Checking In

How many times can I use “I’m still here” as an introduction to my blog entry? There is just so much going on right now. Work is busy which I don’t mind. Well, except for the fact that we are leaving Sunday after church to spend two days skiing in Mammoth. Yes, Mammoth, where there was an avalanche earlier this week and some ski patrol members died in a geothermic vent at the beginning of the month. I won’t be going off the top of the mountain or even going up past mid-mountain so I’m not too worried about it. I’m really excited that I get to go skiing once last time before the end of the season. There’s a chance of snow Friday and Saturday so I’m hoping for some cold temperatures!

On the stitching front I finished Tulip Time again, this time as designed. I intend to put it in the recommended frame and bring it to work once I find some fusible interfacing. I’m back to Chatelaine’s Alpine Seasons. I’ve been working on it again for the past 8-10 days; parts 6-9 are going to take forever. I’m not even half done with part 6.

Easter was wonderful for the most part; I had forgotten how much I loved singing in the choir. I will never be a soloist but I am so thankful to have a good enough voice to sing in the choir. I have also decided to buy a piano in the near future. I’ve been waiting until I could buy a “real house” but I’m tired of waiting. It won’t be a big fancy piano but I’ll find a decent upright. I have played piano since I was nine and I can’t wait to start back up again.

There has been a lot of turmoil at church recently as this group of people on some board have gone to the Bishop (I didn’t even know there was a Bishop in the Methodist Church, but apparently that’s how it’s structured) to get our pastor moved. He is wonderful and charismatic and this all happened behind the congregation’s back against our wishes. It’s such a mess. This sort of thing is a big part of why I took my time finding a new church home. I hate this crap. I am so devastated that the Sr. Pastor and his wife will be moving. They are both wonderful people who have made me, and everyone I know, feel so welcome there. I knew that there would be spiritual warfare in my life when I made the choice to go back to church but I didn’t foresee it happening so quickly. Anyway this has consumed a lot of my emotion energy and I just feel drained. I’m not planning to leave the church but I’m going to do what I can to effect change. I guess a lot of people have been content to sit back and not get involved so hopefully this will spur them to participate in the church somehow. I don’t feel comfortable getting involved in church leadership yet since I’m so new but I’m involved in as many ways as I can be and I don’t rule it out down the road.

So that’s what I’ve been up to. I’m happy to say I’ve been walking a lot more regularly with Nancy (nkuelbs for those of you on Legacy or in an exchange/round robin). We usually do 4 miles at a minimum and I love it! It goes so much faster when you have someone interesting to walk with. Being able to talk about stitching doesn’t hurt either. I’m now up to 292 miles on my “way to Rivendell”. I’ve passed the halfway point at last!

I’ll try to share pictures of the two Tulip Time finishes and I’ll take a picture of Alpine Seasons once I get some more done on part 6. I am hoping to get a fair bit of stitching done on Sunday since we’ll be in the car for several hours on our way to Mammoth. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll just work on Alpine or start something a little more portable. Either way I hope to have something to show for it when I get home!