Home Again

It's always so much fun to be home again after a trip! Going places and seeing friends is wonderful, but I love getting into my own bed. The man I hang around with and Zack picked me up at the airport very late Thursday night. I had Nikki all lined up to take care of the airport chore, but someone else wanted to stay up late (gasp!). I know! It's been many years since a man wanted to pick me up at the airport. Obviously, this is a very nice man.

Anyway, this is my first lengthy time at the computer since I left on June 8. I had thoughts of posting from the road, but I was having too much fun to sit and type. That's a good thing. I have no stitchy pictures for you right now (I was also having too much fun to stitch much), so here are some pretty pictures from my travels. I flew into Burlington, Vermont, stayed a few days with friends down by Middlebury, and then drove to see another friend who lives in Bath, Maine. After a few days there, I drove back to Vermont. I had a couple of driving adventures due to a mixture of crappy Mapquest directions (my theory is that some of their employees think it's funny to send users on crazy trips through small towns) and operator error (me?). I had to use a lifeline on the way back to Vermont when I was in a downpour near Killington. I phoned my friend Diane (a challenge in the cell phone black hole that is Vermont) to ask if I was really and truly on the right track. Eventually, all intended destinations were reached without tears or law enforcement contact.

First, the lupines were amazing all through Maine. There were fields of them by the sides of roads, next to houses ... just everywhere. My mom loves flowers, so here's one of the pictures I took for her ...

We went to dinner one night in Harpswell, Maine, and here's a picture of the sunset we enjoyed on the way back to Bath. Do you see that rock in the bay? There's a seal on top of it, but it's a little tough to see.

And below is a picture of the lighthouse at Popham Beach in Maine. On one of the gorgeous days we had, we walked the beach. Too, too pretty.

And how about a view of the Adirondacks across Lake Champlain? You can't see the lake, but the mountains are on the other side of it. This was taken right down the road from where my friends live in Cornwall, Vermont. I love it there.

I worked very hard at doing my part to stimulate the economy, and a money diet is in effect for the rest of the summer. No buying unnecessary items ... right up until I see that fabric/fiber/project I can't resist. If I'm struck by the urge, there may be a few more pictures you may have to endure in future posts.

Since today was Father's Day, I was over at the folks' house to visit. I brought ready-to-freeze blueberry ice cream over, and Dad helped me with the ice cream freezer. Mmmmm, good! Mom has been through two chemo treatments and is feeling pretty good. We're all pleasantly surprised at this point. So your prayers and good thoughts and chants are working! Thank you again for your efforts.

I'm still hard at work catching up at home and in blogland, and I haven't yet had time to visit everyone. I missed all of you and your news, and it's wonderful to get back into the rhythm of the blogs. When taking much-needed breaks from closet-cleaning (ugh, please save me), stash-reorganization (very scary but so much fun) and general scouring, blogland will be my first choice for procrastination. Stitching will have to be put into the schedule, of course, and we'll see how that pans out. Until the next post ... make some fun.

First Summer Vacation Post

Ahhhh, finally I'm feeling like it really is summer vacation. It took a week. A very busy week. In my last post, I told you that I was going hiking with the girls. I have a few pictures of our adventure to show you. We went hiking up a trail in the Mt. Evans area. Mt. Evans is one of several 14ers (I forget how many, which is awful because I should know that) in Colorado. There was still snow on the trail in places, and it was a little chilly when we weren't walking. We even had some thunder and a little pellet snowfall. Here's a sample of what we saw ...Isn't that beautiful? My sister-in-law, Barbara, asked me on the drive up if I notice how pretty it is here every day. Thank goodness I could tell her that I always notice! I feel lucky every time I look at the sky or the rolling hills or the mountains. Below is a picture of the girls ...

Clockwise from top left you see Barbara, her sister Paula, my niece Kelly, and Paula's daughter Laura. Do you also see our little companion? Zack (faithful companion of the man I hang around with) was the only male to accompany us. As you can see above and below, he was always on the lookout for varmints.

The poor boy had to have walked three times farther than the rest of us, because he was always off the trail, sniffing and checking out every tree, bush, log and pile of poop. What a guy. He required a little assistance when we climbed up some rocks and over a log. In fact, he was high-centered on a log, so Kelly and Laura came to his rescue. Too bad I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of that! Of course, he was too tired to do anything but nap on the ride home.

Would you like to see how things are going in the Garden? The only positive comment I have about hospitals is that sitting there affords some pretty good stitching time. Here's where I am today ...

The lower right tree is at the bottom of the sampler (gasp)! I know! How exciting is that? Those of you who have already stitched ATS will notice that I've changed the words. I don't like abbreviations, like 9-07 for September 2007 (those of you who've been with me for a while already know about my strange OCD issues), so some changes were required to satisfy my needs (just saying that makes me laugh at myself). To satisfy some equally odd need, I tried to make the pond pretty. Well, pretty to me.

Go ahead, call me kooky. I just had to have some ripples where the fishing line is dropping into the water. Maybe by the end of the month ... sorry, but I can't say it. I don't wanna jinx it.

I have to tell you a little about Mom. I told her how incredibly kind all of you have been, and she wants me to thank you for your prayers, chants, candles, good thoughts and happy wishes. Our whole family is thankful for your thoughtfulness. Mom spent a couple of days in the hospital again this week (her blood is being naughty), but she's back home and feeling better.

This will probably be my last post before I go off to New England on Monday. There's so much to do between now and then. I've caught up on a few blogs, but I have a ways to go. I've missed spending time with ya'll. Maybe I'll surprise you from the road with a post or two. My friends have computers, but it's hard to sit alone in a room when everyone else is drinking/laughing/visiting without me. I don't wanna miss a thing! Nikki will be at home with Merlin, so he'll be in good hands.

Later, gators ... make some fun.

PS ... I've tried to make this crazy thing make spaces for paragraphs, but it won't work today (rrrrr, @#!@*#). So sorry if it's difficult to read.

The C Word

My family has been wrestling with the C word for two weeks. Yesterday it became absolutely real and true. My mom has cancer. The name of the vile monster is extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. It started in her gall bladder and has moved into her liver. Mom is really good at seeming well, but she hasn't been well for quite a while. At this point, she's home and is feeling better.

Amazingly, we're in a calm period right now. At first, we were all panic-stricken, but we're in some kind of place where we're all adjusting and assimilating and working it out. My sister-in-law and niece are here (a little earlier than had been planned a while back), and my brother will be here later this week. Our family gets along really well, so it's always incredibly nice when we're all together. We give each other all kinds of crap all the time and laugh and act silly. Sounds like pretty good medicine, huh?

Mom is especially funny. We have a mental collection of Mom-isms. Mom has a tendency to state the obvious (or obvious to us). Our favorites include, "Brain tumors can be dangerous" and "You know, Michael Jackson looks like a girl". When my folks returned from a tour of Italy, during which they were often treated at lunch and dinner to "regional wines", Mom said at lunch one day, "I really miss my regional wines." So when Mom comes up with one some funny one-liner, we laugh hysterically and repeat it often. What's really funny is that all of us (my brother, my sister and I) inadvertently come up with our own Mom-isms. Apparently, it's genetic!

So this is my big discussion of my mom's illness. She reads this (silly girl), and she isn't comfortable having everyone know all the details of her life or having anyone worry about her. Because I care about her comfort, I'll refrain from writing too much here about what's happening. I will absolutely keep you posted if there is good news to report or good stitching news! My mom is a firm believer in prayer. I am a firm believer in positive thoughts and goodwill. If you have a prayer circle at your church, I hope you will include my mom, Estelle, in that circle. If you are a positive thinker, please think of her name and good health. I'm asking for your help in whatever form it comes. Mom will begin chemotherapy soon, and we're all thinking only the best thoughts. Thank you so much for your sweet comments and kind words.

I finished with packing today at school. Tomorrow I'm joining my sister-in-law (Barb) and my niece (Kelly) on a hike way up in the mountains. With all that's been happening, I've sorely neglected my blog and your blogs. Hopefully, that will improve as my schedule loosens up a little. My next post will include some stitchy talk and pics. I'll leave you today with a picture of my parents, Don and Estelle, just so you can see what all the fuss is about. It was taken when Nikki, my daughter, graduated from college a year ago. I'm using it because it's a particularly good picture of all of them.

Can you believe these people have children in their 50's? They also have a six-year-old great-grandchild! Shocking, isn't it?

Make some fun.

I've had good intentions. Each day this week, I thought about sitting down to post something, but each day has been so busy. My mom is in the hospital, which is such an extreme surprise to all of us that we hardly know what to do. She hasn't felt well for about a month, and when she went to the doctor, they treated her for an infection. Almost a week later, when she went back, they found some more disturbing things. So poor Mom is in the hospital and we've been entertaining her. In fact, it's hard to say which is worse for her ... being in the hospital or the entertainment we've provided. My brother came into town on Friday, so all three of us have been hanging out with Mom and Dad. I'll update you in a few days, when all of the info is gathered. All I ask is that you bring on all of your good thoughts or prayers or anything else you can muster.

On a happier note, here's a picture from Mom's Day of the three family ATS's. You'll notice that Sharri's finished sampler is in the middle, Mom's is on the left, and mine is on the right. At this point, I could be the next to finish, but now that Mom's sick, I almost feel bad about finishing before her. I know the picture quality is bad, but these pics were taken in Mom and Dad's dark den.

I'm not sure if these are clickable. When I first started blogging, all of my pics were clickable, but lately they haven't been. I can't figure out what I'm doing differently. It would help, probably, if I read the manual that came with my camera, but I have other things I'd rather do. If you have advice for the technologically challenged, bring it on. In the picture below, I tried to get a little closer so you could see Sharri's. As we were laying these out, we started noticing all of the things she forgot to stitch. A flower here, some backstitching there, a missed stitch in another place or two. Sharri is the less left-brained sister. She moves around all over the fabric when she stitches, but I tend to move more methodically through a piece. It's not that I love to stitch that way. It's my fear that I'll be unstitching and restitching several areas because I can't count. Maybe Sharri's more of a risk-taker. Or a better counter.

That's about it for today. I'm gonna allow myself a little time on the deck and then I'm off to the hospital for a while. Only one more week with my sweet little friends at school! Then we teachers pack for two days after Memorial Day (a closing school requires much packing), and it's all over but the shouting. Make some fun.

Let Me Out!

Help! My calendar has trapped me in a vicious vortex of end-of-school events! I'm a prisoner of my schedule! I've missed you all terribly. This morning has been filled with a very little housework and as much blog-reading as I could manage. I decided that I'd better get a post done, or someone will be sending out a search party. While reading, I had some big fat computer issues. I couldn't see the text part of Simone's blog (so I'm missing out on that giveaway), and then another blog I was visiting started that crazy open-as-many-windows-to-this-blog-as-possible thing. What's that about? Is it Blogger? Is it Explorer? Is it operator error?

My morning school, Lewis Ames Elementary in Littleton, Colorado, is closing this year. We are all so sad to leave each other and go to different schools that we've been denying the future. I was rudely roused from my own denial this week when I learned that I've been sentenced to the darkness of hell next year. The administrators of the program I work for are sending me to the only school I've ever truly abhorred (it's the adults, not the students). The deciders (love that Bush-ism) at that school (and don't forget the administrators at the top) make decisions based upon a lack of literacy experience and a belief that a program (rather than excellent teaching) can save their school. Or maybe it's the Magic 8 Ball in the principal's desk! Anyway, I'm in for a summer-long attitude adjustment. I'll have to stitch even more to work out my demons therapeutically and visualize myself doing my best job ever. I think I can, I think I can ...

Ames is having an open house this week, and I'm on the committee planning it. We've been making, baking and painting dough ornaments to give away (pictures to come later), so I've been a busy girl. Our school was treated to a wonderful field trip to Coors Field (home of the Colorado Rockies) this week for a wild event. If you're interested in seeing part of the excitement that exhausted teachers and students (some kindergarteners passed out on the bus ride home), you can look here.

How about a stitchy pic? If you recall from who-knows-how-long-ago, this was what Eden looked like ...
Today, Eden looks like this ...

Hey, there's a little progress. I like seeing both pictures together like that. I started filling in the pond area with some "ripples" from the fishing line. We'll see how that goes. Of course, the swans are gonna need their own "ripples", so making them all work together oughta keep my mind working. I'm not sure where these creative moments (read: wild ideas) come from, but what the hell! Can it hurt to give it a try? Only the unstitching hurts, right?

On another And They Sinned note, my sister finished her journey through Eden (enormous gasp)!! I know! Isn't that exciting? Sharri is now wondering which bank to rob in order to frame it. Hopefully, I'll get a picture for you tomorrow when we go visit Mom.

I'm off to ... 1) enjoy the fabulous sun on the deck, 2) make and bake some more ornaments, 3) remove the hideous debris of the week in my house, 4) savor a Diet Coke with lemon. Two weeks left until I'm set free to roam the golf course and stitch until my elbow hurts.

Happy Mother's Day, all of you moms out there. Make some fun.

Of Thanks, Frames and Sisters

All of you sweet stitchy bloggers deserve another giant THANK YOU for all of your kind and thoughtful messages this week. I so appreciate your understanding.

Look what was ready at the framer this week! Yep, it's Lo How a Rose making her framed entrance!

I'm very happy with the way it turned out, and it's now ensconced next to my bed. Lo fits in perfectly.

So now I have to ask you a question. Do any of you, like me, have a knack for choosing the most expensive mouldings? Truly, every time I'm in there to pick out a frame, it's always some hideously expensive moulding, and after seeing it next to my stitching, I can't live without it. I'm somewhat envious of those of you out there who frame your own things. I say somewhat because I don't really wanna do that. I'm stingy with my time, and framing isn't how I wanna spend it. Until I'm retired and have more extra time, I'll keep trying to earn enough money to pay for my framing. I'm still secretly laughing about my dad thinking that my mom and sister and I can frame all three ATS's for $500 (hee, hee, hee). We can never, ever let him know the true total price of all three frames. He'd never recover from the shock.

Wanna hear about a couple of new Sisters? The Sisterhood of the Rose has welcomed two new stitchy buds: Melissa in Vancouver, Canada, and Hazel in England. Exchanging a couple of notes with them has been very fun. Adding these two sweet ladies has put us up to nine members! I'm wondering if one of our members will win Edgar's copy of LHaR. We'll see.

When/if you email me about the Sisterhood (or anything else), it occasionally gets caught in the spam net. If I don't answer right away, I'm not being rude (like usual), I just haven't checked my spam box yet.

Did you see the fabulous prizes that the BBD ladies brought back from France for the lucky winners of their contest? Outstanding items. I want to fondle them. The items, not Alma and Barb. In fact, I'm feeling rather covetous (that feels like a word, but I'm not certain) of those items. But I'm very happy for the winners, and surely they'll enjoy their new treasures.

OK, I'm off to stitch in the purple chair. Wanna know what tomorrow's number is? 3. Yep, three weeks 'til the last day of school. Work has been somewhat drama-filled this week, and I've been less than willing to deal with it. Hopefully, it's just temporary emotional overload, and my serenity will return soon. The end of this school year is bittersweet, as they'll be closing my morning school. I'll save that for another post. Adam and Eve are calling me.

Happy Friday tomorrow ... make some fun.

Little Sampler

Here's my little BBD sampler.

It's stitched over two threads on 40-count linen from my stash that I coffee-dyed and baked (my new favorite pastime). I used three purples: dark is WDW Eggplant, medium is WDW Purple Haze, and light is DMC 452. The little birdie came from BBD's Sarah Tobias.

I'm happy that I jumped on the big bad Blackbird bandwagon last week and stitched this sampler. The opportunity came along at the perfect time, as I explained to Alma and Barb. My youngest child, Rebekah, was born on April 29, 1991, so I immediately thought of stitching this project in her honor. She would have been 18 this Wednesday, but she died in February of 1996. Because this year seems (to me) like a big milestone year, I felt like I should mark it in some way, but I couldn't decide what to do besides the things I do every year. Stitching this little piece provided me with some much-needed stitch therapy.

I think of Bekah many times every single day, as you mothers out there would guess. Since '96, I've worked her initials (they're in the lightest color in the little sampler) into most of the things I've stitched. It's my little way of keeping her in view, I guess.

I hesitated to write about Bekah here, because losing a child is such a profoundly difficult subject to discuss, even after 13 years. And once the subject is open, some discussion has to happen. While we constantly feel her absence in our family, I think we do a pretty good job of continuing to live in a way that would make her happy and proud of us. Living life as victims with bitterness and despair wouldn't honor her or celebrate her life. We all talk about her and have pictures of her everywhere, not because we need reminders, but because we have great memories of her that we want to share.

I could write a book on this subject, but I'll end by saying that losing Bekah has taught me (is still teaching me) an incredible number of lessons I wish I didn't have to learn in this way. My self-appointed job is to learn and live the lessons as gracefully as possible, so that something good can come from something that feels so wrong.