January 18th

Oh mercy, Sara and I are about to go head to head over the events sign ups. I'm not sure if I mentioned that returning attendees have first refusal, so we can't sign up new attendees until after February 1st. The problem is I can't get the brochures out fast enough to get to those who may not go on-line. Sara's about to kill me, and take the job away from me, which as we all know she said she was going to do anyway because of my insecurity and inability to say no to anyone...but the truth is, she has trouble getting confirmations, etc., done so she's threatening but hasn't take over the job yet. This may drive her over the edge completely as new people call I'm taking their information. So, if you intend to return to either of the events, especially at this point the Spring Event since it is the closest event, we need to hear from you because we will open it up after the 1st of February. While the spring normally wasn't a problem since we don't do classes, we still have the problem of seating in the lobby. Opening up the 2nd stitching room off the lobby did help last year but it is still a concern and therefore we are going to have a cut off on the Spring Event. Last year we had 60 people and we feel that perhaps that is as large a group as we should have. If this continues to grow we may have to have more than one retreat..oh, my God, that would mean more goodie bags...mercy, don't know if I can handle that. I do have an idea about Jamboree goodie bags and have contacted a gentlemen regarding it and he assures me he could get them done, but now I have to run it past Sara...I'll keep you posted. While many of you have enjoyed a snowfall, we were left with an entire night of rain, which if you have visited Ocean City during a rain you know what that is like. Since we are at sea level, there is no where to drain the water. While we have a drainage system in place, after about a cup of rain it is full and the water sits on the streets creating problems for motorists...so rain isn't a good thing here. But today the sun is out, it's brisk in the 40's and a rather pleasant day, low winds. We don't have snow but we do have the ocean, so even with a lack of snow we've got a great view. More news....I did speak with Leslie from Hillside Samplings yesterday, via e-mail, regarding her retirement...yes it's true, she's retiring to spend quality time with her 6 grandchildren. We will miss her terribly and consider it a loss to our industry, but we will continue to carry her previous designs. Also, I just received an announcement that Needle Necessities lives on...well, not exactly, they don't but there is a new company, Threadworx, who carries all the Needle Necessities colors. So, don't panic stitchers if you need a Needle Necessities color it can be found. oops...my computer is trying to close down...I'll get back to you.