Finally Friday!

What a week! Two days of a manadory training class at work and then I got to play catchup for the rest of the week .. owell, it does pay the same ... lol

Thanks for all the birthday wishes for Robert .. I think he got a kick out of them when I told him I blogged about him :) He had a great birthday, as far as I could tell. We took him to Red Lobster for dinner .. it was very yummy! None of us had ever been before. It was nice to try something new. He received lots of Seattle Seahawk stuff and money .. all of which left him smiling.

Lisa and I had a great time last Friday at the Art and Craft fair. I picked up a couple of things for Christmas gifts and some locally made garlic spread and grilling mixes. After the fair and dinner, we went to see Mama Mia. Wow, what fun movie! It definately won't win any awards, but I thought it was definately worth seeing. I was never a huge ABBA fan .. their music is definately fun to listen to. I thought Meryl Streep was wonderful in it .. of course I've loved most everything she's been in. Pierce Bronson isn't a great singer, but very enjoyable to watch in the movie. I thought everyone did a great job .. I loved Christine Baranski's character, what a hoot! If you get the chance definately check out this movie .. you'll be singing when you leave the theatre .. really! And don't leave the movie too quick .. there's a really really funny ending .. after the ending.

Saturday DH and I went to see The Dark Knight. Talk about seeing two movies in two days that are as different as day and night. Yes it was a dark and violent movie. It follows more closely with the old Batman comic books than it does the Batman TV show that I grew up with. I have to admit that I really liked this movie. I thought Heath Ledger did an outstanding acting job .. his Joker gave me the creeps throughout the entire movie. It was sad at the end to know that Heath isn't here to enjoy his success .. such a tragic loss.

I have done some stitching this week but can't show pictures yet ... but I can show you pictures of a couple of things that arrived at my house ...

I received these squares from Nicky R., for the Summer Round of the Fair and Square Exchange. I just love this flower and the butterfly .. so pretty and delicate.





Nicky also sent me a few things I can use for finishing .. love all that red!


And I received these squares from Veronica for Round 8 of the Fair and Square Exchange. This design is part of Joy of the Journey by Diane Williams. Don't you just love that house and the sunflowers! I think she read my blog a couple of times *smile*





Thank you Nicky and Veronica for stitching these lovely squares for me. I can't wait to make them into something so I can enjoy looking at them :) I've really enjoy these exchanges and it's so much fun to exchange with stitchers all over the world .. if you haven't tried these exchanges, come on over and join us .. I think you'll have a great time!

So now it's time for another weekend. Any plans?? I've staying close to home. DH is working on the deck and I have some major house cleaning to do. We had some repair work done over the last couple of weeks and I don't think there's a surface in my house that doesn't have drywall dust on it! grrrrr .. someday all this remodeling/repair will be done .. I hope! lol

Whatever you do, I hope everyone has a great weekend and gets lots of stitching done :)

I'm grateful for making new stitching friends ...

Happy Sunday ..

and Happy 20th Birthday Robert! I can't believe my baby is 20! How did that happen?? lol When I think of Robert here are some words that come to mind ..

funny
passionate
friend
music
reader
nascar
Seattle Seahawks
Autumn/Winter
family
Star Wars
Xbox
grandson
brother
son
Subaru
animals
caring

And here a few pictures of Robert .. Graduation, his brothers wedding playing in the snow, and his Subaru ...





Robert, I'm so very pround of the young man you have become. I hope all your dreams are realized and that the 20's are great years for you! You have a whole life of adventures and challenges and joys ahead of you .. enjoy!

I'm grateful for having Robert in my life ...

Almost Friday ...

Hi there .. been awhile since I've blogged .. and ya know, I really miss it! But I have been reading all your blogs and I must say ladies, even through the summer you all are doing some amazing stitching! Which brings me to this very sweet blog award the both Michele B. and Sally honored me with. It was fun getting these award from both Sally and Michele. Sally's blog is one of the first stitching blogs I found and have been enjoying Sally's stitching and reading all about her girls. Michele is a new blogger and a new cross stitcher and boy she really has caught on to blogging and stitching faster than I every could have. Thank you both!

Now I need to pick my 5 nominees with the following rules ...
1. The winner may put the logo on her blog.
2. Put a link to the person you got the award from.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Put links to the blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees.

This is the hard part, choosing blogs to award .. there are soo many great blogs out there and there's a lot of blogs that already have been awarded and I know there's a lot of bloggers that don't really get into this .. but here's the 5 nominated blogs .. if you don't want to participate, it won't hurt my feelings at all *smile*

Ruthie at The Musing Badger

Michelle at I'm A Little Teapot

Chris at Chris' Stitching and Strumming

Kim at Kim's Northwoods Discoveries

Karen at Stitching and Sharing

I enjoy so many blogs out in blogland .. these are just a sampling of the one I enjoyn .. hope you check them out :)

Stevie Wonder was awesome in concert! If you like his music and ever get the chance to see him in person .. you won't be disappointed! The man's voice just seems to be getting better and better. At 57 he belted out songs for 2-1/2 hours and acted like he could go on and on. DH and I are really happy we saw him live and we would go again in a heart beat!

I have been stitching but don't have any pictures .. I left my camera over at my dad's house ... I'll get it this weekend and hopefully have stitching pictures to bore you with *grin*

I just finished reading The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. What a great book! If you've never heard of it, the book is written from a dog's view of his family. I don't know how Garth go into a dog's mind .. but if you are a dog lover, I really think you'll love this book! Has anyone read The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs? I just started it yesterday at lunch. I'm liking it so far .. did you like it?

I'm taking a day of vacation tomorrow. Lisa and I are going to the Bellevue Art and Craft Fair. It's a huge arts fair with everything from expensive one of a kind jewlrey and paintings to your usual sidewalk craft booths. I can't wait! The weather is perfect .. about 75 and I have saved a bit of cash to spend just on me .. or the house .. or for Christmas presents lol

ohhhhh and speaking of Christmas .. Lisa and I went to a Christmas in July event at our local fabric store and we think we have already decided on our Christmas craft for our friends/family .. remember last year we made all those fleece blankets? Well this year we are going to make environmentally friendly cloth bags. We found a great pattern, the bag actually folds into it's on little pocket. We also found some fabric that is organic and the company is paying fare labor wages for the making of the fabric. I'm soo excited about these bags! I'll take pictures as soon :)

Looks like it's bedtime and I've rambled quite enough. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

And thank you for visiting and leaving comments .. and Hi to some new readers .. it's nice reading all your comments.

I'm grateful for long weekends, again ...

Another exchange ...

I participated in a Christmas in July exchange that Simone hosted. The person stitching for me was Jeanine. She stitched this wonderful Christmas ornament for me .. don't you just love that reindeer!
She also sent me some Christmas fabric, a skein of the prettiest Gloriana silk and a kit of Christmas ornaments.

Oh and look at the postcard .. it's real Dutch cows! Jeanine is from The Netherlands and the postcard is from where she works .. sooo cool! Thank you Jeanine, I can't wait for Christmas so I can hang this lovely ornament on my tree :)

In between stitching on exchanges, I've been working on Bent Creek's Joy and on CCN's Summer Joy .. I'll post a picture of Summer Joy over the weekend .. but here's BC's Joy so far ... I really love this piece! But then don't I say that about everything I'm stitching??!! lol

Hope everyone is having a great week .. enjoy your summer and getting lots of stitching done .. your blogs are certainly busy busy busy :)

DH and I are going to see Stevie Wonder in concert tomorrow night .. I am soo excited! We paid more than we should have for the tickets, but he is one of our most favorite music artist. We saw him back in 73, it was his Talking Book tour. In our opinion, Talking Book was definately one of his best albums ever .. a close 2nd would be Songs in the Key of Life. There's a song from Talking Book called You and I. I guess you could call this "our song" .. the first time we heard Stevie sing it live, it touched both of us .. ya know when of those moments when you smile at your significant other, lock eyes, squeeze each others hands and you just know it spoke to both of you. I really can't wait to hear him 30 odd years later, I hope he sings it. Here's the lyrics ...

"You And I"

Here we are on earth together,

It's you and I,

God has made us fall in love, it's true,

I've really found someone like you

Will it say the love you feel for me, will it say,

That you will be by my side

To see me through,

Until my life is through

Well, in my mind, we can conquer the world,

In love you and I, you and I, you and I

I am glad at least in my life I found someone

That may not be here forever to see me through,

But I found strength in you,

I only pray that I have shown you a brighter day,

Because that's all that I am living for, you see,

Don't worry what happens to me

Cause' in my mind, you will stay here always,

In love, you and I, you and I, you and I, you and I

In my mind we can conquer the world

In love, you and I, you and I, you and I

I'm off to stitch and watch Burn Notice .. we are all excited that the summer shows are here! lol ... enjoy your weekend .. be safe and dry and cool .. weird weather all over the US this summer!

and thanks for all your comments .. I really enjoy this stitching blogging community .. you guys are the greatest :)

I'm grateful for music ...

Scissor Fob Exchange ...

I joined another exchange blog a couple of months ago, called To You From Me With X's. Our first exchange was a scissor fob with a summer theme. I received the nicest box of goodies from Phyllis (she doesn't have a blog, yet) today. I just love the scissor fob she made for me. I just love the fish button and the stitching and finishing is lovely! I already have it hanging on a pair of scissors. Look at the little white beads all around and there's a pearl bead in the clam shell :)

Also in the box was some yummy smelling hand lotion (chamomile & thyme) by Plain & Thimble and a small bar of soap from the same company. I've never seen this kind of lotion, but I'll be looking for it .. it smells and feels incredible! There was also a cute Statue of Liberty Pin. Phyllis said this was her first online exchange .. she did a lovely job!

Thank you Phyllis for stitching this scissor fob for me :) and Joanne, thanks for hosting this exchange. It was great fun!

I'm grateful for great mail days :) ...