Wrapping up 2006...

and tucking it away on a shelf somewhere.

I'm almost afraid to hope that 2007 will be better because I should just be grateful that my family is all together. It struck me that if I hadn't miscarried in May, I would have a baby in my arms now. So 2006 is a bit melancholy for me too. I'm hoping for the healthy baby in April 2007, so surely that could be one thing that is an improvement over the previous year.

I thought today would be a good day to review my 101 things; I'll save my 2007 plans and goals for tomorrow.

So how am I doing?

In my Personal Goals, I am exercising a bit more. I have some pre-natal yoga cards that Angie enjoys doing with me. "Doing" being a loose description of what occurs. It's more like whirlwind yoga because she loves to blitz through the cards. I have another pre and post natal exercise video on the way. I am slowly trudging to Rivendell--I can't seem to keep track of my miles as well as I would like.

I have gotten rid of some clothes, thanks to the fire. Umm. Not how I intended to do it at all. The fire also helped me read lots of books as the side bar shows. I also recently bought Loreena McKennitt, Book of Shadows, which I love, but Angie refers to as the "sad music." We also bought the first seasons of the new Dr. Who and the animated Tick.

For Family Goals, I have managed to get and stay pregnant (with Chas's help of course ;oD ), I'm hoping that I can successfully achieve this goal in April 2007. I have played more with Angie, we've even worked on some very basic pre-school skills (what do I make of the idea that she can read the word "Rocket" but hasn't learned to write letters yet?), and we've reviewed some potential schools for next year. We are also playing a lot of Hi Ho Cherry O with her--it was one of our presents to her at Christmas and she just loves it. I need to focus more on my husband though.

The only Professional Goal reached so far was the purchasing of new work shoes. Fire. Blah, blah, blah. And we had major setbacks in my Financial Goals for the same reason. Sigh.

I fared a little better with my Computer/Technical Goals. I do blog often, though I should post more on Angie's blog. My Yuku account has been created so I am ready for the great migration, should that occur in my lifetime. I've started re-formating my website and I have backed up some, but not nearly all, of my electronic cross stitch patterns. I keep finding cool freebies and then there was the Chatelaine Advent Kalendar fun.

I rocked the Home Improvement Goals, thanks again, ummm, to the fire. The basement and home office are clean; well, the home office is satisfactorily clean. The Basement needs help. We purchased a new computer desk, office chair, washer and dryer. We even had renter's insurance for the apartment and will be getting some for the house (something we did not accomplish in the rush to move home). The landlords tore down the existing window box (and threw huge amounts of dirt on the flowers I had growing in the flower bed) so I no longer feel the need to obtain a second one. I'm not sure if I'm willing to start planting here again.

My Stitching Goals remain pending. I've purchased the beads for Taj and for Midi 2. The Midi 2 fibers are almost completely purchased. I just need the perle. Since I started the list, I've only completed one WIP and one UFO. Still much to be done.

I've had varying degrees of success with my Miscellaneous Goals. I did spend more time with Cathy in the fall, because as real friends do, she and her husband pitched in when we so desperately needed help post fire. We're slacking again so I need to actively harass her more frequently. Technically, we did move, then we moved back. Not exactly what we had intended. Chas's Dad gave us his old car (a Lincoln Town Car which I have dubbed "the yacht"). I have subscribed to the Gift of Stitching and the December issue alone was worth the very low subscription price. I did not send holiday cards this year and would you believe that I still cannot find my LOTR or Harry Potter books?

Thank goodness I still have 853 days left to accomplish some things!

I hope that anyone reading this has a great new year, full of things that bring you joy. I hope that your sorrows will be few, and that you will be surrounded by loving people who will help you through the hard times.

For my little family, I know that 2007 will bring much upheaval--we will add a new member, move, and Angie will start school. These are all good things, although each one will require some adjustment. Hopefully it will not be as dramatic as 2006.

A Wonderful New Year to you all!

MX wip

The colors aren't nearly as beautiful as they are in real life, but no matter how much I play with them on the computer I can't match the actual threads. I've only used three colors so far but they are beautiful. Can't wait to add the metallics and the darker colors. I don't know if I want to switch to something else tonight or if I should just keep going with this one.

The Oasis is gorgeous. I could stitch with it forever so it will probably end up in a single color design one of these days.

A New Start before the End of the Year!

Martina released part one of Mystery X today (was to have been tomorrow)! It is lovely and so I must start it now. I should be disciplined and stitch on WG or JG, but if you think I am disciplined in my approach to stitching, you clearly need to go back and read my archives.

It is a smallish part so I think I can complete it soon (of course my eyes are usually more ambitious than my fingers can handle). I will at least work on it during the a.m. and then switch to JG in the evening. I worked on last New Year's Eve. Or I'll work on WG because it's been in the WIP pile for two years.

You'll find out tomorrow what happened!

Grape Thread Keeper Book: Stitching Completed

It is done. I finished part 7 around 10:00 p.m. last night, and finished part 8 around 10:00 p.m. tonight!

I can't tell you how good it feels. I only need to add the grape jewelry to the front and then assemble the book and I will have completed the entire class.

Here is the inside of the book:



Here is the fob:



You can see the cover to the needlebook here and the book cover here.

Some basic stats as per usual:

1. The purple fabric is a happy accident actually. I ordered what I thought was the correct Wisteria Fabric (Lakeside Linens). Instead, I actually ordered R & R Reproductions Heirloom Wisteria. I'm thrilled with it. It has greenish vines dyed in the fabric as well. Unfortunately, my LNS told me the color was being discontinued. For beading on the purple, I alternated between the DMC #3743 and #3042 depending on the shade of bead being used.

2. The lighter fabric is the Little Boy Blue/Pastel Blue recommended by Martina and obtained in the kit from ECC. I don't like cream (too yellowy for my tastes) so when the time came for me to stitch the inside of the book, I used the piece that should have been the cover instead. I just love how the DMC looks for the year. I think the blue of the fabric sets it off nicely. I used DMC #341 to attach beads on the blue fabric. I think another good choice would have been DMC #3753.

3. I used three strands of the Golden Grains rhodes stitches. I was timid at first, but it is just as easy as working with two strands and the results are full and spectacular.

4. I used selected pieces Bark Wildflowers instead of Copper. I also came to loathe the sheaf stitch. Hopefully it is easier using the silks because I'm certain that stitch is used in both JG and Taj.

5. The chart seemed to be missing something in each of the corners of the book cover. I don't have a photo yet, but I just used the same color beads as found in the corners of the fob and needlebook cover. Other thoughts would be to just pick your favorite bead from the kit and use it. Or you could use the SNC #004 The Lavenders with some special stitch. It could be a mini Rhodes, or an Eyelet or a Plaited Cross stitch or even a Smyrna Cross. You could pick you favorite stitch to make it more personal. Mine would be the Plaited Cross (which Martina never seems to use--sigh).

Love the design, love the colors, love my accidentally selected fabric. Happy, happy, happy dance.

Now I just need to assemble the dern thing!

Think of Me

I'm about to make sugar cookies with my dear four-year-old daughter who hasn't properly napped today.

Foolhardy? Yes.

I was going to put it off until tomorrow, but she came at me with her big blue eyes saying, "Mommy, I want to make sugar cookies with you."

Darn Grandma gave her the Joy of Cooking cookies and four mini cookie cutters for Christmas.

In other news, I finished part 7 of Grape Thread Keeper last night and I'm roughly an hour away from finishing part 8 (the final part). I only have some beading and the special stitches left!

If I survive the cookie fest, I should finish it tonight. Pictures will be forthcoming of course!

Somali Documentary Project

I've previously mentioned the CLE requirement for Judges and Magistrates in Ohio. It appears that I have failed entirely to mention the best CLE of this (or any other year).

The Ohio Judicial College, recognizing that immigrants are finding their way to Ohio, is developing a series of courses on various immigrant groups. The first was in late August and covered the Somali Diaspora. Have I ever mentioned that I was an International Affairs major in undergrad? Lovely to have my brain stretched in a different way.

What a great seminar! A former Ambassador from Somalia spoke a bit about the history and politics of the country and there was the requisite bit on demographics. Most incredible, and heart wrenching, were the two gentlemen from the Somali Documentary Project. It is, unfortunately, short on text and my notes from the seminar are missing in action in the moment (are they in the storage unit? The garage? The new and ever-so-slightly improved basement--oh the joys of our post fire life), but I encourage you to go look at the photos. They are beautiful.

If you heard the documentarians speak about the refuge camps (some people are there for decades), you would want to do, well, something to help. I wish I had something profound to say about the current situation over there. I don't. I hope for something positive there. Someone told me yesterday that they are certain we can achieve world piece. I don't know. It seems to me that we struggle to evolve.

I see people arguing over foolish things or just being hurtful. I see people treating their own children as tools to be used to punish the other parent, rather than as people in their own right, with feelings. I'm hopeful, but sometimes it seems we still have eons to go before we can truly treat each other with the kindness and respect we all deserve.

Anyway, go look at the photos. Hope and pray for peace if you are so inclined. Let's hope for a better New Year than the last one.

UFO No Longer

Yup, I finished Springtime Roses! The stitching was completed on Christmas Eve, but the beading had to wait until today when we returned home.



Just some thoughts:

1. I think that Mill Hill beads are too large for such a dainty piece. If you are thinking about stitching this I would suggest you use Delicas instead. I would recommend using Delica #502 Spectrum Gold for the Mill Hill 557 because it has lovely gold and pink beads which would work perfectly with the Waterlilies #088 Mountain Meadow. Use Delica #670 Crystal AB Silk Satin or Delica #051 Crystal AB for the Mill Hill #161.

I am so happy that I'm in the bead collectors club at European Cross Stitch because I really am starting to hate Mill Hills. Martina has really spoiled me by introducing me to Delicas.

2. If you opt to use Mill Hills for this design, I would suggest laying the beads at an angle, with all the beads "pointing" towards the center. I'm satisfied with my finished product, but if I were to stitch this again with the MH, I would work harder at angling my beads. I tried to stitch them on the diagonal at first, gave up and stitched them with a full cross. I think the MH would look great if placed diagonally though--I was just too eager and too impatient to finish this one.

3. For anyone using Raw Belfast Linen, I would recommend using DMC #3782 to attach beads if you don't use something else. I spent some quality time in the DMC section of Pat Catan's determining the closest color to this fabric. In all lights, #3782 is the best match.

4. Rather than gilding my dragonfly, I used Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid #17 Water Blue for the body and in outlining the wings. Instead of an Algerian Eyelet in the Body, I used a Rhodes Stitch.

Some basic stats:
Started May 2005.
On the UFO list for ages.
Finished December 2006--no comments from the husband please!
Stitched on 32 count Zweigart Raw Belfast Linen using all the recommended fibers and beads with the addition of the Water Blue as mentioned above.

Now, on to more stitching!

Merry Christmas!

As mentioned, I did not send cards out this year, but I am full to the brim with Happy Christmas wishes for everyone.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Eve and a beautiful Christmas filled with love and good things (and some stash).

We will leave for my Mom's house soon so I will be off-line for the next few days.

Enjoy the holidays!

My kind of 24 hours

For the last twenty four hours, I've been finding good in the silly little things:

1. Yesterday we received our New Doctor Who DVD (our gift to each other for the holidays). Yay. David Tennant seems like a nice enough guy, but both Chas and I feel that he appears to be a twelve year old wearing his dad's suits and having adventures. When he tries to be stern or fierce, I have this overwhelming urge to pat him on the head whilst saying, "Awwwwww. Are you upset little boy?" Christopher Eccleston was brilliant on the other hand. In a mere 13 episodes, he became one of Chas's favorite Doctors. He is one of my favorites too, but I am only familiar with Tom Baker. Chas is much more familiar with the previous incarnations.

Anyway, happy, happy. I don't know when we'll watch it, but it's here.

2. I received notice that my Mystery X (which just sounds cool) kit has been shipped. Hooray. If I go with the kit fabric, I can start when the first part is released. If I decide to go with another fabric, I'll be waiting for that fabric to arrive, but I'll still be closer to starting on time.

3. Today's advent kalendar chart at the Chatelaine Yahoo Group is just the cutest little thing: a house, snow covered trees, some stars and even a tiny little sleigh. I think I'll have fun creating my sampler from the various bits she's released. I might try to see if anyone at the EZ board want to have a Chatelaine Advent Kalendar Sampler SAL with me next year. The parts are so small that we could stitch it rather quickly. It will actually take longer to determine the placement of the designs, but it will be fun!

4. The title to the new and final Harry Potter book has been released! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'm wondering if the title refers to the night Harry's parents were killed. I can't wait to read it. Yes, I am a nerd. In spite of this (or perhaps because of it), I am well loved anyway.

5. Martina has released a new design: The St. Petersburg White Nights Mandala! Oooooooh. This will be bigger than her other mandalas! I might need to add it to my to do list. I love the colors and the architecture.

So that is a non-family or work related good day for me: Stitching and sci-fi fantasy stuff.

In other news, we cleaned the apartment tonight so Chas will turn in the keys tomorrow. Tomorrow will be my last day of work until Wednesday and the last several have been rough. I could possibly meet my stitching goals, if I could actually have a full lunch hour instead of just gobbling down food in five minutes and running back to my cases. Let's not even talk about all the writing I need to do right now.

Sigh.

In other good news, an old friend found my address somehow and sent me a Card. I haven't talked to her since before Angie was born. I'd lost her address and her e-mail address had changed so I had no way to find her.

Finally, apologies. Lots of people have sent me Christmas cards. Although I had good intentions, I am not sending out cards again this year. I thought I could manage it, but it is not going to happen. The cards I bought last year (always hit the post holiday 50% off sales) we in the basement before the fire and so were tossed out with most of the paper goods from down there. I just didn't make buying new ones a high priority. Sorry. I do appreciate the cards. I hope you and your families are having wonderful holidays. I'll try to do better next year.

Anyway, I'm off to watch Angie and to stitch. I need to finish more projects if Martina is going to keep posting beautiful new designs.

As Requested: Photos

I don't have time to post all my wips this month, but here are my two primary pieces. Why am I concentrating on them? Because I stand a chance of finishing them by 2007.

Springtime Roses by Chatelaine:



and Snow Crystal also by Chatelaine:



You can see why my mood has been sparkly lately. I love both of these designs. I'm working with lots of metallics. The grey-ish area in the snow crystal is the silver metallic. It is much more beautiful in real life. The scan causes the colors to blend together in the photo. I was feeling kind of blah about the Springtime Roses--love Dragonflies, but was questioning my fabric and the DMC colors. Then I started adding the silk shading around the Dragonfly and it really began to pop for me. I can't wait to finish it.

hopefully I will have finished photos by the end of this week. Next week I'm running an End of the Year Chatelaine SAL at the Chatelaine Ez Board in the Chatelaine Olympics forum. If you are stitching a Chatelaine, please feel free to join us!

Overdue Book Review

As you will recall, before my resumption of stitching, I was reading heavily. I finished two books and never posted about them. Before I forget them completely, here are my thoughts.

Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner. It was recommended by Chinaberry as a must read for any woman. I usually like Chinaberry's reviews; I found Love in the Driest Season, The Mercy of Thin Air and numerous books for Angie and friends through my Chinaberry Catalogue.

I didn't like it.

It isn't that it is a horrible book. It's just not my kind of book. It's about four women who meet during pregnancy (sort of) and their various trials and tribulations. The characters are okay--likeable enough. There's the marital affair, the unpleasant in-law, the woman hiding her insecurity through brand names and then the person who has dealt with a real tragedy. It contains the completely unnecessary sex scenes apparently designed to show that it's for an adult audience that I complained about earlier. The character I liked the most, we "see" the least. And then there was the obligatory happy ending. For everyone. Sort of. It's well done for it's genre. I just didn't enjoy it.

My reaction: Meh.

Mossflower by Brian Jacques.

Loved it. Loved it more than Redwall. It's just great action/adventure. I was struck by the genius of developing these stories using animals. The author can give them human characteristics, but also tap into their useful animal traits. I wish I had purchased more in this series.

So there is the difference in my tastes: I'm not terribly girly. I like escapism in my literature and my entertainment. It can have romance, but I really need to believe in the romance. For a television example--Crichton and Aeryn took my breath away, the debacle that was the most recent episode of Battlestar Galactica with Starbuck and Apollo made me gag and want to reach through the screen and smack them both. Maybe smack a few other characters for good measure. I'm just finicky.

Next up on my reading list is either another book in the Redwall series, or The Expected One by Kathleen McGowan. Chinaberry says it will change my life. I'm not sure I'm braced to have a book change my life. Maybe that is why I'm stitching so much.

Random Update

Chas emptied the garage this weekend with the help of one of his friends. The result? More things piled in front of the house, waiting for the garbage collectors to come tomorrow. Someone went through our things (salvaging being a bit of a hobby in this and many other areas), but soon realized why we were throwing out those things.

I admit I was tempted to rummage myself, just to see, but I decided not to do it. It's bad enough to look out and see my large old Christmas tree out there, a picnic basket we never used but had just in case, old exercise equipment, and so on. Worse things could have happened, but I'm a little down that my old records (yes actual records), all of my tapes (some of them specially compiled for me by people who are no longer in my life, but full of good tunes and nice memories none the less), my old journals (hmm, maybe that's for the best), my old poems and stories and even some of my Christmas Ornaments (some handmade, many sentimental) are gone for good. There is really no replacing these things.

Re-reading that part I'm struck by the notion that these are just things. Not replaceable sure, but I can survive without them. It could have been worse. At least we all left the house that morning, exhausted but together. I'm postitive I would not have functioned as well if I'd lost Chas or Angie.

On the good news side, it looks like most of my stash has survived. I checked the last set and it looks like very little soot actually touched anything (which means that CHG, Taj and MTM as well as all of my Dinky Dyes limited edition packs are okay). So although I've lost lots of things from my past, I still have things with which to play in the future.

I've been stitching quite a bit over the weekend. I think that if I try, I will finish Springtime Roses before the end of the year. I can also finish the new Snow Crystal if I can just find the right beads in my stash. I was hoping to finish QS Ballet Pigs too, but she still needs quite a bit of confetti stitching. The rest of December will likely be Chatelaine Stitching, although I'm not sure what I'll take to my Mom's house to stitch during Christmas. If I try in January, I'm sure I can finish Ballet Pig.

I completely forgot to post "Happy Hannukah" so I hope you are enjoying it if you celebrate.

For now I'm off to watch t.v. with Chas and just relax a bit. And stitch of course.

New Starts and Old Finishes for 2007

I've been pondering the new starts for 2007. I think I should include the older projects to finish as well to be fair.

New Starts:

Chatelaine Mystery X
Chatelaine Midi Mystery 2
Chatelaine Midi Mystery 3
Chatelaine Polar Lights
Chatelaine Japanese Octagon Box
Graceful Lady
HAED Bedtime Tales (Lisa Victoria)
HAED Mystery Project (it's a gift so I can't post it)
Long Dog Paradigm Lost
Teresa Wentzler Millennium (Planets only)
Teresa Wentzler Tapestry Dog (taking out the cat, inserting a black lab)
Teresa Wentzler You Were Hatched
Ornaments for each monthly SAL
Sampler for a friend.

Old Finishes:

Antique Airplane
Chatelaine Amethyst Mystery
Chatelaine Christmas Tree Mandala
Chatelaine Grape Thread Keeper book
Chatelaine Japanese Garden
Chatelaine Midi Mystery 1
Chatelaine Tree of Hope
Chatelaine Water Garden
HAED Bedtime Story (Sara Butcher)
HAED QS Frog Prince 3
HAED QS Buttercup Kitty Fae
Japanese Lady
Santorini
TW Stretch
TW Tempest

That should keep me busy for 12 months! I'm afraid to think about what other lovely designs I want now, or will discover in 2007.

A simple update

No stitching today. I had double the number of cases on my docket as usual and spent an inordinate amount of time with one case. OY. I was so hungry that I inhaled my food (seriously--it had to be frightening to witness[I think I completely shocked one of the attorneys with how quickly I ate]).

Then we had to run to Target to buy a giving tree present for a boy in foster care (one of the few nice programs my workplace still has) because the deadline is tomorrow. It's always fun to pick out something for some child and try to imagine that it might perk up their Christmas a little bit. It's an understatement to say that it is hard for kids to be away from their families at the holidays (and any other day) even if home is a really bad situation.

I did pick out some patterns to use for the Christmas Ornament SAL. I'm up to 14 just using the 2006 Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue and the most recent issue of The Gift of Stitching. I actually found more ornaments I liked in the Gift of Stitching and I highly recommend that you subscribe to this magazine if you don't already. When the rest of my stash returns home, I'll look for other ornaments and maybe I'll buy the Best of TW Christmas one of these days. I'd love to do her Byzantine Ornaments.

Also, Chas took Angie to the library today. She made an ornament out of pipe cleaners and beads which she is wearing as a bracelet. He selected a couple baby name books for us to use. One is Classic Baby Name Book: 2000 Names from the World's Great Literature. While it does not contain his favorite "Zaphod," it has such great names as Beowolf (for boys) and Bradamante (for girls). I'm still wading through the B's at the moment. The other books is a World of Baby Names (with more than 30,000 entries.

I have faith that between this and the naming competition, we'll find a good name for our little one.

I hope.

Too Pretty Not to Post

I stitched on the Snow Crystal at lunch today and while watching the Cross Town Shootout (yay Bearcats!) and made some excellent progress. Tomorrow, I may be able to use the metallics. I'm not sure what to do about the beads. The Delicas I was thinking of using may be too dark blue for the design. I don't want to use the beads listed by Martina (too pink). I may have something that is okay in my collection of Mill Hills and it would be good for me to use them. I was hoping for a Delica, but my collection isn't big enough yet.

So will this WIP become another UFO, waiting for the perfect bead? I hope not.



And in house related things:

The bathroom fan is better now. Apparently it felt neglected for the past three months and was letting us know that it did not like being left alone.

Also, anyone remember the yellow knockered fairy in the Dinky Dyes Oops packs last year? Okay, imagine that color, only more vivid, and you get the color our landlords painted the stairway leading to the basement. My husband refers to it as "discontinued yellow."

Completely lacking will power...

I started Snow Crystal last night.



My excuse is that I had everything I needed to stitch it with one or two minor substitutions--I'll use hi-luster metallic, I might changed the beads and I may use a dyed fiber for the rhodes stitches.

I haven't added the blue yet or the metallic, but you get the idea. As usual, the colors are a bit dark from the scan (the darkish color is a bright purple in real life).

As a suggestion to anyone starting this, I think that instead of the lighter violet in the center, some pale beads would be beautiful! I may need to stitch this more than once.

Pretty isn't it?

'Cause I have personality....

Found this at a Pink Diva's blog and thought it was interesting.

Freak- INFJ 33% Extraversion, 93% Intuition, 33% Thinking, 53% Judging

Well, well, well. How did someone like you end up with the least common personality type of them all? In a group of 100 Americans, only 0.5 others would be just like you. You really are one of a kind... In fact, I do believe that that's one of the definitions for the word "FREAK." Freak's not such a bad word to describe you actually. You are deep, complex, secretive and extremely difficult to understand. If that doesn't scream "Freak!" I don't know what does. No-one actually knows the REAL you, do they? You probably have deep interests in creative expression as well as issues of spirituality and human development. You've probably even been called a "psychic" before, because of your uncanny knack to understand and "read" people without quite knowing how you do it. Don't fret. You're not actually psychic. That would make you special and you'll never accomplish that. You're also quite possible the most emotional of them all, so don't take this all too hard. Nevertheless you most definitely have the strangest personality type and that's not necessarily a good thing. ***************** If you want to learn more about your personality type in a slightly less negative way, check out this. ***************** The other personality types are as follows... Loner - Introverted Sensing Feeling Perceiving Pushover - Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging Criminal - Introverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving Borefest - Introverted Sensing Thinking Judging Almost Perfect - Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving Loser - Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving Crackpot - Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging Clown - Extraverted Sensing Feeling Perceiving Sap - Extraverted Sensing Feeling Judging Commander - Extraverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving Do Gooder - Extraverted Sensing Thinking Judging Scumbag - Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving Busybody - Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging Prick - Extraverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving Dictator - Extraverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on Extraversion You scored higher than 99% on Intuition You scored higher than 99% on Thinking You scored higher than 99% on Judging

Link: The Brutally Honest Personality Test written by UltimateMaster on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Given that so many of us have received this result, I don't know how rare I feel. Or maybe the 0.5 are in the on-line stitching community.

I'm proud to be a freak.

Random Stitchery

I was hard at work on JG. I've finished the blue and the black of the border, added the red branches for the pines in the corner ornaments and finished the other half of the bridge at the top. I've started adding bamboo shoots. Pretty. I didn't want to post about it, because I don't have pictures to show yet. Maybe this weekend.

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I also worked a bit on Springtime Roses last week. It may be my only hope of having another finish in 2006. I would like to get to the dyed fibers soon, even if I don't finish it.

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This weekend was a general SAL at the HAED bb. I worked on Bedtime Stories of course, I added another full-ish row and most of two others. I love stitching this design. I actually even like working on the larger project (this is definitely a BAP). I may be able to finish the first page within the next week. It just depends on whether I switch to another project.

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It is impossible for me to have a consistent focus piece, as I've seen listed on other blogs.

I lack the "focus" part.

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I am just barely restraining myself from starting the Snow Crystal by Chatelaine. It is so very pretty, but it's big (compared to the other charts she posted in her Advent Calendar). I've picked out the fabric. I've gotten the threads. I have the beads or maybe I'll sub some blue ones from ECC. But I shouldn't start anything new. Really I shouldn't.

Right?

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I've joined the Christmas Ornament SAL organized by Nicki. Even if I only participate a few times next year, I will still have completed a few ornies. I don't really know what condition our existing ornaments are in (suffice it to say there will be even less decorating for the holidays than usual). Hopefully I'll make enough ornaments to give as gifts and still keep some for us.

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With the new Ornament SAL every fourth weekend, I'll need to revamp my rotation (such as the crumbling remains of my rotation still exist). I was thinking of theme days: Figures Friday (Japanese Lady); Santorini Saturday; QS SAL Wednesday (HAED); Martina Monday (One of my Chatelaines); and so on.

Realistically, it's probably best to have just a few specific stitching dates and then stitch whatever screams loudest.

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People are starting to talk about plans for next year. I'll try to look over my past goals for this year, and then post something for 2007 in the near future. I mentioned this on the Chatelaine board: I have a few new starts planned for next year, but I really hope to make 2007 the year of finishes.

The problem is that there are so many things I want to stitch.

Serenity Stuff

Your results: You are Malcolm Reynolds (Captain)
Honest and a defender of the innocent. You sometimes make mistakes in judgment but you are generally good and would protect your crew from harm.
Malcolm Reynolds (Captain)		70%
Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command)		70%
Wash (Ship Pilot)		70%
Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic)		65%
Derrial Book (Shepherd)		60%
Inara Serra (Companion)		45%
Jayne Cobb (Mercenary)		45%
Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic)		45%
River (Stowaway)		30%
A Reaver (Cannibal)		30%
Alliance		30%

Click here to take the "Which Serenity character are you?" quiz...


I really didn't expect to see Mal. I guessed I would be Zoe or maybe Wash, but not Mal.

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And speaking of Serenity/Firefly, how cool is it that the cast appeared for the cancelled convention anyway? The answer--very cool. Insert my typical rant about the cancellation of this show here.

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I don't know why there is a humungous empty space at the top of the post. I've fiddled with the code but can't get it to disappear. Consider it symbolic of the emptiness post cancellation or something. Really don't know how to fix it.

Random Bloggery

Appliances were delivered today. However, when our landlords hired an electrician to fix the code violating bits of the house, they didn't have him return power to the electrical outlet for the stove. And they also didn't have the switch for the overhead light/fan living room hooked back up either--the pulls for that fixture no longer work so we have one little lamp for the living room at the moment. Cathy, your eye is twitching again.

Our landlord is begrudgingly sending an electrician.

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I love the new rooms arrangement. It almost feels spacious. Just wait until we cram more of our things in though. For example, I still don't have my stash back--just my current projects.

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The basement looks appalling. I forgot to mention that in my previous post. The walls are not as black as they were. Now they are just a dingy grey, which is even more apparent with the lights and the new ceiling tiles.

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The appliances look great. The knobs for the stove are far out of the reach of little hands. Chas will be happier when he can actually use it though. It's nice to have new appliances. We bought our old appliances used and both Chas and I had to repair the dryer.

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For the first time, Chas couldn't go with me to the Doctor's appointment. The Direct TV people were supposed to come out this morning but they cancelled and did not come until I was at my appointment. We were both kind of sad about it. It was too late to try to reschedule the Direct TV though. Angie went with me. Everything is fine. The ultrasound and the quad check look good. My weight gain is on target (I've gained roughly 12 to 14 pounds). Of course my dramatic increases came in the last tri mester with Angie so I'm not certain that I'll keep within the 25 pound limit set by the Doctor.

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The Bathroom fan makes odd, rattling noises now. Angie hates it. I have to admit that I find it rather unpleasant. It does not make for a relaxing shower.

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I told my two judges about the pregnancy on Friday. One was very excited for me. The other one hasn't responded at all. That pretty much sums up how they each generally treat me. I just hope it doesn't bode ill for my maternity leave.

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We don't know where the screws are for Angie's bed. Another conundrum.

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I'm way behind with the baby names site. Sorry. Once we are more settled in the house, I'll update the website. One of the ladies at work was throwing all sorts of names my way last week. I have pages from her alone!

Marital Mystery # 4563

Why bring the printer for the computer from the apartment, but forget to bring some paper?

It makes for a rather frustrating morning (especially when the spouse is still asleep).

Let's not discuss the appalling lack of breakfast foods.

Or the fact that the cables weren't completely connecting the printer to the computer.

Ah well, snow crystal has now printed. I'm going to go forage for some food.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig...

We are back in the "cozy, little grey house." Thanks so much to our friends Cathy and Steve. They both worked a full day yesterday, then came to our house to help us move our furniture back to the house (since I am, at this point, nearly completely useless). Did I mention that the temperature was in the teens? They stayed until roughly 9:30 p.m. or 10:00 p.m. I don't know how we deserve such great friends, but I was thinking last night that there is really no way to repay them for all the wonderful things they've done for us. And they probably still like us. Thanks so much.

Angie is incredibly happy to be home. For most of this week, I have talked to her about coming back to the house to stay to prepare her and she was enthusiastic. Thursday night, she was talking about how we would go to the cozy little grey house the next day. She doesn't have her t.v. shows (the cable is still hooked up at the apartment) but she has been bouncing around here happily since yesterday afternoon.

I can still smell soot/smoke in Angie's room (which was never re-painted and the area around the vent looks disgusting--grrrr) and in our old bedroom (which is now the computer room/walk-in closet). Chas thinks it's in my head. I think it's just in my nose. I don't smell it in the other rooms. Maybe a little bit on the front porch too.

Of course the smell was disguised by the leaking natural gas odor. Darling husband tried to say that I was hallucinating that too. Mercifully, Cathy detected it too when she came in and by the time Chas returned with the food, the odor was so pervasive that even he could smell it. Somehow, the gas stove has been damaged and we can't find, let alone fix, the leak. We do like to eat so in addition to the new washer and dryer we need to purchase, we will also be adding a new oven/stove. Everything will be electric this time. In this area, electric has become more affordable and with (hopefully) two kids in the house, it would be better to have electric rather than gas.

We're now sleeping across the hall from Angie's room (the old computer room/study). She was thrilled with the arrangement when I showed her where we would be sleeping (more excited bouncing), but by bedtime, she really wanted me to sleep in her room. She eventually slept in our room in "the family bed." The fire definitely caused some regression in her behavior. I like the new arrangement. The only down side is that the room really only fits our bed and two small end tables. It was nice to have the bed up on the frame rather than just on the floor. I don't know why I need the elevation (other than it is easier to climb out of bed in the morning), but I do.

So on the agenda today: shopping for appliances and shopping for curtains. I do not know where our living room curtains are, or if they even survived the post-fire purge. If they did, they need to be cleaned and I don't know when the new washer and dryer will be delivered. I am not going to walk around our living room without curtains at night. No thank you. And we didn't put up curtains in our old bedroom because it was in the back of the house, where no lights shone in and no neighbors could actually peek. We probably should have had curtains to help keep out the cold, but in five years, we just didn't bother. Now that our room is in front, we need to block the light and cold.

I can honestly say that as much as we've outgrown the place, as much as it still (and likely always will) smells of soot/smoke to me, as much unpacking as we still need to do, I'm glad to be home. I had the first good night's sleep in three months.

That was rough

I went to work today. Coughed constantly. I had to send Chas to Gymboree with Angie tonight.

I don't want to go back to the doctor, but I may need to. I don't think I'm contagious. I think it's entirely asthma related right now. Lucky me.

And just a question: Are all human resources departments nearly completely unhelpful or is it just the place where I work? (I'm sure Cathy has an opinion on this subject.)

I wanted to stitch tonight, I just don't have the energy.

I'm off to sleep I think.

Sweetening the Name Game

At NEO Babble, my husband has added an additional incentive for providing the winning suggestion:

We'll donate $50.00 (U.S. Dollars) to the non-profit of your choice.

Yes, we are that desperate for help with names.

Mending and Moving

I am somewhat better today so I'll go back to work tomorrow. I hate taking more than a few days off because either things really pile up or the clerk who works with me will tackle some of the cases and over schedule me (she means well so it's hard to get angry; I just get exhausted). At the very least I can breathe. I'm still coughing and using the tissues with lotion fairly frequently, but I'm on the mend.

Today was the last day for the antibiotic and the super steroid. Thank goodness. I'm sure the super steroid is what I was on as a kid. I vividly remember that ghastly taste. Eeewww. I started taking pills for my asthma when I was four-ish. I gagged on the texture and taste until Mom and Dad resorted to mashing the pills in a spoon and mixing it with sugar and water until I could consume it. Yes I was a fun kid.

This illness couldn't have come at a worse time. We have some issues with our bank (a bill wasn't paid in October because apparently the check was stolen and cashed at a local branch); since the check was drawn on my account, I have to deal with it in person. We will be moving back to the house this weekend and we will need to buy a new washer and dryer immediately. So we have packing, shopping, moving and transferring and disconnecting services to do within the next few days. I also need to deal the my benefits package at work for next year by Friday. We're attempting to add one thing, and I'm not sure if the benefits counselor will be able to meet with me again by Friday.

Add in all the other unresolved fun surrounding the fire and potential litigation, mix in the holidays, and a few other major life issues that are up in the air at the moment and I'm tired. It will be nice to be home again, such as it is.

Naming News

Well, the suggestions are just pouring in. No not really, but we have received several nice suggestions. Thanks so much. I'm not sure how often we'll decide yes or no to particular names, but I've started a webpage to track suggestions and our decisions. You can also see the baby's first 3-D image here. It looked better on the screen at the doctor's office. What do you think of the banner--I made it from scratch thanks to Adobe Photoshop.

I've felt a bit bad that I haven't been charting this child as much as I did with Angie. I know that such behavior is typical of subsequent kids, but at this point Angie had a full section of my web space devoted to her pre-natal life. So this name game has inspired me to start up pages for the new baby. It's part of my 101 things in 1001 days website re-vamping goal. When the site is reformatted, I'll post links in the sidebar.

Baby News and a Contest.

We had the Level 2 ultrasound today. The Baby seems fine, nothing to indicate any problems. Coupled with the fact that our regular Doctor has not called us with the results of the quad check, it seems that we will have a child as healthy as can be with us for parents (Note to self: start therapy/counseling fund immediately).

We did learn the gender--if you check on the internet you will see that it is incredibly easy to see either gender at the ultrasound.

However, we decided we wanted to have fun with this information. After all, if all goes well, in a few months we will be existing on no sleep for several weeks. We need to take our amusement when we can.

So here's the deal:

We are not disclosing the gender until we come up with a name for the baby. Even before today, we were struggling with a name. So we are taking submissions for both girl and boy names. If we pick the name you suggest, we will tell you the baby's gender at least one (1) week before we tell everyone else.

Please note:

We are not accepting any "A" names because we don't want our children's names to start with the same letter.

Chas has sent the e-mail regarding this little idea (for which I have to give him full credit although I completely love it) to our families.

I'm waiting for the outraged e-mails and phone calls to start any second now.

:oD

December Stitching Goals

I would chuckle at the thought of setting some stitching goals this month, but the antibiotic and the super-steriod haven't kicked in yet, so I'll save my breath. I realized that I haven't set goals since September and I've only been stitching again for roughly one month. But I'll give it a try anyway.

1. Stitch on Japanese Garden. Finish the border. Work another half bridge or two. Stitch some PTB. Finish the red branches in the bonsai and pines. Finish one of the Cranes and worry about the black background later.
2. Work on Springtime Roses. I'm really close to finishing this one.
3. Work on gift for friend (shhh. Secret stuff here).
4. Work on Midi 1 (she's calling to me since the new Rennaissance Midi was announced for next July and she's been singing to me since the final part of Midi 2 was released)
5. Finish a page of Bedtime Story and start another one. Get to the wing if possible.
6. Finish Ballet Pigs
7. Stitch on GTK. Finish the inside page if possible.
8. Stitch on the Japanese Lady.
9. Stitch on Water Garden a bit. I really am closer to finishing. I just need to focus.
10. Stitch on either Buttercup Kitty Fae or Frog Prince 3.
11. Stitch a little on Santorini
12. Work on some bookmarks or dragons or ornaments--something small.

My accomplishments over the last month or more include:

1. Half a bridge in JG
2. Finishing the last corner ornament and zen garden in JG.
3. Nearly completing the blue black border in JG--I just have the bottom to stitch and add the PTB then I'll be done until I can do the special stitches.
4. Some stitching on the Antique Plane, Buttercup Kitty Fae and the Japanese Lady.
5. Some solid progress on Ballet Pigs--the end is in sight.
6. Roughly 70% done on the first page of Bedtime Story.

Not bad.

Yup. I'm sick

I have three prescriptions now because my doctor says that it is good for me to keep breathing. And they shouldn't hurt the baby, which is a bonus. One will make the baby's lungs mature faster. I asked if that meant this one wouldn't need a nebulizer. She looked at me, laughed, and said that with my genes that wasn't likely.

My doctor wrote so many prescriptions (7) she said her hand hurt--some were refills though. She's roughly my age and I really like her. She laughs at my dumb jokes regarding my health.

She said it would take at least 24 hours and told where she would be this weekend if I became worse. Hopefully I'll feel better soon.

Got it?

Stupid missing end quotation mark.....

I think it's fixed now.

Shouldn't try to change the template when sick.

Say Goodnight Holley.

Trying to fix my sidebar that somehow went wonky even though the code was right.

Grrrr.

Goodnight Holley.