Busy, busy, busy!!

I'm way behind on reading blogs and posting...such a busy time of the year.

Some things that I've been "up to":

--Singing in a local church's production of The Messiah (If THAT doesn't put you in the Christmas spirit, I don't know what will!).  If you have the time and are interested, you can see it on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jubwH-RMk_I

--Singing in my church choir's Christmas cantata

--A trip to San Antonio (I went along with DH on his business trip.)  I've been there many times but never this close to Christmas.  The lights along the Riverwalk were beautiful!

--Model stitching....I put the finishing touches on 2 of them this month.  One has been sent and received, I need to send the other, hopefully in the next day or two.

Just last night I picked up one of my wips, the PS Woodland Santa.  I hope I can finish him this week and then get back to CCN's Silent Night.

--Preparing for Christmas.  I'm way behind on this "project" and need to catch up.  One of our college boys is home and the other will be here in a day or 2.

Since I can't show you the models, I thought I'd post pics of some of my previous Christmas stitching projects.

...and in the spirit of The Messiah.................

That's probably enough for one post.

In case I don't make it back in time.....Merry Christmas!

Happy stitching!

Empty Nest for a second time.....

We enjoyed having our oldest DS here with us again for about 3 weeks but the time came Wednesday for him to board that plane for Denmark.  All of the sudden the house got very quiet again.  We miss him but are very excited for this new chapter in his life and his adventure living in Denmark for 2-3 years.  Maybe we'll even get to visit.

When we asked him what kind of food he'd miss, he said Tex Mex so I took him out for Tex Mex lunches a couple of times while he was here.

Now we're looking ahead to Thanksgiving when our other 2 sons, our daughter, and her boyfriend are here.

I won the Great Turkey Debate (roasted or fried) without even trying.  Bwa-ha-ha-ha!!!!  I prefer roasted (and it's so much less of a mess) but DH loves them fried so much that he thinks EVERYONE should love it that way.  I'd pretty much given in until talking to DD on the phone Sunday.  It hadn't occurred to anyone that we fry the bird in peanut oil.  Her boyfriend is allergic to peanuts.  (It's probably bad form to give him anaphylaxis on his first visit here.)  Now it may be OK to use another type oil, but the bird will be roasted this year.  Yes!!!!!  I was texting about it to my youngest son a few days later and he said he really prefers roast turkey over fried anyway.  (He said he didn't think Dad paid attention to him when he said it.....I know what he means.  ;-)

My DH and the turkey reminds me of the father on The Christmas Story.  Maybe next year, honey!

I caught a monster cold this week and haven't felt like doing much of anything.  I'm finally feeling almost human but still tire out (or start coughing) after just a little activity.  I'm going to be better tomorrow, though.  My stitching group is getting together tomorrow at a friend's house.  The food theme is Thanksgiving so I baked a couple of pumpkin pies to take.  I was lazy and let Pillsbury do the crusts.

Stitching:  I didn't get done nearly what I would have liked (monster cold!) but worked a bit more on PS Woodland Santa:

I also finally started CCN's Silent Night this week:

I hope to get some progress done on those next week along with a couple of models.  Oh!  And hopefully I'll get LHN's Elizabeth Hancock on the stretcher bars and start.  I've been wanting to start "her" for a long time.

Happy stitching!

Friday wrap-up....one day late

I hope everyone's had a great week!

Last weekend we drove to Austin so our oldest son could spend some time with his brothers before he moves to Denmark.  It was an eclectic weekend....we spent some time all together, the boys spent some time together while Lou and I did some shopping, and 3 of us watched both the UT (although that game had a very long rain delay so we just watched the first part) and OSU game at a sports bar, while our youngest "hung out" with his friends and our oldest played the part of a wedding crasher.   (His friend was attending a wedding in Houston and invited Mike to be his "plus one" at the reception.)  It would have been nice if our DD could have joined us but she lives in San Francisco.

Mike is leaving us next Wednesday.  It's been nice to have him with us these past weeks although I know it's boring for him to be here in our small town.  Luckily he has some friends in Houston so he's spent some time up there with them.  You'd think I'd be the one over-parenting him while he's here but surprisingly it's been DH.  (I've had to remind him several times that Mike's been on his own for 10 years.)  It's hard to break those old habits.  lol!

The HS marching band for whom I volunteered for many years is participating in their final marching competition.  They had a full run-through Tuesday night.  They encouraged as many parents and other interested parties to come watch so they could perform in front of an audience.  DH and I went and it was great to see the stands so full with cheering spectators.  I hope it was a nice send-off for the kids who have worked so hard since the summer.

On Halloween we had very few trick or treaters.  We live on a cul de sac and there aren't any young kids here anymore.  Also, I know many parents take their small children to organized trick or treating at the mall, churches, etc. which I think is a good idea.  Still, I miss seeing the little ones in their costumes.

On the stitching front....I joined in a LHN ornament sal on a yahoo group and stitched this from the 2013 JCS ornament issues.  There's an ornament sal on another group where they require a button so I may add a tiny cardinal button and use it for both sals.

Here's my latest progress picture on my 4th and final PS Woodland Santa:

Happy stitching!

Woodland Santas, one finished and another one started

I finished my 3rd piece from the PS leaflet Woodland Santas:

...and started the 4th (and last) one:

I guess the "headless Santa" is ok since it's so close to Halloween but I'm hoping to stitch in his head soon.

We're enjoying having our DS here.  He'll get to see his brothers this weekend.

Last year I was gifted with a GC for a one hour Swedish massage.  At first I was too busy to schedule it, then I kept putting it off, thinking it would be over once I used it.  Just looking at the GC was enjoyable, knowing how great it would be when I finally used it.  I finally used it yesterday afternoon.  It just so happens my neck/shoulders have been bothering me lately and it helped a lot.  The only bad part.....is that after having my first one, I'll want to go back...on a regular basis.  lol!

Happy stitching!

Friday again!

Well,  2 of our sons have been here and returned to Austin.  Their older brother arrived in the wee am hours Wednesday am.  He brought the rest of his worldly possessions here after selling off or giving away his furniture, bike, etc.  He won't be taking much with him when he moves to Denmark bc it doesn't make economical sense to ship them.  What he doesn't take, we'll store for him here.

Our poor dog is confused.  He was happy to see our college students when they were here and then was looking for them after they left.  Just after he'd calmed down, our other son arrived.  Poor pooch!

The visa application is moving right along.  DS went to the Danish consulate (or whatever it's officially called) in Houston yesterday and finished what he could on this end.  He's now awaiting his stuff to be sent to Denmark and for them to email him a temporary visa which he will complete with a Danish address once he moves over there.  It should take about 10 days but the timing isn't etched in stone for him to be able to make his flight arrangements yet.  This is an interesting experience for all of us.  (Luckily he was dealing with the Danish government so the partial shut down of the USA government didn't affect him at all.)

It's cooled off here a little bit which makes my am walks so much more comfortable.  If only the ragweed pollen would go away.  Sigh....there's always something to complain about.

On the stitching front:

A small finish (a freebie from  http://gazette94.blogspot.com/search/label/HALLOWEEN%2F%20AUTOMNE

(scroll down if you want to snag the design.)

A bit of progress on PS Woodland Santa

And I worked a bit on a several-year-old wip:

Happy stitching!

Friday progress report and not-so-empty nest

I worked a bit on the following this week:

PS Woodland Santa (on the home stretch now):

HIH Wee Pilgrim (an oldie but goodie):

Lastly...I was digging in my wip pile looking for a CEC fall piece.  I didn't find it yet but I found this one:  Homespun Elegance Fall House Sampler.  I just have to stitch the viney things on the lampost and then find a jack-o-lantern button to finish this one.

Last Sunday we drove to Houston for a Greek Festival.  We loved the food and the traditional dancing.

Our college boys will be home for the weekend so as soon as I get off the computer, I'm heading to the kitchen to bake off some chocolate chip cookie dough, make an apple pie, and make some chili.  I'm hoping we can go to the homecoming game tonight at least to see the band at half time.  (I haven't seen their show yet.)  

Our older son has been planning to stay with us until he moves to Denmark for his post doc fellowship and we were hoping he be able to be here this weekend.  However he won't be here until next Tuesday bc of issues getting his visa application done to a certain point.  I'm hoping he and I can drive to Austin while he's here so he can see his brothers before he moves.

I'm thinking of doing a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.  One can either walk or run the 5K course.  I can easily walk it but am thinking of trying to run at least part of it.  One of my sons is interested it doing it too so I'm hoping to be able to run part with him before I have to walk.  So this week, I've been interspersing my morning walks with running short distances.  I'm hoping by the time of the "race" that I can run enough so that I don't embarrass myself.  lol!  

Happy stitching!

2 Finishes and some wips!

As I'd hoped, I finished the CHS 2000 Christmas Sampler.  I love this one!  I finally made peace with stitching on the black aida...and now wonder if I could see the holes on black linen.  Someday I'll try.  Rather than letting this "properly age" (like a fine wine) in the drawer, I hope/plan to have it framed for this Christmas.

For the last few years, I've been wanting to stitch an old BOAF freebie (Halloween Cat?  I'm too lazy to go look at it to be sure of the name but it's something like that..)  As my readers know, until this year I've been incredibly busy volunteering with the band so I never quite got around to stitching it.  FINALLY I got together the needed floss and some purple fabric and stitched this cute little guy.  (I bought enough fabric to stitch another one in case I get involved in another block exchange where this will work.)

I also made a little progress on Hinzeit's Sweet Land of Liberty.  This is turning out to be a long-term wip.  I can remember a visit to a now-closed LNS in Berlin, Ohio ("Amish Country").  DH was with me and I saw this stitched model while walking out the door after making some purchases.  I immediately sighed, turned around, and bought this design.  I'm so glad I did!  A few years later, I sang a patriotic cantata entitled "Sweet Land of Liberty" in a community group on the first anniversary of 9-11.  This piece will remind me of that.

Lastly, I made some more progress on one of the PS Woodland Santas.  This will make the third (out of 4) designs I've stitched from that leaflet.  I'll probably stitch the 4th one sometime as well.

On the empty nest front, I'm way busier than I thought I'd be, getting some things done around the house, singing in the church choir, daily fitness walks, going to Friday morning coffees, etc.  Last night we attended a community production of "Kiss and Tell".  A band mom friend and a couple of "my" band kids were in it.  Another of my band kids was in the audience.  For some reason, last year he started giving me a "high five" every time I saw him at band.  That practice continues to this day because I got another one from him last night.  :-)

Our "baby" and possibly our other college son will be home next week so there will be some cooking and baking happening here.  Our oldest DS is definitely moving to Denmark and may be spending up to a couple of weeks here before he moves.

Happy stitching!

Friday Progress

I've been working on one of the PS Woodland Santas this week.  Unfortunately I had a visit from the dreaded frog and had to frog out a big portion of Santa's coat bc I was one stitch off.  Argh!  All better now though.

I'm waiting for another skein of NPI silk to arrive (maybe today!) so I can finish CHS 2000 Christmas Sampler.  Here's my progress so far:

On the family news front, our college freshman got through his first week of midterms and is still standing even though he had a cold at the same time.  Our oldest son is now for sure moving to Denmark for his post doc fellowship.  He'll be spending up to a couple weeks with us before he moves sometime next month.  (Everything is still pretty fluid with his preparations.) I guess I'll need to renew my passport.  :-)

Everyone have a great week ahead!

Happy stitching!

Keep Austin Weird

We did our best to try to help out the Longhorns in their game last Saturday by sitting on the 50 yard line right behind the team.  Unfortunately our efforts didn't help.  Aside from that ugly game (and the drunk, rude Ole Miss fans sitting behind us), we had a great time being there.  Their band was really good!

  My first love is the team of the OSU Buckeyes and at least they won their game.

We got to see our 2 UT student sons and deliver "provisions" (including home-baked chocolate chip cookies and banana bread).

Here's my wip progress for last week:

One of the Prairie Schooler Woodland Santas:

CHS 2000 Christmas Sampler (I'm not comfortable stitching on black but it's coming along.)

LHN My Dwelling Place.  (Technically it's finished but I don't like the color of the leaves from my skein of that color so I'll rip it out and try again with another green.)

Happy stitching!