Busy, Crazy Times

I decided Friday that I was going to come home and hibernate for the weekend, and that's exactly what I did. Last week was our school's Spirit Week - each year we choose a charity and spend the entire week raising money for the charity. Wade Hampton High School, a rival school also chooses a charity and the two schools compete to raise the most money in that one week.

For the past several years our charity has been Cystinosis[sp?]. It is a little known disease that receives very little money for research. As I understand it, this illness causes the organs of the body to crystallize. There is no cure,only medication that has to be taken every four hours just to stay alive.

There is a little girl named Laura that lives in SC who has been the center of our school's project. We've watched her grow from four years old to eight. It is so amazing to see these high school kids love that little girl and cheer for her and treat her like a little princess.

Each year she and her mom come to school everyday the week of Wade Hampton Week
and the school basically goes completely crazy doing all sorts of activities to raise money. From early morning until late at night there are activities constantly, as well as during lunch.[we DO have classes] This year we raised - are you ready? - $106,000.00! IN one week, can you believe it? And the most exciting thing is that Laura's mom found a foundation, somewhere - and I don't know the name of it, that is going to match our money, dollar for dollar! So, $212,000.00 - Amazing! It would have been great if we could have counted the foundation's money too, then we would have won, but the fact that all that money will go to cystinosis research is wonderful. That money will fund two researchers for three years to study and search for a cure.

Wade Hampton raised $130,000.00. So, in ONE WEEK, two schools just a few miles apart, basically in the same community, raised $236,000.00. It's just amazing. All of the students get involved and excited and open their hearts to this little girl and empty their pockets.

There is a video on U Tube of our principal dancing at the pep rally, well, attempting to dance. There is this dance called Soldier Boy [?] that all the kids are doing, and he said he would dance is they could raise $100 right there in the pep rally, and they did.

Oh, and I forgot to mention - back in September my students had sold $11,000.00 worth of cookie dough, frozen pizza and frozen cheesecakes - which the company decided to deliver this Thursday? Right in the middle of Wade Hampton Week. So I had parents and kids sorting and checking out orders for our choral fundraiser until after 5:00 in the afternoon.

So, I was exhausted, because basically the kids were WILD all week. I did nothing except sleep, read, and stitch this weekend, mostly sleep. It was great. I can't say that I feel rested, but better than I did on Friday.

This week we have SC All-State Chorus Auditions. I am taking 164 to audition but will have another try-out Tuesday to weed out any who still don't know their part. If one person messes up, it can throw off the entire quintet. They have to learn Pergolesi's Allelia in 5 parts and perform it in quintets, one to a part, for five judges. If they pass that portion of the audition, they then go one at a time into another room and sight-read eight measures for another judge. The auditions are Thursday in Columbia - we will have to leave at 7:30 AM to be there for our assigned time.

Then Thursday afternoon we have a rehearsal for our concert on Monday night. Each year, we sponsor the East Greenville Invitational Choral Festival. WE invite 6 other choirs to perform two songs each, and then we do a combined number at the end of the concert. My concert choir meets in two periods, so we are practicing together after school. Combined there are 93 in the choir. I am so excited about the choir this year, they are working so hard and are already sounding wonderful. I wish ya'll could hear them! The concert is next Monday night, Nov. 5 at Taylors First Baptist Church in Taylors.

So, next week is actually going to be crazy for me too - I hadn't realized it until I wrote all of this. ACK!!

Well, this hasn't been about stitching or knitting, but it is my life right now, so... The good news is, that I will get to stitch [or knit] all the way to and from auditions on Thursday.

Happy Stitching!
Jane

Pictures!

The first picture is some fabric I found at the Ben Franklin in Louisville. Aren't the colors great. I told you in my last post about the pumpkin I am going to make, but the other project is for a PIF so it must remain a secret for now.

















And..I found a Halloween box. I don't like it as well as the ones Becky had, but I was excited to find one.








Umm..have I mentioned that I L-O-V-E Halloween?

I am going to read some blogs and then go stitch a while.

Happy Stitching!
Jane

Home Again, Home Again...

Hello All,

I really missed this while I was away. The first thing I did when I got home was come in and check everyone's blog.

I had a great weekend with DD and SIL. They took me out for pizza the first night I was there, to a really great pizza place. Saturday we went 'yard sailing' and found some great baby stuff. I bought 21 Little Golden Books for $5. And DD and SIL found a great baker's rack for a great price. He sanded it and painted it and it looks great in their kitchen.

I went to the Louisville Ben Franklin Store, which I love! I found some great fall materials, which I will post a picture of when I locate my cord for connecting the camera and the computer. I have a picture of a pumpkin from about 15 years ago that I found in a Country Living Mag that I have been saving. The pumpkin in the picture is made from vintage men's ties, oranges and blacks etc. and has a witches hat. I have never been able to find any appropriate ties, so I am settling for material that looks sort of 'vintage tie-y'.

I also found a Halloween Box. Becky had posted pictures of some that I loved. And lo and behold - there were some at Ben's. There was only one design, but I at least have it.

I went to church with them Sunday morning, to the church where my SIL is Youth Minister. The youth were having a lunch after church and we went to that too. Lots of nice polite young people.

I did get to stitch some. Finished the three Halloween faces with the button eyes and started the Celtic Pumpkin. The drive to Louisville is about 7 hours. Just think of all the stitching I could have done if I figure out a way to drive and stitch at the same time. Sigh! I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Happy Stitching!
Jane

Weekend Plans!

So, to continue the haircut saga, it looked even worse this morning than yesterday. I colored it tonight, covering the gray, which it totally was since she cut off all of the color. At least tomorrow I will look younger. Several people said they liked the haircut, it's the ones who don't say anything - when you know they HAD to notice - that convince you that you are right. Anyway - enuff, it will grow.

Today we found out that one of our teachers has had 'allegations' made against him. It was all over the news tonight. He didn't turn himself in at 4 and as of 6 they were 'looking for him'. It makes me so sad, I don't want to believe it's true - he is a friend and I have taught both of his daughters and know his wife well. The thing is, even if he is found innocent, people will still talk. I choose not to believe that it's true. He is such a nice man and he is my friend.

I am going to Louisville this weekend to see my SIL and DD and her baby tummy. I am excited about seeing her. We are planning to go yard sailing looking for baby stuff -fun.

I hope everyone has a good weekend and gets to stitch. I probably won't be back until Monday night. [Sorry Lyda]

Happy Stitching!
Jane

Halloween Scarf and a Bad Haircut

Isn't this the coolest scarf? I bought this yarn when I was visiting my son in Minneapolis this summer. It stripes as you knit. I took a closer view, but now I can't find it on the computer. I am such a computer klutz!! Anyway, I see myself wearing this with black pants and a black turtle neck. I am making it
v-e-r-y long.
YAY HALLOWEEN!













Well, today I decided to get my hair cut by an actual real hair-cutting professional - you know, someone who has actually had training in hair cutting - better known to many as a cosmetologist. I generally cut my own hair in my bathroom with sewing scissors. [Which is probably why Jeni cut her own hair at age 3 with her little rounded scissors, because she kept seeing her mommy cutting hers. She had so little hair that I didn't even realize she had cut it until I found hair in the crayon box. But, as Lyda says - I digress.] So, I went to a salon that Jeni had been to before and was a 'walk-in'. This was a young girl, with a pretty funky haircut of her own and several piercings in interesting places. Didn't stop me! I let her cut my hair, and you should see me. [Well, no you shouldn't.] She kept saying things like, "We are going to give you a 'current' hair style", and "we're going to 'update' your look". May I just say that I look like I stuck my finger in an electrical socket! It sticks out every-which-a-way - no kidding. She showed me how to fix it without using a comb or brush (?) and put wax on it to make it stick out and fluff up. So, I guess we'll see how all of this looks in the morning. Sigh! [I wonder if you can stay out of school until your hair grows out and call it sick days - I'm pretty sick about it.]

Woo-hoo!

It's a girl!!!!!!

I am so excited. They had one of those 3-D ultrasounds this morning. They said she kept her hands over her face so they couldn't really see her face. And DD said that when they showed the area that would tell it was a girl, she just saw a blur. Anyway, they are 99% sure that it's a girl, so I can start sewing and quilting and knitting and x-stitching for real! With a design in mind - I am thinking Honey Bees!I am going to Louisville next week for a long weekend and I am looking forward to yard sailing and shopping with the 'mommy'.

I stayed home today - still kind of in a funk and not sure why - but I thought a 'mental health' day might help. I always feel better when things around me are clean and straightened, but instead of cleaning and straightening I have been on the computer writing and reading and looking up cute pictures of honey bees. Go figure!

Hope you all have a great weekend.
Happy Stitching!
Jane

Stitching Retreat

Well, this weekend was my stitching retreat and it was great! There were 16 of us there and we got so many great things. I have uploaded the pictures but they are only showing up as a jumble of letters, so I will just write. We got three projects for the weekend.
1. was the pumpkin that I have seen on some of your blogs. She also painted and gold-leafed a box for us to mount it on
2. was a book with three patterns that can be done on plastic canvas. She also gave us a basket to mount it on and silk leaves to put on the basket also.
3. was my favorite. These three crazy faces..and you use these spiral buttons for their eyes that are just so much fun!
Friday night was a covered dish meal - and they brought so much good stuff! People who actually COOK usually go all out for these things! Not being one of those people types, I bought a tray of iced cookies from Bilo, which were a hit, so that was good.
One woman brought this corn dip that was the best thing I have had in a long time. When I get the recipe I'll post it, because everyone in the world should taste this dip! Saturday morning they had donuts etc. adn ordered pizza for lunch.
I really liked all of the women - they were mostly in their 30s 40s and 50s but there was one that was 25 and two in their 60s. They were all a lot of fun, and I intend to go to their stitching club this coming Friday night.

The first two pictures are of two things I bought that I want to do. The pumpkins are great, but my favorite is the one that says "Things haven't been the same since that house fell on my sister!" I think that is hilarious!!

I apparently have no control over the layout of this post. So...oh well!

School has improved greatly! We have been working hard on the All-State Audition piece, which is a buger, and they have finally gotten it. They are so proud of themselves! Also we have a Choral Festival on Nov. 5 that we sponsor. We invite middle school and elementary choirs that feed into our high school, so that hopefully they will want to stay in choir all the way throuch school. Each choir sings two songs and then we sing one number as a mass choir. It is amazing to hear 750+ kids singing together.

Thanks for all of the encouraging comments about my really bad days. Things are much better.

Happy Stitching!
Jane

"So you had a bad day...."

Well, all I can say about today is that it was horrible from beginning to end. 'Nuff said! I'm going to READ blogs tonight instead of write. However I do have a question - I notice that someone from Six Mile, SC reads my blog. Who are you, pray tell?
Jane