Happy St. Patrick's Day

It may be a little early, however, in Ocean City this is the weekend that St. Patrick's Day is celebrated and I do mean celebrated. Green hair, hats and beads were all over the place yesterday as people watched the parade and then did the "bar" crawl. They were so busy walking from Brass Balls to Shenegians that I swear they wore a path in the boardwalk. Fortunately for everyone the day was dry...it didn't start to rain, drizzle, whatever until late in the afternoon. While I usually dread this day, due to drunks stumbling into the shop for whatever reason and having to deal with their stupid questions, (that had they been sober they would never have asked), but we didn't have to deal with any of that yesterday. And we had a special visitor who showed up with food. Yes, another of my "peeps" stopped by and played with us for a while, Mary P., came bearing more "peeps" ... and I can't get enough of those...and other snacks and candy which she left with us for safe keeping. (Oh, I'll keep them safe all right). Anyway, Mary's husband Tom, was at a birthday party for friend he use to work with, so Mary decided to drive on down and spend some time with us. I talked about the Blackbird stockings so much I wore her down and she's now on the Blackbird train. I finished the 9th stocking and Carolyn will be in today to pick it up and now I'm waiting for the next leaflet. It was so nice to have the time to sit with Mary and talk, well we didn't get a whole lot of talking in as my sister, the whirlwind known as Susan, arrived with her husband Chuck to check on us and make sure I hadn't hung myself after the week we had. So she really dominated the conversation, but she's so funny that we all laughed the hours away anyway. It would have been nice if Mary got a word in edgewise but with my sister that is nearly impossible. I hope Mary had a good time, especially since her week hasn't been that great either, as she has had to deal with the death of her brother. When one of the "peeps" are sad, we are all sad. Speaking of which, I did want to thank everyone who has called, and e-mailed their concern for my family during the difficult week. Vernon is in pain, but is doing alright. As for the other two men, both are still in the hospital, but one is probably going to be going home this week with a cast on his leg and perhaps on his foot as well while the other more seriously hurt gentlemen will probably be in the hospital a while longer as they deal with his injuries. Your prayers are gratefully received and we are so grateful for all your kind thoughts. It helps to know there are people there for you in times of stress and we all thank you for that. I felt so alone when it first happened, even though the girls were here and dealing with it as well. I went through a lot of "why me", and then felt guilty since I wasn't the one hurt and in the hospital. But with the days going by, I feel a little better, although we won't feel good again until everyone is fully on the road to recovery and out of the hospital. But we are moving forward as best we can. Vernon even took Dad's scooter out yesterday to get out of the house. We've kept the scooter charged in case Renee and I took another spin around the neighborhood. While we haven't gone out on the scooter...apparently we need to keep this charged because you never know who's going to need it. Stitching report: Since I finished the 9 nine stockings, I decided to pull out some of the UFO's I've been unearthing as I struggle to get all of my stitching into the new wall unit the boys built me. And have I found some UFO's. Anyway, the first one I have finally finished stitching (but now I have to put it together) is the Quaker Alphabet Band with pin cushion and scissor fob. The band has actually been finished and we put it around a Nantucket basket and it has been on display in the shop for some time, at least 2 years. And while I had completed the fob in 2007 as well, I never got around to finishing it. And the pin cushion was 98% finished...I had completed the alphabet and one of the designs but not the second one...so it didn't take me more than an hour to complete it (it's over one so for me that is stressful). So now I've got the entire project stitched and now I need to do the finishing. I'm taking it in today in hopes that I'll get off my butt and do it while at work with the encouragement of Sara , Linda and Candi. We'll see how far I get. I've also been working on the beaded project, Jim Shore's lamb which is colorful and I like it, but my God, how many beads does a project need...and since this project is a Mill Hill bead kit a lot apparently. I'm about beaded out...and then we got in the Jim Shore snowmen which are adorable...but more beads...I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge. These are not quick stitches (and you know those are my favorites). Anyway, it feels great to get some of these UFO's completed and out of the totes, or as the case is now..off my shelves. I've got to start getting ready for my day so I'll just sign off. Have a great day...stay safe and try to get a little stitching in.