My New, Old Friend

Way back in high school, my mom was best friends with a lady who had a daughter around my age. (I think two years younger than me) Jenny (the daughter) and I were convinced that we didn't want to be friends...but our moms kept inventing different events where we were forced together! Then to top it off, they took us to Hawaii together and after that we became unseperable!

When I married young, at the age of 20, she was just graduating high school, going to college, etc. By the time I was a pastor's wife and mom to two young babies, she was having a blast being single travelling around Europe!

We never had a falling out, never said we weren't friends or anything..we were just in different stages in our lives.

Well, I haven't seen her since her wedding, about five years ago. Our dh's have never met and they have since had two kids. Just so happened, that her family was home for Christmas the same time mine was.

We spent most the day together today, went to my DH's ballgame together tonight and then they came over and played cards together til late. We had an absolute blast, our DH's got along great, our kids got along great, etc.etc.

We still are in different stages..she's mom to a 8 month and a 3 year old..she's into nursing and potty training! Mine are 11 and 8, I'm into attitudes and girls and stuff like that! They live in Amsterdam, we live in NC!

There is a chance they'll move to Atlanta w/in a year and we'd be the closest (about a 5 hr. drive) that we've ever lived to each other.

Anyway, it's probably silly! But I'm just thrilled we can still sit and giggle and remember old times, and talk about life as it is now and just have a really great time together. Good friends are hard to come by, so it's nice to renew an old friendship!

Christmas is Over

Really? Can it be true? :)

We had a really nice Christmas day. All the nieces and nephews played really well together. And by the time everybody left around 10:30pm, they had spent over 12 hours together! So they did great!

My sister and DH and I took the boys to see Bedtime Stories. It's Adam Sandler's new movie. That movie is hilarious! We laughed through the whole movie!

It's still freezing here! Oh my, only 18 today...with the 70 mph winds, it was -3 at 10:00am! BRR!! We've got ZERO snow still! My boys have just got to have snow to play in, don't they?!! There were huge trees down everywhere today. We took my boys and my older brother's 3 girls to a paint place to paint ceramics. While we were there, the power was out for about an hour. Thankfully there were lots of windows and we could see just fine, so it didn't slow us down much! But boy the weather is nasty!

My dad told me this morning it'd be okay for me to turn up the heat. And I said, "Oh no! I'm just fine." And he said, "But you are wearing a coat and a scarf inside the house!" And sure enough I was! But at least I was warm! Right?

We're having a nice time. Always a little strange to go back home! :) My best friend from high school is here with her DH and two kids. I haven't seen her since her wedding five years ago! So we've been having fun talking on the phone like old times. We've been out to coffee once, but plan to get together soon!

No stitching getting done around here! :)

BRR!!

I bet when you think of Alaska in the winter, you think of nice white fluffy snow, right? Not in Kodiak! There is no snow, none zilch, zip! There is however ice everywhere! Just ask my DH, the ice knocked him flat on his rear in the Taco Bell parking lot. (Yes there's a Taco Bell in Kodiak!) There is this awful, cold wind that has blown constantly today. As I'm sitting here at the computer, it rattles the windows as it blows past! Too chilly for this southern girl! Of course if there was nice white, fluffy snow out there...the cold would be okay!

There is a forecast of snow for tomorrow and for Christmas. I sure hope there is! There is snow everywhere else! :)

DH is playing with my sister in a local basketball Christmas tournament. So we've been going to a few games with that. I have five nieces and they've all been down to my mom's to play with the kids a lot. They haven't seen my kids since February, and it's amazing how quickly they all hook right back up with each other!

I'm doing hardly any stitching. Just working on one little ornament and it's taking forever! :) Gotta tuck my boys in bed. Maybe I'll warm up in bed!!

ALASKA!

Finally made it! What a trip! We were supposed to land in Kodiak at 8am, and we ended up getting here at 4pm! Air traffic was horrid, with delays and overcrowed flights everywhere!

We spent the entire day, well 7am-3pm in Anchorage. We rented a car, and drove all over the city, from snowbank to snowbank! We, thanks to DH, had packed an extra set of clothes that we took on the plane. So the kids got soaked, and the they just changed when we got back to the airport. We had to do an extra trip from Seattle to Fairbanks and then on to Anchorage instead of the direct flight. We missed the flight out of Seattle and if we wanted to go direct, we wouldn't have been able to leave Seattle until Sunday! NO THANKS!

But good comes from everything, I guess! :) My best elementary school friend lives in Fairbanks and can you believe she dragged herself out of bed at 2am to come see me for a few hours at the airport! We landed in Fairbanks at 2am and we were the very last row of the plane. Can you believe the last 1/2 of the plane had to exit the rear of the plane..OUTSIDE! It was 10 degrees! Actually, that's rather warm for Fairbanks and this time of year, but it was cold for us southerners! Course there was snow everywhere and the boys LOVED it!

So now I'm home for two weeks. My dad is doing better. He looks heathly, but the paralysis in his face really makes him look aged. His mobility is very weak...hard to see my dad like that. Like my siblings all sad, you should have seen him a few weeks ago. I guess he's really improved. But he still has a very long way to go!

Not sure how much I'll be online! But Merry Christmas to all y'all!

Don't Be Shocked!

Seriously, don't be shocked! I'm all packed!! DH even loaded the bags in the car this morning before he left for a 1/2 day of work! :)

Four suitcases, four carry-ons, DH, me and two boys. Think we'll make it?

Connections are awfully close, and DH is convinced the bad weather across the states is gonna affect our travel! :) We have a lovely SEVEN HOUR layover in Anchorage. So if we do miss something on the way, it's not that big of a deal! If we make all of our connections, we're gonna use hotwire.com and get a cheap hotel for a few hours in Anchorage. There are limited flights going in to Kodiak. We miss the latest one by 15 minutes. It leaves at 10:30pm and we arrive in Anchorage at 10:45pm. The next one is their early jet flight leaving at 7am. Yuck! If the weather is bad in Kodiak (quite possible!) that morning jet is usually the one that will get in.

Here's hoping for no problems on the way up there !:) We leave at 2:30 pm eastern time which is 10:30am in Kodiak. By the time we land at 8:00am the next day, it will have been an almost 24 hour trip! Pray I have patience with the boys and DH! :)

Sara

A Christmas Gift for Me!

So on my little blog map, I can tell when and where people stop by my blog! There are people I really don't know from all over the US. But there are also people from all over the world! And really I'd like to know who you are! Below are listed some cities where people are from who have read my blog! Pretty please, a Christmas present to me? Will you just make a little comment, so I can go read your blog too?

Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Kapellen, Antwerpen, Belgium

Lancaster, Blackpool, United Kingdom

Les Maillans, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, France

Elton, Nottingham, United Kingdom

Augsburg, Bayern, Germany

Collégien, Ile-de-France, France

Linda-a-Velha, Lisboa, Portugal

Loxley, Warwickshire, United Kingdom,

Connewarre, Victoria, Australia

Milan, Lombardia, Italy

New Jeans

So I decided I really needed a new pair of jeans to go home for Christmas. I have lots of jeans, but none are "just right". I see jeans on other ladies all the time, and they look so nice, and my jean.. well, they just don't look nice! Seem to me that I have a bit of junk in my trunk as somebody likes to say! I'm also right smack inbetween two sizes, why don't they make a ladies size 11?! :) I should just loose about five pounds, but this isn't the time to do it!

So I've been thinking, maybe the problem is I only buy cheap jeans! So I went off to Kohl's and proceeded to try on at least 15 different styles, cuts, quality, price of jeans. Finally found a pair that I loved the fit, but I didn't love the color of the denim! Ugh! So I decided at the price of $30, that wouldn't do. So I put it all back and went to Walmart.

So I'm at Walmart, and thought I'll just try their jeans. Guess what.. really nice fit. Cheap too, only $15! And their Levi's were only $20 and the same ones at Kohls were $39-44! I guess Walmart can buy in mass? that's why it's cheaper?

Anyway..wish I would have gone straight to Walmart..would have saved me 1 1/2 hrs today!

So I came home and started packing, and realized I have ZERO long sleeved casual shirts! Now, I can NOT wear a tshirt in Alaska in the winter..so off I went in search of at least two long sleeved shirts! I guess the south has finally won over my wardrobe! I have 3/4 summer and 1/4 winter!

So now I'm ready to start packing.. I think! :)

We leave Raleigh tomorrow at 2:30 and fly to Cincinatti. Once there we have a 45 minute layover! Way too tight for my comfort. If we make that one, we fly to Seattle and we only have an hour there. We have to change carriers, from Delta to Alaska, so that means they'll be in different terminals...so we're gonna have to boogy! If we make that flight we go straight to Anchorage and will get there at 10:30pm. Then we will be camping out in the airport until we leave at 7am! So in a way, if we could be sure to still get to Alaska, it'd be okay to miss one of our flights..it'd shorten the time we have to spend in Anchorage!

Wish us well! :)

A merry Christmas to all my new friends! It's been fun catching up with old friends and meeting new ones! Sara

Picture Time

Alright, lovely ladies! If you're like me, you mainly go to blogs to look at the pictures! So since time is running out on me....here are a bunch of random pictures! :)

My Grandpa received his degree from Lancaster Bible College, at the young age of 89 1/2! It's a long story that I'll tell some day...but basically he went to the college in the late 1930's, got drafted, and by the time he got back the college wouldn't recognize his credits or something. Fastforward 75+ years and he was awarded his degree last Saturday. My grandma is 90!


Look how happy my Grandpa looks!

Luke was shocked to find out we had bought him a COLT's football jersey for Christmas! Think we surprised him?

DH and Luke (Dh has lost 57 pounds...doesn't he look cute!)

We had the boys open our presents early! No sense in taking this pile to Alaska and back! This picture shows their different personalities perfectly!

Andrew's beginning orchestra class played at the mall last week. He plays the viola.

We've been helping out at a very small Hispanic church this past year. Luke and Andrew were shepherds!

My sister got Luke a DS for Christmas. He got it early to play on the airplane. He has been waiting a year and was shocked to finally get one. He looks a wee obsessed, doesn't he?! This is also PRE haircut for Luke!

Okay, Finally stitching pictures. These are all from the various Just Cross Stitch ornament issues. This one is Miracles Happen. (obviously)

Don't know the name of this one, but it is either LHN or CCN

This is one of my Christmas presents to my sister. It is a Henzeit blocks pattern. It's not finished being put together as you can tell! She's not a very flowery girl, and I'm not 100% on the fabric choice yet!

Luke took one look at it and said what does SSESITR say? Oh brother!


This is by Lizzie Kate, her original Double Flips. I have got to get these in the mail to Viv. (I'll have to do it when I get back from AK) It's not crooked, I hung it on a cabinet knob and couldn't get it to hang right! I had to not stitc the last word between laugh and live, I cut my fabric wrong! It's alright, it was the word Create, and she doesnt' do that! haha You might be able to see some of my nativity collection in the background!

Last but not least, I received this ornament in the ornament exchange at my stitching retreat in Pigeon Forge! Isn't it cute?!


My camera is being stupid and giving my children red eyes! The red eye filter is on, but it's just not working right. And whenever I try to fix it online, it just puts a big blue blob where their eye is supposed to have been! So which is better, zombie or red eye???

My Car is a Mess

Why is it when my car and my house is a mess, I feel like my life is a mess too?! :) We've just been going crazy around here the past few days, and things get left laying around!

We went to my inlaws this past weekend to celebrate Christmas with them and it was my MIL's birthday too. Tonight we will let our kids open their gifts from us. We figure there's no reason to take them to Alaska and back, right? We are saving a gift each to give them in AK.

I feel like I have five million things to do before I leave for Alaska! :)
*wrap boys presents
*finish my sister's xstitch gift
*clean house and car
*catch up on all the laundry
*craft at Luke's classroom on Wed
*Andrew's holiday concert Thurs pm
*pack my clothes, Luke's and Andrew's
*evenly distribute Christmas gifts in luggage (if one luggage would get lost, you KNOW it would be the one full of presents!)
*address 100+ postcards for my little part-time job
*straighten up boys' rooms (yes again!)
*kit up a few xstitch things for the trip there and back

Oh and there's the normal everyday stuff of cleaning and cooking and homework, etc.

I have a few pictures I need to take to show you the stitching I've been able to do. I tried to stitch ornaments for the month of Dec. I've done quite a few, but not nearly what I would have liked to get done! Oh well, life gets in the way sometimes!

My dad continues to improve, he's actually slept downstairs in his own bed for two nights now. Still gets really dizzy and seeing double. He feels like one must be causing the other, so if one would go away, the other would be better. He has a doctor's appointment tomorrrow, I think, but I know he is dreading the effort it will take to get there and back!

Update on my Dad

I don't have time to get into it at the moment! :) But my dad is finally at home, resting in the recliner! Now if he will only STAY THERE!! He's one of those people who don't understand the idea of REST and RECOVER! I was just thinking today, that the doctor should have ordered him on bedrest!!

Right now he is taking the antinausea medicine that pregnant women take! I said well now he can at least understand how those women feel! :)

I'm thrilled he's home! Thanks for all the great thoughts and prayers!

My Dad

Just a quick update! Life has turned hectic all of a sudden! I've been on the cell phone about 24/7 the past four or five days with any one of my three siblings, and my mom!

My dad was diagnosed with Ramsey Hunt Syndrom a few weeks ago. All because he rode in an open skiff without his ear flaps down! He's been doing that for YEARS, like at least 30..but I guess this time it did him in!

By the time he got to his remote camp in Alaska (about a 2 hr boat ride) he basically crawled from the beach to his bed where he stayed for two days until my little brother (not so little, but always MY little brother) called my mom and said we need to get a plane out here to get dad!

To just summarize a really long story, he ended up in the hospital (for the 2nd time) on Sunday...and as far as I know today, he is still there. He should get to go home today.

Ramsey Hunt is a lot like Bells Palsy, it has the paralysis in the face and some other similar things, but the RH has a LOT of pain with it. It also has vertigo, which is my dad's main problem! They live in a two story house, and it was taking him literally 15 minutes to go up 10 steps each morning. He was crawling to the bathroom, etc. Finally after lots of vomitting and dizzy spells, my brothers and a friend helped him into the car and off to the hospital. He was pretty dehydrated, which makes the vertigo worse..so he had 3 full bags of fluids before he noticed any difference.

He's had an MRI done and that's clear, thank goodness. When I read up on RH, these are all symptoms, but we just wanted to make sure it was nothing else! Know what I mean?

That vertigo mess is scary! So anyway, obviously I live in North Carolina and the rest of my entire family is in Kodiak where my parents are. So the past four days have been up and down, if I should fly up there or not! Talk about stressful! :) My family is flying up next Friday anyway, and there wasn't much I could do... Thankfully he took a turn for the better last night, or I would have been on a plane up there!

I guess it had gotten to the point (all because of the vertigo) that he couldn't even feed himself! Now, I guess you need to know my dad..he is 65... He's a hunting guide, a real Alaskan so to speak! He's never been sick a day in his life, NEVER been in the hospital, etc. So it's been really scary for my siblings to see him so dibilitated.

I've felt a little like the loser child, but there wasn't anything I could have done anyway. My siblings and mom are quite capable! But, still! If we hadn't been planning to fly up for two weeks anyway, I would have already been on a plane up there. It's just frustrating trying to figure out what I needed to do! My mom said, "No! No reason to come" My sister said, "You need to come right now!" My brother said, "If it will make you feel better, come!"

What are you supposed to do with all that?! :)

Anyway, they are 4 hrs behind me (eastern time) so I need to call and see how his morning today went!

Thanks for all the nice thoughts! Sara

This is a french freebie pattern. I stitched it on some minty green fabric I had from somewhere! And I happened to have this Dinky Dyes silk thread called Noel, that just went perfect for it! I don't really like how the shading on the scissors ended up. See where it looks like three rows of colors? I'm thinking I might change that! Or maybe not! LOL It's stitched over two, but it's a pretty small count, with one thread.

This is from the Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue. I think it's either CCN or LHN! I can't tell them apart! i'm thinking CCN, but am not sure! :)

I finally finished my Fair and Square exchange and got that in the mail. So I am done with all stitching obligations. My grand plan is to just stitch a bunch of ornaments. I have the JCS issues back to 2000 and have hardly sticthed any of them. So I've got fabric pulled and the ornaments marked that I really want to stitch. We'll see how many I get done in December!

My dad is in the hospital, suffering from vertigo. A side effect of the Ramsey Hunt Syndrome he was diagnosed with three weeks ago. He's just not improving, which is scary. He is getting an MRI done this afternoon. My three siblings are with him in AK (along with my mom), so he's well taken care of! But still... :) I'm waiting to see how the next few days go. I'm heading up that way in two weeks anyway, but I will go earlier if I need to!

My oldest played with his 6th grade orchestra at the mall today! I have a video on my camera that I am trying to upload! :) We'll see!

Remember my free day at home?

So today starts out well! I decide to sit and take the day for myself! :) I absolutely had to finish a square for the Fair and Square board. It was due Dec. 1st! Decided to leave the dusting until later...

I hadn't been sitting but an hour or so and my phone rings.. yup, sick kid at school! The school's policy is if the fever is 100 or over they have to go home... so his was right at 100, so I had to go get him. He doesn't feel great, he's been laying around since I brought him home around 11:30!

Poor guy! So far he's eaten chicken noodle soup and icecream! Yum, huh?

So much for my free day! Oh well! :)

Clean Rooms and Treasures!

AHH! I love a clean room!

And in my youngest's room I found this letter!


(i marked out our badly misspelled address) It's so funny! We've really been working with him on some behavior issues, so the first P.S. really made me feel good! The 2nd P.S. is hilarious because he hasn't ever really believed in Santa, we never made a big deal one way or the other. I wonder what has him thinking about that! The 3rd P.S. makes me think there might be hope yet, seeing as he is thinking of somebody else!

But the hilarious part is all the circles and arrows and the note at the top to forgive his bad spelling! And did you notice the letter is in proper form? They've been learning that at school this past week or two!

Just Checking something

I always shrink down the pictures to make them fit, but then they get fuzzy...so I'm showing my favorite one BIG so you can see all the ctue details and color change in the threads and fabric.

A Day At Home...sort of

I am thrilled to have a morning at home!! :) You should see the dust around here! Oh my goodness, it's awful!

I have a deal with my youngest son, that I will eat with him once a week at school. Last week they only had two days of school, so I couldn't get up there to eat with him. So he is just sure that should mean I have to eat with him twice this week! So I've got to go back in a little bit to eat lunch with him. I don't drop him off until 8:45/9:00 and they eat at 11:15! So really makes for a short morning for me!

Then my oldest reminded me he is staying after school on Friday to participate in a cooking video, and he needs all his supplies for his casserole today! So after I eat with Luke, I'll run by the store to get Andrew's supplies!

What happened to my day at home? I should have about two hours at home between the store and picking up Andrew, so hopefully I can get a bunch done then!

I have a few pictures! I have managed to stitch two ornaments so far...course they need all the finishing work done, but at least the stitching is done!

This is from the JCS 2008 Ornament Issue. "Be Merry" by My Mark Designs.

This is from the same issue called "A Christmas Song" but I can't remember the designer! It is by far my very favorite ornament! It's stitched on a very small count, like 45 or something, but it's over two! It's a mix of dyed threads, just love it!

A certain stitching friend sent me this pattern and w/in an hour was asking me if it was finished! At least it's started! I found a Dinky Dyed red and green silk thread and it will be perfect for this pattern.


Now, for the big debate at our house! My oldest son (age 11) seems to thrive in MESS!! They have had Legos out for at least four weeks, the longest I've ever let them stay out. They are supposed to stay on the queen sized sheet for easy clean up! But you can see the sheet wadded in the front of the one picture! :) He doesn't think this is messy! What do you think??



Oh dear! It seems worse in picture form!!

I have no time!

How exactly do I have NO time? I'm a stay-at-HOME mom for crying out loud! :) Life has gotten really busy lately.

Monday: tutor reading at school, go to a friend's house to put a Craft-themed basket together for a PTA fundraiser,grocery shopping at two stores, pick up oldest child, fix dinner, eat,laundry, do homework etc.,finally finish updating Luke's journal (I started this section Oct. 28th!)

Tuesday: drop basket at school, get new tags for car (in a town 20 minutes from mine!),go to four stores looking for Barbie doll cereal for my niece. (why is it I've seen it for the past six months, and now that I want it, I can't find it!),post office, thrift store to buy gag gifts for Christmas parties, store to pick up a present for Luke, back to school to eat lunch with Luke, home, catch up on a YEAR of pictures in Luke's baby book, pick up Andrew, go back to Walmart to get stuff for a project for Andrew, pick up Luke, updating blog and getting ready for dinner.

Wed: tutor reading, volunteer in Luke's class for two hours, eat lunch with Luke (making up for a missed time last week!), drive 30 min. to nearest craft store to get supplies for the missions class I'm teaching that night, home, finish planning lesson, hopefully update Andrew's pictures for his baby book too!:)

I have Thurs and Friday left in the week. I still haven't dusted, mopped, cleaned up the kitchen or finished my laundry, or cleaned bathrooms!

I did manage to start and finish two ornaments in the wee hours of the morning! I have a Fair and Square exchange due YESTERDAY, but it will be finished tonight...after I read and critic and proofread DH's missions curriculum that needs to go online this week!

See, nothing too it! :) Christmas play practice Saturday, Church Sunday morning, play practice in the afternoon, performance that night, goodies to eat after that! Then the new week starts..which will be really busy! :)

I have two piles of Christmas stuff! One for our NC Christmas which will be on Dec. 14th. It's also my MIL's birthday, so I need to figure out what is birthday and what is Christmas for her! I have a xstitch to give her, but need to get the buttons and attach them before I can do any finishing on it!

We leave the 19th for ALASKA! BRR! Our first Christmas home, since 2001! I know, because of updating the baby books!:) Anyway, I have to make sure I have every gift before we go...plus many family members want me to pick up this or that too! Wonder if I'll have room for clothes? I have two stitched items for my sister, which are finished, but I need to do the actual finishing on those too! It'd help if I knew what I wanted to do with them!

ANYWAY! My camera has no batteries, I tried to use cheapo $1 Store batteries, and they had enough oomph for two pictures! :) I need to recharge my good ones! So pictures soon!

I've really finished a lot since our weekend away! :) It helps when you stay up until 2am!! really last night I PROMISED I was going to bed at 1:00am! Then I said fine okay, 1:30, I made it to be at 1:53! Hey, it was before 2:00, right? :)

p.s. I just had to edit my post cause I spelled proofread wrong! How funny is that? I told DH I'm not the right person for that job!!