Enter The Stitcher

Week 10 - This is just gross

2010-08-08T19:00:00.001-05:00

Monday: Where the hell did this belly come from?! I'm not a full 3 months yet and I'm looking like I'm 4. I know I started out 30 lbs overweight, but still! Thank the gods for whomever invented the BE Band. I'm guessing someone took their old spandex mini and turned it into a belt, but darn it...it works! I don't heve to dip into the kids school clothes fund to cover my bottom half in public. Yet.

And the consentrated poop from hell...ugh!

I think I've ddetermined the real reason for contipation. It's to get you ready for those long hours of pushing when you're in labor. Admit it body...that's the real reason.

I've got myself a 'tree hugger' friendly bottle, this past weekend, to carry a drink (usually water) around with me everywhere. I filled it with ice and water this morning and by 2 pm, it has not sweated and is still rocking the ice cold goodness! Thermos brand, how I love thee. Now if only my kids would quit losing you, so I can get you for their lunches.

Tuesday: Holy cow! I thought my tummy was done expanding for the week! I can only zip up my pants an inch.

Wednesday: Rough day. Woke up with 'morning' sickness that lasted all day. And I'm tired. And whiney. I just want to curl up in bed with a book. Same on Thursday and Friday.

Saturday: Felt better today. After spending the morning shopping for clothes for TeenGirl, I spent the rest of the day either trying to read, stitch, or play on the computer. Didn't accomplish much of anything.

Sunday: Clam Chowder for supper! Plus I made enough for leftovers. My family better not eat it all while I'm at work Monday.

Like: Peaches, Black cherries, 11 hours of sleep a night, Poise

Dislike: Chocolate (WHF!), Necterines and any other tart fruit, lemonade (use to be the staple of my drinks at work)

Craving: Cheese, Potatoes, Cheese Enchiladas, sleep

No time no...see?

2010-08-02T06:46:00.001-05:00

Wow has this past year and a half been busy! I changed jobs at the beginning of this year, although I am still contracted to the same company. I like the change in daily work, but I'm still not sure if I like the job (I'm having culture clashes with my co-workers. Nice people, but some things just get on my nerves. I'm sure it is the same for them, too). On hubby's professional side of things, he's starting a new business venture. I can't talk about it yet, but as soon as he's ready to go live, I'll have links.
On the personal side...
I haven't been working on my needlework too much (hardly at all), but I've been reading a lot. My hands needed the rest, but I'm starting to get the itch to pick it back up again.
The TeenGirl is 16. The Boy is 8. And unexpected of all is this:

That's right! Baby #3. ETA 28-February-2011, so that puts me at 10 weeks now.
We had been wanting a third, but about three years ago, we came to the conclusion that it would happen, if it happened.
Well, it happened and we freaked. And excited. And nauseous. (Wait, that last one is just me.)
So far, like the others, I have "morning" sickness, but this time it is a lot less...and mostly in the evenings. As a whole, I feel in a better place with this pregnancy; physically and mentally.

I feel the need to get the thoughts in my head out, again, so I've started this back up. So updates will follow...

Fun New Toy

2009-01-06T21:33:00.000-06:00

When I first got a cell phone, I didn't want anything fancy. I had a camera, MP3 player didn't exist, nor was there an integrated phone and Palm/Handspring, and I don't talk excessively on the phone. I just wanted something for emergencies (and I no longer had my pager...I believe it suicided into a toilet). So I got the cheapest, most basic phone they had. I was happy.
Years later, when I received a free upgrade, there was not enough in our budget to get a phone, for me, with all those technologies, so I got the basic one again. Still not a problem, as my average talk time on the mobile each month is 5 hour.
Now, I still hardly talk on the phone, and still have a Palm. However, after upgrading my home computer, I couldn't sync the Palm, which would be a problem if I didn't have important numbers there and no place else. So hubby and I talked, and after we saved up, I now have a new toy phone.
It’s a Blackberry 8330 (yes I looked at the Palm Treos, but hubby has one, and we won’t go through having the same phone again). After playing in a couple of stores (we were considering changing carriers too), my first choice was the BB Storm, but that was certainly out of our budget (I loved the touch screen). My second choice was the BB 8330 and the LG Dare, depending on which carrier we went with.
I seem to discover something new to do on the phone everyday, and can easily see myself putting off doing other thing in order to play. For example, I can’t have outside instant messaging on my work computer, but my phone does! And, ooooooo, I can update my blog while hubby is driving. That may be a major bonus if it cuts down on me cringing at how close he is to another car.

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-04T10:04:00.008-06:00

The past six months have been so hectic, I don't know where to start to cover it at. While I avoid discussing work in detail, I will admit to taking a class for ITIL Foundations and passing the certification test. I've tried the self-paced training for this before, to no availe, so hubby and I saved up so I could take the class from a group who is good at training for it (thank you Pink Elephant!). So now that done, and will hopefully add a bonus to my status at work. (The company I work for recently merged with/was bought out by another company and I'm feeling the need to keep myself marketable.)

On the home front, things are smoothing out. Three (or four) months back, hubby was able to find a "9-5" job. With the housing market bottoming out, he just wasn't pulling in enough for cover basic bills (combined with my income). We do not live outside our means (haven't done that in over 6 years) and it was really stressing me out to borrow money from my parents just to buy the kids one birthday gift, all the while getting further behind on our regular bills. The stress got to me so badly, that I ended up in physical therapy for the tense neck and sholder muscles (which put us further in debt...typical pattern, yes?), heck strong doses of muscle relaxers and pain killers weren't relaxing the muscles. That's when hubby annouced that he was going to pick up steady temp work. This is something I know he hated to do; he loves his business. But he (very) quickley found a month long contract being the IT deparment for a small company.

It turns out they loved him and after two weeks, offered him a permanent full time position. So now, he runs IT for them, reporting to the VP ans President of the company. He is severly under-paid for his job (have I mentioned he ~IS~ the IT department for 100-150 people?), but since he creates the budget for his department, he's factored in raises and paid training for the next year.
As cool as this ended up being, it still ate at me that he had to stop doing what he loved, even though no money was being made, just to make money. We worked long and hard to get him doing what he loves, and it was going to be my turn next to figurre out what i wanted to be "when I grow up". BUT, it turns out he loves it! Right before Christmas, out of no-where he said to me, "I love that I get paid to play!"
Big stress relief! So now he has two 'jobs' he loves to do, and one of them has a steady paycheck.

On the homefront, my stress has put a big dent in working on my own hobby. I find I can only stitch an hour or two a week (instead of the ten I use to do), and play time on the computer is even more limited.
I was, however, able to get one last thing completed in 2008 (finished it on Dec 27). Here it is, hubby's requested bookmark; "Renaissance Bookmark" by Teresa Wentzler.

I did the pattern on 28c Country French Chantilly and used the recomended threads (DMC and Kreinik). It is Finished with a buttonhole edge using DMC thread that matched the material. It took approximitley 39 hours to complete (10 of that was the buttonhole stitch...I should have went with the blanket stitch, but then maybe it wouldn't look so great). There is nothing on th back of it, but I've told hubby to let me know that if the threads on the back keep catching on things or if it's not stiff enough for him, I'll iron on some fusing. I barely had time to get a picture of it before he put it into use.

On the stashing front, I'm still in "diet"-mode. However this was made much easier when hubby signed me up for Vikki Clayton's Floss of the Monthfor a Christmas present! Now for the next year I'll be getting some wonderful floss and it will help keep the edge off wanting to impulse buy.
Also, since the Stash-to-Go blog has slowed down alot, I'm thinking I need to start giving things away. Where for it to go....

A happy New Year to all and I'll leave you with a picture of the antics of The Teen.

That's a candle she put on top of one of my statues.

WIP Updates and Finishes

2008-11-26T10:45:00.000-06:00

I'm averaging, what, 3 months per update? The camera's memory card has been found and here are some pictures. First up, the two finishes...

"Winter's Grazing" by Lois Winston

From The Cross Stitcher, Feb. 2007. On 16ct Grey Aida, using DMC threads. Approx 93 hours to complete.

wXSw (Wonderful XS World) mystery SAL, created by Helga Mandl Designs and Barbara Ana Designs

On 14c Oatmeal Aida, with DMC threads (comparable Light Effects threads substituted for white, 334, and 818). Approx 66 hours.

And the WIP updates...

The Tree Skirt as of Sept. 19:

"An October Box" as of Oct. 11:

The younger terror's blanket as of Nov. 24:

DH's bookmark as of Aug.5 :

BoINK as of Aug. 30:

Hurricane Ike - Back to the "Civilization", Pt. 1

2008-09-20T10:36:00.003-05:00

We survived Hurricane Ike with no major losses. We just got power back last night, so I'm catching up with bills and replenishing the groceries. I'll get an update on the past week as soon as I find the time.

The Best Laid Plans...

2008-09-02T08:46:00.003-05:00

That's 2 Hurricanes/TS's down...how many to go?
Thanks to being prepared, once again we are getting squat from the storm. Which is perfectly fine with me.
Hubby finished fixing my dryer and I went on a laundry rampage; got a weeks worth of laundry done in one day. Woohoo!!! No need to worry about until later in the week now. Since I'm still getting used to the schedule, my guess is I'll spend that extra time catching up on sleep and/or reading.
I just finished reading "The Snow Queen" by Mercedes Lackey. Good upbeat fantacy story, even if it was predicatable, thanks to the fairy tale premise.
Now I'm in the middle of reading "Dreamsong II" by George R. R. Martin, and found a couple more books, that he had a hand in, which I'll need to add to my To-Read list.

It's the beginning of the month , so back to the monthly reports.

Tropical Storm Edouard

2008-08-04T14:07:00.002-05:00

Now that my broadband provider finally got my network up and running again, hopefully (it's been up and down since Saturday), I find out there is a tropical storm making a bee-line for Houston.
No worries, my friends, I will be offline for the next couple of days preparing for the storm (today) and weathering it. Don't expect to hear from me until Wednesday at the earliest.

Way past my bedtime

2008-08-02T10:52:00.005-05:00

OMG...I am so tired!
As many may (or may not) know, the newest book in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer was released at midnight last night. Bookstores everywhere had releaseparties, and my daughter convinced me to let her go, and to top it off, I volunteered to chaperone her and her friends.
What was I thinking! No chairs to sit in while I waited, massively over-crowded...well, hello clautophobia, how are we this evening.

Actually, other than the teenage girl screaming (cough, and some teenage boy screaming...really, it happened) and the press of bodies, it wasn't too bad. I only had to leave the store once because of my clautrophobia, and once I knew there was a quick and easy way out of the store, it didn;t rear it's ugly head again. Also, I have to say, Barnes & Noble had their act together. Once midnight hit (wish I had ear plugs for that count down), the line moved very fast; we were out the door with the book in about 30 minutes. In addition to getting "Breaking Dawn" for my daughter, I was able to pick up "The Host" for me; both hardback copies for about $30 total (Hello sale! and Love you Membership card!).
I got home around 1:30 AM. Which wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't woken up at 8 this morning! Really, I NEED 10 hours a night to fuction properly. Oh well, I should sleep great tonight! House cleaning, here I come...

How to Change Colors in a Cross Stitch Pattern

2008-07-03T10:28:00.002-05:00

Paula of Paula's Needlework Addiction wrote a great explanation of how to change color in a pattern. She mentions using the DMC Color Card for help, when you are missing a color in your collection. I'd like to add that I find mine indispensable, and you'll want the card with floss swatches and not the one you print out.
These are fairly easy to find at various online shops for around $10. Just Google "DMC color card". Also you can check with your LNS to see if they have any in stock. You won't need the most up-to-date card with the "new" color variations, etc., just the one with the regular DMC line, so you might be able to find a really cheap one on EBay.

Slowly Getting Back to Speed

2008-06-28T16:10:00.007-05:00

Not a lot of stitching has been happening over the past month thanks to both the PC crash and some massive knots in my upper back and neck. Give ya' three guesses where I store my stress!

BUT...I got the camera software loaded and pictures taken!

First up is "Book of Ink Circles" (BoINK):

I am loving this one! I put in about 30 hours on it before I got 'sick' of it. Then after 2 hours into the next project, I wanted to pick it back up again!

I'm up to 200 hours on the "Winter White Tree Skirt":

And "Winter's Grazing" is still almost done:

I'm thinking about 20 - 30 more hours to complete it.

I've also restarted the Project Challenge. My goal is 15 or more project finishes before I splurge buy again. I had to take advantage of Cross My Heart Inc, going out of business sale. I have the "Earth Dragon" and wanted the other three elemental dragons before they became impossible to find. The good news, however, is I used the money I made off of the stash I have been selling to buy them. Bonus is that it makes hubby happy too. (He like when I buy for myself on occasion, but knows how our finances have been lately.)
On that note, hubby has picked up a full time job to supplement our income. For those who did not know, he is a real estate investor, and his income was affected by the housing crash. He had to change strategies (yeah, commercial property), however commercial property has a longer turn over rate (at least in regards to money coming in to feed and cloth the kids). So now my poor man is working 120 hours a week.

Now about this year's swimsuits. After two stores and 20+ different suits, I've found that manufacturers think everyone is an 'A' cup (including plus size women) and we want to cover the nipple only. Seriously, I get better support and coverage by going topless! On the up side, I got a new pair of shorts and they are a 10! (Yes folks, that's down from an 18 at the beginning of last year.)

Anyone know of any stores that sell swimsuits that have coverage and support? I'm talking 'XL' top (think D-cup)and 'L' bottom. I don't mind showing off cleavage. Just not down to my navel. Oh, and no bikinis, please. Trust me, no one wants to see these stretch marks.

The Good News!

2008-06-05T16:24:00.003-05:00

In some freak coincidence, it turns out I have not lost several things that were going to take a long time in recreating. I had saved a coupe of things on a memory stick so I could work on them, on a laptop, while I watched TV. So the list of what I have:

My stitching To-Do list - this will make it a little easier tracking down the freebie patterns I really want.
A pattern catalog of all the cross stitch magazines I have (this was the big one I was dreading recreating), now I just have to add the magazine itself into the stash software.
List of everything on my Stash to Go Blog (along with the list of everyone who has bought from me).
My resume - I even have the latest copy of it, so I won't have to track down my old, not updated for 5 years, hard copy, which is somewhere in the house...I think?
Some web links - unfortunately no cross stitch links, but I think i have most of those memorized anyway (GRIN)

As for The Gift of Stitching, it turns out I had not moved this year's issues from my work computer to my home yet, so yeah! Also Kristen has contacted me about replacing the ones I have lost (2006 and 2007) at a discount. Kristen, consider yourself hugged...like a bear.

All the critical software is loaded, bills have been payed, and I will load miscellaneous software as I need it, so I am up and running 75%.

Thank you everyone for you well wishes!!

I've lost everything, almost.

2008-06-01T15:08:00.003-05:00

My home computer has been giving me problems for the past month or so to where it reached the point I decided it was time to reload the OS. This is not a problem for me. Reloading the OS is a yearly (practically) event, and I keep all my data on a secondary hard drive, as well as backup my settings, so recovery is never an issue.
Until now...
I followed the directions reloading the OS, select the hard drive to be formatted, load OS, etc., but every time I'd boot up after the reload it would come up with the original load. How is this possible when I'm completely erasing it?!? I was getting frustrated until I looked at my drive in Windows; I had been reformatting my spare data drive. Yep! I deleted all of my data, files, pictures, and most importantly, the backup to everything!!!
Can you now imagine how pissed off with myself I was? The one thing I always remember, I forgot. The spare data drive is the larger hard drive, so (hardware wise) it is set as the primary drive. When running the OS install, it see the primary drive as the drive to load the OS and automatically 'names' it C:\. So whenever I reload the OS, I disconnect the primary drive (inside the PC) and force the secondary drive to become the primary, load the OS, then reconnect the primary again.
Never an issue.
No Important Data Ever Lost! Until now...

Stupid techie move on my part. This all occurred on Friday (hence the no pictures of cross stitch updates), and I have been rebuilding the PC since then. I've resigned myself to starting over from scratch on everything...stash database, finding my links, searching down those free patterns I had downloaded, my stitching to-do list, household books (OMG, if you order a download from Quicken, they keep it in your user profile and you can reload the software with out issue....YEAH!), getting all my passwords reset for those I don't remember, pictures...the list is long, but it was not going to cost me money, just time. This morning I remembered something else, as I was continuing with the OS updates and loading the essential softwares, I just lost two years of an online magazine, The Gift of Stitching. Something I'd go ahead and write off if it wasn't for the fact there are projects in them that I want to do. Projects that are spread out over several issues, and getting back order copies aren't free. So much for it not costing me monetarily.

I wonder if the Physical Therapist is going to notice an increase in muscle tension?

Damn I want to whine...

What do you do when your husband laughs evilly...

2008-05-25T10:22:00.003-05:00

You get banished from the house so he can set up a surprise party for you.

I knew he was up to something, but it really was a surprise as to who all showed up. But boy are we all tired today. Although it was great seeing the teen girls grouping together and giggling over the band-boys they have crushes on. They can certainly clear a room of all other adult males!

Stitching Rotation Updates and More

2008-05-16T15:26:00.006-05:00

Camera has reappeared! So are you prepared for the pictures?

The flowers I got for Mother's Day were starting to look bad (the real ones anyway), so I don't have a picture of those. Instead you can all the petals I've harvested from them.

I'm going to dry them out and use them for air freshener, incense, etc. And these are the flowers The Boy made.

He loves his arts and crafts! This week he had a project on lobsters. He had to draw or make a model and write at least 4 sentences about the lobster (facts of). He did the bare minimum on the sentences because he wanted to work on this more:

And hubby only helped a little. He was so excited about taking it to school today, that he woke up early. Which was not a problem with me, since it seems I have steroid insomnia now (see previous post as to why). The boy has got some talent in the arts (in this mother's opinion). He has decided he wants to learn how to draw properly this summer. We are NOT going to refuse him that. In fact he has been behaving exceptionally well in school, so that he can get his own special pencils, paper, and how-to book when school ends. Which is only in 2 weeks.
He has also decided that he is going to jump off the diving board this summer. I guess we had better get our pool tags. I guess I had better around to getting a swimsuit this year...eek.

On to the pretty-pretties...

I've gotten some 10 hour blocks on a few more projects. Here is the wXSw SAL:

The "October Box":

I'm thinking the light blue is washed out in the fabric. I may go back later and backstitch the words there with a darker blue. We'll see.

And the new start, "Renaissance Bookmark" by Teresa Wentzler (a TW Designworks freebie). I'm using the recommended threads on 28ct Country French Chantilly.

The Boy's blanket square was supposed to come before the bookmark in the rotation, but when I started to work on a square, i found the blanket needed to be washed first. It seems he had wrapped himself up in it to eat breakfast and had spilt some. So I switched the two in rotation for this round.

I've also added BoINK. I'll be stitching it on 30ct Antique Ivory Evenweave and using Vikki Clayton Silks. I wanted my colors to be close to the Book of Kells (as close as a computer monitor will let me get), so I went with: yellow/gold - Lemon Drops 4201, black - Basic Black 5300 (not shown in the photo), red - OMG Red 1141, violet - Ultra Violet 2121, green - Isle Green 3213, orange - Terra Potta 4321, light blue - Mermaid Blue 2315, and dark blue - Yonder Blue 2221.

I'm really looking forward to this one so much that I broke my own "no more than 5 or 6 projects in the rotation" rule because I want this for myself. I don't even feel bad about it! Who knows, I may even end up changing more of the colors as I go. I am going to do the Project Challenge again, but buying fibers for this may end up on the exception list.

And last, but not least, I received an envelope from England for the ILCS Embellishment Exchange (we send our partner $5 worth of embellishments).

I got lots of flower buttons in wood, clear red, various shades of pink (my favorite!), some plum colored Mill Hill beads, red/white checked ribbon, and some more tiny buttons in various shapes and primary colors. Thank you Lou! Hopefully mine will arrive at your house in the next couple of days.

Ok, I dreamt I had already posted this...

2008-05-15T16:20:00.002-05:00

News from the doctor yesterday...
This headache is tension. Apparently my neck, sholders, and back are one big knot. Funny, I never noticed until she poked me there.
The perscription: muscle relaxers, heavy pain killers, steroids, and physical therapy.
I'd say I'm happy, but it took two doses of the muscle relaxers and pain meds before I felt any kind of relief last night, and my first therapy session today was painful.

Now...does anyone know why I'm so tense?

A Wonderful Mother's Day!

2008-05-12T10:04:00.001-05:00

Mother's Day started Saturday night, for me, when hubby asked when I wanted my Mother's Day dinner. As we spend Sunday evening getting the kids ready for school on Monday, Saturday seemed best. And boy was it!
I was warned on Friday to not look to closely in the freezer and that I also needed to become deaf, dumb, and blind for the rest of the month (my birthday is later this month).
Saturday began with flowers from my Mom arriving that afternoon; a combined Mother's Day and Birthday present. A dozen of mixed colored roses. Beautiful! (I'd love to show you pictures, but someone has walked off with the camera and can not remember where he put it. They came with plant food, so hopefully they will last long enough for me to share with everyone.) Then supper was buffalo wings and french fries. Not healthy, I know, but delicious. And when I sent the kids to bed, both reminded me that I needed to sleep in.

Sunday...I didn't sleep in. I still have that headache from last week and it woke me up (no worries about getting it looked at, friends, the appointment is this week). But I took some more Tylenol and laid back down to "sleep". After an hour of smelling bacon, I couldn't take it anymore, so i got up. As soon as I walked into the living room, i was accosted by The Boy, who it seems was on guard duty, 'boy-handled' to the couch, where he sat on me and showered me with kisses, until I convinced him to sneak into the kitchen and steal bacon for me. For breakfast (we seriously need 2 ovens!), we had ham and cheese omelets that turned into scrambled eggs (T-Girls first attempt at omelets), bacon, butter biscuits, and blueberry muffins. Then hubby and the kids left me alone for the day. I tried cleaning, but it was taken over from, and I was told to go do something for myself. I didn't even cook supper that night! Hubby took it over again, and we had BBQ pork chops, corn, and mashed potatoes. And I watched chick-flicks all day without anyone complaining about the sappiness! (Loved! "The Holiday") My son also gave me several things he has been making for me over the past weeks, and my daughter gave me 'coupons'. I have to say, I like the paper flowers he gave me better than the roses, and an hour of my daughter being quiet or doing the dishes without whining or complaining--priceless!

Hubby is periodically laughing evilly under his breath as he goes walking through a room...I wonder what he'd got up his sleeve now?

A Cause Close To My Heart

2008-05-09T15:28:00.007-05:00

Being a woman, Breast Cancer Awareness is very near and dear to me. Not just because I'd still like to use mine to feeding purposes again (Yes Mom, we are trying again) or garner appreciative looks from members of the opposite sex, but because many women in my own family have had, and beaten breast cancer. And each one in their own flamboyant way (more on that in future posts).

There are a couple websites and blogs out there I visit on a regular basis (and not so regular), as well as donate to. The one that brought on this post is Stitch Pink. Kim started this blog to bring awareness of the importance of breast screening, and early detection of breast cancer to the stitching world. She is currently running a contest for this:

5 winners will receive 10 pink fibers (thanks to Laurel at Laurel's Stitchery). All you need to do is leave a comment there!

Another site I visit on a daily basis is The Breast Cancer Site. You click a button daily, ad the sponsors will donate money for Free Mammograms!
As someone who had to start getting mammograms long before insurance will pay for them. Thanks to family history, I started at 29. Most insurances won't pay until your 35 (30 if your lucky), and mammograms are not cheap things.
But today I found a shirt in their store that I've decided I've got to have. It's a tank top with a pink "vertical swirl". I could SOOOOO see myself wearing this at a concert! Nevermind the fact that many of us shop there for family Christmas presents. that is just too long to wait.

Thank you Jennifer Aniston...

2008-05-08T08:34:00.003-05:00

Last week The Boy asked me how bread was made. This was part of his random question he asks everyday. (Boy do we get some doozies.) Unlike half the time, where my husband has to answer it, or we all have to go look up the answer, I K-N-O-W this one.

See back when hubby and I were registering for our wedding (it'll be 10 years, later this year), he found a breadmaker and pointed it out to me. After ducking my swing at him, I informed him that I was the breadmaker and just where he could put the automatic one. Over the years, bread making has dwindled off a little, as the amount of hand kneading puts a lot of strain on my injured wrists, and have hinted loudly that a certain mixer would ensure more bread being made (i.e. posted large signs all over the house stating, "You can get me a KitchenAid mixer for my birthday and nothing else. Just make sure it has all the attachment, like the dough hook"). This has not happened yet, but my mom bought one for herself as a Thanksgiving present, and borrow it all the time.

So I told The Boy we would make bread this weekend, and Saturday we picked up the mixer from my mom and baked away on Sunday. The Boy did all the work, all I did was help him measure and put in/take out of the oven. By Sunday night we had 1 loaf of bread, a dozen-ish clover rolls, a dozen cinnamon rolls, and a 5 year old all sort of proud of himself. Now I'd like to share a picture of the result with you, but their gone. All we have left, as of last night, was half a loaf of bread. But he wants to make more cinnamon rolls this weekend and we did promise grandma some baked good for letting us borrow the mixer, so I'll get pictures of those.

And none of that has anything to do with Jennifer Aniston does it...
Mid-day on Tuesday I had realized that I had had a headache for 3 days. As it wasn't the usual migraine pain, that was ruled out. It took me rubbing my scalp and realizing, it was my hair! You know how when you pull your hair into a ponytail, how you scalp hurts when you take it out at the end of the day? Now imagine having that ponytail but you can't take it out...everyday.
I had it cut a year ago to my shoulder and it has grown this much in the past year.

So, I decided it was time to get the hair cut. Besides we're starting to get into summertime here, and we'll be hitting the 90s by this weekend. So after dropping The Boy off at home (and weighing myself), I headed to the hair salon and told them to chop it off.

So thank you, Jennifer, for you "Friends" haircut, 'cause it looks good on me (not that you can tell by the picture). I know it's a little shorter than the original, but, again, it's summer. And it will grow fast.

By the way....that is 3 pounds of hair gone!
Headache...well not completely gone. But at least I know it's not from the weight of my hair.

Stitching Rotation Updates

2008-05-02T16:04:00.004-05:00

I've worked on two projects in the past couple of weeks...

"Winter White Tree Skirt"

and "Winter's Grazing"

I'm 3/4 done with this one. I expect to have it completed within the next 2 rotation rounds.

I've definitely decided to add book marks to the rotation. They are small and I know I won't feel overwhelmed by adding them. The first one I'm making is for hubby, who is no help picking out a pattern (whatever, honey). I've decided to go with "Renaissance Bookmark", a freebie by Teresa Wentzler (TW Designworks).

I've also found another SAL I want to work on; Ink Circles' Celtic Mystery SAL (affectionately being called BoINK), which is based on designs from the Book of Kells. I'm considering kitting this up and then, because I'm going to buy silks for this instead of using from my stash, restart the Project Challenge. Well, maybe I'll restart after I renew my magazine subscriptions.
{GRIN}

Rough weekend

2008-04-29T10:49:00.003-05:00

It has been a rough weekend at the house.
It started off with a phone call from the vet. Several weeks ago, we took Q.C. to the vet because she had a very large lump on her side, by her neck. The vet believed it was a tumor at least the size of her head, and we were given the option of an operation, to let her live out the rest of her life (which wouldn't be long because the tumor was growing fast and she had stopped eating), or to put her to sleep. G-Teen decided that although Q.C. was near the end of her life-span (the hampster was full grown when we found her over a year ago), that she wanted to at least try and save her. The good news came when the vet opened Q.C. and found that the tumor was not big, but was encapsulated, so she spent two weeks draining the cyst and giving the hampster anti-biotics. we took G-Teen in every couple of days to see her, and that hampster was running everywhere her wheel would take her. Thursday was the surgery--finally. Q.C. had made it through the surgery and the vet asked us to bring in some more food for her for the weekend and we would be able to bring her home this week. Friday morning, we received a call, Q.C. died during the night. My daughter was, of course, heart-broken, but she is coming to terms with the death pretty quickly.

Then Sunday rolls around and The Boy starts complaining that his stomach hurts. To keep the grossness to a minimum, by Monday morning, I had very little sleep, my house smells of carpet cleaner (those never have a 'good' smell) and the doctor could not find anything wrong...rotovirus, something he ate...whatever it was, after he woke on Monday, he wanted to go to school. To top it off, he requested Sloopy Joe's for supper last night...

UGH!

Project Updates

2008-04-20T16:26:00.007-05:00

Finished up another set of 10 hour blocks on a few projects...

"Winter's Grazing" - 60 hours total. This is on a set of scroll bars so it is hard to show everything I've finished.

wXSw Mystery SAL - 40 hours total.

"October Box" - 20 hours total

And another square on The Boy's blanket

This is "Summer Tree" by Stitch Witch. Its a freebie patern I got from Cyberstitchers.

My daughter (here-to-after known as G-Teen), has asked me to make her a blanket too. Good thing I have another blanket in my stash! I'll be hem stitching that thing while she look sfor the first pattern she wants on it. As a result, in a trip to my LNS for a gift for someone else, I picked up "Cat Squares" so G-Teen can have a few more patterns to choose from.

I made it to 15 projects (a year and 6 months) before buying more stash!!! Of course, people GIVING me stash during that time made it much easier. And I'm cleaning out my own of ones I no longer want.

I think I need to add bookmarks into my rotation too. I can never seem to find my paper ones. Maybe if I look in all the books I'm reading right now, I might find them. That just means I don't have enough!!

Today is my daughter's 14th Birthday. I always feel old on her birthday and not mine, even though mine is next month. She had her party yesterday, at the park. All the girls had fun. Most of today was spent taking her every place she got a gift card from. Boy am I beat!!!
Word to the wise...Whipcream icing and 85F, sunny weather make for a melty mess.

~I've been working on the Railroading, all the live long day....~

2008-04-09T09:55:00.001-05:00

Something that was sent to me, that I thought I'd share...

It starts out as a WHIMM (Work Hidden in My Mind).
After a FART (Fabric Acquisition Road Trip) and some SEX (Stash Enhancing eXperience) it becomes a PIG(Project in a Grocery Sack).
The PIG become a HSY (pronounced hissy ...means Haven't Started Yet).
Once you have a HSY fit and begin work, it becomes a WIP(Work in Progress).
The WIP becomes a UFO (UnFulfilled Opportunity ...(I like that better then Unfinished Object whichsounds so negative), as soon as some other project grabs and holds your attention more than the project that was a WIP.

Updates Galore

2008-03-26T11:32:00.002-05:00

Now that I've finally been able to bogart the camera from my hubby (who is at this moment wandering the house trying to figure out where he put it, as I download), I've gotten picture of all my finishes and updates over the past several months. So you know this post will be jpeg heavy.

First up is my last finish of 2007.
"One Starry Night" by Carol Scott Higeli of The Stitcher's Habit. From JCS Christmas Ornaments: 10th Anniversary Collection.

On 28ct Navy Cashel Linen, using recommended DMS treads. Substituted Kreinik 102 with 002, and 085 with 095.

And two finishes, so far, for 2008:
"Merlin's Oak" by Hermon Adams
Pictures never do these things justice, do they...

This is an Embellished Cross Stitch kit from Candamar Designs Inc, which I started in July 2005.

And "Daisy Dream" Mill Hill kit.

This beaded pin pillow is on 28ct Cashel Linen, and took approx. 15 hours to complete.

And the Baker's Dozen RR returned in time for Christmas for my son. Although once he saw the package when we picked up the mail, he knew what it was and has refused to let it go since (Oh the uproar when he realized he forgot it at his Aunt's house in San Antonio!).

THANK YOU to all the ladies who worked on this. My boy absolutely loves it, and has me read all the letters you wrote at least once a week. You all did great work and I am grateful to you.

Now for my lovely ongoing projects...
Here is "Winter White Tree Skirt" at 180 hours

"Winter's Grazing" at 54 hours

wXSw (Yahoo group) Mystery SAL "Back on the Road Again" at 30 hours

I'm using 14ct Oatmeal Aida (I think it is Oatmeal. Its part of some stash I was given and it was not labeled.) and DMC threads. I have substituted DMC's Light Effect colors for the White, 334, and 818.

And lastly, "An October Box" at 10 hours

Is it Spring yet?

2008-03-20T13:55:00.004-05:00

Wahoo!! I've been working some serious overtime lately and am ready for a vacation. Which I start at 3:30 today! Of course, now is the perfect time to get sick (I've been fighting my throat hurting the past couple of days). I don't plan on heading anywhere except from my bed to the couch, with a couple of pit stops for necessities. Updating my WIP on the sidebar too. It seems I'm a little behind on updates.

In all this extra work I've been doing, I finally got the rest of my Stash-To-Go cataloged and posted (http://ets-stash.blogspot.com/). Well almost all of it. There's still a few things that got stored someplace I can find (in other words, I put it someplace safe and now can not figure out where...I really need some decent sleep), but those will go up as I find them.

So head over and find something you have to have.

You know you want NEED to add to your stash!

American's Average MPG

2007-11-26T22:05:00.000-06:00

A 2006 study by Texas A&M University found that the average American walks about 900 miles per year.

Another study by the American Beer Institute found that Americans drink an average of 22 gallons of beer a year.

That means, on average, Americans get approximately 41 miles per gallon - not bad...

How can anyone forget a finish?!?

2007-11-23T22:35:00.000-06:00

Well I did!

A couple weeks ago, I finished this!

"The Enchanter" by James Himsworth for Dimensions.
On 18 ct. Black Aida, with DMC and Kreinik threads, various charms and beads.
Started August 2005. Approx 228 hours to complete.

ALSO-
If you haven't heard yet, my Aunt gave me all of her cross stitch stash. I now have more charts than I can shake a stick at. I know. I tried. The kids just giggled. Head over to my new stash blog and see if there is anything you have to have!

http://ets-stash.blogspot.com/

New "Christmas" Project

2007-11-03T12:36:00.000-05:00

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments on my last stitching update. I did add a new project to my rotation. Not so much a Christmas project, as I have the tree skirt for that, but it's winter themed none the less.
For the progress reports:

Since I free'd up a scroll bar, I got "The Enchanter" into it to work on the detail work. Here it is with the backstitching done (Well the part that the scroll bar will show).

Just the embellishments and cording left to do on that.

I'm getting close to finishing the main work on "Merlin's Oak" too.

Just the bottom right corner left to do and onto the backstitching.

I'm sensing a theme this week...

And the Tree Skirt! A 10x10 block left to do on the first page:

I'm going to backstitch each page as I go, as I about had a heart attack thinking about leaving it all for the very end like I usually do.

Oh yes, the new project added...
"Winter's Grazing" by Lois Winston from The Cross Stitcher (February 2007). No pictures of it yet, including the one from the magazine, as my scanner isn't working and just feel like troubleshooting it. (LOL, I know...bad techie! Bad, bad techie!) However so you can have a visual, it's three moose in a pine forst cover in snow.

I could have sworn I haven't read this

2007-10-30T21:42:00.000-05:00

There are occasions where I have read a book and then forgotten that i read it, until I picked it up again and got halfway through the book wonder why I know what is going to happen next. This usually happens with series that have long stretches of time between each book.
The most recent of these is buying "A Storm of Swords" by George R. R. Martin three times, reading halfway through it, then realizing 1.) I've already read the thing, and 2.) Oh, look, there it is on my book shelf. Luckily, the bookstore has understood each time, and the book was in good shape, so I was able to return it. One of those times to a cashier who was laughing her ass off at me (Thanks, sis).
This does not happen often with me, as I usually know exactly what books are on my shelves at home. I mainly run into picking up the same book over and over again at the library. Or wondering while I'm there if I've read a certain book. Or my husband asking my opinion of a book we both know I've read, but can't remember reading it.
So, I've decided to start keeping track of the books I've picked up to read, and the one's I've actually read. Maybe even comment on those I have read. Maybe. Quite honestly, my book reviews have only ever made sense to me; made it hard to get passing grades on those book reports in school. The last reviews I gave hubby of a couple of books:

King Dork by Frank Portman - Put yourself in the mindset of a teenager and read. You'll laugh your ass off. Will be a good read for TeenD when she stops thinking kissing is gross.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy - Do Not Read If Prone To Depression And/Or Suicide. Seriously, by page 5 I was contemplating finding the good kitchen knife and taking it to my wrists. I didn't even attempt to make it to page 6, and just took it back to the library. It still took me several days to pull myself out of that depression.
This book is now on my very short list of books I've started, and will never finish. I believe that list is only 2 or 3 books long. (I'm kind of anal about finishing a book I start. I keep thinking that it will get better.)

Funniest multiple book purchase ever Award: Goes to my Mother!
One year I got the same book from my mother 6 times. That's right, she bought and wrapped the same title 6 times and never caught on until I opened them Christmas Day. It's even possible she picked up two of the copies in the same trip.

Busy hands

2007-10-20T19:37:00.000-05:00

It has been sometime since I had any stitching updates, I believe. Not only do I have some progress to report on a couple of projects, I have a finish as well!

I'll start with the one that has the least amount done.
Here is the 100 hour picture of Winter White Tree Skirt:

I'm almost 1/5 complete with the project (not counting sewing the thing into a tree skirt).

Now "The Enchanter", who is almost done (210 hr of work):

All I have left to do is back stitching and the embellishments. Since I've freed up a scroll rod with my completed piece, I can move this to the scroll rods, making the finishing easier. Too much cording and embellishments to allow for using a hoop easily.

Now for the finish...
Started August 2005, with approximately 124 hours of stitching, I give you...

"North American Beauties" by Michael Adams. Dimensions kit on 18ct White Aida.

I am particularly glad to have this one done. The confetti half stitches drove me nuts. I resorted to parking just to have a place to anchor thread. The back is a mess because of that, but no worries; I'm making it into a pillow.

Now what to start next...

Work, work, work...and a "little" bit of music

2007-10-03T10:22:00.000-05:00

Contract negotiations and infrastructure re-orgs has left me little time for me. What time I do have is spent offline stitching, reading, and getting the Kindergartner into his new routine.
Oh yes, and lots of music.
Music always seems to be the one constant. Even when I have a rip-roaring migraine, a little bit of background noise can help me get the focus off the pain. And my musical taste range from classical to death metal. My favorite band of all time is Def Leppard. Not one that most people would chose, I know, but I love how their music has grown with them. (Or have they grown with their music?)
Now for a musical interlude...
Here is Avenged Sevenfold with their new single "Almost Easy" from the upcoming self-titled album (release date 10/30/07).

I have to say, I'm a sucker for anyone who can work an evil laugh into their song.

What is your favorite singer or band? And why?

Things The Boy says...

2007-07-19T11:02:00.000-05:00

So I'm making Ants on a Log with my son this past weekend (you know, celery with peanut butter and raisins on it), and my son pops a couple of raisins in his mouth, chews and swallows, then turns to me and says, "Mom! I'm an anteater!"

Woohoo!!! Stitching I can share!

2007-07-13T13:43:00.000-05:00

Finally! Something for me and not someone else!
So do you want the good news or the great news first?

The good:
Here is a picture of the tree skirt I'm working on. This is 60 hours of work.

You can double check in Webshots, but I believe I did not post a 50 hour picture.

The great news:
I finished one! For me! That I keep!!

“Family Sampler" A Do-It-Yourself Sasmpler by M-designs, debuting at PALS Oct. 2006 Retreat. On 28 ct. Fresco Linen from Picture This Plus and Viki Clayton silks.

How about a couple of cuties while we at it. Here is Mini-Me at one of my sist'er's wedding in May.

And my son at his Pre-K graduation.

Freakin' computer updates...

2007-07-07T12:47:00.000-05:00

Updates on my PC have caused it to freak out whenever I try to leave a comment on someone else's blog.

So to my new visitors: Welcome! ANd come visit when ever you wish.

And to everyone I usually visit, and have finished projects: They look great! I know there have been a couple of BAPS and Meari finished a fob. Love her cording!!

Driving rules of Houston

2007-06-28T10:38:00.000-05:00

You must learn to pronounce the city name. It is "Hue-stun", not "Ewe-stun", or "house-tun". Oh yea, the street is pronounced "San Phil-ee-pay," not" San Phil-eep" ( San Felipe).
Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Houston has its own version of traffic rules...Hold on and pray. There is no such thing as a dangerous high-speed chase in Houston. We all drive like that.
All directions start with, "Go down to Loop 610".... which has no beginning and no end.
The Chamber of Commerce calls getting through traffic... a "Scenic Drive ."
The morning rush hour is from 6:00AM to 10:00AM. The evening rush hour is from 3:00PM to 7:00PM. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning.
If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear-ended, cussed out and possibly shot. When you are the first one off the starting line, count to five when the light turns green before going, to avoid getting into any cross-traffic's way.
Kuykendahl Road can ONLY be pronounced by a native Houstonian.
Construction on I-10, I-45, US 59 and Loop 610 is away of life and a permanent form of entertainment.
All unexplained smells are explained by the phrases,"Oh, we must be in Pasadena!" or "God, I hate Baytown!" or "Mmm, smell that Texas City!"
If someone actually has their turn signal on, it is probably a factory defect.
All old ladies with blue hair in a pink Cadillac have total right-of-way.
The minimum acceptable speed on Loop 610 is 85 mph. Anything less is considered downright sissy. In turn, the minimum speed on Westheimer is at least 45mph.
The wrought iron on windows in east Houston are NOT ornamental.
Never stare at the driver of the car with the bumper sticker that says, "Keep honking, I'm reloading." In fact, don't honk at anyone.
If you are in the left lane, and only going 70 mph in a 60 mph zone, people are not waving when they pass you.
The Sam Houston Toll road is our daily version of NASCAR.
If it's 100 degrees, Thanksgiving must be next weekend.
When in doubt, remember that all unmarked exits lead to Louisiana.
If you live in Katy and I live on the south side of Houston we'll never hang out.
The best thing about being drunk between 2-5 am is Whataburger will serve both breakfast and normal menus.
You are always able to be pulled over by any police vehicle, even if you were just given a ticket.
By the same token, one police vehicle can and will pull over more than one vehicle at a time; there is no max. limit.
You don't have to wait for an exit to get off a freeway, just follow the ruts in the grass to the feeder like everyone else. This is how Houston resident's notify Texas Department of Transportation where exits should have been built.
Else-where, they are called frontage roads. Here in Houston , they are called FEEDER roads, so don't look stupid when we say "Exit the feeder road and use the loop-d-loop." (See Rule 3)

The answer my friend...

2007-06-25T16:11:00.000-05:00

Time to put your thinking caps on again my friends! (Like any of us really ever take them off.) Answer when/if you feel like it. If you answer it on your own blog, don't forget to let me know, so I can hop on over and read.

How many times can a man turn his head, / and pretend that he just doesn't see?

--Bob Dylan "Blowing in the Wind"

Even today, Bob Dylan’s lyrics can easily strike a political chord. And I could *EASILY* turn this into a rant and bash of the current U.S. Administration, world politics, and personal views of war.
But I’m not. It’s been done many times over elsewhere, and I don’t have anything new (or enlightening) to add.

Instead, I’ll turn your attention to the children, who (and apparently, it is not just my children who do this) can trip, walking into a room, and ask me where their shoes are. Oh yes, they just tripped over their shoes walking into the room. Sometimes, I want to grab their head put it 2 inches from the shoe (or any other obvious object they are looking for) and ask, “Can you see it now?”
However, that is a very inappropriate way to respond to children. SO instead, I have them walk in and out of the room (tripping each way) until they finally actually LOOK at what is at their feet. This also works for things in the fridge, on the table (you just keep having them bring you things from there and have them take it back). Now my daughter, I think holds the record of tripping over her shoes for half an hour before it registers that those were the shoes she was looking for. It was at that point I told her that if I found them, I was keeping them and she would have to buy her own. And she couldn’t go into the store without shoes on her feet (No shirt, no shoes, no service).

Now can someone tell me where my glasses are…..

What is this cross stitch you speak of?

2007-06-22T09:46:00.000-05:00

It has come to my attention that I have not done any stitching updates in a while. Not that I haven't been hard working on projects, but I was commissioned for a couple of things and I think they are models, so I can't share pictures of them yet. But I will as soon as I recieve the go-ahead.
Since I've been working on those, my own projects are laying by the way side.
I'm thinking of no longer taking commissions. I like doing them, but two things are starting to get in the way. My hands and I never get to work on my stuff. (Someone in the family is getting antsy for me to complete the tree skirt... hubby)
We'll see...

If you ever need a giggle...

2007-06-07T09:10:00.000-05:00

Just check out my choice of footwear for the day.

I was at work for 1 1/2 hours before I noticed this.

Sadly, this is not the first time it haas happened either.

Note to self: If your going to get dressed in the dark, at least check you feet in the light before you walk out the door. Or keep a pair of tennis shoes in the car for the next time you do this.

"Imaginating" - The Boy

2007-06-05T09:20:00.000-05:00

This definitely falls under the "What I learn from my children" category.

Recently my son (aka The Boy) has discovered "The Backyardians", a cartoon about a group of friends who use their imaginations and their back yards to have some awesome adventures. My son has taken to choosing this to watch as his daily treat, and as soon as it is over, turns off the TV, announces to the house at large that he is off to and heads into the back yard for a bit. Now this bit can be anywhere from 5 minutes up until I have to call him in for dinner, but the end result is always the same. When he comes back in the house, he tells me of the adventure he just went on, and then says, "I'm good at imaginating, aren't I, Mom."
Other than correcting grammar, I'll ask more questions about what he did, or to clarify something I don't understand (he loves to make up words). Unfortunately, he always tells me these stories while I'm in the middle of doing something else, like trying to keep the house from burning down from the chicken flambe (Really, I'm not a bad cook; my son just has his mother's timing when it comes to discussing important things), so I don't always remember what he said. Only that it was interesting and he had fun. Oh yes, and I'm not allowed to go with him on these adventures (I asked to come one day).

Now one of the things The Boy detests is having to take a nap. He's old enough that he does not need to take a nap every day, but still young enough that I need an hour of quiet from him in the middle of the day. So nap time is the time when he has to lay down anywhere in his room and be quiet for one hour. I don't care if he sleeps or reads a book, just as long as he's given me time to recover. This weekend, for the first time in several months, he actually slept during his nap time. When I asked him about it, he said that he "imaginated" that he was on a space ship and he was traveling to a new planet, but it would take such a long time that he had to go to sleep for the whole trip (Which explains why he asked "Are we there yet?" when I woke him up). And he's been doing this more and more whenever he is asked to do something he doesn't want to do, he pretends he's doing something fun instead.

So today, I'm not at work. I'm an international superstar, planning out a world tour of shows and interviews. And my drive home, will not be stressful, because I'll be on a leisurely tour of the canals of Venice. That should freak out the moron who tries to broadside me in bumper-to-bumper traffic when I home, smile and wave.

I might even blow a kiss his/her way.

"Glory Season" by David Brin

2007-05-31T10:34:00.000-05:00

This is a book that I picked up when I belonged to a Sci-Fi book of the month club many years ago. It was quickly added to my librairy and I re-read it at least once a year.

Mr. Brin idea for the story began with contemplation of several species of American Southwest lizards that can reproduce parthenogenetically (mothers giving birth to clones). He then discovered aphids, which reproduce cloning and through normal sexual means, and then asked himself "What if humans can do the same?"

The result is a world run by women, but reliant on men to "spark" the creation of the pleccenta in winter to enable cloning, but "regular" sex in the summer result in your varients; boys and girls woith the genetic of both parents.

"Glory Season" follows the life of a summer-concieved mirror-image twin, Maia, after she and her sister, Leie, are sent off into the world at 16. The twins' plan to pass themselves off as clones, in order to start their own clone clan, but cercimstances soon find them separated and following their own paths. Maia soon finds herself caught up in global polictics surrounding an alien man from Earth, and her own feeling regarding him. After all she has been brought up that men are good only for "sparking" and not much else.

David Brin could have taken this world to a very feminist Eutopia, but instead, adds a sect of women who would like their world to be only women, while maintaining a balance of those of an opposing view. Men are shown, at the begining, from the viewpoint of shelter children who believe they are nothing more than raging animals, but through Maia, you see how she begins to view everyone so very differently than how she was brought up. By the end of the book, you see how balanced the world truly is, and how much control men do have in this woman dominated society.

WOOHOO VACATION! {TAG I'm it}

2007-05-17T10:17:00.000-05:00

This is my last day of work this week, and I'm on vacation next week. Yes folks, that's 11 days without worrying about work. Heck, I won't even be thinking about it!
Now as to whether I'll get rest, i don't know. We head out of town Saturday morning to visit my sister. Have I mentioned she's 6 months pregnant? If she'll let me, I'll get pictures so you can see how great she's looking. But don't hold your breath. To say she's been emotional is the biggest understatement in the world. Luckily, since I've been pregnant before, and emotional too (although not like that!), I'm about the only one who's allowed to laugh, when she's around, at the things that set her off crying.

For example, it's family tradition to make a certain type of cookie at my mom's house. The cookie has a VERY stiff dough, so stiff that my mom buys a new hand mixer every year, because the motor burns out just by making the cookies. My sister decided to help out and mix up a batch while my mom was out, and the hand mixer broke. As usual. However, I got the call afterwards from my sister crying because she broke it. And her asking me why she is even crying over something so stupid. After I stopped laughing and picked myself up off the floor, I reminded her that she was pregnant, and to blame the guy who got her that way and mom for getting cheap $10 mixers that break every year. My sister consoled herself with the cookie dough. Mom got an early Christmas present from my step-dad, after he heard the story (how could I not share it), an semi-expensive Kitchen-Aid mixer; which we almost burnt out the motor making the same cookies.

So...
We're going to go see my sister this weekend because she want a niece and nephew fix.
Then the following weekend, my step-sister is getting married. My daughter and I are bridesmaids. have i mentioned she's 5 months pregnant? She and her hubby are already married (common-law status rocks in Texas), they are just doing the official paperwork, and she REALLY wanted a ceremony to make it official. She's put together everything in less than 3 weeks, and so far the tab is under $2000. Not bad! During the week, next week, I'll be doing lots of the craft stuff that's needed. There will definitely be pictures. I look GOOD in the dress. It makes me look thinner for some reason.

*************************
Quick side note: Hubby just called me at work to tell me that the Internet at the house is dead, either from an area outage or the modem is broken, and since he can't work he has swept the garage and kitchen. And he may be doing some more cleaning. And did I have anything that I wanted cleaned. And he was done reading a book that I want to read. And....(Can you tell he was bored?)
*************************

Meari was nice enough to tag me for the 7 Things meme.
Here are the rules:
Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves.
People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules.
You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they have been tagged and to read your blog!

I'm the white sheep of the family, in the way of coloring. Mom, one brother, and my sister have brown hair/brown eyes and dark complexion. Dad has black hair/blue eyes and dark complexion. The other brother has brown hair/green eyes and dark complexion. I have blond hair (although it get darker as get older) and blue/green eyes and burn in the sun in under 30 minutes flat.
Those blue/green eyes of mine. they are not hazel. They are chameleon eyes, apparently inherited from grandma. Depending on my mood, my eyes change color from every shade of green to every shade of blue. When my eyes turn a certain shade of green, hubby starts dancing around the house.
I have never known what I wanted to be when I grew up. I always hated those assignments in Elementary school. I usually just chose something random, and it changed every year.
My favorite birthday present ever was when my mom would take me to a book store and tell me that she'll let me know when to stop. I always walked out with at least 5 bags of books. And I had all of them read by the end of summer vacation. (My birthday is at the beginning of summer vacation.)
Out of all household chores, I dislike doing the dishes the most. But I love cooking!
Def Leppard is my favorite band of all time. I've bought some of their albums several times because I wore them out; records, then tapes, and a couple of the CDs. (Yes, i have worn out a CD)
In my 20 years of driving, I have owned 3 cars; and all made it past the 10 years mark before had to be replaced. Well the first two were totaled in car accidents. The third one has 150,000ish miles on it and is still going.

Atlas Shrugged

2007-05-14T10:50:00.000-05:00

I finally finished the book. It defiantly took longer than what I'm used to. I had trouble reading the story. Not because it was a hard read or the concepts or plot was difficult to follow, but because 95% of the characters in the book are whiney, self-stroking, incompetent p%(#*s who need to be b$(%*-slapped. (Yes, I am censoring myself.) I know of people like this in real life, and I refuse to be around them.
All of Ms. Rand’s books are written based on her personal philosophy of life; so all address the same issues.
As I mentioned before, I read “The Fountainhead” in high school and when I started “Atlas”, I thought I might re-read afterwards to refresh my memory. However, I have decided against it. Mainly, because I am very familiar with Ms. Rand philosophies and long ago studied them (although not though her works) and incorporated what I agreed with into my day to day life, and discarded the parts that went completely against what I believe.

Had I actually picked up this to read in Jr. High or High school the story and concepts would have been mind boggling and eye opening, pointing me on the path I’m already on, a couple years earlier then when I did start. Today, I’m long past the teen-aged angst years of trying to figure out who I am and why I should even be here, and have long figured that out (For the most part. Now I’m working on what I want to do when I grow up.), so I didn’t get as much out the book. I have added it to a list of books I think my daughter needs to read before she graduates High school, but I won’t force her.

There is one quote in the book that did cut to the heart of me, as it put in writing something I spent years struggling to realize on my own. Something I have to actively remind myself every time I feel I’m slipping into depression...

“To live, man must hold three things as the supreme and ruling values of his life: Reason – Purpose – Self-esteem.” Ayn Rand, “Atlas Shrugged”

If you are an adult and have never read any Ayn Rand books, do so. I suggest starting with “The Fountainhead”, and if you like it, then read “Atlas Shrugged”. If you don’t like “The Fountainhead”, go ahead and skip “Atlas”; you’ve probably gotten everything you can out of it already. If you’re a teen, read it before you’re forced to read “Fountainhead” in school. You may not like it, but it will give you something to think about.

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As to the list of books for my daughter I mentioned above. My husband and I keep a list of books for our children that we would like them to read. We leave the decision on whether or not they get read to the children. However, every summer, we do pick out one book which they are required to read that summer.
And currently, “they” just refers to the 13 year old. We’re teaching the 4 year old to read.

The Invisible Man

2007-05-11T10:43:00.000-05:00

I had a couple of things going through my head right now and was trying to decide where I wanted to go today. So today, while I'm getting my own thoughts in order, I'll pose a question to everyone else.

I loved everyone's answers last time. I did notice that we were all very nice in our answers. No chose to fly or hurl fireballs at bad guys, like my son did when I asked him. Of course, he is 4 1/2 and spent all night changing his answer, even woke up the next morning to tell me something else to add to his list before I left for work (then went right back to sleep).

Answer here, in your own blog, or not out loud at all. As I love hearing/reading different view points, I love you you to share, but if you feel uncomfortable, don't do it. No pressure.

The question to wake up your brain...

What are some of the things you would do if you could become invisible whenever you wanted to?

I’d like to say that I’d take the noble path when answering this question, but I think I just pee’d my pants from laughing so hard while writing this sentence.

This is a subject that has been the wealth of many movies and T.V. shows. To name the ones I remember off the top of my head (check out http://www.imdb.com/ for more info on each):
Movies:
The Invisible man
The Invisible Man Returns
Memoirs of an Invisible Man
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man
Hollow Man (1 &2)

T.V.:
The Invisible Man

Each movie addresses the issue from a different perspective on life. The T.V. show, however, is the only one that addresses the question specifically. If I remember correctly, in the movies, the person became permanently invisible; on the T.V. show, he could become invisible at will.
I think that anyone who had this type of ability would revert to their ‘true self’. So, me?
I like to watch. No! Not in that perverted, people need to avoid me way. I watch the world gathering information and then process it, comparing other’s views to my own, trying to understand their motives, filing reaction away in the filing cabinets of my mind, etc. One of my driving forces is to ‘see’ who a person truly is. Not the true definition of voyeur.

Sure I’d use the opportunity of being unseen to do anonymous good deeds like making sure that woman didn’t walk out of the restroom with her skirt caught in her pantyhose, or be someone’s conscious (you know if you sneak out, you will be caught. Just stay home and get some sleep). However, I would also not pass up the opportunity to say “Dropped you pocket” in a crowd just to see the reaction; something fun. No yelling fire when there wasn’t one, that’s not me.

Something else I’d love to do is witness other’s creative process; that just fascinates me. Being able to become invisible would become the ultimate back stage pass! Pay to see a concert, and then when it was over , disappear and make my way behind the scenes. Of course, I probably would have been hanging out there all day.

The potential for spying, with this ability, is enormous. But I trust myself enough to know that I wouldn’t tell PERSON1’s secrets to PERSON2. Even if I was offered a lot of money.

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Oh, yes. And the long awaited picture of my new teen-ager:

Cholesterol Update

2007-05-02T13:42:00.000-05:00

I didn't realize that I had been absent for so long. I actually had some good news in March. My cholesterol numbers have been so good for awhile now, so the doctor is having me try and NOT take the medication for 3 -4 months to see what they do.

I'm hoping those months taking the medication was enough the kick my body into acting properly. Well, that and me changing my diet and exercise habits.

CALGON!!! TAKE ME AWAY!!!

2007-05-01T14:22:00.000-05:00

Here I am functioning on 3 (possibly 2) hours of sleep. The key word here is: functioning. My eyes feel like a sand pit, but I have my wits about me. One of these days I might even talk to my doctor about this.

I've tried everything. Warm milk, no caffeine after a certain time, no caffeine at all, working out, OTC sleeping pills, even something my hubby suggested that makes our daughter say "Ewww" when we talk about it (yes, sex); nothing is working. And I'm usually always happy to sleep after sex.

Does this mean I'm getting something productive done? Nope! I can't even get some decent reading done because 95% of the characters in the book are whiny brats! Ugh, I wish I could just NOT finish a book sometime. Seriously, it took me 5 years to read one book, because it was so badly written. I kept hoping that at some point it would get better. I'm like that with movies too. I'll tell you about the movie I paid 50 cents to see and then asked for my money back, sometime.
So no reading, no writing, no TV, no stitching. Mainly just sticking to music and meditating. I figure if I can't get the sleep, I'll relax my body as much as possible and maybe trick it into sleeping. Boy have I come up with some interesting video concepts from this time spent inside my mind.

P.S. Still trying to find C's birthday pictures.

Happy Birthday!!!

2007-04-30T14:20:00.000-05:00

Once again I feel old, but funnily, not as old as I did last year.

No it's not my birthday (at least not for another 21 days). It was my daughter's on the 20th of April. And she is officially a teenager, 13. Yes, I'm late writing about it, but we're still recovering. She had her friends over for a costume party (dress as your favorite anime character) where they danced and sang karaoke, and ate...a lot, no body image issues with these girls!
I have to say the best part of the party was at the beginning; a conversation with my brother.

Bro: Where you going?
Me (as I'm putting on socks and shoes): Away from here.
Bro: For the whole party?
Me: Yep.
Bro: Why?!
Me: There's going to be fourteen 13-year-old girls here. I do NOT want to be around for THAT!!
Bro (with stunned and scared look on his face): Me neither. Can I come?

I started laughing so hard at this point, he knew that I was joking with him. But really, I wish I had the camera in my hand to catch that look. It was priceless!

Now I have a picture of the Birthday Girl somewhere around here.....
Oh well, I'll add it in as soon as I find it.

Poke the mind and wake it up...

2007-04-23T14:47:00.000-05:00

Some of the things I do to pull myself out of feeling down is to try and force my mind to think about "Truth" of things. In other words I turn to philosophy. Quite often this allows me to see how others view the world (at large and small). When someone says that they are depressed or experience something bad that happens in their life, there is usually an outpouring of others who fall into (in my opinion) three categories, those who empathize, those who had experienced the same thing and know what you are/have experienced, and those who like to play 'one-up-manship'.
Most people I know fall under the first two categories, and I just don't play with the third group. (No worries my fine readers; none of you fall under the third group)
However, in trying to discover My Truth, I have found that I need to understand others. This is a great ability for Arbitrators and Strategists; and the bane of my existence. It can be quite difficult for me to form my own opinion when I understand where and how the other side thinks. (And no end of a source of amusement for hubby. "Where do you want to eat tonight?" Also his downfall..."How about that new place where no one speaks English. We can order by pointing.")

Now expanding the mind can sometimes be fun. Just think back to when you hung out with friends and all the fun, weird and serious questions you asked each other. Now as all my friends have moved away (and you KNOW who you are...you deserters! :) ), those late nights and early mornings don't happen so much anymore. (I've tried it with my daughter, but she thinks I'm weird.)
So I'm bringing the questions here, to my blogging friends, the ones I, for the most part, have not met in person. I won't set a specific day to ask questions, but one will pop up every now and then, in a not so regular basis. You can leave a short answer or a long novel in the comments field, or answer it on your own blog (just remember to leave a reminder here so I can pop over and have a look). There is no right or wrong answer, just answer in Your Truth. All I ask is there be no flaming of another's answer, because what is the truth for me quite probably is not your Truth.

Now in honor of Heros starting back up for it's final episodes of the season, today (yeah! ooo, I hope it's not on at the same time as Drive. Weeeeee! It's not!!!!), I give you this question:

If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one ability or quality, what would it be?

My answer...
Understand the true motive that drives a person. Not just myself, but others as well. I thnk that once you know and understand the truth of someone, it makes it that much easier to get along with them.
Wouldn't that be the true path to globalization?

I promise...I'm still living...

2007-04-18T11:20:00.000-05:00

My seasonal depression is hit a lot harder than usual this year. As I don't want to inflict my pain on others, I've been leaving the blog blank. The stitching has been suffering too, so no pictures of those to share.

I have been reading in place of stitching and have actually run across a couple of books that I can't believe I haven't read before (believe me, I'm VERY shocked).

The first is "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. (See Amazon for the editorial review. I'd just repeat the same thing here.) Now the reason I probably didn't read earlier is because I had to read "The Fountainhead" in High School, and as a general rule in HS, if I was forced to read it as part of the curriculum, I automatically hated it. No reason, other than I was a stubborn-headed smart-ass; and we won't even get into my answers to the symbolism of "The Great Gatsby". Let's just say the the most heard comment from my teachers was "Lisa, your smart. If you'd just apply that knowledge for good..."
Yes, I was the one who ended a research paper with the sentences, "This whole paper as plagiarized from "XXX" because you gave me a failing grade on the paper where I voiced my own opinion and cited works you had never heard or read before. I'm interested in seeing what grade I get for this piece of tripe." I would like to note here that I DO NOT condone plagiarism and have never done so again. I was just being an ass at the time; which is still not a good reason. Side note #2: Is it plagiarism when you have the permission of the original creator of a research paper to copy it for this purpose? Either way, it was cheatign and I should have gotten a ZERO on it.
I got a "B". I don't know if its because the teacher liked it, or because she didn't want me in her class again. She obviously did NOT read the whole thing.

Back to Ayn Rand. As I like "Atlas Shrugged", I am older and in a different frame of mind and can appreciate the struggles of those in the novel, I'm thinking I may need to revisit "Fountainhead". For those who like reading and have not read either of these, if size of the novel is a deciding factor, start with "The Fountainhead" and it's 720 pages, compared to the 1200 pages that is "Atlas Shrugged".
Quite honestly, I picked up "Atlas" for the shear size. I have a tendency to browse libraries and bookstores and pick up the biggest book I can find to read, without know anything about the author. I've only been burned a couple if times.
Why do I go for the bigun's? I read quickly. For example, I read "Little Women" in 3 days. When I was 11.

The other book I've read recently in "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert A. Heinlein (Amazon link). Another on my "I'm shocked I haven't read this before" list. My husband had bought solely that it was Heinlein and he liked "Starship Troopers". (so did I, but that's another story) After reading "Stranger...", I find I'm going to have to read it again. I found myself more amused by his grandstanding on religion, than paying attention to the story. Not to say I don't know the story; I just need to reread to catch the nuances.

On the movie front, i got to see "Peaceful Warrior" and loved it. It's based on Dan Millman's book "Way of the Peaceful Warrior". Now a swear I've read the book before, but it's not on our shelves, so I have 1) not read it or 2) borrowed it from someone else. I'm thinking it's #2. I'll know for sure once I get a hold of copy and read it (again?). Even if you've never read the book, the movie was very good. Very inspiring. I'm not sure if it has released nationally yet (hubby had gotten free tickets and we had to drive to another town to see it...4 towns over), but check it out at http://www.thepeacefulwarriormovie.com/ . I would have paid full price to see it. Probably still will if I can find it in a theater again, definitely something my daughter needs to see.

If anyone would like to discuss/debate the above books or any other's I have read (I'll start posting them as i read them), or heck even recommend books, feel free to start something in the comments.

My daughter is no longer a little girl

2007-02-26T07:38:00.000-06:00

This weekend was the women's retreat I attend once a quarter, and we had a coming of age ceremony for my daughter. It was great, fun, and driven by many tears as we gifted my daughter with presents and knowledge.
Now, unfortunately, no one even thought to bring a camera, so there are no pictures; just memories.

But have no fear, I do have a picture for you. Here is Mill Hill's Spooky Garden, which I completed this weekend.

All thread and beads that came with the kit, but done on 14ct Mushroom Aida.

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I lost several chunks of time last week from the migraine, so this week is a surprise to me. The end of February already! You know what this means?

For me, it's end of month reports at work. I swear I just finished them last week.

TAST week 8 - Fly stitch

2007-02-22T14:30:00.000-06:00

Woo hoo!!! I caught up with the weeks!
This weeks stitch is the fly stitch. I've just done the basics again, but I can see the possibilities are endless.

I also wanted to share one of the things my mom brought back with her from grandma's.

As you can see it is stained (don't know what with) and someone has even already started working on it.

However my grandma doesn't know who so it was probably one of my aunts. Mom found it in a drawer that had 45 year old fabric.

As the piece is stamped with the pattern, I won't be washing it until I finish it. Now why mention it here?
What a great way to use the new stitches I'm learning!

TAST Week 7 - Feather stitch

2007-02-22T14:00:00.000-06:00

Week 7's Take A Stitch Tuesday stitch is the feather stitch.

I decided to just a row of free handed feather stitching.

Creativity is at all time low. I'm able to catch up on the stitches of the past several weeks because I have a migraine. The repetitive nature of stitching allows me to lull myself into a stage where pain is almost nonexistent. Unfortunately, as soon as I stop, the pain comes back with a vengeance.

This particular migraine of mine is lasting longer than the ones I've had over the past year or so, but by no means my worst one to date. In the small snatches of lucidity between med doses, I'm realizing that I'm losing blocks of time. It is always interesting to come back later to find what I have done during that time. Boy is it a good thing that I've trained myself not to say something stupid to my boss during these times.

TAST Week 6 - Algerian eye stitch & Eyelet

2007-02-21T19:46:00.000-06:00

I finished up the tipi I started with on the Chevron stitch.

I did the top portion of the tipi with the Algerian stitch.

And the door was done with the eyelet.

What a girl needs...

2007-02-19T12:54:00.000-06:00

Over on Donna of Quilt Pixie's blog I saw a meme that has me in giggles.

In Google search you put your first name and the word "needs" (without the quotation marks).

Here are some the results...

Lisa needs braces
Lisa needs a tree
Lisa needs to more clearly communicate to clients
Lisa needs to handler lower conditions
Lisa needs a job!
Lisa Needs Help
Lisa needs work
Lisa needs to think

This is just the first two pages of results. The braces were repeated....a lot. The tree is my favorite.

And what do I want?
Apparently many very naughty things my children are not allowed to read about. And with lots of people too.

Mom's are the greatest!!

2007-02-17T19:57:00.000-06:00

Unbeknown to pretty much everyone, last weekend I found that my sewing machine has bit the dust.
Well, not completely. I push down on the pedal and it goes slow, then stops, then fast, stops, etc. This is not me playing like I’m in stop and go traffic, but rather like I was in driving class in high school; pedal to the floor.
When I told my mom what it was doing When I harassed my mom for giving me this shoddy piece of decade old equipment (5 years ago when she bought a new one for herself), she said that it sounds like the timing is off and I could go get it repaired. Now even if fixing it would only cost $50; that is still $50 more than I have right now. So what did I do? When I got a call from GS, I took and decided to use the money to fix my machine. After all, I’m ‘banned’ from stash purchasing for myself until I get at least 25 project completed.
So this morning I drop off my daughter at my mom’s house (Grandma has hired her to clean her house every other weekend), and did some ‘shopping’ through her stash of materials and patterns make DD a slip for next weekend. Immediately after I had asked her to come over during the week and work on it, she asked me to drive her to Walmart and Joann’s. This is not an uncommon occurrence; we can spend D-A-Y-S at Joann’s. And have. But as soon as we walked in, she headed straight to the sewing machines and said, “Happy Mother’s Day! Really, you can NOT go without a sewing machine.”

So I came home with this:

Simple, yes, but I don’t need much.

A RR, a finish, and a present

2007-02-13T12:34:00.000-06:00

I've gotten this month's RR piece finished, for Dana.

Quite honestly, it took my son a couple of hours to pick which flowers to stitch for Dana's piece (he liked them all). In the end, with the help of his sister, he chose June, since that is when his birthday is. He has been a great help in picking out the patterns to stitch each month as I'm liking everything and having trouble deciding.

Next up is my very first finish of 2007!

It is "Peppermint Nick" by Jeanette Rees of Jemini Designs, from JCS 2006 Christmas Ornaments. On 28 ct. Ice Blue Alma, with DMC regular and rayon thread, and WDW thread.
After I get him cleaned, pressed and made into an ornament, he'll have a fuzzy scark and will be holding a candy cane. This is the ornament my daughter has picked for this year's tree.
This makes nine projects finished in my 25 project challenge.

And lastly, the reason the challenge has been easy, I recieved a package from Diane at PALS for the Month color exchange. February's colors were pink and red with a theme of hearts and Valentine's Day. And Diane sent me a package of finishing stuff...mostly.

What you see is:
• fabric with red and pink hearts
• red and white tulle
• 4 skiens of DMC (white, 304,349, B5200)
• finishing cord in sparkly red and sparkley white
• package of size 26 needles
• heart-shaped key ring (I have one like this in purple, but I LOVE the blue)
• bookmark
• notepad with magnets

Did I miss anything?

I just hope Leigh likes what I got for her.

Recently, my mom dropped off some 'craft stash' which she got from my grandmother, who is cleaning out her house. She brought several different stacks of material, including some she remembers her sisters wearing when the were 6 or so (shall we just say the fabric is over 50 years old), as well as some very brightly colored yarn, dolls heads, and I don't know how many yards of a yellow and brown wool. Also, some prestamped doilies to be embroidered. Unfortunatly, they are stained and I don't want to attemt to clean them, as the stamping will wash off, until I can finish them.
I have some friends that I'm going to let have first dibs on what I'm not going to keep, and then I'm thinking of post pictures here to see if anyone else will use it.

TAST Week 5 - Chevron

2007-02-11T08:25:00.000-06:00

I'm officially running behind, and will catch up slowly, until things at work settle down. Week 5's Take A Stitch Tuesday stitch is the Chevron.
I recieved inspiration for mine from Christine of Lady Jane's Journal.
As you can see, I'm not quite done yet. Ok, I'm not even close. However, I'm planning on using week 6's stitch for the 'door' and....I don't know. It's still working itself out in my head. I'm paying homage to my hubby and son heritage, with a, not so historically accurate, tipi.

For a look at the Native American Tipi, check out The Tipi: Traditional Native American Shelter - by Adolf Hungrywolf.

Color me pink!

2007-02-06T12:50:00.000-06:00

Usually when I get quoted, it is by my children and words I try really hard NOT to say in public (but just ask my boss, that doesn't always happen). I'd blame my mom, who can make a sailor run and hide, but quite honestly, it's both that and working in "male" jobs most of my life. Believe me, I've been privy to both women's locker room talk, and men's; women will win every time with subject and description, men win with feeling.

Back to the original train of thought...

Margaret of Life, needlework, and everything was reading my blog and liked what I had to say about using my stash.
It makes me all giddy inside that there are people out there who read this blog. This blog originally started as a way for me to blow off steam when I got upset at work, and is evolving into more conversations with others. It's kinda cool!

Oh, and Sharon, about my need for a stitch book...
It more my need for books than anything else. I've seen your new bookshelves (lovely by the way, I'm jealous). After 8 years of marriage, my house is still decorated as bookcase eclectic. And we won't mention the dozen or more Rubbermaid bins of books stored in the garage.

Like Margaret, I've been inspired by Christine's (Lady Jane's Journal) Chevron pyramid. I have an idea forming in conjunction with this week's stitch. Let's see if I can get it at least down on paper this week.

Wow, me drawing. Any weird phenomena occurring?

I said "yes" to what?!?

2007-02-05T13:43:00.000-06:00

First of all, thank you to everyone who has recommended a stitch book. I will be checking them out to see what I want to get the next time I'm allowed in a bookstore.

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I agreed to take a commission for a couple of cross stitch pieces from GhostStitchers last Thursday. Of course I got home that night, looked at the calendar and kicked myself. The first of the month! I'm inundated with reports due at work, working 9+ hours a day to get them done (the load slackens off around the 20th of the month), plus my medical problems of late, and the children. Did I forget my husband in there somewhere?

This is not anything new though. I have a tendency to "overload" myself with work, not necessarily to see how much I can take, but because, I know it all works out in the end. It drives my husband to distraction too, but he is an organized list person, who doesn't like deviating from the path ~HE~ has set.

Me? I ~LIKE~ the path less traveled!

Gets me home from work quicker too.

Once was lost...

2007-01-29T14:31:00.000-06:00

Last March I completed a bookmark for my son. He picked the pattern and the fabric to stitch it on, as well as requesting a change to one of the colors in it. No sooner than the glue had dried on it, he claimed it and then "hid" it in his favorite book. And then promptly forgot what his favorite book was. We have even taken all his books off the shelf and gone through each of them trying to find it (did this several times over the past year). Then yesterday, my son pulled a book off his shelf to read during his nap and guess what we found! So I finially have a picture of the bookmark!

"Penguin" Bookmark freebie from Charles Craft, Inc. On 14 ct Purple Aida with DMC floss. Requested color change was to change the feet and beaks from the original color to Light Effect Flourescent Yellow). Completed March 2006; Apporx. 13 hrs to complete.

"The Enchanter" update

2007-01-27T18:52:00.000-06:00

I've started my rotation at the beginning again, and here is the progress I've made on The Enchanter.

Boy it seems I'm rotating through my project faster this year. I believe part is because I narrowed it down to no more than 6 projects at a time, and the other part is I'm not working on other commissions which cut into my project time.

TAST week 4 - Cretan

2007-01-26T12:18:00.000-06:00

This weeks Take A Stitch Tuesday stitch is the Cretan.

Other than new stitches, I've learned a couple new things already from this challenge.

The world will not end if I use my stash. Seriously, I had no problem dipping into my fabric and pulling out the biggest piece of linen I had on hand (18"x27" of 32 ct. Belfast linen), but working with threads other than ones I was sure I would use any time soon, oh the horror. Needless to say, I'm over it. Thread can be replaced, easily. Especially DMC.
I'm really need to find me a good embroidery stitch book. One that has easy to understand descriptions of how to do each stitch (detailed pictures would help too). Anyone have any suggestions? In the meantime, I'm making due with the Internet, and thought I'd share.

Needlemaid Stitch Library: This came from Susan of Crazy Quilting for Fun. PDF file that you can printout to keep in a journal or such. From what I've seen of the pictures in it, very helpful.
Needle 'N Thread Video Library: Mary Corbet has videoed and explained a wide list of stitches. (Consider yourself hugged and kissed for this Mary) AND she is taking part in TAST too. I'm hoping this will mean more stitch videos from her. Because of the way I learn (watching others), this is my favorite resource.
Rissa's Pieces Stitch Dictionary: Great detailed pictures here (such as come up at 1, down at 2). This has been the second place I go to, to figure out a stitch. Not all the pictures are numbered, but those that aren't are still detailed enough to figure out how to do a stitch.
STITCH with the Embroiderers' Guild: I'm sure everyone is familiar with these pictures, but The Embroiderers Guild couldn't be left out.
Last but not least Sharon B's Stitch Dictionary: And shame on me for forgetting to add it in the first place.

Do you have a favorite online or offline (i.e. book) reference or resource? Feel free to share!

Also, can anyone out there tell (or show) me how to start a tailor's buttonhole? I think I have the 'form' down, but can't figure out how to start it. Where does that needle go?

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I did get creative this week and did more than practice my form.

The first couple of rows are the basic stitch, starting with a close Cretan and gradually widening it. On the second row, I didn't pay attention to spacing and just went with it.

Now my son inspired this second part when he, after watching Lilo and Stitch, attempted to hula around the room. My daughter got involved with this one too and suggested I add coconuts to the tree. I had to take them out (LOL), they just looked vulgar.

TAG! I'm it!

2007-01-26T08:32:00.000-06:00

Michele tagged me. First time too!

The rules: Each player of this game starts with the "6 weird things about you." People who get tagged need to write in their blog of 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names.

Here's my 6 Weird things:

Before the age of 2, I had a blood clot, anyrism and extra vein removed from my left leg. And then when I was 13, I had a tumor removed from the same spot.
I've had to have over 2000 stitches on my face, 1500 before the age of 3. In 3 different spots, and you can't see the scars unless I point them out.
I hate shaving my legs. In fact they are probably only shaved a total of 2 months (not consecutive) out of the year. It wasn't hard finding guys who didn't care about it too.
I don't remember my childhood. I have some vague recollections before age 12, but very, very few clear memories.
I was clinically depressed from age 4 to 20. (yes this does explain the no memories)
I like potato chips with cottage cheese. You scoop up the cottage cheese like a dip with the chip. I got this from my mom. No idea where she picked it up from.

Did I over share?

Hmmm....who to tag....

I think it will be the last 6 people who left comments, minus the one who tagged me.

Elizabeth

Rachel

Jenna

Erin

Meari

Ruth

Have fun!

SBQ - Favorite Fabric

2007-01-25T11:57:00.000-06:00

Today’s SBQ was suggested by Danielle and is:

What company produces your favorite hand-dyed fabric? Are there any companies whose hand-dyed fabric you do not like? If so, why?

I am not a person of "absolute favorites". I love trying new thing and tend to keep an open mind. That being said, I don't have a whole lot of hand dyed fabrics, as I tend to buy what I need instead of stashing. (I know. What kind of enthusist does that make me ?) The ones I have tried are Silkweaver and Picture This Plus and like them both. I belonged to the SOTM club at Silkweaver (when they used to have it) and the PTP fabic was given to me as part of the kit of a class I took from M-Designs last October.
I also like Enchanted Fabrics. I don't have any of her fabrics, but I like them. I'm not sure if it's because of the colors she has, or because the owner is nice.

How many of me?

2007-01-23T10:56:00.000-06:00

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
10
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

That's 10 people with my first and last name. There are 1,055,889 people in the U.S. with my first name, and There are 2,970 people in the U.S. with my last name. However, if I use my maiden name, there is only me.

LOL, it says there are none of my daughter, husband and son! I guess that means I'm not married or have children.

Take A Stitch Tuesdays

2007-01-23T09:56:00.000-06:00

I entered this Tuesday challenge to learn stitches I have not done before and to work on stitches I have not done in years (ok, really it is decades). One of the big things I've learned so far is I need to get me a stitch dictionary. Currently I have to hunt every week for instructions on how to create each stitch; not a biggy, but I have trouble understanding some of the instructions posted out there.

In my search for how to make the Cretan stitch, I ran across this: http://www.embroiderersguild.com/stitch/jos/index.html . The Embroider's Guild had a "Just One Stitch" competition, and the projects are just beautiful. Looking at everyone else's efforts in this challenge, inspire me to to continue learning and sew outside the box.

I am sooooooooooo happy

2007-01-23T09:25:00.000-06:00

I am no longer in pain. The tooth that was worked on and the surrounding area is sore, but not hurting.

On a happy note, I finished a block of hours on my Family Sampler.

All I have left is the top row of alphabet, some little themes to add around that same area, and then I can begin working on the border. Looking at the boprder I created for this, I think it might take me the longest to do. That and looking at it afterwards and seeing what I need to add/remove/change. Have I mentioned that I love working with these silks?

Updates all around

2007-01-22T09:58:00.000-06:00

I was able to get 10 hour blocks done on several projects this past week, mainly due to the lack of sleep from the pain in my mouth. The good news on that front is I see the dentist in an hour to have that fixed. The bad news is today was the ealiest she could see me. I did see my regular dentist on Friday, and she confirmed that I have an infection in the roots of my molar, however there was something off with my roots (something about them not being normal) and I had to go to a specialist (Who only works on Mondays. I'd like that kind of schedule!). Long story short, hopefully tomorrow I won't have top worry about the pain killers no longer working because it will be taken care of.

Now for the pictures.

Here is North American Beauties , with 60 known hours of work:

Merlin's Oak, with 80 known hours:

And lastly, the tree skirt, with 40 hours:

I should have more updates soon, as I'm close to finishing another block on the sampler. I'm liking the 6 project rotation. Things seem to be going quicker.

Happy Dancing SBQ

2007-01-18T07:26:00.000-06:00

Renee asked this SBQ last year at this time and decided it was a good time to ask it again:

Have you had a happy dance yet this year? If so, tell us about it! (Or just point to the entry that talks about it.) If not, when do you predict it will be?

I guess my answer for this is yes. I finished a RR piece not too long ago. It was a quick stitch; took about a week to work on (10ish hours actual time). I'm not sure when I'll finish my next piece. Most of my projects are BAPs and the one furthest along is only about 1/4 done. My next HD will probably be one of the two smaller projects I'm working on.

Take a Stitch Tuesday Week 3 - Detached Chain

2007-01-16T14:23:00.000-06:00

This weeks stitch from Sharon's Take a Stitch Tuesday is the detached chain stitch (aka lazy daisy).

Here is what I came up with today at lunch (click for close-up).

libhita

I first started with detached chains of varying sizes and tension (upper left), and then moved on to putting them next to each other in a row (mid-upper left).
I think I need to mention at this point that I have an infection in my jaw socket (or an abscessed tooth) that is causing a LOT of pain, so my doctor has me taking Darvocet for a couple of days until the antibiotics are really working. I mention this because as I got to the third stitch of that row I was working on, I got bored.
The plan was to stack several rows, but instead I moved on to filling space with an arrow (upper right); I think I was getting downright goofy at this point. So on to more abstraction (left, middle of picture; lower most stitching on left side).
I first started with the detached chain in the cardinal points and was going to start filling it in, but I didn't like how one thread was covering, so I switch to two threads and began again (lower right). I have to say, I really like the medallion idea that was coming out there, however, I think I will try it again later in the week to get it symmetrical. I might even add beads...

You ladies (and gentlemen) are so lucky spell check was invented. I'm a bad speller when I'm sober; today's was redicculous.

What happened to my Sci-Fi Friday?!?

2007-01-16T08:40:00.000-06:00

I can understand putting in replacement shows until the season returns. I happen to like Jake 2.0 the first time I saw it, and the reruns are fun. But to move Battlestar Galactica to Sunday!!! Although it looks like their leading with their new show The Dresdin Files, so I can see why they are doing it. Lead with a new, then give the veiwers their Starbuck and Apollo.

I'm starting to go through new SciFi withdrawal. It'd be one thing if there was some decent movies on during the "off" part of the season, but I'm having to make do with Enterprise reruns (not so bad, as I didn't watch the first time around) .

This weekend Sci-Fi played their movie "Grendel". Hubby was all keen to watch, as he loves all thing norse related. He was even willing to forgive the horn on the helmet, and butchering the Beowulf story (artistic licencing and all). However, when they put Roman architecture on the screen and call it a Viking longhall, the channel got changed very quickly. I'm amazed he even lasted those 15 minutes.

***************************
LOL
Hubby just sent me a picture I'd like to share. It's titled "Why Men Need Post-Its":

TAST Week 2 - Buttonhole stitch

2007-01-13T23:32:00.000-06:00

First off, I have to say that I am in complete awe of the work that is being done by the stitchers taking part in TAST. I hope to one day reach the level of creativity that some of these women (and men?) have achieved. Probably after I have had several nights of decent sleep. <> Am I intimidated? Heck no! But I am catching myself think, "Now why didn't I think of trying it that way?"

Now on to the fun...
As I mentioned earlier in the week, I was not feeling very creative this week, however, as I was stitching my nice straight, perfect buttonhole stitch, I got bored. Heck, I wasn't going to be cutting the fabric and making an edge, so I needed to do something. Turn a corner, and another, and another. Now for a fun message, because I can't find a photo...Drat "Hi Mom" won't fit. And I came up with this:

libhita

As I was finishing up the "frame", my son asked me what I was doing. When I told him the stitch I was working on, he said that he didn't see the buttonhole, so I made one, hence the second row. Then he found my book of beads on the table and brought them to me, to let me know I had left them out, and the beginning of the third row came to me. But those beads just weren't sitting right at the 'bottom' of the stitch, so I added them to the 'leg'. Wouldn't that look great on the edge of a bureau cloth, center piece cloth for your table?

Bakers Dozen RR

2007-01-12T19:20:00.000-06:00

I just put the last french knot in a RR piece. This is Deborah's blanket. My portion: Strawberry Emery.

libhita

Now if I could only find some strawberries in the market.

On to work on this week's TAST challenge; the buttonhole stitch. I'm not feeling particularly creative, so it may just be me perfecting my technique this week.

SBQ - First one for 2007

2007-01-11T09:24:00.000-06:00

SBQ is back! And the first question for 2007:
Do you dream of running your own LNS/ONS? If so, tell us about your dream. If not, tell us about your cross stitch dream… maybe you dream of designing, dyeing your own floss or fabric, etc.

Yes, I do dream of owning my own LNS/ONS. In fact, last summer I was a bank loan away from acheiving that dream; I was going to buy an ONS from someone wanting to retire. Unfortunatly, someone else got their money before I could. No hard feeling though. So I'm still working my regular job and when hubby can get enough saved up for me to retire, I'll start looking into starting my own again.

Unless someone has an ONS or LNS that they would like to retire from and sell to me!

Most people want to start something of their own from scratch; I'm not sure I'd know how to even do that. You see, my whole career is based on looking at a company's business/procedures and determining what is not woprking and how to improve upon it. That is why I have no problem taking over someone else's business.

Inanity and responses and stash

2007-01-09T15:32:00.000-06:00

First the inanity. I actually laughed at this...
Industry money may bias drink studies

Well...DUH!

And the responses:
Rachel: No worries! I got the comments all sorted out.

Meari:
Someone on one of the yahoo groups reported what she received in her first batch of beads from the European Cross Stitch Company Bead Collectors Club.
Delicas-1 Tube Gold, 1 Tube Green, 1 Tube Lilac, 1 Tube turquoise, and 1 Tube Cobalt, and a Mixture of 2 colors of Swavorski bicones in Light Sapphire and Cobalt.
My own finances are the ONLY thing keeping me from breaking the project challenge. Well that and the amount of beads my mom has. If I ever want to get creative,I'll go by her place first. I wonder if she can get delicas wholesale too?
As for keeping track of the floss colors, I'm parking them in the next spot they are used in the 10 space column (parking method). And I double check the color to the symbol when I pick one up to start stitching with it. I'm considering gridding after I'm done with this page, to help with the counting over (150 to the left, 300 up...opps miscount!)

Michele: Yes, the sampler is going very fast. I was actually surprised how far I had gotten on it after I really looked at it after the 10 hr block. Of course, working with the silks is an absolute joy too!

And lastly the stash! I received this from Deb for PALS January color exchange. There was another DMC color too (820), but I had put everything away before I took the picture, and I just realized as I was inserting the picture that I forgot to pull it back out.

libhita

I do have self control...

2007-01-08T11:55:00.000-06:00

This weekend I made a trip to my closest LNS, 3 Stitches, to purchase items for the PALS January exchange, as well as a couple of specialty threads I need for an ornament. Now as I'm taking part in a stash decrease challenge and the knowledge of the status of my own budget, I knew I wouldn't be doing any impulse buying. However, hubby was in meetings all day, so I had to take my kids along. Daughter is not a problem, as she does not like stitching, and can usually amuse herself. Son, though, loves stitching, and the last time I brought him to this LNS, he climbed into their yarn basket and tried to bury himself with the yarn. Boy was I glad he was clean that day. So daughter brought along a book, and son brought along a toy dragon (with a couple of trigers, the dragon can flap its wings and open/close its mouth).
After arriving there, daighter was immediatly distracted by a rack of RG mettalics; its the magpie in her. So she behaved and amused herself. Son was in awe and had to show me everything; luckily he behaved and did not touch, as I asked.

I always enjoy picking out needlework stuff with my son. He loves to stitch too, although he is only the level of plastic canvas and finally figured out how to sew up and down, and sew his name useing long stitches and running stitches. He's only 4; I'd say he's way ahead on that. He also has a great eye for color!

It was a good trip all around. Everyone behaved. Son helped me pick out almost everything for the exchange, and tried to convise me to buy more patterns that he liked. But I was good and stuck to my list. Although he pointed out a beautiful dragon pattern that I'd like to get one day. And a stop at Michaels too, for some none stitchy exchange items.

Anyone seen DMC rayon# 30742 anywhere? The display setup jumps straight from 30712 to 30745.

I'll share some pictures of the purchases after the have arrived at their home. Can't give the surprise away yet!

Weekend update

2007-01-07T09:39:00.000-06:00

As I didn't get any progress pictures last week, I'll be including those that I worked on the last week of 2006 also.

First up is the progress on the tree skirt. I believe this has a total of 30 hours on it.

libhita

I also started a new project. "Family Sampler" A Do It Yourself Sampler by M-designs, debuting at PALS Oct. 2006 Retreat. I'm using 28 ct. Fresco Linen from Picture This Plus and Viki Clayton silks.

libhita

This one I think will stitch up pretty quick. Well, maybe except for the border I've added to it. I'll definitely need some opinions as to what color to stitch the names in (a couple are already there).

And last, The Enchanter:

libhita

I was thinking I had more updates, but now I realize there were a couple of finishes that I already wrote about.

I hope everyone's year has begun as they like it!

Take a Stitch Tuesday - Herringbone

2007-01-02T20:32:00.000-06:00

The first stitch for Take a Stitch Tuesday is the herringbone. Click picture to enlarge.

The top row, I used 4 colors twice, weaving the herringbone, to give a braided look. I think this would look lovely as trimming on a girl's dress, or for SCA enthusists, the edging of cloak; definately use thicker thread for it.
THe bottom row popped into my head as I was stitching the first. Turn it vertical, and you have lattoce work for the side of a house, maybe adding flowers of some kind to it. Leave it the way it is, with the french knot, and flip the pattern and you have the front yard fence of a house. Add a longer "post" and use yellow for the french knot, and you have a lantern or torch.

Oh the humanity!!!!

2007-01-01T11:53:00.000-06:00

Something so tempting I came this close (--) to breaking my 50 project challenge.

European Cross Stitch Company now has a Bead Collectors Club. For $10 a month, you get bead pack containing 5 or 6 colors of Delicas, with at least 1-2 grams of each color. In addition to the beads, there will be at least one color of Swarovski crystals.

As much as I point my family to getting me stitchy stuff for presents, they usually get me something else that I really want instead.

Looks like I need to work y butt off to get those projects done.

Finishing up 2006

2006-12-31T12:06:00.000-06:00

Here is my last finish for 2006:

It's "Christmas Duo" wreath ornament by M-Designs. Design taught at the 2006 PALS Fall Fling. 32ct linen in Moonglow from Picture This Plus with JAR Designs thread. Changed "Happy Holidays" to "Mother's Night". Approx. 6 hrs. to complete.

That makes a total of 21 conpleted projects for the year. Up from the 17 completetions of 2005. NO resolution to do more in 2007; just keep up the fun.

Speaking of resolutions: Mine for 2005 was to bring my cholesterol down below 200, and my weight down to 155. Starting of both on Jan.1 was Cholesterol 365, Weight 167.

I am happy to report my cholesterol was 171 at the beginning of September, thanks to diet change, exercise, and medication (darn heretige). My weight as of 5 minutes ago is 156!

2007 resolutions:
I will continue to exercise and eat right.
I will focus more on cleaning and organizing my house.

Edit: I realized I had a couple of stitchy resolutions. One is to continue to take part in the 50 project challenge. The other is to take part in Sharon's "Take a Stitch Tuesday" challenge; I'm looking forward to learning new stitches on this.

Bakers Dozen RR update

2006-12-29T15:49:00.000-06:00

Here is the latest finish on a round robin, to be mailed out tomorrow. "Kitten and Teddy" from Stoney Creek Collection: Cat's Meow.

The food was GOOOOOOOOOOD!

2006-12-28T09:29:00.000-06:00

The Yuletide season has been good and busy. I spent all last week baking; I lost track of how much after 6 Poppyseed/Nut rolls and all the cookies. The Spritz cookies didn't turn out great, as I broke the cookie press half way through the batch, and cut circles with the rest of the dough. My mom and I are arguing oer whose cookie press it is; she says it's mine and I let her borrow it. I can't remember if I bought it for her as a present or if I bought it for me and gave it to her when her's died, or if I let her borrow it. Doesn't matter; it still needs replacing. Hopefully I can order just the part that it broken instead of getting a whole new one. But then again, some of the newer models look nifty!

I was right earlier, we were only able to get one present each for the four of us, but luckily Sata-Grandma sent over bags of presents for the kids (and a couple for me and J too). She filled up my trunk and backseat with presents, and there is still more under her tree. She's visiting her and her hubby's parents this Christmas, so there will be Christmas in January at her house. There was some presents that she wants to see the kids faces when they open them.

I, personnally, didn't get a whole lot of stuff, and only one stash item, which I bought for myself. It was JCS 2006 Christmas Ornaments issue. As it is part of my exception list AND bought with gift money (my bonus from work), I have not broken the challenge. Other stuff I got:
-2nd season of Stargate-SG1 (I gave hubby the 3rd season; we co-ordinated on this)
-kitchen gadgets (silicon cupcake pan, bread pan, and cookie mats, a NICE chef knife, adjustable spoon measures, color co-ordinated cutting boards to avoid cross contaminating)
-a chocolate vanilla mocha bath set (I have a feelign the kids will end up with the bubble bath, as there is no tub in my bathroom, but the shower gel and spongey thing is mine!)
-Lavender eye pillow
-book on Celtic History: from pre-history to the Norman invasions
-a local cookbook that hubby's aunt helped put together. bonus here is there are several recipes of hubby's grandma in here, as well as lots of passed down german recipes
-couple of decorative baskets with potporri (amazingly matches my bathrooms. that was coincidence)
-chip&dip set

Much of this was "addressed" to both me and hubby; mostly everything that can be used in the kitchen, as we both COOK.

Last Friday we had my family and friends over for Yule; the spread was glorious, if I do say so myself. Turkey with sausage stuffing (we would have had goose, but couldn't find one big enough), warm german potatoe salad, latkes, carrots in beer, broccoli, clover rolls, and honey oatmeal bread. With all the baking, I'm glad I stole..um, I mean, borrowed my mom's new KitchenAid mixer. It won't be stollen until I tell her that I'm not giving it back. Besides, she won't miss it until she goes to make cookies next Christmas, right?

A much better day with a finish

2006-12-15T11:17:00.000-06:00

I just finished putting the last backstitch in an ornament for my son. He picked it out and asked me to change the colors to red, yellow, orange and blue. Red and blue are his favorite colors, but I'm not sure where yellow and orange came from (he is 4). Here it is!

Is it me? Or does he look...embarrassed?
It is "Sadie Snowflake" by Imaginating, Inc., from JCS Christmas Ornaments: 10th Anniversary Collection. On 14 ct White Aida with DMC floss.

Outlook on life has taken a turn for the better. Probably because I don't go back to work until December 27 and then I only work two days that week. All this is thanks to vacation time and holidays.

New finish, Christmas bonus', and general ^@$!%

2006-12-13T11:50:00.000-06:00

The good news.
I finished the ornament my daughter picked this year.

"Snow Kitty" by Cross My Heart, INC. from JCS Christmas Ornaments: 10th Anniversary Collention. 28ct Ice Blue Alma with DMC and Kreinik floss.

The other good news.
The company I work for actually gave me a Christmas bonus this year of $250. Considering this is the first one from them I've gotten in the 7 years I've worked for the company, not a bad sum. It sure beats the Bic pens one manager gave out one year to some of his underlings. The sucky part is I will be taxed on this, the the tax coming out of my paycheck (And all US citizen know, we get taxed 55-60% on "gifts" like this). Seriously bites.

As if money isn't tight in my house right now as it is; it looks like I'll have to use this "gift" to but the kids present for Yule. Hubby and I talked and we'll get the kids one or two really special things from Santa, but anything else will wait until the middle of January, when we celebrate with my mom (whose out of town visiting her parents this year, so she's having Christmas for the grandkids when she gets back in January).

I love my husband, and I love that he found something that he loves doing. But not paying bills on time and not being able to do little things like get something for the kids, really stress me out and ticks me off. I'm working my ass off (and my hands into disability) at job I hate, and still looks like I'll have to go find a forth job just to make ends meet.

I saw the orthopedist for my hands last week and she tells me I now have arthritis in the right one. Frickin' great. I can understand my knee and ankle. I injured those a lot of times in sports when I was younger. But my hand! I'm 33 and this should NOT have happened! And it's not like I can take some disability time off for it to heal...then the bills really wouldn't get paid.

Where, Oh where did my stitch-ing go....

2006-12-01T09:18:00.000-06:00

Stitching is at a minimum for me now, with hubby out of town. I've decided me and the kids are going to be doing some "holiday" claening this weekend, and see if we can't get the tree and decorations up. Maybe even make some cookies for Santa, because "Santa like me to make the cookies the best!" (quoted from my son).

Considering I saw someone taking down some of the sign we put up to find the hamster's owner (it wasn't a goverment/state/county official), by leaving the lost dogs signs alone, I'm guessing the original owner is not going to claim her. I'm still leavign the rest of the signs up until Sunday, then I'll let the kids know we're keeping her. As if they aren't already treating her like she's ours. I've officially named her Queen Cobra (see previous blogs and pictures as to why). Q.C. for short; pronounce it similar to cutie.
She has spent most of her time in her new home sleeping, only waking up if we put something in her habitat. At first she was 'stashing' her food, covering with a thin layer of shavings, then pooping on it; I'm assuming to make sure noone took her food. Over the past couple of days, we've been giving her fresh vegetables, cabbage and carrots. Up until last night, she'd grab it as soon as we set it down (wouldn't come near our hands) and take it to where she slept and "hide" it. Last night, however, she took the piece of carrot from my daughter's hand, then after we all left the room, Q.C. dug up her entire stash and put it in her food bowl. She has also moved her toilet corner to the opposite side of the tank, away from her food and sleeping space. Although she still flinches when we try her touch her, she will now come over to our hand's to sniff us. This weekend will be interesting when we need to remove her to clean out the tank, but she'll get a ball to run around the house in, hopefully it will help get her used to the place.

Do two hamsters make a gang?

2006-11-29T09:17:00.000-06:00

Hubby came back in last night, from the garage, to let me know he heard some scurrying from the area where the furball he found previously, was headed to. Lovely. Unfortuanately, it's not an area that can easily be gotten to, but I think I'll be leaving out some food in the garage and see if my daughter can manuveur herself back there to find it. Oh please let it be another female and not a male or babies.
Have I ever mentioned how allergic to fur-bearing animals I am? I don't want to put the hamster in my kid's room only to have someone claim it, but it has only been 24 hours and even tripling my allergy meds, I'm miserable.

We moved the hamster to a "permanent" cage (it's bigger) and she (yes I checked) filled up her cheek pouches again. I'm voting on calling her Queen Cobra. You can see here ,why.

And without food in her mouth:

What's in your wallet? Errr...Garage

2006-11-28T17:39:00.000-06:00

Last night, at my bed time, my husband starts yelling for me from the garage. I'm assuming he (or one of the kids have locked him out of the house when he went out to smoke. So I start yelling back at him, teasing, but he yells back that his hands are full and open the door. SO I do, I have have this little furry butt pointed at me, and hubby asking "Is this a hamster or gerbil?". (It's a hamster by the way)

It turns out he was sitting out there smoking and reading (best place to keep warm and dry, he has it setup with a heater in the winter and fan in the summer) and out of the corner of his eye he saw a little tan furry thing squeeze its way under the garage door. I'm thinking someone lost a hamster, and by chance we still have supplies in the house for it (cage, bedding...FOOD). As the cage needed to be cleaned out, we made a temporary cage. Also the furball looked on the thin side (and cold), so I got it a bowl of food. It then proceeded to put half of the food in its cheeks. When it was done, it looked like a cobra about to strike! ROTFLMAO

I'm assuming it has escaped from someone, so we're putting up signs to see if the owner comes forward. If not, looks like we have a new pet for Christmas. My daughter is ecstatic! I'll post a picture when we officially claim it. I haven't even checked to see if it's a girl or boy.

Monday Madness for the Holidays

2006-11-27T23:08:00.000-06:00

Let's talk about holidays... Depending on where you live and what religion you are, you may celebrate different holidays and at different times of the year than others. But most of us do celebrate at least one holiday a year. Let's share! =)

1. Which of the holidays that you celebrate, do you feel is the most important?
All the holidays my family celebrates is important, to us. There is not one the stands out from the rest.

2. Which holiday do you most enjoy?
I’d have to say Yule. The excitement of the kids spills over to everyone else. Plus, between Yule and Mother’s Night in my house and Christmas with the Grandparents, my kids celebrate the season for a week. Even longer this year, as my mom will be out of town visiting her parents and in-laws, and she still wants to have a celebration for the kids when she gets back in January.

3. Is there one holiday that your family tries to get together every year? If so, which one?
No, not one; several. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Easter, Memorial Day, 4th of July, birthdays…did I miss any?

A little here...a little there.

2006-11-21T11:23:00.000-06:00

I've just realized that it's been a couple weeks since I posted any stiching updates. I finished the piece for GhostStitchers:

I love how the Hungarian flame stitch turned out.

I also finished the tree ornament from M-Designs "Christmas Duo". This was one of the classes taught at the 2006 PALS Fall Fling. On 32ct linen in Moonglow from Picture This Plus with JAR Designs thread.

And here are the pieces I've made progress on.

"The Enchanter"

And from the JCS 10th Anniversary Collection:
"Sadie Snowflake"- This is a color conversion from the original colors. My son picked these out.

"Snow Kitty"

Ornament SBQ

2006-11-21T08:23:00.000-06:00

Do you stitch Christmas ornaments? If so, how many do you stitch each year and for whom? If not, why not?

Yes, I do stitch ornaments. Each year, everyone in the house picks an ornament for me to make (so only 4 a year), and if I have time after finishing those, I'll start working on ones for other people.

Monday Madness November 20

2006-11-20T08:40:00.000-06:00

Fill in the blank time!! Have fun and have a fabulous week!! =)

1. In order to protect my computer from viruses, I use Norton AntiVirus.
2. I also use SpyBot for protection from spyware.
3. I don't spend nearly enough time exercising.
4. The first person I usually talk to in the morning is my husband.
5. It takes me about 20 minutes to get ready in the morning.
6. I keep all my appointments in/on Outlook, Palm Pilot, and a Calender.
7. It takes me about 10 minutes to fall asleep at night.

How hot you want it, baby!

2006-11-15T13:58:00.000-06:00

Our awesome, A/C and furnace guy installed our new furnace yesterday. Just in time for the cold front today. In fact, he put rush on the delivery of the furnace so we would have heat today and didn't charge extra. Iosef is a great guy. He'll be at my parent's house tomorrow replacing their furnace. Let's just say we got a bulk order discount.

And the great part about the new furnace; it's got an ignition switch. No more trying to remember if we shut down the pilot light for the winter, or trying to relight the damn thing when the cold blows in, or trying to figure out how to light it (Previous instructions: place match way the hell back there, turn on gas, guess to figure out if knob is turned on, press knob, hold for 30 seconds, cuss because match burnt out 20 seconds ago...). Just flip a switch and HEAT! Now the only pilot light left in the house that we need to worry about is the heater. Unless that got changed when we replaced it about 3 years ago.

Various bits and pieces

2006-11-14T18:15:00.000-06:00

Work is killing me this week. By the time I get home, my hands hurt so much that I don't even WANT to stitch. But I have received a new project from GhostStitchers. It's a UFO that is already 3/4 finshed. It is Scottish Band Sampler.

It's the Hungarian flame stitch and 'blackwork' at the bottom that I'll be finishing. The 'blackwork' will be easy, however the flame stitch would be alot easier if the instructions had the entire pattern, rather than a few guidelines and instructions that say "you will see the pattern emerge" and not to worry because "the model stitched is wrong". Let's just say I didn't see the pattern emerging and since I couldn't use the picture above as reference (remember, it's wrong), I had to do lots of research trying to find a Hungarian flame stitch pattern (found lots of pictures). Luckily, one of the ladies on the PALS BB pointed me to a pattern for flame stitches and I was able to figure out the pattern on this one. The repeating pattern doesn't go side to side; it goes up and down. I'll get pictures of my progress on it on Friday before I head out of town for the weekend.
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Work has gotten so bad, in the way some people treat me, that I have almost walked out twice since last Thursday. Hubby "talked me off the ledge" once and a co-worker another time. As I'm sick of my hands hurting, I've taken the stance, if my work isn't finished on time, then someone needs to stop overburdening me. Now to find out if any of my managers in the past year have ever gotten around to filing the workman's comp paper work. My doctor won't let me make an appointment for my hands until they recieve the paperwork.

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Meari, thank you offering to send me my missing DMC skiens, but it is no problem for me to get them. I have a Hobby Lobby, Joanns, Michaels and Hancock stores near me. Next time I'm in one, which should be soon to get fabric for finishing ornaments, I'll pick up the missing skiens then. Even when the are not on sale, they are less than 30 cent for me.

The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer

2006-11-13T11:13:00.000-06:00

I finished The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer last night. This book is written more towards young adults (is that what the literaary world calls raging hormonal teens?) but I liked it alot. The book is heavy with Norse 'mythology' and in the appendix, a little bit of history. The end did not leave me asking when the sequel will be available. I like it when a book exists by itself (yes even when it is part of a series). I've handed it to hubby to read and will report his thoughts on if it is written historically accurate, but from what I know, it correctly shows some of how Vikings lived.

Monday Madness

2006-11-13T10:45:00.000-06:00

Otto says, "This week's questions all come from fellow participants and it pretty much completes all the suggestions I've received so far. Feel free to continue to offer your suggestions. I appreciate your support and your participation! Have a great week!:

1. From ch'i:If you could only read one blog every day- which one blog would be on your daily list?

Ooo a somewhat hard one as I like to read several peoples. But I guess the one I do look forward to is Woozle Madness. I love the way her mind works. Probably because it's much like mine. I just don't express it here.

2. From kat:What do you do to de-stress from a hectic day?

I cross stitch.

3. From paxil princess:What is your favorite piece of clothing to wear in the winter?

Anything warm. I reall don't like the cold so I'll wear anything to stay warm.

4. From sherle:Do you prefer discussing problems with a sibling, a parent, a significant other, a psychologist, or a total stranger?

Any problems I have I talk with my husband about. Not because I have to, but because he's got the best head on his sholders compared to anybody else I know. My first question to all psychologist and psychiatrist puts them off, so I never talk with them.

5. From trista:How long have you been blogging?

4 months

6. From lisa e:Which side of the bed?

It's my question!
I sleep on the right side of the bed, unless we sleep someplace other than our room (like a hotel room, or in a tent). Then I sleep furthest from the door. It's a protection thing.

7. From elton:How often do you pig out when you eat?

Less than hardly ever.

8. From karen:Do you watch the space shuttle launches?

I haven't watched a space shuttle launch since The Challenger launch in 1986. I take those things too personal.

9. From dawn:What's your favorite leisure-time activity?

Cross stitching and reading

10. From sherle:When is the last time you said, 'I love you' and to whom? What about hugs? Who is the last person you hugged?

Last time I said "I love you" was this morning. I said it to everyone who was awake when I left for work. And the last person I hugged was hubby, last night. It lead to "other things"; that was my plan.

The Complete SBQ

2006-11-10T14:02:00.000-06:00

This week’s SBQ was suggested by Jan and is:
How many different brands of “complete” embroidery floss sets do you own? How do you keep track of it? (i.e., spread sheet program, index cards, palm pilot, etc.)

ZERO! The most complete set I have is DMC, but I'm missing two (Yes 2!) colors. Store has been out of those colors the last couple times there has been a sale. I have a few GAST and WDW threads but nothing close to the complete set. I keep track of ALL of my stash in a software program, Organized Expressions. I have the Needleworker version, and love it.

Yea! I got to vote at the library!

2006-11-07T18:17:00.000-06:00

If you didn't know already, it was election time yesterday. My presinct had a loooooooong ballot to vote on, and only one of those things was for a proposition (increasing property taxes to bnuild more schools, I thnk). So I trotted down the road, to the librairy to vote. But, in order to multi-task like I usually do, I took some book s back to the library that were due, and checked out some more.

The Story of my Life by Helen Keller - Seen her story on screen (large and small) and stage, but it is always from someone elses perspective. I'm looking forward to "seeing" things through her eyes.

Eleanor of Aquitane : A Life by Alison Weir - Eleanor of Aquitane was the wife of two kings and mother to two kings (she's the mama of Kings Richard the Lionheart and John), and ruled in King Richard's place at one point. That's all I know of her. I'm guessing since queens during the Middle Ages weren't kept track of, some of this book will be based on obscure statements in bigger texts until her actions actually ruled a nation. But I've always believed that women have played a bigger role in history than what we are given credit for.

The Journals of Louisa May Alcott by Louisa May Alcott, Madeleine B. Stern (Editor), Joel Myerson (Editor), Daniel Shealy (Editor) - Alcott is my favorite writer of all time, so anytime I find something of her's I have to read it (well buy it too). I may have read this one before, so if I find myself recognizing it, I'll probably make sure I buy it to put on my shelves. I can't say I've read everything she's wrutten, but I have read everything that has been identified as her having written it. She just didn't write "upbeat" stories like "Little Women". She also wrote under several pseudonyms and anonymously, as women were't supposed to write about some of the subjects that she wrote about during her day (think sex, drugs...no rock-n-roll).

Lord John and the Private Matter by Diana Gabaldon - This author's "Outlander" series was recommended to me by someone who saw me reading R. Garcia y Robertson's War of the Roses series. As I couldn't find "Outlander" in the library, even though it had a status of checked in (I hate it when people hide things, obviously they don't know that they can reseve books in the libriary), I picked up this one to give myself a feel of the author's writing. It is an offshoot of the series I'd like to read.

The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer - Another case of the book I really wanted couldn't be found (The House of the Scorpion), so I picked up another of this author's books in it's place. Imagine hubby's delight that I brought home a Viking fiction book. Now imagine my daughter's delight when that same book is discovered to have been written towards her age group. This will probably be a quick read for me, as it is written at a Jr. High level, but after readign the first chapter last night, I'm looking forward to it.

The little bits add up

2006-11-07T10:24:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow is hubby's birthday. Although I had already told him he could purchase Mead making equipment for his birthday, I was planning on surprising him with another present that he's been wanting all his life.
Then this weekend, the problem hit. Our furnace's pilot light will not stay on. We light it, it gets gas, then a couple hours later, it completely shuts down, before it has even finished heating up the house.
Now we don't need heat during the day, as it's still getting close to 80, but some of the nights, it's dropping down to 45 or below, and the house does not hold heat. And when I wake up freezing, I'm just cranky for the day, no matter how quickly I can get hot (arthritic knee is no help here).
So as we don't know what is exactly wrong and needs to be fixed, we have no idea how much it will cost. So there goes the extra money I was hoarding to pay for Hubby's present.
I'll be keeping quiet about it and hope that there is enough for me to get it for him this winter season.

At least my furnace is not as bad as my mom's. Hers has a crack down the middle, and they don't even dare allow gas to it for fear of blowing up the neighborhood. They've got to re-fi their house, in order to pay for replacing everything.

Monday Madness 11/6/06

2006-11-06T13:54:00.000-06:00

From this week's Monday Madness:
Using the letters in your name (first, last, both, whatever), describe your life!

Life
Is
So
Adventurous!

You named it WHAT!?

2006-11-03T09:29:00.000-06:00

This week's SBQ was suggested by Lee (http://lakestitcher.blogspot.com/)and is:

How did you decide on the title of your stitching blog? Was it random, or does it have a special meaning to you or about you?

The title of my blog was just something random that popped into my head during a break from a very tiring day at work.

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I've also put needle to fabric and made some progress on a couple projects:
Merlin's Oak

AND

Winter White Tree Skirt

Halloween pictures and a finish

2006-11-01T20:03:00.000-06:00

Finally got the pictures off the camera from last night. Unfortunately, we forgot to get the pictures before they headed out to trick-or-treat, so the were a little uncooperative.

Also, thanks to Lisa sending me the MH beads I needed, I finished an ornament for myself. It's "Christmas Eve" by Elizabeth's Designs from the JCS Christmas Ornaments: 10th Anniversary Collection. 28ct Ivory Jazlyn, with DMC floss and MH beads. I decided to skip the bunny and moon charms.