Home from Nashville

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Nashville. I had a conference there and my DH got to go along with me so in our down time we did a little sight seeing. Now, I just want you all to know that I am not a country music fan so this was not a trip that I would have picked out for myself. But since my company was paying for it I decided that I had to make the most of it. I did have a good time and there are lot of stories I could tell you but I would never be able to fit them all on this blog. So I will just tell you about the pictures.

The first one is a no brainer for all of you over the age of 40. Of course that is Minnie Pearl. (Well a statue of her anyway) I tried so hard to buy a Minnie Pearl hat while I was there. I saw one and did not buy it thinking I would find another one later on and never did. Oh Well, I am not sure that my office would have understood the humor behind it since most of the people I work with are kind of young.

The next picture is taken at the Ryman Auditorium. It is where the Grand Old Opry that I watched on TV as a youth was filmed. It has since moved to a fancy dancy place called Gaylord Opryland. I really liked this place better and it still as the original seating in it and lots of history to go with it. It is still used today and some big names have played there recently, like Toby Keith! (I was told he is THE one to see)

The last picture is the Country Music Hall of Fame. And yes I did go thru it. I was amazed at how many "stars" I knew and had heard sing. But then my parents listened to all that kind of music when I grew up. I remember the Tennesee Ernie Ford hour, The Jimmy Dean show, Andy Griffith, etc.

We spent a week there and really enjoyed every minute of it. It is very friendly and the weather was fantastic. I don't think I would go there in the middle of summer though. I little to humid for this desert rat.

On the crafting front...........I am crocheting a sweater for ME!!!!! I have the back, front and 1/2 of one sleeve finished and I have only been working on it for about 4 days. I was going to work on that tonight instead of updating my blog but I left the pattern at my friend's house and don't want to continue on without it. She is bringing the pattern back tomorrow so I will be good to go then. Other than that I really am not doing much crafting. Oh!!! I was working on the baby blanket last time I wrote. Well I got the body of it done and was on the 4th row of edging when I found out I had miscounted on row one of the edging. So I am in the process of ripping out all the edging and starting that over. Now you know why I am working on the sweater.

Have a great week and let me know what is going on in your crafting life. (no one ever comments but some day I may get one!)

TTYL

Lots of Pictures

I finally got my camera downloaded and here are some pictures of our grands.

Here is Josie our 2yr old DGD spinning in the computer chair. She has more fun with that then with any of her other toys. But then after a hard morning of playing she must get her beauty sleep in her tinkerbell room.

Then we have our grands in Chicago. This is the day we decided to go to the Navy Pier in Downtown Chicago. We raced to the train station only to watch the train leaving as we arrived. So we had a family conference and decided to drive to the Pier. We had a wonderful time and the younger ones went to the Children's Museum there. If the pictures are any indication, I would say they enjoyed themselves. If you don't know who is who in the pictures of the Chicago family here is a list.
Jay our son
Jamie his wife (Our lovely DIL!)
Skyler (19)
Neiko (14)
Jaden (7)
Bryson (4)

We sure do miss them. The nice thing about the trip is my Mother got to go with us and it was the first time she had ever met Bryson and only the second time she had seen Jaden. So it was good to all be together again.

In the crafting world.....I just finished another purse and am working on a baby blanket. (No one in the family is pregnant but it was too pretty not to make) When I finish it I have another baby blanket I am going to make that my DIL Stacie has asked me to do just in case a little would appear.

Have a wonderful day. We are heading out to Nashville tomorrow for a week. I have a seminar there and my DH is going along to "play". I will take picture there too and promise I will get them downloaded faster and post some here.

I know!!!

I can not believe that I have let this blog go for this long! Yes I can. LOL

I am still getting over what ever crud I picked up on the airplane when coming home form Chicago. I have been on 2 rounds of antibiotics and now am in the middle of a 20 day regimine of Prednisone. I am hoping this will be the end of it.

I have been doing some crafting though. My problem is, when a project gets done it seems to disappear from my house before the camera can find it! I finished a small purse for my DIL that she had asked for. It was so cute but maybe I can convince her to bring it back for a photo shoot.

I am working on another purse right now and it is my own design. I am crocheting it and at first I didn't care for the colors in it but it is starting to grow on my now. That one I will take a picture of as it is not promised to anyone yet. LOL

I had to put my socks away for a while as I need to frog quite a bit out of the one with the heel and I just don't have the patience to do that right now.

I have a baby blanket that I want to get started on as soon as the purse is finished. No..............There are no babies in our future right now (that we know of) but you never know when someone will call and ask us to be Godparents again. So I like to keep a baptismal blanket handy at all times. Then when the call comes all I have to do is thread pink or blue ribbon thru it.

My goal by the end of the year is to have all the "started" projects that I have going done before 2008 begins. I don't think it will be a problem unless I forgot where I put all of them.

My Mom and I had a garage sale over Labor day weekend and all the stuff for the sale had been stored in my craft room. Now that it is all out of there I need to get in there and put things where I want them so I can find them! But alas, it will not be this weekend. My DH and I are taking classes every Saturday from 8-4 in Downtown Phoenix. (20-30 minute drive) Then this Sunday we have a football party at a neighbors for the day. So until the end of September when our classes end we will be busy for the whole weekend!

I can hear ya'll now saying............."well, there's October". Yup but we are leaving the 7th for Nashville for a week. I have another conference to attend and DH is once again invited. But after that I hope things settle down until the holidays come upon us. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas but I like to really decorate up for that time of year and I will leave everything else go just to do that. Not to mention we are hoping to have our flooring put in before Christmas this year which means we need to get to painting the walls and we might even decide to pick out the flooring soon. LOL

I still need to download my camera so I can post pictures of our trip to Chicago on here. I promise to work on that this week or next as I want to get those off the camera so I can fill it up with other "stuff".

Have a great day and let me know what you are doing in your crafting.

Oops

Ok, ok..................I know it has been a while since I last posted and my family and friends have been calling me on it. But it has been so BUSY!

Our grand daughter turned 2 on the 1st of this month and there was a great party for her on the 4th at Peter Piper pizza. I am such a good Mimi..........I left my camera at home. (Hopefully her Grammy will send me some pics so I can post them on here.) She had a blast and enjoyed the attention.

We left on the 7th for Chicago to visit our son's family. He is in the Navy and a training instructor at Great Lakes Training Station. Right now he is teaching firearms and seems to like it. It was nice during our week there and we had a wonderful visit with all of them. I did take pictures and as soon as I get a few hours free will download them off the camera and onto the computer and upload a few here. The 4 grand sons were a blast to be around and our DIL is so much fun too. My Mom went with us as she had never met the youngest.

We got back from Illinois on the 14th and by that weekend I was feeling a little under the weather. But that did not stop me from going the the Casino with our Son and his wife (the ones that live in AZ). By Monday morning I knew something was wrong and sure enough...............strep throat. So got on the antibiotics and today is my last day of medicine and I feel so much better. If I could get rid of the cough I would be happier. But that will take a while longer.

This weekend we have a Marian Conference to go to for 3 days. We will not stay at the resort (because of the doggie). We go to this everytime it is put on. They only hold it every other year. It is spiritually uplifting and really gives us a boost in our lives.

On the crafting front...............While in Chicago area we went to Hobby Lobby (the one here is a day trip away) and I was able to get the #18 nylon cord to make purses with. I had made one some time back and really enjoyed it. SO my DIL came over and asked if I would make her a "Gambling" bag. Something just big enough for her wallet, chapstick and smokes. So I have started on the handle for that. I will definately post pics of it when I am done. I worked on my socks while on vacation and got it all done up thru the gusset and had one heel done when I realized they were: a) too short, b) heel to narrow so will be frogging that back to the end of the gusset. I still have a prayer shawl partially done but think I will take it with me this weekend and see how much I can do at the conference. What better place to work on it then in a spiritual place. I have several other things I really want to get started on but refuse to start anything else before I finish what I already have started. I haven't even mentioned the other two projects I have going but that is because they are for gifts for people that read this blog. Oh I did start another purse (my own design) just before my DIL asked for one for her. So that is on hold too.

That is about all from the wonderful sunny and extremely hot state of Arizona. Just so you know we have had over 26 days of 110 plus weather this summer.

long week(s)

I think the last 2 weeks have been the longest weeks of my life.

My friends husband had to go in for heart surgery last week. He had a defibulator put in as his heart was not pumping and beating the way it should and it was very scary as his type of heart condition could have ended his life at any moment. Well, he came thru the surgery fine and is feeling much better. We are all relieved that things went well for him and his family.

My DIL informed us the first of July that she was pregnant. We were all so happy as they have really wanted another child for over a year now. Then 2 weeks ago she had an ultrasound and they told her they could not find the baby. Well, she was a bit early on in pregnancy so we waited for another week and then had another ultrasound. She had an ectopic pregnancy and had to have surgery last Friday to remove the baby from the tube. She was so upset and we are all feeling for her right now. She was going to announce her pregnancy this Saturday at her Daughter's birthday party. (she turns 2 today!)

So my DH and I have been spending a lot time at my DS and DIL house trying to help them out with housework, dinners, laundry, etc.

Another good friend of our with the Downs Syndrome baby has him back in the hospital with pneumonia and other problems. He just turned 2 months today. Please say a prayer for Noah and his family. He is such a loving child and for all these medical problems to be coming on him........it just breaks my heart!

Needless to say I have not been doing much crafting the past 2 weeks. I think the only thing I have been doing is working a bit here and there on my Crazy Toes & Heels magic loop socks. Oh! I also made a small bag to carry my knitting around town in. I fashioned it after the "GoKnit Pouch" I saw on another website.

We leave Tuesday for Chicago to visit our DH and family. He is a training instructor at Great Lakes Naval Station. We have not seen them for over a year and really miss those 4 grandsons.

So my blog will be very quiet for the next couple of weeks. After I get back I should have lots of pictures to share with you.

Lost Wages/Las Vegas

We just returned last night from a nice 4 day three night stay in Las Vegas. My DH and I went and took my Mom along with us. We had an absolutely wonderful time. Mom and I played a lot of penny slots and my DH did some black jack at the tables.

We saw my in laws while there and really enjoyed a good visit with them. Our son, Daugher in law and Grand Daughter were there the same time too so we got to really have a good time with everyone.

We saw the Fremont experience light show Sunday night and actually drove all the way down the Strip to show my Mom how much it had changed in over 20 years. She loved all of it. We are truly blessed that at 79.5 yrs she is still in good enough health that she can travel with us and her mind is as sharp as can be. (Especally at those slots!)

I finally got my Crazy Toes & Heels book and spent the entire 4.5 hour drive up there reading and comprehending this fantastic way to knit socks. I spent the 5.5 hours on the way home knitting two pair of toe up socks using the magic loop method. I almost got the toe done.

Now I know you are all wondering why it took us an hour longer to get home than to get there. (NO! My DH did not have his foot thru the floor!) We hit some wicked rain about 1.5 hours away from home and it really slowed us down as the roads here in Arizona get really slick when it rains. You see, we have to keep our roads oiled because of our extreme tempuratures in the summer so when it rains it is like driving on ice. Then there was that rush hour traffice we hit when we got to town!

Anyway...........I am so excited about the sock. After working on them for that length of time I can now understand why everyone is raving about knitting socks. I can see where this will become an addiction for me. I have enough sock yarn to do about 9 pairs of socks so I am really going to be having some fun.

But alas, I still have to finish the crocheted chair cover for my mom so will put the socks away for a few days until that is finished and then I can work on the socks without too much guilt.

Oh!!!!!!!!!!! I did manage to come home with more money than I went up with too! YEA ME!!!!!!

We will be leaving again in a couple of weeks for a nice vacation to Chicago to visit our son, his wife and the 4 grand sons. My mom is going with us there too and she has never met the youngest one and he just turned 4 last week. So she is really excited about and so are the grands.

I hope you all are having a wonderful day and enjoying your crafting!

OOPS!!!!!!!! Forgot to tell you that my Mom was knitting in the car with me! She is making a blanket and she has not knitted for YEARS!!!!! So it was kind of fun to be doing that together.

Ok, I am going now...........you all be good!

Stuff to show you

I told all of you that we had been to South Carolina last month. This is a picture of one of the plantations we visited. This is Magnolia Plantation and the grounds and house were absolutely gorgeous. I think I could have spent an entire day there, but we only got a couple of hours since we had seminars to attend. My DH and I have decided that this is a place we will come back to for vacation sometime. The people were so friendly and it was one of the cleanest towns we had ever been to.


This is the cover for my Mom's recliner I have been working on. I also made arm covers to match but did not get a picture of them. She was thrilled with them and got a good laugh from the message also. When I was growing up my Grandmother had a recliner. ( I think she got one of the first ones ever made. LOL) When any of us 26 grankids saw her coming we would yell "here comes Grandma, get out of her throne". So my mom remembered well this event and she laughed when she saw that she now had a "throne" too.


Here is a prayer shawl I just completed and gave to a dear friend of mine. She had a baby on June 1st (my birthday) and he is a sweety. Unfortunately we have since found out he has Down's Syndrome. Well, if any of you know me that does not make any difference to me as this is still a child of God. The hard part is, he is in the hospital right now with severe breathing problems. So I thought his Mama could use a little something for comfort right now and presented this to her today. I had started this when I first found out she was pregnant but never finished it. When I heard baby Noah was in the hospital I finished it up in one evening. Please keep Noah and his family in your prayers.


Finally I leave you with one reason you do not let a 23 month old child dress themselves! This is our Grand daughter who will be 2 on August 1st. My DH watches during the day while her parents are at work. He has a blast with her and she loves to "dress up". So this is what she came out of her room wearing the other day. She is a delight to be around but boy can she wear us "old" people out by the end of a day.

So you are all caught up to date on my life now. As for crafting......I have ordered a book to learn how to make 2 socks at one time on one or two circular needles. I am going to learn this method when we drive to Las Vegas this month. I figure that gives me about 6 hours each way and I should learn something in that lenght of time.

Oh yes.............I forgot to tell you.............I had to take a test when I was in South Carolina for my medical coding certification. Well, I passed it with flying colors! Yea me!

That is it for now. Have a great weekend.