The blink of an eye.

A lot has happened since my last post. Some was good and some was not so good. The good part was a great trip to Sauder Village in Ohio for rug hooking week. My friend Jackie and I left on Tuesday the 16th for four days of intense fiber overload. We took a great class from Theresa Neiderbing in needle felting. There were only three of us in the class so we had undivided attention from the teacher. There was great shopping and I added quite a bit of wool to my stash. My favorite booth was Rebecca Erb. I also found a great pattern with a sheep and sunflowers. The list of things to hook has become longer after my trip. The rug show was wonderful with the private collection of Patty Yoders being my favorite. She loved sheep as I do and her designs were absolutely wonderful. I took another class with Amy Oxford where I learned more about rug punching. I enjoy hooking but rug punching is fun and offers more instant gratification. Amy's class was very informative and I learned several things I did not know.
Jackie and I also spent many hours with several of our Ohio hooking friends. We enjoyed several good meals and lots of laughs. I would be remiss if I didn't add that Jackie ate eight pieces of pie in four days, she did share some with me though.
Now for the not so good part... Friday evening we learned of the bad storms and flash flooding on Washington Blvd. in Pittsburgh. The road where it happened is not too far from where I live, and I travel it quite often. We discussed the tragedy where a woman and two of her children died not knowing that Saturday morning I would find out that the woman was my co-worker and her two daughters. I could not believe it. Kim and I had just talked on the phone on Monday discussing our plans for the upcoming school year. We had planned to talk when I got home from my trip so we could get together to set up the nurses office before school started. In the blink of an eye... The last few days have been heart wrenching, but in my grief , and those of my friends, her co-workers,we have to know that Kim,Brenna,and Mikaela are in the arms of the Lord. Her family will never be the same and we pray for them to have the strength to move forward. At the funeral today the minister said there should be no what ifs. I have to take solace in his words. Tomorrow I have to go to school and even though I will feel sad and upset I can close my eyes and see Kim's smiling face knowing that she is looking down on us saying if you need anything I am there for you in spirit.
Peace out,
deb

A day in the country!

Yesterday my husband and I enjoyed a much needed day together in Holmes County Ohio. Next to the beach Holmes county is probably my most favorite place to visit. Having Amish country a short 2 hours away is great,but sometimes its a long and winding road. We took a less direct route hoping to miss rush hour traffic through downtown Pittsburgh but ended up in stopped traffic on the Ohio turnpike. They were setting a bridge beam thus the stopped traffic. Three hours later we finally ended up at our destination. We had a great day driving the back roads and stopping at favorite spots. My favorite sight of the day were the Amish children at three different farms hanging over the fence waving to passer byes. Life can be so simple and joyful!
My husband was ready to drive me to the hospital after I came out of Millers Dry Goods without a bag. He thought I was truly ill. I explained to him that I was looking for panda fabric and they did not have any. The truth is I am planning on adding to my wool stash when I go to rug hooking camp next week, so I decided to be good.
After finishing the day doing our shopping at Walnut Creek Cheese a wonderful grocery store with only some things you can find in Ohio we headed to der Dutchman for a great dinner. Where else can you get lima beans and creamed corn as a side dish with chicken raised right up the road. For me that was grandmas house too long ago. Three hours later after sitting in rush hour traffic through Pittsburgh, the day was a pleasant memory. When is the next trip?
Peace out,
Deb

Girl's Night Out!

In eighteen days I go back to work after being off for a knee replacement. In a way I am looking forward to it as I need to get back into a routine. Too much time on my hands has created a lack of motivation. You might say what, are you crazy. Its true though and I will be the first to admit that I need routine in my life. I get more done and am more creative when I live by a schedule.
One thing I did schedule for tonight was an evening out with my friend Jackie. We went to a Girl's Night Out at a local restaurant. My husband had told me about it so on a whim, we went. It was so much fun, martinis,manicures,massages, and lots of food including chocolate. We laughed made some new friends, saw some old ones, and just had fun. Scheduled spontaneous fun,who knew?
Tomorrow I am going to schedule some rug hooking and time in my sewing room. I finally got the wool to finish a bunny rug I have been hooking since February. Maybe I will cut some strips to take it with me to Sauder next week, I could finish it,or not. I also have a grandchild on the way and I am doing the nursery sewing under the guidance of my daughter. Its a panda theme so fabric coordinating is on its way because I already have every piece of panda fabric plus coordinates printed in the last ten years. She has been planning this long before the baby was ever thought about,so grandma has been buying fabric for quite awhile.
My husband works for Verizon, and we have been patiently waiting to see if the union was going to go on strike Saturday midnight. Of course the answer was not the one we hoped for. I try to find humor in everything so it was funny when he went to Walmart today to buy a chair for picketing respite. After I cut the tags off for him he wanted to know if I wanted to embroider his name on the back. Sure why not,he will probably want accessories if he has to picket again.
Still working on the pictures for the blog, have to meet with my tech support.
Peace out,
Deb

Rainy Days and Wednesdays

The mailman brought me some new wool today and I could not wait to look at some projects that I could use it for. However I had decided to work on the state report that I am responsible for the school district. This report involves all of the statistics for the medical component of the district. It takes time and since I don't like working with numbers however, that's what calculators are for. Once I got started it wasn't so bad. Somehow rainy days make me feel more productive.
I am looking forward to this coming Sunday. My friend Jackie and I have our monthly hooking lesson and I have not been there since before my knee replacement surgery. I forget what the topic is but it does not matter it will just be fun to be with my hooking friends again. Not only that but I need to get some wool for a another project I need to finish. Its all about the wool. I digress, back to work and then dinner prep, its beef and broccoli night..
Peace out,
Deb