In MS

We are in MS this week. We spent the past few days on the Coast with Mike's parents. We had a really nice visit. Their area has improved a lot since Katrina, but once you get south of the RR tracks (about 1/2 mile from the beach), things deteriorate quickly. We drove along Hwy 90 several times and it was amazing to see how bad things still are. There isn't much in the news these days about recovery (or lack thereof) from the storm, and the coverage that's there is usually about NOLA. The Coast is still really horrible; it was incredible to see how slowly things are moving.
While I was on the Coast, my MIL helped me draft my skirt patterns. I made a prototype with some scrap fabric she had; it turned out pretty nicely. I am feeling optimistic about this project.
We are back in Brandon now. I cut out the Amy Butler skirt fabric this afternoon. Unfortunately I can't work on the skirt while I'm here since I have to put in the zipper first and Mom doesn't know where her zipper foot for her sewing machine is. Bummer.
But I did get a huge piece of Aida cross stitch fabric to work on the birth announcement for my sister-in-law's new nephew (who was born last week). The thing is going to be huge. She said that she stitched the one for her other nephew on 12 count (which I don't think actually exists--I think she did either 11 or 14), but she said she used 3 strands of floss as she stitched it, so that tells me I'm in the right ballpark, size-wize. It's quite the project...