Signal Success

Thanks for the encouragement on the shoes, but they are going back. The dude really didn't like them. Usually, I don't give much thought to what he thinks, but I found a pair of $20 Via Spiga peep toes at DWS (yellow tag!). And I can walk in them. That's a plus.

Speaking of UPS delivery (tangentially), when the delivery man rang the bell the other day, Stella ran into the dining room where I was working and looked at me. "Did you hear that?" she seemed to say. "Should we go to the door now?" When we got to the door, she waited patiently and quietly for me to answer the door. She was so good! I was so proud of her. Of course, the UPS guy didn't come in but one step at a time, right?

Here's what I did at Friday stitching with my old ladies.

Speaking of Vegas, as soon as I load up the stitching bag, I am hitting the road. Full report next week.

Working Hard

This afternoon, I headed to Strawberry Sampler to see if they had a box for the Las Vegas piece. I know you're thinking I should have just called and asked, but I wanted to assess my options. And who doesn't love a trip to the LNS? Beth saw the Vegas piece and was describing it to Molly, who she had chained to her desk. So I brought it out back and showed it to her. Don't worry too much about Molly though, you should see poor Lise's working conditions. She's trapped in a closet behind 300 pieces from the framing sale.

Once I was in back, everyone tried to help with the finishing for my dad's 70th birthday. Molly thought a box stuck on a high shelf might work. Before she could destroy the workroom by pulling down the whole shelf, Lise appeared with a couple of boxes from her private stash--one was perfect! Then she tricked out the inside with red velvet mats. Hot! While she was working, I hung out in the back room, and even met the UPS man ("the moist Brown man") (to his credit it was 95 degrees outside) who promised not to call my Nik unless we had sex.

Which wasn't a far cry from the conversation we had been having before he arrived. I've been looking for bronze shoes to go with my "fancy" outfit for daddy's special dinner. These (in bronze) came today from Zappos. Now don't judge by the name of the shoe. Still, when I have them on, I worry that I might look like I'm working. The good news is that if I do wear the shoes, I might be able to stay a few extra days.

Unfortunately, I ran into a major accident on the way home. Someone had rolled their car on the bypass ramp and I had to drive through Media in the middle of rush hour. Still I feel so successful from the trip to the shop. Thanks, girls!

Welcome!

At Friday's library craft circle, I was displaced as the youngest member. A lovely young woman came and brought her even younger and lovelier baby (8 months). She was the happiest baby ever. Seriously, we passed her around and she was smiling and laughing and loving every minute of it! Mom was trying to knit while wearing the baby, and it wasn't going so well. Our oldest member, Mabel, who I mistakenly clocked at 86--she's 93--told me that she loved holding babies so I offered to take the baby while mom knit. (I know. I offered? That is whackadoo.) She was totally cool with it, and I think bordering on Very Excited. However, you may not know this but when really old people hold babies, you have to watch them. Mabel might be a great grandmother, but at one point that kid was horizontal on her lap and sliding quietly towards the floor. Fortunately someone else wanted to hold her, the baby was transferred, and we could all breath a little easier. Next week, she's coming in a stroller but I'm guessing that she won't be in it much.

I worked on the Vegas piece, which I need to take into Strawberry Sampler by the end of the week (sale ends Saturday). As you can see, I finally woke up and smelled the petite treasure braid. (Um, sorry, bad mixed metaphor.) I am slowly replacing the orange DMC with something a little more sparkly. Because you can't have too much sparkle when it comes to Vegas. Fortunately have completed that large expanse of white, and just need to fill in the cirlces that hold the letters, stitch the "star" in the upper left corner, and add white beads for the lights on the edges of the sign.

The dude and I had a very busy weekend. First we worked at the library's book sale. We brought home about 12 books for $10. I can't wait for the fall book sale because that is supposed to be the big one! On the way to the library, we ran into our neighbor who was running a car show at the high school. After our library shift, we stopped and looked at the cars even though I have no idea what I am looking at. We chose our people's choice based on the hood ornaments. I did appreciate seeing that cars that were built the year I was born are "antiques." I am given to understand there is a different standard applied to cars. Then my younger niece got dropped off so mom could go see the Bosox. She "helped" with Stella. We went to the dog park but had to leave early because there were a lot of big dogs who were getting a little aggressive. Yayo was disappointed because she didn't get to see a "Dane." Unfortunately, my skills to make animals appear on demand are limited, and that is hard to explain to this little girl.

Sunday dawned drizzly, so my cousin didn't take her intended bike trip. This meant that we could hit the Greek fair for lunch at noon. I had tiropita and a gyro (the bread was to die for). The dude had lamb kokkinisto and my cousin had pastitsio. (I always hated when my mother made that.) For dessert, I got kourabiedes and baklava. The baklava was so buttery. Mmmmmmm. I had to buy a second piece, but I shall try to savor it over the course of the week, instead of the course of 4 minutes.

If My Father Ran the Craft Industry

Thanks for the congratulatory notes on the win. My prize showed up in today's mail with a nice note from Mike telling me to send a photo when I'm done. Hahahahaha! He'd like to show it on the FB page. I don't even think we'll still be using facebook by the time this sucker gets stitched. Sigh. But still, thanks to Hoffman and my favorite LNS.

Here's a photo of my progress on the Las Vegas sign--much as I appreciate your input into what I should make for my dad's birthday, I'm starting with the project I know I can get done before he turns 70. If I have time later this month, I'll turn my thoughts to a scrapbook. (I am now the holder of the family photographs and slide collection. I'm scanning the latter but may work on that project forrrrrrrrrrrreverrrrrrrrrr.)

And speaking of my father, I found these knitting needles in the dollar store labeled "craft sticks." If my father ran the craft industry, this is exactly how our tools would be labeled. And it would all be knitting... no matter if you were using one needle or two, with or without eyes.