Where did November go?

Here it is the last day of Nov. Did I meet my Nov. goals NO? I knew I had made too many. I did finish Perhaps I should Retire. I did start and finish Give Thanks which really wasn't on the list. I did start the Teapot and that will be finished probably tomorrow if I get to stitching on it good. I did not do much work on The Teacher, I did not do the Christian piece, and I did not start the other PM piece. So I get 50 lashes with a wet noodle!

Yesterday a friend and I took her daughter to a Children's clinic in another city and I was so unimpressed. For one thing we got there and they claimed she didn't have an appointment, here the mother received a call the day before reminding her of the appointment. The Dr. was nice but there were things she didn't do I felt she should have, and strongly disagreed with what the she said about the weight loss. If your daughter was turning 2 would you like it if the Dr. said "It's her age group her weight is going to go back and forth?" I didn't like that comment neither did the mother. Then because of construction I got a little confused and sent the mother in wrong direction on way home but we discovered it fast. Here this was a city I knew well. I deliberately am leaving out the city and name of clinic because the clinic has a good reputation, I just wasn't impressed. Some other friends took their daughter there last week and like them real well. I'm glad we went yesterday and not today, a winter storm is suppose to blow in sometime today.

Today I'm going to church and finally organize the Food Pantry. The Trusttees brought all the food down from 3rd level. I'm not happy with the room, I so much would rather have the room off lower auditorium it wouldn't intere with other ministries of the church but oh well....

On the stitching front I am stitching on the Teapot for CSFC. Hopefully will be done tomorrow, Sat. for sure. It's taking longer than I contemplated but really haven't spent much time stitching either. Other things have gotten in way. Plus thanks to my mom, sister, and nephew I got addicted to these crossword books called Sudoku. They use numbers 1-9 instead of words and each number is used once in each column and row. Challenging but fun, and I love challenges! Plus this computer takes me away from stitching too.
Well until next time Happy Stitching!

Give Thanks is Finished

I put in the final stitches this morning! I really enjoyed this piece so much. I first did it 20 years ago and loved it. I went looking for it recently and found it in time to stitch up for Thanksgiving season. It's a little late but that's okay. This makes 7 pieces done towards the 50 challenge! Moving along very slowly. My next piece is a Teacup for CSFC which will be done in a couple of days it's quite small.

Thanksgiving was busy. We went to my brothers house, afterwards we played Mexican Train. We tried to play Push Rummy but with so many after round 3 or 4 we gave up. Melissa is getting huge and ready to have her baby. Less than a month or not he or she will be here! And will be the center of attention at our Christmas get together. There will be more there too. I can't believe Melissa is having it at her house. Maybe they don't want to take the baby out so soon though as he or she will only be 2 or 3 weeks old. Melissa did return the Winnie the Pooh book and showed me the pieces she wants done and the Birth Sampler that will go in center. She told me to take my time. I will, it'll be late Dec. before I start it. Friday my youngest brother, sister and I got out the Christmas decorations and decorated our parents house. Mom loves the Christmas season and isn't able to go all out like she use so we did it for her. Me? I'm not a Christmas person. I know the true meaning, love the spirit of Christmas and music but hate all the commercialization!

The Food Pantry at church is moving along, we are getting more and more food each week and should be ready to go in Jan. I'm also on another comittee at church that we are starting on Sat. nights in the spring. It's like a coffee house setting. I'm excited about these new things.

Well I've chatted enough. That's what I get for not coming on for so long but the weekend was so busy. I did view a few blogs will play catch up now.

Happy Thanksgiving

This is an update on Give Thanks after 34 hours of stitching on it. It should be done Monday if not before.

Tomorrow being Thanksgiving here in USA I really was hoping to have this done but oh well. We are having a family dinner at my brothers. Well at least of those who can be there which won't be very many as most are out of state. Do you have favorite memories of past Thanksgivings? Years ago we use to go to our Grandparents and Grandma had cooked for days ahead of time. Of course us kids use to eat her candy, they got smart and hid the candy until after the meal. Then after the meal we would have a family skit it either had to be Thanksgiving related or Bible related. Either our cousin, Judy, or my sister, or I would play the piano, one of the boys would lead the singing, another would do the sermon, and we all of course had roles in the skit. Then afterwards we would draw names for Christmas. I'll talk about Christmas when that day comes. A lot of good memories from those days. Even though there won't be too many there tomorrow we will still have a good time.

Do you hit the Friday sales? My sister will be spending Thurs. night and possibly Friday at our parents. I'm going to see if Jo Ann's or Hobby Lobby are having a good sale and try to get her to take me out there. But otherwise I'm staying away from the stores on Friday even if they do have good sales.

Well Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow and until next time Happy Stitching!

The Big Game and Give Thanks

Today is the Big Game for MI and OH! U of M vs OH. Of course we all know U of M will win. No I'm not a football fan and won't turn on the game until maybe half time, but for sure in the end. For U of M it's a bittersweet day and of course across MI it's "win it for Bo." Those in USA know Bo was coach of U of M for several years. He retired a few years ago but remained a part of the program. He died of a heart attack yesterday. So accross MI it's "Win it for Bo"

On to other things. Tomorrow is our Annual Harvest Dinner at church. People come in out of the woodwork for this the food is good. Our poor Pastor has been doing so well on his diet and so disciplined he's going off it tomorrow he says. He deserves to.

On the stitching front, I am thoroughly enjoying this piece. I did it 20 years ago and for quite some time I've been wanting to redo it. Thanksgiving being Thursday now was the perfect time to do it. This is progress after 14 hours of stitching. I think it will be done by Thursday at rate it's going. Well until next time Happy Stitching!

Finally Perhaps I Should Retire is Finished

I put the finishing touches in about an hour ago. This will go to Cross Stitchers for Charity, It's going on a PM Boy quilt done on Blue for any boy. I don't think the children have been picked yet for the girl or boy quilt. Next I will be starting a Teacup for CSFC Teacup quilt. I have my next few projects selected now, so that will bring me closer to the 50 mark! They are: Tea Cup, a small Christian piece, Four Angels each with a muscal instrument, (I'd like to count it as 4 different projects but they are real small and all going on one piece.) Also I want to do a piece I did a few years ago called "Give Thanks" by Gloria and Pat, a couple of Christmas pieces, and finish up a UFO Christmas piece, the Eiffel Tower, and another Precious Moments piece being done by Cross Stitch Addicts. This was one of my Nov. goals to finish this piece. I won't be finishing The Teacher though so that goal will not be met.

Speaking of 50 challenge how is everyone doing on it? So far I've been good. But if I don't start picking up speed on these projects, I will not make it to 50, maybe change it to 25. Wonder if I can do that.

I can't believe it is already middle of November. Soon we'll be gearing up for Christmas! I don't think about Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Our family is getting together at my brother's house for Thanksgiving. Ninuth (the exchange student living with them is going to make a Korean dish too. She's been warned though not to put in any hot spices.
Well, Until next time. Happy Stitching

For Those Who Serve

Since today is Veterans Day here in USA I thought I would post this piece I did for my nephew about 4 years ago. But first a little about Jake. Jake is the most Patriotic kid I ever knew. He decided when he was very young he was joining the Army. He joined ROTC in Jr. High or High (as soon as he was old enough) and signed up for the Army when he graduated from high school A few months later went to boot camp and in Jan. 2002 was deployed. Jake was shot in a Military Training accident. It shattered his left hand. At least he wasn't killed. The Army and Red Cross were great they made sure a line was set up so my brother could talk to Jake when he was in hospital in Germany, then when he went to Walter Reed Hospital Tim was able to see Jake a couple of times. For two years Jake stayed in the Army both hoping things would work out for Jake to at least still serve but unfortunately he ended up leaving. He's going to college now to be a Civil Engineer .
Tim had asked me to do a piece for Jake and I did two of them. One was a made into a pillow with the Liberty Bell on it. The other I found after he was shot called For Those Who Serve. Because of copyright laws I can't put the verse on. I can telll you it was a Jannlynn kit and I got it at 123 stitch.

An update on the Food Pantry. We start our Food drive somewhat tomorrow though it probably will not get going for a couple of weeks as next Sunday everyone will be bringing food for our annual Harvest Potluck. We meet with the Director of Love Inc. on Tuesday morning. We have changed the room to the basement, which is much more convient. It's in the SS Office which at first I wasn't happy. I really wanted this other room but after weighing the pros and cons the SS office it is. The Supt. is on the comittee and it was her idea to move it to the office. She said she can clean out a lot of the cupboards and her husband can make more shelves if we need it. It is a locked room and really will work out quite well. It even has an open window we can have those in wheelchairs stay right there and we can hand them their food through the window if needed. Or we can just lower the plank and roll them up the two steps from elevator to the office. Plus it will be a very safe location for us and not out of way at all. We are getting more and more excited and anxious to get it going!

On the stitching front I am plugging away on Perhaps I should Retire. Hopefully it will be done Monday. Well...until next time Happy Stitching.

A few more stitching hours

On The Teacher. Right now I am wondering if she will ever be done. I love her dress but it is a lot of work. This is progress after 92 hours. I may lay her down for a few days next week to finish up the Precious Moments piece.

We got a good start on getting our Food Pantry started. We had a food drive at Adventure Club last Wed. and quite a bit got brought in. Last night the Elders voted to let us go through with the Pantry. They also are giving us a bonus I wasn 't planning on. The Christmas Love Offering will go to us. So we get to do some serious shopping for the food pantry too. I want to go shopping but I want Diane and Mary (the other two on the Comittee with me) to be there as they know how to find good deals and I don't. I'm hoping a store will have real good canned food sells about the time we do the shopping. If not, well Diane especially will know how to look for the deals. I'm excited now. We have Mary's husband building shelves for us and our Pastor to the Seniors gave up his office for us. He used it very little anyway. Can you tell I'm excited. This is something I've dreamed about for 5 years and finally get to see it come true.
Well, until next time Happy Stitching!

Goals for November (Stitching)

Hopeuflly in November I will finish The Teacher and the Precious Moments piece Perhaps I should retire. I also will hopefully get out Santa of the Forest and get that further along to finish up in Dec. I would like to do a small christian piece to go on a quilt for a new and fairly young widow. Her husband was killed in a farming accident leaving her with 3 young children. Perhaps another PM piece for Love Quilts and a Teapot for CSFC will be done. I don't know. That's a lot of stitching for me. If I get The Teacher 3/4 of way done and finish it up in Feb. I will be happy. Well we'll see. Until next time Happy Stitching!

Pieces done towards the 50 challenge
1) Always Room for one More
2) Boo
3) Teddy and Pumpkins
4) Serenity Heart
5) Bathing Puppy
Long ways to go yet! But 1/10th of way there.