book update

I haven't done a book update for awhile so I figured it was time.

In November I read 6 books for a total of 2,853 pages this month.  Two of those books were chunksters (meaning they were each over 450 pages)

So now I am up to 76 books for the year - a bit behind last year (83 books) but ahead in pages (1653 for last year).

I admit that being sick and not feeling good enough to do anything probably boosted the page count for this month.  Hopefully not for next month - too much to do!

This is what we discovered Thanksgiving morning.  Since it never got above freezing on Thanksgiving, this small amount of snow was still here on Friday morning.  It's now mostly gone.  I just hate to think of how much more may be coming this winter.

I did not venture out on Black Friday.  Just not my thing, besides I have even finished my lists yet.  Thank heavens no one is wanting some wildly popular item and if they are - they didn't remember to tell me.
Heck, I made one daughter ecstatic because I bought her a plain white gravy boat and took it over for Thanksgiving.

Now it's back to the end of the month paperwork for my various volunteer groups.

recovery

Who knew back in June that we would need a vacation so baaad by the time it finally rolled around.  Yes, way back in June we scheduled a vacation to St. Thomas with my brother-in-law and his wife for this November.  We were so happy to miss the arctic breeze and accompanying snow.

Our view from the balcony.   All the "villas" faced the ocean, the backs faced another building or greenery.

The ferry we took into town (in place of a cab).  Same price as the cabs as well.





Watching the cruise ships leave in the evenings.

The view from the lobby.

.
I was standing at poolside to take this photo.


It was a great get-a-way!

Pins and Needles Day

Pins and Needles Day

The real purpose of Pins and Needles Day is to commemorate the opening of the pro-Labor play Pins and Needles on Broadway on this day in 1937. Over decades of time, people lost track of the original meaning of this day. Today, most people look upon Pins and Needles Day, as a nervous and anxious day. Its a day of eager anticipation, as we await an event or for something to happen. One could argue that kids are on pins and needles from now until Christmas, as they nervously wonder if they have been good enough to receive a visit from Santa in a few weeks. Of all the special days on the calendar, this is a nerve racking day. You are on pins and needles until that special future event successfully unfolds. And, if it doesn't.......... well we will just think positively. We hope you have a happy, and calm, and relaxing Pins and Needles Day!

My first thought was needles to stitch with and straight pins for marking your count!  For all the stitchers out there, this should be our day !

This year it also happens to fall on Thanksgiving, so Happy Turkey Day too!

More catch-up

While at EGA National Seminar, I got an opportunity to visit Quail Run Needlework.   Wish I had something that great near me.

I think I counted at least 3 walls of thread, not counting the DMC floss that was in drawers.

 This was part of a trunk show display.  Some great finishing ideas.

Uncle Sam was also part of the trunk show but he just had to come home with me.  I need to gather ideas before I start working on him so it will be winter at the earliest.  Besides it's not like I don't have anything else to do.

At the rate things have gone this Fall, I wonder what winter will bring me.  I came home from the ANG National Seminar and my grandson gave me his cold - that lasted 3 weeks.   A week later I thought I had a stomach virus - turned out to be the flu.  Three days after the EGA seminar, I started getting sick again and this time went to the doctor's.  Good thing - it turned out to be strep throat.  So hopefully everything else will by pass me this winter

I did get to miss the first snow of the season- more on that tomorrow.

Waaaay Behind

Yes, I am late in posting several things.

First I'll head back to the EGA National Seminar and direct you to another blog that had lots more photos than me and and was actually timely. Mostly Needlepoint is the blog by Vicky De Angelis.  A great read!  Start with the end date (for the seminar portion) of October 22 post and then go backwards for some great commentary and photos.

Starting off, this was the courtyard that my room overlooked.  Never very crowded and very peaceful.

 I went past this courtyard, another similar courtyard and a straightaway, past a pool, then a corner, then over a very small street/pathway before I came to this:

If I went past (to the right of the fountain) this small area and beautiful fountain, I went into the building and the first door was the shop - a very dangerous place for my pocketbook!  Going thru the archway (on the left side of the fountain), and heading to the right, you go down a hallway towards the lobby of the convention area.  Going to the left, headed towards my classroom.  I had one of the six classrooms created by splitting up

of the banquet hall.
Here is one half  of my classroom (during break time).  I had some very dedicated stitchers!

And here is some of their color choices.  Color choices are always advocated in my classroom!

You can tell that a couple of them really liked their bling!

And here's the model

More tomorrow!

Veterans Day - long winded and proud to be a Vet!

The Veterans Day National Ceremony is held each year on November 11th at Arlington National Cemetery . The ceremony commences precisely at 11:00 a.m. with a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns and continues inside the Memorial Amphitheater with a parade of colors by veterans' organizations and remarks from dignitaries. The ceremony is intended to honor and thank all who served in the United States Armed Forces.

Veterans Day is an official United States holiday that honors people who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, also known as veterans. It is a federal holiday that is observed on November 11. It coincides with other holidays such as Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, which are celebrated in other parts of the world and also mark the anniversary of the end of World War I. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, when the Armistice with Germany went into effect.)

Veterans Day is not to be confused with Memorial Day; Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans, while Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving.^[1]

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed Armistice Day for November 11, 1919.  

In 1945, World War II veteran Raymond Weeks from Birmingham, Alabama, had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those who died in World War I. Weeks led a delegation to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, who supported the idea of National Veterans Day. Weeks led the first national celebration in 1947 in Alabama and annually until his death in 1985. President Reagan honored Weeks at the White House with the Presidential Citizenship Medal in 1982 as the driving force for the national holiday.

Although originally scheduled for celebration on November 11 of every year, starting in 1971 in accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Veterans Day was moved to the fourth Monday of October. In 1978, it was moved back to its original celebration on November 11. While the legal holiday remains on November 11, if that date happens to be on a Saturday or Sunday, then organizations that formally observe the holiday will normally be closed on the adjacent Friday or Monday, respectively.  Thank God someone had some sense to leave it on the correct date!!!!!!!!!

I could go on and on.  After all I am the child of a career military man who fought in two wars, whose mother also served, I served, and my son followed in the family footprints (and I am extremely proud of him).

USMC Day

USMC Day

When : Always November 10th USMC Day celebrates the birth of the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps were created during the Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress of the newly created United States of America, authorized the creation of the Continental Marines on November 10, 1775. It was later renamed the U.S. Marine Corps. It is often abbreviated as USMC. The Marine Corps has proudly participated in every war that has involved the United States. If you see a Marine today, thank them for their contributions to protecting our country. Active or retired, they deserve our thanks and appreciation.

(My Dad was a Marine in WW2)

The above photo mostly reassembles our neighborhood - lots of naked trees, leaves in the yards, street, etc.  And our weather has been gray and drab - still much better than what will be coming in a month or so.  Part of me is ready for winter - ready to huddle by the fireside, to do lots of stitching, lots of designing and lots of family history research - not so ready for the actual cold, ice and snow.

Enjoy your Autumn time.

Today is election day.  I have one word for you.

It seems that since the end of July, I have either been away from home teaching or at home and prepping as well as being sick.   It has been one thing right after another.  Today I finally went to the Doc and said help because I knew this "bug" was more lethal than everything else had been - Yep, strep can do that for you.  I've now started my antibiotic and hope to feel more chipper in a few days.  Yikes, I might even get my EGA seminar photos posted.

Time for a nap!