Friendship Across The Miles

Well, it is almost the new year...and I am bringing it in, as usual, with a terrible cold/flu...I have been fighting it for weeks and somehow right after Christmas it surfaced at maximum strength. For the last several days, I have been pretty miserable (that explains my lack of posts, tweets, and returned emails) - today has almost been tolerable and I am hoping to have shaken it off by the start of 2011! Before we make the move into the new year, I do have a couple more holiday things I wanted to share with you...

Back in the Spirit of Cross Stitch and CATS Stitching Festival days - back when they were held in Des Moines, Iowa each year...we're talking about years ago...during one of the needlework classes, I sat next to Lee and her husband Harmon (this was back when I was taking classes, before I was teaching them). Lee is from Detroit, MI and we had an instant connection - she was such a sweetheart and we enjoyed sitting together at several classes/events. We exchanged contact information and birthdays and have kept in touch all these years. On special occasions, Lee and Harmon always send me the most beautiful cards in the mail and tuck-in adorable little treasures. This year, they sent me the cutest hand crocheted Christmas tree - complete with little jeweled ornaments and a gold star on top! It was made by one of their friends and was such a heartwarming enclosure. To think we met over our mutual love of needlework, became friends across the miles, and have kept in touch all these years is a tribute to what friendship is all about. I hope one day Lee, Harmon, and I will be reunited...but until then, Lee and I will keep up our long distance friendship with cards and notes and fond memories of our special time together.

I also have to share what my sweet friend Merry did for me. She had no idea that I have been really sick for almost a week...but she must have sensed I needed her...because I received a wonderful envelope from her in the mail this week. What was in it?? - a pair of cuffs she knitted especially for me - I knew she was working on them, because she asked me for my palm measurements, but I had no idea they were done and on the way! I absolutely love the dungarees blue she used - it was the perfect color choice for me...and they fit, well, "like a glove". Also included - a fun floral pink folder (shown in the photo) with several quilt and sewing patterns and some gorgeous pieces of fabric. How is that for a "care" package??...and she didn't even know I needed one.

Finally, as I mentioned before, my husband and I really don't do Christmas gifts for each other - we usually just get a couple things we need/want for our home - this year, a new Keurig Platinum Brewer and a Dyson Ball vacuum. But, my husband threw me off a bit...about a week before Christmas, he came home with a surprise gift for me. If you follow me on Twitter, I posted a photo of this wrapped mystery gift and asked for guesses...and several of you guessed correctly! It was a NookColor - really the only thing I mentioned I wanted - I am so super excited - and although I haven't felt well enough to do much reading, I have managed to almost finish one book and have perused several magazines (which are awesome on a color eReader!). It was a grand surprise and I am still giddy about it. I did make him a little something special for Christmas - a new large fleece blanket and matching over-sized pillow - both in camouflage fleece for his "man cave". They were a huge hit - especially with Simba who has been caught curled up in the center of the big fluffy pillow...and burrowed down in the blanket.

All in all it was a magical Christmas and I feel extremely blessed. Now, if I could just beat this darned cold/flu for the New Year...

Tomorrow, tune in for a sneak peek photo of "Turn The Page" - my new bookmark sampler that will be released at the TNNA Needlework Market in February....