Stitch, stitch, stitch!

When someone asks anyone in my family what my favorite hobby is, they will all chorus, "Cross-stitch!" Well, the kids call it "sewing," but they know what it means.

I stitch whenever I have a spare moment. I usually have several projects going at once and there's usually one in a bag, ready for me to grab and take with me wherever I go. I have a fear of being caught someplace with nothing to do, so I try to be prepared for those moments. I stitch while I'm watching television with the kids and I stitch while visiting with friends. However, I have not "sunk" to the point where I stitch in the bathroom!

What's next best to stitching is shopping for stitching! I love to keep my eyes on eBay, but more fun than that, is discovering unique designs found only over here. I really like Asian designs and my stash is quickly building up with items that can't be found elsewhere.

I subscribe to an online magazine (The Gift of Stitching Magazine http://www.thegiftofstitching.com/) and I finally actually stitched a project from it. It was a switch for me to stitch such a design, but I really like the results.

But the background first . . .

I discovered a wholesale cross stitch shop in my town. Pure shopping heaven for me! It's almost like a flea market as you never know what's going to be there. (However, on my last trip to the shop, I discovered that it is now organized!) On one of my trips there (I'm always bringing new customers to this shop so the owner bargains with me all the time!) I discovered a very disorganized box of "mystery threads." I had no idea what kind of threads they were, but I loved the colors and sheen. The owner wanted fifty cents (local currency), so I started to pick out colors. I got a bit frustrated because they kept getting tangled up and I told the friend with me, "I just going to offer her 100 dollars (local currency) for the whole box. I then went to the owner and asked her how much she would take for the entire box. I was ready to bargain. She looked around to make sure no other customers were in earshot and said, "Thirty cents per skein." She cut her price almost in half.

We went to work. One of the assistants and I wound and sorted and when it was all said and done, I purchased 402 skeins for 120 dollars local currency. That converts to about $16 US. There is so much I can do with those threads and I couldn't wait to start. (see bottom photo)

In Janary 2008, The Gift of Stitching published a design by Tracy Horner of Ink Circles (http://www.inkcircles.com/). It was entitled "Celtic Quilts: Corn & Beans" and I fell in love with it immediately. I had ordered some linen to be mailed to me (I haven't found a good supply of cross stitch fabric yet) and the day it arrived was the day I started the project, using the threads from my "thread find." I finished it on May 20 (see top photo). I'm looking forward to framing it, but I am hoping to get a couple of other designs finished before then.

What a difference a day makes!

Isn't it supposed to be springtime? The top photo was taken at 8:00 a.m. while the bottom photo was taken at 6:30 p.m. We woke up to a beautiful blanket of snow and it all melted before the sun went down. The snow was gorgeous because all the trees and bushes had leaves on them to serve as "little baskets." If we have to have snowy weather, then this is the best kind to have!

Spring has sprung!

This week, I walked around campus taking pictures of the various flowering trees. I don’t know anything about plants, so I’m pretty useless when it comes to identifying these beauties, but I’ll do my best.

The yellow trees are called “Golden Spring.” This is because they are so common in the spring time and as you can see from some of the photos, they are indeed a prolifically planted tree.

The white blossoms are peach blossoms! They are so incredibly beautiful and now that the petals are falling off, it seems that spring is giving us a gentle snowfall . . . a much nicer snowfall than those that come in the wintertime. (And speaking of snow, wouldn’t you know that the day I took these pictures had snow flurries in the evening! Winter had to go out with a last hurrah!)

I don’t know what the pink flowers are, but they are just now going from bud to bloom stage. They are even more beautiful in real life than on the printed page.

New life abounds everywhere! However, one part of the celebration of new life is a remembrance of those who have died. April 4 is “Qing Ming Jie,” the “Clear and Brightness” Festival. Qing Ming Jie is a traditional Chinese festival that honors one’s ancestors. It is based on the solar calendar as opposed to the lunar calendar and is two weeks after spring equinox. It usually falls on April 4, 5 or 6.

Qing Ming Jie is sort of an unofficial “welcome spring” day. Remember, Chinese New Year is literally called “Spring Festival” so Qing Ming Jie heralds the actual arrival of spring. Longer days are well noted and the planting season begins.

This year marks a return for workers and schools to have Qing Ming Jie off as a holiday. This is partially to give credence to the more traditional festivals of China that seem to be disappearing with the onset of modern development. Additionally, the May 1st holiday week has been shortened in order to spread days off throughout the year. However, the Qing Ming season is about ten days before and ten days after the date.

Our part of the country is still fairly traditional in many ways. I talked to a taxi driver today (April 3) and he said that he expects to be busy tomorrow and throughout the weekend. Families typically visit the graves of their family members and have a number of traditional activities. The grave is swept and cleaned (the day is often called “Tomb Sweeping Day”) and flowers and foods are left for the ancestors. “Spirit” money is burned (fake money) to appease their ancestors into caring for the family for another year. One student described his visit to his ancestors’ grave last week as a time to “worship, provide food and tell the ancestors everything that has happened in the past year.” Interesting concept.

I think the closest American equivalent to this day would be Memorial Day.
Disclaimer: I’m not an expert on Chinese culture so my understanding of the day may not be quite right. However, I think this gives a somewhat accurate depiction.

Shake, Rattle and Roll!

Easter has come and gone, but the reason for the season is very much alive! We celebrated the special day in our home with 35 guests from eight countries. It was a wonderful time and everyone quite enjoyed themselves.

Rachel turned eight this past weekend. It's hard to imagine that our little "Princess Face" is so close to being in the double digits . . . wasn't it just yesterday that she was a little pea pod curled up on my chest? She still is quite a cuddler and likes nothing best than to spend time with her loved ones. We went to a pizza place across town for a family dinner on her birthday and had her party on Saturday.

Parties for children aren't that common here. She invited two girls and two boys to come and only the boys were able to attend. So many of the children here take weekend classes that they don't have much spare time. Rachel didn't want to do anything fancy . . . just wanted me to make heart shaped cakes for each child to decorate. This was completely new for her guests and they had a great time! I made an extra cake for the girl who lives in this building and Rachel brought it to her this evening.

Rachel finally lost one of her front teeth about a week before her birthday. The adult tooth is beginning to come in and it already looks to be huge! I well remember that buck tooth stage.

Michael is anxious to join the missing tooth club. His best friend is only two months older than him, but has already lost four teeth. Michael doesn't have even a wiggly one. However, I am grateful for this extra time in tooth care because Michael is not that good at brushing and flossing yet. It's a daily battle with him to do so.

This afternoon, I was sitting at my desk, preparing for my classes when I felt the desk sort of roll. I had been battling a headache all day, so at first, I thought it was related to that. Then it kept on. I asked Art if he could feel anything as I thought we were having an earthquake. He couldn't feel a thing . . . and he was only across the room. I've had vertigo before, so I wondered if this was a recurrence. I noted the time and popped into the US Geological Society website. They monitor earthquakes around the world and I knew if it was a seismic event, that they would have a record of it.

Sure enough, within a half hour, a report of a 5.2 quake about 160 NW of where we live was recorded. So far, I have heard of no damage reports. The epicenter is not far from the county seat for that particular area so I'm hoping that there was minimal damage there. Art has friends in that city and it's a place we wish to visit in the not-so-distant future.

This week is a four-day workweek for us as Friday is a national holiday. It's the Qing Ming Festival, a day on which people remember their loved ones and clean cemetaries, etc. after the cold winter. We've been having wonderful spring weather, and the forecast for Friday is even better . . . highs near 70 degrees Farenheit. However, the next two days have lows of 12 - 19 degrees Farenheit! The heat has already been turned off for the season, but fortunately, we haven't put the electric heaters away yet. I think once this cold snap passes through, we'll have clear sailing from here on out.

What if . . .

One of the joys of being a parent is enduring the seemingly endless questions that your kids ask! Many experienced parents (and books) tell of a child's insatiable curiosity and their constant "Why?" questions. Experts and non-experts alike agree that this is a form of processing information and a method of learning.

The "Why?" question doesn't really exist in our home. Instead, Art and I get bombarded with a million "What if . . . " questions a day!

"Mommy, what if someone jumped off that building and he didn't die, what would happen to him?"

"Mommy, what if a little kid did something bad . . . would he go to jail?" (Note to self: Be sure to ask the little kid if there is something on his mind that he would like to confess!)

"Mommy, what if someone did something wrong, but said that someone else did it? Would the 'someone else' get into trouble?" (Another note to self: Did someone else (like little brother or big sister) get blamed for something they didn't do?)

Yes, Rachel and Michael are learning and growing and processing choices and consequences. It is our desire for them that they grow up to be a woman and man of our father and we believe they are on their way. It is our desire that they don't "get away" with bad choices, but that they get caught! Yes, we want our children to be caught when they do something wrong. It is partially through being caught that they learn of the impact of choices and consequences.

"Mommy, what if aliens were real?"

"Mommy, what if a bug flew into my eye, would it hurt?"

"Mommy, what if . . . ?"

I must admit that at times, I can get very tired of "what if?" Michael asks the most questions and sometimes, they seem to never stop. "What if I ate the shell of an egg?" or "What if I fought a dinosaur for real?" or "What if I ate all the food in the world?"

What if, indeed!

In the beginning . . .

I've long been encouraged to use this "web log" thing . . . a blog . . . in spite of my lack of understanding as to why someone would do so. I have a history of keeping journals, but I seldom let other people read my journal. I doubt that this "blog" will replace a journal, but it may give me a place where I record the mundane and perhaps, the not-so-mundane.

With that being said, let the blogging begin!