Marvelous Monday Update 12/14/09

JAPANESE FUROSHIKI
A cool way to wrap gifts!




STITCHY STUFF
Karen sent Celeste and me a cute little Christmas package. Celeste loves her little treats. Thanks for thinking of me, Karen!


I stitched on 3 different projects last week... Imagine that!

Simply Elegant Scissor Case

Flower & Bee

NEW! Gingerbread House
WEATHER
Just thought I'd share a few pics after the storm we had last week....

A few days after the snowstorm, it became bitterly cold. Snowpiles became really frozen in place and I had ice "piles" (for lack of better term) at the end of my driveway. It warmed up... if you call 25-33F "warm"... and a little bit of snow melted. Now it's bitterly cold again. That wind is quite biting on the 'ole face. There is still plenty of snow to go around, if anyone is interested!

Christmas & New Year's Giveaways

My friend Chiloe is sponsoring her first ever Christmas Giveaway. What is it, you may ask? You'll have to go to her blog and find out! Small note... it's limited to US and Canadian residents only.

Karyn of Teakettle Corner is also sponsoring a giveaway. The winner will be chosen on New Year's Eve. Check it out!

Cindy is hosting TWO Christmas giveaways in her Stitching Korner. Go take a peek :)

Big Round of Applause!

Please give it up for "Shove" (Ya'll remember her from last season, right?), "Push" (He's great for pushing light snow, not so much for the heavy, wet stuff), and "Little Blow" (Bless her hard working little carburetor heart!).


All three assisted me in cleaning the driveway for 7 hours today! The end result.....

Where did all the snow go? I have to push it to the front yard or the backyard. There's at least 2 1/2 feet of snow blown in my backyard. The front yard is over 3 feet high!

Is it the end of January already???

The midwest was klobbered with snow last night. I woke up to 15" of very wet, very heavy... nasty, nasty snow! If I didn't know better, I'd think it was the end of January because that's when we usually get this kind of snowfall.

Poor Celeste got about 10 feet out the door before she decided she'd do her thing and head back to the house. I had to pick her up because she couldn't get through the snow. Her little legs are only about 4" long!

At 5:30am, I went out to start clearing the snow. I was greeted by the neighbor guy asking, "Are you ready?" Ha, yeah right. After 2 hours, I barely had half the driveway done. My snowblower definitely got a workout today!

I called in to work. Some foresight yesterday... I worked with all my clients to get their "stuff" to them just in case I didn't make it in the office. One even called me, in case *they* didn't make it in. Two of three of my coworkers didn't make it in today either.


Notice the snow packed into my hair and on the side of my head?!!

Fast forward to 10:30am. I finally HAD to go in the house. After 5 hours being in the cold with wet snow blowing on my face and body, I was chilled to the bone and had an impending asthma attack arriving. Would've stayed out a little longer if it weren't for the asthma.

Changed out of my thoroughly wet clothes. My arms and legs were soooo sore and achy. I can't even imagine shoveling all that snow by hand. The little bit I did was very, very heavy!

Is it spring yet???

Marvelous Monday Update 12/7/09

PIF's
My final two PIF's have gone out into the mail to Sharmila and Mary. Mary has already contacted me that she received hers. Sharmila lives in India so she should be receiving it shortly. This wraps up my PIF obligations. :)




STITCHY STUFF
With all the "chaos" going on in my life lately, I didn't get a chance to sign up for any ornament exchanges on my groups. I was really bummed about it, as I have always done at least one each year since joining the online stitching community. Mel was kind enough to do a private exchange with me. It worked out perfectly. I can't show the entire thing since I want it to be a surprise for Mel, but here's a teaser pic:


I received my Humbug package from Monique in the Netherlands. She sent me *two* humbugs -- a small one and a large one! One was Quaker themed with really pretty colors, and the other was Christmas themed. She included other goodies as well.

Thank you, Monique!

Lisa in Canada finally received the Advent Exchange I sent last week. Just in time... on December 1st! Coincidentally, my package from Cyndi in CA arrived on December 1st, too. :)


GIVEAWAY
Jennifer of Feathers in the Nest is hosting an awesome giveaway. Click on over to her blog to check it out.


TIS THE SEASON!
I set up one of my little Christmas trees, and hung all my stitched ornaments on it. Then I put all my Advent Exchange presents underneath. I think it looks great!



I've sent out two batches of Christmas cards last week, and am working on a third one. I've gone through my planner... sent to family/friends, sent to those in a card exchange I'm involved with, and went through my Yahoo address book to send to online friends whom I have addresses for. I'd like to express my gratitude for the friendships I've made with each of you!