Post 8, 2015 - Catching Up

Wow...sorry for the little hiatus. Life has a way of getting in the way of the best laid plans...but it has been good things. Here are some little snippets of life here:

January 11, 2015

My older son turned 19 - WOW! Where does time go. Hard to believe that I have a 19 year old. But it was a bitter sweet celebration this year.

It has been tradition to have a celebration at breakfast time - the birthday person would wear the traditional Birthday Hat, we would sing Happy Birthday and Birthday person would blow out a candle in their toasted waffle. But said birthday boy was 3000 miles away on the east coast of USA at prep school :(

But to make sure Robert had something to put a candle on, I ordered a chocolate cake from Harry & David.

So Sunday night, he brought out the cake and his housemates sang "Happy Birthday" to him. I guess, the days of celebrating a birthday all together will [almost] be a thing of the past.

January 13, 2015

My DH and I are knee deep into Valentine's Day planning for both our Edible Arrangement Stores. This is our biggest holiday, so it is important to make sure that we cover all basis. I took a trip up to our Brentwood store to converse with our employees up there, as I typically go up to this store to help out during holidays (DH stays at our other store, which is close to our house). 

It is always fun to visit our Fruit Experts up in Brentwood and touch base with them. They had the lobby decorated for Valentines, showing off some of our new boxes which will contain hand-dipped chocolate covered strawberries...

January 15-19, 2015

Hockey tournament in Minnesota with Matthew's hockey team. 

My son Matthew (the one seated in the window seat) on the airplane with his teammates

It is always nice to have a hockey tournament in Minnesota, because I then get to visit with my parents, sisters and their family. 

We have created a tradition over the last few years, where my parents host a team meal at their country club. It proves to be a wonderful evening for all.

Matthew with his cousins: Lizzie and Sammy

Matthew with Grandma/pa and cousins

My whole family (sisters, spouses, kids, my parents, Matthew and I)

And of course, if you are taking photos at an event like this, you need to get a team photo...

It was a nice weekend. The team won 4, lost 1...made it to the semis, but unfortunately lost in the last 10 seconds. 

While the team stayed in a hotel, I stayed at my parents house which allowed me to visit with my family when we were not at the hockey rink.

Me and my nephew, Sam, at his hockey game

Although that didn't stop me from going to watch others play hockey. My nephew, Sammy, just started to play. So of course I couldn't miss the opportunity to catch one of his games. There is a big difference between watching his Mini-Mite game and watching Matthew's Midget Minor :)

In addition to watching Sammy's hockey game, I also got to hang out with my niece Lizzie. As an aunt who isn't around much, I did feel the need to totally corrupt her. In fact, we picked her up from school early on the Friday I was there so she played hooky with me.

And, also, I felt the need to teach her how to eat Ready Whip from a can:

All good things a good Aunt should teach a teenage niece - right?

Well that should basically catch you up on my life. But just a couple of things to show to finish off this post. 

First, here is the status of SamSarah In My Garden -

And lastly, while in Minnesota I got to go to my favorite stitching store: Stitchville USA and picked up a little stash...

Which I felt that I just couldn't live with out...LOL!

Well, if you made it down to here, I thank you. This is one long post. 

Until next time, take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

Stitching, stash, school and sweltering heat

Here is a status photo of where my Mary Wigham is. I have been working on the motifs on the right hand side: the ones stitched in Berry Cobbler (pink) and Picnic Basket (brown). Here is a closer photo of that area:

It is still a very enjoyable stitch, so when I do find time and sit my "bahooki" (aka bottom) down it is a lot of fun.

I also did a little stash shopping, purchasing the "September/October" monthly sampler from LHN as well as the new "Family Sampler" which just came out...unfortunately it is on back order, but since it is not something that I am going to start immediately I can wait.

So that is all the stitching news right now. Other topics - the boys started school today. Both were very excited to start the new school year and their new schools (Matthew in middle school and Robert in high school). However, both came home and said the day was fun, yet boring. For the first day of school means each class they had went over the rules...Bo-o-o-ringggg! Nevertheless, after listening to them talk about their first day experiences, they do so with much excitement.

Robert's new experience is having classes with all age groups - 9th through 12th and having some of the boys have beards and/or mustaches.

Well, as I predicted as soon as school started - summer decided to rare it's ugly head. All summer long we have experienced temperatures in the mid-70s to mid-80s. Typically our summers are well into the 90s and 100s as we live in a valley east of San Fran. With the lower temps, we have actually been living without AC and open windows. That is until last night. Yesterday the temps were in the high 90s - today it was in the low 100s (current temp at 6:45pm is 104 degrees). And once those temps go up, the fire alerts are issued. In fact, we actually have a fire going on about 20 miles or so north of us. I believe they said that it has already burned over 150 acres. There is no threat to us here (so, please no worrying) and there are no structures in danger - just a lot of wooded areas as it is a regional park.

Stitching...stash...school...sweltering heat...I think that is all the news right now.

Hope everyone is doing well - remember:

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

And now it is Friday :)

Once again it was a late night - reviewing the Revolutionary War with Matthew (younger son) and finishing up projects with Robert (older son). But had a nice afternoon and evening, visiting with my parents.

My parents arrived from Minnesota around 2pm at my house after checking into the hotel and getting settled there. It was enough time to give them a snack (LOL...who is the child and who are the parents) and then start the afterschool activity taxi - first stop to pick up Robert from school for a track meet, which we dropped him off at the location of the meet (second stop) and then headed back to pick up Matthew from his school (third stop) and then back to the track meet. This was the first time my parents were able to see Robert run in a track meet - they enjoyed watching him run the 400 (which he placed 1st with a time of 59.8), the 100 and the 4x400 relay. Due to the track meet and the homework load, we decided to skip the hockey clinic again, grab some take out and head home.

Friday and the weekend upon us and my parents in town, we are planning a nice bbq dinner tonight...and then to bed at a decent time ---- YAHOO. Tomorrow morning is our only hockey committments and then we will use the remainder of the weekend to do some fun things with my parents as well as get in a little R&R.

BTW...the mailperson was a sight for sore eyes yesterday as she delivered some "stash".  First was the next installation of the Little House Needleworks Monthly Samplers - May and June. I received a gift certificate to http://www.123stitch.com/ and I have been using it to purchase this collection of  these LHN kits. While I have not made time to start any of them, I did purchase the fabric, so when I am ready I can. My plan is to stitch all of them on one piece of fabric...so maybe I will collect/purchase them all this year and make this the project of 2011.

The other "stash" item in my mail box, was the second to the last piece for the Society of Soie Surfine Series #1. You can read about Series #1 and get information on the whole program on the Society of Soie Surfine blog. The item I received was

Soie Surfine - Northern Lights

Northern Lights is a beautiful blue and fits very well with the other colors from Series #1. The last part to arrive is the brown color floss - Cocolat. Again, I have just been 'collecting' these; haven't had or made the time to stitch with them or the fabric that was also part of the series. The Soie Surfine blog has some examples of stitching projects which one of the ladies at Needle in a Haystack (my not so LNS) has completed. I saw them in person when I went statsh shopping at NiaH a few months ago...it is very tiny stitches - but beautiful!

Well, my blog friends I wish you a wonderful weekend. May it be filled with a lot of love and laughter...and time to sit and stitch!

Take care!

Lisa

Show and Tell..."yes" we have some photos

Well, as promised, here is a photo of "Trick or Treat" - I am all the way to the "k".

And here are some close ups of the detail. I love the way the letters and the little characters look when they are outlined (backstitched) in black. It really makes the design "pop".

My favorite letter so far is the C...the 'man in the moon'.

So - there you go...I kept my promise :)

Now, another quick show and tell. Throughout the month of September Cameo held a daily give-a-way, kind of a great opportunity for her to do some stash cleaning and some of us to increase our stash. Today I received my package of all the winnings I won. It was like Christmas.

So that is my "Show and Tell" for you today.

Hope your Wednesday is going well...got to go finish folding laundry before the boys get home.

Lisa

Saturday's Stitching Update, Stash Weakness and a Salute to Friendship

I thought I would start our today's post with a update on my progress on "Trick-or-Treat". It is coming along as I am working on the "C" which is a man-in-the-moon. As soon as I get that done, I will go back and back stitch the I an the C before moving on to the K. Since Halloween is (somewhat) around the corner, I am hoping to get a lot of work done on this over the weekend. However, I might have to make a trip into my "not so" LNS because the Krenik Glow in the Dark seems to be running low already and I would hate to run out before it is done. I did run to another needlework store that is local. It is called 2 the Point. This shop specializeds in Needle point - but they do have a wonderful selection of threads. When I need to satisfy my craving for color and thread, I drive down to this store and just walk around the perimeter of the store looking at all the thread. Unfortunately I experienced low will power yesterday during my visit - for while I was only going there to look for some glow in the dark Krenik, I happed to spy:

1. A new magnetic accessory keeper by a company called Namaste. The outside has sort of a soft leather/vinyl feel. There is a little snap on the outside...and on the inside, there is a suade like covering over magnet. So it holds needles, scissors and any other accessories you might have. I chose the color eggplant (kind of a purply color). (note: the scissors and other accessories I already had in my stash...didn't go that crazy

2. Sampler Threads from The Gentle Art - a couple new colors: Grasshopped and Mistletoe...but then I felt the need to pick up a few other colors that would be good for Christmas ornaments.

It was a nice little fix to my stash craving, but I still need the glow-in-the dark color for Trick-or-Treat, for they were out of it.

It has been a crazy week, so I am glad that it is the weekend. But as DH mentioned last night - we always get a stunned chuckle from friends and family when we tell them that we actually wake up earlier on the weekends then we do on the weekdays. For the last couple of weekends, Robert (older son) has had practices on the weekends either starting at 6:15am or 8:00am. Which means that we need to get up at 4:30 in the morning (that is when I make the waffles or pancakes, good thing to fill the belly before practice) for breakfast and packing the hockey gear up; then DH & son have to leave around 5 to be down at the rink by 5:45am. At least with an early practice, we will have the rest of the day to do something. However, Robert does have a backpack filled with homework, which he will need to work on today because tomorrow is another practice (followed by off-ice workout and another ice time - thus he will not get back home until 2:30). And my younger son, Matthew...well he has practice but not until Sunday night. But he is in desperate need for tennis shoes, so I guess a trip to the shoe shop is on my agenda for sometime this weekend.

As I said, it was a crazy week. Actually life has been a little strange lately. Not only have I been busy with work, supporting the kids' school work and dealing with hockey stuff...but there has been some personal things going on which just make one grateful for what you have and the love/support of family and friends. So, I am going to close this post with a couple of writings - and remember...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often! Lisa

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible
comfort of feeling safe with a person;
having neither to weigh thoughts nor
measure words, but to pour them
all out, chaff and grain together,
knowing that a faithful hand will take
and sift them, keep what is worth
keeping, and then, with
the breath of kindness,
blow the rest away.

George Eliot

The most I can do for my friends is simply to be their friend.  I have no
wealth to bestow upon them.  If they know that I am happy in loving them,
they will want no other reward.  Is not friendship divine in this?

Henry David Thoreau

What 'cha been doing?

I have been doing my part (still) to help the economy improve as I build up my stash some more with some Prairie Schooler patterns and a few Lizzie Kate. I signed up for Rnd 3 of the PS exchange and hope to stay with the L*K Exchange after this round, so I felt that I should have some new things to pick from as I continue to stay with these exchanges. Participating in exchanges was one of the goals I set out to accomplish as I was a newbie in the cyber stitch world. Through this activity I have come to know many people - it really is adding a wonderful element to my life!

The mail person adorned my mailbox with the August 2009 edition of the Cross Stitcher Magazine. The Christmas Stocking in it is very cute - but for those last minute 4th of July projects there are a couple of very nice patterns, as well as some other fun projects that I will probably put some sticky notes on as possible projects/gifts from others.

Stitching Update...I have been working on a couple of L*K exchanges. The first one is a personal (one-on-one) exchange with Heather (Stitch in Tyme) We set a due date of July 1, so I will be getting this in the mail to her soon and will post a formal photo after I receive the word she received it. It was a fun colorful stitch and finish...I hope that she will like it. The other is for the "official" L*K Exchange and is due August 1. I am about 1/2 done with the stitching of the design, because I wanted to have some time to think about how I want to finish this for my exchange partner - maybe trying something new. However, I have put this aside temporarily because I wanted to do a little something to surprise someone - so I started this new project because I need to get it in the mail tomorrow. So lots of exchanges going on.

After sending the Friendship Sampler RRs down to Karen in AZ on the 16th of June, my house has been without an RR. I miss having a heart to stitch the end of this month...yet it is nice to be able to focus on other projects for a while. Several of the members of this RR has been enjoying weddings, graduations and other wonderful family activities; some have been travelling and some have been dealing with the unfortunates of the economy...so the email box has been a little light with communication, but reading their blogs they are all doing well. Again, it is amazing how this type of activity - Round Robins, Exchanges and Blogging can bring some of us together! It really has been a positive addition to my life!

Update on household life...DH has been very busy at work lately with meetings, early morning conference calls and late night projects. The boys started their day camp last week. Robert is a junior leader (which is a wonderful program the Rec center has) and is volunteering at a preschool camp a couple days aweek as well as a half day camp with older kids (K-5 grade). Matthew is attending the afternoon camp (which Robert is a jr. leader at...so far no problems). While the boys are at came from 1:00-5, I take that time to go into work and put in a few hours there.

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Background info re: my job (skip if not interested)...I don't know if I wrote about my job, but I work part-time at a manufacturing company in the Marketing and Communications department. I have been there a little over 3 years - it has been the perfect job for my life as it is very flexible - allowing me to set my own hours with the only request that once set I am committed to be there. In the summertime, my hours change to reflect the summer camp hours - going in in the afternoon. At the end of May, my boss was laid off - so now I report to her boss who is in our UK office (I have been given a Blackberry so she and I can communicate when it is morning here and before she leaves for the day in the UK). I won't bore you with any more detail, but I thank my "lucky stars" everyday for this wonderful job.
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This week I will not be going into work because they are shutting the office for the holiday week as well as for budget reasons (and because of being part-time-no pay for me). But the boys will still be attending camp, so I will get the afternoon to get some things done without them. DH and I might even schedule a date during that time...which would be nice to have quality time with him! However, the boys still have their hockey clinc...

Hockey...we have one more week of this clinic the boys have been attending. It is the one which is 4 days a week and this is week 6. It has been a great clinic for them - they have definitely developed new skills on and off the ice and had a lot of fun doing it. But getting everything organized and driving the 45 minutes each way and sitting there from 5-8 gets a little old. But like I said, this is the last week of this clinic. Next week we will not have any hockey to run off to...but then the following week (July 11-5) they both have a "tune up" clinic.
"Tune Up?", you might ask. Yes, while my boys have been on the ice without much down time - not all families do this much spring/summer hockey (and some do way more)...but tryouts for Robert is July 17, with the Bantam AAA (13-14yr age group). If he goes through the weekend and doesn't make this team, then he trys out for the Bantam AA the following weekend and so on. Matthew's tryouts are not until last weekend of July.

Well, if you made it this far, I give you a lot of kudos because this definitely got a lot longer than I had originally planned. All the boys are down at hockey...I have made plans to go to see "My Sister's Keeper" with a friend this morning (I'll let you know my thoughts tomorrow).

Thank you for visiting! Hope your weekend is going well and you are able to stay cool if it is hot outside, dry if it is raining and warm if it is cold!
Remember....Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often! Lisa

Summertime is here...and new stash has arrived too!

As far as I am concerned, summer is here - as I define it's start with the boys out of school. Yesterday was their last day and as my previous post, we celebrated all the good things that came with its end (good grades, sports medals) with a take out meal while watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs (fun to see the sacred trophy handed to the youngest NHL team captain - Sidney Crosby).
Mother Nature hasn't decided that it is summer yet - as we have been starting the mornings here with a heavy cloud cover/foggy which comes in from the bay and sometimes doesn't burn off until early afternoon. The temps have been in the mid-60s to 70s. It really isn't too bad and I shouldn't complain, but thoughts of going to the pool next week aren't too exciting with cloud cover. Maybe things will change by Monday.

On the stitching side of things, I have been focused on stitching my Friendship Sampler RR and will be re-introducing that into the RR mail cycle. As I have been putting the finishing touches on my hearts to start this piece again, resentment creeps into my body when I think that my first RR is sitting in someone else's house (I have used the word "hostage" to explain this situation previously)...but as I will be putting in the last few stitches of the first hearts over the weekend, I will be able to "let go" of the resentment especially when it is all packaged up and on its way to Karen (the recipient of all my mailings for this RR). After my RR and Karin's RR are in the mail, next on my stitching list is to work on my L*K personal exchange I am doing with Heather - which is due in the mail on or before July 1. I have some ideas after reading her "wish" list...so that will be my start next week!

Well, I haven't been a saint when it has come to stash dieting lately. After 2 trips into my "not-so" LNS (one was Mother's Day, so I shouldn't count that as I believe that I deserved this gift, right?) and a couple of orders from 123stitch.com my stash has grown. However, some of the items I definitely needed - like the thread and patterns for the personal L*K exchange and the "big" L*K exchange . But is it is hard to rationize the other items I guess: both are from Little House Designs and have a watermelon theme. I eat a lot of watermelon - in fact at our local Safeway grocery store, they know me as the watermelon Lady. So, once I saw these I knew that I had to add them to my stash along with my L*K watermelon (July flip-it) and a few other watermelon themed designs. Crazy, huh? Oh well...








Anyway...first up - finish the RRs and get them in the mail. Next, work on Heather L*K exchange...then I should take out Hockey Rivalry (UFO) and stitch on that a little. Well, my plate is full so with that I will sign off now! Hope everyone has a good and productive summer weekend!
Remember - live, love, laugh and stitch often! Lisa