We had company this week. A friend of mine from Orlando, who also happens to be an embroidery machine technician, had a two day job in Pensacola. She stayed at our house. It all started when her flight from Atlanta was delayed Saturday evening. Instead of arriving at 10 p.m., she finally got here around 12:30. Her plan was to get in, rent a car and get a hotel room. We weren't going to see her until the following day. But since the flight was delayed, the car rental businesses were closed. Everything happens for a reason. So, George and I are at the airport when her flight arrived. I told her to get her luggage and meet us outside the luggage pick up area. We drove around and around waiting to see her outside but she wasn't there. Thank goodness for cell phones. I called her and sure enough she had arrived but she was waiting on her luggage. We parked outside in the pick-up area and waited, and waited, and waited. She called me. There were about 40 people on the flight without luggage. They were all waiting in line to find out what happened to their luggage. We waited. Finally, around 2:30 she came out. Apparently the luggage was still in Atlanta and they would deliver it the following day. No luggage. No car. I took that baby home with me and set her up in the bedroom with the embroidery machine.
We all finally got to bed around 3 a.m. She had to be at the job by 9 a.m. We got a few hours sleep -- very few. She and I were up in the morning. I made her some eggs, toast and coffee. She had to wear the jeans she wore the day before and I had a polo in my stock that fit her. I drove her about 30 minutes away to northeast Pensacola. Along the way we decided there was no reason for her to get a hotel room or rent a car now. I would taxi her around and she could stay with us.
The airlines delivered her luggage during the day and George and I picked her up at 5 p.m. We decided to go out to eat -- her treat. Yay!!! We ended up at a local restaurant near our house call The Oar House. It's on the water at a marina. The weather was beautiful and we sat outside. Finally, we were able to start catching up on things. Our waiter was named Josh and was very pleasant and efficient. However, at one point my friend wanted a glass of water. We looked around and Josh was not in sight. We waited a little while -- no Josh. Well, we were talking, drinking and giggling and one of us came up with the bright idea of calling the restaurant on our cell phone and telling them to have Josh bring some water. That's what she did. In no time at all, here comes Josh with the water. We were all laughing, including Josh, who said this was a first for him. We totally enjoyed the meal and had such a good time teasing around with Josh. He won't be forgetting us anytime soon.
After dinner we stopped off and bought a bottle of our new favorite wine -- Moscato, and came home. The wine was opened and we began talking embroidery. I was showing her some of the new things that I've made and we worked on some digitizing issues that I was having -- wine glasses in hand. We talked and digitized and had a grand evening. Then we all went to bed.
Monday morning we followed the same routine. I took her to her job and we picked her up at 5 p.m. We all decided that we wanted steak for dinner. We stopped at another local restaurant that happened to be on our way home -- Mesquite Charlies. I hadn't been to Mesquite Charlies in many years. The ambiance was very beautiful and very western. All of the staff had western names and our waitress was Loredo. Remembering the night before we were teasing each other about calling Loredo on the cell phone, but decided against that. She was a cute girl and we teased her unmercifully. She was also a good sport. The food was fabulous and the meal was very entertaining. Once again, we came home to our unfinished bottle of wine. She taught me a new technique of embroidery on card stock. We were on the embroidery machine until late, embroidering card stock and then we embroidered on a file folder. We can now offer some really cool wedding invitations, all occasion cards, and the like for anyone who wants something really special. Then we began working on patches and honing down the technique. We had a blast and went to bed late, again.
Tuesday morning we all slept a little later. She had to be at the airport by 10:30 a.m. for her noon flight. It was delightful visit. I guess I'm not used to all of the late nights anymore. I was exhausted but wouldn't have changed a thing.
Of course, yesterday and today I'm playing catch up with embroidery work as well as house work.
I bought a couple of patterns at the store for baby booties and was trying that out to see how much time they would take. The first one is always the slowest because you are trying to decipher the directions. I'm not sure if the booties will be feasible but I'd like to be able to sell the little cap and booties together, matching. The pattern cover for the booties pictures some really cute ways to embroider the booties. One idea is to embroider the date of birth on the sole of the booty. Another is to monogram the top front of the booty. Really cute ideas. My prototype was in jersey, orange and green to match the little cap. The prototype does not have any embroidery on it. My purpose was just to make the items and see how long it takes. Of course, for the booties, the embroidery will have to be done prior to sewing. There is no way to get such a tiny piece in the machine. I must admit the cap and booties are fun to make and oh so cute.
I haven't had as many contests as I would have liked this month. The first person to email me at peggyhenshall@yahoo.com with the name of my black labrador retriever's name will win this tote with the embroidered green hummingbird and the rhinestone flower. Remember: you can only win one contest a month. The deadline for this contest is midnight tonight -- Wednesday, March 30, 2011.
