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  • Finishing projects

    Am I the only person going into 2010 with LOTS of unfinished projects?  I am determined to get some of these projects finished up this year.  No new projects will be purchased until I make a lot of progress on old ones.  I have quilting projects in every stage of completion - some just needing to be quilted and some with patterns and fabric purchased, and others in between.  I have yarn for knitting projects, and I have started some smocking and some cross stitch - how did I get this way?

    My daughters aren't like that!  They start something and finish it before starting something new.  I think they spent their lives with me having way too many projects that they have determined not to be that way! 

    So, in January, I have a queen-sized quilt that I am hand quilting, a knitted sampler afghan I am knitting, and my Grandmother's Flower Garden project for taking places.  That's a good start!

    Betsy, who has started a new blog AND finishes her projects,  would love to have my xanga friends see her blog and get to know you.  And she has pictures of an afghan and some other projects that she has finished!  ConcettoSazialeAttesa

  • My mother

    This is a picture of my mother with Charlie on his first Christmas, which was 2 years ago -

                                                 

    Yesterday morning, December 30th, at 10:55, my mother died.  So many of you have followed along on this journey with me and have been praying for her and for me!  She had been failing for many months.  She spent the last 10 1/2 months in a nursing home, getting progressively weaker.  Many times I thought the end was near, and she would rally. 

    Last week, before Christmas, she was obviously weaker and could not eat.  She was alert sometimes, but slept most of the time.  By early this week, she developed breathing problems and was no longer awake or alert.  Yesterday morning when I went in, the nursing staff met me at the elevator to warn me that it would not be long.  I stayed a little while and left.  She was asleep and her breathing was a little more of a struggle, but with some extra oxygen, she did not appear in discomfort.  I arrived home and got a call at 11:00 that she was gone.

    Lelia Grace Rosenberg was 89 years old.  She was loved by many and will be missed.  I felt like I had said my goodbyes months ago, and so when I got the news, I was at peace.   My father died 6 years ago at the age of 87.

    The good news is that almost 7 years ago now, in my father's hospital room before he was too sick to understand and to make decisions, my parents listened once more to the gospel.  They told me they were ready to hear it.  For the over 30 years that I had been a Christian, they didn't want to talk about it.  But that day they allowed me to share my faith and to share Scripture with them, and they both prayed to accept Jesus as their Savior.  And so I am truly at peace now, knowing that I will see my parents again in Heaven and that right now they are worshiping the one, true God.

  • Christmas

    Christmas was a day full of traditions at out house!  We tend to do the same thing every year, but we like it that way!  There are some things that change - in the old days when the girls were little, they slept in the same room on Christmas Eve and woke up early!  Now, Amanda has her own family to start Christmas morning traditions with, and Suzanne and Betsy sleep late!  But, we all gathered at our house around noon, with Jim's family, and had our Christmas lunch, and then opened our gifts.

    Our Christmas tree, and then the stockings hung -

                                              

                                              

    This is the stocking I made for Charlie - I finally finished it, now that he is 2 years old!

                                              

    Here it is alongside the ones I had made for the girls when they were little -

                                              

                                              

    Megan will get hers next year, I hope - if I start it this week, maybe!  So, first there was - Betsy -

                                             

    Suzanne -   

                                             

    and Jim, to open gifts -

                                             

    Bets gave Jim this "nesting doll" - it starts with a moose!  And you all know by now that Jim went hunting in Newfoundland last year and got a moose and we still have some moose in our freezer!

                                             

                                             

    Later, after lunch, we all gathered to open gifts, starting with Charlie and Megan and Josh -

                                             

                                             

    Sometimes you need a little help when you are 2  -

                                              

                                               

                                                

                                                 

                                                  

    And when you are almost 9 months, those boxes are a lot more fun than real presents!

                                                   

                                                    

    We opened all our gifts to each other, and just enjoyed the rest of the day relaxing, doing a puzzle, watching movies, and eating!

    I thought these pictures of my sister-in-law, Joan, with Megan were so sweet -

                                                    

                                                    

                                                    

                                 

  • picture problems?

     Before I post Christmas pictures, I need to ask - is anyone having trouble seeing my pictures?  My friend Julie says that she can only see about 1/4 of each photo.  Is there something I am doing wrong?

  • The Days Before Christmas

    I need to catch up on a few days of pictures!  I took us days to really get shoveled out!  Jim took this picture of Megan's (Betsy's friend who was staying with us) car before he got it shoveled out 4 days after the snow -

                                              

    Here is the front of our house -

                                               

    It took a week to get mail again.  We were thankful for Jim's Tahoe, which got Betsy back and forth to work everyday.  Here are the girls lounging around after work Tuesday night -

    Betsy and Suzanne, who drove in on Tuesday -

                                               

    Megan, who stayed with us between when school was out and her job as stage manager of the Roanoke Children's Theatre show was over -

                                              

    Oh, and we can't forget Luna - the dog we are training to be Betsy's hearing dog -

                                               

    More pictures of the girls -

                                               

                                               

                                               

                                               

    On Christmas Eve, we had our annual Chinese restaurant dinner with Jim's family - his parents were in town by then.

    Suzanne and her cousin Josh -

                                              

    Me and Bets -

                                              

    Jim and his brother Kip are 4 years apart in age, but they look so much alike that people often think that one is the other when they see them.  So, they were acting crazy for my pictures that I took to show how much they look alike!

                                              

                                              

    And a final photo of Josh in a sweatshirt we gave him last year -

                                              

    Josh, by the way, shares a birthday with me.  He will be 11 on January 19th and I will be . . . . oh, never mind!

    Pictures of Christmas next time!

                        

                                              

                                              

                                               

  • The Blizzard of 2009

    The Blizzard of 2009 - that's what the Weather Channel is calling it!  Roanoke made it to the national news!  Apparently this is the most snow we have had fall in a  24-hr period.  Ever.  Wow!  We have 18" on our deck.  Some areas have 16" and some have over 20".  Roanoke has had more snow before - just not so quickly.

    So, for my friends who don't live here - here are some pictures from our house of the snow!

    Betsy and her friend Megan, heading out this morning to walk Luna -

                                      

    Here are some of the back of the house from our deck -

                                      

                                      

                                      

    Here is Betsy's car in the driveway -

                                      

    And tonight, I got a couple of pictures - one of our grill and Minuette -

                                       

                                       

    This year we will have a white Christmas!  That hasn't happened in a long time!

    So, guess what movie the girls and I are watching tonight while we sip hot chocolate and do our needlework?

    "White Christmas" of course!

  • Megan sits up!

    Megan is 8 months old and has been sitting up on her own, but this is the first time I got it in a picture!

                                             

    Isn't she adorable??  I am one prejudiced Grandma and I am proud of it!

                                             

    Trying to crawl but not quite getting it yet -

                                             

                                             

    Meanwhile, big brother Charlie loves to play with Mr. Potato Head at my house!

                                             

                                             

                                             

    And in other news, my daughter Betsy has started a brand new xanga blog.  www.xanga.com/ConcettoSpazialeAttesa 

    She explains why it is called that, so y'all go over and read her blog and get to know her!  Some of you know her already!

  • Christmas parties

    I have so many pictures to catch up blogging about that I thought I should do at least a few tonight.  On Thursday, the stitching group I am part of that meets on Thursday mornings all went to one member's house for stitching and lunch.  This is Betty, in white, whose lovely home we were in. 

                                               

    And some of the others, chatting, touring the home, and stitching -

                                               

                                               

                                               

                                               

                                               

                                               

                                               

                                               

                                               

    Betty's home is beautiful, and the many windows look out on their 12 acres of land.  We enjoyed seeing her home.

                                              

                                              

    She recently finished this landscape quilt of a view from her window!

                                              

    And her sewing room had all sorts of interesting things to see -

                                              

                                              

                                              

    She finished this table herself, adding a poem around the edge that she wrote -

                                              

    That was a fun day!  Today, I went to two different Christmas parties, including Jim's work party at a wonderful Italian restaurant.  But I didn't take pictures!

    We have freezing rain that just started a little while ago.  We are expecting a wintry mix with mostly sleet and ice where we are.   I'm not looking forward to even having to take the dogs outside in the morning!

  • "Scrooge" and other events

    "Scrooge" is over!  It went very well!  I didn't get pictures - it was all I could do to get through the week - more about that in a minute.  But I got some interesting before and after pictures -

    Last week one day when the kiddos were over, Jim was putting his Scrooge hat on Megan - she looks like she liked it!

                                      

    Betsy was the director, and in that role, she blocked, or designed, the scenes.  Many of them, she just made changes to.  But she really changed the opening scene!  One of the gifts the cast gave her at the end was this framed copy of her blocking design of the opening scene, with the signatures of all the cast on the mat!

                                     

    She got some other gifts as well - and these flowers -

                                     

    And I got flowers from the other interpreters for organizing us!

                                     

    And one of the interpreters, who is a good friend, gave me this figurine of Scrooge and Tiny Tim!

                                     

    We interpreted the entire show on Thursday night (there was also performances Friday and Saturday).  We gave out this paper to those Deaf and Hard of Hearing people there, so they could easily identify the sign names we assigned the main characters -

                                    

    The show was a big success!  It was free, with a donation taken at the end that all went to the Blue Ridge Women's Center, our local crisis pregnancy center.  "Scrooge" has been an annual production in Roanoke for 11 years, and there is always a full house! 

    Now for the sadder news which greatly affected our week.  Or maybe it was good news after all. . .

    Betsy's engagement is off.  I am being careful to choose my words in a manner that is not offensive or that would be unkind and impolite or tear down anyone's character.  So, I will say, that prior to his engagement to Betsy, her fiance was in a church that we consider to be contrary to God's Word.  Everything about the church, their doctrine, their rules, their teaching, their treatment of people who leave, is not what we find in Scripture.  He was happy to leave that church, we thought, and became involved in Betsy's church - which is actually a different denomination than the church we go to.  He and Betsy were in a small group Bible study, and he became quite involved with our family, and all seemed well.

    Last Monday, this young man told Betsy that he had to go back to his old church and become a pastor there.  He wanted her to go with him.  She refused.  He broke up with her.  We later learned that there were many things that he has said and done that were not quite true.

    Betsy has been upset and quite shaken up by the whole thing.  We are hurting for her, but we are so very thankful to God that in His providence, this all came to light before the wedding.  We are thankful for the timing, for not only was it several months before the wedding, but it was before "Scrooge" was in performance.  Betsy was busy with that and with work and had a lot of support from her family and friends throughout the week.  The news interviews and the show's success were positives in her life this past week that overshadowed the pain and were God's way of carrying her through.

    I will forever praise God for His grace in Betsy's life and for the family we have!  Betsy has been through a lot in her young life, and, as always, she showed a professionalism and graciousness this week that made it obvious to everyone around her that God is in control of her life.
                                  

  • "Scrooge"

    What a week it has been!  Not an easy one.  More about that when I have time to write again!

    The performance of "Scrooge" begins at the Roanoke Civic Center tonight!  Two of our local TV news stations came to interview Betsy at Scrooge rehearsals this week! 

    http://www2.wsls.com/ and http://www.wdbj7.com/