Happy Birthday to Me!

I woke up this morning and found these sitting on the table by my chair. Amy sent this wonderful arrangement and I had to call and thank her because an email just wouldn't do! We chatted for a little while and I look forward to many future talks. She is one amazing lady!

Just a note: all these pictures are clickable if you want to see them enlarged.

I know I said I was planning on leaving the laptop off so that I could stitch all day, but that didn't happen. Debi was the first to wish me a happy birthday just after midnight. While we were on the phone she told me that I had birthday wishes waiting for me. I went to answer them and got sucked in to reading the rest of the messages.

I asked Uncle Wes if he wanted to go to Sakura Steakhouse with me for a late lunch/early dinner. I made reservations for 3:00 and we went to enjoy a great meal. If you've never been to a Japanese Tappan restaurant, the food is all cooked right in front of you on a big grill table. The chef puts on an entertaining show while preparing everything.









Wes had the filet mignon and scallops while I had the filet and shrimp. The fried rice, appetizer, vegetables and hot tea all come with the meal. Sakura is the only place that serves ice cream I can eat. I'm not sure where they get it from, but their green tea ice cream is the smoothest, creamiest ice cream I've ever had. It also has a palate-cleansing flavor (or non-flavor, in this case) that isn't sweet at all. I really can't explain it, but I had Uncle Wes try some, too, so he could see what I meant.

I made sure to let our server know that I was going to order the ice cream because there was another birthday girl at a neighboring table and they brought out a piece of chocolate-covered cake for her. Since I'm not big on chocolate or cake I didn't want them to waste it on me. Here's what Scott brought out, while everyone at the table sang happy birthday to me.

When we returned home I went to soak in the bathtub with my book. I thought about taking a nap but never made it that far. Instead I dozed in the bathtub for a little bit and then came back out to the livingroom.
Once again the laptop sucked me in. While I was going through my email I found the second surprise of the day. Myrl, who RAK'd me with two HandBlessings charts last fall, has offered me the use of her 3 bedroom, 2 bath ocean front condo the weekend of Salty Yarns' Stitcher's Retreat! I couldn't believe it at first, so I read and re-read the email. Then I started jumping up and down. Kasey and Chet probably thought something was seriously wrong with me, but I couldn't help myself! This is just a dream come true! Thank you, Myrl!!
Late this evening I opened all my Birthday Floss Club cards. I belong to three BFC's so there were about twenty cards. I laid them all out on the dining room table collage-like with the floss on top of them. I still have about 10 more cards on the way, but this is what's arrived so far.

In case you're wondering, I haven't picked up a needle since the Thursday afternoon stitching group at Barnes and Noble. I'm hoping to change that tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Thank you to everyone for your birthday wishes!

Hugs,
Beth

December 15, 2008 Addendum

Look what arrived in today's mail! This is my Christmas Card Exchange from Teresa D in my private group. First, there's USA Heart Box by DebBee's Designs. This will be an easy stitch as it's all straight stitches on Congress cloth. T also sent Britty Kitties by Brittercup Designs. Believe it or not, I don't have any of Brittercup's charts but have been admiring them for a long time. Thank you, T, I love everything! Thank you so much!

This package arrived Friday but I kept forgetting to include it in my posts. This is my gift package for playing the Chatty Stitching Exchangers' NASCAR game last season. Elaine and Glenda, this is too much! The game was alot of fun and you all were great organizers! I've not heard of a 9-month-long game running so smoothly before. Kudos to you!

Elaine made the tuck pillow and Glenda included flavored tea bags, a felt kit to do with Breanna, Cross Stitch and Country Crafts magazines from my wish list, a lavender magnetic note pad, and two skeins of DMC floss. Thank you both! I can't wait until next year's game.

More Thank-you's

Somehow some pictures I took went into the wrong folder, so I missed adding them to previous blog entries. These were supposed to be posted last week:

I really must apologize for not giving her goodies the spotlight in last Monday's post! So sorry, Lynne!

For the non-stitched exchange in CSF, Lynne sent me:.
1 pack each of red, white, and blue seed beads;
Star Pencil; Ladybug socks; Bead storage box;
Fabric with a red, white, and blue design; Purple Paisley fabric; Hazlenut flavored hot chocolate mix; and Stitch markers & thread picker from My Big Toe.

Lisa's, Danni's, and Crystal's birthday cards arrived last week as well. The flosses are gorgeous, and Lisa's hand-made card is just darling. I love the needle and thread stamped on the front! Thank you, ladies!

Apparently I was the last person to post a message in CSF in January, so Barb sent me two skeins of Ozark Sampler threads and one Six Strand Sweets. Thank you Barb!

Most recently, Jo-Ann B sent some belated birthday greetings (and goodies) with the floss for my Week 1 NASCAR win. I received a pink magnetic notepad, two Breast Cancer Awareness pencils, several varieties of tea, in addition to the floss. Jo-Ann, that was so sweet of you. Thank you very much!

March 4, 2008

I didn't do any stitching today, but I went out and ran errands instead. I had to go to JoAnn's and Michaels to get items for the StitchersCircle non-stitched exchange. For obvious reasons, I wasn't able to get out and go shopping for this, so I'm late getting it out to my partner. I got some cool goodies for her, so I hope she likes them. I wanted to go straight to the post office to get them mailed out, but I can't find her address anywhere on the group site or Elfster. UGH! So I'm going to be later!

I also went to the dollar store and bought a whole bunch of shoebox sized containers, so I'm hoping I can get my stash somewhat organized. I may, however, just create more confusion! LOL While I was at the dollar store, I found a whole bunch of books with the cardboard pages for my nephew's birthday. Caleb is going to be 1 on March 15 and we're having a party for him at Mom's.

I realized that over the last couple days Chet and Kasey aren't hovering as bad as they were, so I must be getting better. The fact that I was able to go to so many stores without getting tired says alot to the improvement in my condition, too. Baby steps. That's what I keep telling myself. It's going to be a long road, but I hope to be able to swim laps in my uncle's pool this summer.