It is Saturday

We will be going home next Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. I love to travel but it is always good to get home. I am very glad that I was able to come back to Romania and see some of the wonderful people that I met the first time. I am looking forward to visiting my Mom in January.

Thanksgiving makes me feel like I should name all of my blessings. Of course there are too many to name all of them but the few that come to mind are named below. One of them is my loving Mom who helped to make me what I am today. There is also my husband who stands beside me no matter what. I am very lucky to be married to my best friend. My children are also a blessing. Each one is a unique and wonderful adult. I have a beautiful grandson who comes to spend some time with me each year or I go to him.

No matter how bad things get in my country, I know I am blessed to be an American. I live in the land of the free because of the brave men and women that keep it that way. I have the freedom to attend the church of my choice without fear. I don't have my rose colored glasses on and I am aware of the economic issues facing our country as well as the rest of the world, but I have faith in us to carry on and overcome the issues. It won't be easy, but we have pulled out before and will this time.

Romania

We have been here for a week. This past weekend we explored Adamclisi and it's museum and also Capidava. It was a real thrill to walk along the ruins from the ancient Roman fort and city. I noticed that they had done some more digging since we were here last spring. Romania is a country that has done well in preserving ancient history.

When I go to the store it feels like a treasure hunt. I can't read most of the labels but the pictures are pretty self explanatory. Some of the brands in the market are the same as we have in the States (Hellmann's, Nestles, Knorr). All of the eggs that I have found so far are brown, which I think is pretty funny since I used to pay a preium for them in the States.

Going back to Romania

I'm so excited that we are going back to Romania for the month of November. We booked our airline seats. Last night we had a co-worker of my husband's for dinner. He will be going to Romania also, but had never been there before. My husband showed him our pictures and now he is excited to go. I am working on a cross stitch wall hanging for my husband that I will take with me. I won't have house work to do so I hope to finish it and have it framed when we get back home.

Tomorrow we leave Ohio for home. It has been a good trip. I have more information about my Dad's family now but I know there is lots more to learn. I do wish I had been able to meet a relative or two, but I did not know how to go about finding anyone. I will continue to seek and I hope to find someone soon. Maybe our next trip to Ohio will be the time we meet some relatives.

On Monday I fly out to California to meet with my daughters for a week of play (Disney Land, Universal Studios, Medieval Times) so that should be fun. I will be home of a week before leaving for Romania.

Ohio is beautiful, but I miss my sewing machine!

I'm in Ohio for 2 weeks and my sewing machine is home in Wisconsin. I have been working on some angel blocks for an internet swap and have to hand stitch them. I will post pictures as soon as I have finished the blocks.

Below are some really neat internet sites that I like to use. Sindy is the lady that is hosting the angel swap.

If you like to applique you should check out http://www.fatcatpatterns.com/ (one of my favorite sites.) Sindy has some wonderful designs and is very gracious in giving them away!

I have a very large stash on fabric as many others do also. I belong to Stash Busters (a yahoo group) that also hosts a web site (http://www.stashbuster.com/). Come along and have some fun while shopping you stash before visiting your local quilt shop.

If you are like me and have a rather large collection of scraps please check out Bonnie's site at http://quiltville.com/index.html. Bonnie has some great ideas on stash busting and usinge all of the bits and pieces left over from quilt making. She has a great 'scrap using' storage system and many quilt patterns that she gives away.

Back for California

I had a lovely visit with Mom and my siblings. Wow, was it hot the whole time I was there. The temp never went below 100 in the day time and the nights weren't that much better! I'm really glad to be home. Wisconsin gets hot, but not that hot.

I was able to finish Mom's quilt and take it with me. She loved it and says she will use this one. The embroidery in the center of each block was completed on my Pfaff sewing machine. I really need to learn how to take photos of quilts. This one lays flat although you would never know from the photo.

Back from Romania

Romania is a lovely country. The people welcome you with open arms. I came to love the country and people after living there for 3 months. My husband's company sent him in January and I joined him in May.

We were able to see many Roman ruins and historical sites. I think the highlight of our stay was standing in the middle of Saint Andrew’s Cave. This is where Saint Andrew was reported to live while he was teaching in the area. I also found out that the Black Sea is not black, but a beautiful blue.