good morning!

At a loss for a catchey title. The spaghetti treat was a big hit with the patients yesterday.(I thought it was a nice change from tom based sauce). We get to do it all over again today. It's really hard to get enough protein into our patients when most have incomes under $700 and get about $30 in food stamps. I don't know how people do it and it defeats the purpose of spending thousands of dollars on medical care but we don't feed people. Ok off my soap box. I stitched a little in the afternoon but was in bed early. And tonight TV will be filled with election results and nothing puts me to sleep sooner. Today is supposed to be near 70 and I hope to get out of work a little early to enjoy some of that. I love to get home and sit in my car for a bit and read. Corney I know. Have a great day. Share a smile with someone today.

How can it be Mon?

I don't usually wish my life away but sure could use another day off. Stitched a lot yesterday. Also napped. Perfect Sunday. I also picked out my Santa ornie its the Santa angel by heartstrings on the 2008 cross stitch mag. It has some really cute buttons on it which I'll have to be on the look out for. I see a trip to Williamsburg in my future. Like I need an excuse! This pattern has some speciality stitches I'm excited to try. Well its 4:00am and I'm ready to pick up my needle, the next 2 hours are my favorite of the day. Thanks for spending some time with me this morning and I wish you some quite moments with your needle.

early morning trip to walmart

I was out the door by six this morning. I needed to put on my "dietician" hat and purchase the food for a "mock" spaghetti dinner were having for 100 patients on Mon and tues. Dialysis patients are not supposed to eat tomatoe products. This recipe uses cream cheese,marjerine,parm cheese, Italian spices. I also purchased pre made meat balls to boost the protein. I'll let you know how it turns out. I normally would not be involved in this project but our clinical manager is out of town and the dietician dosn't drive. So I'm being a team player. While at Wal-Mart I picked up two new books. We need to talk about Kevin by lionel Shriver, published in 2003 and Night Road by Kristan Hannah. I love her books. My favorite is Firefly Lane but really there all good. I've set a goal to read these two books in Feb. I worked yesterday on 272 words and accomplished quite a bit. I have nine more lines plus the bottom boarder. I would like to finish it on Feb a streatch but quite possible I also want to compleated my exchange piece. And even though I didn't join the monthly Christmas ornament SAL (and its now closed) I would still like to play along. Jan was a Santa orbit. Feb (?). So I would to compleat those two. No time for cooking or cleaning in Feb LOL. Make it a good stitching day. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and share your thoughts. Hugs

Lots to get done

Have a hefty to do list this morning. All I really want to do is drink my coffee and stitch. When I feel like this what works for me is to do one thing every time I get up to refill my coffee cup.(just started my crock pot veg soup, and started a load of laundry). My my stitching buds are coming over at 11:00 so I need to get organized. Also need to make a trip to the post office to mail a package I should have mailed last Sat. Oh well late b'day presents just make the special day last longer. Hope the recipient feels the same way. I plan to pull out my 272 words today I have not worked on it in the past three months I am about 3/4 done. I am hoping I can get it framed with my tax return (if I get one). Ok time for another chore. Load the dryer and refill the washer. I'll be back. Ah love my coffee. Ok enough running of the mouth, I don't want to put my readers to sleep. Have a great day be nice to yourself. Hugs

eye opener

I got to walk down memory lane yesterday. my daughter had her six week check up yesterday. Since I work near the doctor I told her to drop the baby off at my office. Well as it goes with doctors thongs took longer then expected. As much as I would have loved to play grammie I needed to get some work done. Had a planning meeting with the dietician. Cameron slept. Needed to meet with clinic doc. Cameron slept. Returned phone calls. Cameron slept. Then I get a call from a tech complaining about a patient, decided I could deal with this next week, them she calls again. Danm must deal with this... so I met with the tech and patient and made them play nice while I fed Cameron, then the phone rings. Cameron's mom. I press mute. I can multi task but please.there's a limit . The rest of my day was a breeze. I took a little time in the afternoon to stitch. Looking forward to stitching with my buds on Sat. Have a good weekend. Happy stitching.

New Day

I try to start my day with a time of meditation and inspirational reading. This year I am using The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo. Todays quote spoke to my heart and I wanted to share it with my blogging family."You often say, I would give, but only to the deserving. The trees in your orchard say not so, not the flocks in your pastures. They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.-Kahlil Gibran. I hope to live my day in a state of non judgement. Hope everyone is blessed today. And welcome to my new follower. Hope you stop by often.

Gratitude

Yesterday I heard from a dear friend that her daughter(the age as my Rachel) had a blood disorder and needed to undergo chemotherapy . Life is so fragile. Enjoying every day and appreciateing every gift. I felt at a loss as to how to comfort my friend. I just let her talk and cry. I will be praying for a positive outcome. I got a little stitching done yesterday morning but didn't pick up my needle last night. Wish I had more energy at night. Hope to spend some quality time with my needle today. I am expecting my daughter and the little man to come over so I guess it all depends on what Camerons "plans" are. I'm planning on making stuffed peppers for supper. I'm trying to think of a good reason to get out of my nightgown but can not come up with one. Have a good day.

1/24/2012

Is it only me or is the month flying by! Did get my Christmas tree down Sun-well at least the ornaments off-I will get my daughter to put it back in the box. Why is it always harder to get it back in the box? Oh well somethings are just a mystery. I put my ornaments under my bed then was worried I wouldn't remember next year so I told my daughter, my sister and son. We all can't have alzihimers next year! Didn't do much stitching over the weekend, took several maps. My daughter did come over to stitch a bit on Sunday. It was too funny watching her multi task. Cameron on her lap, seperating colors for a Shepards Bush project and eating a pudding cup. Oh I remember those days! Let nothing get in the way of a woman and her needle! Hope everyone has a great day. I appreciate your stopping by my blog.

Love my sundays!

My favorite day of the week is finally here. I plan to get a lot of stitching done today. I am also ashamed to say my Christmas tree is still up. But today is the day it comes down. It is a rainey day, a great day to get a head start on the week. I plan to make a lemon poppy seed quick bread using a sugar free cake mix as a base. Any suggestions as to how I can make it more dense rather then cakey? Hope everyone enjoys their day. Thanks for reading, hugs to everyone.

trouble posting

Yesterday my phone would not let me post. I must,of pushed some button I wasn't supposed to. Too many options are not always a good thing. I was going to tell you that the reason I didn't post yesterday was because I "tripped" into my stash and I couldn't get out. Here it is not even Feb yet and that captain of that cruise ship has the honer of says the dumbest thing. Guess its all down hill from here. Kinda of scares me this being an election year and all. I enjoyed my day off yesterday. Did some major stitching, worked on an exchange piece. Also spent some time working on Jenny bean friendship sampler. Tonight is WW and supper with my kids. Have a great day. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

slow start

It is very cold this morning ( ok 23 is cold for Virginia-don't laugh ay me-yes I'm a whimp) . I usually blog first thong on the morning but that would have required Mr to take my hands out from undetermined my throw but I'm at work now and moving forward. O had a very productive weekend. Completed the book bags as well as 8 ornaments that needed finishing I am going into 2012 with a clean slate-at least when it comes to finishing so proud of myself. Did not get much stitching done but that's ok. The family gathering was fun and we decided.to have our celebration after Christmas again next year. The children in our family are truely spoiled . My sister and her family celebrate early as her children go to inlaws for the actual holiday. My daughter for a to Vermont every other Christmas and we celebrate early. So basically we have three Christmass.

Big Plans

Got a lot to accomplish today. Right now I'm enjoying my coffee and watching one of those decluttering shows on OWN they always make me anxious. I don't feel I'm a shopaholic, but I do have a really small one bedroom apt. And like you all a lot of stash. That is one of the reasons I loved going to PALS this past year. All the joy of stitching with friends, all the excitement of seeing what others are doing without bringing home six or seven projects I never finish. I have been so fortunate to have taken classes with so many of out best designers but I'm also relieved that I have found a new way to enjoy and feed my Passion. So on to my to do list. At seven I need to be at Khols to buy my sister gifts for tomarrows family Christmas celebration. One because I picked her name and one cause she's my sister. Wish I had gotten my act together and stitched her something. But I didn't so moving on....... I need to take down the Christmas tree. Boho..... I've really enjoyed my tree this year. But it is time to move on. And last but not least I need to put together the book bags. I did not stitch yesterday but I did go grocery shopping after work. I have all I need to have another successful week at WW. Hope every one has a good Sat. Stay warm. Thanks for reading my blog. Hugs

Crazy Wind

I can sure hear it howling out there. I know its not cold because I haven't heard my heat go on. I was nearly 70 yesterday. Loving this "winter". But today makes me want to go back to bed. It's funny with having Wednesdays off I wake up really confused, can I stay in bed or not? Did not get any stitching done yesterday. Made a quick trip to Target yesterday to buy some children's books to put in the book bag. ARE YOU KIDDING ME I could not believe the price of childrens books. Little paperbacks were six bucks! crazy! i planned on buying three books for each of the three children. needless to say they each got one. a girl has to save her money for stash. When I think of the hundreds ok let's be honest many hundreds of books my children had. Should of saved them who knew they were money in the bank! Same applies to stash ladies, buy now save for your old age. Have a great day. Read to a child if you can perferably a library book.

good morning!

Did not accomplish much stitching yesterday because I spent about 2 hours ripping out six hours of work on Jenny Bean. Oh I was not a happy camper! And then I put in about 20 stitches in a new spot. Stitching is like life you must repair your errors or the fabric of your life is distorted. But I can chose to move in another direction. Spent most of the day doing "homemaker" chores and tending to Cameron. And taking my own best advice napping when he did. Oh
That advice is for new mommies and grammies! I did not do any finishing, dosn't even set up the sewing machine. I'm getting down to the wire, oh well I work well under pressure. Have a joy filled day and thank you for supporting my blogging.

Its wednesday!

The best day of the week! I have a lot to accomplish before the little man comes to spend the day with grammie. I want to make a soup, some cranberry bread and shepards pie for my daughter to take home for supper. My son in laws favorite (don't want him to feel left out. I also have laundry and picking up. I am also down to the wire in putting together the kids book bags for Sunday. I once again forgot my pattern for my exchange project at work. A gental nudge from the stitching god to get busy, ya think. It's just so much more fun stitching then finishing. Kinda like getting a new outfit is more fun then paying the visa bill! Hope you all get some sunshine in your life today. Thanks for reading.

Remembering

Today is the first anniversary of Samanthas passing. My first grandbaby. I bought a little nosegay for her urn and plan to offer my day in her memory. I am all the more grateful for Cameron and the part my daughter let's me play in his life. It's so hard to balance grief and gratitude. On the stitching front I forgot my pattern for the piece I'm working on at work. Must be karma. Spent extra lunch time stitching at work yesterday. I think I'll pull out Jenny Beans friendship sampler, I haven't stitched on that in a while. Take time to remember those who have touched our lives however briefly.

Raining

It is pouring outside and I would love to crawl back onto bed. Can't promise the next hour and pot of coffee will be enough to motivate to go to the YMCA. I'll try excersise god I REALY will. I started a new project yesterday but I can't talk about it because its for an exchange I joined. it feels good to be stitching for a another stitcher also makes me a little anxious. is my stitching good enough? what if she has done this pattern. I need to let go of this and feel the spirit and love involved in this exchange. Have a great day! Do something fun today!

Where's the pictures?

I'm still struggling with how to do this from my smart phone. Yesterday my stitching buds helped me download an app but for some reason it will not let me type I'm my email. Please hang in there with me I'm determined to figure this out. This may be a job for my computer wizz son who unfortunately gets very impatient with his tech challenged mom. Stitched yesterday with my stitch group. And all four of us were there.2011 brought many challenges for us all. Sickness, family responsibleities, lose but continued to stay connected and it was good to be a group again. I was gifted with some lovely Christmtas gifts(I love it when the holiday keeps going). I recieved a lovely hand made set of placemats,quilted, with a lovely cardnial theme. Love them. I also recieved a lovely tree to display my smalls, I will need to get busy. Hope to get some quality stitching time, In between getting organized for the coming week. I noticed I have a new follower. Welcome! Have a stitch filled day, be good to yourselves today.

Time to pay the pipper

Well today is my first Sat to work. I had such a great day Wed. But now I must pay the price. Actually I only need to work from 7:30 to 12:30 then I am going to get together with my stitch group. I only need to work every other Sat so I'm sure I'll adjust. Not much stitching done the last couple of days. To tired when I get home. But I have not eaten out and went swimming three times last week. Also went to WW last week and then visited my daughter as little man had been cranky all day and she harm't taken a shower (son in law was at school) . My daughter has decided that when little man is up all day and wants to be one with her boop its a growth spurt. Oh the power of reframing! I had planned on staying in all day tomarrow but since I didn't grocery shop yesterday I'll need to plan on that. Oh wouldn't a personal shopper be nice! Hope everyone has a stitch filled weekend.

good morning(at a loss for a catchey heading)

I've decided I'm not quite ready to let go of Christmas yet. Gives me so much pleasure to look at my tree. From the ornaments my children made for me, the ones that Hung on my childhood tree, the ones friends have made for me and the ones I've labored over and poured my love and creativity into. It all fills my heart with love and gratitude. So I may keep it up a little longer. After all the Christmas tree police are to busy to bother with me. Had a lovely day yesterday. My sister came over during her lunch hour ( she's been on a cruise since 12/15) it was fun to see her hold Cameron, brought me back to the day she first held my son on Christmas day 34 years ago. Got a little stitching done, if I could only figure out how to stitch with my feet so I could cuddle Cameron at the same time. Wouldn't that make a dent in my stash! Multi tasking at its best. Have a warm and happy day. Thanks for reading my ramblings. Hugs

I'm grateful

I'm grateful to be snug and cozy with my cup of coffee on this coldest day of the winter (19 and windy). My daughter and my little man are coming over at 9:00 to spend the day. Rachel will run errands between feedings. Grammie dosn't have the right equipment. Didn't accomplish very much last night. Very tired, in bed by 7:00( I know very sad). I was able to do my thing at the YMCA and get to work for 7:00. Felt good to get my body moving. Tomarrow is back to WW with my motivation (my daughter) and then supper with my daughter,son Ryan and the little man. Rachels husband has school. I am looking forward to spending time with my kids. Have a good stitching day. I know I feel blessed for all my life is.

early start

well its 3:30,yes am and i am up. I plan is to be at the YMCA at 5 and swim for 30 min. And to be to work at 7. I've had several cups of coffee, read a few blogs, started a load of laundry and caught up on words with friends. After this brief post I hope to get on 15 min. Of stitching . I am working I'm making three "book bags" for my two great nieces and Cameron. We are having our family Christmas gathering on 1/15. Everyone goes out of town for Christmas and we usually celebrate a week beforehand but this year was to busy. The adults exchange names and each adult brings a stocking stiffer for the kids. Last year a stitched actual stocking but this year I needed to be creative. I am not a seamstress so the bags are pretty simple. The have the kids names stitched PB them. I've stitched Karissa and Audrey and half of Cameron. I am determined to post a picture so get ready to help me Maggee. Have a great stitching day.

Happy New Years!

I'm not going to make keeping up with my blog a resolution, challenge seems a better word. I have missed being part of the blogging world. A few moments to catch up. I attended PALS in Oct and had a great time! I will be going back this year. Took a family cruise the next week and got a lot of quality stitching time. And I have a new grandson Cameron Alexander all 5 lbs 4 oz of him. He is very sweet. I was able

to rearrange my work schedule so I will have every Wed off to babysitter him so mom can sub teach. I was a busy stitcher in 2011 although I do not keep a log ,for me that would be to depressing all this ,all those WIP's staring at me! I have lots of things hanging in Camerons room, and did many Christmas ornaments.16 of them that were placecards at Thanksgiving dinner. I still have about 8 ornaments stitched but not finished and I am determined not to carry them over to next year. Hope every one has a productive stitching day.