Goodbye's the Saddest Word

Arrangements have been announced for our dear Pumpkin.

Catherine Magill

MAGILL, CATHERINE ANN - The death of Catherine Ann Magill of Brooklyn, Queens County, NS occurred Thursday, October 10, 2013 at Queens Regional Hospital, Liverpool, NS with her husband by her side. She was 42. Born in Fredericton, NB she was the daughter of Lloyd and Zoeline (Cormier) Steeves of Harvey, NB and Liverpool, NS.

Besides her parents she is survived by her husband Paul Magill and infant son, Paul's parents Robert and Beatrice (Roy) Magill, paternal and maternal grandmothers, several aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins. Cathey, as she was known by, was an avid blogger having over 400 followers from all around the world. Her hobbies included photography and cross stitching, having received several Grand Champion awards at the Fredericton Exhibition.

There will be no visitation by request. A Celebration of Life service will be held on Tuesday, October 15, 2013 at 11 am at Highway Pentecostal Church, 4158 Hwy 3, Brooklyn, NS with Rev. Fred Carr officiating. Immediate family flowers only. Memorial donations in Cathey's memory may be made to the Canadian Cancer Society or the charity of the donor's choice. Online condolences may be made by visiting www.sweenysfuneralhome.com

A Big Global Pumpkin Hug

It never ceases to amaze me just how far Cathey's circle reached.  A special thanks to all that helped reach those that I was not able to.  I went through as many commenter's with contact info from Cathey's recent posts until I was cross eyed.  Although making calls here and sending out emails kept me preoccupied and that was a very good thing.

As far as I know, there are no finalized arrangements to date.  Cathey's DH said he would call when there were, and in the meantime I'll keep checking the local obits.  Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers, I can't even begin to express how amazing he has been through all of this.  He sets the bar pretty high.

A special thanks to Because You Count in Moncton who are integrating Cathey's passing into our upcoming retreat and helped get the word out to the remainder of the retreat crew from Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.   Their retreat is actually how I met Cathey over a decade ago.  Our mutual friends brought us out for a sit down to discuss swapping passengers for retreat, and the rest as you say is history :)

" Dear Stitching Friends,

   It is Retreat time again at dear old Camp Wildwood. It is a time for stitching, visiting, sharing, laughing, eating and healing.....we need that at this time as our dear friend and former “camper” Cathey  Magill lost her battle with cancer yesterday. That is where the healing comes in..we need to share, listen and,yes, cry if need be. We are going to make this a great weekend where we will laugh and be refreshed.

...

2.Our cancer basket ticket event...if you wish to take part, please bring some pink items to put in the baskets...pens, soap, socks etc. The money raised will go toward breast cancer research.  This  is even more pressing in light of Cathey’s  passing. "

Before signing off, yet another blast from the past.  I think this truly exemplifies just how strong Cathey's character and will were, always giving back.

Look at this photograph

Every time I do it makes me laugh....and the lord knows I could use a good one about now.

Last month the stitching group here in town was working on a book (god bless shutterfly) with a compilation of pics that we had from retreats and stitching days and our stories of Cathey for her dear 'Junior'.  Here is a peek at our dear friend Cathey over the years...

 Stitching away

 Convincing my son at my bridesmaid dress fitting that we could NOT go to McDonald's because she'd been 'kicked out'.  He believed her because she had a tattoo!!  Almost 8 years later he still believed!!

 Getting Gorgeous

 Look at that hair...envy!!

 Grand Champion, I've lost count of how many times I came runner up to her ;)

 Chowing down on my birthday

 Gorgeous Bridesmaid

 Her husband could not take her eyes off of her the entire day

 No wonder!

 And again

 The number of pictures I received of this was overwhelming, apparently we made quite the impression

 There's that smile!

 

 A long time ago, when those bangs were acceptable!!

 More stitching

 She set the bar high for stash accumulation

 As I said, more silliness

 Even more Wildwood fun

Back in the short hair days

My beautiful friend, you will be in my heart always

And I know there will be no more tears in heaven

Dearest Cathey,

Every time that I see Bryer horses, ridiculously thick ponytails, illegal u-turn symbols, the coke slushies at the Houlton Irving, the latest Janet Evanovich book, Cadbury Creme Eggs, Tassels, my stitching I will think of you my friend.  May you find peace in a place where pain can touch you no longer.

Dear followers of Pumpkin Patch an Co. I regret to inform you that our friend Cathey has passed away.  After all that she has been through she was at least granted a peaceful death with the shortest possible hospital stay, the best of the worst.  While cancer may have broken her body, it never broke her spirit.  The remainder of the arrangements are incomplete at this time.

For the followers of Pumpkin Patch and Co

I know I haven’t blogged in ages…and you may have been directed here if you are a Pumpkin Patch and Co follower.   We have a common denominator our dear friend Pumpkin or to those who know her well, Cathey.

While Cathey has made a lot of plans concerning this part of the battle with cancer, I know part of me was really worried that I wouldn’t hear anything.  I’ve been the bearer of bad news before myself and when you’re losing someone, it’s not always the first thing to think of contacting all of someone’s  friends.  However, today I got an email from her amazing husband with the directive ‘Please keep Cathey’s circle of friends posted’.  I have emailed our stitcher’s here in Atlantic Canada but Cathey’s circle extends FAR beyond that.  I’m temporarily turning this blog into a place to keep you updated because it is what she would want as well.

Today’s update:  Cathey has been moved into the hospital as her condition can no longer be managed at home.  Her condition has deteriorated to the point she can only communicate by eye contact and as it stands.  She will only be with us a matter of days at best.  Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult transition.

When Your World Stops.

It's a beautiful sunny day.  You're cooped up in the office.  An email arrives, and well if you're in IT your typical first response is to check it out.

"This message is to advise that today at approx. 3:00 p.m. there was a minor incident involving the school bus # 16 in which your child was a passenger.  All students were triaged at the scene by local ambulance attendants as per district protocol and taken to school (or continued home).  Should you have any concerns, please take your child to see your family doctor or local area emergency room.  Also, it could be that someone from our insurance provider will be in touch with you over the next several days."

My world stopped.

Breathe.

First instinct: locate child.  However you'll notice in this message that he was either brought back to school or continued home.  Well depending on the route taken that is between 11.8 and 14.4 km.  I called home, no answer, called again, no answer, called the school, busy, called the school again, busy.  Seeing as I work on the next block I walked over to the school to see if they were there calling home the entire walk...'no mam, they were taken home'. Well I just thought I'd check as I was leaving the downtown core in the next 15 minutes. 

I finally got ahold of Alex while I was cutting through the graveyard back to the office.  Momentary relief.  However I asked him a couple of questions. 
-Are you ok?
-Yeah kind of, I hit my head and it hurts. 
-What did the paramedic say?
-Well we were told everything was all right and they asked if anyone was hurt
-Did you think to mention you hit your head?
-Well there wasn't any blood...
-How is it?
-It doesn't feel bad on the outside but hurts on the inside
-Are you sleepy?
-Yeah, I almost fell asleep on the bus
*blood pressure going through the roof*
-What?  How is your stomach?
-I thought I was going to be sick but I didn't.  It feels better now.
-Ok, well do something to stay awake, I'll be home as soon as I can

L-O-N-G-E-S-T C-A-R D-R-I-V-E E-V-E-R

So I've come to learn that the term triage is used very loosely by the district and I've since filed an inquiry/complaint.  I would have picked my son up and rushed him immediately to his family doctor before her office closed.  As it stands they wasted about 1.5-2 hours of our time dealing with a potential closed head injury.  I called our 811 service to get some advice and off we went

Thankfully as the evening went on he improved and today is no worse for the wear.  However I think I may have incurred a new gray hair or two!

A Carrot Production

Sometimes it's difficult being a crafter, and seeing your child totally not into crafting.  Or perhaps it does make the craft projects we've done in the past all the more special...because he truly hated doing it and faked it really well anytime I'd surprise him with a what I thought was fun project.  Regardless my son has found something that he does like...Claymation.  We were fortunate that the local library put on a free program to teach claymation and while Alex and his buddy missed the first night, they put their all into the next two one hour sessions and produced 81 slides.  The last night we were treated to a 'movie premiere' with a collaboration of all of the projects...

Christmas Gifts in the Works

This year I'm trying to tone down the Christmas commercialization and add a little homemade touch to it.  I've decided to attempt to knit and for the kids I'd decided to make hats and scarves, mittens would be pushing my comfort level a little bit too much this year.  So far I've made this set for my son:

I've also stitched up a scarf for Lily but I'll post that when the hat is also complete :)  It's been a blast trying my hand at something new, and a little hard to resist building up a stash ;)

I think I can.. I think I can...crochet!

Well here are my first attempts at crocheting.  I needed something that wouldn't get wrecked when the occasional tidal wave soaks me while supervising Lily's bathtime/synchronized swimming adventures

 A Frilly Rainbow scarf

Another Frilly scaft just for me :)

Not overly difficult, chaining and single crocheting...I think I have this ;)

Crafting Bucket List Additions

Sometimes you spot something and just want to try it.  Here are two entries for my bucket list :)
Salt Dough Ornaments
Wreath Making

Why does Christmas only come around once a year??

Christmas Conversations with a Pre Teen

Me: Alex what kind of cookies would you like for Christmas
Alex: Jalapeno Poppers, Bacon Wrapped Crunchy things, Cheese Puffs..
Me: Alex, I said cookies. Not appetizers
Alex: But we're having appetizers right??

The Door Has Openned

It's true, when a door closes another one opens. However hanging on in the mean time can be a b*tch. ;) That was our September/October, a wild and crazy ride. The writing had been on the wall for awhile that my husband's group at work was/would be downsizing, however they'd never gone with less than 2 of what he does for a living. The weekend before my birthday we found out otherwise. I don't think anyone can fully appreciate what that does for the psyche until it happens. Thankfully after a couple of weeks of tears and silence he had not one but two interviews back to back and he started back to work this week. It's not that we were in dire straights but that weight has been lifted. We've held off buying a larger home as this one suits us fine, and when I bought it 7 years ago I made sure it was something I alone could afford on maternity leave. :)

However, that 'we shouldn't spend money' translated into me getting my stitching mojo back. It kind of was shelved when Lily started moving around. Now she's not exploring as much so my work is relatively safe ;) I treated myself with a birthday gift card and bought a felt applique kit. I haven't done one in so long and it was a nice break from the norm, or at least until I find my floss boxes!! I put them somewhere after Lily dumped one and haven't a clue where that safe spot is. Amazing as this house has been cleaned and decluttered from top to bottom!!

Book Worming

If someone had of asked me this time last year what I thought of ereading, they probably would have gotten a very indifferent answer. I may work in the tech sector, but I'm probably the last person to buy a new gadget. Yes, we're that odd family that doesn't have a cell plan ;) However, my awesome parents got me a Sony Reader for Christmas last year and well, the rest is history. For three months it kind of sat there, sad but I was still on Mat leave. Anyone that considers that a vacation is crazy ;). When I went back to work I loaded it up for lunch hours and well, I think I've read more this year than I have in a very long time. Maybe even pre Alex! I love how I can slide it in my purse and not worry about it getting bent or ripped (plus I have the Roots purse specifically designed for carrying a Kobo) and well when we went on vacation this year half of my suitcase was empty because I just threw it in. No more lugging a bunch of books. My hubby is also on board which is good, if we kept anymore of our books at the rate he reads we'd need to have bookshelves in every room, and that's not jiving with my decluttering ;)
So what have I been reading?

Sizzling Sixteen - Janet Evanovich
Wicked Appetite - Janet Evanovich
Smokin' Seventeen - Janet Evanovich
Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris
Living Dead in Dallas - Charlaine Harris
Club Dead - Charlaine Harris
Dead to the World - Charlaine Harris
Dead as a Doornail - Charlaine Harris
Definitely Dead - Charlaine Harris
Altogether Dead - Charlaine Harris
From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris
Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris
Dead in the Family - Charlaine Harris
Dead Reckoning - Charlaine Harris
The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown
Plum Pudding Murder - Joanne Fluke
Apple Turnover Murder - Joanne Fluke
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo - Stieg Larsson

Reading plans for the remainder of the year? Well I'd like to finish the Millenium Trilogy and hopefully The Hunger Games too. Janet Evanovich has a book coming out just in time for Christmas and in 2012 I'd really like to read The Cottage Tales series and start Dianne Mott Davidson's books as well. That barring books that have interesting movies coming out. The unofficial book club I've proposed involves reading the book before seeing the movie and having a dinner/movie/sans kids night :) Hopefully our first one will be The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. That's about my level of commitment, I just don't have the time to read something I don't pick or to discuss it ;) Now to stick my nose back in my book.

Happy Half Birthday Lily-belle

Here's our little 18 month old beauty all ready for Halloween. Life is too short to not have 'half' birthdays...or at least not have half birthday cake.

Happy Dancing

Yeah...that hasn't been the title of a blog post for a very long time ;) I would probably wager that my last finish was before Lily got mobile, or should I say before Hurricane Lily got mobile? She might have taken her good old sweet time learning to crawl and walk (almost 17 months) but there's no stopping her now. In fact she can walk backwards and jump over a foot horizontally when she gets going.

So a happy dance...so where's the picture. Sadly after so long my first happy dance is actually one I can't post until after it leaves the house. The who and when will have to leave some people guessing for a little while ;) Although with summer bidding us adieu and shows to clear off of the pvr, I see plenty of stitching in the cool autumn nights ahead :)

The FREX Report

So, it was a nice afternoon so we packed up the kids and took them to our local Exhibition I don't know if it's a sign of the tough economic times, our aging population or what but entries were down :/ Mind you I can't say too much, I only had one entry this year as Lily keeps us hopping. I've said it before and I'll say it again, she's our daredevil child.

This piece was beautiful, although upon close inspection it wasn't laced very straight. :/ I don't think the judges in this city appreciate hand dyed fabric either.

This Star Gazer was breath taking. It's motivating me to find time to stitch again. I can't say I haven't been stitching at all, they've just been gift pieces. I need a me piece. Shame on whomever hung that ribbon over her face!!
Yvonne's Grand Champion piece was gorgeous, althogh I wish this picture caught Angela's canvas work piece better in the top corner. She is an amazingly talented stitcher who's stitching is immaculate.

Some additional entries but as I said before, not alot this year to compete with. I remember the years where there was a much bigger haul :/Pieces from the unframed category, and some hardanger. I really need to do hardanger again!!!
And here's my sole entry...great job presenting it huh? The last of the SB stockings I'll be stitching unless my brother moves home from Argentina...or if either of them get married. I was so psyched to place first. Any other time I entered one of the stockings they only came in second. Hey when you're not in competitive sports anymore you've got to take your competitive spirit somewhere right?? ;)

Looking forward to FREX 2012...that Grand Champion ribbon will be mine...yeah right!

What's Shaking?

Well apparently my office building was. Last Tuesday, a bunch of us stumbled out of our cubes thinking we had vertigo...and the blinds were shaking, and well that's a big coincidence! I don't ever remember experiencing an earthquake before, nor the aftershocks. Apparently we were feeling the earthquake that hit Washington up here. My office is fairly close to the river and apparently sits on alot of clay, while the towers downtown were swaying there weren't any other reports of quaking in the rest of the province.

Also apparently my backside is shaking too...Well, I knew that was happening but I just thought I'd throw it in there. However since June it's been shaking it's way to being shake proof ;) I wasn't down to my goal weight when we got pregnant with Lillian, the closer you get to 35, the less you want to put things off waiting for everything to be perfect. Factor in a csection that had me laid up for about 8 months due to some issues, a glorious round of SSRI's to combat the depression that set in when I can't be active and stupid breast feeding medication, well I back filled every inch of my abs that pregnancy stretched out and then some. I shudder when I hear people talking about elective csections, or that are so obsessed with breast feeding that they demand Domperidone before leave the hospital and they give their bodies a chance to do what it's supposed to do on it's own. Bf'ing doesn't happen for everyone, people need to lay off the breast is best...it's best if it's in the best interest physically AND mentally in the case of both mother and child . These things have long term ramifications :/ I'll step off my soap box now. Regardless, I've hit a minor milestone of 15 lbs down. The road to slim, or in my case 'sporty' is a long one but the journey has begun :)

But Katie, what about stitching? Well the annual exhibition is about to come to town. It's kind of depressing that I don't have a large piece to put in. I'll be entering Lily's stocking but that's about it. However that's extremely motivating to getting my stitching groove back, now that a fitness schedule has been achieved. Now if a newly toddling daughter allows for my stitching plans remains to be seen ;) LK's Christmas Rules is looking mighty tempting at the moment, with it's little pieces to concentrate on and finish. I need my mojo back, the ornament issue is just around the corner ;)

Catching up, photo style

May - Trip to PEI!! My little brother graduated from Vet school :)June - My big baby turned 11And Graduated from Elementary SchoolJuly - We Ziplined across the Grand Falls Gorge, twice!Alex made a 'friend'Lily thought this was hilarious

Taking the Saint John ferry to Digby, Nova Scotia We visted Upper Clements Park upon arrival to the province

The kids loved the zoo in AylesfordWe stormed the Halifax CitadelAnd turned Lily into a raging Cows Ice Cream Addict August - Alex was a Junior Calithumpian for a weekLily's standing on her own and walking upwards of 12 steps at a time now. I also painted this room and did a massive declutter, loving the results

Paging Potter

Or more like Weasley :) Tomorrow marks the end of Alex's run as a junior Calithumpian and he has the 'part' of Ron Weasley. They tend to inject pop culture people into their plays about local history or social issues and well Alex was a shoe in for that role with his flaming red hair. I wonder if I can be Molly and Lillian could be Ginnie? ;) I had to dig out my old witch costume for him tonight to make him look a little 'Hogwarty'. They're doing an anti bullying play, ironically one of the kids that Alex would peg as a bully is playing one in said production

For those interested in catching Alex's performance the junior Calithumpians perform at 12 pm at Officer's Square, or at Barrack's square in the event of showers.

Summer...Busy, Busy Summer

When people said, having two kids not only doubles your load, it increases it exponentially...I should have listenned. ;)

We have been incredibly busy this summer, but we do it for our children. At school's end we had a mere 2 weekends until September that were just for us. For those that have given us flack about our schedule, try getting your head around never getting a weekend to just rest when you work all week and call me in the morning. Thanks to my wonderful parents we gained a third weekend as they offered to drive Alex back from one of his camps, however we quickly went back to 2 to accomodate company. However there are days I feel like I'm not very well liked for not being able to visit everyone....but really it's too bad. The kids come first and that's it, and they are far from spoiled. They're only going to want to be around us for so long, Alex has a camp budget and he's maximized every dollar in it. ;)

So what have we been up to? Well let's start from Canada Day and move on from there ;)

Weekend 1: Visited the inlaws as Mathieu also had his 20th reunion up there. Again my parents are amazing, instead of trying to coordinate a time for us to get back to Freddy and meet them as Alex was going to basketball camp on the Miramichi they came to pick him up in Grand Falls :)

Weekend 2: Unexpected weekend off, Mom and dad drove Alex back, which was good because Lily was teething and I was exhausted

Weekend 3: Our official weekend off, so I started painting our family room, something I really need to wrap up soon!! Alex was at the UNB basketball camp the following Monday-Friday

Weekend 4: Our first family vacation as the fantastic four :) Sunday we drove to Saint John, caught the SJ to Digby, Nova Scotia ferry then drove to Upper Clements Park in Annapolis Royal. The kids had a blast. Monday we continued on through the Annapolis Valley stopping at Oaklawn Farm Zoo in Ayelsford, Joe's Food Emporium (my old hang out from my Acadia days) in Wolfville, past the Church camp grounds where I spent many a summer in Berwick and then rested for the night in Windsor where I finally got to see my friend Shannon after 10 years!! Tuesday we headed to Halifax, toured the Citadel, took the kids to the harbor for some Cows Ice Cream (Lily is hooked, the little bugger was sucking my chocolate bits out of my ice cream), then we did a little shopping. The boys took in their first IMAX movie (Harry Potter in 3D, I'm so jealous) that evening, but someone had to watch Lily right? Wednesday we headed for home, stopping in Moncton at Crystal Palace and Matt's favorite restaurant Saint Hubert

Weekend 5: U2 Baby! We headed back to Moncton, braved the rain and it cleared up before we got to the gates. Thank god we were in the stands, as it was muddy++++. I've learned I'm not meant to stay up until 3 in the morning anymore either. Came back from Moncton, grabbed a nap and headed to the Miramichi

Weekend 6: I'd planned and prepped to leave for home by 10-11 am...and woke up to Lily having a boil and an infection all through her bum cheek. We had an 8 hour hospital experience including IV's and some minor surgery to drain the abscess. I'm envious of their hospital, I was treated better there than I was at our own after major surgery. :/

Weekend 7: Inlaw visit. Not exactly easy to do when your daughter required a dressing change and bath after every #2. The boys were able to take them shopping while we napped and then to the Calithumpians Haunted Hike so that occupied most of the evening

Weekend 8: Well that's this coming weekend. We were really excited, the Calithumpians were selling off their free spots in their daycamps at a drastically reduced rate for this week. The original 170 was way over the camp budget, but 99 was doable. Alex is having a blast, it's nice to have his camps balanced between sports and other interests. This weekend we're off to Brown's Flats outside Saint John to drop Alex off at Caton's Island Summer camp. Yes, it's on an island!! He wanted to try a different camp this year and this one has more rock climbing than the camp he went to for the past 3 years, and they have horses. It should be interesting

So as you can see, not alot of stitching time. Any brief 'Me' time I get I've been working on a couch to 5k program which has helped me lose around 14 lbs since June :) Now to do that how many times to get back down to my 'hot' weight?? Ughhh, slowly but surely right?