Reality Hits

After my wonderful week with the girls, it was really hard to get back to life as we know it. I had insurance companies and power chair companies to deal with and we all know what that is like. It became obvious to me that it might be a while before I would be able to get another vehicle. My wonderful son took me out to dinner for Thanksgiving and that was a treat. Other than that it was a very quiet and uneventful day here. I have been stitching trying to get caught up with some models I have to finish and I have been working on my new releases for the February Needlework Market in Nashville. Christmas was very quiet for us. My step-daughter and her children and grandchildren cam by on December 14th and that was the highlight for me. The grand-kids are growing up entirely too fast! Jason and I spent Christmas Day relaxing and watching Christmas movies on TV. I was able to get a lot of stitching done this week. Now I was planning for the Stitching Sisters to come New Year's weekend for our Christmas get-together. That will be my real Christmas! Kiki got here on Thursday afternoon Dec 30th and we got to catch up a bit before the others arrived. We laughed and stitched and watch DVD's until the wee hours of the morning. Angel got here about 11:00am and Angela arrived about 12:00 noon. We ate lunch and homemade fudge brought by Kiki and laughed and celebrated. About 4:00 pm we decided to have our gift exchange. I was truly blessed with all that I was given.

From Angel I got a beautiful snakeskin bag, several boxes and tins to use with my stitching, a micro-suede lap throw, a tie set which I will talk about in another post, a box of chocolates in the special Whitman's Sampler stitcher's tin and a lovely stitched needlebook and scissors fob to match the Tag she made me last year--in red, of course!

Angela gave me three nesting trays that she had made for me with felted bottoms to protect my treasures. She also gave me two sets of beaded counting pins and a beaded bookmark that she also made.

Kiki's gift to me was a combination birthday and Christmas gift. She made me a strip quilted jacket and purse set in my favorite colors--black, white, and red--with touches of yellow and gray. It is so beautiful! I will try to get some photos up tomorrow.

We missed Tracy this year but hopefully she will be able to join us again next year.

Until next time....

I'm back!

Sorry it has been awhile since I was here, but things just went a little haywire for me. I am still without a car so I have been having to borrow a vehicle when I need to go somewhere. The insurance company finally settled but they did not come close to giving me what my car was worth and they refused to cover my chair and lift. So it will be a while before I can get something else.

Now the rest of the story....
We had a marvelous time at our retreat. We arrived in Myrtle Beach only 5 hours later than anticipated. When we got to the room Kiki and Jeannie went to a get together with a few other stitchers but I decided to stay in the condo and rest. I was very sore and beginning to feel a lot of pain so I went to bed early.

On Friday morning, Kiki and Jeannie went shopping. They hit a couple of quilt shops and Walmart. That afternoon we went to the hotel for the retreat introduction and then to dinner with another group of stitchers. Without my chair it was very difficult for me to get around so we stayed at the hotel and had a wonderful meal. The retreat officially started at 7:00pm and Meg Shinal was as wonderful as ever. We did introductions and show and tell then began our practice piece. As I've mentioned in the past our projects for the last 11 years has been the different moon series. This year--our twelfth--is Christmas Moon. Our practice piece was using the Armenian Interlacing stitch, the Danish Stars and Algerian Eyelets. We finished this stitched piece into a small pocket for a perpetual calendar.

We got back to the room about 10:30 and stayed up stitching and talking till about 1:00 am.

On Saturday morning we began our class project and it was great as usual. Meg does such wonderful classes and this was no exception. Everyone was so thoughtful and helpful to me. I know I could never have made it though without their help. After our lunch break at the hotel (delicious food, great service, and we all enjoyed ourselves tremendously!) we had a break for the afternoon. Some of the girls went shopping again but I went back to the condo and rested for a while. I stitched on my class project and made great progress on it.

On Saturday Evening we had a wonderful skit with Nancy reminding us all of *Moons past* and reviewomng the last twelve years at Seaside. It was hilarious and nostalgic at the same time. We played a couple of games and did our ornament exchange and then said goodnight for the evening. Back in our condo I finished up my Christmas Moon.




On Sunday morning after our devotional, goodbyes were said and a bonus *Blue Moon Design* was given to us along with our retreat charm. It was a great retreat and I cannot wait to see what Meg comes up with for next year now that all the Moon are complete.

Kiki, Jeannie and I were staying a few extra days so I was able to get lots of rest and relaxation before coming home to the real world once more. However, it didn't take long for reality to set in once I got home to Chesnee.

So until next time....