I'm back

You didn't know I was gone because it was a surprise. My husband and I flew across the country to attend a surprise 75th birthday for my mom. She was certainly surprised to see us! Thankfully her heart withstood the shock. We had a wonderful time and the weekend went by much too quickly. On Sunday we visited the World War II and Vietnam memorials in DC. I took loads of pictures and hope to get some up on Flickr soon.

And speaking of pictures, here's some free advertising for Kodak. I used their services at www.kodakgallery.com to put together a photobook of pictures I'd taken of my dad along with some others I had as a gift for my mom. It turned out really nice I think and I give their service a big thumbs up. I believe a few other companies, such as Shutterfly, have these photo printing services as well. Check it out if you want to make a special album of pictures to remember a vacation or to give as a gift. Or make calendars or mugs or cards or whatever.

I got a lot of knitting done on the 6 hour flight back but I can't blog about what I'm making since it's a gift. Now my family and friends reading this are all going to wonder if they're getting a hand knit item. Are they hoping or dreading? Don't worry, you might just be the lucky recipient of something I'm sewing right now. So I can't talk about my sewing projects either.

Thank you all for your suggestions on what to make with the Rudolph designs! I actually have a sock hoop so I can embroider on socks. I've never used it and this would be a great excuse to try it out. Gift tags - or just gift decorations would be cute too. A wall hanging is a great idea too. My husband also told me he'd wear a shirt with the abominable snowman on it. I forget he reads this blog. I really should get the embroidery machine set up. After I download the 300+ pictures I took this weekend and send copies to my relatives along with the other pictures I promised I'd send. Avoiding TV will be tough because our DVR (PVR, TiVO or whatever you call it) is filled with lots of programs we taped. But the Eagles are on Monday night football...and there's ice skating too.