Post Christmas

Christmas has come and gone...I don't need to tell you that, Y'all know it. I am so happy with this Christmas. Most years I have this feeling of regret, or guilt, I don't know what it is. Like I didn't do enough. I didn't try hard enough. Whatever. I guess I am over that phase of my life. I told the girls..."No presents this year...please. If you want to give, give of yourselves." The girls, in their twenties still think of themselves as what they have earned and can afford to spend. They out did themselves this year.
I gave my youngest a 104 piece Mechanics tool set. (She is studying automotive courses in college, and rebuilding her own 1974 Chevy truck)
I gave my middle daughter the full set of the large paperback "Twilight" series. She and I were in the book store one day a month or so ago and she said she wanted to read it all.
I gave my oldest tickets to the Tech Museum and money for lunch. They have this dreadful exhibit of a plasticized human body all cut up and showing everything! She is studying to be a Surgical Technologist and is really interested in this kind of stuff. I knew she wanted to go. I figured she'd be good and hungry after viewing this (ick) body, so lunch money.
What they gave me? A brand new Canon PowerShot Camera. My old digital camera was just about done with it's life. My oldest daughter knew this and told her sisters that is what they were doing for me. I am more than delighted.
What was the best thing is that we all got together and had a nice dinner together, no fighting, no nasty remarks about each other.
Everyone was just tickled with their gift and that made me really happy.
Now I can show you what else I have been up to.....

Well, that is when I figure out how to manage this thing...more later!

Spooning

I read this post this morning, and it touched me. I just wanted to pass it along. I hope I have all the links done right! It is such a small thing to do, but it is such a big way to show support to someone. I copy and pasted the following message with permission from Megan at Undomestic Diva.


"Spooning
Let me ask you one little question: If you could do something to make a person feel better - a person you could otherwise not help in her situation of unfortunate circumstance beyond her or your control - would you?

Think about it. We've all been there. We've all had someone in our life - whether a close family member or friend or perhaps it's just someone we know through the blogosphere or Twitter world or maybe even it's someone whose story we heard from someone who heard it from someone else... but somehow, it touched us, it haunted us, it made us feel helpless and it kept us scratching our heads and wondering What can I do? leaving us helpless because sometimes, in this life, we don't always have the chance to fix things for others. No matter how badly we want to.

So again, If you could do something to make a person feel better - a person you could otherwise not help in her situation of unfortunate circumstance beyond her or your control - would you?

:::


I have a friend (and chances are, she's your friend too - or at least acquaintance) who could use a little cheer. She's had multiple surgeries recently (she lost 13 inches of her colon, her gall bladder, her uterus, her ovaries and cervix) and finally after several emergency hospitals stays was diagnosed with Lupus.

I can't fix her. I would LOVE to be able to fix her. The next best option is to try and bring her happiness in any way I can. And I'm not talking in the form of money or food or CLICK MY PAYPAL BUTTON RIGHT HERE sort of way. This idea, my friends, is far more creative and unique and I hope you'll help me help her make this happen.

In an effort to keep this as low-key and not-so-obvious to my friend I'm not naming or linking you to her blog but instead I'm sending you HERE to read the back story, to help this friend of ours, through the giving of spoons.

Yes, spoons. (The full story is here - a bit lengthy but worth the read.) A spoon from your kitchen drawer, a spoon from a gift shop, a spoon from anywhere, it doesn't matter. That's all. It's rather simple, really.

I'm asking you to:

- Send a spoon (address information here)

- Pass along this information on your blog (you can copy/paste this if you would like)

- Tweet/RT this post to pass along the message

And you will have spread the cheer I was talking about. We can't cure diseases. Sometimes, it's hard (at least for me) to even convey the right sentiments in a tweet or email to the ones we're thinking good healing thoughts for. But this? This is a start.

xoxo"

Oh my!

It's thirty freakin' pages long my friends! Thirty freakin' pages!
My clock...the last post?
See Ya sometime in the future!

It's About Time

Fractal 267

Finished size:
14 count: 21.5" x 22.25”
Stitches: 300w x 310h


Sorry about the small-ish picture. I was tickled that I could get anything at all. If you want to see a bigger picture of it google cross stitch fractal #267. It will be under xs-collectibles.

This is about a cross stitch project I have been mooning over for a year. I have plans for it. It will probably take me most of next year to finish it completely. I am going to make it a clock! Yes...can you believe that? A Clock! I just thought it would look cool up over my fireplace. I will have to make some adjustments, like changing the colors where the hands are, so the hands are not there. I am going to have a shadow box frame made so that I can enclose the whole thing behind glass. Then there will be the actually hands I do put on it. They need to be special.

I'm doing it on simple white, 14 count Aida, the image will be 21-1/2" by 22-1/4". I couldn't decide between the 14 and 18 counts, but the store decided for me, they didn't have a big enough piece of 18 count for the project. It'll be easier for me to stitch on the 14 count anyway. Besides it'll be a more substantial piece in my front room with the 14.

I can't wait to get started. I have about a week to go before the charts get here. I picked up all the floss and the Aida yesterday, so I think while I am waiting I will sew a grid on my cloth, to keep the counting more accurate on my part.

I don't think I have been this excited over a project for a while!