Tale of Two Woes

On Saturday, I thought I’d take advantage of the nice weather by doing some winter weather proofing... namely, putting weather stripping around the front door so that I couldn’t see daylight through the ¼” gap on the one side. Keep in mind, I’ve *never* bought weather stripping nor have I installed it. How hard can it be, right? Just peel and stick. Yeah, right.

After a trip to Menards, I arrived home with ½ x ½ “ foam weather stripping. I pressed it in place along the top and side. Door won’t close! Well crap shoot. No amount of shoving, pressing, or cussing helped to get the door closed.

So I IM a friend who tells me I could trim the stuff to size. Uh no… I wasn’t about to start trimming a $3 piece of foam stripping with a utility knife in *hopes* that I’d get it to the right size. So then he says they make smaller sizes. Off to Menards I go again.

Why is it I can never go to Menards and just get what it is I went for? I came home with another brand and size of weather stripping, two door sweeps, saw horses, and pepperoni sticks. I was hungry, ok? LOL

I removed the other weather stripping (which was a much better brand) and pressed the cheap crap stuff in place. Yes, it’s narrower and softer. No, the door STILL does not close! Well, what the heck?!

Did I mention that while trying to get the door closed, I broke the lower bracket of the cellular blind that hangs on the door? No? Yes, I did. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but it was after I broke it that I realized the cord of the blind was also broken which means I can’t raise or lower the blind properly and it hangs there lopsided!

By this time I was pretty frustrated. Just imagine the scene in Sweet Home Alabama where Jake (Josh Lewis) tries to close the blind on his front door and it won’t cooperate. He eventually has a little “fight” with it and ends up mangling it and pulling it off the door, throwing it to the floor. That’s what I felt like doing.

What to do, what to do? I decided to take the latch plate off and move it about 1/8” so I could get the door latched. This involved chiseling out the door jam and filling the holes where the old screws were. Now, it’d probably have worked a bit easier if I a wood chisel. Such was not the case... instead I used a hammer and a metal paint scraper. Ingenuity at it’s worst. But hey, it worked.

Since I had to let the wood filler dry, I thought I’d put the door sweep in place. First measure. Draw the lines. Go out to the garage and get the hack saw. Oh yeah… they make it look so EASY on TV. The metal strip on the sweep is very flimsy when it comes to using a hack saw on it. I ended up bending the strip slightly. Frustrated that it wasn’t sawing like it should, I ended up using my pruning shears (Please do not try this at home!) to cut it the rest of the way. In my eyes, it looked crappy (Think I’m a perfectionist?), but at that point I really didn’t care. I went back into the house and placed it against the door.

In disbelief, I gazed at a sweep that was ½” short! A little guy in my mind is dancing around laughing at me and reciting “Measure twice, cut once! Measure twice, cut once!” A debate starts: Do I put it on anyway, or do I trash it and start over? After all, if I trashed it I’d have spent about $10 that I might as well thrown out the window. What a learning experience!

Do you think I need new doors? Yes! Until I can get them replaced, this will have to do. By Sunday, I finally got the door closed all the way and latched. I still haven’t decided what to do about the door sweep. I’ll probably put it on anyway, rather than go buy another one and start over.

*sigh* I should’ve just re-arranged my bedroom like I really wanted to do.

Marvelous Monday 9/29/08

Weather
Over the past couple weeks, we've had some gorgeous fall weather here in Illinois. Forecasters are saying the weather is more like July weather, but with cool evenings and mornings. Ahhh... How nice!


Stitchy Stuff
I finished the Snow Tree Poem. I tried a new finish using eyelets and while it turned out OK, I'll have to do something a little bit different next time to get the same effect. No pics (yet).

Today, I have a coffee date with the freecycler who I made the Peace Love Cure flatfold for. I hope she likes it!




It was a good stitchy mail week. I received this great magazine from Tracy in WI. Mentally, I've already picked out a couple of projects I'd like to stitch up!



I also received all these floss rings from Andrea in OH:

Thank you again, ladies!


School
I took two hours off work last Wednesday to get some extra studying in before the first test. Toward the end of my study time, I realized I'd left the two handouts at home. I was at the college library and didn't have enough time to go get them. Argh! Wouldn't you know that the instructor created a 6pt essay question on that handout. The test was ABSOLUTELY horrible... just like any other test from this instructor. Par the course, after the test students sat in the hall discussing how bad the test was.

I swear, I guessed on 80% of the questions. On some of the questions, I knew the answer per what the textbook said, but his MC answers didn't make sense at all. :( Heck, I could even see in my notes where I'd written about some of the questions. I'll find out Wed how bad I really did.

Worst First Date #5 - Watch Your Wallet

After several weeks of e-mailing one another, I decided to meet this man in person. We decide to meet at a local pub and grill.

Right after sitting down and ordering drinks, a rather big muscular man approaches our table and throws a drink in my date's face. He then turned to me and asked if I really knew the man I was sitting with, and I should not allow him any access to anything personal, as he had embezzled many thousands of dollars from his ex-wife and her family.

A bunch of words thrown out at this point degrading this man across the table from me. Management showed up, but not before another drink made it's way to my date's face. The police were called and the altercaton taken care of.

My date and I left the pub and go to his home where he told me his whole life story in which he did steal from his ex-wife and her family, and faked being a college student, as well as lied about being employeed. Turns out this man was bi-polar.

Lynda in Erie, PA
(from www.datingfun.com)


Aye-aye-aye! She went back to HIS place afterwards?? Maybe I'm jaded... What was she thinking??? I'm all for giving benefit of the doubt, but seriously??!

Marvelous Monday Update 9/22/08

Getting Fit
I am so proud of myself for fitting in some exercise almost every day this week! :D My muscle actually ache when I'm not moving, not too bad though.

Monday
• WAYW DVD 3miles (cardio/strength training) 48 minutes
• CS Sexy Abs (ab workout) 15 minutes
Tuesday
• CS Sexy Abs (ab workout) 15 minutes
Wednesday
• CS Sexy Abs (ab workout) 15 minutes.
Thursday
• CS Sexy Abs (ab workout) 15 minutes.
• WAYW DVD 3miles (cardio/strength training) 20 minutes
Saturday
• Push mowed the lawn (cardio) 90 minutes
Sunday
• WAYW DVD 3miles (cardio/strength training) 20 minutes


Dating
Ack! What's up with *these* men?!!

Text Messages I've received:
8/12 from S - Dinner 8/22. Your choice. (I didn't answer)
8/29 from S - How ya been? (Again, I didn't answer)
9/1 from B - Smile babe (can't repeat the rest, TMI -- I haven't spoken to or texted him in YEARS!!!)
9/3 from S - Why you don't respond 2 my texts? (Well, duh...)
9/5 from B - I miss you, honestly (Geeze, after 4 years and he still misses me?)
9/6 from S - Picture message of a praying mantis @ his workplace. (Why would I care about that?)
9/7 from B - I'm just looking for someway to tell you how good it felt to hold you (Ack!)
9/15 from S - Wanna get food Thurs? (Uh, no)
9/18 from S - Wanna go for a bike ride? (No, I have to study)
9/18 from S - Study on a Friday night? Lame. (Grr!)
9/20 from B - Various VM and texts (I am SO glad he lives far away and doesn't know where I moved to!)

I don't dare text anything to B, otherwise he'd take that as a sign I'm interested. Been down that road MANY times. How many times is S going to ask if I wanna have dinner before he figures out the answer is "No!" Yikes... are they really that clueless?!

NOTE: For anyone not familiar with these guys... They are EX's (one from a year ago, and the other from at least 4 years ago)... The past just doesn't die. LOL


Stitchy Stuff




Last week Petra had a giveaway on her blog, which I was one of the lucky winners. In Tuesday's mail, I received a thoughtful card along with this -->

There are some really cute charts in it. Thanks again, Petra!



After finishing my breast cancer piece in the last post, I started my September Christmas Ornie SAL. I'm doing the Snow Poem Tree with Anchor 1345. Talk about frustrating! That floss knots up quicker than a head of hair rolling around in a haystack. (Boy am I glad I didn't invest in this line of floss) Yes, yes... I know.... I could use Thread Heaven. I do have some and I might try it. So far, I have the bottom row of the tree done. I decided to do the poem itself in a solid color DMC that matches the varigated Anchor. The "ornie" will probably end up being a flatfold since it's a tad big for an ornament. Then again, it would make a pretty doorhanger. Decisions, decisions...

5 hours of stitching

Addicting
You know how it is when you get a new toy... You *have* to play with it. After watching a couple videos and YouTube about the crop-a-dile, I set about the house looking for things to punch holes in. LOL Here's a belt I have (notice the two holes on the left side that I punched using a nail? Cute, eh?)


I re-punched the holes on the left and put eyelets in all of them. Doesn't it look SO much better? It took all of 3 minutes, maybe.




School
I spent most of the weekend reading, taking notes, and studying my chapters for the first test in Principles of Management on Wed. Ack! The first test is always nerve-racking... who am I kidding? They're *all* nerve-wracking. The first is the worst, though. My saving grace is the instructor is the same one I had for B-Law II so I know his style, which means study for EVERYTHING.

Peace Love and a Cure

Peace Love and a Cure
Designer: Lizzie Kate
Fabric: 14ct off-white aida
Fibers: Six Strand Sweets
Time: 12.5 hours

NOTE: I changed the recommended DMC floss colors to colors of SSS. Some I changed entirely to what I liked, and others I tried to match as close as possible.

A fellow freecycler is a breast cancer survivor. Since she's given me a lot of produce over the past couple years, I thought this would make a nice "thank you" gift.

The Crop-A-Dile

The crop-a-dile is usually used by scrapbookers, and I'd read reviews about it. I've been holding off buying one because I'd read a review that had said it doesn't work well with fabric even though the package says it works with paper, leather, plastic, metal, chipboard, acrylic, fabric, and wood.


Pros:
• Will cut through chip board, CDs, clipboards, layers of cardstock, plastics, and tin like butter. I have tried it on a coffee can (works great), plastic yogurt cup, cardboard, and fabric. It worked wonderfully on all.
• Reaches 1" into dimensional items (like buckets and tins). An advantage for items that cannot be laid flat on a surface which is necessary for the tool setter & hammer system.
• It is one tool (excluding packaging) instead of a cutting mat, hole punch, too setter and hammer.
• Takes very little pressure or strength to set eyelets and snaps. Might be a plus for those with carpel tunnel syndrome.
• It's quiet. No banging, pounding, snapping or twisting.

Cons:
• It won't reach any farther than 1" reach so your eyelets etc can't be more than 1" from an edge. If you want to be able to set eyelets anywhere else, this probably wouldn't be the right tool.
• It's a little big and chunky, and the handle are a bit far apart which might not be great for small hands.
• This wasn't a big deal for me since I eyeball everything. You have to look down a hole to see your hole markings if you make them. So you'd need good lighting and good close-up eyesight.
• Again, this wasn't a biggie for me once I figured it out. You have to watch the pressure applied to the handles so you do not mar the eyelet or squish it flat, which I imagine is easy to do on cardstock (if you're a scrapbooker).
• It only sets 1/8" and 3/16" size eyelets. I only use 3/16 so not a big deal to me.
• It's pretty expensive unless it's on sale, or you can use 40%-50% off coupons that some stores offer.

I found the crop-a-dile on sale at Hobby Lobby, so I figured what-the-heck, I'll try it. I didn't realize it punched holes until I got it home and started playing around with it. So not only is it supposed to set 2 sizes of eyelets and snaps, it can punch the holes for them... and advertisements proclaim it can set any metal embellishment. Since I don't know anything about metal embellishments, I'll just stick with talking about how I'd use this cute tool.

If you buy the green tool, the case comes with it. If you buy the pink one, the case comes separately. I didn't have a choice, HL only had pink ones and being the gadget freak I am, I *had* to have the case. With the case comes 400 eyelets in various colors: dull silver, pewter, silver, black metal, gold, antique brass, antique copper, and copper. That's a LOT of eyelets.


My first test consisted of using the hole punch through a double thickness of aida. While the crop-a-dile did the job, it wasn't a smooth cut for the hole and I ended up trimming excess threads.

Second, I tried a triple thickness of aida with two thin pieces of cardboard. The hole punch cut a smooth hole. I'm thinking that even if I don't use cardboard in my finished project, I may use it for stability when punching through fabric.

Setting the eyelets was simple. Just put the eyelet in the hole and line it up on the crop-a-dile. Squeeze the handles together lightly and viola... done. Out of the five I did, I only messed up one of the eyelets and I think that's because I didn't have it lined up correctly on the tool.

Front
Back

The colored eyelets didn't come with the case, I had them in my stash. My skepticism is gone. The tool works great, and I can use it to embellish other crafts as well.

Here's a good video on how to use the tool:


Other videos can be seen HERE and HERE.

Marvelous Monday Update 9/15/08

Does anyone ever say "Woo Hoo! It's Monday... Time to go back to work!!" LOL I suppose there is, but I think they probably need an evaluation by a licensed mental health professional. ;-) Let's see, what can I share on this Marvelous Monday?


Stitchy Stuff
You'd think after my last post, I wouldn't have any other stitchy stuff to talk about. But, I do! After Nancy left, I stitched a couple hours on LK's Peace Hope Love. Can you believe it's been 13 days since I last stitched on it? After 7.5 hours, this is what it looks like:

While Nancy was here, I stitched 2.5 hours on JG, but I haven't taken a progress pic because I don't feel there's enough to show. I spent that time doing a lot of over-one stitches to create a detailed edge on a stork. Nothing really exciting.


Kitchen Update
As you all know, I've been trying to finish up that *one* section of the kitchen cabinets before Nancy got here. Tuesday night I was putting the last of the newly painted doors back on the cabinets. I set it in place and reached over to get the screws and drill when crash-boom-bang! The door fell out off the cabinet, bounced off the exhaust fan hood, down to the step ladder, off the step ladder and landed on the floor! Talk about a very unhappy me standing there looking at a door with two corners dinged down to the original cabinet color of dark dark brown.

This meant in 2 days, I had to re-sand, re-primer, and re-paint the corners with hopes that they would look "normal", i.e. matched the rest of the paint job. By Friday night, I was again setting the door in place and what could possibly happen? I stripped the screws and had to go to Menards to get more. And yes, I *did* get the cabinet doors back on and new hardware changed out.

They went from this:

Pretty yucky! That's just two of the colors on the cabinets. Originally, I think they were a dark dark brown. Then painted that lovely green. Can you imagine an entire set of kitchen cabinets in that green? Next was a pale yellow. Finally white.

Pretty dingy, eh? No amount of cleaning would take away how bad that looks. If you look close near the cabinet pulls, you can see the indentations of previous hardware.

Here's what it looks like after my toiled labor and mishaps:


Now 1/4 of the cabinets and all the drawers have been re-painted and have new hardware. Several months ago, when my old Menards store closed, they had a clearance on cabinet hardware. I took that opportunity to stock up since I knew I would be repainting the cabinets.

You Just Never Know...

... what your online friends are going to be like when you finally meet in real life.

I was pleased to find out Nancy was as nice in person as she'd come across online. For two people who proclaim they're quiet, there weren't many moments where silence filled the air. Sometimes there's an uncomfortable awkwardness in meeting people from the world wide web. Fortunately for us, that wasn't the case. We got along famously, I thought. :)

I've followed Nancy's blog since she started one, plus we've emailed back and forth about various things, so I felt pretty good about having her stay the weekend when she suggested it. She's from Michigan and her coworker's daughter lives in the big city just east of me. So, we took the opportunity to meet and hang out. On a cloudy, rainy Friday afternoon, I trekked my way across two counties to pick up her up.

Since we were in the city, I suggested we take advantage of the opporunities to stash shop -- Michaels (25% off coupon), Hobby Lobby, JoAnn Fabrics, and an LNS!

After we got to my house, Nancy unpacked her bag and held up two bottles of wine, one in each hand. "I brought wine!" Nancy's DH makes wine... and does a great job of it, too! We spent the rest of the night drinking wine and talking as she looked through my stash of charts and magazines.


On Saturday, we did get some stitching in before and after our visit with Deborah in IA. I have to say the trip to IA was much easier than it was the last time I went to see Deborah. It seemed much shorter, too, since Nancy was there to keep me company. :) Deborah was in good spirits and we all had a nice long visit. I had my florist make up a special basket of Deborah's favorite colors: mauves, pinks, and purples. She just loved it. Nancy gave Deborah the flatfold she made in the class, along with a nice smelling Yankee candle/warmer. We both took projects to show Deborah, too.

Me showing Deborah my Pink Carnations box and Christmas ornies
Nancy showing Deborah Tuscany Town Mandela
Me, Deborah, & Nancy
With a little over an hour drive home, we had to say our goodbye's to Deborah. She invited us both back for another visit. It was really nice to sit and chat with her. She's got quite the sense of humor. :)

On the way home, Nancy and I both determined we were starving, since we hadn't eaten anything since breakfast (and at that point it was around 6pm). We drove... and drove... and drove... before we saw anything resembling a restaurant. This particular restaurant had the word "RESTAURANT" handpainted on it's roof so you could see it from the road, LOL. Come to find out from the local gas station attendant, it's the only restaurant in town. It was surprisingly busy and nice on the inside... a small mom-and-pop family style restaurant. The food was pretty good, too! It was kinda funny... We both went in starving, and came out overstuffed. LOL

After getting back to my house, Nancy worked on a flatfold and then we both worked on our stitching projects. We were so immersed, and neither of us were talking! Nancy worked on Mystic Fruit & Cheese, and I worked on JG. I was SO impressed at Nancy's ability to stitch two-handed! She was zipping right along on F&C, while I was plodding along like a mule pulling a plow through a field. The frog came to visit me and JG not once, but twice! Determined to finish the over-one stitching, I trudged forward until it was all done. At midnight, I went to bed. I'm not sure what time Nancy went to sleep.

Had to take Nancy back to the city on Sunday. The morning was pretty uneventful... spent getting ready and driving. Remnants of Hurricane Ike is reaching his cold wet fingers way up into Illinois and working his way east across Chicago, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio right now.

My trip back home
This is nothing compared to areas NE of me are getting.
It was really great to meet another stitching member from my online groups, and to see Deborah again. I hope we all can get together again! More pics can be seen HERE.

Worst First Date #4 - Sobering Night Out

"I agreed to go out with a guy I met at a local bar who was pretty drunk when we met but, come on, most people you meet in bars are drunk right?

As I pull in the parking lot of the movies he was walking to his vehicle. When he met me back at the door I asked him where he had been and he said, 'I was having a beer in my truck.'

Jokingly, I asked if he drank everywhere he went and he said, 'Of course, I keep a 12 pack in a cooler between my seats at all times.'

I then went on to tell him he had a drinking problem jokingly because I thought we were joking. He then made the comment, 'I don't think I have a problem but I do start classes Wednesday since I've gotten 4 D.W.I.s this year.'

As if this wasn't bad enough when he bought the movie tickets they asked him to donate $1 to the Children's Cancer Fund. He ignorantly said no and we went to the concession stand. They asked him again and in front of many children and families he abruptly yells, 'What the hell is up with all these sick kids?!' At that moment I realized the guy was toasted.

We went into the movie and he got up every 5 minutes to pee and drink another beer. I was so mortified. After the movie he walked me to my car and then went on to ask
me for money to buy more beer since he was so kind to pay for the movie."

-Michelle A. in Salisbury, Maryland
(from www.datingwithoutdrama.com)


This is a perfect example of why I haven't done the bar scene since before I was married (and subsequently divorced). Her assumption in the first paragraph made me LOL -- Not *everyone* who goes to bars get toasted. I would've left him standing there once he told me he had beer in the truck. Not only does he having a drinking problem, he's also STUPID. 4 DUI's? It made me swirl back to the conversation I had with T when he told me he got a DUI last year... and still proceeded to drink and drive. Ack! No thanks.

Anyone else have some worst first date stories?

Meari's Marvelous Monday Update 9/8/08

Weather
Mother Nature has been very finicky lately! Last week started out with 90-92F temps (the first time this year). By Thursday, the aftereffects of Hurricane Gustav arrived causing temps to dip to 59F. When the weekend hit, temps were in the 70's and are expected to stay there for a week or so. I actually had to wear socks to bed one night because I was SO cold.


Getting Fit
My round booty is still struggling to get into a workout routine. I've been managing to get in about 2 workouts a week... not nearly enough if I want to firm up and lose some pounds. But! Better than nothing. I have to say that I absolutely LOVE the WATP low impact/strength training videos and the Sexy Abs workout. I've been getting up early and doing both of those before I go to work.


Stitchy Stuff
Guess who I'm meeting this week?! Nancy from MI! We've been going back and forth working out the details for over a month, and now it's finally happening. We are BOTH excited. I'll be picking her up in the next city east of me and she'll be staying with me until Sunday. :)


The Wedding


I've uploaded a bunch more photos of my brother's wedding to my multiply albums HERE, now that they both have had a chance to see them all. That's just a small sampling of the photographs I took. In total there were 200-300.



Sunday Dinner
I was watching the Good Housekeeping show on Saturday afternoon and they were talking about saving money at the grocery store and how much cheaper it is to make meals at home. Well Hello?! Of course it is... and it's healthier... and if made from scratch, you don't have all those preservatives of 'convenience food' in a box.

A recipe for Italian-Herbed Roasted Chicken was shown and I thought... "Dang! That looks GOOD." I had everything except the chicken, which I picked up when I went shopping on Sunday. I've never roasted a chicken before, and it's really not that hard. And boy-o-boy, was it ever scrumptious and juicy!

Does this not look yummy?!?
I think it's comparable to the one on the website!

Green beans, fresh from the garden :)

Worst First Date 3 - Painful Experience

"My worst first date was also my first blind date. We met for a coffee after being set up through a mutual friend. At first glance he was attractive, but I really wanted to find out who this person was.

He immediately started into a recent break-up with a longtime girlfriend, followed by a description of how he was coping with his heartbreak. This included the recent addition of two very large tattoos on his head, underneath his hairline. Now this is years before tats were 'trendy' and were still associated with bikers and convicts, and I'm no prude, but his reasoning for the tats was most concerning.

He explained that he had the tats done for one clear reason; the physical pain of having them applied to his scalp in relation to the emotional pain he felt over the ex-girlfriend, 'to really feel the pain of it all' he said. He then told me about his piercings, which again at the time were considered to be pretty strange based on their location.

The piercings were located on his 'member,' both of which were applied for similar reasons as the tats.

Long before the second confession, I questioned the friendship I had with the girl who set us up, wondering if she knew me at all. He was a nice enough guy, but terribly troubled, with a past I wanted no involvement in. I never spoke to him again and I still wonder to this day what would have possessed her to set us up."

-Laura P. in Alberta, Canada
(from www.datingwithoutdrama.com)


Ummm... Been THERE, done THAT. Not with the tats/pain issues, but dealing with issues over ex's. People who do things like this definitely aren't ready for another relationship. (Think therapy, dude!) Also, have wondered what friends/family were thinking?! Next...

PIF #1

I finally received word that my first PIF was received yesterday. For Rene in NV ~~~ From this:

Notice the intials - Hers and Mine :)
To This:

Design: Needlebook in Lilac by Ancsa
(converted to a biscornu)
Time: 11.75 hrs to stitch, 2 hrs to finish
Fabric: 14ct opalescent aida
Fibers: DMC 209 & 3802
Embellishments: 1/4" flower buttons

Sesquincentennial a Success

History was brought to life before an enthusiastic crowd (It's been reported that over 15,000 people attended the 4-day event) Saturday afternoon as U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and U.S. Sen. Stephen A. Douglas reminisced about their political careers and the turbulent time period of the 1850s during Reunion Tour ‘08.

The event featured performances from historical interpreters George Buss and Tim Connors, who portrayed Lincoln and Douglas, respectively, in front of hundreds of onlookers at Debate Square. Reunion Tour ‘08 was one of the major events for this weekend’s Lincoln-Douglas Debate Sesquicentennial Celebration.

Structured as a press conference, Reunion Tour ‘08 gave Lincoln and Douglas the opportunity to share their recollections of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates and comment on their own historical legacies.

During the event, Lincoln and Douglas spoke as if they were in contemporary times looking back on their careers. Their speeches, laced with humor as well as serious historical comment, were received well by the energetic crowd. The event was moderated by Capt. Silas Terry, who was portrayed by Ed Finch.

Blog Buddies are Great!

I received this award from both Shari, Debra, Henny, Rachel, CJ, and Nancy. Thanks ladies... I'm flattered you thought of me. :)

The rules of the award are:
1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of those you’ve nominated.

So... who to pick, who to pick??

Dawn - The Stitchin Nook
Deidre - The Stitching Teacher
Gabi - Lady of the Floss
Kendra - The Stitching Hour
Karen - An Aging Dreamcatcher's Wit & Whimsey
Rene - Rene LaFrog's Ramblings
Velda - Stitching Angel's Solitude

I LOVE all your blogs!! :D

Perpetuating History

Last week marked the 150th Anniversary of the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates. My city was one of the lucky ones that sponsored one of the debates in 1858. Planning for this event has been over a year in the making. Everywhere It was expected that historical buffs from all over the country attended the festivities. The post office was not to be left out, either.

Created was a special cancellation postmark that commemorated the anniversary of these events in history. (Here’s where you’re going to see how much of a “geek” I really am!) Being a stamp collector as a kid, I *had* to get the special cancellation postmark! And yes, I *still* have my stamp collection. And yes, I still save neat-looking stamps as well as stamps from around the world.

Abraham Lincoln has letters stamped by post office clerk after the unveiling of the new stamp cancellation.

Via steam train, Lincoln and Douglas arrived to our fair city at the railroad museum on Friday. Following was a torchlight parade and re-enactment of an abolitionist rally. A parade through downtown started off the Saturday. Later in the evening, an 1860 Grand Ball was held featuring 19th century music, complete with attendees in historic dress. Had I known way ahead of time, I would’ve made a dress and went. On Sunday was Family Day and Art in the Park with Lincoln & Douglas.

Weeks before the festivities, you could almost feel the excitement in the air! Business owners were doing major improvements to storefronts, old buildings being torn down, street improvements being made, flowers being planted, homeowners along the major routes into town spruced up their curb appeal, and of course flags and swags of red, white, & blue everywhere!

In addition, there was a feature article in the Smithsonian magazine about my city and history of the debates! How cool is that?!?

Meari's Marvelous Monday 9/1/08

Ahhhhh, another Monday. Today is Labor Day in the US, which spells H-O-L-I-D-A-Y! Can you say 3-day weekend?!

School
Last week I mentioned I have to read a book on management (with instructor approval) and write a paper on it. I got a jump start on reading one of the books my boss gave me. I took that to class, along with another book that my boss told me the firm is considering as mandatory for professional staff.

Me: Hands books to instructor.

Instructor: Holds said books. Looks at the top book, which was the one I started reading. Flings the book off to the side onto the desk. "This one's OK," he says.

Instructor: Looks at second book (the one that might be mandatory reading). Throws it on top of the first book. "That one's crap."

Classmates: Erupt into laughter.

Me: Incredulous at what just happened, chuckling, wondering if I should tell him my boss's idea. I decide not.

I'll still read both books, but I'm glad he approved the one I'd started reading!


Stitchy Stuff
I started a new project this past week. I found out that a fellow Freecycle member has breast cancer. Over the past couple of years, she's given me and many others produce from her garden each year. So, as a "thank you" I decided to stitch up Peace Love and a Cure by Lizzie Kate for her. I plan on making it into a flatfold with pink fabric with little breast cancer ribbon print, if I can find something like that.

I've converted the fibers to Six Strand Sweets, and after 4.5 hours, this is what it looks like:


I spent some time organizing my charts and magazines over the weekend, and found out I had some duplicate magazines which I'll be putting on my stash-for-sale blog. I also purged some charts I know I'll never stitch (funny how tastes change) so those will go on, too. If you need a stash fix, check there often. ;-)


When They JUST Won't Go Away...
I'm seriously contemplating HOW LONG it takes before former BF's get the hint that they blew their last chance? Again over the weekend, I heard from TWO ex's.

The one I haven't spoken to in over 4 years... He left a VM for me inviting me to drive almost two hours to where he lives to watch his daughter in a parade. Then he sent 3 follow up text messages asking if I was coming! Hello?!

Even S sent me text messages over the weekend... This is AFTER he asked me out to dinner twice and I NO once, and ignored the second invited. I find it apalling that the two times he wanted to go to dinner were on the days he had to come to town because he had therapy appointments.

Do I need a sign? "I am NOT interested!"