Start the countdown!

2 days and a wakeup til I leave for the Richmond GTG.

I stopped over at Mom's for the box of stuff for the trade table--AKA, the Big Bin O' Stuff I No Longer Want. She asked me when I was putting it in the car if I was sure I didn't want it. I told her I went over it twice, and I don't want it. She said, "Well, just be sure because what if you want it in 5 years, you won't have it." I could probably trade for it then. I don't really see it happening, though. Not with what I have. I still have some stuff from the house to add and then that is ready. But that box is so jammed with stuff, I could feel the difference in the car's get up and go on the way back.

I also grabbed my HOHRH from Mom's dining room. One of the events at the Stitch-in is a contest and I thought I'd enter it, especially since I was working on it when I met a lot of the attendees at CATS in 2006 and I'd like them to be able to see the finished piece. It had been leaning up against the wall since I brought it back from the state fair in 2007--it doesn't match the decor and I was too nervous about putting nails into those old plaster and lathe walls to hang it up anywhere else. It really does need to come home with me. You can enter two pieces, plus two unframed pieces, but I'm not sure if I want to enter anything else. I'll have to think about it.

I have pretty much finalized my take-along projects. I'll be bringing Sleepy Hollow along, with the hope that I can get at least the angel/tombstone thingmajig finished, as well as the wording. It's time I put effort into that. As well as my ring pillow. I really do like working on that project; it moves along really quickly as long as I keep track of where I am. It just, at home I have so many other things that call to me and it's so easy to say, "I can work on this later." Well, I'm down down to 142 possible 'laters' and, in real time, that's not that many. What I need is a solid weekend of focus and it would be DONE, ready for the rings. So those are my two goals for the weekend. Let's see if I can accomplish them by Monday.


I will not be taking my car to Richmond. I need new tires, and that is not in the budget this month. They're OK for driving around here, but HTB doesn't want me taking them on long trips. He didn't ask me why I was spending money to go to Sue's and not on tires; he knows I need this, like he needs to go racing some weekends, we need our passions to get us through the stressful times. So, instead, he told me to take the Tahoe. ROCK ON! I won't have my XM Radio, which is quite the bummer, but . . . it is a larger vehicle with more cargo area (I'm just being prepared, just in case), it's comfortable, and it really is not that much more difficult to drive than the Vibe. Especially if I'm driving straight through.

I'm trying to figure out what goodies to take. I didn't buy a Smith Island Cake when we were at the beach--it didn't seem particularly smart to try to haul it home three hours, especially when that three hour trip took five due to traffic. I could attempt to make one, but part of me knows better--why inflict my first attempt at making it on others when we can eat it at home. Maybe I'll just do Rolo Pretzels or saltine cracker candy. It's been a while since I made both of those, they always go over well, and I think, other than nuts, I have what I need.

I really am getting giddy. I was looking at the list of designers who are coming. Whispered by the Wind! Stitchinspiration--! Sue Hillis will be offering the designs she had on the 2007 Cruise, which I have WANTED with all my heart for two years. And I am looking forward to hanging out with people. My roommates are stitchers I've known for a while. One grew up in the same county I did, the other I've known for a while and roomed with before. So it should be lots of fun!