VNSA Book Sale This Weekend

I have my bags ready. I have my list. I looked at the map online and I have my plan of attack laid out. Yes, it's that time of year again. Time for the VNSA Book Sale! I look forward to this event literally 365 days a year. When we leave the sale on Saturday, I will already be anticipating the next year's event.

The purpose of the VNSA Used Book Sale is to raise funds for nonprofit human service agencies. This year the funds go to Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation and Literacy Volunteers of Maricopa County. Since the first book sale in 1957, VNSA has returned more than $6,000,000 to local nonprofit humans service agencies locally.

The sale is held each year on the second weekend in February at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in the Exhibit Building. There are more than 600,000 books available at this sale. That is not a typo. 600,000 books. It is a book lover's dream. You can check out a partial list of rare and unusual books being offered this year here.

If you live in the Phoenix area and are interested in attending, the hours are 8am-6pm on Saturday, 8am-4pm on Sunday. Most books are half price on Sunday. I have literally walked into this sale some years and seen copies of books that are newly published for $5. Prices begin at 60 cents and go up from there. Most newly published books cost $5-$9. The older books range from $1-$3.

For more info, watch the video. I hope to see you there!

Week 5 - Stitching Update

I should have posted this yesterday, but time got away from me. I completed stitching a stocking this weekend! One down, five to go (in 2012). I still have to get out the fabric and finish the piece, but I'm thrilled to have the stitching done. This stocking is for my grandson, Thunder, to have at my house. I made the stocking for him to have at his house last year in time for his first Christmas.

And no, I'm not going to work on another stocking for a couple of weeks...

Christmas Procession by Linda Bird

Sunny and Thunder

Yesterday I had both kids. I have to share a cute story. I had framed some x-stitch projects over the weekend and was showing them to Sunny. She asked me where "her stitching" was. I asked her if she wanted me to stitch something for her and of course she replied with a yes. A few hours later she came up to me and said "Where's my stitching?!" I explained to her that I would stitch her something... sometime this year! haha I'm pretty sure her two-year-old brain didn't comprehend that at all. Then on the way home, Katie let her call me back to tell me that she wanted me to stitch her a Minnie Mouse. Now, I'm on the hunt for a good Minnie Mouse pattern. If you know of any, please share with me!

Thunder likes to suck his thumb... to his mother's chagrin!

Sunny and Minnie

Two handsome dudes

This is such a good picture of her, I had to share it!

As soon as I saw the picture below, I remembered that we got a similar one when Sunny was a baby. I've included both of them...

Thunder laughing at Gramps (6 months old)

Sunny laughing at Gramps (almost 5 months old)

Week 4 - Stitching Update

I managed to frame a few pieces this week. I also got some stitching in on one of the stockings I'm making. Not enough for a picture though.

I mentioned at the start of the week that I'm taking part in Daffycat's TUSAL (totally useless stitch-a-long). This week I looked at the 300+ blogs that signed up for this. It is so cool to see what kind of stitching other people do. Some are into smalls, others are into huge projects that require a color change every few stitches. Some are quilters. Knitters. Crocheters. Some are into sewing. I get so inspired when I see how talented and creative other bloggers are.

I'm hoping to finish Thunder's stocking this week. Then I'm going to move on to one of the small projects I chose for the CJC (crazy January challenge), probably a WIP (work in progress) that I started last year.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

We got an unusual text request from Katie on Saturday morning. She asked if Buster could spend the night at Gramps' and Grammy's. Uhhh, sure?! She and Gabe went out with friends in Scottsdale. (Since Gabe works on that side of town and had to be there early Sunday morning they were staying overnight). Sunny and Thunder were spending the night at Papa and Mama Rossi's house (friends). That left Buster with no where to go. Gramps and Grammy to the rescue!

I was under the impression that Buster sleeps in his carrier at night. When I put him in there for bedtime he started to whine. Then he yelped. Then he howled. I texted Katie "I thought he sleeps in his carrier, why is he howling?" She texted back "he sleeps with us". Great. Fortunately he calmed down and went to sleep after a few minutes. He slept without a peep until midnight when the alarm on the clock in the living room went off. Dan went out to turn it off. Buster saw him and commenced howling. Dan got back up, put him out for a potty break, and then dumped him in bed with us.

No big deal... for Dan. For me, however, it led to a mostly sleepless night. I had Buster under the covers pressed up against me on my left side. Duke was on top of the covers, pressed up against my right side. Summer was on top of the covers pressed up against my feet. All that animal heat made for a hot night. All that pressed up against me felt claustrophobic. Thank goodness Rascal is too big to sleep on the bed!

I got some cute pics of Buster. He loved having the "big boys" to play with. It was cute to see him copy their movements. He loved going outside with them.

Little Buster

Emerging from a nap

Rascal, Buster, and Duke with Gramps

I've mentioned before that Sunny is fascinated by cross-stitching. She loves to get in my lap and watch me stitch. Tia Jessica lets her push and pull the needle through the fabric when she stitches. Sunny constantly tells me that she wants to learn to stitch. Yesterday morning I got out the sewing cards. I "sewed" one to show her how to do it. Then I turned her loose on the elephant by herself. She did it! She was so proud of herself. Last night when Katie picked her up, Sunny was standing at the door calling,"I stitched for you, Mommy! I stitched for you." We got out the elephant to show off to Mommy. I can't wait til I can teach her stitch!

"See what I did?!"

Totally Useless Stitch-a-long (TUSAL)

Last year I kept seeing posts on TUSAL (totally useless stitch-a-long) accompanied by a photo of a jar with thread clippings. It took me months before I finally saw a post that explained what TUSAL stood for. But I could never figure out what the purpose was. Thankfully, in December, I stumbled upon a blog that explained all! I signed up for this year's TUSAL and this is my first post.

My jar is pretty full this month due to the 15 starts of the Crazy January Challenge. I completed two of those starts and am almost finished with a third one. So, there you have it. My first TUSAL. If you're a stitcher and you want to join in on the fun, check out Sharon's blog to sign up.

Week 3 - Stitching Update

I am too lazy this week to take photos of the small bits of work I got done on several projects. Instead I'm only showing the project I completed and the other one I worked the most on. And, to underscore just how lazy I am, I did not press the hoop marks out of the one, nor did I remove the hoop from the other.

I'm hoping to do some finishing this next week, so maybe I'll have some pretty pictures to share next week...

Four Seasons House complete - 2nd completion in 2012

I should have "Winter Evergreen" done in a day or two...