Who knew how much fun a blog could be??

I have been experimenting with different additions to blogs. Thanks to Meari and Nancy for the ideas and links to the visitor map and playlists. I'm still playing with that one. :)
A special thanks to Dawn for nominating me for a blogger award. I love reading her blog and so many others. My bloglist with my favorites and nominees is on the sidebar, even though I need to add some others. I know that most of these blogs have already been nominated at least once, but that's ok - I'll just add my two cents worth. If you haven't already, take some time and read some of these blogs. They all come from different internet groups/friends and have tons of entertainment, tips, hilarity, and so much more.
In case you don't realize whose blogs are whose, I'll give you the names in order:
Kelly, Amy, Chris, David, Dawn from AZ, Gabi, Meari, Vicki, Malinda, Nancy M, Rene, Judith, Kathy, Cameo, and Dawn from NC. Enjoy!

Olympic Fever

Yes, I admit it, I'm an Olympic junkie. I can watch it till the wee hours of the morning. Speaking of the Olympics, did anyone see the swimming relay 4 X 100 freestyle Sunday? It was absolutely awesome. It was so close, no one even knew who had won until the officials put it up. We were all screaming and yelling, because the US anchor man-Lezak was behind until the last 5 metres and just poured it on. Then yesterday the men's gymnastics did so well and the US swimmers were unbelievable. Pretty cool to watch.
Hearing the stories behind the athletes and seeing them all compete is so inspiring. Hearing our national anthem played is very moving to me. Go USA!
I've included my progress pics on Wedding and Quilting. Seems to be slow going. But I keep stopping to watch the athletes - what can I say? :)

Moving On - Quickly

My secret sister graciously posted a picture of the stitched piece I sent her as I forgot to get one, so I can now put it in my blog. (TY, Kathy) This was done on a stiffer piece of linen than I normally use; I thought it would work better, but a softer piece would have been easier. It was still a fun stitch. I didn't have time to work the biscornu, but it's a great sewing set by Fancy Work.
My DH and I celebrated our 29th anniversary Friday. How can this be? Surely it hasn't been that long. Making plans to do something really special for next year's, but for right now, we're just concentrating on the two weddings!
Time is flying by so fast, my head is spinning. My DD's bf will be here Thurs. and they'll be going back to college the next week.
On the up side, I found my mother of the bride dress. I've not been looking forward to it, as I really wanted to lose a few pounds (ok, a lot), but the older you get, the slower it is! I just happened to be in the bridal shop and decided to try a few. Voila! It's a little dressier than I would have really imagined, but my daughter liked it, too, and it's done. Yay!!
My other DD did choose a pattern she'd like for her wedding (I had "several" to choose from LOL). Glory be, she didn't choose the Sweetheart Tree I was scared she would. No offense to the pattern - it's gorgeous, but it'd be forever and beyond before I finished it. She chose one of the easiest ones - My Big Toe - Wedding - Two Became One. I'm stitching it on white opalescent and using the blue combinations listed as alternative colors. Stitched awhile last night on it - quick - so it shouldn't take long. Also working on Quilting at Mon. night stitching - nice little series.

Not One, but Two!

Finally, a semblance of normalcy after the hectic month of July. I've finished my class and have returned home. It is so nice to be back! However, I do believe I'm a bit changed - I am now left-turn challenged. After cruising the city of Norfolk, VA for a week (without trying to, BTW), I think I have lost some of my ability to make left turns. Let me explain. There appears to be a conspiracy to anyone trying to make a left turn anywhere there. Yep - not too many. Heaven forbid that you miss the one and only turn left and need to turn around. You will travel a few miles before this is possible. No U-turns and no left turn signs abound in the bustling city. We toured many a sight before finding the pot of gold - the proverbial left turn. You can even go down another road in hopes of turning there to go back the opposite way on the first road. No left turns there either. It got to be the joke among our friends in the class. Now we consider ourselves handicapped on the road! JK, of course; Norfolk is a nice place and we enjoyed the city. Class was good, but sleep deprivation reigned supreme. I slept 14 hours when I got home Sat. evening. I think that's a record for me.
Well, now to the REAL news - we're having not one wedding, but two! My son became engaged to his sweetheart last week and he's getting married in the spring. One Sept., one March - it will be busy. However, we're so happy with whom they're marrying, we're dancing for joy. We love them all and couldn't be happier for them. Now to survive...... :)
My stitching took a nosedive this whole month, but I've been able to pick it up some this week and finish a small item for my Secret Sister. Then on to the endless choices - work on a UFO or start something new? Or do both!

Family, Friends and Fun

Wow, time has certainly flown since my last post. Went to PA for the Creation Festival which is kinda like Woodstock for the Christian community - 4 days and 70,000 + people there - fantastic. I was helping a friend with her ministry of B.W.F.J. (Be weird for Jesus - based on 1 Peter 2:9 that we are called to be a "peculiar" people.) Wonderful time, but long hours. Came home and brother and his family came in that day. Almost seems like a blur, it went so fast. We don't get to see them very often as they live in OK. Children-4-have grown like weeds and we had a great time, especially at the local July 4th celebration with them and friends. Even though we are a small town outside a city, our celebration is one of the nicest around with the NC Symphony and a beautiful fireworks display.
Tomorrow, we're off to FL for visit with friends and then my residency week for the online course I've been doing. Still doing preparations for the wedding in between events and it's coming along nicely. This has all been fun, but I've not had a chance to stitch. So when I'm back home once again, I'll be glad to work on the projects I'm itching to do.

Scary, but peaceful & a garden

We had a scare this past week. Mom was admitted to the hospital Thurs., after an earlier bout in the ER Mon. that revealed nothing wrong. She was diagnosed with heart failure, so will be on meds now to relieve the stress on her heart. On the bright side, she was doing so well Sunday that they released her a day early. She's feeling pretty good and pacing herself. She is one tough, independent soul, let me tell you. I marvel at her inner strength and her tenacity to remain free to live life as she wants. It's nice to see her have a little more energy & she knows to pace herself. And as always, God holds her in the palm of His hand. Please Lord, let me have her genes. :)
Wedding planning is picking up a little speed - as in my antsiness is increasing as time grows closer. We do have three months, but it's moving a little too slowly for my liking. LOL
Stitchwise - Hallelujah! I finished Cottage Garden. I couldn't begin to tell you what threads I used on the last one, because I ended up stitching parts of it over with pieces that weren't quite so dark. I do like the final product, but I'm glad it's done. For those of you who helped me with the Rose darker issue - it resolved itself. I made parts of the Violet darker and the Bluebell balanced it out. Funny thing is I was all excited at Mon. night stitching when I finished and displayed it there. Too bad I'd copied the year directly from the pattern - you guessed it - it's not 2007 anymore...so...one last frog at the group (naturally) and voila! Now on to the multitudes of WIP's I have. I'm feeling really guilty that I have not worked on the Travel Sampler -it's just not calling to me right now. I would like my mother to see this one, so hopefully I can get back to that.
I'm in a distance course for my educational therapy work. It was a slight shock to find out it started earlier than I thought, so I 'm scrambling to crank this stuff out. Unfortunately, it will cut into my stitching time! C'est la vie. :)

Stitching news and life

Well,
My stitching has increased finally. I think the curse of the fifth house has been lifted. Our LNS had a class last weekend on a pretty geometric pattern in needlepoint. I was moving along well, when I realized that the two Watercolour threads I'd chosen (beautiful as each one is) do NOT go well together once stitched. Sooo, I ripped out the easiest one :) and started redoing in different colors. Much better. Hope to finish that one soon, too. My UFO's are really calling to me, as is half the stitching patterns out there. What's a girl to do? Simple - buy them all! (providing finances allow, of course....)
I'm in a group currently with an ongoing secret sister exchange. I was just sent the loveliest white evenweave fabric, booklet of patterns, and set of new colors of linen embroidery. Many thanks to my SS!
Happy stitching all.
I'm adding an addendum to this - the curse has not been lifted! I finished the fifth house - it looks adorable.....except for one thing. The Rose border is darker than the others and stands out.I'm thinking of redoing the border (for the umpteenth time, I might add) in the lighter rose color of the house. But I'll stitch the last house first, just to see. Anyone else have this problem with these charts?
On a sad note, just saw where Christian artist Steven Curtis Chapman lost his youngest daughter in a tragic accident at home - heartfelt prayers go out to his family - may the peace of God be with them.