I'm a Winner (In More Ways Than One)

Like many people, I have been super busy the last few weeks.  We drove my daughter back up to New England on Friday and spent Saturday  helping her settle in to her new apartment before she started her summer job on Monday.  She really lucked out.  She loves to write and is a very talented writer.  Her idea of fun is to participate in NaNoWriMo (National Write A Novel Month) each year.  This group encourages writers of all ages (they have a young writer's branch) to write a 50,000 word novel in one month.  Her six week summer job is to assist young writers at a program at her University.  In addition to spending one on one time encouraging young would be authors, she will act as a counselor during the traditional segments of the camp day.  As an added bonus, she can walk to work.  I am thrilled that the program ends a week before my son's wedding so we will have time to drive up and bring her home without being too frenzied.

We had time to do a few of her favorite things before she went back.  It included visiting a National Wildlife Preserve where the birds hang out along the walking trails begging for handouts.  The bird at the top is a chickadee, the lower picture shows a tufted titmouse.  She also managed to encourage a downy woodpecker to land on her hand and take some sunflower seeds.

As if that isn't enough good news, she has secured a job in a research lab on campus for  the fall semester.  The project the lab is working on could yield data and information that might be useful for her Master's Thesis.  The data from the lab she worked at last year would have been perfect for a thesis project, but the President of the non-profit is on sabbatical and could not serve as her thesis adviser.  The professor that interviewed her for the new lab position is interested in having her use their data for her thesis and would probably be able to serve as her adviser.

Now for the Good Stuff!

I was the lucky winner of a giveaway over at Snoodles' Lily Pad Quilting blog.  The handcrafted wood ruler rack is made by Buckaloo View Woodshop .  When I visited the Buckaloo View Etsy shop, I saw lots of lovely things I never knew I needed.  I treated myself to a desk top bobbin rack.  I am delighted with the workmanship .  The wood has a lovely natural sheen and it has little rubber pegs on the bottom so it won't scratch the sewing machine cabinet.  When I use my embroidery machine, some of the designs require multiple thread changes and it's hard to keep them all in order.  I love that I can fit the bobbins and thread I need to sew out a large design.  DragonDrop and Padsworth, Snoodles' devoted assistants, managed to sneak some luscious colors of my favorite Aurifil thread into the package.  

Tomorrow, is the first of four injections to try and cushion my creaky right knee.  If you hear a protracted scream at about 2:45 pm EST, don't worry, it's just me seeing the needle. I think it's probably scarier to think about than the actual injection.  It will be worth it if I can dance with my son at his wedding.  We are considering dancing to "You are the Sunshine of my Life," by Stevie Wonder.  Let me know if you have any other song suggestions.  I don't want anything that will make me cry.  Fat chance!