Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

I am thankful for my family. For my girl, who is creative in so many ways, who tells me stories all the time and who is one of the great joys of my life. For my boy, who smiles and lights up my day. For my dear husband, who loves me, even though I drive him crazy.

I'm thankful for my friends.

I'm thankful that we are all in good health, or at least our version of good health.

I'm thankful for my health insurance and the job that pays most of the bills.

I'm thankful that I can laugh, even in times of great stress.

I'm thankful for my brain which holds treasured memories, care for today and some hope (and anxiety) for the future.

I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to be creative and stitch, even if I never finish things.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

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I did it again.

I signed up for two Love Quilt squares.

And yes, that is in addition to assembling the Quilt for the First Grade class project.

No I don't know what is wrong with me.

And don't get me started on how many new Chatelaines and even some HAED's plus all my WIPs and SWIPs are calling my name.

Apparently I think that there is an entire extra year in 2009.

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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Gratuitous Self-Recognition

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!

I'm thirty-nine today.

Seriously.

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Saturday, November 15, 2008

Autumn?????

I can relate to this post so well.

Especially now that we're under a severe weather alert and anticipating lake effect snow, which will go over me and plop down about two miles inland, but it is very windy and cold right by the lake. We already have a large branch down in our front yard.

I seem to remember Autumn lasting longer.

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Thursday, November 13, 2008

Bad day; pretty pictures

Just a rotten day at work. I was not surprised when Chas told me that the moon is full. Oof. I am really feeling like hiding under a rock. Nothing to terrible, just a lot of minor and medium annoyances that are pushing me too far. And I've had no down time at lunch this week. That just adds to my stress.

Here is a photo of the finished Stealing Oats by Brittercup Designs. I like the simple, but not cartoonish, lines. It is for a friend with quite a menagerie. I hope she likes it.



I am also posting my wip of Polar Lights by Chatelaine in anticipation of Chatelaine SAL this weekend. Of course it seems that there is only one other stitcher with me this weekend, but that is enough for a SAL.


Not much, but I finally acquired all the necessary fibers at the most recent Tour de Stitch so I am ready for anything. I think this will be my lunchtime project, even though I haven't finished the wedding gift from the August wedding. You can't tell from the scan, but I have turned the corner on the outside border.

Happy stitching.

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Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Good Stitchy Month

In the midst of all the hoopla, I failed to mention that I finished the infamous tooth fairy pillow the night before the election. I do mean "finished" finished--in pillow form and everything. Angie was pleased to see it as she has two wobbly upper teeth.

Last night I finished Stealing Oats, beads and all. I'm under a bit of stress lately so it felt anticlimactic, but it is pretty and done. I hope the recipient likes it.

So with two nice sized finishes, will my serial starter ways pop up and lead to a new start? Stay tuned--I am hearing the siren song of several charts in my stash, but right now, there are so many of them they are drowning each other out!

The Chatelaine Board is undergoing some restructuring to make it a little less overwhelming. I am trying to establish some regular stitch-a-longs to keep us inspired and to motivate new stitchers to join in the fun. Please check out the Olympics forum for more information but here is a brief glimpse of the SALs:

Weekend Edition SALs:

1st Weekend: Marvelous Mandalas--Mandala Gardens of any type--Mini's, current classes, unfinished classes, freebies, magazine designs and older Mandala designs.

2nd Weekend: Bigs and Smalls--Quilts, mini mandalas, band samplers, freebies, any of the three month classes whether current or old. This will also include the Tree of Hope.

3rd Weekend: Sumptuous Samplers--Just what it says, the Lights series, the Illuminated Manuscript, Heritage Sampler, band samplers or any of the sampler classes (including the small cotton samplers) and charts.

4th Weekend: Boxes, Baskets, Toys and Other Designs--Everything from the Designing Ladies Series (Unicorn Box, Stitching Leporello, etc) to JOB. You could also stitch ornaments or biscornus using Chatelaine freebies or tryouts from your older classes.

5th Weekend (when we have one): Everything goes! Pick a favorite, pick a SWIP, or start something new. Whatever makes you happy so long you stitch!

Olympic Edition Sals:

Olympic Games:
Sixteen days of stitching fun which coincides with the Summer or Winter Olympic Games. Medals will be awarded.

Olympic Trials: Themed or goal-setting SALs which appear throughout the year and may last for a month or more.

This coming weekend is the Samplers SAL and the first Trials, (With a Chatelaine Christmas/Summer/Winter theme) will run from November 19th through December 31st. There are only a few stitchers in both SALs so if you have a Chatelaine project that fits the themes, please consider jumping in the SAL so we can cheer you on!

I may have another happy dance or two this month. November seems to be a good stitchy month for me thus far, even with all the distractions.

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Saturday, November 08, 2008

November Random Poli Sci Thoughts

I am not going through withdrawal now that the election is over. I am tremendously relieved in both the national result and the fact that while, there will still be political mudslinging and misleading information, it won't appear at regular intervals on the t.v. or radio. I thought both election night speeches were very touching. It was nice to see John McCain be himself again instead of what he became for the sake of the party. Funny, since I sincerely believe that there are far more moderates in this country, than there are on the far left or right, I wonder if he had stayed true to himself, could he have won? One of those things we'll never know.

I was pleased to see the hateful lies (as opposed to the merely political ones where they lie about the candidates past record and current stances on issues) did not prevail. I thought it was an interesting choice to have Obama deliver his speech alone on the stage. It could mean many things, but I think it highlighted nicely this singular moment in my nation's history.

I have to say "good onya" to my friend who went door to door for this election. [I'm not an Aussie, but I can't think of a better phrase for her.] Neither candidate inspired that kind of action in me, but I'm so impressed with and proud of her for following her convictions.

This is an amazing time to witness and I am cautiously hopeful for the future.

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Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Election Day at Last

I haven't posted much about the impending election. Mostly because I am a bit disgusted with everyone this time. I nearly posted the following a few weeks ago:

Dear Candidates:

Stop Lying!

Historically, there have always been ugly campaigns. Actually, twentieth century campaigns were much more polite than the ones in the nineteenth century. Still, I'm tired of the blatant lies and the stirring of unfounded malice.

Yet here we are, poised to decide which way the country will lean over the next four years. Neither candidate is my first choice to be honest. Truthfully, neither candidate is my second choice. As seems to be usual in politics, the people who discussed substantive matters in the primaries failed to carry on to the general election. What remains are the candidates who inspire, and have substance just a bit on the back burner.

I suppose inspiration is a good thing. Hope is a wonderful thing. But for goodness sake, would someone please do something?!?

I know I sound a bit jaded just now. This election is truly exciting because no matter what happens, history will be made. Of course, I hope it is the history I select. I will be on the edge of my seat awaiting the final results. They say there will be a large margin of victory, given recent presidential elections, I find it hard to believe. I'm still not sure when I'll vote. The lines are predicted to be unbelievably long.

Please vote. The only wasted vote is the one not cast.

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