Sun, Fun & Family

Warning: this is a long post.
The past two weeks have been busy and hot and tons of fun. Definitely worth coming out of the Basement! Wanted to include more photos in the slide show, but camera batteries are dead and hubby isn't here to rescue help me (details below). Our twelve day 'go-a-thon' started with a long weekend trip to Emerald Isle. We flew into Beaufort, NC (lovely historic coastal town) and drove to Emerald Isle. We had a super fun night at the Emerald Club. Some of the best people watching I've done recently...couple of the 'locals' were very interesting. Live performance by Johnny Dollar Band was the highlight of the evening. Unfortunately the band has changed since we last saw them...still good, but only two original members are with them. The old group were much better 'showman' (and musicians). The weather was perfect and the whole trip was fun & relaxing. The Crystal Coast is so appropriately named. I had a couple of days to get some sewing done. Seems like black & white was the color scheme of the week. Is there anything more classic than houndstooth? On Wednesday, my Dad and Nina came to visit. They brought me the most delicious real tomatoes and SC peaches. I made TWO fab-u-lous peach cobblers! We ate every bite. Don't hate. We spent Friday with Hanna...toured the NASCAR Hall of Fame, rambled through her campus(UNC-C) and had dinner at the restaurant where she works. Although we aren't really race fans, the Hall of Fame is an impressive facility. Saturday we headed north to visit Rach. She was a great hostess. We cruised NC State campus and had lunch at 'The Pitt' (wow!....a must if you are ever in Raleigh). Then we drove through the Duke campus and she showed us her office building and some houses/apartments she is interested in. We hung out at Tyler's in the American Tobacco Center and waited out a few rain showers before the Bull's baseball game. Good wine & people watching! The ballgame was excellent although it was hot as hades! We had good seats (more great people watching) and the Bull's won. We left during the 7th inning and went to Tobacco Road (more good food & wine) to catch the end of the college world series game, Clemson vs. SC. We were very sad that our Tigers lost, especially to the Gamecocks! We finished the weekend with a tour of UNC and delicious Sunday brunch. We have some outstanding colleges in NC and now I've seen three of the best.
This morning my scales screamed at me! And my digestive has played 'pay back' all day for my 10 days of wining & dining!
Now I am home alone and the house is deafeningly quiet. Pa & Nina are safely back in Alabama. The girls are at their respective apartments and back at work. I am getting caught up in the basement. And my sweet husband is in the Gulf, working on a project associated with the oil spill clean up. It all sounds like a huge goat rodeo and he doesn't completely understand his assignment, yet. I hope they can help. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a magic wand to make it all better. I promise not to whine about him being away...maybe.

'Night y'all.

Ahhh, vacation!

First day of summer break has been great! I'm not sitting around eating bon-bons mind you, but laboring in the basement is as much fun as it is work!

Sort of looks like a fabric/ribbon/thread bomb blew up down here right now....creating cuteness does get messy sometimes! I finished these burps, bloomers & matching CuTee.

I walked, caught up on blog reading and emailing neglected friends, did some laundry & ironing, monogrammed a bag for myself and starting reading a book (just for fun), spent hours on-line shopping (and maybe ordering) some new embroidery designs and fabric. Oooo...does it get any better than this?!?!?

I'll end today by sharing a picture of me and one of my sweet Senior girls, Christina, who brought me flowers the last day of school. What a pleasant surprise! My Mom was an elementary teacher and she always let me open her Christmas/end of school gifts from her students. Those little acts of appreciation don't happen as often for us high school teachers, so it sure is extra special when it does.

Finally!

School is out for summer! Starting tomorrow I will finally be back on SUSAN TIME! Oh, I mega heart summer vacation. We are off to the beach for a few days...can't wait!...we have family coming to visit next week (that's you, Pa & Nina) and we are looking forward to that too. We are planning to check out the new NASCAR Hall of Fame, do a day or two at the lake and take in a Bull's game in Durham...please pray for fair skys and cooler temperatures! I have a stack of orders to keep me busy so the summer is off to a perfect start.
I came up one pound shy of my weight loss goal, but it's all good. I'm very happy being 33 pounds lighter. Of course, a female cousin at the family reunion Sunday had lost 48 lbs. Wow, good for her! Really? Talk about stealing my thunder! My next goal is to lose the final 10-15 lbs. by Thanksgiving. That sounds like a long time, but you know it gets harder and I want to be realistic. Again, wish me luck and I'll keep you posted.

Just added this fun polka dot lunch bag

and shoulder tote to the website, hope

you'll check them out. I have plenty of

time to sew and would love to make

something special for you!

So close...

Just two more days of school (for retesting), Graduation on Saturday, then a couple of work days....we are so close to summer vacation I can taste it ! My students have, once again, made me extremely proud...100% level 1!!!...lowest exam grade was 83! I could do a whole post about the problems in public education, but I'd rather concentrate on the good stuff. My students, all they learned, how they matured, the skills they acquired & projects they completed and these test results overshadow any question that what I'm doing everyday is valuable . It is so rewarding to finish another school year feeling like I did something very good.
This was year #29 for me...Bless my heart! no wonder I'm tired!

These matching shoe/cosmetic bags left the basement today bound for a Sept. wedding party...love the Brides that plan ahead! Also love the classic toile fabric.

And to finish up:
lost one more pound
got new walking shoes today (yes y'all, they are white!)
Land's End bathing suits arrived, they fit beautifully
it's bedtime here... 'Nite!

Since last time...

School's Out (almost) for Summer Special

3 piece quilted travel set only $75 (includes monogram)

Set includes a small duffle, large tote, garment bag

Also available in pink/white-limited quantities-two set of each color
This is a 'blog only' sale-email Susan@basementbags.com to order

Since my last post:

• we celebrated the holiday weekend at the lake-Sunday was beautiful, Monday was a washout but we enjoyed a great game of Monopoly-Hannie totally bankrupted all of us!
• if anyone in authority asked me, I'd suggest three-day weekends be the norm, not the exception
• lost another pound-only 10 days & 3 more lbs. to lose to reach my goal-wish me luck
• exams started today, my first class had 100% level 1 (that's the highest possible)
• orders continue to pile up-that's not a complaint-I'm processing as quickly as possible, can't wait 'til the basement is my only job
• our sweet dog, Jules, died. We will miss her, but she was old & it was just time for her to go.

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday! I will be sewing all weekend. Hope you have something equally fun planned!