Oh goodie, I succeeded! Hooray!! Can you feel all the good vibes? Yep, I got those birthday presents mailed in time to arrive for the actual b-day, instead of a month late. Okay, one of them is about a month late, but the thought was there. I've been doing speed stitching and finishing today, and it all paid off!

Thank you all for your incredibly kind comments regarding the pink Quaker exchange. I forgot to give details of the design. The front cover is an older pattern from Thistle Threads. The backside uses the alphabet from Little by Little's "Strawberry Quaker" pattern but the quote is from First Lady Abigail Adams - I thought it very pertinent to the theme of the exchange (breast cancer awareness). It wasn't a pattern in and of itself, just elements I borrowed from here and there. I had no idea how to assemble it, and would lay awake at night doing imaginary finishing in my mind till I came up with a solution. LOL.

Autumn arrived yesterday in the form of our first official autumn windstorm. The trees seemed to be bending nearly double - it was amazing. Rigby has been nervous for much of the day and I suspect it's due to the weather. Our walks have become especially fun with the great piles of leaves to shuffle through.

Tonight, Niek has arranged to take me out for dinner as a belated anniversary celebration. I don't know where, only that I need to dress up a bit more than usual. No jeans, in other words. The kids will get a very kid-friendly dinner (pancakes) in exchange for going to bed a little earlier than usual.

And now, I'm going to gloat a bit more about getting my parcels out!