Happy Birthday to me

Well, to be honest, there have been some bright spots to the weekend. I have some really wonderful friends. Shay, a most special friend, (with help from BarbE) sent me a subscription to SpinOff, some DMC Linen Thread and fabulous clay face. Before I go on, let me tell you something about Shay...

Shay used to put on these incredible stitching retreats in Dallas before she went back to work full-time. So I got to know her in person as well as through Internet needlework groups and email. She made me the most beautiful photo box (again with help from Barb E) for my wedding. Then I went out to Martha Pullen's Market and to take classes from the Country Bumpkin folks last year and Shay offered for me stay with her. I was worried that she might just be making a polite gesture, so I talked to Barb E, who assured me the offer was genuine. Shay and her husband Jim made me feel so at home. I told my husband they made me feel like family, but what I meant was, they made me feel *better* than family. That is probably why I go to Dallas more often than I go to Atlanta.

I also got a lovely orchid from my dear friend Jenny in Jacksonville. A beautiful beaded lariat for scissors from Barbara, another top notch Texan. :-) Plus cards and fabric from several other wonderful folks. I have a place in the studio where I display all the wonderful stuff my dear friends have gifted me with over the years and every time I look at that stuff, I am amazed by how lucky I was to meet such special and caring folks over the years. I just wish they could all be my neighbors.

My stomach is in knots, I am about to get ready to go to the funeral home and I am dreading it. I just hope that nothing dramatic happens and if it does, I will be changing the names and writing a book. I am beginning to understand why so many classic Southern Gothic writers came from Mississippi.