The Great Debate and other matters

Is it Coke vs. Pepsi? No, it was the myriad of choices I had to debate between to treat my measly runny nose. Sudafed? Tylenol Allergey? Benadryl? Claritin-D? Ones available right there on the shelf, or the ones that I have to read the little paper picture of and then take to the pharmacist? Too many choices! Of course the one I finally picked and then took to the pharmacist they didn't have behind the counter. Actually, they did, the packaging had just changed color, but the little paper hanger hadn't been changed to keep up.

The answer to the Coke vs. Pepsi debate is Coke, of course.

The odd thing about funerals is that while they are unhappy occasions, they do bring families together. I don't think all of my cousins and I have gotten together in about five years - we're just so spread out. I hadn't seen my brother in over a year since he lives overseas, so it was an unexpected pleasure to see him, although a sad occasion that brought us together. I am happy that I got to see my Granny several times this year and tell her how much I loved her.

In stitching news, I really hope the second half of the year is calmer than the first half so that I can get some real designing done. I feel so scattered! I have so many things I want to get out of me, but I can't find any time to bring them to real fruition. There will be at least one new design for June thanks to a wonderful model stitcher. There should be a new dragon-mouse freebie design as well. That went from sketch to rough chart yesterday. These are going to be called "The Adventures of Oscar and Ralph" to keep them straight in my head. The dragon is Oscar and the mouse is named Ralph. This one will be a Christmas design. I still have hopes for one more design that I'm working on, but I had a slight size miscalculation, so the design will have to be adjusted. D'oh!

In Memory of Granny

My Granny made the best caramel cake and would always have a chocolate cake and ice cream ready for your birthday. She started painting when she retired and yet had a painting career that spanned more than 30 years. She loved to talk about flowers and to tend growing things. She took care of all the people that came into her life. She remembered the Great Depression. At age 95, she had a long and good life. She loved life and the people in it. We will all miss her and try our best to live our lives like hers: love others, love God, and it is never too late to learn to do something new!

The mind is working faster than the hands can keep up

I have so many ideas that I wish I could sit down and draw out right now. I really wish the TNNA show was in late July or even September to give me more time to get some done. Hopefully I'll get one or two done, then have more releases coming out this fall. Once the creative juices get going, they just keep on going, which is a good thing. I have a model stitcher who seems to be working her fingers off, so it looks like there is a high probability that one new design at least will be ready for the show. I'm working on stitching another small one, which is about 25-30% done, so that's a good sign. I'd like to finish charting out a third that has been in stages in my head for quite a while. If only there were more hours in the day!

The good news is that I did get my flight booked yesterday. The airfare even dropped from Tuesday when I last looked at it. Don't know if that was just good timing, or the fall in barrel oil prices, but either way, I'm happier than I was on Tuesday.

In off the wall news - I won a poker tournament at lunch! The place where we usually go for lunch on Fridays has free video Texas Hold'em games and in May they are doing tournament games at noon. So the group I went with joined in, since it is all free, and I ended up winning! When it got down to me and one other person, it was pretty tough. We'd trade hands back and forth, then I'd win a big one, then he'd win a big one. Then I'd bluff my way back in and so forth. Finally, he went all in and I ended up with two pair and the winning hand! I won 6 hot wings and got entered into a drawing for a trip to Vegas. I doubt I'll win the big prize, but I was pretty happy to win the little tournament.

What is a season?

There's nothing like travelling due north (or in some cases, South) to lead you to wonder what makes a season. Here in Texas, we are enjoying late Spring (although the calendar may say otherwise) burgeoning on the edge of summer. This past weekend, I travelled to Detroit and it was like stepping back 8-10 weeks in time since they are experiencing what would be our early spring. All of the early spring flowers were blooming - the tulips, the Bradford Pears, the pansies. The days were in the 60's and the evenings were definitely chilly! Here's a comparision:

These are my tulips; I planted them on MLK day and they bloomed about 3 weeks later (early February):


Here we are visiting a park in Canada on April 27 (note the tulips in the background):

So what season is it? Almost summer or just early spring? Looks like it depends upon your latitude. All I know is that I'm looking forward to going to the pool pretty soon!

Stitching news: Almost recovered from the Needlework Show. Still have a few packages to mail out - those should go out this week. That's the problem with having a major bicycle event and a family wedding scheduled in and around a tradeshow! Also, I'm trying to work out two more designs that I hope I can quickly stitch up before June - who wants to place bets on how many I get done. For one I have some really fun ideas on combining cross-stitch with scrapbooking elements. Now, I'm trying to get focused on TNNA in Indianapolis, so lots to do and plan. Somehow I survived the month of April, though, so that is a major accomplishment! This week is double stitch-nights, and I missed the stitch-ins last month due to a nasty stomach bug, so I'm really looking forward to it!

Better run, got some xxx's to make!