Move Along Folks; Nothing to See Here, Nothing to See...

No really... nothing to show for my (nearly 2 week?) hiatus. This'll be quick. :)

I've done a tiny bit of stitching, some more piecing on my quilt, and - most importantly - bid a fond (and incredibly teary... okay, I wept like a baby multiple times during the finale) farewell to the show that was the ONLY reason we got cable TV - LOST. Last week was incredibly consumed with the build up to this event. It's a little pathetic, really... Tuesday was the penultimate episode, and when it was over I was "done" for the night... couldn't think about anything else. Thursday evening I actually paid money to go sit in a movie theater and watch an interview with the creators/ head writers of the show and, again, was useless for the rest of the night (are you getting an idea of my level of devotion to and love for this show??), then Sunday from 7pm until 11:30pm I was on the couch with lots of tissue watching the recap special and the final broadcast. If it weren't for the Redskins (DH's blood runs burgundy & gold) I would happily call Comcast and pull the plug right now. :)

But! Now I'm back, I have my Tuesday nights back and I can promise you this - there are several great posts headed your way after the Memorial Day Weekend.

*SPOILER ALERT* - Don't read further if you like being surprised by blog post topics. :)

Coming Soon to a blog near you (uh... this blog):

- Headed to MI to see my mama over the Memorial Day Weekend - farm pics and Leah pics will be included

- On Saturday I will spend the day antiquing and quilt shop hopping with our beloved and FAB-u-lous bloggers Deb and Terri - recap to follow (to include any hilarity that ensues)

- Stitching progress

- Quilt progress

- A couple "other" projects I've worked on recently

Have a wonderful Memorial Day and remember to take a moment (or more) to remember those that have died to protect our right to barbecue, wear cutoff jeans, speak our minds, worship as we choose, and all the myriad other everyday little things we can sometimes take for granted.

Peace Out my homeys! See you on the flip side!
Robin

Roses are Pink, Frogs are Glass & Stitching is Last

Howdy everybody! How are you all doing? My new phone (HTC Incredible... it is awesome!! If you're in the market for a VZW phone I HIGHLY recommend it!) is supposed to have helped me stay on top of reading and commenting on blogs... but apparently I don't have quite as many empty moments as I thought, b/c I feel like I'm just as big a stranger to the blogosphere as ever! I need to get caught up with y'all, and I will soon, I promise!

Thanks so much for the kind wishes for Leah's birthday!! I read each and every one to her (and dispensed second hand hugs as requested), and they all made her feel so special and cared for... thank you for helping me make her birthday wonderful for her!! I can't believe my baby is 5 and goes to "big kid school" in the fall. Time really does fly by, doesn't it?

I'm struggling to pinpoint a "good" starting point for this post, so I'm just going to jump right in... I apologize in advance for the stream of consciousness (Robin style) you're about to be subjected to! This could get scary folks, so buckle in!!!

Umm... yeah... that sounds cool so I'm leaving it in, but really we haven't had anything terribly exciting going on. Just your normal every day run of the mill "stuff"... Let's see, how to recap...

We had Leah's birthday party this past Saturday, which was a complete success. I don't know what I was thinking, though! 15 kids in my townhouse!! (It's generously sized for a townhouse, but add their parents to the mix and it was standing room only!). I remembered pronto why I am sticking with my decision to have one child. By the time the third kid arrived I was ready to come unglued! Not because they were being bad or anything, just the sheer volume of their little voices! Oy! Then they got hopped up on sugar and dear Lord I was ready to reach for the vodka... er, or I would have if we had any in the house. :) Seriously, I don't know how you ladies with multiple children do it!! You have my utmost respect and admiration, you truly do. So, basically what I'm saying is: Birthday parties in my home - Most. Effective. Birth. Control. Ever. And really, the world is a much safer place if I limit my offspring to one, m'kay (because of me, not because of my offspring)?

We've had something of a rainy/ chilly spell this week, which has meant not a ton of outside activity going on. However, I did manage to grab a couple of really nice shots of one of the few roses I have blooming (this bush really needs to be pulled, but I just don't have the heart to do it... yet) during a brief hiatus in the gloom the other evening:

I love roses!!! Especially a lot of the David Austen roses. This is 'Heritage', and when it was healthy it bloomed profusely in several flushes throughout the summer (one year it even had a small bloom in mid-October!) with very little extra care (all I did was dead head, and give it some rose food every 2-3 weeks) I really wish we'd decide how we're going to finish our back yard so I can get a garden plan going back there! We are in negotiations amongst ourselves, and once we decide I'll be sure to share some before and afters with you all. Whether you want me to, or not! :) Needless to say, the beds will include roses. I can't wait!!

Oh! Mother's Day! I hope you all had a wonderful day and that your families lavished you with affection and gratitude for all that you are for them every day of every year!!! We had a pretty quiet day which was nice. We made a trip to our local Home Goods/ TJ Maxx (I love me some HG/ TM!!!) in the afternoon so that I could try to find a replacement for my beloved fuzzy white bathroom rugs... why would I need to do that you ask? Well, let me tell you.

My dear darling (dramatic) Leah was dancing around my bathroom artistically twirling her little (lightweight!!!) sweater around her and singing at the top of her lungs. I had stupidly left some bottles of nail polish on the side of the tub (you know where this is headed, don't you). Somehow the sweater made contact with a bottle of OPI Mother Road Rose (great color, btw) polish, knocked it off the WHITE TILE tub, and onto the WHITE TILE floor and of course, the neck of the bottle snapped off and lo and behold, we had dark hot pink nail polish everywhere (tips for removing said nail polish without ruining the finish on my tile are welcome), including on my fuzzy white rug. :( Ah well, accidents happen. Oh, but the fun part was when Leah stepped in it while trying to clean it up, then proceeded to make little pink dots all around the bathroom as I tried desperately to get her to "Stop! Moving!" I swear you can't make this stuff up! I can totally imagine how comical we would've looked to someone watching the scene unfold, lol!

Anywho! That resulted in a trip to Home Goods (you feel sorry for me, don't you) where (amongst other "scores") I found these little gems (aka Mother's Day gifts):

Aren't they great?? They're heavy as all get out, and so rustic looking, which I love. They weren't very expensive and so they came home with us. I actually got two of the smaller one, but figured a pic of just one of them would get the point across... did it? The two smaller ones were labelled as candle holders, but the bottoms are pretty concave, so I'm not sure how well that would work. I'll figure something out.

But my best mommy's day gift came much later in the day. Let me back up... Leah has been leaving her room to go to sleep in our bed lately, and we haven't quite managed to break her of the habit. So, Sunday night I brought a load of laundry up to my room to fold and put away, but when I got up there Leah was in our bed (I thought) fast asleep. So, I put the basket down, whispered to the kitty that I'd put the clothes away tomorrow night, and went back downstairs. My DH came downstairs a few minutes later and told me to "go check out what Leah's doing." Well, really, there's no telling what her creative little mind might come up with so I high tailed it up to our room and found her... pulling clothes out of the basket (in the dark!), "folding" them, and putting them in piles on the bed, just like mommy. She saw me and said "Here mommy, I'll do this for you so you don't have to do it tomorrow." I just about bawled. Who's my sweetest baby EVER?? We finished doing the load together, then she crawled back into bed and fell asleep. It was about the best ending I could have imagined to the day.

Stitching time has been completely non-existent for the last few weeks for various reasons. I did pick up The Blessing again Monday night and here is where I am:

I am really enjoying this part of the pattern... I know this probably means I'm crazy, but I actually really enjoy fill in. No counting, totally mindless, just the soothing rythm of the stitches, and whatever music or audio book I'm listening to. Ahhh.

Once this is done, (or possibly before), I think I'm going to try finishing up that quilt top I was working on... whenever it was I was working on it! I've been bitten by the quilt bug recently (note to self - stop visiting fatquartershop.com), and really want to get cracking on finishing that quilt top and maybe starting another.

Just one more thing, then you can go. :) I'm not sure you recall the tour of my room several posts back, but I believe I showed a pic of my scissors in a frog just sitting on the table? Well, I was encouraged to find a home for the frog, and I found something it fit right there in my craft room! Me likey!

Alrighty, that's it for me tonight! I'll "see" you all soon!! Have a wonderful weekend!!

~Robin

Leah Haley

Five years ago (almost to the minute) my greatest joy entered the world. Here is "her life" in 8 photos or less...

May 4th, 2005 ~ 12:35am

6lbs 15oz; 21" long

Have a wonderful week if I don't get a chance to do another post this week!

Robin

Testing 123

Hiya folks!

Just testing my ability to post on Blogger from my new phone. :)

See you soon!!!

Miscellany

Hey there, everybody!

Let me start by sayin'... ain't no stitchy pics here! :) I've had another week that has kept me away from my stitchy seat (in some respects "self imposed"... but I'll tell you about that in a little bit) except for a couple of nights, so no progress worth a pic! Next time (I hope!)!!

I have been very lax in blog reading and commenting the past couple weeks, and for that I apologize!! But, I was able to get a few read today at lunch, and look what I found on Cari's blog!!??!! My first EVER award!!! :) It made me so happy!! Thank you SO SO SO much, Cari!!!

The rules are that I'm supposed to list 10 things that make me happy, then pass it along to 10 folks. Here goes the fulfillment of the 1st portion (note that these are not necessarily in order of importance - except the first one. The first one is definitely first.):

1) My sweet baby Leah (I'm sure none of you are suprised by that!!)
2) LOST (Here's hoping my level of sadness when the show ends {only 4 hours left!!!} does NOT correlate to the level of happiness it brings me)
3) Reading a good book - curled up under a blanket on a rainy day, or sitting outside on a lovely evening
4) Taking pictures, and playing with them in PhotoShop
5) Playing games - card games, board games, any kind of game (except games involving balls)
6) Stitching (duh)
7) Quilt fabric (can't really say "quilting" since I pretty much only dream of doing that) - esp. jelly rolls, layer cakes, honey buns, turnovers, etc., etc., etc.
8) Gardening
9) Decorating/ looking at design blogs and books (and mags)
10) Sleep. I looove me some sleep!!

Now the second part of this award is to give it to 10 other people... but I can't choose between all the blogs I follow. So, I'm not going to pass it along. (Breakin' the law! Breakin' the law!!) Just know this: If you are on my blog-roll, reading your blog makes me happy. Really! Your blogs give me so much inspiration, motivation, entertainment, enjoyment... and the relationships that have developed with some of you electronically enrich my life so much, I can't even tell you!! So!

Okay, on to the reason for my stitching inattentiveness (I'll try to keep this brief, but you know me!!)... I've been sucked into a vortex. Or maybe it's a black hole... whatever it is, I am very excited about this, and can't wait to truly get started with it!! What is it? Digital scrapbooking!!

I visited my BFF (Ili) last Saturday and asked how her scrapbooks were coming along. She said "Girrl!! I went digital!!" I was like "Whaaat?? Oh no you di'n'!!" And she was like... okay, sorry, I'll spare you. :) Long story short, she introduced me to a website called artscow.com. She had completed and had printed several photo books from them, and they looked really really good! So, I got myself all set up and started Sunday evening. It was VERY cool! Pretty easy to use, and much faster than traditional (paper) scrapbooking. I used to spend 2-3hrs per page when I was kickin' it old skool. With this site, I spent @ 10 hrs and had 15 pages complete. I was so excited when I saved my project Monday night! Then the problems started... I won't go into it all here, but suffice to say I won't be using artscow.com. 10 hrs of work completely down the drain (due to issues on their end) and the response of their customer service department was pretty much "sorry 'bout your luck!"

So! Despite that frustration it was a wonderful thing! I loved doing it so much that I am now looking into and will probably purchase the Creative Memories Storybook Creator software. It isn't nearly as expensive as I thought it was, and it looks like it is a very powerful tool! It'll be good to get through the thousands of pictures I have sitting on my PC, on CDs and on my memory card! Who knows? Maybe I'll even share some of my pages in future posts!

To make up for not having a stitchy pic this week, I thought I'd share a couple of flower pics from my garden...

Well, folks! I'm going to sign off, get caught up on blog reading and commenting, then continue on with my Digital scrapbooking research... if any of you have success stories or horror stories to share, I'd love to hear them!!! Thanks so much for reading!!!

Stitch a$$ to all and to all a good night!!

Robin

Cherry Blossoms and Some Progress

Hey there mes amies!

Before I get "started" on this post, let me first say thank you all SO much for your kind wishes for my anniversary! We had a quiet and relaxing evening at home, which was nice... I have no real idea what I've been doing the last couple weeks, but I do know that I've felt as though every single day has been jam packed with busyness. Good busyness, though, and that's about all we can ask for, right?

I haven't had much time for stitching in the last couple weeks (I usually collapse into bed shortly after {and sometimes, lately, before... what is UP with my child that she seems able to exist on miniscule amounts of sleep?? She definitely didn't get that particular genetic "gift" from her momma!!} my little Leah.), but here is what I've done... as you can see, we have a lady! I'm hoping to finish this some time this century...


Now, let's move on to what Leah described as our "a little bit boring" (kid tells it like it is... now that she definitely gets from her momma!!) trip to DC to see the Cherry Blossoms (along with every other tourist within a 100 mile radius), shall we?

It was a beautiful day, although it started out a bit chilly and cloudy. But the clouds drifted away and the temperature rose comfortably pretty quickly. The hordes of people made it difficult to get very many really great, scenic shots, but here's what I've got...

This is a close up (the only one I took... there were people literally hanging from the trees... like monkeys!! And ripping small branches off the trees, too. Did they not realize that these trees are a National Monument in and of themselves?? Would they chisel off a piece of the Jefferson Memorial?? I think not.... sheesh. Learn some restraint before you come out into public, people, really.) of the blooms:


Some of you may wonder how I made it out of there without my own dear, sweet little monkey taking home a blossomy souvenir of her own... well... see, it's like this. I lied to her. Yes, call CPS right now. She is constantly (and don't get me wrong - I adore this) appropriating blooms to give her mommy a little gift, but as we all know, there is a time and a place for everything, and I just couldn't have my sweet child becoming "That kid", you know what I'm saying?? So, on the way to the Metro I told her "Now Leah, there are only two rules today. The most important one is stick to mommy like glue. The second and almost as important one is: Do. Not. Pick. The. Flowers." With her love of all things floral I should have known she would latch onto the floral ban. Of course, she asked "Why, mommy??" Thinking on my feet as any good (cough cough) mommy would to come up with a suitably serious reason to a 4 year old I said: "It's illegal (yep, she knows what that word means)." Her eyes got really really round, the thumb went in the mouth and the blankie went to her face. She didn't say another word about it. And I didn't think anything of it until we were making our way back to the Smithsonian Metro stop several hours later to head home. Suddenly we heard police sirens, and two police cars went streaking past. Leah asked me where the police men were going. I responded absentmindedly "I don't know, baby..." Her melting, beautiful, sad (at that moment) brown eyes looked deeply into mine and she said "Oh mommy, I think maybe someone picked the flowers." I was stunned into absolute silence. I felt like the worst worm on earth in that moment. But I'm consoling myself that she has most likely already forgotten...

Anywho! Here's a shot of the Jefferson Memorial:

And here is the one and only decent shot of Leah from the day (notice the hot pink Peep clutched in her wee little hand)... the hordes (and I do mean hordes) of people out that day made it pretty difficult to get halfway decent shots. I had visions of gorgeous, card worthy pics of Leah amongst the cherry trees... so totally didn't happen! But, I like this one:

And here's the Washington Monument (you can see a bit how crowded it was... look along the railing at the edge of the Tidal Basin... wall to wall people.) from a vantage point about midway around the Basin:

Now this next shot shows one of the cooler moments of the day... we were walking toward the Jefferson Memorial and suddenly we heard this very loud, unmistakable helicopter sound. We had seen a couple tourist (or maybe news?) 'copters already so I looked up expecting to see another. Much to my amazement, this is what I saw:

Yep, it's Marine One! And I'm pretty sure Mr. Prez (or someone important, anyway) was in there, b/c the two "diversionary" replicas (is that the word??) were flying with it. It really was pretty awesome... they were very very low, and they were screamin' fast past the Basin and Jefferson Memorial. They buzzed the blossoms about 3 times, then were gone.

One last shot, then my little head needs to hit the pillow... this was a Rugby game going on along our route to the Jefferson Memorial. I took the pic b/c I wanted to try out my zoom lens for action shots... It did pretty well, I think. I was standing 100yds (or more? I'm horrible at judging distances!) away, and this is what I snagged:

All right y'all! That's it for me tonight! As always, thanks so much for taking the time to read!

Enjoy the rest of the week, and may you all enjoy the sensation known as "stitch a$$". :)

~Robin

Nine Years Ago Tomorrow....

From our wedding invitation: "As my walk brings me closer to Christ, it is your hand I reach for along the way..."

Busy couple of weeks... "See" you all next week!

~Robin