Wednesday, September 29, 2010

FUN and FUNNY Regency artwork






















I have not read "The Secret History of the Pink Carnation" by Laura Willig, but having stumbled across her blog, I think I will have to. What I found there today were "cartoon" versions of some scenes from the books and they are HYSTERICAL!

Make sure to check these out HERE. Click once and they get bigger; twice, bigger still and easy to read.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Annual Back-to-School cold

Same thing every year- get back around the kids at school and catch a cold. Only difference this year? *I* didn't bring it home- DH did!

Started feeling sick Saturday afternoon/evening and spent Sunday resting, hoping to stave it off- no luck!

Went to school today but tomorrow, me and my Nyquil are going to spend the day in bed- hopefully that will get me back on my feet feeling somewhat human by Wednesday.

I've been on a binge of reading Georgette Heyer- and I'm really enjoying it! I hadn't read anything of hers in a while and she really is delightful! Definitely recommended if you have not tried her- she deserves her title of "Queen of the Regencies". You can learn a lot about her at the link on my sidebar.

OK- time to get back to watching the Phillies: just me and DH sharing the game and a box of tissues- how romantic is that! ;)

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Sunny Saturday after a long week


Phillies Phever is starting to take over around here. With the magic number at 2, everyone is getting ready for the playoffs- and hoping for another trip to the World Series.

That will add slightly to my weekend work- I have to dig out ALL my Phillies shirts and get them washed and ready to wear.

Other weekend work includes the continuation of the seasonal clothing changeover- an ongoing job that is hampered by the crazy weather we've been having. I also have to get all the info I've got marked on several sets of class lists transferred into my finally-set-up paper grade book and into the online grade book. There's also laundry, stuff around the house- the usual. The Eagles play tomorrow but I'm not sure how much of a distraction that will be.

While I am starting (JUST starting) to feel a little more comfortable with the schedule at the new school, it is still leaving me exhausted all the time. Today I slept until 12:30 and that was after taking a nap when I got home from school yesterday.

I haven't yet found any time to do any actual stitching or tatting or crafting, but at least I've been reading my favorite blogs and boards about them when I'm too tired to actually do them but am awake enough to read. My LNS (local needlework shop- which is NOT really local since it is more than an hour away) has been posting pictures of some of the new designs from the St. Charles Market- and there are LOTS of wonderful new things to stitch. BUT....NOT for me- I am NOT going to buy anything new (except, of course, Chatelaine's German Christmas Market) until I use up some things from my stash! (Yeah- we'll see how long *that* resolve lasts, lol!)

Time to go put in a load of laundry. Then, I think, since it is SUCH a beautiful day, that I will work on my grade book on the patio and enjoy the sunshine.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

New design from Chatelaine- GORGEOUS!!!






















So, I swore I was not going to buy anymore charts, fabrics, supplies, ANYTHING, until I finished a couple of the needlework pieces I have currently in the works.

That resolve went right out the window when I saw this!

This is Chatelaine (Martina Rosenberg)'s new Christmas design. The way it looks on black fabric totally blew me away, so it is already ordered. So much for my resolution.

If you want to check out more information about this you can look HERE on Facebook, or HERE on her forums group.

This will be offered as part of an online class that begins in November 2010 and ends October 2011. I know that I will fall far behind the other stitchers in keeping up with this, but I just MUST have this design! Now, to find the perfect black fabric!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

I am BACK!


I have been away from here for quite a while! It has been an amazingly busy and hectic time. Here's the stuff that's been going on, in reverse order.

The Mercy banner in the picture is because tomorrow is the opening Mass and ceremony for the 150th Anniversary of the Academy of the Sisters of Mercy- originally located in North Philadelphia and now known as Gwynedd Mercy Academy. I am looking forward to seeing some classmates tomorrow, as well as celebrating the school that has meant so much to me throughout my life.

The last two weeks have been spent at my new school- learning to adapt to a new school schedule and a very tough personal class schedule. I have to say that everyone at my new school has been INCREDIBLE! The welcome those of us from CD have received, the understanding and compassion for our situation has been overwhelming. My class schedule is very difficult, too many classes together without a break, but my classes are terrific- the students are a joy!
I have been truly blessed to have landed where I did.

Before that was a busy but wonderful end of summer. In reverse order: We spent Labor Day weekend back in the little house "living on the porch" with magnificent weather. We went to my cousin's surprise 50th birthday party and had a great time seeing so many of the family. We spent 6 days in Disney World and had a great time. I drove Auntie back home to Florida and we had a good trip that included a stop in South Carolina at a cousin-in-law's home for a delightful weekend and a picnic on the Bull Run battlefield- I love visiting Civil War battlefields and had not been to Bull Run before.

Once I got home from the GLORIOUS time at the shore, I was busy running to school and trying to get my classroom in shape. It is still a long way from how I want it, but at least it is livable. The amount of STUFF I found in drawers and cabinets was amazing- and depressing, as there was literally NO PLACE to put anything of my own. There are still about 10 boxes in the garage that came from CD, but most of my basics are finally in my classroom. I got to know the maintenance crew very quickly- there were so many things I put out in the hallway for trash that they wanted to see who was doing that, lol! And, AGAIN, I have to thank my WONDERFUL CD kids for all their amazing help in getting the classroom looking good- these kids are so fabulous I don't know how to say it.

Well, my house is a disaster (time to get back on the FlyLady wagon!!!), I need to set up my gradebook for the year, and the laundry pile is almost as tall as me. So, time to get to work!

It feels really good to be back posting.