Two more finishes

I have managed to finish Son's peacock mantis shrimp and the final Christmas present, a glasses case for A.




I think I am all stitched out for a while. My fingers hurt! I'm kind of amazed that I managed to finish all of these amidst all the hospital back and forth stuff. It took a marathon sewing session Christmas Eve, but they got finished.

Whew.

And speaking of finishes, two weeks ago I gave my friend L her tray, only a dozen years late (in my defense, I went through engineering school from BS to PhD during that time, moved twice, and was working toward tenure). Here's L showing it off:

Are we off this roller coaster yet? And, why on earth now?

Dad came home from the hospital (for good, we hope!) Christmas Eve and we had a wonderful day with family and food. He looks and sounds stronger, and says he has turned the corner. We sure hope so. It has been a trying couple of weeks.

So now that I can relax a bit, why am I having dreams about tenure review? Two nights in a row--the first night, the whole committee showed up in my class and I wasn't prepared, the students were misbehaving, and the room was the wrong one. The second night, I was somehow taking an exam for a class I'd never attended. I never had a dream like that, not during undergrad or grad school or ever. So why now? Who knows.

I did manage to finish some handmade Christmas presents--a Mayflower notebook cover for Eldest Daughter and a London skyline tote for Youngest Daughter. Still finishing a peacock mantis shrimp paperweight for Son. That has to be done by Thursday night so he can take it back with him Friday. Here are pics:

Back to the ER again

with a bump in the road to recovery. We are praying that it is indeed only a bump.

It's a tough time. Lots of other things are going on, and lots of my dearest friends need a ton of prayer, facing some very serious health issues. It would all be too much, but for God---but for God.

Breath of Heaven,
Hold me together,
Be forever near me
Breath of Heaven


Breath of Heaven
Lighten my darkness
Pour over me your Holiness
For you are Holy
Breath of Heaven

Ah, the sound of life calming down

We've started a new term already--but this time, I don't have those classes that end at 8 p.m. I am done by 6! It's heavenly.

Dad is getting better day by day, and Eldest Daughter got a new-to-her car, so things are settling down a bit. I found out I was shorted on my grant money this summer, so! Pennies from heaven! I already spent them, having a long overdue security system installed in the house.

Had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Youngest Daughter and my family, even if I did get up at 5:30 Thanksgiving morning and drive to UniTown to cook a 22 lb turkey for 12 people. Dinner was wonderful.

Lots of cool research stuff is happening, and I've managed to make headway cleaning the house. So all is looking up.

And, last but not least, I finally figured out that the reason my left contact was bothering me so much over the last two weeks is that it's really my RIGHT contact. Ah. Much better.

Off to a hockey game tonight. I hope they win!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My poor mom wanted to come to HomeCity for a Dutch Baby but with my dad just out of the hospital (and feeling okay but a bit wobbly on his feet) she stayed home today. My sister, who actually knows how to make Dutch Babies, was staying at my parents' house the last couple of days to help with Dad, and planned to make a batch to celebrate.

Just in case they didn't get to make the pancakes, here's a virtual Dutch Baby for my mom to tide us over until we can get to the restaurant for the real thing:

Raining, pouring

Okay. Barebones info here because I am 1) tired and 2) behind on work.

Last Friday, Eldest Daughter got into an accident. Totaled her car. She is sore and needs to see the doc but is able to go to work and stuff.

Sunday morning, my kids' Dziadzi went to the ER with chest pains.

Sunday afternoon, my mom called me because my father was having a horrible headache and talking slow. Sent her to the ER.

Dziadzi had a stent installed yesterday, and he is home from the hospital. Reports are that he feels great.

Dad had bilateral subdural hematomas and they did a craniotomy yesterday to remove the clots. He came home from the hospital today. Looks a bit like Anakin Skywalker, but he is expected to make a full recovery. Recuperation time is a month--no driving!

ED's car is possibly fixable. We shall see.

Memorial to the Eames family

Eldest Daughter and I were in Boston yesterday for a genealogy conference, and we made a side trip to see this marker. Placed in 1900, it memorializes the members of the Eames family--Mary Eames and five of her children--who were murdered during King Philip's War in 1676. Four children were taken into captivity, including Margaret Eames, my 7th great-grandmother, who was ten years old at the time of the attack.

A finish!

Finally--finished at 1:30 a.m. (no wonder I'm so tired!), my very first goldwork project.

The interesting things you find out....

while ramming around on Ancestry.com--

My 7th great-grandmother, Margaret Eames, was at home on her family's farm on Mt. Wayte, in what is now Framingham, MA in 1676 when this happened:Excerpt from the History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts by Samuel Adams Drake.

Margaret was the one redeemed, by the man who would later marry her. Her sister never returned.

I wonder if Margaret ever talked about her experiences, or wrote about them. I knew about such events, but never imagined my family would have gone through anything like that.

I am

the Tea Party.

History didn't repeat itself

This is midterm week for my uni. Last year, in my siege weapons class, a young man with a Mohawk burst into tears over the midterm (he'd forgotten his notes, and even forgot there was an exam--showed up half an hour late). This year, no tears. One student forgot his notes entirely. Another came ten minutes early, realized he had forgotten his notes, and ran to the nearest computer lab where he frantically printed them out. He got back two minutes after the exam started. A third student showed me his notes after the exam--he only had the lecture notes on the Greeks. Seven copies of them!

Tomorrow is my other class midterm (online class has theirs already). Should be fun. Then I get to spend my weekend grading!

We spent the weekend in Youngest Daughter's UniTown visiting her for Parents' Weekend. It was wonderful to see her. We went apple picking, were flummoxed by a corn maze, and had some great food. Hard to say goodbye, but we will see her in November. Sigh.

Spouse now has a cold from the weekend and his taxing work trip. Poor guy. I am pretty tired too, so I am looking forward to a slow and quiet weekend at home.

With apologies to Monty Python

Stop! Who would cross the Tenure Bridge must make for me these binders three, ere the other side she see.

And I hate fish to begin with!

I can't believe what I just did. I was counting out meds to take to to the parental units' place during the week (since last week I totally forgot everything, I figured I will just leave 2 days*10 weeks' worth of meds in my overnight bag as a matter of course, in those neat little Tupperware containers Eldest Daughter got me). Well, my doc wants me to take fish oil capsules to help lower my cholesterol, and I was counting those out while eating almonds. Guess what I popped into my mouth and bit down on? I spit that thing out so fast--all over the table. What a mess!

Then I ate chocolate to get the fish taste out of my mouth. So much for low cholesterol....

Someone gets a comeuppance

Six years ago I worked at a large city agency in another state. I lasted barely six months, partly because something happened with Youngest Daughter that necessitated a move back to HomeCity, but also because my boss was a sadistic sociopath who delighted in insulting, tormenting, and abusing his employees. After a meeting where he swore at me and threw his glasses and book at the wall, I turned in my two weeks' notice (fortuitously, only a day before I had planned to turn it in anyway). The day I was leaving for good he sent one of his boot-licking lackeys out to catch me and offer me my supervisor's job. The poor lackey backed against the wall when I vehemently said "No way. No how. Not for a million dollars, and you can tell him I said that." I walked away, both fuming and utterly flabbergasted, and ran into my supervisor who was getting off the elevator. She gave me a funny look, and I pulled her into an adjacent empty office to tell her what just happened. She thanked me, and I heard later that she transferred to the legal department where she wouldn't be so completely under his thumb.

Well, Thursday night I was looking at my hometown paper's online site and caught an AP story about this guy. He's been caught, finally, and may at last be reaping what he has sown.

Very difficult to not have significant Schadenfreude over his predicament. Very, very difficult.

Never forget

9/11/2001.

May the victims rest in peace, may their loved ones be comforted, and may we be resolute in destroying the ideology that perpetrated the atrocity of that day.

God bless our beloved troops who fight in our name, and God bless the United States of America.

Oh my aching feet

So we are at the end of the first week of classes. My legs and feet ache, from standing for hours teaching, and from walking all over our construction-riddled campus. It's been an up and down week, typical of academia. The first day I had three meetings within four hours, two of which overlapped. Three days in a row I've worked over ten hours. Tomorrow I have a two hour meeting that starts at 3 p.m., which means I won't be back in HomeCity until almost seven. Argh.

Today was REALLY up and down. Down: I found out that I didn't get an important letter from my tenure committee that was supposedly sent last May. Up: My tenure committee chair said it's okay, I didn't miss any important dates. Down: A student who owes me final revisions on his project report is AWOL and the rest of the committee won't agree to just give him a lower grade and be done with it. Up: I got a YES from a colleague on being an external reviewer for my tenure package. Down: Another student bailed on his project after a year. Up: A guy I taught in an on-site course agreed to be a reference for the tenure committee. Down: The two students (AWOL Dude and Bailed Dude) had another colleague of mine on their committee, and I'd asked him for a reference ... who knows what he thinks of me now. Up: After tonight's lecture, a student came up to me and said he now understands the stats he didn't learn three years ago in another class.

So at least the day ended on an up note.

Regarding AWOL Dude, I understand the committee's reluctance to assign the lower grade. But this is a project, not a thesis, and the changes we asked him to make were to the report, not to his actual work. I've e-mailed him to let him know he needs to finish up ASAP, let's see if we get a response. Sigh.

Anyway, I am at the parental homestead watching football with my dad, and heading off to bed in another hour or so to bask in the tree-house height of a new mattress and boxsprings. The room I stay in is furnished with the bedroom set I had as a teenager. Apparently the bed was from that era, too, so it was due for replacement. The new stuff is really nice.

My XML files are behaving badly

and it is irritating me.

Starting a new year

Monday classes start at my university. I am not ready.

Had a wonderful four days in The City Too Very Far Away, with Eldest Daughter and her boyfriend. I miss her already. We went to the beach, toured a famous city, ate way too much food, and generally just enjoyed each other's company.

Oh, and we both got new Kindles!

But now, back to reality and work, and a tenure package to put together. Sigh.

By the way. ED, check out August's posts. Something there for you. :-)

Laying Karen to rest

We found out a couple weeks ago that Karen took her own life. We are devastated by this news, and cannot begin to fathom the pain she must have been in to do such a thing.

Today was her funeral. I was afraid no one would come. But about 20-25 people were there, including my mom and dad, my sister, my brother, and me. It was a hard service for my dad and the other pastor to preach. What do you say when a 55 year old woman systematically severs all ties with family and friends, destroys her identification and financial records, drives out to a deserted road, takes the plates off her car, and shoots herself so she can't be easily identified?

It's a cautionary tale, Karen's life, for a leaf separated from the tree cannot long survive. I wish she would have seen her nieces and nephew sobbing, one of which had no memory of her. I wish she would have seen my family sitting together and giving her the honor and love she has always had from us. I wish she would have seen the beautiful roses we gave her, and the tears we wiped away as we said goodbye.

She never renounced our name, never went back to her birth name. She lived apart from us, and died away from us, but she chose to keep our name. Names matter. For our part, we never let her out of our hearts; she carries our name, and thus will be part of our family forever.

Eww plumbing and -- what is that white stuff?

Clogged drain today, so that meant snaking and other unpalatable activities. We haven't done that in a long, long time. Spouse passed up a baseball game to clean out the sewer, what a guy.

Son and Youngest Daughter have been here since the 10th, so I've been very busy with all sorts of Mom stuff. We are moving YD back to her school on the 25th, which means we don't have a lot of time left and she has to pack up. Sniff.

Workwise, nothing done on the tenure package. Nothing done on the journal article. Went to a thoroughly annoying and useless retreat on Wednesday; I should charge the VP of Research for my gas and tolls.

Nothing says "School is starting soon" more than e-mails from snowflakes. Got one the other day from a snowflake who wants to change his project after a year of futzing around getting nowhere. Yesterday, got one from a student who is going on a ten day vacation the week after school starts. WHY OH WHY...oh never mind. Sigh.

Happy Birthday, Eldest Daughter!

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday, Eldest Daughter
Happy Birthday to you

May you live long with us
May you live long with us
May you live long, may you live long
May you live long with us

Njech nam zhye stolat
Njech nam zhye stolat
Njech nam zhye stolat ED
Happy Birthday to you!

Kisses, hugs, and squeezes for my precious girl

Love,
Mom

August already?

Wow the summer is flying by. Got a call from Youngest Daughter this morning, the first time I've talked to her in a couple of weeks. She is in Cyprus until the 8th. Can't wait for her to come home!

In a bit of good news, my colleague and I got to the next round on a grant proposal. Yay! Now we have to write a 10-pager by the end of this month.

I finished Niece's pillowcase, and all the goldwork/spangs on the Floral Glove. This morning I put the lace on it. Next, ruching the ribbon at the wrist, then assembling the pieces together into a needlebook.

Endings

Well, I finally finished the tea tray. Now I just need to wash it, block it, and mount it in the tray. As an added touch, I've made a computer jigsaw puzzle out of the photo that I'll put on a thumb drive and add to the final package.


Finishing the tea tray was a happy ending. But there was a sad ending lately, too.

Last week we got the news that my brother's ex-wife was murdered in her car in Arizona, where she's lived for some time. We have no further information, other than most of her ID was stolen from the car, and she was inexplicably in a rural area outside the city. She was not the only victim that day, or that week. We pray that the police will be able to find her killers, but we know they are overloaded with cases and it's not likely that anyone will ever be brought to justice--on this earth, that is. We know that God knows who ended her life, and that His justice is eternal.

When the divorce became final, she called me to tell me we were no longer bound as sisters-in-law, and asked if I still loved her. I told her that she was my friend long before she was my sister, and that as far as I was concerned, nothing had changed. I don't recall if I ever got a chance to talk to her after that. She moved to Arizona a few years later, and we all lost touch with her.

She did not have the benefit of loving parents. I don't know if her mother will give her the love and care in death that was denied her in life; I hope so. We are waiting to hear what the plans are.

So many questions, and no answers. All we can do is trust that, even though her last minutes had to be terrifying, she found comfort in the arms of a loving God at the end.

Sleep in peace, Karen. We love you.

Today's saga

So. I got up this morning, sat down in the sunporch with Kitty Son on my lap, and got this far on the tea tray (which involved some frogging, sadly, as I had mixed up two colors and had to take a big section out):
Then I thought I might go do some cleaning. I started with the chest of drawers that is in the hallway, and that gets the overspill from bathroom-related stuff. Then I cleaned out two shelves of the old printer table that does double duty as my nightstand. With two shelves to go, I came downstairs to make some tea--and thought I'd clean up around the drip pans while waiting for my water to boil. Except when I started cleaning, I saw a pile of metal under the stove top. Turns out the drip pans, covered by protective foil, had rusted out almost completely.

Okay, we need new drip pans. I went online to find out where I could get some. Aha! Sears has universal drip pans, I can go there. And I did. And they didn't have them. They sent me to an appliance store where I saw the drip pans on the wall, but was not allowed to buy them because I didn't have my model number.

Back home I went. Got the model number and went online again to see where I could get the pans. Aha! There's an appliance store out near the Big Mall. I called first, to make sure they had the pans in stock, and--an hour later--I was finally home with new drip pans.

Now I need a nap. But my stove looks nice and shiny.

Awww kitty

I had to go find Kitty Mama this morning to take her to the groomer. I had poured food in their bowl, thinking that would bring her out, but that only attracted Kitty Son. When he saw the pet carrier sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor, he backed away, ran into the dining room, turned around to see if the carrier was still there, then ran off. Hahahaha!

Finally I went upstairs to see where Kitty Mama was hiding. She was sleeping under the bookcase headboard of my bed, so I had to coax her out. She followed me downstairs into the kitchen, and then stood still looking at the carrier. I tossed the catnip pillow inside, but she didn't follow it so I had to put her in the carrier.

Interestingly, she ignored the pillow all the way to the groomer's. They said it would take three to four hours, so I came back home to wait.

Four hours later, I picked up a surprisingly mellow, and mat-less, kitty. She was loving up that catnip pillow all the way home. When we got home Kitty Son was completely confused by her scent--a combination of catnip and the vet office (the groomer is upstairs from his vet)--and coveted her green hairbow.

The shaved part is hardly even noticeable--can you see it?

It's in, and the next task

Got an e-mail from the Sponsored Research Lady this morning, and from NSF, with the formal submission.

So, on to the next thing. The tenure packet (shudder). I've not looked at the letter detailing what I need to do, and I suppose I should read that pretty soon. Ha ha.

The other things to finish this summer, work-wise: finishing and submitting the revise-and-resubmit article, working on the data part of the grant I am on this summer, and reading a couple more books about sieges.

And here's the latest progress on the tea tray:


The cat is peeking out!

Speaking of cat...tomorrow I take KittyMama to the groomer. She has a humongous mat on her left flank, and I am concerned that she will get a skin infection because it's so big. They asked me if I wanted her shaved completely. Now THAT is an interesting mental image. Anyway, I hope she doesn't shred them and that they can get that awful thing off her. Poor kitty.

Sent!

I sent the proposal to Sponsored Research. Now it's in their hands to submit, which they tell me they will do tomorrow.

Whew. And hurrah!

Done, ready to submit

I finished the grant proposal today, editing it down from 19 pages to the required 15. Whew! I'm letting it sit for the rest of today, reading it early tomorrow, and then sending it off to Sponsored Research Lady for submission.

Now to fill in the missing cat...

Plod on, plod on, plod on.

With the move out of our original college, we lost our dear Sponsored Research Lady and were assigned to another. I am sure we will come to love her in time, but right now--with CAREER looming, it feels like a kick in the teeth.

However, I soldier on despite a couple more issues that have come up. First, my uni laptop decided to go on strike. Second, I didn't get any response from my company contacts who I'd asked for support letters. Third, the new Sponsored Research Lady wants me to be done by Friday because she won't be here next week.

So, I am writing CAREER on my little Dell netbook--which has already saved my bacon when my uni laptop died last Thanksgiving, and I went through the first two weeks of the winter quarter without it. Today I got an e-mail from one of my contacts saying he wants to discuss what needs to be in the letter. And I've made significant progress on the proposal, so I may make the Friday deadline at least for my part of the package. Interestingly, if the provost had granted my request for expedited tenure (which would mean I would be tenured as of September 1) I would not have been eligible for CAREER, since one of the requirements is that the applicant must be untenured as of October 1, 2010. So, even though I have slim to no chance to get this grant, at least I didn't lose my last swing at the ball inadvertently. Small consolation, I guess, for having to go through the six-month-long tenure review.

I've been plugging away at the cross-stitch tray in the mornings until Spouse leaves for work since it's too noisy to write, and picking it up again in the evening while the news is on and the sun is still out. So here is where I am with it. Almost done, and probably time to go looking for the tray! The directions say to mount it in a 12x12 Sudberry House tray, and there's a shop in UniTown that supposedly carries them. I think next week, when I go for my usual undergrad research lunch, I'll bop over there and see if they've got one. The trays come in mahogany or white. I think I will get the mahogany.


What do you think?
















Niece L's pillowcase is mostly done, but I've put it aside to finish the tray. Then I'll work on the pillowcases since I want those done before she leaves for school. No progress on the glove, or the master gold class sampler, although I have that framed up and ready to start. I am looking forward to finishing up the grant, so I can take a couple of days and just indulge myself working on embroidery. Ahhhhhhhh.

Back home again

and tired out. This week I have to go full bore on the grant and work on a revise-and-resubmit. Vacation is over, time to get stuff done!

Air conditioning is wonderful, by the way.

Sparklies and news bits

Lots of stuff going on with my friends and family lately--my friend T and her husband and kids came for a visit, and it was great to see them all. My friend Val got her dream job, after spending ten years working in dead-end, soul-sucking jobs (fantastic!). My niece J seems to have found a new love interest (yay!). My niece L is headed to grad school this fall (hurrah!). Aunt E was in the hospital last week but is doing better, thank God. Eldest Daughter has bought a bike and is doing well in grad school, if a bit frazzled by juggling work and classes. Big Brother may be changing careers, or at least employers.

House-wise, we've had some changes too. New curtains in the bathroom, and central air conditioning (oh, why did I wait so long to do that?). Today I had a guy come in and give me an estimate for an alarm system. It's a bit out of my range at the moment, but at least I have an idea what the cost will be.

As for me, well, still slogging on the grant and making some progress with the needlework. I had to do some frogging on the black cross-stitch (ripping out stitches; the name "frogging" comes from the sound they make as you rip them out, lol) because I was not paying attention to what I was doing. Tsk tsk. Anyway, here's where that piece is right now (sorry about the glare--my phone camera is just not that great):


The more exciting thing is the floral glove piece. I have a little more gold to put on, then I can finish the needlecase off. Here's a video so you can see how sparkly the gold is--that doesn't come across in a still photo.

CAREER progress

Oh, ya gotta love LOLCATS (image from icanhascheezeburger.com)

Daily progress

Okay.  So yesterday I sat myself down and worked on the proposal.  Got the preliminaries done (biosketch, e-mails sent out for support letters, got in touch with sponsored research, set up the proposal in FastLane).

I also got some cleaning done and made spinach soup for dinner, and did a stint on the tea tray.  Here is a shot of where it was when I found it:

Here is where I am with it now:

Almost half way done!


Today, I will work on the one page summary and outline the narrative.   Then I will be free to do more de-cluttering and cleaning, and make some progress on Youngest Daughter's sundress.

CAREER, again

Dang. One more time, working on CAREER. It's my last shot, and somehow I am not terribly enthused or excited about writing this proposal. I have no chance, none at all, at getting the award--so this effort just seems so futile.

Still, I have to try. So today I sent out e-mails asking for support letters, and started the proposal process. If I work on it a couple hours each day I should make good progress. No guts, no glory I guess. Wish I felt more positive about it but I just don't. There are dozens of things I would rather do with my time, for sure.

We are enjoying the air conditioning very much. Next step is an alarm system; the guy comes Thursday morning to give me an estimate. Slowly but surely we are getting things done around here. My dad is going to come work on the kitchen walls and floor, once we are all set (and cleaned up--oh man, the clutter!).

Friday I am heading down South to meet up with Son at Best Friend's house. Best Friend is still overseas, but her husband and daughter are home, and Daughter is leaving next month for grad school. We want to see her before she goes, and it seemed like Independence Day weekend was a good time. I am looking forward to the drive. I love road trips!

Happy Birthday, Youngest Daughter!

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear YD
Happy Birthday to you

May you live long with us
May you live long with us
May you live long, May you live long
May you live long with us

Njech nam zhye stolat
Njech nam zhye stolat
Njech nam zhye stolat YD
Happy Birthday to you!


YD is over in England visiting friends so we are missing her greatly back home. As of today, we no longer have teenagers!

Chichen Itza photos and WIPs

Oops, forgot to post pics of Chichen Itza and Tulum. Here are some:
First, the Great Pyramid:A close-up of the god's face on the temple crowning the pyramid:

Next, the ball court:
The main temple at Tulum:One of the watchtowers at Tulum:
Great experience, beastly heat and humidity.Now for WIPs:

The Floral Glove: Tried to get the sparkle of the gold, but it just doesn't work well in photos. The left-most roundel is finished. I have to put the purl and check on the other two roundels and then I can sew on the lace edging.

The other WIP I am actively working on is the cross-stitch tray for my friend L. It's going pretty fast.I haven't done anything on the fan for a while. I really shouldn't start any more projects, but I need to do my niece's pillowcases before she moves west for grad school.

On the work front, things are quiet because it's summer. I am writing two grants and working on one that was funded; Thursday one of my students defends his MS project. Other than that, nothing much is going on--except that one of the assistant deans got fired last week and no one knows why. Well, no one that *I* know knows why!

Back from the conference

I was down in Cancun for about a week at a conference. Wow, was it hot there. The hotel was great, and had fabulous air conditioning in the room. We (Son came along, this trip was his belated birthday present) kept it icy cold in the room and looooooooooooooooved it.

While we were there, we visited Chichen Itza and Tulum. I figured I wouldn't go to Cancun or Mexico willingly, so while I was in the area I'd better see this manmade wonder of the world. We had a wonderful guide, Simon, who filled us in on Mayan history, language, culture--he was a veritable fount of information. He offered a "light" version of the tour for anyone who thought the heat and humidity would be too much, but no one took him up on it. I was determined to stick it out even though my cooling neck wrap wasn't working and I was drenched in sweat minutes after getting off the bus.

I'd seen photos of Chichen Itza, but the photos don't tell you that the Great Pyramid has an echo! If you stand in front of the stairs and clap in unison, you can hear an echo of the clap, almost like a squawk, coming from the temple on top of the pyramid. Likewise, there's a sound effect at the ball court--clapping results in a pock-a-pock-a sound like a tennis ball hitting the court.

Tulum is an ancient walled city on the coast. Not too much cooler than Chichen Itza! But there was an ocean breeze now and then that was refreshing. Gorgeous views from there of a turquoise sea and white beach.

I will post photos tomorrow. And, photos of my WIP projects (Eldest Daughter's pillowcase is done, so that's one less WIP!).

Memorial Day, 2010

May God hold our brave soldiers, sailors, and airmen in His loving arms.

Meuse-Argonne, France--where 14,246 American WWI doughboys rest.Cambridge, England--3,812 WWII servicemen

One more academic year down

Friday was Convocation and Saturday was Commencement--and my grading is all done, so one more year in the bank.

Of course, I am still working on the Grant That Never Goes Away, and have to start my presentations for the conference next week, and have to get going on CAREER, and have to work on the NIST grant....but at least classes are done and I am out of grading jail.

Commencement was its usual wonderful time, but man it was hot in the gym where we line up.

Tenured Colleague who blew the grant on me had the cluelessness to ask about how it was going, and I did not punch him. That's progress.

Let's see, what else is new...Youngest Daughter goes to the allergist tomorrow, thank goodness. She has had nightly asthma/coughing attacks for a week, and the sleep debt is getting to us both.

I finished Eldest Daughter's pillowcase, so her pair is done, and I am down to two WIPs.

Speaking of Eldest Daughter--she got an A in one of her classes! Still waiting on the other grade.

Youngest Daughter got an A, A, A-, and B+. Whoopee!!

WIPs

Now for the Works In Progress (I don't have a digital camera, so I'm using my phone--the colors don't exactly come out right):

First the pillowcase for Eldest Daughter. Eleven swags to go, and it's done! Next is the silk and silver fan. I haven't worked on this for a while, since I wanted to catch up with the Floral Glove lessons and also want to finish ED's pillowcase before she comes home NEXT WEEK YAY!!

And the third WIP is the Floral Glove. I need to do the rest of the goldwork on the roundels, or else I will be behind for Month 5. Maybe I can get to that next week, after grading is done.

USOs

I've got a few projects that I *want* to start, but cannot until I finish the WIPs (I am saving those for tomorrow's post). Here are the USOs (unstarted objects), beginning with the kits.
This one is from Thistle Threads' Online University--it's the Stuart and Tudor Gold Master Class. I have all the stuff, just haven't started it yet.


I picked up this kit while visiting Eldest Daughter. We drove up to Keepsake Quilting in Central Harbor, NH (saw Santa--he drives a blue Neon) for shopping and dinner. I got Youngest Daughter's Matryushka doll at Keepsake too. This kit is for ED, and I might add some silk and gold to it to give it some pizzazz.


The next two are designs I'd like to do for Best Friend, taken from her photo album chronicling her trip to India.

The first is a dancing girl. I have know how to do the sky (Italian stitch) and asked an embroidery expert for her ideas for the dress and veil. She had a good suggestion, and I will try that (not going to tell you what!).

The next one is also from BF's photo album. It's really intricate. I was thinking gold and white and cream on natural linen.


I've done pillowcases for both daughters now, but I have to finish the mates to each of them (ED's is almost done). I've got this pillowcase design planned for my niece L who is definitely into films.
Then there's ED's monogrammed napkins...(I am not posting the monogram, ha!)

And last, but not least, Son's paperweight:

I figure all of that will take me right into retirement!

UFOs

One of the drawbacks of cleaning is that you find UFOs--unfinished objects, projects started years ago and never finished.

I've found three in cleaning the sunporch--two I knew about, one I forgot about completely.
Here's the first--a needlepoint wreath that is all done but the background. I still have the ball of peach yarn for the background of this piece. It was meant for my sister B, but she's changed her color scheme so I guess if I ever finish it I'll give it to my mom.


The next one is a cross-stitched tray on black fabric. I've already made the tea cozy, and that went to my friend L. I've not gotten that far on the tray.

The last UFO surprised me--I'd forgotten all about it! It's an embroidered version of the baby card my sister B gave me when Eldest Daughter was born. I won't finish this one, it's not very well done and the fabric is thin. I might do it in silk on cream linen though, but it's not high on my list. I suppose if I knew someone with a baby coming, it might go higher in the stack.

Tomorrow I will post pics of stuff I've not started yet that I want to do.

If it's Saturday, it must be

Needlework day!

Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon cleaning out the sunporch. I still have tons of boxes to go through, and my desk is piled high with stuff, but the nasty computer chair is gone and when Spouse has a chance, the old hutch will go out too. That will give us plenty of room in there. Kitty Son is happy to have his cubby back--he used to hide from a bully cat in there.

It's so nice and clean, compared to what it was, that I spent this morning sitting in the sunshine working on Eldest Daughter's pillowcase. Kitty Son climbed on my lap for a while (wow! He rarely does that) and then got into his cubby where he purred very loudly.
Youngest Daughter put her tiger jigsaw puzzle on the now-clean art desk, and we just finished that off a few minutes ago. Once I get my desk cleared, I will have a place to work that's not right near the television and in a room with good lighting.

So anyway, here is the progress on ED's pillowcase. She is coming home at the end of the month, so I want to finish it before she comes. I think that's doable!

And another shot of Kitty Son in his cubby. So cute.

In memory of Baldr

Son's friends found a just-born little kitten lying in the grass last week. It was so new, the umbilical cord was still attached.

Because he has such a good heart, Son took the kitten to several places trying to get a nursing mom--to no avail. So he tried to raise it by hand, something that is virtually impossible to do with a kitten that small. Despite his hard work, feeding it every two-three hours, taking it to the vet, keeping the little guy warm and loved, little Baldr had to be put down Wednesday.

He went to heaven very much loved, and with a name. There, where no one is sick, cold, alone, or motherless, Dzieci will be his mom, Crystal and Pavel will play with him, Toby will snuggle with him, and Gabby will ignore him.

And to remind Son that miracles do happen with sick little kitties, a picture of his Kitty Son inside his favorite hiding place.