Hello!

Hi to all my friends out there!

Floral arrangement August 12, 2013

I want to take this opportunity to wish my two dear friends a happy birthday! Mandy celebrated her birthday on Sunday, August 11 and Sonia celebrates hers today! Happy birthday ladies!

Today is Monday and that means; the floral arrangement of the week from the "Firm." This one is very pretty and I think you'll enjoy it. The theme of these summer arrangements seems to be the orange/red flower with the yellow thing inside. It's fun (well, that may be an exaggeration) to come into the office each Monday and see what the week brings. Oh well, simple pleasures for simple people.

Now for the good news and the even "gooder" news. The good news is that I lost two pounds last week!! Only 10.8 pounds left til my goal! The even "gooder" news is that I got NINE ACTIVITY POINTS  on Sunday! That long brisk walk after breakfast at Lucky Grill was really worth it. As was the up and down the stairs cleaning, sorting, washing, drying, ironing and organizing the contents of Gregory's closet!

Liz, Sonia, Sue, Jane, Ro, Gladys


 

Me - I take the pics!

I was also busy earlier this weekend doing lots of fun things. I took the day off on Friday and a bunch of us knitting ladies went to Schaumburg for Stitches - a show for knitters! We walked around all day, had a coffee break and then ended up eating a great dinner. It's always fun getting together with the ladies!



Dinner with the group

 





Yarn/sheep fabric
 

Of course, I didn't buy any yarn at the yarn show! I bought fabric! They had a vendor selling knitting/sheep pattern fabric. It's very difficult to find this design in regular fabric stores so I took the opportunity to buy 1/2 a yard of each so I can make some project bags! They're cheaper than the ones for sale at the show and I made them myself! Here is the one I made on Sunday.

My first project bag





I also finished the Chicago Bears curtains I'm making for my niece Debbie. Hard to tell from here but they're done! I still have a couple other things to finish but that's for this coming weekend!

 

I know you're already tired but I had a bit more excitement on Sunday. I went to Joanne Fabrics and they had a special sale; all McCall's patterns were .70 each! I couldn't believe how expensive some of these patterns are now - $18.95 for tissue paper! I bought all craft type patterns because I have so much time on my hands! : )  For $7.00, I bought 10 patterns! Such a deal! I also bought some end of season items that were 90% off! Yes, I said 90% off! Hard to believe but I got some great deals! The picture of the patterns isn't that great but they are nice patterns. I also have two that I bought for someone else.

 

You may remember I was reading a book last week, Fin and Lady. I can't say I highly recommend this book. I basically read it just to get to the end. I have to say the last two or three chapters were worth the book. Now I'm reading a new Danielle Steel book, First Sight. I hope this one doesn't disappoint me. Some of her books have not been up to her usual standard. Review to follow!

 

Well, that's about it. I felt like a needed to take a day off to relax from my weekend today but I went in and kept myself busy all day!

 

Until the next time!

 

And The Floral Arrangement of the Week is.....

Happy Monday to all!

I was pleasantly surprised when I came into the office today and saw this beautiful arrangement. It's in one of my favorite colors and looks very summery. I wish I could have a new floral arrangement, roses, any flowers at my desk each Monday! Unfortunately it would probably get boring after a while.

Today was the start of my favorite time of the month at work; MONTHLY REPORT! I've become used it now and have totally made it my own but it is very daunting and I worry all the time that I've made a mistake. It's the OCD part of me. I even have nightmares about it before, during and after. Oh well, as I say, we all have our monthly reports.

Oh well, if nothing else, makes life exciting and challenging!



I finished my latest book today; Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky. I loved this book. The beginning was a bit difficult to get into but once I got through that, I loved the story. I highly recommend this one. Now I'm going to start Fin & Lady by Cathleen Schine. I'm looking forward to this one.

Oh, just for the record, last week I lost 1.8 pounds! Just 12.6 pounds to my goal! It's getting harder and harder to lose the weight! I need to start exercising now to get rid of some of the flab! It's a process!

I was very excited last night after I realized I can buy some quilting dies to use with my Sizzix die cutting machine. I bought die one to see how, and if, it works. You can cut out fabric (I think) and templates for English Paper Piecing - my new venture. So glad I can use my scrapping tools for another hobby! I don't have ENOUGH to do so I'm looking for more! I was looking at some English Paper Piecing videos on YouTube and getting some ideas. It's a manual process and I'm not sure if I can take up another project but I'm going to try!

Enjoy the rest of your week. I'm looking forward to Friday this week because I'm off and will be going to Stitches with my knitting friends. We're going to try to resist the urge to buy yarn...we'll see how successful we are at that! I'll be sure to take some pictures and post them!