Life in the fast lane

Have you noticed the older you get the faster time seems to fly? Sometimes I think the world is spinning faster and the clocks are somehow keeping up. I know I can't keep up, I think there should be more stitching hours in the day!

Life seems to be moving at the speed of light towards this weekend. Now if I was anticipating something fun this weekend, the hours would drag on, but since I'm dreading this weekend, I'm almost getting wind burn from the speed of time passing. Why am I dreading this weekend you ask? LOL This is the "Passing of the Torch" weekend. Hockey season is ending and Baseball season is beginning. I'm cursed...I mean blessed...to live near two cities that have venues for watching these two great sports. *rolling eyes towards heaven searching for help* Being the only female in my household, if I want to spend "quality" time with my guys, I have to learn to appreciate their favorite sports. The final home game of the regular series for the Washington Capitals hockey team is Sunday. The opening day game of the Baltimore Orioles is on Monday. Saturday is the "Fan Fest" for the Baltimore Orioles, and Santa has blessed us with tickets for all three. yay (I think) LOL Ok, lets be honest here...I really do like those sports, I'd rather watch them then say.....car racing, or golf, they are much more exciting, and let's face it, they take a great deal of cerebral planning and agility in execution. Hockey CAN be a really graceful sport, if you can overlook the fights and other intense contacts that can be gruesome sometimes. Baseball is another sport that I at least understand. I'm hopeless with football, all I see are grown men jumping on an already out of shape ball. So at least they picked sports I'm willing to watch. It's just going to these games can be an excercise in patience and an education in curse words...LOL All I can say, is this weekend helps excuse my guilt for going on a stitching retreat in a few weeks. I sat through their games, being the dutiful wife and mother that I am, so my reward is a piece of heaven on earth when I go on the retreat! I'm suddenly not dreading this weekend after all, it's just one weekend closer to my sanity break! So.... Rock the Red! And Let's Go O's!

Saturday at the zoo!

Hello Everyone!

Just a quickie here to let you see what I've been up to! I've been working on a March Mystery SAL found on this blog http://mahelia.canalblog.com/ . She has had other cute patterns but I've never had the time to participate before. Anyway, I'm almost done, I have to show her that I've made it this far and then I get the next piece of the puzzle. I THINK it's an Easter Egg...what would your guess be? I'll let you know when I'm finished!

Yesterday was a very strange day. I got a call from DS just after he got to school telling me he needed his sheet music for a Band competition later that day, without it he wouldn't be able to attend. So I had to search the house for his music, then run it over to the school. Since I was up and about so early, I thought I would go run some errands. But First (remember that disease?) I had to call a friend to ask her a question (her answer would determine where I started my errands). While talking to her, the phone beeped indicating an incoming call (don't you love call waiting? LOL) so I took the call thinking it might be DS needing something else. It was another friend who is trying to get ready for her daughter's wedding and wanted me to run some errands with her. I had to go grocery shopping first so told her I would meet her when I was done. Shopping (which usually takes about an hour) took almost two because the line for the checkout wrapped across the store twice (commissary shopping is NEVER fun!!), I was in line longer to check out then I was to shop!! Good thing I had already had an early start to the day! The rest of the day was spent in giggles and oooohs and aaaaahs while we put our creative thinking caps on and tried to imagine wedding decorations and favors. We even got to do some clothes shopping! I dearly love my friend Sonya, she makes everything fun and I was thrilled she included me!

It's a rainy day here today. The Cherry Blossom Festival is going on in Washington, DC this weekend but they are having a rainy day. I feel sorry for the folks who decided to turn out this year. You would think that living this close I would have been to see the festival at least once, and one year I will! I have a hard time with crowds, so maybe I'll see if I can go Monday after the "tourists" go home! LOL!! I've seen some lovely pictures of the cherry blossoms near the basin by the Jefferson Memorial. One day I'm going to get some pictures!

I just want to mention the folks near the Red River in North Dakota, and the folks in Mississippi and Oklahoma (and perhaps other states in the south) who are dealing with flooding and severe weather (tornadoes and hail storms). I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose your homes in such a way and they are all in my thoughts and prayers. I hope you'll join me in my prayers for them.

Thanks for checking in. Have a great day! *Hugs*

The Gremlins are at it again!

Good Afternooon!

It's a lazy day in our house today. I'm glad because yesterday was a bit too busy for my taste. But one of the good things yesterday was....*drum roll* the strawberries arrived! DS was having a fund raiser and this time they were selling fresh strawberries. They are picked fresh and send immediately (according to DS) to HIS school! LOL! Oh the gullibility of childhood! But I do have to admit, they are pretty good! So, we've been enjoying strawberry shortcake, strawberries on our cereal, and strawberry fruit smoothies. Yikes, I think I'm turning into a strawberry! Another sign of spring, even if they are fresh from Florida! LOL

The big adventure of the day yesterday, was the alarm system in our house was having technical difficulties. Remember the Verizon incident with the TV and the wireless connection to the computer? Well now the gremlins have attacked ADT. I did learn some interesting things though...for instance, each and every entry point of our townhouse has a sensor, and each sensor has a battery in it, and when the battery dies a message is sent to ADT telling them we are not "secure". Now a battery can die at 6:30 AM, at 2:00 PM, at 8:00 PM, at 9:30 PM and at 11:30 PM, just ask ADT or check our phone records to see when we got our phone calls yesterday until we finally got a savy person on the phone who can turn off one particular sensor at the main office so we can get a peaceful night sleep! LOL I'm not sure what is going on with this particular sensor (I did run out and get a battery to replace the one in the sensor), but we'll be having one of those friendly conversations with the tech department soon, and perhaps a visit from a friendly repairman who can check/replace the sensor. *sigh* Sometimes I wonder if our house isn't ... how shall I put this ... well perhaps we are not alone in this residence. It just seems the oddest things keep happening. At 1:30 in the morning I heard a noise on the back deck. Now I don't know about the rest of your spouses, but my spouse (I expect it's due to Army training) will fall into the deepest sleep on the planet at the drop of a hat. It's nearly impossible to wake him up. Knowing in my mind that one of the windows is "unsecure" and that there are now noises coming from the back deck is not a comforting feeling. It took me nearly 10 minutes to wake him up and get him to go downstairs and check this out (chicken that I am LOL) Only to find our garbage can had fallen over in the wind. I think it would have been better to have ADT call us at that time then to hear noises and be spooked! LOL Ok Gremlins, you have my attention, but please stop with the scarey stuff! Just tell me what you want so we can all live in peace!

I didn't mention that we had trouble with our sump pump? About two months ago or more, our sump pump started up. Now it usually runs for a few seconds then shuts off. It's LOUD! Well one day it started up and wouldn't shut off. At first I wasn't sure it was the sump pump, I couldn't exactly figure out where it was coming from, so it ran for a few hours until I found the plug and unplugged it. We called for assistance and they sent out a friendly repairman who told us it was merely stuck, rattled it around a bit, charged us $89.00 and left. About a month later, it did it again, but we knew what to do. Since then it has behaved itself but I'm wondering what all the electrical weirdness is that is happening around here? And it's usually something "easy" to fix. *shaking head*

Other news....I'm still working on my spot sampler...and even finished two spots since the last known picture! Today I'll have to concentrate on my Christmas Quaker though! It's slow going though, between all the phone calls yesterday.

One last parting thought. DS and his friend found silly cat videos yesterday while goofing off and I thought I would share (what I thought was) the funniest one of all. You can find it here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTasT5h0LEg&feature=related If you like cats, or even if you don't, you'll find these entertaining (if not a little disturbing at some points). Have fun!

First Day of Spring!

Goodmorning!

It's the first day of Spring! Too bad it's so chilly out there, but that really doesn't matter, it's a lovely day, sunshine and sparkling, the perfect "look" of spring. I saw a flock of robins in my front yard a few days ago. When I was a kid living in NY state my mother would always tell me it was finally spring when the robins arrived. The last time I talked to her, the robins still haven't arrived up there, but I can tell you, they are on their way! The sign of fall was the geese flying overhead, I still get a flashback to crisp, cool, fall days when I hear geese flying overhead.

Not much to report these days. I'm still busy stitching (but haven't taken any new photos...keep watching this space though!) I'm finally beginning to show some progress on my spot sampler. I've reached the half way point so now it's downhill all the way *yeah right*! I've found a new SAL that is starting up, you have to sign up for their newsletter but it sure looks to be a beauty! http://histoiresdelin.canalblog.com/archives/2009/03/15/12978617.html

Isn't it great how needlework sort of transcends language barriers? It seems the people who love the needle arts love to share, love to inspire and help others who are learning. I'm so grateful to those designers who make some of their patterns available for free, especially in these economic times. They are keeping their passion alive, while inspiring us to keep stitching. They have to know that eventually we'll buy their patterns when we're able.

Well, DS is planning on inviting someone over tonight so I need to get some cleaning done, think about something nutritous for dinner, and try to get a few stitches in before the barbarians begin knocking at my gate.

By the way, the lovely orchids at the top of this post is a picture I took at the Botanical Gardens in Washington, DC just before Christmas, aren't they beautiful? I wish they were growing in my house, but at least I can admire them when I visit the gardens.

Have a wonderful first day of spring!

Foggy Day

Good Morning! *rubbing eyes*

Isn't it strange how the weather affects you? It's terribly foggy out there this morning. It's like the perverbial pea soup! But I do love how it muffles the sounds around you. The odd thing about fog is it makes me sleepy...but it also brings back a flood of memories of my "fog" experiences. LOL

I remember when I lived in Pacific Grove, California. I was walking home from work one day when I walked into a "wall" of fog. It was the strangest thing. The sun was shining on the sidewalk and warming my skin, then the "wave" of fog hit. The sun was suddenly blotted out, sounds became muffled and sounded like the cars passing only a few feet away were miles away, even the birds stopped singing. I could feel a dampness permeate me, not just my clothing but it felt like it soaked into my skin as well. It was chilly, a noticeable difference from a few moments before when I was in the sunshine. It also felt a bit creepy and even the air smelled different. We lived right on the ocean, and could hear the fog horn which began sounding almost as soon as I stepped into the cloud, which lended itself to the creepiness. It was a feeling I'll never forget.

I also remember one morning while living in Louisiana. I woke up, blurry-eyed and sleepy and wandered to my kitchen table to read my Bible quietly before beginning my day. I looked out and saw a white billowy "mist" encircling our mobile home. I thought nothing of it as I'd seen foggy mornings here in the past. Before long I was engrossed in what I was reading when my thoughts were shattered by the siren of a firetruck. It got closer and closer and suddenly turned into the driveway and started heading for our home! That's when I realized what I thought had been fog was actually SMOKE! Scrambling for some clothes I rushed to get dressed and ran outside to find my neighbor talking to the firemen about a brush fire. The mobile home we lived in was parked on our landlords property which backed up to another person's property. During certain times of the year, they have controlled brush fires to burn off the underbrush. There are several reasons for doing this, one of which is to chase out snakes! EEEEK! I saw dozens of them after that and stopped hanging my clothes out on the line! Anyway, they thought they had the fire out from the day before but apparently didn't, and it had burned through the night, meandering closer and closer to our home! I am so thankful that my landlord saw the smoke, recognized it for what it was and called the fire department. By the time they got there, the fire was only a few feet from my front door. I never smelled the smoke or saw the fire, it just goes to show me that I should be more observant!

Enough nostalgia, but thanks for taking a walk down memory lane with me! Yesterday was a fun day. I learned from a lady on one of the yahoo groups I belong to that a group of stitchers meet at a library near me once a month. Believe it or not, I'm typically a shy person...No REALLY I AM! Anyway, I had other obligations until last night, so decided to get my act in gear and go. It was a hard thing for me to do, but these ladies made me feel right at home. I truly believe that needleworkers are a different kind of breed! They invited me in, made me feel a part of the group and I spent a lovely evening stitching with these wonderful women. I can hardly wait for next month! It's so much more fun stitching with someone else, and now I see why quilting bees were so popular in the olden days! It's such a shame that our society has gotten away from gathering together and we have truly lost the art of conversation. Hopefully the stitchers of the world will at least keep this civility alive!

Ok, off my nostalgic soapbox for today. Thanks for listening to my rambling.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Good Morning Everybody and Top 'O The Morning to the Irish!

Well It's St. Patrick's day here in my household. That mean's everybody's wearing green, the corned beef and cabbage is simmering in the crockpot, the Irish Chocolate Mint Dessert (recipe found here is out of this world http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/stpatricks/irish-chocolate-mint-dessert.htm ) is resting in the fridge and we are ready to celebrate the day! I always loved St. Patty's day! I attended a college in upstate NY where there were a lot of Irish descendents. I remember the celebrations there with such gusto! Takes me back to the good old days...

A few years ago my DH and I studied our ancestry and learned that there is Irish in both of us! I've always known that a wee bit, but it was nice to have it confirmed! It's funny, when you study your "roots" you find a lot of "skeletons" in the closet LOL We won't go there, but I guess the point of that was, it's fun to trace your "roots" but take care to realize that there aren't always "saints" in your history!

Yesterday I discovered buds on my hybiscus plant, I'm so excited. I got this plant in the spring of last year. It bloomed all summer long, there were almost always blossoms on it. Then the shorter days came along and it went dormant. It didn't lose it's leaves, but it didn't bloom either. The winter seemed to last forever without any blossoms on this plant, and then yesterday while I was watering it, I spied what looked to be a blossom. I looked closer, and there are more than just one! I'm so excited I almost did an Irish jig a day early! LOL

Now that the indoor plants are starting to show some life, I'll be watching the outdoor plants. Usually the Azalea bloom first and that's by my front door, so I'll be checking on that daily, poor thing! I love spring in Maryland. The woods come alive with pinks, purples, white and yellow as the Cherry blossoms, Apple blossoms, Dogwood and Forsythia begin to bloom. The designers of our subdivision planted cherry trees all along the streets here and another kind of tree I haven't identified yet. In the spring the pink blossoms abound and in the fall the leaves turn a vibrant shade of ? It's not red, it's not orange, but a combination of the two. It's our little oasis in the midst of the jungle living between two big cities. I do love where we live!

I'm progressing (finally) on my spot sampler. I cannot tell you how relieved I was to finally finish that one "spot". I spent two days going over and over the same place, stitching, then reverse stitching. Finally yesterday I got past that area and finished two other spots without incident. Whew! I just hate the futility of frogging!!

Well, just wanted to wish you all a happy day and though it takes a few hours, do try the Chocolate Mint Dessert, you won't regret it! *Dancing an Irish jig*

Erin go bragh!

TGFO!

TGFO! (Thank God Friday's Over!)

I won't go into detail but I'm thankful that today is over! When I wrote earlier today, I thought it couldn't get worse...but it did! Let's just say that I'm going to bed early and putting this day behind me. I know how this little kitty feels! ROTFL. But tomorrow is another day and though it's going to be a busy one (I have to be at our church at 8 in the morning!) I'll have had a good night's rest to help forget today and let's hope there isn't another Friday the 13th for a LONG LONG while!

Good night everybody!