TGIF - Yahoo!

It is Friday...thank goodness. Since I was in Phoenix last weekend and then came home to deal with laundry/work/boys' school/*The Business*/after-school sports - I was looking forward to my Friday "day off"; however, I spent most the morning in the doctor's office taking care of all those yearly things that I have put off for two years...I even took care of getting the mammogram out of the way (I was able to just walk right in without scheduling an appointment). Now the only thing left to do is the fasting blood tests, which I think that I will take care of next Monday morning (that too is just a walk in situation - so if I get there right at 7am, it shouldn't be too bad). It is nice to take care of these things and check them off my "take care of me" list.

The rest of the day I spent doing some errands and deliveries for *The Business*. There were a couple of Edible Arrangements that needed to be delivered before noon, which DH needed some help to complete as our driver was already out and about doing the early morning ones and he couldn't get away until later in the afternoon. It is fun to deliver these big fruit arrangements, for the recipient is always excited to receive them.

So now for some really fun news...I was a winner of a give-a-way...a give-a-way that Edgar of Blacksheep's bit of the Web blog...a little background of the give-a-way if you aren't a follower of Edgars. Edgar visits the best estate sales and finds all sort of treasures. He advertised a piece of Belleek as a give-a-way that he was going to award on St. Patrick's Day. Well, Belleek is something that I have a collection of, for when my great-grandmother passed away about 18 years ago, I inherited her collection.

Belleek porcelain basically is from Ireland and the style of china that my great-grandmother collected and I continue to add to, has the shamrock design...fitting for St. Pat's, isn't it. Well, the reason my great-grandmother collected the Irish pottery is because she loved to brag about her Irish heritage. See for a long time, the family believed that her mother Katherine grew up in Ireland, feel in love with a german milk man and got married. However, the truth came out while my uncle was researching the family history that Katherine was from Iowa...granted somewhere in the family lineage that side of the family did come from Ireland, but it was generations ago.

As I said, my collection started with my great-grandmother's and has been added to over the years, as my family has given me pieces for birthdays and anniversaries over the years.

Above, you can seem my collection. The lady in the Belleek frame is a photo of my great-grandmother - Alyce Friedman. Below is what I received from Edgar for the St. Patrick's Day give-a-way he hosted:

My winnings...a beautiful Belleek creamer and lots of green candy (there were Junior Mints and an Andes Mint...but I gobbled those up before I took the photo). Thank you so much Edgar! I love my new piece and definitely enjoyed the green candy!

Well, my friends, it is time to sign off. Hope everyone is doing well - keeping dry if you are getting rained on and warm if you have been experiencing some snow showers. Spring and Summer will be here soon, they usually do arrive eventually.

Take care...and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

I am still here, just awfully busy (I guess that is normal for me, right?)

In the stitching part of my life...
First, lets talk about stitching and some new stash I got from Valerie-FogCity Dweller. On Friday, I got home and there was a package in the mail; I guess that I was a runner up for a give-a-way she ran last May...but I didn't remember, so it was like getting a Christmas present or a Birthday present :) What did I get, you ask...well, first I should apologize that I can't take any photos because my camera is out of batteries and I was going to "borrow" some photos from stitching websites, but I can't find the patterns she sent. So, I will have to describe them:

By Shepherd's Bush...Scissor Fob pattern - "A,B,C...All is fine". I know that Valerie was a lucky duck who went to a retreat in Utah and visited the Shepherd's Bush store. This pattern is one that she had completed and passed it onto me so I can also stitch it.

By The Drawn Thread...Garden Recipe pattern/kit.

"Bits & Pieces - A Stitcher's Journal" From Blackbirds Designs, Barb Adams & Alma Allen...this is a little spiral bound journal that contains photos of Barb & Alma's quilts and other designs; and lots of space to keep track of all my projects!

Vikki Clayton hand dyed thread - Blueberry soup and Garnet.

Thank you so much Valerie, you made my day on Friday! I love all my new stash!!!

Continuing on the stitching theme...I had some ample time on Friday, when I was sitting at Speedy Oil Change, to get in some stitching on the ornament I am making for Sharon from the Ornament Swap group. It is coming along nicely, and if I didn't have plans for this I probably would be finishing it off and keeping it for myself. I am hoping that I can finish this up because Family Sampler is calling my name, but I don't want to be late getting Sharon's ornament in the mail for I felt bad about being late with Lori's. I don't want to be known in the exchange groups as Late :(

In my other facets of life...
Hockey continues to keep us busy. Matthew's (younger son) team is up to 4 practices a week as they get ready for a couple of hockey weekends in March. The 2nd week of March, they travel to LA to play a Czech Republic team and the Jr. King PeeWees...the 3rd week it is off to Arizona for a tournament. Robert's (older son) team is trying to make up for all the practices we have paid for but haven't had (this is a sore subject for all the parents regarding the club dues we pay and the lack of ice time the team gets) as they gear up for the Pacific District Championship which is this coming weekend. Starting Thursday, teams from Alaska and Washington, as well as one from Southern California come to San Jose for districts. Our club is hosting the event, which means...yes, I did volunteer...I have been busy helping get ready for the event. As a member of the district tournament committee, I have volunteered to help with admissions and getting together all the badges for the teams as well as the admissions tickets. It isn't a cumbersome job, just had to deal with printers and graphic designers to create the team passes...but it is almost done, which is a good thing for we have to have them ready for the team managers/coaches' meeting this Wednesday.

Then there is life at *The Store*...unfortunately after Valentine's Day several people just didn't work out and left, so we are a little short handed right now (anyone out there looking for a little work?) And I think that DH is wearing down by working there from open to close 7 days a week. So, I have been put on the schedule to work on Saturdays and go in when I can in the afternoons to help out. On one hand I love being there and helping out - but on the other, there are times that having our own business feels more like a burden. I hope that we are able to get in some more help soon!

Other everyday issues...well, the washer is fixed; but my car is now making a horrible noise, so now I have to figure out when I can squeeze in time to take it to the dealership so they can take a look at it. It is always something, isn't it?!?!?

Well - life might seems crazy here, but we all seem to work together - DH, Robert, Matthew and I - in order to get things done. That is what is important!

I hope that things are going well with you and yours...until next time...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Finally it is Friday

NOTE...if you are visiting my blog to read about the 8th grade Washington DC trip - above this post are links for each specific day. Enjoy and thank you for stopping by :)

AND BACK TO THE REGULAR SCHEDULED BLOG POST...
Friday has arrived here and with it, brings a weekend without too many committments - YAHOO! After getting back from DC I feel like I have been playing "catch up"...at home and at work; with sleep and with stitching.

Just a quick note about the "note" above...as you know I have blogged about the DC trip I chaperoned (something that I loved doing: chaperoning and blogging). Well, many of the kids who went on the trip as well as their families, were interested in reading what I had posted - so since I would like to get back into my normal blogging routine, I thought I would put a link on top of the blog to provide easy access to the daily trip posts.

First...while in DC....I found out that I won a giveaway that Marjorie (the Pumpkin Patch Stitcher) held - and I received the package yesterday. Here is what I won (I had to borrow the photo from Marjorie's blog...my camera is low on battery power right now):

Isn't it cute? I love the Strawberry print, the red & white gingham and the denim looking bottom. But that is only one side of the tote, it is reversable (inside is more of the strawberry print and gingham). It is a nice summery bag to haul stitching stuff to and from the rink :) Thank you Marjorie!

So, where am I in my stitching...well, I am in stitching stress-ville right now; hoping to make a lot of time to sit and stitch over the weekend.

Friendship RR - I finally received the second to last RR to stitch on. It is April's. It took over 3 weeks for the package to get from the last RR member (who was in AZ) to me and several tries to send it. For some reason the package was deemed "undeliverable" the first time Kathy sent it. It traveled from Arizonia, to the city where I live in Northern California only to be "undeliverable", went back to AZ and then back here and finally arrived back in Kathy's hands. The post office didn't offer any logical reasons for the well travelled package - so Kathy sent it back out and it did arrive here safe & sound. So, stitching my heart on April's Friendship RR is my first priority so that I can get it sent out to the next person on the list ASAP!

Exchange Stitching - ugh, the May 1 deadline for 2 exchanges is rapidly approaching. I have the patterns picked out for both exchanges (Lizzie Kate and Seasonal Exchange) and got them kitted up for the DC trip - as I figured we had a lot of travel time (airplane rides and sitting in airports). However, for the life of me, I just couldn't stitch on the fabric that I chose for each project. So, as soon as I finish the RR I will either need to find different fabric or try to make the chosen fabs to work.

Well, that should catch you up with the happenings in my life right now. This weekend, as mentioned, will be pretty low key with the only committment being a hockey team party for Matthew (younger son) on Sunday evening. That should give us time to rest and regroup as a family.

So, blogging buddies, until next time...remember:

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

The weather out side is frightful...

Wow, did the rain come down last night. Several times I was woken up by it as it hit the windows...but I did manage to get myself out of bed (30 minutes later than I wanted to) and on the exercise bike this morning. I am waiting for it to get light outside so I can see what it is doing out there. The weather forcasters are saying that we might have gotten snow in the lower elevations (below 1000ft...we live around 343ft) - but since it is in the low 30s, I am sure that we will see some snow in the high hills that surround us where we live. We have one large hill (over 3849 feet) named Mt. Diablo that will get snow during the winter rainy season when it is cold enough - that is when this area really reminds me of Colorado (without the large quantity of snow). I will try to get some photo of the area if there is any snow to be seen.

Yesterday I posted the winner of my 1st blog give-away...Bev. Congrats!

WEEKEND and HOCKEY REPORT

I hope your weekend was good. I seemed to have had the blahs, feeling a little achy and not quite myself. There seem to be a lot of crud going around right now...and not just H1N1 (news reports are saying that reported cases are going down). Matthew (younger son and my "Vanna White" yesterday when he pulled the give-away name out of the Hockey Helmet), had 2 hockey games over the weekend and his team won both. So they are still in first place for the league games. Robert (older son) just had a practice on Sunday...otherwise he spent most of Saturday doing weekend homework.

WEEKEND and BLOGGING BUDDIES

While at the rink for a game on Saturday, I knew that one of my blogging buddies (Branlaadee) lived in that area. So I left a comment on her blog and she was kind enough to drop by the rink.  It is so funny how we all identify each other - for I arrived first and was sitting at one of the tables, visiting with some of the other hockey moms, when Branlaadee walked up with her plastic zipper stitching pouch...looking for the "universal sign" of a fellow stitcher...another zipper stitching pouch.

We spent time chatting - getting to know each other. It is so cool to meet other stitching and blogging buddies. I hope that we are able to find sometime and meet again...this time in a place that is conducive to stitching and chatting :)

WEEKEND and STITCHING REPORT

Saturday I spent a good amount of the day stitching on MW and here is my progress so far:

I was able to get in a few stitches yesterday, but didn't get the 1st motif completed as I had hoped. Since this will probably just remain an @ HOME PROJECT, I will be taking Deborah's Friendship RR and other little projects to the rink tonight as Robert's team has practice.

Thank you for stopping by - I hope you have a great week! Remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often! Lisa

And the winner is...

Yesterday was the last day to enter into my 1st blog-oversary celebration give-away - which was a $20 gift certificate to www.123stitch.com. So, as promised, the winner will be drawn and announced today.


All the names were printed out from the post on November 28 --- there were 20 entries in all --- folded up and mixed up in the lucky hockey helmet. So, before leaving for his hockey game, I got Matthew (youngest son) to assist with picking the name out of the helmet.


 

Matthew, all dressed in his hockey team warm up, put his hand in the helmet and chose....

Drum Roll, please

 

Bev

I will be emailing you soon to get your information. Thank you all who entered. Take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

A win... A list...some weather...and much appreciation

Good morning (or afternoon) dear friends, I hope that Tuesday finds you well. I was able to get in my early start - on the bike spinning, catching up on my Farmville on FB, reading and commenting on dear friend blogs and updating mine. Sounds like a good productive morning.

Yesterday I got an email from Edgar from Blacksheep's Bit of the Web. I really enjoy reading his blog because of the treasure hunts (aka Estate Sales) he goes on all over San Fran - he really should be a tour guide, for I haven't been to many of the places he mentions...when we go to San Fran, we typically play "tourist" and only make it from Pier 1 (Ferry Building) to Pier 41 (Fisherman's Wharf). I think that we need to get out and explore a little. Well...back to the reason for the email...I WON the Sail Away give-a-way! I watched/read Edgar's stitching progress of this design and then when he posted that he was going to pass it on - I entered the drawing. I am glad that I exercised will power when I was at NiaH on Sunday - because I saw the kit there and thought about it.

And now for my stitching "to do" list (more for my acknowledgment - but sometimes it is better to make it public in order to commit):

1. Finish Trick or Treat - so that I can actually enjoy it a little before the Halloween decorations have to come down
2. Lizzie Kate Exchange - mail date: November 1
3. CindyMae Quaker Christmas Ornaments models - due October 29
4. Personal Orn Exchange (Heather) - November 15
5. Personal Orn Exhange (Angela) - November 24

Boy...we had another bad rain storm, right in time for "going home traffic". Or for me, it was "driving to the hockey rink traffic". From home to San Jose typically takes 35-45 minutes depending on the level of traffic - but yesterday it took 1hour and 15 minutes. Robert (older son) was able to finish an English paper in the car, take a 30 minute nap and change into his hockey gear in the back seat. Thank goodness that we left at 4 - for we did make it and Robert stepped on the ice just as the clinic was starting. However, when considering all the time it too us to get to the rink (1 hour 15 min) and the time that it took us to get home (another hour and 15 minutes)...the clinic was only an hour long. Doesn't seem like a really good investment in time (or gas) does it? And on top of all that, Robert still had homework to do when he got home; which he finished up at 10pm.

Thank you all for being here, your supports and comments. I couldn't believe when I saw that I had 10 comments on my last post, I think that was the most I have ever received since I have been blogging. Thank you all so much, it really does mean a lot! Well, I have to leave you right now - I hope that you have a wonderful Tuesday and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh

and 

Stitch Often!

Lisa