Stitching Away!

This picture was taken after working on the elephant project two weeks. I have not worked on the elephant for the past couple of weeks but did make quite a bit of progress between pictures of it. The first picture was taken after one week. That picture is on my post of November 2. Remember how I wanted to give you a picture last time updated but was having issues? This was one of the pictures I wanted to show you. This one and the first picture of the cat, seen below.

In the past two weeks I have been stitching solely on the cat for my cousin and his wife. I just have so many patterns I want to stitch right now that I had to start on the cat too. The first picture of the cat was taken by my friend, Jan, last week. She didn't get around to mailing me the picture until yesterday though and so I ended up doing a lot more stitching on the cat this week. Thank you, Meari for somehow getting the picture the proper direction! I have two friends who offered to help me get the second cat picture to cooperate with me. I sent it to both of them. I opened Meari's first and it worked, so thank you Rob too! I am so glad I have both of you as friends! I have more of the cat's head done now. Last night I finished his right ear and the right side of his face completely, put the black in his forehead, and started on his eyes. I also stitched a little more of the black extending his back.

(Nov 23) Yesterday, after my original post with the sideways cat, I finished his face completely. Now as far as hid head goes, I have just a few stitches on his left ear and the all important backstitching. I also stitched on his back and body. I only used DMC 3022on his back and body last night, but that part of him is starting to look better. Not sure how much I can stitch today since I have to clean the house I do once a week and then of course to the store for a couple of Thanksgiving items.

I have been told this week that I am hired to stitch a couple more cats. This excites me. I have been told for the longest time that my stitching is good enough that I should sell my work. This will be the first time anything of mine has been sold and they are hiring me to boot! She will be taking me to the store to get the material she wants, purchase any thread, etc., I need and then after it is done will pay me for my labor in stitching them.

I got some stoney creek books in the mail this week (thanks Ellen) with some patterns I'd love to stitch. Especially the deer and some flowers. Need to stitch a Noah's Ark pattern for my niece. I also bought my first HAED since my last blog update. So many things to stitch so little time!

Well I need to be going. I wish I could somehow get this picture to face right, but I can't! Happy stitching everyone!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!

Honest, Progress was Made!

Hello Everyone!

I honestly wanted to have this update with a picture of my elephant progress. Tomorrow will be one week since I updated last. I think I have made a fair to decent amount of progress. But, my scanner is not cooperating. My printer, for whatever reason, will not bring up the tab that says, "download camera or scanner". Thus I cannot get my scanner to work at all. I even had Wes look at it, to try and trouble shoot it for me and he is as confused as I am. I guess I feel good that I'm not the only lost one on this one.

I have done a great deal on the trunk and face of the Bull Elephant, as well as quite a bit of stitching on his left ear. The artist created the pattern on 14CT Adia. I am stitching it on Countfrn Old Lace 28CT. I think it is looking pretty good. I did not have a piece of Adia the proper size for this pattern and I really needed to stitch on something. Thus far in the pattern, I have used five different colors. I have added a couple of the grey type colors, more the colors I think of when I see an elephant than dark browns.

One of the biggest reasons I needed to stitch was I am still trying to quit smoking. I have been successful to now, but I do struggle from time to time and find if I am stitching on something I think of smoking less. The last time I had a cigarette was September 19. I started using the nicotine patch and started phase two (of three) on the patch last week.I really have wanted to quit smoking for quite a long time, some of you may remember when I have tried before. At any rate, I am successful thus far, this time. I honestly think I have the habit kicked, but I want to finish the program. I am stitching and chewing gum as well.

Sarah and Wes are at a movie right now. They are spending as much time as possible together before Wes must report back to the Army. He has to report back on Friday. He will be shipped over to Korea next week. I am uncertain how long he will be there, but I hope he knows how much we love and appreciate him and how much we will miss him. Sarah has told me that they are no longer together as a couple. I am honestly not sure if she is trying to convince her dad and me, herself, or both. They sure seem like a couple, if you ask me!

I have to transfer a load of clothes from washer to dryer and maybe look into some sort of dinner and check on Jack. He has been asleep for a couple of hours now, if not more. It was so good to get him out of the house today for even a couple of hours. I know he said the prosthetic leg was hurting him, but I think just getting out breathing fresh air has got to be good for him. Jack and I went to the church "Drummer Boy Bizarre" and had lunch.

Talk to you again next time. Maybe I can get my scanner working!

Ka-ching! Horsey Girl Hits Jackpot

Sarah has had a very good start to her seventeenth year to life, I'd have to say. The Monday after I returned from California, she got a call from Subway. She had put in an application with them in August. They wanted to interview her. She had me take her to the restaurant for the interview. She was hired and started the next day. Her Dad took her to the Secretary of State's office and she was able to get her driver's license, without taking any tests because she had done so well in Driver's education and had everything in order. The next week was her birthday (October 18). We got her a laptop to keep her off of my computer.

Her dad and I had discussed that Sarah needed her own vehicle to get around, especially now that she had a job that she needed to get to. We decided to make it a very early Christmas present. Jack had been looking around for quite awhile for her a vehicle. She had said she wanted a pick-up. We went to a Car Auction and found her a 1990 Ford F150 4x4. It has some rust on the bed above the rear tire area on both sides, but what can you expect for Illinois? The rest of it was nice and clean. We bid on the truck and got it for $850. With Auction fees it was $945. We didn't feel that was too bad. It did end up having some brake problems. Jack replaced the front brakes himself but then we took it to a shop to have the rear brakes replaced as well as a new brake line installed. It turns out that the brake line that was there had a major leak. Everything is good on it now though. It is a safe vehicle for her. I don't have a picture of it yet, but I'll post one later. We want to get it detailed out so the paint isn't dull. Maybe I'll take and post the picture after that is completed.

Wes is home right now, he has to report back on November 11. He has helped with some things related to the truck and has bought a new stereo for it and is going to be putting in bigger speakers today when Sarah gets home from school. She has to go to work at 5:00 today and work til 10:00, but then doesn't work again until Monday. She was called yesterday because someone had called in sick, so she ended up working 4:00 to 10:00 last night. Though she really didn't get off til closer to 10:30.

Last week Sarah got her first check from Subway. It was only for her first week of work there, which was only 11 hours, but she was still in shock about how much it was. She was very happy.

While Michele was here I did some beautification of my yard. I planted two light purple mums in the front and 5 mums along the driveway side of the house. Two of those mums are a dark purple and three are yellow. I am not sure how well they will fair, as my dad is really the herbologist. I have always wanted flowers, but my thumb is more brown than green. Hopefully I will not kill these plants. I know I'm suppose to do something to these plants for them to be able to revive this spring, but am uncertain what. I also planted several tulip bulbs in these flower beds. Yes, I did roto-till and weed both beds before I planted anything.

On the stitching front I have been doing an elephant that I am going to give my Uncle. I had a frustrating time at the beginning, I had stitched quite a bit of the first color and moved on to a second color. Then I realized I had gone up three instead of two on a particular row, so I had to frog probably half of what I'd put in. I did get all that corrected. I am stitching the biggest elephant in the pattern. This is the only one "facing". The others are side view. and further back. I am not sure how long it will take to stitch this, but I don't think my Uncle Curt is in a huge hurry for it. I know that he wants it as a memorial for my Aunt Jane. I may see if I can give it to him on what would have been her birthday next year. That gives me quite awhile to work on it. It is a pretty big pattern. Three pages total.

I also want to stitch a cat pattern for my cousin David, a Noah's Ark pattern for my niece's baby due in January, and a couple of others I have in my head to stitch. I found a HAED pattern that I love and want to stitch.

A stitching friend in one of my groups is selling me some nature and animal Stoney Creek pattern books. I have a couple out of those I'd like to stitch as well. Sounds like I will be starting a rotation of some kind.

Rachel's cheer leading season is over. This past weekend there was a cheerleading competition and her team came in third in all categories. She is uncertain at this point if she wants to cheer next year or coach. Her dad and I would like her to see if she could get on the school cheer leading squad.

Well, that's about it for now. Take care everyone!

What A Great Vacation!

My vacation to California was wonderful! I managed to frame "Hunting Dogs", "The Lord's Prayer", "Isaiah 40:31", and "Amazing Grace".

I gave "Amazing Grace" to my long time girl friend's mom. Mrs. Gardner really loved it. She now has it hanging in her bedroom, Michele told me. She ended up rearranging some things to get it on her wall, but it is up. Mrs. Gardner was very grateful for it and I think she was even impressed. She told me she really likes it.

"The Lord's Prayer" my niece, Brandie now owns. She is a strong Christian woman. I am very proud of how Brandie has turned out. She has had some issues in her life and has put her faith first and is now doing very well. She has a little boy and girl. The boy is older. I cannot remember how old her kids are, but I think they are in third and kindergarten.

"I had promised Sarah "Hunting Dogs" when I first made it when she was getting ready to turn 13, but had never framed it. I had originally wanted to give it to her for that birthday, but I had to stop stitching for three months that year because I had an issue with my left arm, which of course is my stitching hand. Now Sarah will be able to put it on one of the walls of her bedroom, when it is built. She may choose to put it up now in the bedroom she and Rachel share, but there honestly isn't much wall space there. the picture is in a 12x12 frame.

I wasn't able to finish "Precious Moments Girl", but I did make quite a bit of progress on it. I was able to work out with Danielle, (my niece, and mommy to the baby the "Precious Moments Girl" goes to) the proper color for the skin of the girl. The skin is now as close to the baby's skin color as is possible. We put the thread colors against her skin and combined DMC 3772 and DMC 435. I was able to finish the quilt completely while in Fresno. I did all the 'skin' of the girl while in Fresno as well. I did the white of the nightgown on the plane ride home. The pink of the rug that was not completed as well as the pink and light grey of the nightgown I have done since I came home last Saturday. The only thing left to do on this project is the backstitching. I started backstitching a day or two ago. The wording of the phrase is in backstitch as well, thus I'll do it when I adjust the picture to do the upper part of the picture. The bottom of the picture looks dark because there was a shadow, unknown, when the picture was taken. Hopefully when the next picture (probably the completed picture) is done there will not be a shadow. I bought a frame for "Precious Moments Girl" but I left it in California. I'll send it to my mom when it is done and she will frame it and take a picture of it for me. Danielle found out while I was there that she will be having her second child in February. Sounds like I have another baby project in my future! (LOL)

I also framed "Isaiah 40:31" while I was in Fresno. Jack is very happy with it. It will go on our bedroom wall, probably over by 'his side' of the bed.

I am going to have to start thinking pretty soon about what is my next project? My Dad bought me a book of nature animals (it has an elephant and my Uncle would like me to do an elephant for him), the next baby project for Danielle, or a different project...who knows?

My class reunion was alright. Not as many of my class mates showed as I hoped would. My graduating class was 577. Only 81 of us showed. It was a lot of fun though. I was able to reconnect with a couple of people I considered excellent friends in high school. I even exchanged e-mail addresses with them.

I went to a couple of movies (different days) with a classmate that was more like a great protective big brother than any classmate! We saw the "Lion King" in 3-D and Money Ball. We also had dinner. Thank, Jeff! :)

I was also able to reconnect with the person that was a great friend to me before Jack and I married. She was my Maid of Honor. We lost track of each other after I moved out of Fresno, but I looked her up when I was in Fresno and we went out to lunch and exchanged information. She told me that she is a newly wed. Jack and I are so happy for her. I was so glad we were able to reconnect, Gail! :)

My mom and I went to Santa Barbara and visited my Dad's cousin. She is doing very well. She told me she would love to have my "Footprints in the Sand" project. She wants me to send it to her and she will turn it into a pillow. She will send me a picture of it when completed. I really enjoyed seeing her. The last time I saw her was the day Jack and I married. That was over 23 years ago.

Dad, Mom and I also went to Carmel and went to the Aquarium, and Fisherman's Warf there. Dad bought a very nice lunch. I bought various gifts for my friends and family in Illinois. I took pictures of the ocean for Jack while we were there. He said if there is anything about California he misses, it is the ocean.

My friend Michele flew out here the same day I flew home and has been here since. She flies home next Saturday. Sarah led Michele, Rachel and me on a ride out at Thunderwolf earlier today. We all really enjoyed it. In this picture, Rachel is wearing the helmet, something Thunderwolf requires for children 13 and under, Sarah is standing, me, and then Michele. We had just returned from a one hour ride. Sarah will be 17 in two days. I think she will have a great birthday this year.

Well I believe that is all the info I have for you now. I hope everyone is doing well. Have a great week, everyone!

Busy! Busy! Busy!

Picture one of 'Amazing Grace' was scanned on 8/31, when I originally started trying to update my blog. Picture two was scanned on 9/22.

Wow! I have been very busy the past few weeks! I had wanted to spend more time on the computer, especially when Jack and the girls were in Dallas, but that idea failed when I discovered that one of the girls had somehow jammed the keyboard part of my desk in and I couldn't get it unstuck! Believe me I tried! I was able to spend a few minutes here and there on the computer while they were gone, but I had to have the keyboard either atop the desk or on my lap. When it was atop the desk, it was too high to comfortably use, when on my lap, too low.

I did manage to get in a lot of stitching on 'Amazing Grace' while everyone was gone. Since Jack and the girls have returned from Dallas, I have managed to stitch on it as well. In late August I did a big part of the green vines and outlining of the green leaves at the top as well as the gold on the right. (I originally back-stitched the gold on top in green and then realized that it should have been done in blue so I have frogged most of that.) I have stitched the progress on this project in September, so I feel good about my progress. As you can see between the two pictures (the first scanned in late August and the second scanned September 22) I have managed to get quite a bit of stitching done on 'Amazing Grace' during September. I really believe that if I am allowed to sit and stitch, I'll be able to get it completed by the time I go to California in the end of September. My flight is on the morning of September 28. I will be in California until October 8. I hope to get the 'Precious Moments' pattern done too, but I am uncertain if that is possible. Then again, "All things are possible with God!" My hope is that if I cannot finish one or both patterns before I get to California that I'll be able to finish them while I am there.

Jack and the girls did enjoy themselves a great deal in Dallas. Jack told me the girls behaved themselves on the way down, but on the way home it seemed like one big argument. He said he was so glad that he went. He got to have some serious reconnect time with his sister, which was needed.

Both girls are doing well in school this year. Earlier this week we received their mid-quarter report cards. Rachel has straight A's and Sarah has all A's except in Chemistry and PE. In those classes she has a B.

The central air was installed a couple of days before Jack and the girls returned from Dallas, and is working fabulously! The people who installed whatever necessary to make the basement no longer leak did that a few days after the return from Dallas. We have had one major rain storm, and that was the night after the system installation completed, but the ground was so dry from lack of rain, no one had any flooding. Usually this time of year people are having to mow their grass a minimum of once a week to prevent it from getting too tall. However, that isn't the case right now. I mowed a day or two before everyone went to Dallas and then not again until August 27. I didn't mow it again until last weekend (September 17).

Jack and I bought a new washer and dryer in late August. They were delivered August 30. My dryer has been acting up for awhile and finally just stopped working altogether a few days before we decided on getting the set. My washer died just before the Dallas trip. We looked into getting a used set, but we also wanted one of the washers that doesn't have the agitator in the middle. We could find no used sets w/o agitators. We also talked about if we got a new set, we wouldn't have to worry about breakdown for a long time to come. I believe it is a very good investment.

Also, we have been painting the outside of the house the past few days. The last time we painted the house was a bit more than 12 years ago. I was pregnant with our 12 year old at the time. We painted it Snickerdoodle yellow at the time. Now we are painting it white. It will be trimmed in dark brown. That 12 year old has helped a great deal with the painting. Our 16 year old has helped too, but she wasn't here as much. All of the stucco is painted white. The basement wall and porch are what will be brown. That is near completion. I'd say another few hours of painting and we will be done.

Wes graduated from boot-camp on August 26 and is now at AIT, which is where he will learn to be a mechanic. He is now stationed in Missouri. He will get to come home for the first time since reporting to boot-camp in late October. The countdown is on. We all want to see him. Wes found out last week where he will be stationed when he returns after his time off in late October. He will be going to Korea. He is a bit nervous about that but I think he will be fine. He's not sure how long he will be gone overseas, but he will find out soon, if I understand right.

Jack's birthday was The last weekend of August.. He went and smoked a piece of meat on the smoker/bbq that was given to him for Father's Day. It turned out wonderful! We had some of our best friends over and had a wonderful time. Jack isn't normally big on birthday celebrations but I got the feeling he was happy we had this one.

The one sad thing that has happened recently is on the night of August 20, our little Boston Terrier either ran into a car or was it by a car. I had let her out to do her final business for the night, and she ended up darting into the street. She severely broke her jaw and had a hairline fracture of her pelvis. No other injuries. She was very lucky. We took her to the emergency vet and she was hospitalized for 2 nights. The night it happened and the next night. Her surgery was Monday, August 22 in the morning and she came home later that afternoon. She had to eat soft food until last week. Her jaw is still wired. The wire will be removed in late October. The hairline fracture of her pelvis has healed without any issues. She is back to her jumping all over the place self. It is good to see. Now we just hope she has learned to not run in the street! One of the things I really want to do is put a fence around our back yard, but we just haven't been able to afford it. I am hoping we can find the funds to do that soon though!

Rachel is involved in cheerleading again this year with one of the local youth football teams She is a varsity cheerleader on the Chargers. Jack is 'Uncle Stumpy', the voice of the Chargers again this year. The first year he did the announcing for them was last year, the same year that was Rachel's first year on the squad. Rachel can be on the squad until she reaches high school. Jack is thinking he'd like to stay announcing even after Rachel is too old to cheer. I think it is very good for him. It gives him something to do and he loves football.

Sarah is looking forward to getting her driver's license soon. Here in Illinois the teenagers must have their driving permits at least 9 months and log at least 10 hours at night and 60 hours during daytime hours before they can even try for their actual license. She reached the amount of hours a long time ago and her nine months was up September 9. She is anxious to go down and get it. She will probably go down next week after I am in California. She is a pretty good driver, though she does drive me crazy sometimes, trying to tell me how to drive. I have been driving a lot longer than she has. One day hopefully she will realize that mom does know how to drive. She will turn 17 in mid October. I know she is at the age when she knows everything and mom knows nothing.

I have been getting ready for my trip too and feel just about ready. I need to go to Champaign a bit later today and get my brace adjusted. It seems like I am dragging my foot a bit and I want to get that fixed before I go. I have also trimmed my hair about a week ago. I called my doctor and had them submit a refill for my meds so I'd have enough for the trip and ended up going to the doctor because I have a constant humming in my right ear right now. It has been going on since my last cold (the beginning of September. There is fluid in my inner ear. It isn't infected fluid, just fluid. The doctor put me on a nasal spray and said if it doesn't help by late October that I'll have to go see an ear/nose/throat doctor and have to have a tube put in the ear again. I had one in the ear before and it has fallen out somewhere along the line.

Well I hope to post pictures for you when I get back from my trip. I recently found our 35mm camera and plan on taking it with me. Thanks to everyone for your patience with me. I will try and be better in updating this blog and staying in touch with my groups, but I have to get back from California first. Take care everyone!

Boy, It has Been Quiet!

Since my last post, I have been stitching on my "Precious Moments" piece for my Great Niece. I scanned this picture today. The last time I stitched on it was yesterday. I am going to rotate back to "Amazing Grace" for a bit now. I feel like I have gotten alot done in the past two or so weeks since I went back to working on 'Precious Moments". I have the full length of the pattern in, most of the small flowers of quilt in (only color left there isw pink), some of the white part of quilt completed, all but the pink part of the rug in, and I have started on the girl's face. What I have left to do is the rest of her face, as well as her hands and feet, the nightgown, the rest of the white in the quilt and the verse as well as the backstitching of the whole thing.

My plan is to work on "Amazing Grace" for a t least a couple of weeks and then swap out again. Now that I figured out the problem with "Amazing Grace" ~~ the flowers between the verses off two to the left ~~ I can start on it again with confidence!

Jack and the girls left Monday morning for Dallas via rental car. They stopped in Memphis for dinner and then East of Little Rock for the night. After starting their drive again, they got to Dallas nine hours later. That was Tuesday early evening. Jack used yesterday to recoup from the drive. He hasn't driven like that since his days of driving a semi. That has been 10 years ago now. Boy, thats hard to believe! Anyway, they got there safe and sound.

I am unsure how to describe what I am feeling. I haven't been this far away from Jack since he stopped driving semi. I have actually watched the television in our family room, played music on my computer, and went to sleep in my recliner. I have been getting some of the cleaning done that I wanted. I also got the girls registered for their respective schools and even went out to lunch with mybest friend from church. I plan on stitching some tonight.

Everyone have a great couple of weeks!

Coming Together

Hi everyone!

I finally finished the bookmark for Wes completely. I mailed it off to him, along with a very long letter, telling him about last week's softball games and the other news of the family. How I finished it was by putting a bookmark on the back side to hide the understitching of "ARMY". I stitched on the 'under' bookmark, "Property of Carl Winans". Carl is his first name. He goes by Wes with his family and friends but in the Army he must go by his first name. I 'glued' the two bookmarks together with stitching witchery tape and then trimmed both the top and bottom of the bookmark to hide whatever fraying had occurred and prevent more from happening. I like how it turned out. I haven't heard from him yet, so I do not know how he likes it.

I did finish frogging the verse on 'Amazing Grace' and have started stitching that verse again. I also have quite a bit more of the left side done. I haven't stitched as much this week as I'd like to, but things have been on the busy side here. I may put aside 'Amazing Grace' for a couple of weeks and stitch on the Precious Moments pattern again. I am wondering (once again) if there is a problem with 'Amazing Grace'. The writing of the verse seems off. I am starting to think it may not be the verse, but the flowers between the verse are over 2 to the left too much. I think I need to sit and figure that out for sure. I do know that I am going to go ahead and stitch the flowers, etc., at the top (they look like the flowers to they left) and then the gold down the outside of the right side (just like the gold down the outside of left) to help me make sure I have the thing centered right. It also has a blue line (like the one on the inside of the left) going from the horn across the top. The flowers atop will go between the gold line and the blue line. I think if I do this part, and leave the verse alone for a bit I can see better what, if anything, is wrong with the verse itself. Or if it the flowers between the verses. The picture on the left is the pattern page, and the picture on the right is my piece so far. Do you see anything off. Like I said, it seems like something is off two to the left in the verse, but I know I started the lines of the verse in the correct spot on the left. Does this mean the flowers between the verses is what is off?


I do need to work on the 'Precious Moments' piece more. Wouldn't it be neat if I could have both pieces done to give when I go to California while I am in California? My niece is in Fresno too! I haven't worked on my 'Precious Moments' piece for quite awhile now. I am feeling a bit guilty about that. Maybe if I cannot finish both pieces before I go to California, I can finish them while I am there!

Rachel's team did end up winning first place in the tournament. They were second seed when the tournament started because they had had a loss (only their third) right before the regular season ended. They were undefeated in the tournament itself. They ended up beating the first seed team twice rather handily. They won the first game 22-6 and the second game 12-7. It was a double elimination tournament, which means to be out must lose twice.

Jack and the girls will be renting a car on August 8 and going to Dallas for 10 days to visit Jack's sister. Originally it was going to be just Rachel and Jack, but it turns out Sarah will be able to go. I can't though because I need to stay here and supervise some things we are getting done to the house. The company that will be fixing the leaky basement will be here on August 11. The job will take two or three days. We are also finally getting central air in. We have needed it for quite awhile, especially because of some of Jack's health issues. They will be here during that same week. I love my sister-in-law, and would love to see her too, but I do understand why I cannot go. We also have several pets to consider. We have two dogs, two cats and a rabbit. Besides, I get to go away to California in about two months. I'll be buying my tickets next week.

Take care everyone. Have a great week!

All My News

Sorry for the long time between updates, but I really wanted to post some pictures with this blog, but because of some home improvements around here, our printer was unplugged, thus I couldn't scan anything to show you! We finally were able to reconnect the printer yesterday. I've been keying this blog post for awhile, so is kind of long. Sit down with a cup of coffee and enjoy! Below you will see a picture of Rachel and her softball team and a picture of my progress on 'Amazing Grace'.

My Weight

A little over a week ago, out of the blue, Sarah said to me, 'Your skinny!" I asked her, 'what did you say?" She told me again. I was surprised. I have lost a huge amount of weight, but since I have basically maintained my weight since November, and she hadn't said anything like that, I didn't think of myself that way. I do have a very thin neck now, as well as thin wrists, shoulders and ankles. My upper arms, thighs and stomach have a great deal of loose skin, my legs and arms have more than my stomach though. I think that my loose skin might finally be absorbing I guess would be the term. A few days ago, just to satisfy my curiosity, I measured around my upper arm when I had my arm in a position that made all the loose skin be near my elbow. I then measured the loose skin area of the arm. The difference between the arm with and without the loose skin was three inches! I then did the same thing to my thighs. I sat on my bed and bent my knee up. That made my loose skin roll toward my hips. When I did this, the lower part of my thigh, above my knee no longer looked fat at all. The difference was six inches! This does make me wish that either my insurance would cover the surgery to remove loose skin (but they won't) or that I could afford to pay for the surgery myself (but I can't) :( The insurance company considers it cosmetic surgery, and to a point they are right, on the other hand it is loose skin that weighs quite a bit in and of itself and thus in my eyes is a health issue. My doctor guesstimates my loose skin to weigh at least 30 pounds!

I took Rachel to a local clothing store so she could spend her birthday money and decided I'd try on a size smaller than I currently am wearing, and discovered that it fit! I can honestly say that I haven't worn that size since my early teenage years! I also realized that I am having to tighten my belt another hole to hold up my pants, but then this doesn't surprise me knowing what size pants I own and what size that really fits! (LOL) I am unsure how long it will take for my loose skin to absorb, since I do have a big amount, but I guess I should be encouraged, since I am losing inches again. In the last few weeks I have started losing weight again too. I asked my doctor awhile ago if she considered me overweight anymore because of my 'number', and she said, "no, because I know about how much your loose skin would weigh." That made me feel good!

I had slowed down on my time at the YMCA while Jack was in the hospital and then the nursing home, but now am trying to get back into the rhythm, but still want to go more. It may be helping me lose my loose skin, I don't know.

Even though I haven't actually bought any pants in my current size, I am very pleased with my size and still in shock that I wear that size! I am also in shock that in the past week or so I have worn some shorts! I tried on some shorts the other day at Wal-Mart and they fit, but since Jack wasn't with me, I didn't buy them. I did decide to try on some shorts here at the house and they fit! I didn't have the issue of them riding up between my legs, either! I haven't worn shorts since I was probably ten years old! :)

Girls Softball

I am uncertain why, but Sarah's league didn't take pictures, so I don't have one to post of her, but Rachel's league did. What is funny about the team picture is that Rachel really is taller than Coach. He asked her to bend her knees to make herself seem shorted. He stood on his toes. Rachel really is taller than Coach. She is actually the tallest girl on the team. In the team picture, she is standing right next to Coach in the back row, on his left side.

July1

Sarah played three games last week. She plays every Tuesday and Thursday night. One of the nights is a double header and the other is just a single game, most weeks. Sometimes both nights are double headers. Some of the games, like her last game are rather exciting. Sarah is a very good catcher, and made a lot of very good plays during the game. I remember two pop ups, a throw to second to get a gal trying to steal (Sarah got her) and a couple of very exciting tags at home that went her way. She also got a couple of doubles and hit in 4 RBIs. Sarah is enjoying playing, even though her team has not won a game this season at all.

Rachel's team, on the other hand, has only lost one game. Rachel's team played last night and won, but they had to go past the allotted amount of time to do it! A game is suppose to be either seven innings or two hours. Which ever comes first. Her game last night was two hours and forty minutes! Rachel got a triple her first time up, but didn't get to score. The three other times she was up, she hit the ball, but was thrown out at first. She did get two RBIs. It kind of depressed her that she was unable to reach home herself. However, her team did win, 14-11. The game was exciting. Her team was 'visitor' and after their ups in the fifth inning it was 11-7. When the home team had their ups, they scored 4 runs, which made it 11-11. The two hour time limit was really up during the home team's ups of that inning, but since they were behind when the inning started and they were behind when they started their ups, of course they were allowed to go through all three of their outs. The home team had the bases loaded when the girl batting popped out for the final out of the inning. That made it go into the sixth inning, where our team scored three.during our ups. The home team did get some runners on base but the last out was a gal who struck out.

July 6

Sarah's team lost by one run, though I am uncertain of the score I didn't go to the game this time because4 I wasn't feeling well. Sarah did tell me that she threw out a gal who bunted and a gal who was trying to steal second.

Rachel's team won big...19-5. Rachel didn't tell me anything spectacular that happened in her game.

July 8

The girls were both supposed to have games lst night, Rachel's at 6:00, Sarah's at 8:00, but a Thunderstorm ended up rolling in about 20 minutes before the first game and cancelled the games. Actually, I know that Rachel's game will be played tomorrow at noon, but not sure about Sarah's. What makes it a bummer about last night, is that Jack and I now have tee shirts that we were going to wear to the games. I have one that says 'SWAT' on the front and 'Turtle's Mom' on the back. See, Sarah is the catcher for the team, and she calls herself 'Turtle' because of the gear she must wear. Jack has a shirt promoting he is Rachel's Dad. We both want shirts for the child we don't have a shirt for right now, but it may have to wait.

July 13

Both girls had games last night. Sarah had two games, one at 6:00 and one at 8:00. Her team did lose both games, 8-3 and 13-7 but her coach may take these games to the board and see about forcing the team they played to forfeit. See, if a team is short a player, they can call up from the league lower than them to get a player. In Sarah's league, Twilight, that would mean calling up someone from "A". The opposing team did call up someone from "A". However, they were not short and the gal batted in the first game and played/batted in the second game. This meant the gal who was really in uniform and able to play had to sit the bench. She batted as well, but then she was on the team. Sarah ended up striking out twice in the first game and popping up once and flying out once. In the second game she hit a double, a single and walked twice. In the first game she caught all but the last two innings, and then swapped positions with the right fielder because she needed a break from the catcher's gear. It was very hot and humid yesterday, especially when the game started. She did play catcher all of game two and did very well.

Rachel's game was at 8:00. They won,l 16-6. Rachhel got on base every time she was up, but walked each time. Honestly, I did go back and forth between the two games at 8:00, but I saw more of Sarah's game because Sarah has fewer games than Rachel, so I don't get to see her play as often.

Surprise!

I received a surprise in the mail last week. My class reunion is October 1. I graduated from high school in Fresno, California. I have lived in Illinois for over 20 years and have not been to Fresno since my last class reunion. I have been wanting to go to Fresno for a long time for a visit. Not just my friends, but honestly mostly my parents. My parents are getting up there in age, honestly, and I really want to see them! :) We had planned a trip a few of years ago, but it fell through because part of the money we had set aside for the trip we ended up having to spend on a new water heater because our basement flooded and killed our water heater. :( Anyway, I had told my mom that I was thinking of coming out for the class reunion. My parent surprised me by sending the money for me to make the trip! :) The kicker about the whole thing is my girlfriend since childhood will be flying out on October 8, and we are thinking, 'can I catch the same flight back as Micki?' It would save a trip to Indianapolis for Jack and it could be fun to fly back with Micki. Now I can start seriously looking into the trip. Now I really do need to get 'Amazing Grace' done so I can give it to Mrs. Gardner while I am there. I don't think I'll have a problem finishing it, because it does seem like a pretty fast stitch.

Also, Jack and Rachel are going to go to Dallas in mid-August. Sarah and Rachel have gone to Dallas to see Jack's sister, quite a few summers since Jack's cancer surgery in December 2006. This year Jack and Rachel are going. Sarah is working at Thunderwolf and Jack really wants to see his sister. They will be taking the train down. We had set aside some money for the trip, so it is exciting for the two of them.

Stitching

I have been working soly on 'Amazing Grace' since my last post. The picture was a bit crooked, but not so bad that you can't get the idea of what it is looking like. The thread I am currently stitching with is DMC 3326. It is the last of the colors that goes in the flowers between the verses. It should help me not have to frog any more!! I stopped stitching on verse one and started stitching the part of the picture on the left. It has a huge "A" with an angel as part of the cross bar for the "A". The reason I did this is because I was suspecting that the verse was off by over two and I thought that if I stitched the part that had actual x's it would help me figure that out for sure. I was right. I think what made me get off was that 3326 goes in part of the flowers between the verses, and I didn't remember that when I started stitching the verse. I started the frogging of the verse a few nights ago when I was having trouble sleeping. I am not sure why I had such a terrible time trying to get to sleep, but it did give me time to frog! I probably have about 30 minutes of frogging left.

I had to order some of the DMC 3326 (very light pink) and Kreinik 002 Fine (#8) braid (gold) for the pattern using paypal. I originally ordered it as I started the pattern, but it wasn't here by the end of that week, so I had Jack check on the order. What had happened is Sarah and Jack had ordered something for Sarah that was to use what was left on the paypal account and then our credit card. That order, even though it was placed the day after the 1-2-3 order, cancelled out the 1-2-3- order. So I placed the order again. This time it arrived within the expected amount of time. I have stitched with the Kreinik. I like the way it looks and I also like the way it stitches. This metallic thread doesn't seem to argue like some of the other metallic threads I have used.

In my opinion poll, the majority of the people who responded put that I should use DMC 632 and Light Effects 301, so that's what I will do. I was so glad that you all responded. Thank you! :) I am not sure when I will start stitching on the Precious Moments again, since I now really need to finish 'Amazing Grace' on a deadline, for sure!

I found some tape called 'Stitch Witchery' that I can finish up the Army bookmark with. From what I understand, this is a two sided type of tape that I can put between two pieces of material (one being the stitched bookmark, one being the bookmark to hide the under-stitching) and it will hold the two together once ironed. I will be doing this soon and then sending the bookmark to Wes. The bookmark is stitched on a cream or ecru color, and the under bookmark I have is white. I'll go ahead and stitch Wes's name on what is the backside of the bookmark.

Have a great summer everyone!

What A Summer!

I have had an interesting summer so far. Both girls have started their softball seasons, Rachel just turned 12 a few of days ago, Sarah is volunteering at Thunderwolf (the stables in the area), Jack getting use to his leg, and then of course me getting back into the routine of the YMCA and then there is my taking care of the house and not to mention my stitching!

Rachel's softball team has had four games thus far. They won the first three, big. All three ended on the mercy rule. The fourth game, Friday night, Rachel was actually calle4d up to the league above her age group because they needed another player and Rachel has greatly improved from last year. Her coach (on her league) has told her she earned the first base position. She is doing very well with it. I am so glad that we were able to get her the glasses she needed w/ the prism because now her double vision is under control. In game one she knocked in three RBI's, game 2 she knocked in two and game three she knocked in two. Last night she walked once and stuck out once. The team she was on last night lost 13-3. Her team (B league) lost 11-8. Part of me wonders if Rachel hadn't been called up if B league would have won? She has her fifth game tonight. Not sure who she is playing.

Sarah's team has had three games so far. They have lost all three. Sarah is the catcher and has been playing that position for several years. Sarah has had several hits and a couple of RBI's as well. The problem, I believe with Sarah's team, is that they didn't get very many practices in before the season started. I think there were a grand total of three before the first game. She has a double header tonight against John Deere.

We had been telling Rachel for the past year that she could have her first cell phone when she turned 12, and that was what we bought her for her birthday. It is a good thing, we believe, because if she is away from the house and needs us, we can be right there. We bought her a Dairy Queen Birthday cake. It was finished in short order. She had the last piece The day after her birthday.

So far this summer Sarah has spent the majority of every day at Thunderwolf. She loves horses and started volunteering out there in Spring of 2010. She is very good with the horses and has her favorite horse that she likes to spoil. His name is Gypsy. She has talked with her boss and will be riding this horse in the Labor Day Parade this year. The funny thing to me about the name of Sarah's favorite horse is when I had a horse before we moved from Fresno years ago, her name was Gypsy.

I am excited because my girlfriend since childhood is going to fly out this fall. I have not seen her for a couple of years and I miss her so very much! Also, I am looking into the possibility of flying home in late September and going to my class reunion. It is hard to believe that it has been 30 years since I graduated. If I do this, I may see if my girlfriend and I can maybe fly back the same flight. That would be so neat to me!

Jack is still adjusting to his prosthetic. All things considered, I think he is doing very well. He is getting around fairly well. He has therapy several times a week. He is just doing Physical Therapy right now, but will be starting therapy in the pool soon. And he has also startede swimming at the YMCA occasionally.

I have worked quite a bit on my Precious Moments Girl for my Great Niece. I like how it is looking. All of the squares between the colored squares call for white. I want to finish all the colored squares before I do the white ones. I had started to do the girls skin, but then Sarah told me that she thought it was too shiny. I wasn't sure about it so frogged that. Had only put in eight or ten stitches of skin, so wasn't too bad. Thought before I did the skin, I'd put up a poll and see what you all thought. Jack and Rachel like choice #2 the best. The girl is to look part Caucasian, part African American. The picture of the baby here is my Great Niece. The poll is at the top of my blog. Would appreciate it if you would give me your opinion. The choices 1 through 6 are stitched on the piece of material to the left in this paragraph. Choice one is the top, choice 6 is the bottom. My stitching on choice 5 was a bit wide, but I think you can get the idea.

Meanwhile, I did start stitching a pattern I am doing for Mrs. Gardner. She is the mom of my long time girlfriend. Micki and I have been friends since we were eight years old. She has been through everything in my life with me. I'd have to say she is my best friend. I have another great friend that I have made since moving to Danville thirteen years ago, and she is my best local friend (Tina). I taught her how to stitch. But, Micki and I have been friends for over forty years. The picture on the right is the one I scanned when I originally started this blog post. I had to stop though because I needed help figuring out how to post the poll for the colors I should use in my Precious Moments picture. For a number of reasons, I was unable to get back to it right away. The picture on the left is my progress as of this morning. I think I may have to frog at least a few stitches in the flowers between the verses, but am not sure about that yet, so am leaving that part alone for now. I placed an order with 1-2-3 Stitch for DMC 3326 and Kreinik Fine (#8) Braid #002 Gold. I was flat out of 3326 and have never used Kreinik. I have heard a great deal about it, so we'll see how it goes. Jacked checked for me this morning and the order was confirmed. If this order is like the other things I have bought at 1-2-3, it should be here in the next couple of days.

That is basically it for now. Have a great day, everyone!

Long Promised Pictures

I finally have the pictures that I promised. Sarah looked absolutely beautiful for Wes's Senior Prom. I tried several times to crop the picture so you see more of them and less of the cars and back yard, but I couldn't get it to save. GRRRR! Anyway, I think you can see that they look great together and that Sarah is absolutely beautiful. She looks much older than 16 to me.

Wes graduated from high school a couple weeks after the prom. Here is the pictures os him and then him and Sarah at his graduation. Jack and I are very proud of Wes. He will be reporting to Army Boot Camp at Fort Sill (I think is the name) in Oklahoma (I know) in just a couple of weeks.Here is a picture of my Precious Moments project I am working on for my Great Niece. The plan is to give it to her Mother (Danielle) for her daughter's first birthday in early December. I have done a little work on it since I scanned this a couple of days ago, but only on the white part of the pillow.

My Pastor surprised me last week. He is a cross stitcher too and we often 'talk shop'. The other day he gave me a new DMC cross stitching Bag. The one that has compartments in it and an ability to hold several threads on the stitch bow system. (I think its called). I had noticed his bag and we started talking. A few days later he had to go to Hobby Lobby and he ended up buying me one. I use bobbing instead of stitching bows, but I think I can make it work for carrying my supplies. Who knows, I may decide to try the bow system and see if I like it better than the bobbin system! The bag does seem to carry everything I feel I need very well. It looks like everything will stay clean and so forth, since it zips shut.

Yesterday I went to Rachels school for an Honors Assembly. She was on the Honor Roll (again) this quarter. Her report card will be 5 "A"'s and 1 "C". The "C" is in Math. This report card is basically the same one she recieved the other three quarters of school. Sarah had said Rachel was on the Honor Roll because it was Middle School. My response to that is if that was true, why didn't she get on the Honor Roll 4 quarters in a row at that school? Next school year Rachel will be in seventh and Sarah in eleventh. I don't know exactly what Sarah's grades will be. The last day of school is Wednesday and Sarah has finals in her classes on Monday and Tuesday.

Well, I need to be getting some housework done, so I must sign off. Everyone take care in this heat and have a great weekend.

Feels Good to be Able to Report Good News!

Hello Everyone!

I have so much news and the majority of it good. It feels so good to be able to report good news after being under what appeared like a black cloud of bad news for so very long.

Jack had had to go to a nursing home when he was released from the hospital in mid-January because he was being given an IV antibiotic to kill the staff infection he had in his incision. He was there for exactly two months. He went to the nursing home January 11 and came home March 11. What he had to do to be able to come home before the construction on the house was complete to make it 'disabled friendly' was climb stairs with his one leg. Jack did that a full week before he came home in the therapy department. Then it was the red tape of doctors, insurance etcetra.

During the last three to four weeks at the nursing home, the doctor had put him on something called a 'wound vac', which on one hand was aggravating because he had a vacuum like machine attached to his stump, but on the other was good because it made the rather large tunnel in the wound get smaller. When Jack came home the wound vac was still attached, however, because the tunnel had narrowed so much, he was quickly removed from it. Originally the tunnel was about 7 or 8 cm and the wound on top that the tunnel came off of was about the size of a quarter. Now, the tunnel is gone completely and the wound on top is about as big around as a #2 pencil led. No drainage in the wound at all any more, which until a couple of weeks ago, there was drainage every day.

Jack and I went to the surgeon's office yesterday. While we were there, the prosthetic company came and gave Jack a smaller stump shrinker. He is so excited, as am I. Jack was officially cut lose from the surgeon and was told that he could be fit with his prosthetic leg in two weeks. He is so anxious to get about and do things. He has basically had to spend 98% of his time in bed since November 2008. He hasd gained a good amount of weight and he wants to start going to the YMCA with me and start exercising and maybe get some of the weight off. He is so proud of me for my weight loss, he wants to see what he can do to lose some of his weight.

The construction on the house started the week after Jack came home. First thing done was the tearing down of the back porch, which we consider a kitchen extension since that is where we had our refrigerator, standing freezer, cabinet that held dry goods, and our plastics cupboard.
That happened on a Friday. The Monday of the next week they poured the concrete for the footing of the foundation of the new room. After the cemente had cured, they put the brick to form the foundation. After that cured, they came and put in the walls and floor, then the outside door, window and the door to the basement. The electrician came this week and put in the plugs and wiring for ceiling fixture. The doorway that goes from the kitchen to the dining room was widened this week as well. The roof on the back half of the house is complete. They still need to put the inside of the walls on the new room, put a new roof on the front of the house, widen the doors that go from the kitchen to our room and our room to the bathroom. The also have to still put in the concrete driveway and then the ramp. They will also be painting the room.

The other thing that has needed to be done around here for the longest time is new ceiling fans in both bedrooms and the dining room. All three ceiling fans had died. Last summer was miserable around here because we had only one working ceiling fan and it was in the living room. Jack and I were finally able to purchase new ceiling fans. We hired an electrician to install them last week. It seems odd, in a good way, to have a decent amount of light in my dining room! I am so use to it being dark in that room!

On the stitching front, here is my finish I finished just a day or two after Jack returned home. It is 'Footprints in the Sand'. I am having to show it to you in two pictures because it is so long. I did this on 32 count evenweave. I must say that I have never worked 32 count before and I am not sure I ever will again. It was very frustrating! I know alot of it was words, and maybe that is why I was frustrated, but still... I have no problem with 28 count but 32 count is so much smaller!

The material and light effects color that I ordered from 1-2-3 Stitch arrived last week so I can start the Precious Moments picture for my niece's baby, but I want to finish the bookmark form Wes first.

I am working on a bookmark for my daughter's boyfriend, Wes. He has enlisted in the military and reports to Army Boot Camp in mid-June. He graduates from high school in May. Jack and I are very proud of him. He treats Sarah like she is the most important person in the world. They met last summer when Sarah started volunteering at the stables at the edge of town. They started dating just a couple weeks before school started. It is hard for me to believe we are in the fourth quarter of school. Even with everything this house has been through, the past few months seemed to have flown by.

Wes just arrived here, Sarah got home from softball practice about 20 minutes ago. Wes is now massaging Sarah's feet. She plays on the high school junior varsity team. She plays right field most of the time on this team, but she is the back up catcher. Sarah is also signed up to play summer softball. She has played since she was nine years old. She is considered the best catcher in the league. I haven't heard from Sarah's summer coach yet.

Sarah's shoes for Wes's prom arrived in the mail today. She is very jazzed. She loves the look of them. I would never wear something like them, first of all, they have a picture of a skull on them. Secondly, they are very spiked heels. The dress is probably ready. I took Sarah over to Deena's. She can alter clothing. Deena took my clothes in when I had lost so much weight. She also altered my husband's suit as well as my step-son's suit for my son's wedding.

Rachel is at softball practice right now. She also plays summer softball. She started playing 5 years ago. I heard from her coach a couple of weeks ago and this is her second week of practice.

As far as my running for Alderman in Ward 4 (seat on the City Counsel) I lost. When I originally put my hat in the ring, no one else had. The second person who ran was the husband of someone who was Alderman a few years ago. A good number of people voted for him because they liked his wife. Well known name...he is the person who won. There ended up being a third person on the ballot; a guy who changed his mind about running after he filed, but never took his name off of the ballot. He got 61 votes. I lost by 70.

Our van was hit-and-run at the grocery store a week or so ago. The damage wasn't horrible. Enough that the front passenger door 'popped' when you opened it, but it would open. Sarah and I discovered it when I picked her up from school. I filed a claim with the insurance company and Jack and I took the car to the repair shop Monday. We picked it up Wednesday. They not only fixed the damage from the hit and run, but we had the shop put a new mirror on the left side (that mirror was not wanting to stay in position), fixed the latch on a window which didn't want to work, and figured out and fixed why my brake lights had an attitude, sometimes working, sometimes not. Between the deductable and what we added on, we only had to pay a little over $311. I don't think that is too bad!

Well, I need to be signing off. I promise, I won't wait forever to update again. Take care and happy stitching.

What A Crazy Month!

Hello, Everyone!

I do apologize for being so scarce on the computer in the last month. Things have been on the crazy side. Besides the normal craziness of the holidays, I mean. Honestly, Christmas itself wasn't that bad, craziness wise. We got each of the girls one gift from us, each at about the same price. Sarah got a Visa Debit Card, and Rachel got an MP3 player. I made 25 pounds of fudge and gave probably 23 pounds of it away. Jack did cook a big Christmas dinner because we were thinking that our son from Chicago would be here, but as it turned out he and his friends were unable to make it. That was a real bummer.

I made out like a bandit on Christmas! I got some cross stitch material, a new purse, earrings, two complete outfits, a scarf, glove and hat set, a robe, and sweat top and bottoms, a wallet, and a bracelet. :) I think there is something else that I am forgetting at the moment, but that is what I get for taking so long to post about Christmas! :(

The girls got their semester report cards a couple days after returning from Christmas break. Sarah got 2 A's, 3 B's and 1 C. Rachel got 5 A's and 1 C. Neither report card is anything to be angry at. They both did very well. We are proud of both of them.

Stitching wise, I did completely finish 'The Lord's Prayer' the day after Christmas. A friend from church took a picture of it for me. Yeah! I then started a bib for my Great-Niece that was born December 5. I was having trouble finishing it because I am out of 301, rust, the color to do the backstitching of the nipples of the bottles, but fortunately my best friend in town had some, so I was able to finish it completely a couple nights ago. I will get it in the mail to my niece in the next day or two.

A few days ago I started 'Footprints'. The pattern says to do it on 32 count material. I had some that I was RAKed awhile back, so I decided to try it. Thanks to Deborah from ILCS, I have the proper size needle, and gold to boot! I like how it is looking so far. I am having trouble with threading those needles though. Is there a trick to them? I can do it, but it takes quite a bit of time, most of the time.

Here are a couple pictures of 'Footprints'. The reason I have been able to get so much stitching done is that Jack had ended up in the hospital again January 3. The incision of his stump became infected and thus he needed intravenous antibiotics. His regular doctor in Champaign was not getting the infection cleared up. It took another doctor jumping in and doing something before he started improving. That something seems so simple when you think about it. He saw a puss pocket and popped the pocket and drained the area. You would think that his normal doctor would of thought to do something so simple. I moved him to a local nursing home to finish out his intravenous antibiotics and taking care of the bandaging of his wound. Not to mention the 70 mile round trip with these gas prices as well as getting him some therapy to maybe go up/down the stairs via crutches. The antibiotics finished yesterday, but now we have the therapy to get him strong enough to get up/down our stairs with crutches.

I did the baby bib while Jack was in the hospital and started 'Footprints' since I moved him to the nursing home. The first picture was taken on Jan 13, the second picture was progress since then, taken today. I feel good about my progress, I guess. Since I moved him to the nursing home I have felt comfortable enough that I could do other things besides sit and stitch. The girls and house need attention.

Poor Sarah has been suffering with a migraine headache off/on since Friday. I took her to the doctor today. I am home with her today. I have caught up on my chores around the house a couple of days ago, including laundry. Last night for dinner I made meatloaf, homemade mashed potatoes, and sweetcorn. It felt good to cook for the girls. They appreciated it too. They both said a big, "Thank you". I have been so torn inside by Jack being in the hospital out of town. How does a person take care of everyone at once when they are in different places? Now that Jack is in town, I feel better, much better. There is a big difference between 6 miles round trip and 70 miles, for sure!!!

Take care until next time, everyone!