A thankful holiday

I was thinking about all of the things I’m thankful for this holiday…

My new granddaughter, Ella; being together with both of my children at the same time; my best friend Su is home from the hospital after nearly three weeks; the weather has been warm; the wonderful meal we had at David and Paula’s; safe travel for myself, Bill and the rest of my family; good health; enough money to pay the bills and play a little; fuel for my heater.  I could go on but I have so much to be thankful for that it would take up way too much space.

Greg, Vanessa and Ella traveled to Maine for this holiday.  They stayed two nights at D&P’s, then spent Friday night with me.  We had a good time and really enjoyed watching Ella’s new “trick”, rolling over.  She loves to eat and opens her mouth wide, just like a baby bird.

They left before lunch on Saturday so Bill and I did some Black Friday shopping.  We were glad to see the parking lots were full but not overflowing and the stores we went to weren’t jammed.  It was a good holiday weekend; time spent with family and time together.

On a sewing note…I finished a small gift bag for my MQResource Secret Sister.

Other than that, I haven’t had any time to sit at home and sew.  I need several uninterrupted hours to work on the background of the butterfly wallhanging if I expect to get it finished by Christmas (it was started for last Christmas).

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A Su update

Unfortunately, my bestest, closest girlfriend is still in the hospital.  I had not seen her since last week and I think she is looking worse.  She is so pale and thin!  She is constantly nauseous and vomiting although she isn’t eating anything.  She says that her stomach is absorbing the medications she is taking (IV antibiotics and assorted others) and that is all she has to vomit.  She doesn’t really get much support from her husband, sister or children.  I feel so sorry for her and wish there was something I could do to make her feel better but I know that there is nothing.  All I can do is be there for her, send prayers and Reiki.  Today I visited for a couple of hours and gave her a nice, long foot rub.  She said it felt good and was very relaxing.

Feel Better Su!

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Let’s Dance With the Stars

Yesterday my partner, Peter B. and I took part in a local fund raiser called Let’s Dance With the Stars!  There were eight couples participating in a small dance competition.  Each couple was made up of one “professional” dancer and one not so professional and had to perform for 1 1/2 minutes.  Peter and I have been practicing for the past six weeks, usually once or twice a week for an hour or so.

Peter’s dance coach choreographed our routine.  We selected a fox trot to the Marilyn Monroe tune, “I Wanna Be Loved By You”.  I found a white halter dress and a blonde wig on eBay in order to play up the MM part.  Peter was dressed in a nice looking short tux coat, white shirt, black and white shoes.  Peter is an excellent dancer and leader, although he has only been dancing for three years.

We hit it off quickly and agreed that we both wanted to win the competition.  I felt good that I had such a strong partner and he was happy that I had some dance experience and could pick up the new steps quickly.

The entire evening was a big hit and 500 tickets were sold out.  There were three judges and each audience member received one vote.  We were the fourth couple to perform.  The routines varied from hip/hop, to salsa, to cha cha and fox trot.  Our routine went extremely well; we didn’t make any mistakes and felt very good about the final performance.  We received one 10 and two 8s.  Most of the ballroom people, as well as ourselves, felt that the 8s were low.  Since the crowd got to vote and much of the crowd consisted of younger people, the hip/hop routines were real crowd pleasers.  Consequently, one of the hip/hop routines won first place.  We came in fourth (by 1 point).  As a thank you for participating, we received a $35 gas certificate and several Avon products.  We had a great time and it didn’t matter that we didn’t win.  I spent some time doing some great dancing with a great partner, met some new people and above all, had tons of fun.

PS…304 days to retirement!

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Finally, some crafting

It seems that the more I want to sew and craft, the less time I have to do so. Today, however, I spent most of the afternoon and evening doing just that. I spent quite a bit of time finishing my bargello Christmas tree that was started in a class at Kathie’s Quilt Shoppe. All it really needed was crystals and glitter. I used super glue to attach the crystals. After that I applied glitter to the edges of the tree. I have been putting off the glitter session because I make such a mess with the stuff. I end up wearing more than I apply but today went pretty well. The weather was good so I was able to stand outside and shake it off when I was finished.

These photos didn’t come out very well but you get the picture (no pun intended).

I also took the time to cut some fabric for a gift for my Secret Sister from the MQResource forum, as well as a continuing project for my son. Now I’m anxious to start my SS project but have no idea when I will get to sit down and sew again.

Although the lawn care guys came and cleaned up the leaves, you would never know it by looking out my kitchen window. I live in a condo so I don’t HAVE to do yard work or gardening unless I choose to. However, I’m going to have to get out soon and clean up the rest of the leaves so I can put up the snow fence that I use to keep the snowmobilers from traveling across my front lawn! I hope that Bill and I can work on that tomorrow before it starts to rain.

I have spent much of the past several weeks in the hospital visiting my best friend Su. She has had a very difficult time and has been an extremely sick woman. Last week she was transferred from our community hospital to Maine Medical Center where she could get more specialized care. Thankfully, she is doing better each day (baby steps) and hopefully she will be coming home soon.

I have also been practicing at least once a week for the “Let’s Dance With The Stars” community fundraiser which takes place Saturday night. My partner, Peter, and I will be doing a fox trot to a Marilyn Monroe song. There are eight couples vying for the first place prize, which remains a secret. To date there have been over 350 tickets sold. It should be fun although I’m getting a little nervous. The routine is only 1 1/2 minutes long, how bad can it be? I’ll post the results next week and maybe some pictures.

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