Cool

Your Score: Katharine Hepburn

You scored 11% grit, 23% wit, 47% flair, and 28% class!

You are the fabulously quirky and independent woman of character. You go your own way, follow your own drummer, take your own lead. You stand head and shoulders next to your partner, but you are perfectly willing and able to stand alone. Others might be more classically beautiful or conventionally woman-like, but you possess a more fundamental common sense and off-kilter charm, making interesting men fall at your feet. You can pick them up or leave them there as you see fit. You share the screen with the likes of Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant, thinking men who like strong women.

Find out what kind of classic leading man you'd make by taking the Classic Leading Man Test.

Link: The Classic Dames Test written by gidgetgoes on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Random Bits

Chas is holding Kian while he naps so that I can play for a few moments. Since I don't think I have time for a lengthy post, you are stuck with the following burst of random thought experienced over the last few weeks.

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Kian gave me his first real smile two days ago when I went to retrieve him from the changing pad. I think he actually gave me the first smile when he was two weeks and six days old (big smile when Chas handed him to me for a feeding), but I'm not sure. Oh heck. I'll count them both.

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Angie told me that she still likes to cuddle me. I'm so happy because she is getting to be such a big girl. She's always seemed so tiny, but I am certain that she had a growth spurt after I was released from the hospital.

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Does anyone else just love the Old Spice Commercial with Bruce Campbell singing "Hungry Like the Wolf" in his best lounge act style (you can find it on youtube--my computer shut down so I lost the link[sorry])? I adore it. It makes me smile every time I see it. It also intensifies my desire for the Adventures of Brisco County Junior on DVD (one of the first shows I adored that was cancelled prematurely).

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I have completed project number 7 in my 25 project challenge: A Black Lab Angel Puppy from Vermillion Stitchery. I started it three or four years ago for my brother's girlfriend and put it aside because I didn't like the colors used for the puppy. I still don't, but it still turned out rather well. I'm not much of an angel person (well I'm not much of an angel either come to think of it), but I thought that Tina definitely needed a guardian angel while she is starting this new round of cancer treatment.

I'm going to stitch a blackwork cancer awareness design and then finish them in a sort of fold open book for her. I plan to modify Judy O'Dell's Instructions for the Grape Threadkeeper Book. I'm hoping I can do this before Tina's Birthday in June. Yes I'm crazy with ambition again.

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I very often have no idea what day it is. I've been confused going backwards and fowards for weeks now. I suppose that is to be expected since I'm up around the clock and I'm on leave from work. I don't know how I'll adjust when I go back.

Looking at that last sentence I realize that adjusting to proper days is the least of my concerns upon returning to work. I'm really going to miss spending all day with Chas, Angie and Kian. I still have several weeks of leave so I'll just enjoy them while I can.

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Chas and I both took a quiz to determine which character from Coupling we were most like. He was Steve; I was Susan. How perfect is that?

I was quite relieved because I'm actually afraid that I more closely resemble Jane when left to my own devices (the absolute lunacy of her character anyway).

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We've done so much walking that I've almost reached my third shield at the Eowyn Challenge.

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I am really missing my Chatelaines, but I can't find a way to stitch them currently. They are so thought intensive and I can only grab a few minutes of stitching each day so I'm doing simple projects.

Mind you, that does not stop the Chatelaines from calling to me. Japanese Garden and Midi 1 beckon frequently and Polar Lights, the Stitching Leporello and the Japanese Box are begging me to start them. Even Water Garden, the Amethyst Mystery, Medieval Town Mandala, Taj and Convent's Herbal Garden pipe up every now and then.

I think the Chatelaines will be my at work projects. Unfortunately, that means Midi won't be done before the new Midi starts.

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I've been trying to grow plants from seeds with Angie this spring. The bad thing is that each time we put them outside, they die. The watermelon seedlings look as though some animal went through the pot and destroyed. First the Beans, now the melons and the pumpkins. Angie is going to be so disappointed. Does anyone have any suggestions on where I could find some established plants?

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I have put a few stitches in QS Ballet Pigs during every Wednesday SAL at the HAED board this month. I am hoping to finish her in time for me to sew it up for Angie's Birthday in June. Yeah. I don't know how I'm going to do that either.

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Chas and I are slowly coming to the realization that we may not be moving for at least a year. I just haven't had time to do much with the house search process. We may need to get a realtor at this rate because I can't see how the situation will improve when I return to work.

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Kian is awake and crying (he likes his mommy very, very much) so I need to go rescue Chas.

Some Stitchery Stuff

I have managed a little stitching here and there during the last few weeks. I usually stitch while letting Angie play in the bathtub once all the scrubbing is done. I also discovered that I could stitch the baby sling while holding Kian or while riding in the car. Today I finished the sling when Chas offered to hold Kian to give me a break (Kian's a bit uncomfortable today--Let's just say I've changed shirts twice and leave it at that [poor little guy]). So a happy dance for me this month and it isn't even an ornament! For those counting (and that would be me), this is number six of my 25 project challenge.

So first, here is another picture of my SAL Challenge piece after the May SAL. I added only about three or four hundred stitches this time. Maybe by August I will have finished the first page. The rate of progress with the full crosses is making me miss the tent stitching. Oh well, it's the journey right?

The next page is a bit more interesting so I'll probably stop posting pictures when I reach it. Unless I decide to go down instead of across for the next page. I need to pick up a few more threads for this page anyway to fill in some of those missing single stitches on the right side. I think it looks nice, even if it is just a bit of background.

Next is my happy dance!

Chas and I assembled this sling when we had Angie from instructions graciously provided at the Maya Wrap site. We used a soft canvas drop cloth purchased at a DIY store and rings purchased from a hardware store. What I did not do was finish the edge of the Sling. I had visions of a variety of special stitches covering five or six inches of the end in a variety of festive colors. Then I realized that the uneven warp and weft didn't really lend itself to that idea.

So this year, I pulled it out and planned to use Caron Watercolours in a pretty green or blue, but couldn't find my stash of WC in the post fire debacle. I settled on using my collection of Caron Wildflowers since I could actually put my hands on them. I still had visions of lovely blues or greens but planned to use just a simple button hole stitch. When I laid out my stash of WF, I asked Chas for his opinion. He picked the Sandstone WF (not any of my nice blue you will note). I thought it was boring and put it aside, convinced that I would pick one of the more vivid colors instead. After looking the options over several times, I decided that Chas was right and started using the Sandstone. Then I remembered that I hate the button hole stitch, frogged it and went with a simple Satin stitch. Today I finished the last few stitches and fringed the edge. In real life, it looks wonderful. I think Kian will really like being toted around in it. He prefers to be held rather than riding in his car seat so he might enjoy our walks a bit more now.

Ummm. Yay Me?

After the last post, because I seem to flit between serious and whimsy at any given moment, here is the whimsical, completely unimportant goings on:

1. I have made huge strides in the walk to Rivendell at the Eowyn Challenge since I've returned home from the hospital. We try to walk every day, weather permitting (and since it can technically still snow here through June in the Greater Cleveland area, I'm not always guaranteed a good day). I've picked up my second shield there (yes I know it isn't a real shield but I'll take virtual incentives when offered). Some stitchers at the HAED board are starting to have a weekly check in and I'll tag along with them if they don't mind.

2. I have stitched a bit. I'm almost done with the baby sling and I think I only have a few thousand stitches left for QS Ballet Pigs--probably not much more than 1,000 but I refuse to be so compulsive as to count them. Due to the health of my brother's girlfriend, I'm changing some of my focus projects this month. As one of my unlisted UFO's, I have been stitching a freebie black lab angel from the Vermillion Stitchery so I dug that out. I'm also going to stitch a Cancer Awareness blackwork freebie by Kristine Herber found at 123 Stitch.

As always, we'll see what I accomplish.

3. I am being really, really good. Not only have I not purchased the Tuscany garden mandala, or Chatelaine's current Anniversary Sweete Bag or her re-released Five Year Anniversary design, but today I did not purchase any of the new Celtic Designs released by HAED today. You cannot know how much restraint that actually took, especially since there is a sale on. Well, most of you are stitchers so you probably do know how difficult it was to resist a sale combined with new charts. I did add a few to my wish list though so that I can find them when I've completed the challenge.

4. In the midst of the excitement and exhaustion of Kian, this blog turned one year old last month so, ummmm, yay me!

Thanks for reading.

Vulnerable

Chas and I have received news that two members of our family are losing their battles with cancer. His great-aunt (who is actually only 60 years old--she's the youngest of four sisters) has been sent to hospice. On my side of the family, the chemo treatments for my brother's girlfriend of five years have not been successful. The doctors have not given up yet, but my brother is feeling very discouraged. I am still hopeful, but then I tend to have unrealistic hope in the face of the impossible.

We actually just received the news that his great aunt has passed.

I wish there was something I could do, but I am powerless to do anything other than try to be supportive.

And I had forgotten how vulnerable a newborn makes me feel. Even my large hatchling seems so small. I lost a nephew to SIDS eight years ago. I guess that adds to my vulnerability around my newborn. I remember seeing a meme floating around that asked (among many other questions) if you had ever been broken hearted longer than you were in love. Losing Lucas after having him in our lives for a little more than three months falls into that category.

With Angie, I was always checking to reassure myself that she was still breathing. It doesn't mean that I don't treasure and enjoy every moment I have with my children, just that Lucas is always in the back of my mind. My brother Jay told me that a person doesn't know the meaning of worry until he or she has children.

Kian is so beautiful. He has deep blue grey eyes and he hasn't lost much of his chubbiness yet. His hair was lighter than Angie's at birth and it is becoming lighter every day. Angie has been a little crabby at the division of attention, but she loves him and will give him kisses before she goes to classes at Gymboree. At the moment she is attempting to comfort him, while Chas prepares dinner and I type a post for the first time in ages.

May Stitching Goals

Just a quick re-cap on the April Goals:

1. Finish Midi 1. Nope
2. Finish the cross stitching in Parts 2 and 3 of MX. Nope
3. Finish another set of bridges in JG or a crane area. Nope
4. Finish another set of grey columns on WG. Nope
5. Make progress on the Tree of Hope. A little progress.
6. Stitch two ornaments for the Christmas Ornament SAL. Only managed one
7. Finish the page of my HAED SAL design. Nope
8. Finish ten to fifteen ten by ten squares on Santorini. Nope
9. Finish Stealing Oats. Nope
10. Make progress on the Chatelaine Christmas Mandala. Nope
11. Finish Ballet Pigs QS. Very, nearly, truly done

Technically, the ornament was finished today, but it was mostly stitched during the SAL. By golly, I'm going to count it anyway!

For obvious reasons (it is way too difficult to stitch while holding and feeding a newborn--and we won't even think about it whilst changing a diaper), my stitching goals are much shorter this month. Though, as is typical, they are probably all unrealistic as usual.

1. Finish Midi 1.
2. Stitch on at least one other Chatelaine.
3. Finish QS Ballet Pigs.
4. Finish two ornaments at the Ornie SAL.
5. Stitch HAED challenge SAL.
6. Finish Stealing Oats.
7. Finish the Baby Sling.