Sunday, December 27, 2009

Stats Suck Sunday

Last SSS for 2009. So I decided to show off one of my new Radko ornaments to celebrate. Had to send away to Texas to get it. The closest place here was out of them. The little gold sparkly thing with colored balls right below Snowtime '09 was what I used instead of garland. They are little sticks & there are 2 dozen of them stuck all over the tree.
Back to the SSS!
  • I made it through the weekend without crying! I've never had such a "small" Christmas. Just the 2 of us.
  • Ted had to break in a new trainee for pierogie making this year! We made a pretty good team, but I think Amanda & Ted are better at it! She comes in 12 days and wants to do it, too. Dad just wants her to relax. We'll just have to see who wins out!
  • The pierogies were great! Had some great Cod filets and fresh green beans. I made Chocolate Chess pie for dessert. Yum.
  • Christmas Day Ted made a prime rib roast & mashed potatoes. I made broccoli souffle. Again. Yum.
  • Went to see Avatar. It was pretty good. I saw Medicine Man meeting Lord of the Rings. It's been interesting to see other people try to describe it.
  • Steelers won on another poor performance. Not looking like the Super Bowl 20o9 Champs. At all. So little change in team dynamics, so where is last season's team?
  • Found out I don't qualify for any help with my licensing fees from unemployment. Beats me. Seems if I'm still on unemployment after a year & I'm not working & they need pharmacists, they would want me OFF unemployment & in the workforce.
  • Amanda LOVED her quilt and her Santa care package! She was glad Santa knew enough to use the USPS to deliver some of his gifts!
  • Have I mentioned she's coming to visit for 3 1/2 days in 12 days? Praying for great weather. Meaning I want the passes to be clear between here & Seattle!
It was a hard week, but God kept my spirit full & content. I'm so blessed to have found such a great network of friends over the past year!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Stats Suck Sunday, but not really


So the scanner & I aren't the best of friends yet, so these pics are not the size I wanted. Maybe Amanda can give me pointers when she comes in 3 weeks! Anyway. A lady the worked with Ted at the hospital is an awesome, awesome seamstress. We saved every t-shirt over some 20 years. Places we visited. Places we played club volleyball. Colleges mom, dad, & Grandpa Kubicki went to. 5 leaf-sized garbage bags full. Literally, the night before the movers came, I was scrambling to pick shirts that were a good representation.
Today she opened the Christmas gift at my brother's. My SIL said no tears were shed, but the memories each shirt hold, made her catch her breath. And this is just the front! The seamstress even enclosed a note about this labor of love! I wish we could have been there, but this year things are new. This first Christmas apart has really opened my eyes to what Ted had to have felt his first Christmas apart from Heather & Colette so many years ago. Wow. And he never complained. Not once in 23 years. I am so blessed. And now I have a sense of those feelings he felt. And that the girls felt. God is so darn sneaky on teaching us lessons. And sometimes many years down the road. One never knows when the answer to that prayer or lesson will come. Certainly not in my timeframe!! She had no idea Mom & Dad had sent gifts for her to open today. Plus a mystery box. No-peeking-until-Christmas box. Hmmm. :D

And this is the back. The seamstress sent us these pics a couple of weeks ago so we could see it. We hadn't noticed, but she put the colleges on one side & mostly grade school & high school on the other. Observant child! Now she's going to pack it to bring with her in 3 weeks. Silly girl!
My SIL said is was made really well with a heavier, almost canvas like material. And then pieced together. I am amazed at the result. So many trips. So much history. Lots of sports. From Pirate baseball to Steeler football. From Penguin hockey to Penn State Nittany Lions. From the Steel Phantom coaster at Kennywood to In-n-out burgers. And, of course, "once a Sandie, always a Sandie". For her High School, the Amarillo Sandstorm, class of '05. It is a great work of art from a gifted woman. To another gifted woman.
I will post a picture of my counted-cross stitch tree skirt that she also finished for me. I did all the cross-stitching. She made it into a tree skirt. That's for later in the week. If I ever see the sun again, I will do a post on my ornament collection. After all I told Lisa I would! Just hasn't been good enough lighting to take pictures to capture their true artistry.
Hope I didn't get too sentimental. But, I just had to share it with you all.
Did I mention the STEELERS actually won today? After 5 losses in a row. With 3 seconds left. And the point after with time expired. Only 34 yards rushing, but 500+ yards passing. Most in some 2 years in the NFL.


Sunday, December 13, 2009

Stats Suck Sunday

Today is Sunday & I haven't done a post in 2 weeks. I've been thinking a lot about this blog. I'm not doing what I wanted to when I started a year ago. I am seeing a new direction, but I need to pray for a little clearer vision. Or maybe I'm supposed to just take that step. But, it's Sunday, so keep it light, right?
  • We worked it out & Amanda is coming to visit on Jan 8th. 3 1/2 whole days. I'm excited. She's excited. Flying here on Alaska Airways & back on Southwest. Cheap. Both prices went down at least once before she booked. In a 3 day span. God was helping us watch our pennies.
  • I made the above stocking for Amanda's 2nd Christmas. I started it before her 1st, but didn't get it finished.
  • She has no idea, but it is filled & on the way to my brother's. She is going to spend next Sunday with them for a family Christmas. It's been several years since spending the Holiday with them. She'll have gifts from Mom & Dad to open. She doesn't know that, though. Stocking box is for Christmas morning.
  • Will post pics next week of the big item we had made for her. Just in case she comes to read this. Whoops! Guess if she does, she has no idea what!
  • She sent our gifts the other day. She & her roommate, Allison, did a joint card. 2 cute pics. One from move-in weekend, the other a professional shot. With Allison's little fur-ball, Sophie, who does not sit still!
  • I'm trying not to be lonely this Christmas. I do have so much to be thankful for. It's hard to give up traditions, though.
  • Amanda has already warned her dad that they will be making pierogies. In our small little kitchen. Just a couple of weeks late!
Been thinking a lot this week about winners. Winners in life. Winners in recovery. We are all winners when we are carrying the message of God's Son who came to us in a miraculous birth some 2000 years ago! Heard a great sermon this morning via streaming internet from Table Rock Fellowship in Medford, OR. Isaiah's vision of what the birth of Jesus will be like. How un-royal-like it will be. Even though He will be a Prince. The things the prophets of the Old Testament foretold never really clicked for me like this sermon did this morning. Awesome stuff.