Happy Halloween!

Post #476 - 28 days until my blogoversary - 100+ followers and growing :)

There is still time to enter my 3-100-500 giveaway if you haven't,

just go to this post and leave a comment.

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Tonight's the night...when all the spooks, ghosts, and goblins come out...so beware!!! Consider yourself warned :)

But I am glad that you stopped by...here grab a handful -

What is your favorite Halloween candy - do you like the little candy corns that come out only at this time of the year, or do you go for the chocolate or maybe the suckers, swedish fish or tootsie rolls? You know, while I am aware of the fun the kids have as they go door to door, ringing the doorbell and shouting "Trick or Treat", neither of my boys particularly like candy. Sure, they will eat a Hershey bar and love a pack of M&Ms...but we always end up taking 98% of the Halloween candy to work. When we lived in Minnesota, the school district there had a program where they collected the kids' Halloween candy they wanted to share for the food shelves which are typically void of things like this.

We won't have to worry much about sharing our candy this year, for between covering for employees who want to leave early to be with their family members and the boys' hockey practice there won't be much Halloween celebration here. But it doesn't sound like the boys are too upset.

Thank you all for your comments and thoughts about the pumpkin carving design for my part-time job contest...unfortunately due to working in*Store #1* all weekend - and allowing DH to have a whole weekend off without stepping foot in either store, something he really needed - I didn't have the energy to carve anything creative or out-of-the-ordinary when I got home on Saturday or Sunday. I did carve a basic "Jack o'lantern" face with 2 eyes and a mounth with teeth so that the pumpkin didn't go to waste but I am not going to enter it into the contest. He will stay home and get ready to sit outside later tonight. Poor guy :(

Yes I worked all weekend and it went pretty well. It has been a long time since DH had a full weekend off, not setting a foot in either of our stores. It was like our rolls were reversed the whole weekend....I was in the store and he was playing the Hockey Taxi driver. For Matthew had practice both days and Robert had games both days. So, while DH didn't get much rest over the weekend, he did get time with the boys - which is priceless!

This week is going to go by fast I think...the boys are off of school today due to an teacher inservice day, but of course they saved all their homework to finish today (kids, what are you going to do with them?). Although, I think that Matthew told a teacher or two that he was going to be absent from school on Thursday and Friday, for there is another hockey tournament coming up.

This time I will be flying with both my boys to Chicago on Thursday...November 3...my birthday. In fact, Robert's whole team and some of Matthew's will be on the same flight so I can celebrate my birthday in the morning 35,000 feet in the air. And then as soon as we land in Chicago, we will be meeting up with my parents and one of my sisters. They will be joining us for the hockey weekend...and to celebrate birthdays. Not only is my birthday on the 3rd, but so is my father's. I was born on his 25th birthday - pretty special present, huh? It will be nice to be together with them for it has been a long time since I was with my parents for my birthday.

Well...lets back up here and stay focused...stay in the present...remain in the NOW and take it one day at a time because there are a lot of things I need to accomplish before I get on that plane on Thursday.

Well, I am just rambling on right now. This will probably be a good place to wrap up the post!

As long as we convince ourselves that we’re so busy and our work is so vital and we can’t afford to slow down, then we don’t have to look at our own lives and the personal issues that are so difficult to address: a marriage that isn’t working, a career that isn’t satisfying, children we’re out of touch with, friendships we’ve outgrown, associations we need to move on from, the creativity we’ve been afraid to explore, our deepest fears or childhood traumas that have been holding us back from leading truly fulfilled lives.

~ Elaine St. James

Tomorrow doesn’t matter for I have lived today. ~Horace

Until next time, remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Odds 'n Ends on a Saturday Morning

Post #475 - 30 days until my blogoversary -

 follower count continues to go up (thank you)

If you haven't enter my 3-100-500 giveaway,

please click on this link and you will be taken to the giveaway information and where you can enter

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Odd 'n End #1 - upcoming weekend
Happy Saturday - the weekend has shown up and it will be a busy one here for us. Both boys have a lot of hockey this weekend and it is Halloween, which has brought in some good business at both stores for the weekend. I am up early (yay! gotta get in my workout to start the day) so I can go into *Store #1* to warm up the chocolate and start dipping the pineapple ghosts, bats and cats that make up a lot of the Halloween arrangements - if interested you can go to http://www.ediblearrangements/ and see what I am talking about.

Thread, needle and fabric have been absent from my hands and activities since I have received the iPad for my early bday present. That thing is addicting - between the games and the free ebooks and all the different news downloads, it definitely can keep one busy. But off in the distance, I do hear the call of the needle so I am sure that it wont be too much longer and Family Sampler or another ornament project will be in hand.

Odd 'n End #2 - Grimm's Fairy Tales
Speaking of reading...have you ever picked up and read any of the Grimm Fairy tales? Like Little Red Riding Hood or Hansel and Gretel? Well, with the new TV series - Grimm - which premiered last night it has peaked my interest. These are not totally the warm, fuzzy bedtime stories that many of the picture books painted, for it one does think about what they are reading they can be disturbing. For example, take Hansel and Gretel....not a lot of food in the house, the step mom cons the father to ditch his kids in the woods. Can you say - child neglect? When the children find the Witch's bread house in the wood, she locks up Hansel to fatten him up - child abuse? She enslaves Gretel to fetch wood - underage child labor? And all because she wants to eat the children - cannibalism? Anyway, I wasn't able to watch the first episode of Grimm last night because we all decided to utilize a night home w/o any evening activities as an excuse to go to bed early. So by 9:30 all the lights were out and there was a lot of snoring. However, as I am spinning and typing this post right now, I see that it is on indemand on the cable box, so I will probably try and find sometime to watch it over the weekend...and maybe pull out Family Smapler to stitch...perfect Halloween weekend activity, don't you thing?

Odd 'n End #3 - Conversation with Robert
Yesterday afternoon, as Robert (older son) and I were driving home from his school, he informs me that Saturday (today) is "Take a break from Technology" day. You are suppose to take an hour today and take a break from technology. Sounds simple, huh? Immediately I was thinking turn off the TV and turn off the computer games...get outside and enjoy the weather. But being the great debator my son is (don't know if he is a budding lawyer or just a cocky teenager),

he asks: "what do they mean by 'technology'?"

I reply: "TV, computers, maybe lights...any think electronic probably."

He says: "well, maybe we have to take a break from everything that was created in the technical age - besides the electronic items there are the cars, bikes, telephones anything that wasn't around prior to that age."

I reply: "so, basically things that really weren't present 100 years ago."

He looks and says to me, "mom, 100 years ago was 1911 there were cars, there were phones, there was electricity."

It took me awhile to think...for when I was growing up, I always referenced the late 1800s as my "100 years ago". When did the early 1900s become 100 years ago? Isn't that a strange thought?  When you hear "100 years ago" and you don't put much thought to doing the math - what time frame  POPs in your head?

Odds 'n Ends #4 - Pumpkin Carving
I need to come up with an idea for my Pumpkin. I have entered the pumpkin carving contest at my part-time job and am somewhat stumped. I thought it would be fun to come up with something where I can incorporate either the chocolate covered pineapple shapes from our stores - either ghosts, cats or bats. Some ideas that have surfaced are:

• Cut the pumpkin to resemble Ms. Pac Man and put 4 which chocolate covered ghost in front of the pumpkin...might need to come up with a back drop that looks like a PacMan screen
• Cut the pumpkin to resemble a bell and then have chocolate covered bats coming out of it...you know the old saying: "bats in the bellfry"?
• Or scrap the pineapple shapes and ... stack 3 pumpkins on top of each other to create a snowkin or a totemkin.

Anyone have any ideas? or what do you think about any of the above? Well I need to decide really quick because I have to work in the pumpkin carving into the busy weekend. Ugh!

I hope you have a great Saturday! Until next time, remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

No Whining on this Wednesday!!!

Post #474 - 33 days until my blogoversary - 100+ followers :)

To enter my 3-100-500 giveaway, please visit this post and leave a comment.

Well, the fogginess I was feeling yesterday afternoon seems to have gone away - guess I was tired or maybe it was the surprise waiting for me at home yesterday afternoon. When I got home from my part-time job, I found a note pad with this message scribbled on it from my DH:

"Happy Early Birthday...I wanted you to have this for Chicago"

Under the notepad was a white box...which I thought was a box of chocolates...which would have been really strange (why would he want me to have a box of chocolates before I went to Chicago?). However, after looking closer, I saw that it was an...an...an...iPad.

"AAAAH...an iPad...what the h*ll is he doing buying me an iPad?"

That is what my response was, in fact I texted that to him..."What the h*ell?"...I never feel right about money being spent on me - for we have priorities right? Mortgage, food, electricity, clothing and necessities for the kids and hockey for the kids and hockey travel for the kids...not things for mommy...anyone else have that thought process?

Well, anyway...of course after I got over the fact that this was too much, I opened it up and turned it on...singing:

"Mommy has a new toy and I don't have to share it!"

Ok, now I really have gone off the deep end. It is a fun "toy" and it will come in handy as we get ready to travel next weekend to Chicago (both boys have a hockey tournament there and we will be flying out next Thursday...which is my real birthday date). I have started down loading the songs I have on my iPod (which I inherited from one of the boys when they received an iTouch), added some of the games the boys have purchased for their iTouches and then of course I had to get a movie...and the first movie I got was:

First movie download - It's a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

How can one turn down It's a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?

And if that wasn't enough to erase the fog from one's head, I found out this morning when I opened up my inbox that I won one of the doorprizes from the Online Needlework Show. Did any of you cruise the Online Needlework Show? Did you enter any of the door prize giveaway? Well Friday afternoon I surfed through the show entering into as many of the door prize giveaways as I could - any that I missed, I finished up on Saturday. Today I saw an email from Mari from Whisper by the Wind. As a winner I got to choose any design I wanted and I chose this:

"Recipe for a Snowman" by Whispers by the Wind (my choice for door prize)

Isn't that cool. I don't win very often, so I was very, very excited and I just love this pattern!

And if that isn't enough...I just put the last stitch in the ornament I have been working on for Conny of the Ornament Swap. Now I just need to finish it up as an ornament.

The sun is shining, the cool air is invigorating and the scenery is:

is breath-taking and I am not fog headed any more. With no hockey tonight, I am looking forward to getting to bed early to make sure to catch up on my sleep. 
 
Take care my friends - until next time, remember...
 

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often,

Lisa

 

Looking to clear my head

Post #473 - 34 days until my blogoversary - 100+ followers :)

To enter my 3-100-500 giveaway, please visit this post and leave a comment.

Sunrise over Lake Superior - Lutsen, MN...photographed by my sister Jamie

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,

there are thousands to prophesy failure.

There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,

the dangers that await to assail you.

But just buckle in with a bit of a grin, just take off your coat and go to it;

just start to sing as you tackle the thing that “cannot be done,”

and you’ll do it.

~Edgar Guest

We can go through our whole lives worrying about our future happiness,
and totally miss where true peace lives--right here, right now.
~Peter Russell

Hope works in these ways: it looks for the good in people instead of harping on the worst;

it discovers what can be done instead of grumbling about what cannot;

it regards problems, large or small, as opportunities;

it pushes ahead when it would be easy to quit;

it "lights the candle" instead of "cursing the darkness."

~unattributed

Thank you to http://www.livinglifefully.com/ I had some special things to think about today and thought I would share them with you.

Late night at the rink and awaken up in mid-dream put me in "one of those kinds of moods" today - foggy headed and out of sorts. Hopefully I find my balance as the day goes on :)

Take care...until next time, remember -

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Post #472 - 37 days until my blogoversary - 148 followers to day :)

To enter my 3-100-500 giveaway, please visit this post and leave a comment.

I am up and going on this still dark Saturday morning. Thank you all for the nice comments about Lisa V's Ornament and I am glad that you enjoyed the quotes I posted as well. I signed up for the http://www.livinglifefully.com/ newsletter a long time ago and receive daily inspirational quotes and things. Sometimes they "hit" a note and sometimes they don't. The ones that do, I tend to put them in places - like my little notebook or on my blog - so that I can refer to them when I need a little pick-me-up or something to think about.

Yesterday was my day off from my part-time job, however I went into *Store #1* to help with the morning production which was complete by 10:30am. After which, I came home and went out for a nice 6 mile run followed by a date with the couch to begin the ornament for Conny - the last recipient in the Ornament Swap group. I found a fun little design that has a lot of bright colors and is a nice little side project...so, yes I have put Family Sampler down for a little bit so I can work on the ornament. Sitting and stitching made for some great "me" time...but it did have to end because I needed to run out and get the grocery shopping done before the boys came home.

Last night, since we didn't have any hockey, we torched up the grill and tossed on some chicken breasts and burgers. Add in some green beans, some black bean/corn/mango salsa, and fruit and you have a great healthy family meal. With opportunities like this few and far apart, anytime I can get us all to sit down and eat something that wasn't heated up in the microwave before running out the door, it is priceless!!!

What are your weekend plans? Well, I have to go back into *Store #1* today as I am filling in for one of our employees who needed the day off while DH is going up to *Store #2* to check in with them up there. The boys, who are without hockey activities this weekend, will be catching up on sleep as well as trying to get ahead on homework. This evening we will come up with some sort of family activity...unless I am just to pooped to move or the ornament project calls my name.

I hope that you have a great Saturday! Until next time remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Mid-week show-n-tell

Post #471 - 40 days until my blogoversary - # of followers 100+ and has continued to grow

To enter my 3-100-500 giveaway, please visit this post and leave a comment.

Thank you all for your comments on my last post. I have been amazed, when talking about the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit, how many people saw that they have been to it. I didn't know about it until I saw another hockey family post pictures of their visit on Facebook a few years ago.

I found out yesterday, when catching up on some of my blog reading, that Lisa V from my Ornament Swap group received her ornament I made for her. No I can let my breathe out...for I always get a little anxious when I send things over seas, let alone to the other side of the world, via snail mail without any tracers. It took just a couple of weeks, not too bad! So without further ado, here is what I stitched for Lisa:

Side One - Design 1 of 4 called "Wishing You Happiness"

Side Two - using the some of the motifs -reindeer & tree - from 2 of the other designs

From The Gift of Stitching: Christmas Ornament Issue - Issue 23 - December 2007

Four Winter Wishes by Belinda Karls-Nace of Blue Ribbon Designs (page 5 - 9)

"Wishing You Happiness" Ornament - Side One

Using Deer from "Wishing You Prosperity" & Tree design from "back" pattern - Side Two

Stitched on 28ct evenweaved I dyed using GAST (substituting with colors I had onhand)

This was such a fun stitch...and fun to finish. It came out pretty much like I had envisioned. So much so, that it was hard to part with. I might have to stitch all four of these for me sometime, for they would look lovely on a Christmas tree.

Last night, at the rink, I started the ornament I will be making for Conny, the last one in the group to be stitched for...not only for this year, but the last one period. After Conny receives her ornament, our little swap we have had for 2 years will come to an end. As they said..."it is best to end on a good note" and "all good things must come to an end." This group has been wonderful to be a part of and I am sure that we will all come across one another in some other exchange group out there in stitcher's blogland :)

Before I sign off...here are just a few little thoughts to share with you:

We all want recognition for our “specialness.”

But we should never take our self-worth from our society, feedback from others, or our own comparisons to others.

Our self-esteem should be based on the fact that God created us with the utmost care and has called his creation good.

In his foresight we are all made of “the right stuff.”

Our self-worth then comes from how we use it, in service to our families and communities, exercising our creative gifts, and becoming one with God.

~unattributed

When we recognize that nothing has to go right for us to be happy, that people do not have to behave for us to love them, our walk home can be surprisingly simple. We have enormous power not to manipulate the world, but to be happy and know peace. ~Hugh Prather

There are no secrets of success.

Success is doing the things you know you should do.

Success is NOT doing the things you know you should NOT do.

Success is discovering your best talents, skills and abilities and applying them where they will make the most effective contribution to your fellow human beings.

Success is 99% mental attitude - it calls for love, joy, optimism, confidence, serenity, poise, faith, courage, cheerfulness, imagination, initiative, tolerance, honesty, humility, patience and enthusiam.

~ Wilferd A. Peterson

May you be happy and successful on this Wednesday! Until next time...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Post #470 - 41 days until my blogoversary - and the number of followers continue to grow (still overwhelmed)

To enter my 3-100-500 giveaway, visit this post and enter a comment.

I got back home late Sunday evening...close to midnight...and between the 3 hour time difference between Detroit and here...and the overwhelming mountain of laundry, I just needed to recouperate and catch up. Now that I have had that 36 hours, I find myself up on going on Tuesday morning. The refrigerator and pantry is filled back up with all the necessities this family needs and the laundry has been washed, folded and put away. I just need to catch up on a few other things, but at least I fell a little more up to speed than I did yesterday. Isn't it amazing was a trip to the grocery store and an empty laundry basket do to a person :)

Thank you all for the wonderful comments regarding FS - I didn't get much more done during the plane ride on Sunday. Instead, I played the onboard trivia game that Delta has. You can play along with anyother passenger that logs in. All of Matthew's teammates thought it was pretty cool to play. First you had to come up with a clever name - Bambam, Toots, Hiya, so-n-so's Mom, etc. But because your seat assignment was listed, they all figured out who was who. Of course it was a competitive hour of trivia, not sure if all the passengers on board enjoyed 12 year olds and a few of us hockey parents hooting and hollering on board...but we all enjoyed ourselves. For the most part, it made the 4hr 45 minute ride go by faster...however that last hour was a killer and I was just really to go!

The last game of the tournament, which was the consulation game, we were suppose to play a different Canadian team. However, when we showed up at the rink we were told that they had left early not due to being disappointed that they ended up 4th in their bracket. Instead we played another team from Canada - Don Mills PW99AAA Team - who, from what I understand ranks close to 5th in all of Canada in their age group. Well, they were definitely the best team we played all weekend. We loss 9-1....my son, Matthew scored that one goal. I was excited for him because he worked so hard throughout the whole weekend, never giving up during any of the losses earlier in the weekend. He so deserved to get one "biscuit in the basket"!

Matthew standing in center ice, strategizing with his teammates as they wait for the puck drop

With all of our games complete by Saturday evening, Sunday was left for a little sleeping in followed by breakfast in the room and completion of homework. Matthew was able to get most everything complete by checkout time. We met up with some of the other families and decided to head to the Henry Ford Museum. I had heard that this was the place to go...and it definitely was.

While their automotive section was closed, for they were working on a new exhibit that was going to show the revolution of the American car -we were able to peek in and see most of the "cool" old cars as well as the old neon McDonald and Holiday Inn signs.

Old, neon McDonald's Hamburger sign...don't you just love that old car underneath!

But this HUGE museum had so many things - Big old train engines...and I mean enormous! Examples of farm tractors to show how they evolved from the late 1800s/early 1900s until now; examples of different motors from the late 1800s/early 1900s until now, etc. They even had a life size display of kitchens, showing the evolution from:

Kitchen from 1800s - makes me think of Laura Ingalls Wilder

Later 1800s to early 1900s - indoor oven & stove, indoor water

Around 1940s or so...I rememer, when my great-grandmother passed away and we walked through her house before it was sold, there was a oven/stove combo unit like the one that was shown in this display.

There was also a section of the museum where they pointed out the different generations - baby boomers, generation X, generation Y and current...what was discovered to make life easier, what entertained us and so on. Do you remember:

the electronic toys - Merlin, Simon and the Little Professor calculator? After walking around this area with some of my fellow hockey moms, we really started to feel old when we realized that things that were new to us are now in a museum.

Other exhibits featured presidental cars - the one that Kennedy was shot in was on display as well as the one that Regan was getting ready to get into before he was shot. Very eery! They also had the exact bus that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person. Speaking with the museum docent at the Rosa Parks' bus, we found out that someone had the bus and put it up for auction on Ebay and that is how they came to have it in their museum. Really a neat thing for the boys to sit in and listen to her recorded voice telling the story!

We were in the museum for hours. We did stop and grab a bite to eat, because the kids were getting hungry:

Matthew and I, sitting by the Oscar Mayer weiner mobile

Anyone for a footlong...

"Ok, mom...enough...can we eat now?"

So of course lunch was at the Weiner Cafe right next to the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile...and for you all who know about the Oscar Meyer Weiner Whistles...yes, we did get one of those from the museum gift store :)

Everyone who went to the museum had a great time. It definitely was a winner with the boys who went - and a fun way to end a great weekend!

Thank you for visiting and reading about our time in Detriot. I hope that you have a wonderful Tuesday! Until next time, remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Hello from Detroit, Michigan and the Warrior International Hockey Tournament

Post #469 - 44 days until my blogoversary - and the numbers of followers continue to grow (Wow, you all are amazing!)

To enter my 3-100-500 giveaway, please go to this post and enter a comment.

Hello from Detroit, Michigan where I hear it was 80 degrees and sunny last weekend, but this weekend we are experiencing the kind of fall weather we done see much in Northern California...rainy, 40 degrees and very windy (well, I guess we do see this type of weather sometime around January as our winter).

We arrived in Detroit at 3pm on Thursday and had our first games on Friday. The first game we lost to a team from Rhode Island - 0 to 5...and then later in the evening we lost to a team from Detroit - 1 to 4. While it would be fun to have won those games, we don't feel too bad about those scores. Both of the teams we played were very fast, skilled and disciplined...things that we don't quite have but are working towards. This morning we will be playing against a team from Canada.

Time at the airport on Thursday and on the plane allowed me to visit with Wild Berries and we got far in our conversation...here is a phone photo snap of Family Sampler as of Thursday evening:

You'll have to excuse this dark, wrinkly shot...but this is all I could muster up in the dark hotel room .

My visit with Wild Berries has been completed for a while and I am getting to know Clay Pot. She is a shy one, shows off a little bit of a blush when we talk. She will share space on the border of Family Sampler with Wild Berries, showing up every other spot. I guess that they have known eachother since they were in diapers, so hanging out together on the vine border will be very comfortable and they do compliment eachother a lot. I hope to have anyother status photo in the near future of the completed border.

Well, I got to run and make sure that Matthew has finished his breakfast and is packing up his gear back in his bag...got to get ready for the next game!

Take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Post #468 - 46 days until my blogoversary...and the numbers of followers continues to grow (thank you)

To enter my 3-100-500 giveaway, please go to this post and comment.

Thank you for the comments on my last blog, regarding my frustration with blogger not allowing me to leave comments on several blogs of my new followers. As per my dear friend, Valerie's comment, I logged off of blogger and signed back in, but didn't check the "keep me signed in box" and that has seemed to help with my commenting problem. Now I just need to go back and start visiting all the new followers some more.

While I have been making some visits, I came across this survey called:

10 Things You Might Like to Know About Me

Courtesy of Rachel of Come Stitch with me...who borrowed it from Jo at Seredipitous Stitching ...who borrowed it from Jan's Thread Garden...well, it seems to be making it's rounds and I thought it would be a fun way for some of my new, and even the old, visitiors and followers to get to know me. If you decide to play along, post a comment below and I will come and check you out.

1. What was the last film that really moved/disturbed/thrilled you and why?

I think the last film I saw was the last Harry Potter movie. While it was kind of sad for the whole Potter thing to come to an end, I can't really say I was moved or distrubed. One of my favorite movies is Driving Miss Daisy - I enjoy watching the relationship between Miss Daisy, played by Jessica Tandy, and her help, Hoke who is played by Morgan Freeman.

2.If you could be given ANY gift what would it be?
The give I would give is time, my time...and time to my extended family who lives out of state. Since we moved to California and our boys have become very, very active in their hockey activities it continues to get harder to get back and see my family or DH's. Over the years they have come to the understanding that if they want to see us, they meet up with us at a tournament or come west to visit. It is hard and I know that they are not happy with the way things have worked out.

3.What's your favourite way to wake up and what's the first thing you do?
I can't say that it is my favorite way to wake up, but is an alarm clock that gets me out of bed in time to get in my 2 hours of spinning on my stationary bike. I love to get in a good sweat in the morning. And while spinning, I multi-task with my little laptop on the reading bar. For this is the time that I get in a lot of my email reading, facebook reading and blogging done (like right now, I am spinning and typing my post).

4. What crafts have you done?
Taught by my grandmother on my mother's side - cross stitching is the one that I have done the longest in my life. There is something hypnotic and relaxing to pull that needle & thread through the linen. However, throughout my life so far I have thrown pottery, knitted, scrapbooked, doodled with all colors of markers...

5. What were you doing before you started this?
Before I started this post and filling in the survey, I was catching up on some of my blog reading and that is when I thought that I should do this survey...before that, i was sleeping...well sort of, I was kind of waiting for the alarm to go off so I could get in my spin before having to board the airplane this morning. A girl has priorities, you know.

6. When was the last time you cried laughing?
I can't remember the last time, for there has been several instances when DH and I get in bed before the boys...we just lay in bed listening to the boys huff and puff their way through they homework (their late night dates with homework is primarily due to their late night hockey practices). The boys are so funny, that many times DH and I just crack up.

7.What did you want to be when you were little?
When I was "little" I wanted to be a school teacher. I remember playing "school" with my two younger sisters. I made them do all all sorts of math problems and had them read out loud. A little later, in my middle school years, I wanted to be come an astronaut. I was facinated by space and the space shuttle flights...until 1986 when the Challenger exploded. Later I wanted to become a doctor. Went to Washington University in St. Louis with the thoughts of going pre-med. However, freshman year I met the boy who would be come my DH...and basically failed chemistry.

8.What is your current favourite TV program? Honestly, with all the evening hockey practices, I am not home enough to really keep up with any TV program. There have been a couple that I try to keep up with - like Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen - but most of the time I can't.

9. What would you name yourself?
I don't know. I have been known as Lisa all my life....although I do remember my friend Angela back in elementary school and how facinated I was with her name.

10. What characteristics do you hate about yourself?
I am just not a good housekeeper. I can keep up with the laundry, but the kitchen floor and the bathrooms...well, just not my forte.


****Note - I started writing this post about 12hour ago and just a soon as I was done and ready to publish, my computer decided that it was time to shut itself down - I think that it was possessed****

Have a good Thursday...Until next time:

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

Whining Wednesday

Post #467...47 days until blogoversary and an extrodinary amount of followers :)

To enter giveaway click here to go to the post to leave a comment

 

 

Anybody can do just about anything with themselves

that they really want to and make up their mind to do.

We are all capable of greater things than we realize.

~Norman Vincent Peale

Although...if one tries to leave comments on blogs of new followers...ugh, I am so frustrated right now with blogger. You all have been so good and I have so many new followers who I would like to meet - go to their blogs - read and leave a comment, but for some reason I am having troubles. After entering my comment and the "secret security code" I was directed to a sign in screen...after entering my login info I would try to submit my comment to the blog, but then was directed to the blogger sign in page again. Now, it might just be this computer, so I will continue trying on some of the others that we have accumulated over the last couple of years. Between buying our second store, where we accumulated 3 old computers and adopting some that my father wasn't happy with, we do have our share here. So I will keep on trying...for I have made up my mind that I will meet all my new followers and make my mark on their blogs with a comment :)

So last night I wrote about my new blooming relationship with Wild Berries, whom I am stitching with on on the border of my Family Sampler. I was hoping that she and I would have a visit after I was done with my workout last night while at the hockey rink; unfortunately she got stuck in my knapsack while I ran around yaking with some of the other hockey moms who were hanging out at the rink. Last night was a good night to get in all my hockey yapping because both boys had practice. So I got caught up with some of the moms from Matthew (younger son)'s team; and then when they departed I had a chance to sit down and gab with moms from Robert (older son)'s hockey team. Sometime a girls got to gab, ya know?

Well, 24 hours from now I will be at the airport - checking in, paying to take on a suitcase & hockey bag & hockey stick bag (gotta love that...not), going through security (hopfully will not be padding down again) and then waiting for my seat number to be called out. Then it will be a 4-1/2 hour flight. I will definitely be bringing my stitching - Family Sampler and, if I have time, a Christmas pattern because I need to start stitching the Christmas Ornament for Conny the last person for the Ornament Swap. I am still waiting for Lisa V to alert me when her ornament I stitched arrives so I can show you what I made for her. It is a long way from here to her land - cross your fingers that it doesn't take too much longer.

My thoughts are definitely flowing in all sorts of different directions this morning, so it might be time to put a close to this post. Thank you for visiting, I hope that you have a wonderful Wednesday. Until next time, remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Overwhelmed to say the least

Post #465...48 days until blogoversary and an extrodinary amount of followers :)

To enter giveaway click here to go to the post to leave a comment.

OMG...117 followers. Well, you all definitely kept your side of the giveaway. Now, I just need to keep going and keep posting to get to that big 500 on the 28th of November! And it looks like there are a lot of enteries...Yay!!!

If you remember from Sunday's post, I introduced you to my new friends -

Claypot and Wild Berries...well, the last few days I have become very acquainted with Wild Berries. She is quite an interesting person to get to know - goes from a dark serious side to a light humorous one after a few steps. Hanging out with her definitely makes time go by fast, though and our visit together will probably be pretty short. I thought it best to visit with one at a time...seems to get the job done fast :)

I am currently at the rink, in the fitness room, getting in my spin on their stationary bike while writing this post. It is nice to have the use of the fitness room here while hanging at the rink; especially on Tuesdays since I am here from 4pm-8:30pm. Both boys have practice - makes for a long evening (but between working out and stitching, I have found ways to make it go by quickly). Thursday I pack up my stitching and laptop and head to Detroit with Matthew & his hockey team for a weekend tournament. As always, I look forward to my time with my sons...that one on one time is priceless especially since the continue to grow right in front of my eyes.

Well, it is probably time to say "good bye" for now, jump off the bike and get over to the rink to watch Matthew's practice while visiting with Wild Berries. Until next time...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

A Little Happy Dance and Give-a-way Details

Post #464 - 50 days until blogoversary -

 87 followers and counting...

Up early- 5:15am - this morning to get Matthew fed and out the door by 6:15am for a 8am hockey game. Since DH was taking him to the rink that gave me some morning time for this...

Getting closer...

Getting closer...

...and closer....

everything is matching up...dear Pea Pod, it is time to bid you a farewell, because....

the vine portion of the border is now complete!

HIP-HIP-HORRAY!

And now, without further ado, let me introduce you to my

2 new friends:

Clay Pot and Wild Berries

Time to stitch the flower buds that live in all the border vines! But, at this time I would like to feel the accomplishment of finishing up the Pea Pod vines...at least for the next couple of hours :)

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Now on the the details of the

3 - 100 - 500 Giveaway

To celebrate:

3 years of blogging...anniversary is November 28, 2011

100 followers...which I hope to have by November 28, 2011

500 posts...which I am planning to accomplish on November 28, 2011

To enter/qualify:

1. Must be a follower and must leave a comment on this post

2. Optional, but for extra entry, announce the giveaway on your blog (leave 2nd comment when posted)

How many winners:

Possibily 2

What is being given away:

To celebrate the 3 year blogoversary - a mystery package of stitching stash (winner #1)

To celebrate my 500th post - a mystery package of stitching stash  (winner #2)

IF...IF I reach 100 followers by Nov. 28 both winners receive the above plus a gift $10 gift certificate to http://www.123stitch.com/

So, the 3 years blogoversary will happen no matter what and there will be 1 winner...

The 500th post my controlling factor (but I want to have 2 winners!!!!)....

To reach 100 followers by Nov. 28th and possibly win a $10 gift certificate to http://www.123stitch.com/ that is where you all can be helpful

Deadline and Drawing:

Deadline to enter: November 27, 2011 @ 11:59pm Pacific Time

Drawing: November 28, 2011

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Well that is all I have for now...have a great Sunday! Until next time, remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Happiness...

Post #463 - 51 days until blogoversary - 87 followers and counting...

Tomorrow I will announce the 3(year) - 500(post) - 100(follower) blogoversary give-a-way.

Stay Tuned!

Up and going early on a Saturday morning, for it is going to be a busy day and I am grateful to have gotten up out of bed early and on the stationary bike. Getting in a good spin before starting out the day tends to start me off in a good mood...then it is just up to me to continue the feeling.

DH and I will be swapping roles this weekend...I will be manning the stores, making sure that everything is running smoothly, while he will be playing Hockey Taxi. Robert (older son) has a morning practice and Matthew (younger son) has 2 games today...tomorrow they both have games. It will be nice to take a break from the hockey craziness for a day or two...allows me to appreciate it and not just tolerate it.

The foundation of happiness is mindfulness.

The basic condition for being happy is our consciousness of being happy.

If we are not aware that we are happy, we are not really happy.

When we have a toothache, we know that not having a toothache is a wonderful thing. But when we do not have a toothache, we are still not happy.

A non-toothache is very pleasant.

There are so many things that are enjoyable, but when we don’t practice mindfulness, we don’t appreciate them.

When we practice mindfulness, we come to cherish these things and we learn how to protect them.

By taking good care of the present moment, we take good care of the future.

Working for peace in the future is to work for peace in the present moment.

 ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Last night I stitched the last corner of the Family Sampler Pea Pod vine of the border. Now I just need to finish the right hand-side...to meet up where I began...which shouldn't take too long, and then I will snap a status photo to show you. It will be nice to have this part completed.

Who are the happiest people on earth?

A craftsman or artist whistling over a job well done.

A little child building sand castles.

A mother, after a busy day, bathing her baby.

A doctor who has finished a difficult and dangerous operation, and saved a human life.

Happiness lies in a constructive job well done.

Get your happiness out of your work or you will never know what happiness is.

~Elbert Hubbard

Last night, neither of the boys had hockey so we were able to have a quiet night at home. DH did need to make a delivery of a last minute order "over the hill" (that is the term we use for any order that has to be delivered over the Dublin hill into the Oakland area) and took Robert with him so that they could stop at one of their favorite burger joints called Jerry's Beefburgers. Matthew and I enjoyed food at home. They did get home around 6:15pm, so the "boys" played a computer game together while I stitched. It was so nice to be home together.

Well my friends, I hope that you find some Happiness in your Saturday, as well as the rest of the weekend. I hope that you will join me tomorrow when I announce what the give-a-way will be. Until then, remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Thursday has arrived - I see the light

Post #462 - 53 days until blogoversary - up to 85 followers...and counting

Thursday brings with it "...the light at the end of the tunnel." This has been a very stressful week containing:

1. No driving to hockey practice tonight - Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday night. Thank goodness for carpooling for Matthew because I don't have to drive down there tonight!!!
2. Matthew's European Map project is due today - something that he received early September and commented that they will be working on parts of it at school; only to begin identifying countries & their capitols last Saturday, color/cut/paste on Sunday, create labels on Monday, enlarge Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday, identify bodies of water/mountains and attach labels on Wednesday. It is done...thank goodness because it is due today.
3. My work week ends today - working on a trade show which is coming up sooner than I had hoped and there have been a lot of last minute details. It looks like it will all work out just fine, but the stress of getting it done seemed to be too much this time.

So after work today (which I am done around 1-1:30pm) - until Saturday morning's hockey practice - I will feel like a free woman :)

Steve Jobs 1955 - 2011

I am sure everyone has heard the news of Steve Jobs' death. He was a visionary and definitely played a large role changing the world. I remember when my parents brought home an Apple computer - it was really cool, but there wasn't much we could do on it at the time - it was mainly an easier way of writing school papers versus the Brother typewritters we had in the house. Although, I think my parents felt more at ease typing on the typewritter vs. on the computer - was more in their "comfort zone".

I also remember going away to college and getting my very own Mac

It was smaller than the Apple computer so it would fit on my college dorm-room desk; but it was still a heavy piece of equipment. It did make typing out college reports and project easy (although the printers back in the late 80s were another story - dot-matrix printer - yuck!).

In an Apple, Inc Commerical by Jobs...this sums him up:

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things.

They push the human race forward.

And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. - Apple Inc.

Well, until next time, remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa