The lake sparkles. The birds sing like crazy. My flowers always astonish me. The nights are cool. Life is good.

We had a nice weekend at Edinboro last week. Colleen’s team played three games – tied two, lost one. So they had no shot at play-offs, which meant we finished a day earlier than we had planned. The girls were a little sad because they expected to do better. But after all, it WAS a tournament. You’re up against teams that theoretically are similar in skill level, but I always find that our tournament division is much tougher than our local, regular season division. I thought they played well, and Colleen played especially well. She plays midfield and she is one tough defender. I’m proud of her, win or lose.

Leaving early meant that we had time to stop at Grove City Outlets, so there was a bit of a silver lining. You can only imagine my glee to find sidewalk sales in progress! But we only had one hour to shop – so we only made it to the stores for our most immediate needs…. Well – I left the outlets jumping for joy because we found three bras and one bathing suit for Colleen and I only spent about $50! And in only one hour!

Now, you mothers with only sons, or you mothers with daughters who are still too young to care about bras…well, you may not understand my jubilation. But anyone who has or had a young teenaged daughter absolutely understands what a triumph that was. Nothing ever fits right. And if it does, it has too much lace. Or lace in the wrong place. Or too much padding. Or not enough padding. Or weird straps. Yes, any or all of these things could make DD nix the bra. Now, add to this that only a total of six 32A bras exist in all of Fayette County’s stores. And you’ll understand why the words, “Mom, I need some new bras” sends me away holding my head. Similarly with the words, “Mom, I need some new bathing suits….”

I’m not lying when I say I skipped to the car.

Hooray, hooray, I finally have a couple of finishes to post!
For my terrific Dad, the Heart in Hand Pocked Sampler:


And for a "patriotic" SAL, I stitched this LK freebie:


Don't ask me what a watermelon has to do with freedom. But I don't care. I like watermelons, and this fit the bill.

Not much to blog about

And not much time in which to do it!

I had hoped to have my HIH finished and ready to post, but I think I'm jinxed. Every time I look at my stitching, I find another mistake. What...am I taking stupid pills lately??? It's a simple design. There's only one stitch that's even slightly complicated and it's not even all that hard. So why am I making one mistake after another? I guess I'm just not paying attention.

The kids started summer vacation last week. I have to brag - they had excellent report cards, and DD received several academic awards. I couldn't be more proud. A great way to end the year!

We're headed to the Edinboro Open Soccer tournament this weekend. Should be fun. And even more fun if we have time to stop at the Grove City Outlets....

Guess I'll be back around after the weekend!

A warm breeze

Did you ever have one of those days or even moments when you say, “Wow, my life sure has changed....”

I’m having one of those moments now.

DS John is down at the lake fishing with a friend.
DD Colleen just put on her suit and said See ya, mom. I’m going for a swim.

Then a warm breeze floated in through the door and I got a flash back to our earlier lake days....

First of all, everyone had to have their naps. No cranky kids were going to the lake... But before nap time was over, and it was time to pack the car (sand toys, chairs, drinks, floaty things, etc). Then after nap time everyone found a clean swimsuit, (well - kinda) slathered on lots of sunscreen, grabbed towels, got buckled into the car seats, rode down to the lake, and tumbled out of the car. (Not a far drive, but too long to walk hauling all that gear and two toddlers) Once at the lake, the kids were warned not to set even a tiny toe in the water until I had the car unpacked. OK, the beach essentials were finally on the beach, the inflatable’s were all inflated, and it was only - what - maybe 4:00. And it was finally time to get in the water. I’ll tell you, some days I was tired before I got there!

Is it easier now? You betcha! Do I have as much fun? Sometimes - like I enjoy a nice leisurely swim with my husband, without worrying if someone is watching the kids. And I love being able to grab a beach chair and a towel and a book and walk down to the water. It’s like being a teenager again! But I have really great memories of when the kids were little, too.

The thing I miss the most is the group of families we used to hang out with. We were all mothers with young kids, and we had very similar schedules, so around 3PM you’d start to see this family or that family heading to the lake. It was the place to meet - for the kids and us. And dinner? Who worried about dinner? Some nights, if enough husbands were on a late shift, we’d order dinner together and have it delivered to the beach. Or we’d have a clean-out-the-fridge night and we’d all bring down whatever leftovers were handy. Then there was cocktail hour...Need I say more? We wouldn’t get loaded (we had small children in the water, after all) but we’d get loose. Sometimes we’d stay till almost dark. Then put everyone and everything back in the car till the next day. Herd some tired kids into the house, drop them into the tub to get off the lake sand and whatever else they got into that day off, then a little TV watching and bedtime.

Now the kids are still up and I’m in bed! They probably want to send me to the lake so I’ll go off to sleep earlier and quit bugging them.

Now we moms just don’t see each other as much. Most of us have gone back to work, and our kids are going in so many directions... those lazy weekdays together are few and far between. Weekends we work around the house and since there are no little ones clamoring to swim, sometimes we just kind of forget to go. Pitiful, I know. Especially since I see the lake from almost any window in my house. But my life had changed.

Funny that it took a warm breeze coming in the window to make me think of that.

This was so much fun!

Even though I almost went blind... Waxing Moon's I Love You to the Moon was neat, but the fabric was pretty hard to see.

Maybe it was the fabric, or maybe it was because this was my first time using hand-dyed fabric. All I know is...I needed serious light when I worked on this.

I haven't been posting a lot over the past couple of weeks. Not much to write about, I guess. We've been to a couple of weddings. School is winding down for the kids. Work is gearing UP for me for at all of my jobs. Traveling soccer should end this weekend, except for maybe a scrimmage game or two and then finally the Open tournament in Edinborough PA at the end of the month. But my last referee assignment should be today, unless I get a last minute call to work at Edinborough. I doubt that will happen, though. I wasn't going to work the tournament at all, but another ref told me to sign up as an "emergency" ref. Seems that there are usually some injuries at the tournament. We oldies turn our ankles and pull muscles....So if someone is hurt, I may get a call. I really hope everyone stays healthy.

Right now I'm working on HIH's "Dad" Pocket sampler. Oh - I love it. This type of thing is right up my alley. If all goes well today, I might even have a finish to post tomorrow!

I have a finish!

I just finished this last night - it was LK's Very Best Dad, but I switched out Dad for Son. I think it's going to be a flat fold, but I'll get to that stage later. Right now I'm just glad that I finished SOMETHING this month!

The joy of stash shopping!

OK, as promised, here are pics of my shopping trip haul.
Before I start, I should say that I went to Teatime Stitchery, near Monroeville PA. It was a lovely store, with good customer service. I’ll certainly go back!

First of all, I bought supplies for a freebie kit exchange that I’m doing with a Yahoo group. We’re all picking a Christmas freebie and kitting it up to send to another member. My partner liked snowmen, so I found a nice one at Sue Hillis Designs. Then I modified the fabric and thread a bit to include some overdyeds, a button or two, and some hand-dyed fabric. I think these colors will work well for a snowman. And of course, I bought enough for me, too…


Then I’ve been admiring these little samplers by Heart in Hand. They came with the silver charms, too. Didn’t buy fabric – I have enough in my stash…



And back to freebies – I have a LK summer freebie w/a watermelon. These supplies will work, along with the threads I already have:



And a Bent Creek Swirlygig freebie:


Hmmm. Doesn’t take long to burn through $100, does it?