This week

I always go into summer expecting it to be less hectic...and almost every year I'm proven wrong.

I've been keeping up with my regular morning walks despite the oppressive heat and humidity.  (You know you're in SE TX when the weather guy on the radio says it will "cool off" to the low-mid 90's next week.)

This week started out with my going to the DPS to get my driver's license renewed.  There's an option to renew by mail or online but they sent a letter to me saying I had to go in person this year.  Ugh!  I waited in line >1 1/2 hours to do 5 minutes worth of "business". Ugh!  (I said that already, didn't I?)  At least it's over and I probably won't have to do this in person again until 10 more years....unless we move before then.

Tuesday and Wednesday I had some medical tests done.  Results on both were good, as expected and I won't have to have them redone for a few more years.

Tomorrow, is DS's (#2--the 22 yo) best friend's wedding and DS is serving as best man.  We're all invited to the wedding.  With graduation and our recent trip, this week was the first chance for me to go wedding shopping.  I bought several items for their kitchen from their gift registry.  It was fun shopping for the stuff...and knowing exactly what they wanted including what color.

I DID manage to get some stitching done.  I finished the last little bits of CCN's Red, White, and Bloom:

I've been trying to find CHS' 2000 Christmas Sampler for some time now and someone graciously loaned it to me.  After unsuccessfully trying to stitch it on black linen (can't see it!), I bought some aida and it's working out a lot better:

The minute I saw Nikki's (CCN) design Surfside Cottage, I know I had to stitch it.  You see, the beach near here is called Surfside Beach.  What would REALLY be cool would be to rent a beach cottage and stitch it there..esp. if my stitching, beach-loving buddy from OH could come down to join me.  I can dream!

I was looking around for fabric for this and found this "solo" piece from Silkweavers.  It's not exactly the same shade of blue as the model but I really like how it's looking.

One thing I forgot to mention last week was that I decided to sample a deep fried Oreo at Red, White, and Boom.  I was really expecting it to be "gross" but, to my dismay, I LIKED it.  Luckily there were a lot of us there and I only had one, sharing the rest.

Happy stitching!

I'm still here

My poor, little blog has been neglected as of late.

So has my stitching.... but for a good reason.  We spent about a week traveling "back home", visiting family and friends and attending my 40 year class reunion.  (Can we REALLY be that old?!)

I hadn't been to a reunion in a long time so it was great reconnecting with people.

In addition to visiting my parents, my sister and her kids (who live in HI) were visiting at the same time.

We also spent an afternoon at what used to be my late Grandparents' farm (currently owned by my aunt and uncle).  It's a second home for them and they've been making lots of changes.  That day the project was building an arbor so my dad and DH helped my uncle.

Next it was on to Pittsburgh to visit with DH's family.  His sister and her DH sure fed us well.  We also got to visit with another of DH's sisters, their cousin, and DH's mother.

I'm allergic to my SIL's cats so spent a good time on her porch one day (enjoying their beautiful weather!).  While I was working on CCN's Red, White, and Bloom, I remembered that I was working on that one the last time we visited there 2 years ago.  lol!  I guess I should finish that one before our next visit which is very possible since I just have some little, piddly things to finish on this one.  It's a terrible picture...the fabric is really a light tan/brown color.

Next, it was back to Columbus, OH where we visited with a good friend and her family, watching Red, White, and Boom at her DH's work building downtown.  We were so close that some of the cardboard from the fireworks rained down on us.  So much fun!  We stayed afterwards in the lobby while the traffic had a chance to die down before going back to the airport motel.

After flying home to Texas, we watched fireworks again here on July 4th, then went to a going away party the next night.  We were quite the party animals for a few days.

We also rented and watched 2 Halle Berry movies since coming home, The Call (loved it) and Cloud Atlas (strange---didn't love it).

'Til next time!

Happy Stitching!