Tale of a Shooting Star…

I came home to a package in the mailbox, one on the porch and of course a bunch of treasures from my honeybunch. 🙂

First, there was an envelope from Paris. I know Isabelle will be ecstatic to hear that not only did it arrive on time, but exactly on the day! She sent me the most lovely scarf in blues and purples with shimmering metallic woven throughout. I hardly feel sophisticated enough to do it any justice, dear Isabelle, but I will do my best. 😉 She also made up a gorgeous hardanger piece. She really is quite skilled at hardanger, though she’d be the first to deny it. It looks like a Victoria Sampler design to me and is just beautiful. It is going to work with me tomorrow, Isabelle, to hang in my cubicle at work. That way, my friend will always be smiling down on me just when I usually need it the most! 😆 Be sure to take a look at the closeup. Didn’t she do a great job? Thank you Isabelle!

Next, there was this big box on the front porch. I couldn’t make out the sender through the sidelight, but when I picked it up it was incredibly light. Hmmmm… OH! I know what it is! Sure enough, it was from favorite US-located kiwi, Jo. She remember that I had offered to pay her to make a huswife (at least, I think that’s what one is) like the beautiful one that she made early in September. Remember her glorious pool noodle project? Well, she made one just for me – with purple fabric, of course, and stars, to boot! She even put a button on it in the shape of a heart with a star in it and, not surprisingly, her sewing is impeccable. Oh, and you can’t tell from the photo, but trust me, the fabric really is purple, not blue. 🙂 I can’t wait to go roll up some of my finishes that are lying around the craft room so that they are protected from dirt and my sheer clutziness. Thank you Jo!

And last, but not least, my treasure trove from Terry. He spoils me rotten, what can I say? It’s a darn good thing I’m such a nice girl at heart! Terry bought me some things I asked for and some things I hadn’t even thought of, clever little boy. 😉 First is a 2 GB CompactFlash card and adapter so that I can load up all of my MP3s and play them in the car. He says it’s so I don’t have to be surprised at what’s in the CD player when I turn it on. I guess you had to have been there to see my face the last time I switched to CD, expecting Black Eyed Peas, only to be serenaded by a slow song from the BeeGees! 😆 Then there’s the book that Robin McGraw (Dr. Phil’s wife) just wrote. I love when she’s on the show and really admire her strength, so I can’t wait to dig into the book and see what she has to say! Finally, the big guns came out when Terry gave me a new digital camera! I’ve been working with his leftovers for a while, a digital camera that we bought before we were married, but I’ve been getting sick of its quirks and shortcomings, so I’ve been looking and agitating for something new. There are too many bells and whistles on his digital SLR camera for me to want to learn just to take quick pics of my stitching and stuff every once in a while. Of course, along with the camera, he had to buy me a memory stick, a reader for the memory, an extra battery (which is a good thing because these crazy things take about 5 1/2 hours to charge!) and a bag.

I’m as happy as a pig in slop. Honestly. I kept poking Terry with my elbow and giving him a big silly grin while I was messing with the camera. Of course, there’s no charge to the batteries, so the fun was very short-lived. So no, the pictures here are not taken with the new camera. But the next ones should be!

Thank you to all of my wonderful friends and family for your thoughtful gifts and your loving birthday thoughts. I love you all and I had an absolutely terrific birthday (my 31st, to be exact)! I’m happy to be what, where and who I am right now. 🙂

Whew! After all of this excitement, I think I’m ready for bed…

My birthday is today. And please don’t fuss if you didn’t know. I purposefully didn’t advertise the event because I didn’t want people to worry about sending anything special for the occasion. A couple of people just happened to know the date…

No worries! I’m having a wonderful day. 😀

A package arrived on Friday for me from Outi. I opened it and saw a Silkweaver plastic bag with yummy fabric in it, but Outi put a note on the outside that there was something tucked inside the fabric and I could choose whether or not to wait for my birthday to open it. I held off opening it… until Sunday night. In a moment of weakness, I opened the bag, pulled out the fabric and unwrapped the most gorgeous, tiny biscornu I have every seen! The funny thing, Outi, is that I’ve been meaning to make one for myself on this scale, just to have one that teeny and to see how it would turn out. And here you’ve already done it for me!
Outi said that she chose the fabric named Starry Sky and the floss from Polstitches named Love and Laughter just for me. Isn’t she sweet? [Edited to add: Outi says that she hand-dyed the fabric herself!] It’s stitched over one, too. It’s absolutely fabulous! Not to mention that the fabric that she sent is beautiful, as well. It’s a nice warm, neutral color that will go well with several designs that I can think of. Maybe I’ll stitch a dragon on it in your honor, Outi. 😉

Since I’m trying to rest my shoulder a bit, I decided to bead up the bracelet for Mary. I added a second repeat of the purple because I needed the length, but it also gives the piece symmetry and symbolizes that she is a cancer survivor and will continue to be one. 🙂 I strongly encourage you to click for a closeup because I think it turned out amazingly well. I can’t wait to give it to her!

Usually I answer comments individually, but I’ve received so many lately that I thought I would just respond here. I hope that you don’t mind. 🙂

First, thank you for all of the compliments on my new hair style. All of your kind words have really helped me to get used to the new cut. To answer a couple of questions about the curls, my hair is fortunately very versatile. It can be curly or straight. It just depends on how I dry it. If I put in mousse and dry it with a diffuser while scrunching it, then it turns out curly. I can also dry it out straight using a large round brush. I’ve opted for curly lately because it seems to behave better and is much easier to do. I’ll try it straight one of these days and have Terry take another picture, if it comes out okay. 😉

Second, for those who have received their scissors from the giveaway, you are all quite welcome. It was my pleasure. There is one pair that hasn’t gone out yet to Michelle as Terry needs to finish sharpening the blades. They will go out next week, probably. And for those who entered and didn’t win, if you haven’t received a pair already, they will be posted soon. 🙂 And Susan, if you are reading, I still don’t have a mailing address for you, so please email me at jenna at magees dot net so that I can send those out to you.

Third, thank you SO MUCH for your overwhelming support of my friend Mary. Angela, thank you for your suggestion of gathering people together to do some practical things for her like bringing dinners, etc. Once she starts treatment, I think that would be a very welcomed gesture and she has a lot of people who care about her at work that we should be able to round up. I know I can always count on the wonderful, caring people who share my life with me via my blog to provide support and inspiration when it is needed the most. You are all very special to me.

And finally, I pulled a muscle in my right shoulder late last week (which is part of what has been triggering the headaches) and it has slowly gotten worse and worse. It reached the point yesterday where I really aggravated it at work, having to use my laptop on a variety of different conference room tables, as I was in meetings all day. It’s pretty sore this morning, so I am going to have to severely curb my computer (and probably stitching, too – eep!) time over the next few days as I encourage it to heal. So, if I’m quiet for a little while, both on my blog and in commenting on your own, you know why. I’ll try to post shorter posts (am I capable of doing such a thing?) as I can.

Hugs to all of my friends in cyberspace!