Mini Vacation

Dear Friends,

Hello again! And welcome to the new followers. :-)

I've managed to squeeze a little vacation in, which was lovely. Thanksgiving went off without a hitch! We had a wonderful meal and really enjoyed spending more than 5 minutes together. My Lil' Butterball (that's actually what they're called oddly enough) was delicious. For someone who doesn't care for turkey much, I was pleasantly surprised.

The apple pie I was intending to make for the festivities was pushed off until Friday. After cooking everything else on Thursday I was dog tired! Needless to say, I refrained from shopping in all the madness that is Black Friday. Cyber Monday is the preferred method of saving money, although I can't even say I've done much online shopping for Christmas presents.

Beauty and the Beast has jumped forward by leaps and bounds. I can almost see the light at the end of this page!! You can see where I've jumped ahead just slightly with the dark browns (peeking out at the bottom). It's a start on Belle and the Beast. Getting antsy! Soon there will be much stitching of the actual characters... which would be nice for a change.

I mentioned, in my last post, I'm working on a surprise project. Figured I'd show a little teaser just to keep you all guessing. :-) I love the colors so far and believe it or not, I'm already 3/4 of the way through the stitching. Then will come the finish I've not tried before and many prayers would be welcome. :-)

The metallic DMC thread is NOT my friend, but I won't be writing it off completely as I'm hoping it just sucks to stitch on Aida. I really like the effect, just not actually stitching with it.

As I upload this photo I'm realizing that a stray pooch hair has weaved itself in. Leave it to my dog(s) to make sure they're a part of EVERYTHING.

I'll be taking a trip to St. Louis, MO from Tuesday night to Thursday night. More training. Woohoo. Can't you just feel the excitement? The hotel is paid for (thank God) and I'm taking the opportunity to finish my Christmas shopping while I'm there. We don't have many stores at all here and I prefer buying certain things in person versus online.

I know I'll be bringing my surprise stitch with me and I'm debating on pulling The Lion King out to drag along as well. It's been my go-to travel piece thus far so I can't very well ignore it now.

Oh dear, I almost forgot one of the most exciting things!! My Grandmother sent a box filled with Christmas things for DB and me. Included were about 6 strands of lights (and she's still asking if she needs to send more!!), 2 tree skirts (for the 1 tree we'll have mind you), tablecloths, place mats, and (my favorite part) a bunch of ornaments she's had that I remember hanging on the tree when I was a little girl. What I didn't recall, however, was that she had cross stitched ornaments! I've got no clue who made them, but they're so darling I just had to share.

On that note I'll take my leave for the time being. Please feel free to comment/follow as I'd love to do the same!