November 13...and 14th (oops)

Ugh, trying to blog everyday is difficult! Yesterday I was up at 4:30, got only 1 hour of exercising in before I decided I rather sit and stitch. I am at the point where the Family Sampler calls my name - and the call of stitching seems to be much louder than spinning on the bike. So between the hour of early morning stitching and an hour at the rink in the evening, here is where my Family Sampler is now:

The tree has leaves and the flowers have their yellow center

It is coming a long slowly, but surely. I will finish the floral on the right-hand side of the house before planting the tree and flowers on the left-side. Soon my house will be surrounded by the beauty of nature - grass where the boys can play and trees they can climb or sit in the shade to read. Flowers to be enjoyed and picked for quick Mother's Day presents or for a centerpiece for a nice family meal. Now that I have my next stitching steps mapped out, I will make some time today to sit-n-stitch.

However, that probably will not be until a little later this afternoon. Just like yesterday, DH and I will go into *The Business* and help prep the fruit for Sunday fruit bouquet deliveries. There is one employee who comes in on Sunday, as it typically isn't busy - but DH & I want to continue our learning process of *The Business* so that when those very, very busy holidays come up (Valentines and Mother's Day) we can step in where needed. Yesterday, DH and I stood side by side prepping the melon wedges - cut the melon, scoop out the seeds, cut in wedges, peel off the skin and then skewer them for the arrangements. It was fun working side by side with DH, while talking with the 3 women working and getting to know them. We are at that point where we want to establish ourselves as "the boss" but not in an aggressive, threatening way. So we have just "jumped" right in to the "production", as it is called, which also includes cleaning and sanitizing all the utensils & trays. It was a lot of fun...I even got an opportunity to insert some of the cantaloupe and honeydew in several arrangements that were going out that day.

Once the majority of the production was done - which is close to 10am - DH took me home because I needed to get the boys around and head to the rink. Robert's team had a "controlled" scrimmage against a 19U girls team ("controlled" means that they cannot hit - which is always a bummer according to Robert - and it also means that the coaches are playing referees. They will stop the action so that they can create situations that each team is working on). After the 75 minute ice time, Robert had an hour of off-ice conditioning with the fitness coach. During all of this...Matthew and I sat in the restaurant that overlooks the rinks. Here, he worked on his home work packets he received to do over the weekend while eating lunch I fixed him at home (I know, strange to be taking in a homemade lunch into a restaurant...but since we have to watch our nickles & dimes right now this is one of the best ways...and probably the most nutritious). This is when I took out my stitching, which is always a good way to make the time pass at the rink.

Anyway...Sunday is here now...I am up, a little later than I would have liked, but on the bike non-the-less to get in a little workout. DH and I will go in again to *The Business* and continue getting comfortable with all the different tasks to be done. He is the one who will be doing the majority of the running it (payroll, ordering, taxes, hiring, firing, etc) and I will step in where needed when I can. Today is the last day that the previous owner will have a key to the store and today is also when the corporate training will arrive for the week of in-store training. It is going to be a crazy week!

Well, my friend, I will end this post with this thought on positive thinking:

Although many of us probably didn't get a thorough education in

the value of a positive attitude,

we can teach ourselves. Simply by making a decision to look for

the good, happy and beautiful in all things

and all people, you will have completed the first and most imporant step in learning

to accentuate the positive.

~Sue Patton Thoele

Accenturate the positive today; while remembering to also:

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa