I survived Saturday's class and managed, against all odds and self-imposed obstacles, to get all my reading done. We did have a quiz - as I suspected we would - and I only got 2 of 3 right. But no one got the third question right because the teacher had accidently asked us to describe a theory we haven't had yet. No idea how that one will be graded, but I'm just glad that the first quiz is over with. I haven't had a quiz in ... a very long time. LOL.



On Sunday I immediately finished up Gaby's gift. You may remember that I stitched Dearest Friend, by Brightneedle, for her before we went to the US. I intended to purchase the lavender there and finish it off. But I couldn't find real lavender anywhere until the day before we left! For anyone enjoying a vacation Downeast, I strongly recommend a visit to the Machias Hardware store on Maine Street - they have everything, literally, and they are incredibly friendly! Anyway, I brought the lavender and the unfinished stitching home, set it in a safe place ... and got busy with everything else. It came out very nicely - I mitered my corners this time, and what a difference that makes! Thanks for showing me how to do that, Sara! I also finished the nun stiching on my Quaker exchange, which was supposed to go out on Saturday, but went out first thing this morning instead. I'll show you that once it's been received, but I'm pretty excited about it. By then I was totally in a nun-stitching groove and started nun stitching some linen scraps to make into bookmarks for Cathy's upcoming adult literacy event. I'm not unhappy with the results.



Today I went to work and had a positive exchange with my manager. After work, I walked the dogs at the local dog pound and met Rebel, a Rottweiler/Lab mix that I'm going to introduce to Nicky and Rowen tomorrow to see if there is a good chemistry there. Rebel is misnamed - he should've been called Pussycat because he's just a great big baby. His owner gave him up when she had twin babies herself and no longer had time enough for a big, energetic dog.

Then, when I finally got home, feeling pretty fine about life, I found envelopes from Jenna and Leah - real treat because we usually don't even get mail on Monday! I found the delightfully quirky BoaF Halloween kitty in Leah's envelope - thanks, Leah, I was hoping to make a BoaF for the holiday; it's going to become a tradition! And Jenna totally surprised me with these great little scissors! She said that as a Mainer-at-heart, I'd probably enjoy some red, white & blue - which I do, Jenna! And if anyone around me thinks I'm clinging too much to things American, I can fake them out and say I'm being Dutch-patriotic, because those are also the colors of the Dutch flag! Ha ha! Thank you so much for being so generous and sweet!!



Another good friend who has helped improve my mood a lot is Becky. Thanks so much for thinking of, and setting up, a birthday and Christmas gift blog! I will stop tying myself up in knots over all the gifts I don't have time to make, and concentrate on enjoying those that I can make!

Tonight Max has volleyball and we'll eat later as a result. I'm making falafel, which the kids love because they have no idea it's made of veggies. LOL! I plan to stitch a little bit and I hope to study a little bit, too. But mostly, I plan to go to bed at a decent hour!

I hope you are enjoying a fabulous fall (or spring for those of you in the "other" hemisphere) day!!