Do You Remember This??

I'm not sure exactly what the problem was, but it certainly didn't look like Belle. Maybe it was that I had tried to use paper stabilizer. One person even asked if it was Belle wearing some of Snow White's clothes.  I've been working on a sweatshirt for our Disney trip. This design frustrated me so much that I put the sweatshirt away and finished my Christmas orders. I've been thinking about this so much.  I knew that I needed to tear it out.  It's not an easy job.  I even tore two holes where the eyes were.  I wasn't sure what to do.  There were too many hours in this sweatshirt already to just quit.  After many hours of thinking (I'm sure at some points, there was smoke coming out of my ears), I decided to try something I'd never done before.  So this morning, I put my stabilizer into the hoop and then pinned the sweatshirt over it.  Then, to cover the threads that I couldn't remove, I put another layer of stabilizer on top of where Belle had been.  I made sure that I picked a design that was bigger than Belle was.  And I began to stitch.

It was a huge design, 125 minutes to stitch it out.  But here is the result.  A beautiful Cinderella!  My color chart called for "silver gray" for the flowers, I wish I had chosen a different color.  But I love her.

What did I learn from this incident?  First, I learned that paper stabilizer and sweatshirt material don't mix.  Second, I learned that being Scotch isn't always a good thing - sometimes you just need to pay extra for the good stuff and save the paper stabilizer for tracing patterns.  And Third, I learned that slow and steady wins the race.  I thought and thought before I proceeded, and that was a good thing.

Jake and I watch Monsters U this morning, so now he wants me to sew Mike and Sully onto my sweatshirt.  I have those designs, so this afternoon Mike and Sully it is!  And I think they are smaller designs.  Hope So!

Counting Down

We are most definitely counting down.  We have less than 25 days until our Disney trip.  Some people say, "You're going AGAIN?"  And we answer, "Oh Yea!"  I am so very excited about this trip.  We have all pitched in to make it the best ever.  We love the fireworks cruises, and since we couldn't decide which to do, we have two.  One is for the Illuminations fireworks at EPCOT, and has a special tag for Christmas which ends with the song, Let There Be Peace on Earth.  And we have also booked a cruise to view the Wishes fireworks from the Magic Kingdom.  And then there's a special surprise for the kids at Animal Kingdom (Which I can't discuss, but will post photos of when we return.)

In the past, we have been given what Disney called the "Key to the World" card.  It was a card similar to a credit card which was not only your room key, but also your admission ticket to the parks and you could use it to charge tips, food, and purchases to your room and pay it all off at one time.

 Disney is in the process of changing over to "Magic Bands".  They will be used for all the things that the Key to the World card was, but also keeps track of your Fast Passes to rides.  The are water proof which is good if you like the water rides, which we don't.  This picture shows the ones that Rod and I personalized.  We were able to choose our colors, and our names are inside the bands.

With the Key to the World being discontinued there was no need for the neck wallets that we normally use.  But you know that we ladies need to have some sort of bag to keep our "stuff" in.  I have made wristlets for all of us for daily use, but decided to make special Disney ones for our trip.  They will be so handy.  The hook is on the wristlet so that the girls can clip it to the belt loops on their pants.  But still for meals, they can hook on the strap and loop it over their wrists for security.  I don't wear pants with belt loops, but the strap is just perfect to hang over the tiller of my scooter.

Since Princess and the Frog is my favorite Disney movie, I chose the Tiana fabric for mine.  Krissy is a Tinkerbell fan, so she gets the Tinkerbell fabric, and the lining of hers is fabric that has a few lines from Peter Pan.  Mary loves the pink Mickey fabric, so it's hers.  Pam chose the blue Mickey fabric, and Pat wanted the red Minnie fabric.  I ordered special key chains to use as zipper pulls on November 6, but they haven't shipped yet.  I will call the company this morning, and tell them to cancel my order if they aren't shipping it by tomorrow.

So the countdown continues, and our excitement continues to build.

SHAME ON YOU!!!!!

Can you believe all the "powers that be" in the retail industry that have decided that it was a good idea to open on Thanksgiving.  To them I say, "Shame on You"!!!  What made you think that this was a good thing?  How do you expect employees to be loyal when you choose to take them from their families on a day that was set aside to give thanks?  Will you be working in the store during those hours, or will you be at home stuffing your faces, watching football, and laughing about all the "schmucks" you have the ability to remove from their families on a holiday???

Wikipedia defines Thanksgiving as "a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens", to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26.^[1] As a federal and public holiday in the U.S., Thanksgiving is one of the major holidays of the year."

When did Thanksgiving cease to be a federal and public holiday?  Who made this decision?  I, for one, will not be shopping on that day.  I, for one, will not shop in those stores at all over the Thanksgiving weekend. Black Friday will just have to go on without this shopper.  

Thank You!

Thank you to all those veterans who serve or have served our country so bravely to protect our freedoms. I think some times you are under-appreciated, but today we salute you.

We had a wonderful weekend.  As planned, we visited the Weichnachsmarkt in Historic Harmony.  It was soooo cold, and the gusty wind didn't help any.  The artisan and food booths were set up in a gravel parking lot - large gravel.  My little blue scooter doesn't like gravel, but large gravel is really a problem.  I made it as far as the music tent, which was my favorite place to be.  There was a gentleman there who was playing a keyboard and singing German songs.  When he asked for requests, I asked him for Die Lorelei, a German song about a sailor and sirens.  It was always one of my favorites.  We stayed to watch the dancers, and I would love to have stayed for the Oompah Band, but I was frozen (as you can see from the photo).  I had dressed in layers - a long sleeved turtleneck, a flannel shirt and then my hoodie.  Rod sneaked off to the vine tasting tent while I listened to the music, and bought a bottles of red, white, and catawba pink wine from Volant Mill Winery.  I had tasted their red before and loved it.  We opened the catawba last night for dinner, and it was just as good.  We left the festival, and drove to Kraynak's with the intention of seeing their Santaland.  It was packed, and as we entered the parking lot (where there were no parking places) a large van stopped ahead of us and discharged a group of nursing home patients.  We decided we didn't want to see the Santaland badly enough to fight the large crowd, and started back home by another route.  We stopped and had dinner at Eat n Park, which seemed proper since Rod was working at an Eat n Park when we got married.  And then, after dinner we drove home.  The day wasn't anything earth moving, but I couldn't stop smiling.  I love riding in the car with Rod - some of our best dreams have been discussed in the car.  We laugh, we listen to our favorite music, and on Saturday we reminisced about the various trips on the highways we were on.  For me, it was a wonderful day.

I have some orders to finish up, and then it's onto more embroidery designs on my sweatshirt.  I have so much to do before our December Disney trip, and it's rapidly approaching.  I have only one more Christmas gift to buy, and my shopping is all done.   Have a good week.

Funny Friday

I guess that this should be categorized as irony rather then funny. My father never really accepted that I had become a responsible adult, and he had a tendency to make me feel like I was sort of stupid.  Every time we borrowed a video from him and my mom, he made sure that he told me NOT to erase what was on it.  Every single time!!  And we were always careful.  My parents were really good friends with some Amish families, so when Daddy found out that we had recorded Witness with Harrison Ford, he asked to borrow the tape.  And I didn't say, "Be careful not to erase it".  I guess that was my mistake.  I was always sure to label all the videos we wanted to save, but never removed the tab on the cassette.   When he asked if we could all watch the movie together before I took it home, I didn't see any problem with it.  You can imagine my dismay when the "movie" started and it wasn't Witness at all.  Seems that my mom and dad had taped "Lawrence Welk" over our movie.  I over-dramatized a little when I acted indignant that although he always made sure that he told us not to tape over one of his tapes, he had, in fact taped over one of ours.  I'm sure he was a little embarrassed to admit that he had done that, but he never again told us to be careful with his videos.  We laughed about the look on his face most of the way home.

30 Days of Thankful

November is upon us, and during this month, some of my family and friends like to celebrate 30 days of being thankful.  I am thankful for so much every day of my life; but during this month, I like to concentrate on one specific blessing each day.  It becomes a special month of meditation, gratitude, and soul searching for me, while the rest of the world is crazy preparing for Christmas and leaving Thanksgiving to fall by the wayside. 

In the past, I kept a "Gratitude Journal". It helped me to come through a rough time in my life.  I was unhappy, discontented, and very depressed.  The Gratitude Journal forced me to dwell on the good things in my life, to be thankful for what I had in life, rather than what I didn't have.  As I look around me, I realize that I have been so blessed with a wonderful husband, kind and loving children, sons-in-law who provide well for my daughters and grandchildren, and sweet, loving grandchildren  I was fortunate to have parents and in-laws who lived their wedding vows of "til death do us part", and taught Rod and I to do the same.  I no longer write down my "gratitudes", but each morning when I awake, I first thank God for another day, and then concentrate on the good things I have in my life.  It's my own form of meditation.  During these 30 days, I also try to give back some of the goodness that God has given me.  

And so, as you prepare for the busy holiday season which is approaching, consider observing 30  Days of Thankful.  Give thanks each morning, and perhaps during the month, donate to a local charity, food bank,  Toys for Tots, or send a card or small gift to a person serving our country in the Armed Forces.  It will leave you with a happy heart.