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!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Last Friday we just moved our "baby" into his dorm room at University of Texas.  After having children under our roof for 32 years, we're officially empty nesters now.  I know-that's longer than many parents have children under their roof-- but how did this happen so fast?!

We're in "getting used to this" mode now.  I keep thinking Tony will walk in the door at any time.  lol!  I'll have to adjust from cooking large quantities to cooking for 2.  Etc., etc., etc.  (I won't mind doing less laundry.)

Our son (who just defended his PhD thesis last week) just landed in Denmark this morning.  He's checking out some post-doc fellowship opportunities.  (I guess I should renew my passport.)

Big changes all at once!

On the stitching front, I'm on the home stretch of a model and hope to finish it this week.  It's a cute one!

I also stitched a bit on a (donation) quilt square, HIH Wee Vegetables and here's my progress on that:

While in Austin I had a mini LNS fix.  Ginger's has closed but there's a nice needlework shop not too far from campus that carries a lot of the same threads we cross stitchers use.  Unfortunately I had lots of Crescent Color cottons on my list and they don't carry that line...so I came home with only a few WDWs.

We finally have some rain today.  A sign that I just might be addicted to my morning walk...even though it was raining lightly, I decided to give it a go today. Shortly after I started, it started pouring.  I had my umbrella, so I walked the first loop before giving it up.  It's been raining off and on all day so far.  We really need it!

Happy stitching!

HS Graduation Quickly Approaching

Our "baby" graduates from HS this spring.  I knew this year would go by quickly but things seem to have gone into hyper speed.  Some "last times" this week...his last band concert, last drum line gig, last prom tomorrow night. He turned 18 last Friday and his graduation announcements have arrived.

The picture above is from a photo shoot for his senior piano recital coming up next month.

Most of the drum line seniors at last Sat's gig.  They're missing one who was at a jazz band competition. These kids have been drumming together since 6th grade and are like brothers and sisters to one another.

He's SO excited to be moving on to college next fall and we're excited for him, but all you parents know this time is bittersweet.  Our oldest child is in her early 30's so we've had children in the house for a long time.  Empty nest will be an adjustment to say the least...but a natural and desired outcome.  While I'll miss having kids at home, I have some things to look forward to doing too.

On the stitching front, I finished a model and started another so no pictures.  I have another model coming after the one I'm working on now.  I have so much fun model stitching--it's fun to be "in on" a secret and so fun to see the models I've stitched being released by the designers.

Happy stitching!

Rita