Checking In

It is so good to be home!  I had to go to Pasadena for training this week.  It was really good training and I am so glad I went.  However, I missed my little family at home so much.  My sweet Bill is a very nurturing person and had packed little baggies of my vitamins and snacks for me for while I was out of town.   He promised to be an extra good puppy daddy to Liesl while I was gone, too.   It made me miss him even more when I opened my little baggies of vitamins.  (I can only take chewables.)  So I missed everyone terribly and got home as fast as I could.  I had been staying in a really nice hotel, but it was so nice to be in my own bed, drinking out of my coffee mug, and putting kissies on the top of Liesl's sweet little head. 

 

I actually drove to Pasadena, which was quite peaceful because I had a stack of Garrison Keillor CDs with me.  I love Garrison Keillor and how he tells his stories.  His voice is so peaceful and his stories speak with nostalgia of a time we knew a long time ago.  It was a peaceful way to spend a five hour drive. 

 

So it has been a wonderful weekend with my Liesl and Bill.  It has been so nice to be home and digest some of the things I have learned this week.  I feel so completely grateful that I get to do interesting work but that this best part of my life is coming home.  It is where I feel so peaceful, joyful, enriched and happy.  As I sit here, Bill is reading his book and Liesl is sleeping peacefully at my feet.  It rained today and the air smells fresh.  Bill cooked a healthy, delicious dinner.  I feel that being home this weekend has fed my spirit and helps me to go out into the world a better person so that I may serve others.  It really is true that there is no place like home!

 

 

WIP Progress

It seems that I have not shared my progress on the Autumn Quaker in a while.  This is such a fun project.  I really love the Valdani floss and the color variations.  It is intricate and does have some confetti stitching, but I really love stitching this piece.

 

We have had such a great weekend.  Between the colds that we have been passing back and forth, some overtime at work, and our trip, our housework has been sorely neglected.  So we scrubbed the house down all weekend.  It just feels so much better to be home. 

 

Last night was my birthday dinner with my closest friends.  My best friend made a Moroccan dinner, which was so fabulous I will be thinking about it for years to come.  She made green beans with tomatoes, couscous with salty lemons, and a chicken dish that was just glorious.  My BFF is an amazing cook and everything she cooks is always delicious.  She also made a Moroccan birthday cake with rosewater and orange syrup.  It was amazing.  The best part of the evening though was having my friends together.  I have more than my fair share of really amazing friends.  I felt so blessed.  All of the husbands also get along so well.  It was such a joyful evening filled with love.  I was so grateful for it.  We drove home last night just so happy about what a great time we had.

 

I received really beautiful gifts, which was actually unexpected.  The true gift was our time together, laughing, talking and sharing a great meal.  I also received a stitchy gift.  When my best friend was in Minneapolis last month, she went into a Scandinavian stitching store, because I had told her that I really wanted to work on my Hardanger skills.  Her sister has stitched some beautiful hardanger pieces for her.  So she went into this shop and bought two hardanger books, some 22 ct white fabric cut from the bolt, perle cotton and needles.  I am so excited to get started. 

 

I feel so blessed to have this time with my friends and their husbands.  We all enjoy being together.  It was such a blessing and for these kinds of moments, I am so grateful.