Another Work in Progress

Another quilt top

2011-03-20T10:43:00.004-04:00

Inspired yet again by posts at Crazy Mom Quilts, I finished my Dad's quilt. She had posted a love fest for Connecting Threads and then in another post showed her original pattern involving pinwheels.

This is a quilt kit from Connecting Threads (Indigos Around Lap Quilt by Kristin Gassaway), I can't remember the price, but it was extremely reasonable (I believe it was under $40.00 and perhaps under $30.00). There was plenty of fabric in the kit, and there was enough extra to cover re-cutting entire series of pieces I cut too small for the flying geese (my advice--never, ever cut your fabric when you are sick).

I put it away for a long time because I thought my pinwheels were not good. I thought they had shrunk too small to fit with the brown squares (another piece of advice---never, ever starch when pressing seams open). I bought the kit because I thought the colors will suit my Dad and I was tired of catching him napping in his recliner under a towel. I am not generally fond of this color combination, but I love the quilt so much now that it is finished. The fabric frays a bit, but it is manageable.

I thought I would need to re-cut again and remake the pinwheels. Looking at my pinwheels months later, they are, for the most part, fine though they aren't perfect. My machine did not like assembling the blocks and going through so many seams in the pinwheels, but again, I blame the starching, though I could be wrong.

As much as I disliked making the pinwheels, I love the flying geese. They were so easy to make (once the pieces were the correct size) and look great. I did change both the direction of the pinwheels and the direction of the flying geese to suit myself. In the original quilt, the geese fly counter-clockwise.

I think the movement of the quilt is great considering it uses only three colors: brown, cream and varying shades of blue. There are twenty one different fabrics used in the quilt top and another fabric used for the binding. Browns are not my favorites in general, but I love the brown squares. The fabric is so nice and the color is perfect. It looks like a yummy chocolate bar.

I also used Milk Chocolate thread by Connecting Threads as well and it looks equally delicious (think a nice cup of hot chocolate). I have used other Connecting Threads thread and it works well for piecing. It seems a bit thicker than other threads, but it is great for assembly. With my old machine, it created a lot of lint. With my new machine, not much lint. I attribute the lint factor to how the thread is pulled. With my old Kenmore machine, the spool was placed vertically and spun while pulled. On my new Kenmore machine, the spool is placed horizontally and the thread "unwraps" rather than the spool being spun. Is that clear as mud or are you following what I am saying?

Now I just need to make the quilt back and binding, then quilt and assemble. I may go to my friend's long arm, or I may try to do some straight line quilting on the new sewing machine. I think the pattern just screams for triangles don't you? I don't think I am up for quilting each block individually though.

I may need to make a pink and aqua version for my daughter. Once I finish all my other projects that is.

Look what I did!

2011-03-02T18:18:00.005-05:00

My checkbook cover has been falling apart since I received it. I was staring at it today and thought, "Enough is enough." So I followed a tutorial from crazy mom quilts and made a new one.

Ta-da!

Not perfect, but much, much better than the plastic one that was cracking. Best of all, done in an afternoon, even with two adorable distractions.

I think the colors are not fashionable at the moment, but I really like it.

Now to make a purse too....

I am a cartoon....

2011-02-22T14:23:00.004-05:00

I had been doing so well: A few weeks ago, I exercised every day, saw some weight go down. I felt great.

On a Tuesday morning I was leaving for work, the kids wanted to wave goodbye so I opened the blinds on the front window. Their cute little faces peering out, I took a step and thought, "life is pretty good." Unfortunately, I put my foot down on a patch of ice and slipped so that both feet flew out in front of me and I slammed against the concrete steps, then bounced to the sidewalk. I must have looked like a cartoon.

Everyone asked me later if time slowed down for me--nope, it was lightning fast until the moment I landed and could not stand up for several minutes while I waited for my body to stop feeling jarred from the direct hit my spine took. I am certain that parts of me went "SPROINNNNNNG" and those parts are not meant to sproing, under any circumstances.

As I sat there, in the cold, trying to breathe, I could only think, "Gosh, I hope the kids aren't scared or freaking out.'

And inside the house this is what happened.

My eight year old daughter calmly walked to the kitchen (which overlooks the backyard only) and said, "Daddy. Mommy fell down." Then she walked away.

My husband called after her, "Did she get up?"

Angie strolls back, "Huh?"

"Did she get up?"

Angie replied thoughtfully, "I'll go check." And wanders back to the living room.

She returns and casually says, "No. She's still on the ground."

At which point my husband races past her, flings the front door open, and starts to slip on the same patch of ice that brought me down. Fortunately, he catches himself or we would have had a pile of parents outside, in the cold, at the foot of the steps, and two kids alone inside.

At least Angie maintains her composure in the face of actual adversity.

For a few days afterwards, various parts of my body were in excruciating pain, from which I gather my nervous system was sending mayday signals randomly. And I learned that when you hit your spine, acetaminophen is too wimpy to handle the pain. I am okay. I had a mildly scary 24 hours in which my doctor thought I had fractured my spine and would need cement injected into the vertebrae. Fortunately, it's just a bad bruise.

The down side is that the gains I had been making stopped completely because I did not feel up to exercising. My doctor said that I could expect to be in a lot of pain for at least six weeks. Two weeks later, I'm managing a few sit ups, but I'm hesitant to yoga at the moment. If I'm really lucky, and Kian wakes from his nap soon, maybe we'll go to the gym. Maybe not.

I like cartoons, but I would really prefer not to be one!

Hopeful house plans

2011-02-05T19:19:00.004-05:00

We had a frenzy of cleaning in our home today as we expected our realtor, Sandy--who helped us purchase this home a year + ago, to arrive at 11:00 a.m.-ish to see what we have "done with the place." Well Sandy never appeared, no problem because now we are enjoying our clean uncluttered house. I had mentioned at Hooked on Houses that I felt we had done not nearly enough since we moved in September 2010. Our to do list is much bigger than our done and to get myself back in the groove of posting, I thought I'd share our done and to-do dreams.

Done:

1. Electrical work in the kitchen and bathroom. The previous home owner had put too many things on one [insert electrician terminology here]. Can't remember what it was called, but on one of the first mornings we were here, I started some toast in the toaster, stepped away for a moment, then returned to find flames shooting out of my toaster.
2. Corian countertops in the kitchen with built-in sink and nice shiny new sink fixtures complete.
3. Fixed the garbage disposal as it was apparently originally hung with a few wires and some hope.
4. Plumbing in the kitchen, the main line for the house and major plumbing in the upstairs bathroom.
5. Painted the master bedroom and ripped out the horrible carpeting to reveal very nice wood floor beneath.
6. Ripped down the wallpaper in the bathroom, installed new drywall, bath surround, fixtures and bead board, which we then painted along with the walls.
7. Installed a new vanity and fixtures for the sink in the bathroom.
8. Installed a new handrail and painted the stairs leading to the garage.
9. Removed above ground pool from backyard.

Not bad for a year plus, including six months of me being sick.

Our to do list is, of course, much longer. I'm sure that we will finish some things only to add more to the list.

To do:

First floor: Refinish the floors running through the living room, dining room, hallway, master bedroom and linen closet. Purchase new doors and door knobs for every room and the main closet. Replace all the trim around the floor and the doors.
Living room: Paint.
Dining room: Paint. Remove the counter cabinet between the kitchen and the dining room. Remove ceiling fan (which is too fast for over the dining room table unless we want to simulate eating in a windstorm) and find a replacement light fixture.
Bathroom: Cut, paint and install the last bits of trim for the bead board. Install and paint new drywall on the ceiling. Replace commode (which seems to be original)
Linen closet: Paint. Find a light fixture with a switch on it or rewire for a wall switch.
Angie's room: Paint (Most likely a pink and/or robin's egg blue). Rearrange to fit a double bed (formerly the crib) and give her toddler to twin (thank you so much Ikea) to Kian. Would love to figure out if her closet can be expanded.
Kian's room: Paint (currently green has been requested). Rearrange to fit the toddler to twin bed. Install a rack for his bathrobe etc.
Master bedroom: Finish ripping out the built-in desk. Refinish that area with board and batten and move my dresser into that alcove.

Basement: Install banister leading from garage to basement.
Long room: Install new ceiling and flooring. Figure out the heating situation. Finish putting things away and otherwise tidying.
t.v. room: Install new flooring. Maybe paint. Add actual door between workshop and t.v. room
Laundry room: Paint. I would love a stackable washer and dryer so that we could add a small cabinet with a countertop for folding and a place to put the soaps and so forth. Install new flooring.
Basement bathroom: Paint. Install new flooring. Install new sink and fixtures--perhaps a wall mount with built-in towel bar. Improve the shower (which is currently cement block with exposed pipes).

Outside:

Front yard: Get rid of the wheelbarrow with flowers in the front yard and replace with a stone or brick circular flower bed. Replace the wood retaining wall in the front flower bed with a stone or brick one. Obtain bench for front porch.

Back yard: Install square foot garden where pool used to stand. Lay stones between the garden sections. Remove the gigantic tree stump.

I count roughly 42 items on the to do list to get this house back into shape. For this next year, I would really love to finish the bathroom, the floors on the first floor and the trim. I'm hopeful that we will have a couple square foot garden beds set up this year. We were very lucky with the tomato plants we had at the side of the house and the back shed. The pepper plants were less than productive. I think the change for Angie and Kian will happen no matter even if nothing else does. They just keep getting bigger.

As lengthy as this list is, Chas and I have some major hopes for a big remodel in about five to seven years, so these are just the "simple" projects. Someday perhaps I will share our big, pie-in-the-sky renovation dreams.

Good Heavens!

2010-12-07T21:53:00.003-05:00

Someone posted a comment on my return. I was astounded to see that someone still checks in.

No photos yet, although my husband gave me a camera for my birthday so I may find inspiration to post something soon.

No stitching today because I had to bring work home with me. Maybe tomorrow. I wanted to finish a table topper and a runner for my hope chest before the in laws appear this weekend.

More realistically, I will spend the next two days cleaning.

Oh well, a girl can dream. Maybe I can stitch while the Grandparents shower tons of attention on the kids.

Me Again!

2010-12-06T20:53:00.003-05:00

Not that anyone is checking at this point, but I've felt the need to blog again. I had a separate motivation to check my blogger account, then figured that I ought to post something.

I had that silly H1N1 last year, and was sick off and on for several months. Then real life kept me hopping. I fell away from the boards because I've lost the links and my passwords and user names. Stupid flu.

But sometimes I just need a safe spot to post a thought or two.

I picked up some of my Chatelaines and done some stitching in Polar Lights, Water Garden and the Convent Herb Garden. Found some mistakes, and put away Polar Lights. Perhaps 2011 will be the year I finish the WG.

I even stitch Diamonds and Squares from TW. It is probably more likely that I'll finish that in 2011. It is so soothing and repetitive at this stage, because I haven't reached the viney part.

I have put all other HAED's away except for the challenge piece. I really want to finish it by June 2011.

I've also done some quilting. I am great at tops, not so great at quilting. Well, actually, not so great at free-motion quilting, but I am fine as long as I can quilt on straight lines.

Work has been horribly stressful, merely based on volume. The public tends to complain about how slow government can be, but truthfully, I've worked private sector and in the private sector, you have slightly more resources to handle the volume. I'm processing close to 1500 cases a year and I have had a clerk for about 3/5 of the time each week. Now I have a new clerk, but she is slow because she is just learning the area.

The kids and the husband are wonderful. Things aren't always easy, but we do love each other and feel so lucky to have our family. Most days, I wouldn't trade them for anything.

We'll see if this posting becomes regular again.

Everything is new....

2009-09-30T15:25:00.003-04:00

Well not really. The house was built in 1951 I believe.

Anyway, I have not been able to do anything crafty due to all the packing and moving and cleaning and painting and carpet removal and electrical work and whatnot. We are almost entirely in the new house--we have a few things to get out of the garage at the old place. We are also awaiting the arrival of some of Grandma Phyllis's furniture so that we can properly put things away.

But it almost feels like home--sometimes I can't believe this beautiful house is ours. I can't wait to get the kids play area set up and my play--err--craft area established. Chas's play area will take longer to establish, but we have plans for that as well.

I love that new house sensation.

Other new things:

One of my favorite cross stitch designers (Martina Weber of Chatelaine of course) has a few new designs in the works: a classical mandala and a peacock mandala. I have two thoughts:

1. I can't wait until I'm done with boxes because my hands are so dry that I do not want to stitch and snag all the silks.
2. I will need more walls to display all the mandalas. Or maybe I just need to rotate them. Of course it would help if I would actually finish one.

Also, one of my favorite fabric designers (Lila Tueller) has a new line and is having a giveaway on her blog. I love her Santorini line--lavenders, greens, pinks and olives (not the color--actual olives), and the new Eden line looks pretty as well.

I can't wait until I can start being crafty again.

Gone Moving

2009-09-27T23:17:00.002-04:00

We are eyeball deep in moving stuff to the new house.

Two floods + one house fire and we still have a lot of things (mostly books--how can we get rid of books? They aren't luxuries; they're bare essentials).

Here is my little tidbit to you: Pack things you don't like as much on the bottom of every box you store in your home. Then, when the flood hits, the things you least like are destroyed first.

What's that? Most homes don't flood regularly?

Oh. (so that is why the air quality is better at our new home.)

Anyway....

Thanks to our friends Cathy and Steve for putting in monumental work to help us.

My Dad has been up to help. My Mom and StepDad are here now too.

Thanks goodness for that. We have lots more to do, but it is ours at last.

Keys in Hand

2009-09-12T19:27:00.001-04:00

We have the keys.

The house is ours!

Excuse me because I have a lot of work to do.

I know what is wrong with me.

2009-09-11T00:08:00.004-04:00

Okay, well maybe not completely, everything that is wrong with me.

But I know why I am so stressed about this house thing.

Almost two and a half years ago, once Kian was actually born after our house fire, I remember I was still on the operating table and I looked at Chas and thought, "We did it. He's here. He's healthy. Everything is going to be all right." I thought we could ride off into the sunset, a happy little family with no big worries except needing a bigger home and the usual worries about parenting decisions. I know and I knew then, that life isn't really like that. It is full of struggle and setbacks in addition to the love and joy. But I wanted to believe that things would, mostly, be fine.

Then two and a half weeks later, we discovered his heart problem.

Now, I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop right now. I'm waiting for the bad hiding in the great good thing that is about to happen.

I hate feeling this way. (in the sense that I can't protect my family from everything and also that my happiness is tinged with some anxiety over some nameless fear that is baseless other than the fact that life is full of hardships and they happen at some time or another).

Holy Mortgage Batman!

2009-09-10T23:27:00.003-04:00

I hesitated to post this, because we're not quite there yet. But I think we will close on the house tomorrow and have the keys by Monday. We have been up and down several times in this whole process and, typical, we were up and down several times today.

When we woke up, we thought I would need to sign some things today and do the final close tomorrow. By Midday, it seemed more paperwork had failed to arrive where it was needed (we are an emergency rush so usually it takes much longer) so the closing would be shifted to next week.

By 5:30 and after many phone calls, we coordinated it so that we could doe everything tomorrow. We had to see the house for the final walk-through while the current owner was moving out (and I felt bad about that--but I think he really wants out quickly too).

So as long as I can get the cashier's check tomorrow, we should be good. I hope nothing else pops up to delay us. I hope nothing else crazy happens.

I hated to get pushy, but I really needed to just have the house transfer rather than remain on this roller coaster we've been on the last few months.

It has been such a rough few years. I became a little teary on the way over to the house because it is such a big wonderful thing that is happening. It is a little overwhelming.

SO we think we have the house....

2009-09-09T23:45:00.003-04:00

Stuff has been approved.

I apparently need to go sign some things tomorrow, but the actual closing won't necessarily be until Friday. Pause.

??????

And we'll squeeze your walk through tomorrow night.

{what am I signing? Haven't a clue, my realtor, has yet to answer that question. Apparently I'm to walk in to an office tomorrow to sign random things.

Our realtor, was great about showing us houses, but she has done a terrible job of explaining the process.

Our former neighbors told us that home buying was much simpler in Scotland (their point of origin).

My State, however, has perfected the art of making the process so random and painful that some of the excitement gets sucked right out.

I will be deliriously happy once we close and start moving in. I'm just more than a little confused. And a little annoyed that my very straightforward questions go without an answer most times.

State of the Stitch: HAED Case

2009-09-06T13:24:00.017-04:00

Well, as a reward for letting him play with the boys (college buddies) all day yesterday (read from before the kids awoke to just before bedtime), Chas has taken both children to the grocery store and I get some silence for a few brief moments. How do I spend my time? Not stitching--that would require clean up first. Not packing--that would be too much like cleaning up. Scanning. Yes, scanning.

I had been planning to post cross stitch wips by designer for some time. So sad that I have so many wips that I can do it this way. Or wonderful. I guess it depends on your perspective. I'll go with wonderful.

I chose HAED not because they are the fast favorites (I love my wips pretty much equally for different reasons just like my real children). Merely because my actual progress is so minimal for each wip that I can fit them all on the scanner bed, though not at the same time. So bear with me, brace yourself and buckle your seat belts....

First up is what I believe to be the first HAED I put needle to: Nadia Tate's Quick Stitch Star Fae. Still love the colors, but I don't think it has been in actual wip rotation since probably 2006 or so. I hate, loathe and despise stitching with that awful sparkly stuff listed in the materials. I started it and although the shine is lovely, it is too bulky for the fabric, which if I recall is 32 count. I obviously used half cross stitches as you can see in the outline of the wings. Not entirely sure how I feel about how that looks. Still the colors are pretty and the finished size with all the stitches in may cause it to turn out just fine. Several HAED stitches have very strong positions regarding the use of half versus whole crosses.

Someday I will finish it. Or maybe Angie will.

The next design up is Nadia Tate's Quick Stitch Buttercup Kitty Fae. I can take credit for helping to inspire this one as I had described wanting a buttercup fae in great detail. Turned out great for very personal reasons and I won the original ACEO. I am woefully uncertain about the hair and face, but many long time HAED stitchers reassure anyone who asks that the colors will be phenomenal when the project is complete.

Regardless, I do love just stitching Nadia's backgrounds. It is so pretty don't you think?

Moving on to Josephine Wall's Pegasus and Castle Bubble Quick Stitch. Stitching the solid color was very soothing actually. I am still using half stitches for this one, which makes the corner look odd. I had plans for fixing it.

But really, I should just have plans for stitching it.

Then I have Scott Gustafson's Frog Prince 3 (another quick stitch--I could comment on the misnomer, but I believe the fault lies with the stitcher not the chart). I started this one ages ago for Angie. When she was smaller, she called the princess "Angie" and kept asking when I would finish the picture of her with the frog.

sigh.

I love the image, but I loathe the confetti stitching, but it is somewhat more bearable by my use of the half stitch.

However, I am so very, very, close to finishing--relatively speaking of course.

Next is an out of print HAED by Sara Butcher (soon to be something else as I believe she is getting married). I am so happy I bought this one ages ago. It is my first attempt to use a whole cross. I dislike the whole cross even as I appreciate the fact that it does not distort my fabric (half crosses tend to pull the fabric in one direction--a problem I now handle by using Q-snaps when I use my half cross). The coverage with one strand in a half cross on the higher count fabrics is just fine, even for these darker colors. I resent the incredible amount of time it takes though. Still, Angie's face lit up recently when she saw this chart, so I need to get back to it.

Another full cross is next: Automne by Christopher Vacher. A friend saw this and admired it. I was grateful for the excuse to stitch it. I love the vastness of this piece and the knotwork. The solitary figure (and no I haven't reached it yet) speaks volumes. It is a lovely piece of art.

Page one of the chart is finished and I have moved on to page two. On page two, I decided to go to using all of one color before moving on to another color. I was hoping that this would help me avoid missing a stitch here and there. I looks great, but I don't know if my theory will work since it has been at least a year since I touched her last.

Finally, this next chart has been my primary HAED in 2009, a quick stitch of Citrine by Rachel Anderson. It is part of a stitch-a-long and I have been a most miserable participant: rarely posting and seldom stitching. I returned to my half stitching ways with this one on belfast linen. I love the large blocks of colors and came up with another ingenious way of gridding: changing thread colors for the grid of each new page. You might be able to see it in the picture. I have big plans for this design once it is finished. I had hoped that a SAL would keep me motivated to stitch. Nope. I was distracted by my new found love of quilting.

This list, I believe, covers every current HAED wip. I am fairly certain this statement is accurate, but let's just say I have some wiggle room just in case I find another long lost HAED wip.

I have finished only one HAED design: Ballet Pigs Quick Stitch by Sara Butcher. I still haven't finished it so that Angie can have it in her room, but the stitching is done.

Future State of the Stitch posts will include Teresa Wentzler and Chatelaine.

I will wander through the rest of 2009 as I please, crafting here and there as the spirit moves me. In 2010 however, I need to develop a plan to balance quilting with cross stitching and perhaps the occasional clothing-sewing.

because I'm forgetful

2009-09-03T22:23:00.003-04:00

Second Grade started this week--I finished Angie's supply bags just in time. But of course there are no pictures. Hubby made a snide comment (I hope they fit) and I cut him off by saying, Are you really talking like that about what I just spent my entire afternoon working on?" Then dear daughter saw them and started to say "I like them..." in that tone that indicates there may be a but lurking. I repeated what I said to her father minutes before.

She promptly said, "Oh no Mommy. I like them."

Sometimes gratitude is spontaneous. Sometimes gratitude is earned. Sometimes gratitude is learned. And sometimes gratitude just has to be enforced with a stern tone of voice.

Also, just in case anyone still reads my blog and recalls our discovery of Kian's heart condition shortly after his birth (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here): We received great news from his last cardiology appointment! He has had no significant change since his procedure two years ago. This is a really good sign because babies with his problem usually require multiple procedures in a very short time. He has tripled his birth weight and we have only needed one procedure. The Doctor was actually a bit giddy--how often do you see a giddy specialist?

This does not mean that he is cured. She described it as, "He has a defect, but no disease." We will go to yearly monitoring and just watch for obvious signs of trouble. We can also expect something to happen when he is a teenager--the next big burst of growth.

For now, we are extraordinarily grateful and sometimes I just tear up when I watch him play with his sister.

I'm such a goofball I completely forgot to post (well didn't forget--life just got in the way). But I'm on a bit of a posting jag tonight so I thought I should tell you all. If you're still reading.

Thanks as always for the good thoughts and support.

Being greedy.

2009-09-03T21:59:00.003-04:00

If you like me, even just a little bit, could you please go to this nifty blog and post a comment that I sent you ( Holley at anotherwip.blogspot.com ). I promise I'll do the same for you if you like.

I seriously desire this fabric line in the worst way and I am trying to be so very good with our move hopefully happening by the end of this month. My clicky finger has added it to many online baskets only to be unceremoniously dumped when another inspection/insurance/tithe to the realty company has appeared.

I'd ask dear hubby to do it, but he would probably ask me how I would fit in sewing on the new fabric if I won when I still have piles of fabric laying around.

Silly man.

I so rarely do this....

2009-08-27T18:01:00.004-04:00

I wanted to say never, but that would be wrong because obviously I'm doing it now or I wouldn't be posting about it. And it happens from time to time. I'm pretty certain I've written about it here.

I had a really rough day. We were told yesterday at work that we were moving today (not Friday or Monday as we had been led to believe). That launched everyone into an insane flurry of packing in two buildings. Then the movers arrived and moaned and complained (that isn't on my list to move. I don't know why, I told them it needed to be moved). My current understanding is that my stuff is in the other building, in the wrong spots (we didn't know where to put it. uhhh. the big freaking note I put on it didn't help?).

Imagine the ensuing drama and chaos typical of a move.

Then imagine: it's being coordinated by the government.

Then imagine that your husband is calling you with a few snafus in the whole home buying process (one of which turned out okay as a government reg was rewritten).

Then imagine that you are also trying to plan a retirement party for your assistant. That party being held tomorrow.

Then imagine you are still trying to do your job, because it must be done, although your office (soon to be your office no more) is in disarray and the monitor is over there, the printer is here and watch out, don't step on the keyboard and then people keep walking into your room to talk to you while you do your job....

Thud.

You can stop imagining--I think that is quite enough.

And now it is a few hours later and I'm home.

So that tall glass of chocolate milk and Bailey's Irish Creme prepared by my loving hubby is empty.

And I'm going to quilt! {insert evil laugh here}

Yes we accept-no we don't-yes we do.

2009-08-24T19:00:00.003-04:00

We were on a roller coaster last week--the short sale was finally approved, then the loan company pulled back and put extremely unreasonable conditions on the sale. After many phone calls from the seller's realtor, the sale was and is back on. It looks like we will close in September.

Chas and I have branched out to looking for paint and counter tops. Our home inspection on Saturday showed that we will need to replace the counter top in the kitchen. I seem to be drawn to the most expensive choices. Sigh. Chas will spend the next few weeks talking me down I guess. We will need to pick something that works for both white cabinets (currently installed) and natural wood (our eventual renovation). I love the darkest blues and Juniper in this line. What do you think?

As for colors, well, I think there will be a lot of blues. I hope our friends Cathy and Steve will still visit us--they have attempted to banish all blue from their home. There are so many beautiful colors and I have to choose. I can't use them all. Can I?

It's exciting and all very hard to visualize. Everything is happening all at once at home and at work. I really need a vacation.

It happened again

2009-08-16T18:44:00.005-04:00

We came home late from a star party at a local metropark. We plopped the exhausted kids in bed and began to watch something from the DVR. I was a little dozy so I stretched out on the couch.

I was certain I smelled something not quite right, but Chas brushed aside my concerns.

I went to check on Kian, who was fussing in his sleep.

The smell became stronger and stronger and I was certain I was not imagining that smell which was clinging in the back of my nose and throat, acrid and slightly burnt.

When I came back out of the bedroom Chas said, "You were right."

"What?"

"About the smell."

The dehumidifier burnt itself out. Thankfully, this time, the circuit breaker popped and shut off the power to the unit. No smoke or soot flowing through the house. Just a terrible burnt electronics and metal smell that lasted a good bit of the night. No longer sleepy, my adrenaline was rushing, so I managed to finish this lovely piece after viewing the damage (one dehumidifier, hot to the touch, with a few scorch marks).

It is by the Sampler Girl and is done with none of the suggested threads on a piece of Pussywillow Lugana by the gone and sorely missed Sugar Maple Fabrics. I love this fabric and so very much wish I had much much more of it. It is a perfect neutral fabric and is simply beautiful. My plan is to frame it for our new home. Hope should be a theme for everyone, but it definitely is one for our family.

More things I never thought I would hear myself say.

2009-08-12T18:02:00.001-04:00

Hubby gets a new catalogue.

He gets excited, "Hey, they have a sonic screwdriver!!!!!!"

He pauses and reflects for a few seconds then says, "It probably doesn't really work."

I look at him incredulously, "No Honey. It probably doesn't work."

****************************************

I'm not blogging much, not sewing or stitching much. I am mostly working in about seven dimensions simultaneously.

At work, I'm trying to wrap up my current docket by the end of the month. I have lots to do.

At home, we are waiting, waiting, waiting to hear about the house. The good news is that our offer is believed to be in the correct department right now. Sigh. I'm just hoping that we get some good news soon.

In crafty news, I have made a quilting plan--quilts I want to make. I really need to find the time to assemble the quilt for my clerk who is leaving in a few weeks. I made Love Beads by FunQuilts. It may be awhile before I work on curved pieces again. Or at least until I get a better sewing machine. Which, come to think of it, may be quite a while. Never fear, I have laid the groundwork for this purchase by complaining that I should have gotten a better sewing machine after the house fire every time I pull out my current sewing machine. Dear sweet Hubby has authorized the purchase once he buys his home brewing stuff.

I also need to make two zippered bags for Angie's school supplies. Apparently, in Second Grade, there are no boxes. I'm supposed to be using my fabric, so I thought this would be a good way to do it, but I need more time. Fortunately, school starts late this year so it will be two days after my docket switcheroo.

I'm having a bit of a rough day--work related--but typing this out has helped me remember that it isn't all bad.

I'm still hoping things will get better. Eventually, I will get around to posting project photos. That should brighten up the old blog.

Grumble

2009-08-06T18:31:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I think we need to believe in hell because we need to believe that people will be punished for their rotten behavior when there is no way they will be adequately punished in this life.

On Pins and Needles

2009-08-01T11:50:00.002-04:00

--We are waiting to hear about the house. We put in an offer three weeks ago, which the seller accepted but unfortunately, it is subject to a short sale (more is owed on the house than the asking price and the creditor must accept the loss). Not one but two creditors. Even more unfortunately, the second creditor sent the offer to the wrong department, which means they could reject the offer thinking that they are not trying to mitigate the loss but recapture everything.

--My hives are back -- gee do we think this is stress related. My doctor gave me a cream this time, which isn't really helping. And it's worse when my skin is in contact with something. Like a bed, or more commonly, my children. Sigh.

--I need to make a quilt for my clerk who is retiring at the end of the month. So far I'm still at the cutting stage. Can I make it in time? I'm still waiting on fabric I ordered too. Yikes.

More bad.

2009-07-18T20:10:00.001-04:00

Chas's grandmother passed away today. Looks like we will be heading out again soon.

Here is hoping that there is good news around the corner.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly: The July 2009 edition

2009-07-17T21:24:00.003-04:00

Cue Ennio Morricone.

The Good: We put an offer on our house. The seller has accepted but we are still waiting his bank needs to approve a short sale. Also, my brother married his fiance Tina Monday morning.

The Bad: Tina's battle against lymphoma ended Monday night.

The Ugly: The resulting sadness and stress has completely cut off any patience I once had and my parenting skills are at their worst in ages. At this point, I'm just hoping the kids have not been permanently emotionally scarred from my current mood.

Taking a break for some frivolity

2009-07-12T09:57:00.004-04:00

I haven't had a meme in ages. So I saw this one and thought it would be cute (and fast)

Five Things Found in Your *Bag/Purse:

1. Kleenex
2. post it notes with lines
3. lip balm
4. crayons
5. inhaler

Five Favorite things in your room (total stretch because our bedroom is fairly spartan):

1. my husband (thought he is in the kitchen right now)
2. children's books
3. my books
4. our bed
5. pillows

Five Things you have always wanted to do:

1. own a craft store
2. become a published author (and a good one at that)
3. make more of my own clothes
4. Be a good mom and wife
5. Have a superhero ability to heal people (well it didn't say that the things had to be realistic)

Five things you are currently into:

1. Quilting and stitching (must justify the huge piles of craft supplies)
2. house hunting (offer made, seller accepted, waiting for the bank [to which the seller still owes $] to approve the sale--all body parts crossed at this time)
3. Keeping the girl occupied so she causes less mischief
4. furniture hunting
5. Family & Home & Friends

In the extremely bad news department, my brother's fiance/wife had her last radiation treatment and was sent home from the hospital a few weeks ago. She was given only about two weeks and has outlasted that, but my parents called yesterday to say that my brother had called them out to the house as she was failing fast. When I called, she was sleeping. Yesterday I wasn't a particularly good wife or mom--my mood was a bit snapish. Well maybe more than a bit.

Chas's grandmother has returned to the hospital with additional heart problems. She was hoping to go to the rehab center so she was a little upset.

There are some major changes at work and I have to wrap up as much as I can before my job shifts in no more than two months.

Our plates and cups are overflowing.

Things I honestly thought I'd never hear myself say.....

2009-07-10T20:08:00.003-04:00

"No! We are not signing up for 'Man Caves.'"

Really.

Fingers crossed

2009-07-08T23:39:00.001-04:00

Good vibes needed please!

The house we loved in May after an open house went back on the market (buyers backed out because their dreamhouse became available).

Things aren't quite in place, but they could be. Just need a little bump to move over the edge.

So fingers crossed.......................

I itch, therefore I feel a bit grumbly

2009-06-29T23:37:00.003-04:00

Well the shrimp was lovely. Chas and Angie decided to have a treat so shrimp it was. Very tasty, prepared all sorts of ways, each just as yummy as the other.

That was Friday night, following a seminar at which I was a main speaker.

Saturday Morning I woke up, drove to some errands, glanced at my arms and noticed red bumps appearing.

Sigh.

Got worse, took the generic benadryl we have and felt slightly better.

Sunday, still red and itchy. Drove to see lots of homes with a realtor (More about that later). In and out of houses and the car. Hot, red and itchy. Arrived home, desperate for more benadryl, discover that our package expired in September of last year! (And our calamine lotion expired in 2005).

Today, go to work. Heavy docket. Red and itchy. Somewhat grumpy.

Call doctor. Make an appointment for the end of the day. The Doctor says, "So was that shrimp good? Are you done with Shrimp now?" She decides that the best course of action is a shot. In my posterior. The nurse makes me stay after for a bit to make sure there are no cross reactions. I reassure him and wander home. I also take one of the Claritin samples, but don't take two as recommended by the Dr. because I'm worried about side effects--but really do I want know exactly how much more red, itchy and swollen I could get?

I am now itchy, blotchy, grumpy and red. I don't think the edge has been taken off. The shot takes 24 hours to really kick in. Can't stitch. Want to stitch. Can't focus enough to stitch. I hope the treatment works, because this is excruciating.

Darn, delicious, delectable shrimp.

Hop! Hop! Hop!

2009-06-24T21:21:00.003-04:00

We have a bunny hanging out in our backyard.

First she was by the sandbox, near the stepping stones and the garage. We could still see the depression in the grass from where she must have been sitting there a long time.

Then she moved to the far corner when Chas came out to check the bug situation. But she stayed in the yard.

Sometime after the kids were bathed she moved closer to the house again, near the soccer net.

She's just sitting there. She seems a bit big and tired.

Chas thinks she is going to have babies.

We may have little bunnies bouncing around soon.

Now she is just nibbling peacefully on the grass and clover in the dark.

Popping up, err in, err, over?

2009-06-02T22:34:00.005-04:00

Hello again.

I can't promise I'll be posting more regularly, but I'll try. I've been very busy trying to find a house, not getting calls back form lenders, trips to the er and an mri, unexpected dental work for Angie, I did some self defense and Tae Kwon Do classes--loved it but had to give it up temporarily for financial reasons, had some very stressful times at work, Chas had some stressful news too and we're gearing up for the end of the school year. That splat you heard was me collapsing in a puddle of exhaustion.

I had a friend and her family over on Saturday (and if you like animal stories you should read about her adventures with Zip--it is amazing and touching). She mentioned that she hadn't seen any wips in a while. So I'm going to try to post wips soon. All my wips--yes all of them. Perhaps I'll shame myself into completing one. No shame isn't the right idea. Perhaps I'll motivate my serial starter self to complete something so that I can start something else. I plan to do it by designer: Chatelaine, HAED, Teresa Wentzler, The Sampler Girl and Everything Else. Doesn't that just give you something to look forward too? And as you and I scan the far outdated wips list on the sidebar, we all realize what a monumental task this will be. But at least it will be fun and pretty.

Since the First Grade Quilt has been finished and my most recent Love Quilt Square sent in, I have happily stitched on all sorts of projects. I've dug out some old favorites for the sheer pleasure of stitching. I've stitched on the Frog Prince and Bedtime Stories, on the Tree of Hope and Hope Perches. It has been fun.

I'm hoping to work on a few quilts this summer. Angie got her first big girl bed--so she'll get a twin size story quilt. I need to obtain some fabric (believe it or not) with mermaids in addition to what I have. I wouldn't mind some wizards and witches too. We are in a bit of a budget crunch, so I don't know if I'll be able to do it soon, but I'll just work with what I have first. I also want to make a napping or wall sized story quilt for Angie's first grade teacher who has been wonderful. I'll try to have it done for the first day of school so Angie can give it to her next year. I also need to do a quilt for my clerk who is retiring. Of course she picked colors I don't usually have so I don't know how I'll manage that by August, but we'll see. It will be Love Beads by FunQuilts and I'll need reds, yellows and blues. I have some blues, but not much of the others. I have some fabric, but I don't think it is enough to to a full size quilt for her bed--she may just have to be satisfied with one for napping.

And to leave you with a random thought:

I was mentioning to Chas that if we won the lottery (and I mean a really big lottery), I would have my own cable channel. And then when my favorite shows are cancelled, I would obtain them and put them on my channel so that I (and everyone else) could continue to watch new episodes of excellent shows (or even my guilty pleasures) instead of hoping for a dvd.

To date, my dream channel would have:

Farscape
Firefly
Journeyman
Pushing Daisies
Life
The Class
The Adventures of Brisco County Junior
Space Above and Beyond
Babylon 5
Earth 2
Deep Space 9

Oh there are others that are escaping me right now, but you get the point. What would you air on your channel?

You know it's been rough when...

2009-05-16T08:13:00.001-04:00

You find yourself sitting at the computer late at night with a spoon in one hand and a tub of chocolate icing in the other.

At least I didn't do it in front of the kids.

Psst--quilty goodness in progress

2009-03-23T19:37:00.005-04:00

This is what has kept me away from the blog (I mean, in addition to the kids, the husband, the job, the sick, the house hunting,...)

I know I'm biased, but I think it is adorable. Remember, it is based upon the "Once Upon a Time" Quilt by Fun Quilts (It's from the Modern Quilt Workshop book which I highly recommend). I love it. And this version is humongous. It could be a bed quilt. I hope they don't mind. It isn't just me right? This is really cute, isn't it? I don't understand why there aren't more of these quilts floating around the blogosphere.

I really love assembling quilt tops. We'll see how I feel about quilting.

I quilt, therefore I bee.

2009-03-20T23:15:00.003-04:00

I'm just poking my head in from first grade quilt land.

I am enjoying it. The quilt is not perfect, but acceptable for my first full quilting experience. For example, I think my quarter inch seam allowance is larger than a quarter of an inch, but I can't figure out why (beyond the obvious I mean).

I had hoped to post wips, but that obviously hasn't happened. It has been fun to watch it come together, flaws and all.

The top is nearly completed and that leaves the actual quilting process. I have a few questions if anyone can give me some advice:

1. The first large square is actually a transfer of the class photo. Cute idea, but I tried testing the image with a wet cotton ball and a lot of ink ran on to the cotton ball. The ink did not smear in the picture though. Do you think that I just pulled some loose dye, or do you think the inks will run if I wash the quilt?

Do you have any suggestions for keeping the dye from running or otherwise preventing a lot of staining if I wash it?

Should I wash it at all?

I have not attached the first row yet, so I can be flexible in my response to the dilemma. Should I try to immerse the photo square in water to see what will happen?

2. For the actual quilting process, I've had lots of thoughts, but haven't settled on a quilting style yet. The very popular stippling method won't work because I cannot quilt over the kids' squares. I will only be quilting the sashing (for lack of a better term) and the border.

I had thought to just stitch straight lines from one border edge to the other. However, I do not trust myself to sew a perfectly straight quilting line.

Then I thought I would just stitch inside the story square borders about one eighth of an inch in from the seam. When I told a fellow crafty lady at work, she freaked out that I would have all sorts of "weak stitches" throughout the body of the quilt (not protected by starting and ending under the binding). I thought it was a bit of an overreaction because I intended to secure my stitches. I've seen lots of quilts in which the actually quilting centers around elements in the quilt, rather than just running to and from the edge. Am I missing something?

Then I thought (still missing the above point completely) that maybe I should combine the ideas: quilt within the edge of the story blocks and run a slightly wavy line (to match the wavy lines on the binding) from edge to edge within the sashing, but not crossing over my small story squares.

Any suggestions?

I know a picture would be helpful. I'm really tired at the moment so I am headed to bed. If I can add a photo in the a.m. I will try.

The quilt is based on the Once Upon A Time Quilt by FunQuilts. I will be doing this quilt again very soon for both kids. Once I've finished the quilt, I need to buckle down and do my next love quilt square though--it is due May 1st. Yikes! At this rate my Chatelaines will be waiting until May.

Nary a February Unscathed

2009-02-25T23:14:00.004-05:00

My husband has always hated February. Unpleasant stuff just seems to happen in that month. I'm sure other families have a particularly bad month, ours is February.

Warning--this post is not for the faint of stomach.

Last week Angie announced that her ear hurt--one trip to the doctor later we have an ear infection and pink antibiotics
Friday night, I look at Kian and see yellow goop in his eyes--one trip to the doctor later, we have pink eye and eye drops that Kian does not enjoy.
Saturday Morning (wee tiny early hours) Kian awakens vomiting, then hourly for the next several hours. One call to the nurse hotline and we are reassured that a trip to urgent care is not necessary. There is a nasty g-i bug rambling around. We're told it will get worse when the intestinal part kicks in. Oh and by the way, it is "highly contagious." Dandy.
I will not describe Sunday to you, except to say that Mommy and Kian had many clothing changes throughout the day. Sigh. The other thing I will tell you is that giving a child small sips of breastmilk directly from the source is very, very tricky. And regularly results in one very perturbed and expressive child.
Monday, Angie appears fine so she goes to school. I am weak from the nearly 24 hour care of Kian and feel the twinges of something g-i-ish so I stay home. Angie comes home from school pale, goes for a nap, and vomits over a large portion of her bed.
Monday night/wee early Tuesday morning, it is now my turn to join in the family fun. By daylight, I am so weak that I need to ask Chas to bring me things as I float in and out of consciousness.
Wednesday, still weak and having consumed no solid food, Angie and I remain home from school and work.

I will attempt to go to work tomorrow; we'll see if I am successful.

I was doing well on the quilt until we were hit with the various illnesses. I thought it wise to stop amidst the raging fluids though. Hopefully, I can get back on track this weekend. I couldn't bear it if I didn't get Angie's Class project finished in time.

In other news, I looked at a house this weekend. It is in our price range, but needs a lot of work. Realistically, everything in our price range will need work or is in not such a great neighborhood. I'll take work over not such a great neighborhood. I think Chas would like to hold out for little to no work and nice neighborhood because, as he reminds me, we just aren't that handy. The house has some quirks (like an attached garage that has no entrance into the home?????) and we would definitely need a home inspection. But it is full of possibility and may be a good chance for us to get a home this year.

Stay tuned and keep your fingers crossed. We need a lot of things to fall into place for this to happen. And February just isn't our month.

Just to let you know....

2009-02-11T22:32:00.003-05:00

I'm still here.

I have been in the midst of all sorts of things: First Grade Quilt (fabric purchased, cutting mostly done, assembling bits started), then Chas's Grandpa died, some discovery in our personal litigation, a Cinderella Ball for Angie and Chas (no I am not kidding), then we had all sorts of sick, car trouble (both cars) and more First Grade Quilt stuff.

Roll into all that the fact that this is Chas's busy work season and you have precious little time for much else here.

I did play along in the first HAED SAL in January but I still need to scan that in. Sigh.

So much fun stuff so little time.

I hope you are all well.

Sounds like my kind of place...

2009-01-03T21:44:00.002-05:00

I just found this link at the Dinky Dyes BB. I will be very interested to see what happens when it opens.

I'm at a bit of a loss tonight. The kids are in bed. I was in the mood to play Civilization with the discs I bought at a closing Circuit City, but I discovered that I bought the expansion pack which will be really cool, when I actually own the game it expands. {sigh}

I should work on the first grade quilt for a bit (lots of cutting to do), but I kind of want to cross stitch. But I don't know which project is calling me.

I'll go cut for a while and if the kids stay down, maybe I'll find a small project to stitch.

And a query for you quilters: Do you always pre-wash your fabrics? I know I should, but our basement is so cold. If you do, do you throw the fabrics in the dryer?

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T18:21:00.006-05:00

I hope everyone had happy holidays. Ours were wonderful, time spent in the hospital aside and even that had a good result.

I had one late 2008 finish yesterday--my first of two Love Quilt Squares. Please forgive the scan--I'm still working out the kinks on the new computer. I just realized that the scanner and camera wizard I depended on and the Adobe Photoshop I loved are not on the new computer. The charts were taken from parts of patterns at Ludivine's blog. I used DMC 153, 340, 341, 553, 554, 600, 603, 604, 963 and 3689. I hope it makes the recipient happy. Angie thought it was pretty so I'll need to make her something similar someday.

2008 was not as productive as 2007. I didn't finish a single humbug although I started many. I had a few nice finishes, but my volume was down as I tried to juggle work, home and hobbies.

I think 2009 will be the year of the quilt as I focus on Angie's school project for the first three months. I will take some time for SALs at the Chatelaine and HAED message boards, but I have lots of lovely fabric to make quilts. I've seen lots of lovely modern quilts that I am itching to try. My hope for the future is that I finish one quilt per year in addition to my other hobbies.

As for cross stitch, I'm doing the new Challenge at HAED, with the hopes that the finished design will go to a charity project. I'd like to start the new Chatelaine Hanging Gardens of Semiramis (since it was my suggestion) and the new mini mandala non-mystery (it has trees--a favorite motif of mine). I still have one more Love Quilt Square, but that isn't due until May, so it will be a lunch and travel project. I'd like to finish the Wedding Present and the skulls projects. I'm not sure what else 2009 has in store for me cross-stitch-wise. I'd like to get back to the Spanish Sampler, Polar Lights, and start Paradigm Lost.

More than anything, I'd like to find and buy a new, slightly larger, home in 2009. We have truly outgrown our cozy little gray house, but it is incredibly difficult to get loans in the current economy. Hopefully, 2009 will be our year. as long as we can stay together, mostly happy and healthy, I guess it is all good.

I hope 2009 is good to all of you.

What a Day (or how I spent my winter vacation)

2008-12-30T22:24:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to share a bit of good news with those of you still reading.

Last month was one of Kian's regular heart monitoring visits. Although I had hoped differently, he wanted absolutely nothing to do with being in a dark room with a stranger for an echocardiogram. Not even the Backyardigans could stop him from howling the minute the technician entered the room. Such behavior is typical of a 19 month old. Still, I had hoped he would be miraculously calm just so we could avoid a trip to the hospital for a sedated echo.

So today was the big day. I was up at roughly 3:30 a.m. to be certain Kian nursed one last time before 4:00 a.m. I had a quiet morning to myself while I got ready. We took Angie to an early morning play date with a Karate friend (I am everlastingly grateful to her mom for volunteering to help us with Angie) by 6:00 a.m. and Chas, Kian and I were at the hospital by 6:30 a.m. to go to the Pediatric Sedation Unit.

The Nurse gave us a brisk run down of what to expect then rubbed some numbing creme on Kian's hand and foot. The sedation used on Kian today is the same type used in war zones to treat then move the soldiers--it is really fast acting and gets out of the system quickly too. The best part was that we would be with Kian the entire time and he would remain in the same room throughout all stages of the procedure. She left to retrieve some toys which kept Kian reasonably amused but barely distracted from the numbing creme, which he tried to reach by lifting the band aid every so often. A Child Life Specialist came in to give us more details about what to expect. The Anesthesiologist arrived and told us to be prepared for certain physical reactions. ome parents can be disturbed by how quickly the child drops off so the hospital did a nice job of making us comfortable by having everyone who entered the room give us information that built upon what the previous person said. I'm sharing here so that I don't forget, and to inform any other parent in a similar situation who might happen to wander here.

Basically, we were told that once the drug went through the IV, Kian would lose consciousness in a matter of seconds. The child may cry and the pitch of his cry changes just before he completely loses consciousness. The sedative may burn so they also add lidocaine, which may or may not relieve the burning sensation. The sedation process takes approximately 30 seconds and he would truly be awake one second then asleep the very next. We were warned to becareful because the child may collapse in one direction and many unprepared parents have been cracked in the face with the full force of their sedated child's face. The child's eyes may remain open and there would be rapid eye movement whether the eyes were open, partially open or closed because the child is asleep. The child may also have some involuntary movements for a time. The Anesthesiologist and a special anesthesiology nurse would monitor Kian's blood oxygen levels, pulse and blood pressure throughout sedation. A towel would go under his shoulders to ensure that he was receiving maximum air and he would have oxygen tubes. We were told that once the IV was turned off, Kian would regain consciousness in about 15 minutes. As probably every parent before me, I said I'd like a little of that sedative to take home. The Nurse quipped back, "It will cost you."

Once the numbing creme took effect, nurses arrived to insert the IV needle. As you can imagine, Kian was not pleased with this, especially when they taped his hand to a cloth covered foam board. He did try to karate chop it off after they left and he pawed at it quite a bit. I gently and repeatedly brushed my hands over his chest and belly and that seemed to keep him calm.

At 8:00 a.m. the echo tech arrived and the Anesthesiologist returned for action. I held Kian as they prepared the sedative and added it to his IV. He screamed in pain and my mind checked off that this was probably due to the burning sensation. Chas came up behind me and enfolded me and Kian in his arms while giving me back support. Within seconds, the pitch of Kian's cry changed, the nurse said, "There we go" and Kian slumped down completely with his next breath and stopped crying.

I laid him down on the bed, eyes partially opened, and the tech started the echo. My hands never left Kian--I touched his head, his hair his shoulder. I made soothing noises when he briefly fussed in his sleep--mostly for my own sake I think, since I'm sure he couldn't hear me. It suddenly hit me that something might be wrong, although we had expected that this echo would just confirm that there had been no changes since the valvuloplasty.

The cardiologist arrived to review the images captured thus far. He asked for some additional images, and the tech said, "you want that even though it's not stenotic?" I wracked my brain to remember what that word meant, but I had been awake for six hours on very little sleep so I was starting to feel a bit woozy myself.

The Doctor finally indicated that there has been no change since July of last year. He said there is some slight leakage, but nothing dangerous. The heart has not thickened (that would be the stenosis issue duh) any more and the aorta is not blocked--actually, the doctor said that his (the doctor's) aorta was probably more significantly blocked as a healthy adult than Kian's aorta. Kian's blockage was identified in the echo at a 7 and the Doctor said they don't worry until it gets around 40. Also, what they thought was a slight hole between chambers last year (which no one told us about at the time-grrrr) has appeared to close. We saw the valve directly and were told (for what we both believe to be the first time), that Kian has the outlines of three flaps, but two of them fused together creating the bi-cuspid aortic valve.

Really, as exhausting as it was, the procedure was confirmation that Kian is doing well at this time, though we still need to monitor, we may not need to do so as intensively as we have been doing. Yay Kian and yay us.

They took Kian off the sedation and he woke up immediately, although he needed my arms to support him for a while. And he willingly rested on the pillow while we changed his diaper (a big difference from the olympic wrestling matches of recent diaper changes).

Kian played with the pedialyte and didn't really drink it. The Nurse said it was okay to breastfeed anyway, however, Kian, refreshed from his deep nap, was more in an exploring frame of mind. He finally nursed for a few minutes and we alerted the nurses that we were successful. He walked out of his room on his own, then I carried him down to the toy bin. He did not want the pelican, the spider, the bears or the duck. When I mentioned the Koala, he pointed at it and smiled, so Kian took home a mini gray koala beanie baby.

We went to a local bakery and ate a small breakfast (by now it was 10:00 a.m.) Chas had a cinnamon croissant, I had an oatmeal and raisin scone and Kian had a toasted wheat bagel. We all shared but Kian seemed most fond of the bagel and my scone (Excellent taste the boy has--those were my favorites too). He sat on the wide window ledge, rather than the highchair I had grabbed. Other than the hospital tags on his ankle, casual observers would have not guessed that he had just been released from the hospital having been sedated only an hour before. He was cheerful and curious and had a healthy appetite.

We retrieved Angie from her playdate and arrived home. Chas and I had a brief doze this afternoon and that helped refresh us. Kian has been a bit more clingy than usual, and a bit more moody, but he is mostly himself tonight. Hopefully, he will be completely normal again tomorrow. Kian was quite a trooper today and I'm so proud of both he and Angie. Angie lost her tooth tonight--she was already in bed, but I think she was still wobbling it. She got up and her dad finished the job--out came a lovely little tooth. I think there is still enough time for the tooth fairy to come here tonight.

Getting up so early and having so many medical people working on Kian has given a surreal cast to the day. It's strange to acknowledge, that in some ways, this is our normal, though it isn't really normal at all.

I am deeply grateful to everyone who helped us today. We are tremendously blessed.

Post in which I explain what happened this time....

2008-12-14T18:27:00.005-05:00

So we went to my Mom's for Thanksgiving this year. Had a nice time. My oldest brother and his girlfriend came over Thursday evening--she's still doing well. My middle brother brought his family over from the Dayton area Friday night.

We returned home Saturday so that we could accomplish somethings and we could generally recover. After mostly unpacking I turned to my computer and pressed the giant "on" button.

Lights flashed, there were some whirring noises, then it fizzled to silence. I tried again with the same result.

Without warning, my computer was gone.

So, new computer jumped to the top of the must get items and I received an unexpected Christmas present early. Sort of. All the components shipped separately and the actual computer arrived earlier this week. Chas and I were under a strict deadline on another matter, so today was the day for the new computer to be assembled. After I cleaned the debris laden area surrounding my computer desk that is.

Several hours later, it is done.

And it is beautiful. {insert contented sigh here}

So that is what happened, this time.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T23:57:00.001-05:00

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!

I did it again.

2008-11-26T20:08:00.003-05:00

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.

Gratuitous Self-Recognition

2008-11-19T17:55:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!

I'm thirty-nine today.

Seriously.

Autumn?????

2008-11-15T23:54:00.002-05:00

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.

Bad day; pretty pictures

2008-11-13T19:58:00.007-05:00

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.

Good Stitchy Month

2008-11-11T11:03:00.005-05:00

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.

November Random Poli Sci Thoughts

2008-11-08T10:45:00.000-05:00

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.

Election Day at Last

2008-11-04T00:01:00.000-05:00

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.

Pssst! Just between us....

2008-10-08T17:49:00.002-04:00

I very, nearly quit today.

I'm still not entirely certain how I talked myself out of it.

Oh dear, what have I done now????

2008-10-03T20:44:00.000-04:00

Angie's class project is a quilt. The kids draw on squares, then it is assembled into a quilt and auctioned at a fund raiser for the school.

Guess who volunteered to assemble the quilt?

I was feeling pretty confident. But now I'm sort of panicking.

I can do this right? I can sew. I had quilted a queen size quilt twenty years ago.

I don't need to pick the theme, the Homeroom Mom is doing that.

I can do this? *Gulp* Right?

(Moral support would be most excellent and tremendously appreciated at this time.)

Just as a funny aside: When I told Chas I volunteered, he looked at me for moment then commented, "Well, it's coming out of your cross stitch time...."

Pretty Word Cloud

2008-09-22T21:32:00.000-04:00

Very pretty. I am amused by some of the juxtapositions ("really, just, need" and "started, finish"). I love the colors--it makes me think of fall.

I really wish I could figure out how to create a similar word cloud for my labels. I've looked around the internet, but I can't seem to find what I envision in my head. I'll need to spend some time sorting out the code.

I have scads of blog tweaking to do: deleting links, adding new favorites, blinkies, posts, photos....

Of course I don't seem to have enough time to tinker with the blog lately. Maybe on another day.

So maybe it will be once a month

2008-09-14T11:33:00.009-04:00

Wow. First grade is really keeping us on our toes here. She has homework and between that, karate and Chas's work season starting up, I've had precious little stitching or blogging time. I'll try to do better, but wow, I make no promises.

I managed to do a little at the Chatelaine Stitching Olympics. I managed to reach two of my over 15 goals. Of course I set lots of goals so that if my attention wanders, I'm still working on a project. But I did manage to earn a silver medal, so hooray me.

I finished one of those everlasting crane medallions on Japanese Garden. I decided to stitch the entire medallion over one, instead of part over one and part over two as charted. I think the finished product looks beautiful, but good heavens it takes ages to do. One down, *erp* three more to go. I hope to finish this some day. I will say that completing one medallion really inspired me to do the rest of them. I have started the second medallion, I'm going to try to do most of the black first to see if that causes the single stitches to lay better. Stormy said not to wait until the end to finish the medallions, boy was she right. I think I would be completely discouraged if that was the only part I had remaining. Somehow, now that one is done, doing the remaining three is not as intimidating since I can mix it with stitching other parts too.

I also managed to to finish the corner ornaments in the Tree of Hope. I love this design. I love stitching trees. I want to find a silk sub for the 3371 in the tree itself, but meanwhile, I'll resume focusing on the silk bits of the tree. Love it, love it, love it. I love all my Chatelaines really.

I also stitched a bit on Watergarden, the Christmas Mandala (freebie) and Polar Lights during the CSO. I am still being good and not joining all the classes screaming at me. I still want a house and I'm staying focused on that. Of course, I have roughly four or five unstarted Chatelaines. Hmmm quick count:

St Petersburg
Celtic
Midi Mysteries 2 and 3
Autumn
Stitching Leporello
Japanese Octagon Box
Illuminated Medieval Sampler
Christmas Mystery (can't remember which one though)

Okay, more than I thought. So really, I don't need to buy any more--darling husband would concur. I have the stuff to start the Leporello, JOB and Autumn right now if I wished. And I could start either of the Midi Mysteries if I made a fabric decision from my stash. I want to join some classes, but I should really finish something first. I'll probably grab the latest Midi before December so that I can maintain my set, but I will exercise restraint beyond that.

This month I've been focusing on Angie's tooth fairy pillow and on the Frog Prince 3 by HAED. A little Angie centric, but that's okay. I want to start one of the Lisa Victoria dragons in my stash and a Sara Butcher design is begging to be started too. I'm also thinking about doing some humbugs for the Holiday Store at school. I have a wedding present that is over due and some Halloween gifties that need to be finished. And I'm wondering if I should make a dress for Angie to wear in the holiday concert and if so, I should start it now so that there is a chance I'll finish it.

I'm full of ideas--I just need to start and finish a few.

Hallooooooo! Anyone still reading?

2008-08-06T19:54:00.003-04:00

Sorry about that, was distracted by RL for quite a bit of time.

First there was the appointment (Kian is good--thanks everyone).

Then we rolled into wrapping up the school year and preparing for Angie's birthday.

Then we all caught a variety of illnesses the duration of all family ickiness lasted roughly a month.

Then Hubby's work season started picking up.

I owe some posts that are drafted hereabouts, but that will be for another day.

I started poking around the world wide stitching world on the net a few weeks ago and what did I find?

1. HAED's home (the owner's house) was destroyed by a tornado--luckily no one was hurt beyond the stress you would expect. Awful.
2. Mindy of SMF was robbed through the internet and abruptly closed up shop forever or at least so it appears. Terrible.
2. Dragon Dreams will cease producing cross stitch patterns on a regular basis and San Man has as well. Good Heavens.

So in the interest of generating a little fun, I revived the Chatelaine Stitching Olympics for the summer games. If you have Chatelaine projects and you want to join in the fun, you only have until the end of the night to sign up.

I'll try to post more than once every two months. Just wait until you see some of my stitching WIPS.

Happy Sixth Birthday Beautiful Girl

2008-06-21T06:20:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday Angie.

You amaze and delight us, our wonderful child. Your baby brother just adores you. Stay kind and loving and happy.

You brighten our days.

Some Anxiety.

2008-05-20T22:37:00.003-04:00

For the past six months, I've puttered along, trying to push the mommy worries aside and just enjoy the kids.

Time's up--Friday we face our next cardiology appointment. I don't have much hope that he will be calm during the ultrasound. So we may be going for a sedated ultrasound/ECG at a later date. Mommy dread commences.

He's so busy and eager and full of joy, I fall in love every time I see him. Tonight, he toddled away from me, looked over his shoulder, paused, giggled at me, toddled again, looked over his shoulder paused and giggled, repeated the process until he fell on the floor just as he was moving out of my sight. He is an amazing little guy.

I don't want to ever smother him or his sister with my worries--and oh my goodness how I worry. Sometimes I'm incredibly hacked off that my beautiful little guy will have to deal with this for his entire life. And sometimes I wonder if I'm to blame somehow--was I so stressed after the fire that I caused this malformation.

Maybe it's the dread/anticipation of the appointment that makes the anxiety so strong.

Here's hoping for a good report on Friday.

Good Grief! It is Mid-May Already

2008-05-08T21:53:00.004-04:00

How did that happen? I wander through the house, thinking, "I really need to post this." Yet somehow I never seem to make it to the computer.

The HAED Challenge SAL is this weekend so I am finally posting my paltry progress from last month.
I have been busy stitching on the Frog Prince 3 for Angie and on Water Garden for my sil. Well, mostly Frog Prince as Kian has an ear infection and it's easier to stitch on FP, while holding him than the big WG. I need to focus on teacher gifts this month so they are completed by June. I have three to do: one large for Angie's main teacher and two smaller ones for the teacher aide and the other kindergarten teacher, who Angie adores. I also need to revisit the Tooth Fairy pillow so that I can finish charting the letters, then stitching and assembling it.

The problem: I don't wanna! I want to start lots and lots of new things.

I will be strong. I will.

Tomorrow, glory of glories, I have the day off. Angie's school has a Mother's Day breakfast so we are to wear our Sunday best. Only me though. Daddies and Kians are not allowed. This is just for the Mommies. Angie was telling me that they have been practicing songs and baking muffins for tomorrow. I had to create a top secret place mat for tomorrow. Should be fun.

Then on Saturday, we travel to see my Mom, and we'll visit my Dad as well because we have not seen him since he left for Florida in the Fall. So I may not have time for a SAL this weekend, but I sure will try.

Busy, busy, busy

2008-04-19T13:51:00.006-04:00

You'll need to go over to my Mommy Monster blog to see how full our lives have been this week.

I did not get as much done on the Challenge piece as I would have liked. Angie's first tooth became extremely wobbly on Saturday and I had to shift gears to get the pocket for Angie's tooth fairy pillow completed and attached to what will become the pillow.

Work is still crazy and hectic thanks to the new program, but since we need the insurance and the money, I hope to remain employed, even though in my heart of hearts, I'd rather be home with the kids. There is some hope that by the end of the year, I will have some relief, although it may mean moving to a different building and paying for parking.

Taxes were very bad this year. Ugh. See previous paragraph.

I hope to accomplish some yard work and gardening this weekend. I hesitate to throw some seeds around as it may still snow, but the flower beds need cleared of weeds and leaves. The weather is gorgeous today. Unfortunately, Angie has a terrible cough and my throat is getting scratchy so this may just be another weekend lost to the sicks.

I hope your weekend is nice.

Happy Birthday Kian

2008-04-18T13:38:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday our beautiful little guy. You joined our little family one year ago and I am astounded and pleased and delighted and thrilled we made it through this crazy year together. Every moment since your birth has been incredibly precious to us.

You give us so much joy and love for such a small person. We are so lucky to have you. I love your big, cheery laugh when you are being tickled, or almost, very, nearly being tickled. I love you bright blue eyes that are radiant with love. I love the focus you give to a new toy or new discovery.

I love the way you knock down every tower I build, whether of soft blocks or Cheerios.

I love that you adore your big sister and always want to be where ever she is. She loves you too and calls you, "My baby boy."

I love the way you crawl when you are excited. I love the "OooooooOOOOoooooh" sound you make when you see something you like. I love that you like to cuddle with me.

I love, and am somewhat terrified, at your climbing skill. You delight us with nearly everything you do, although I will be grateful when you stop putting random things in your mouth.

You gave us a very big scare last year and I know that I will be worrying about you forever.

And as much as I am rambling here, there are not nearly enough words to describe how much we love you.

Stay well, stay happy our beloved boy.

Happy Anniversary

2008-04-12T10:36:00.000-04:00

I love you so much and I'm so happy that with all the stress we face, we're facing it together.

It's that Time Again

2008-04-10T19:22:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow starts the HAED Challenge SAL, or I should just say it starts now since it is already Friday in some parts of the world.

I was unable to post a scan of my progress at the end of last month as my dear husband could not be pulled away from college basketball long enough to download digital photos (and I was too busy with the kids to scan). Nice isn't it?

I thought I would get bored just focusing on one color, but I'm actually enjoying it. I think it gives the impression of a lot of progress. And then I get to fill in the details. Joy!

I think I'm cycling back to HAEDs as I am putting lots of stitches into Frog Prince 3 when I can. And I'm trying to get HAED to rechart something for me so that I can stitch it in a Love Quilt.

Clearly I have lost my mind.

I don't know what to do with myself...

2008-03-29T11:05:00.003-04:00

Chas is taking the kids to the grocery store and leaving me here.

Do I stitch? Or grid? What wip should I touch?

Do I try to be productive and tidy and vacuum?

Yes, I laughed at that last one too.

Confetti all around; Streamers dance through the air

2008-03-25T21:46:00.005-04:00

I finished colored pencils on Sunday as we returned home from our trip to PA.

And with that, I finished my first 25 project challenge, just a bit more than a year after I started it). Yes first, because I think I will dive straight in to a 50 project challenge. Yes 50. Because I want a house of our own. I'm tired of renting. And this cozy little grey house is just too small. However, I am reserving the right to purchase a few charts to celebrate my accomplishment, just not right now. But the official start of the new challenge will have to wait for it's own post--no worries that I'll have a happy dance before I start a new challenge.

I'll have pictures, oh yes indeedy, but I need Chas to download them on his computer because my computer is older than Angie and must be handled delicately in its advanced age. I have multiple floss tosses for Perphaeria's Spanish Sampler, and now I've found another silk that might work, so I'll need to take even more photos.

I need to thank Nicki because she gifted me with two HAED/Sara Butcher charts: Frog Prince [also here] (LOOK at how tall this piece is!) and Winter (I just want to dive right in those blues)

Sara Butcher is ending her license agreement with HAED so in a very short time her charts will not be available. Such a pity because I would love to have many of her designs charted (like anything on this page).

Martina has designed a series of mini mandala mysteries and I'm itching to join. I love her small designs. I want to see how much detail she packs into such a small area. I wonder how it compares to the Leporello?

Question about needle minders: how exactly does it mind needles? I love the dragonflies on this page, but if it only serves as a resting spot for needles, I should probably just make my own needlebook.

I am almost done stitching Angie's fairy for her tooth fairy pillow---now to add the words and assemble. It won't be done this month, but I hope it will be early in April.

Do you know that I have not completed a single ornament in 2008? And I've only participated in one ornament SAL. I did so well last year, but this year, I have no love for ornies. Maybe I only comfortably stitch ornaments in odd years.

Ooh, one question regarding the layout of this blog: do you see a lot of the background (green leafy bits) on the sides, or only a little? I've pondered tweaking the layout by either adding a thitd column, or by widening the columns I have. I hate to have wasted space. I'm also contemplating moving my website to save some money and reconfigure it. Not that I have a lot of spare time for all this, but it's nice to dream.

Nerd Meme

2008-03-20T22:22:00.002-04:00

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Literature Nerd Does sitting by a nice cozy fire, with a cup of hot tea/chocolate, and a book you can read for hours even when your eyes grow red and dry and you look sort of scary sitting there with your insomniac appearance? Then you fit this category perfectly! You love the power of the written word and it's eloquence; and you may like to read/write poetry or novels. You contribute to the smart people of today's society, however you can probably be overly-critical of works. It's okay. I understand.
Musician
Drama Nerd
Social Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Science/Math Nerd
Anime Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace

I can't say that I'm surprised by the results.

I actually have thoughts and things i want to post, but I have no time.

A Bit Bookish

2008-03-06T22:36:00.007-05:00

This meme is floating around the blogosphere so I thought I would give it a try. I'm not sure how they selected books for the list and I would quibble with the value of some of the titles appearing here. Well, it's a nice way to pass an afternoon.

Look at the list of (100) books below. Bold the ones you’ve read.Italicize the ones you want to read. Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in. (Movies don’t count.)

1.The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25 . Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel) (at least I think I read this ages ago)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

As I eagerly Await the Primary Election Results....

2008-03-04T20:47:00.003-05:00

My main thought is: We really need to have elections in July.

Perhaps it was the block of ice encasing my car.

Perhaps it was the terrifying drive home during rush hour.

Or maybe it was the sheet of ice covering the parking lot outside the polling station.

Or the sharp, painful, freezing rain attacking my face as I returned to my car.

Or maybe just all of the above.

I love voting. I love the potential for change. I dislike the pettiness, but I love entering my selection.

In this country, women have had the right to vote in national elections for less than 100 years and I cherish my ability to cast a ballot.

But really, is it too much to ask to be able to vote when the weather is somewhat more likely to be pleasant?

So Now It Is March....

2008-03-01T21:42:00.004-05:00

Hmmmmm....

What were those February goals again? Oh yes. Finish lots of things.

That did not work out so well.

I managed a tiny bit of stitching even though everyone in the house was sick for at least part of February.

I started and made steady progress on Angie's tooth fairy pillow. I still need to finish the wings and skin, then add the backstitching. Then I'll need to do the back and the pocket for the tooth.

I added maybe seventy stitches to the HAED Challenge project during the SAL. I was lucky to get that much in I suppose.

I added a few more stitches to the teacher's gift and charted the letters for the kids names. organizing them into an attractive pattern will be the challenge.

For March, my goals are:

1. Finish the tooth fairy pillow. It would be too embarrassing if the first tooth pops out and the pillow isn't finished. My maternal senses of shame and pride are motivating me to focus on this project.

2. Finish the DMC and NPI parts of WG. This design must be done this year. There are too many pretty new mandalas calling my name. I'm trying to be good and not buy new mandalas until I at least finish one. Or at least until I win the lottery. I think the chances of either happening are roughly the same.

3. Finish Colored Pencils and then chart the names.

4. Add more stitches during the HAED Challenge SAL.

I know: very restrained goals for me. You're wondering if I'm still unwell aren't you?

I must finish that tooth fairy pillow. My credibility as a mommy is wholly on the line here.

And now a quandary: I have a gift certificate to the European Crossstitch Company. I've been eyeing Sampler Cove's Spanish Blue (just scroll down a bit). I have enough on the gift certificate to cover the silks and the magnolia linen as well. Would you just buy the complete Spanish Bleu supplies? Or would you just buy the chart and then pick some other pretty charts (there are always several things I like at ECC)?

I hope to stitch some things this month and actually post some pictures. I'm still thinking about adding herbs to Midi. It will wait for a bit, but I have this overwhelming desire to add "Mugwort" to the design.

Because I Need Some Frivolity

2008-02-20T22:30:00.000-05:00

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Literate Good Citizen
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

You MUST Be Kidding!

2008-02-19T18:18:00.003-05:00

Thanks for the kind words in your comments to the previous post. I apologize now for the crabbiness about to assail you.

So we get up to get ready for school and work today. I go into the bathroom with Angie for teethbrushing time. I glance at her as I'm grabbing the toothpaste and I do a quick double take.

"Angie, could you look up at me?"

Little face turns up at me, squinting. One eye is normal, the other eyelid is swollen and pink, the eye bloodshot. There is goo under the eye.

Insert me mentally cursing.

I go discreetly to my husband and whisper, "I think Angie has pink eye, you need to look at her."

He gives me this look as if saying, "Foolish woman, you are overreacting."

He loads Angie into the car and they go to school while I head to work, ruminating over the symptoms.

I double check pink eye symptoms at work and call Chas immediately. I tell him he needs to call the Doctor and the school. He is frustrated because it is 8:23 a.m., he hasn't even arrived home yet.

He calls me later to say that he had someone at the school look at her. They took poor Angie into the hallway and agreed that it looked like pink eye. Chas told the he'd be back out to pick her up, then he called the Doctor.

The Doctor confirms the pink eye and waffles on prescribing drops for the eye since she was already on antibiotics. In the end, he gives Chas the prescription, just to be safe.

Chas loses the prescription on the way to the pharmacy. Apparently, he put both kids in the car and closed the doors while he stood outside next to the car swaering profusely.

Back to the Doctor's Office at their lunchtime to get the prescription agian.

By the time I arrive home, both eyes are infected.

Sigh.

I know full well that worse things could happen, but seriously, enough. I just want everyone in my little family to be healthy again.

Angie is Child of the Week next week which means we have to plan a week of show an tell and she has to do a short presentation on an animal.

Don't mind me. I'll just be sitting in a corner running my fingers over my lips going, "bibbilty, bibbilty, bibbilty."

Slowly Emerging from the House of Yuck

2008-02-18T21:32:00.005-05:00

In my last post, I indicated that some illnesses in our home slowed my stitching last month. I believe that I failed entirely to mention that I felt terrible and was definitely coming down with something. And I did not specify that both kids were sick. Angie spiked a high fever one night, but recovered after a day of rest at home. Kian was unlike himself and was unbelievably grumpy--or perhaps because he is normally so chipper, his general crabiness seemed worse than it was. We went to the Doctor and were told that although he had fluid in his ears, he had no infection therefore no medication was necessary. We just needed to keep a close eye on him. That led to working short days while I drove Angie to and from school--two hours of driving each day. It was exhausting and I became worse.

Kian seemed to recover and even began giggling again. After waiting a week, I went to my Doctor and was put on an antibiotic. That night Chas turned to me and said, "I've noticed that Kian is poking at his ears. What do you think we should do?" So we have another trip to the Doctor to learn that Kian has infections in both ears. Antibiotics, twice a day is the plan.

Over the weekend, my course of antibiotics ends, and though I feel less foggy, I'm definitely not cured. I become more ill and have trouble breathing at night. Kian despises his antibiotics and fight diaper changes as his poor bottom turms bright red. Then Chas turns to me again and says, I don't feel well. What were your symptoms?"

On Monday I stay home from work and place several calls to my Doctor to get another antibiotic. After the second call, the receptionist tells me that the order will be ready at the pharmacy between 2:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. Chas and Angie, who is the only healthy person in the house, trek out to the pharmacy. No prescription. The pharmacy calls the Doctor and we learn that she has not even seen my message from 10:30 a.m. During my next chat with the receptionist, I am told that it should be soon, but her phones are cut off at 4:30 p.m. so she won't be available to help after that.

I finally hear from the nurse who informs me that "The Doctor will be calling in the prescription and oh by the way are you breastfeeding?" Yes. "Well you can't breastfeed while on this antibiotic so you'll need to pump and dump for the next ten days."

I almost cry.

Then I ask if there is anything else I can take because he is sick too and I'd like him to have the immunological benefits of breastfeeding in addition to his antibiotics. She tells me that he is probably getting my illness through the breastmilk and hints that I should stop for the duration. My husband is reminding me that we have plenty of frozen breastmilk so we wouldn't need to put him on formula.

I stand my ground, because while the young nurse (who has obviously never had to pump and dump around her own sick infant and who probably doesn't have kids yet) clearly thinks it's no big deal to pump and dump, I can imagine the horrors that await me if I have to push Kian, in need of milk and comfort, away for ten long days. Not to mention how uncomfortable pumping all day for ten days would be.

The nurse promises to check with the Doctor after she finishes with her patient. 4:30 p.m. comes and goes--we hear nothing. Dear Chas is annoyed. I'm searching KellyMom (bless them) and the LactMed Database for info on breastfeeding compatible antibiotics (and I'm horrified at the side effects of the proposed antibiotic--Psychosis? Hallucinations? Suicidal thoughts? I don't want to take it even if I'm not breastfeeding).

At 5:00 p.m. Chas has me call and I get the most unhelpful answering service for a Doctor ever. Apparently, I'm out of luck and they are gone for the day.

5:30 p.m. arrives with a call from the nurse, I propose an antibiotic, which is rejected, but a prescription for a breastfeeding friendly antibiotic will be called in immediately. We eat dinner quickly and Chas and Angie venture out once more.

I feel yucky, but vaguely victorious.

Chas decides to go to the Doctor the next day, so I stay home until lunchtime. Chas now has his own antibiotics, or he will when goes to another pharmacy later as I received the last of the antibiotics the previous night. Concerned about the kids (I saw Angie pulling at her ear before school and Kian's bottom is scarlet and painful to the touch) I call their doctor before I leave. We are to watch Angie, but bring Kian in. I go to work and call Chas later. Kian's ears are not much better, and certainly not enough to justify what the antibiotic is doing to his diaper region. So we get a new antibiotic (thankfully a smaller dose once a day) and a prescription for butt paste (nystatin, Aquaphor and minty Maalox).

Yes three of us are now on antibiotics but at least Angie stopped pulling on her ears and seems well.

Did I mention through this last week, I'm the hotline Magistrate who is on call 24hours a day, seven days a week? Or that the house is a disaster and Chas's parents will be arriving on Saturday?

Slowly, the antibiotics start working, the house is presentable and we're feeling human by Saturday. Yay family.

Sunday night, I'm thinking to myself that at least Angie is okay and we'll all be better soon.

At 3:00 a.m. today Angie wakes me tearfully to say that her ear hurts. We go to the Doctor today. Angie has an ear infection. Sigh. We have lunch with Chas's parents before they leave then we go fill yet another antibiotic prescription (if you're counting, we're up to six antibiotics since February commenced).

I have surfed the net to learn that Nicki and Janet both gave me an award. Thanks ladies--that was a sweet surprise. I'll post my favorite blogs later.

I've been slowly stiching Angie's Tooth Fairy pillow and hope to finish it by the end of the month. I put a few stitches in my HAED Challenge piece, but all other stitching has suffered greatly. I am inspired to stitch Paradigm Lost over one after seeing Nicki's The Token framed. I think I have just the fabric....

I hope February has been gentler to you.

Come on March!

Goals: Finish it February

2008-02-01T21:36:00.000-05:00

I had lots of nice starts for my Guilt Free January and no finishes. Not even a little ornament. Sigh. The new computer system at work and some illnesses at home dissolved my stitching time by the end of the month, but here is what I managed to accomplish in January:

Started:

1. Hope Perches
2. Colored Pencils
3. Have a Cup of Cheer
4. Polar Lights
5. Purple Passion in a Bag
6. Happy Holidays

Stitched one HAED QS SAL and also during the HAED Challenge SAL.

I thought there were more starts, but maybe that was just wishful thinking. I'm a little disappointed because I had hoped to be in double digits with new projects. I still feel a few new starts percolating, but they may wait until March Madness.

For Finish it February, my goals are to finish:

1. the DMC and NPI sections of WG
2. the first blipping crane medallion of JG (can you tell it is starting to drive me crazy?)
3. Amethyst mystery (really)
4. the Christmas tree mini mandala
5. the tooth fairy pillow (Angie has a wobbly tooth and I'll be finishing the pillow once I actually start it)
6. All of DMC 300 on the current page of my HAED challenge project
7. Colored Pencils by Scandinavian Stitches
8. A Christmas ornament
9. Charting Angie's classmates' names

Excessively ambitious as always. We all know I'll probably throw in something else entirely, but let's all pretend I'll be sticking to this list.

Precious little time

2008-01-28T06:47:00.000-05:00

We have a new computer program at work which runs everything essential. Unfortunately, we are essentially de-bugging the thing while trying to work cases so things have slowed enormously. The result is precious little time for me to stitch as my lunch break has all but evaporated.

Chas will be working a lot through the beginnning of April, so posts here will be sparse.

I did manage to find time to start Purple Passion in a Bag, which was obtained thanks to Nicki. And thank you Nicki for the skein of Amethyst in my Christmas card--that was so thoughtful. I guess I've mentioned that I love purple.

The Midi Post

2008-01-19T13:50:00.000-05:00

I should just let the photo speak for itself, but here are the basics:

Stitched on 32 count Raw Belfast linen.
Used Kathleen's diagrams for the partial jessica windows.
Herb names stitched with SNC Forest of Greens.
Hildegarde's eye is stitched with SNC Chesnut
Gown stitched with SNC Cerise Noir, Elephant and Castle and Gloriana Rosewood NPI's for the backstitching on the gown (full conversion may be found here).
The roses are stitched with SNC Cerise Noir (I modified the jessica stitch so that they weren't quite so open).
The sheaf stitches are done in SNC Forest of Greens.
The beads in Hildegarde's basket are 684.
The beads in the vines are 297 and 125.

These are all actual photos, rather than scans. They still don't do the colors justice. You'll just have to believe me that this is lovely in real life.

I am fond of this series and can't wait to stitch the others. I am a little sad that the fourth installment (Ancient Times) will be the last. Of course, at the rate I stitch, I should be good with stitching them through 2014.

Some favorite elements are shown below.

The large herbs (I wish I had thought to add a few more as Nicki has done):

One of the flower beds ( I thought they looked awful on the chart but they are spectacular stitched):

Thanks and a HAED Shot

2008-01-14T22:07:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the nice comments regarding my stitching. I certainly don't feel that my stitching is too extraordinary, but your comments gave me warm, fuzzy feeling. Not that I think my stitching is terrible; I just think that there are lots of amazing stitchers out and about with beautiful WIPS. I'm glad a few of you decided to de-lurk because I really enjoyed perusing your blogs. So many projects that I wish I were stitching or want to be stitching--I love finding new stitching blogs. I always find new links to discover and wander through. These little creative adventures are always so inspiring.

Lots of stitching temptation out there, but I'm trying to be good. I haven't had any new starts since that first frenzied week. I may add a few more, in addition to the ornaments for that SAL, but I've been enjoying stitching the new projects rather than throwing any more new projects into the list. Some old favorites are singing to me so I may give them a little love as well. I'd like to start Paradigm Lost this month, but I don't have all the colors needed for my scheme, and I'm not sure I'm wanting to purchase much in the way of new supplies at present. Unfortunately, it may just need to wait until I'm ready to spend a little more money. I can't decide if the colors I'm intending are beautiful or too busy. Maybe I'll just ponder it awhile longer.

Here is my post SAL scan of my HAED 2008 Challenge piece. It is the same as the 2007 project because I'd like to finish one big HAED and this one is intended to be a gift.

What do you think? I had hoped to complete one more column of the main color, but no such luck. I'd like to finish 2 and a half pages on this project this year, but I'm not sure if I can do it.

Oh well, it's all about the journey right?

Well That's Nice

2008-01-12T18:17:00.000-05:00

The Recipe For Holley

3 parts Understanding

2 parts Attractiveness

1 part Pizzazz

Splash of Beauty

Finish off with a little umbrella and straw

What's" the Recipe for Your Personality?

You know what's really exciting? All the buttons have vanished in my compose a post Blogger page. I can hover over empty spaces and see a little tag, but I've got nothing but blank spots and a big white box in which to type.

Guess who needs to re-boot her computer!

Lurk No More, Reader, Lurk No More

2008-01-11T21:45:00.000-05:00

According to Tanya, it is National Delurk Day/Week.

Any lurkers here who feel like saying "Hi!' in honor of this momentous and festive day/week?

Run, Don't Walk

2008-01-11T21:34:00.000-05:00

Over to the Kalediestitch Yahoo Group! Shell has created a beautiful freebie sampler called "Love and Laughter" using Dinky Dyes. It is lovely and large--88 by 274.

I may have another new start very soon. I am reasonably certain that I have all but one or two of the Dinky Dyes in silks. That just screams "Start me Holley!" all on it's own.

Off to ponder fabric choices.

Oh, and I spoke too soon regarding stitching every chance I get--I have had almost no chance to stitch this week. Sigh. This has been a rough start to the new year. At work, I've been wondering why I'm there instead of home with my family. At home, Angie has started full day kindergarten which has led to the kind of acting out and defiance Chas and I did not enjoy when Angie exhibited it at the beginning of the school year.

I hope your week was happier and stitchier than mine.

Lots of Little Pictures

2008-01-06T16:51:00.000-05:00

I managed some quick scanning today! Still no photo of Midi yet though (sorry). I don't think I've posted photos since early November so you can go to the Ornie Blog and see my November ornaments (December will have to wait for my digital camera though). Here you can see my Progress on the HAED Challenge project after the November SAL. Just a tiny bit of progress in the upper right corner. I took a break from it in December so that I could finish Midi and work on ornaments. I think I was a bit burned out on the colors, which are similar to Midi, and are prevalent in QS Frog Prince 3. All the same, what you see is the result of 11 months of SAL participation. I'm hoping to complete another 2 and a half pages for 2008. It should be a little easier once I finish page two, which is a bit complicated.

The remaining scans are from my new WIPs, discussed yesterday. No new starts yesterday--Saturdays are tremendously busy for Chas. Although he works from home, he is glued to his computer and the t.v. all day (and yes, he truly loves his job) so I am busy chasing and entertaining the kids--fun, but very little stitching time for me.

This is Hope Perches. It was the first new project of this year because I wanted to start with some hope. I am using Thread Gatherer silks instead of the recommended fibers on 32 Count Pussywillow Lugana by Sugar Maple Fabrics (SMF). I hope Tanya doesn't mind the substitutions. It's even prettier in real life and I feel happy just stitching it.

Next is Colored Pencils which is being stitched on 32 count Daffodil Lugana by SMF. This will be a teacher gift for Angie's kindergarten teacher. On the first day of school, her teacher mentioned that her favorite color is yellow so searched my stash for a nice yellow to use instead of the cream linen that came with the kit. I am using the Danish Flower Thread that came in the kit and it stitches nicely. Then again, I am one of those strange people who really loves perle threads, whether silk or cotton or something else. I'm excited about how I'm going to finish it which helps me stay motivated--it is a little dull stitching the same shape over and over again (the design is twelve differently colored pencils arranged horizontally and vertically).

This is the start of Have a Cup of Cheer. The fabric is a lovely piece from a Dinky Dye limited edition pack. It's very cheerful on it's own and I found some festive skeins of Six Strand Sweets since it is a choose your own design. I mentioned frogging it and starting over on a different fabric, but on second thought, I think I like how this looks. Any thoughts? The fabric color is fairly true, but the cotton threads are a bit brighter in reality. I'm not sure how I will finish it, or even if I can finish it in time for the competition, but this is another one that just makes me happy to stitch.

Finally, if the other projects make me happy to stitch, this one makes me delirious with joy. It's Polar Lights by Chatelaine. The scan is a little dark and I couldn't tinker with it to get it right, so just imagine this, only a little lighter. I have had the chart for over a year and the fabric for over two years and I've slowly been acquiring the supplies. I'm still missing a few Weeks Dye Works, but I was so eager to start this now I figured that it wouldn't matter--I only need some of the darker blues and purples and I will have everything thing except the Mill Hill Treasures. The Fabric is SMF Shimmering Lilac Lane and in real life it is perfect. I am a little worried about the creases, but I'll just do my best to fix them. I'm sure that once I spend some quality time stitching on it, the creases will disappear.

I may not be able to start anything new until tomorrow, but I have two projects bagged up for my lunch break. Thanks to Janet, I have a more coherent diagram for the nun stitch, but I'm still not sure how it will work for the Autumn bellpull. I also have a Purple Passion in a Bag (thanks to a trade with Nicki last year) lined up and found a great diagram for a palestrina knot and I'm eager to try it. I'm also thinking about starting Graceful Lady for my Mom because it has far less backstitching and color changes than the Japanese Angel, which is lovely, but frustrating. Finally, I hesitate to say this because I may jinx myself, but I'm thinking about starting Paradigm Lost by Long Dog. I wanted to stitch it on 36 count, but I don't have any. Then I hit upon a color scheme I think will be great and I have some 32 count linen that will work. I toyed with the idea of doing it over one, but it would be too small. I just don't know what I will do. I may do floss tosses and post some more pictures, or I may just dive right in.

I don't have any unstarted Chatelaine Mandalas or I would start one (I'm awful I know). I think the only other Chatelaines unstarted are the Stitching Leporello, the Japanese Octoganal Box, the Illuminated Medieval Manuscript,Christmas Mystery 3 and Midis 2 and 3. No wait, I'm wrong: I have St. Petersburg unstarted, but I missing most of the supplies and I'm in Mystery XI, but I only have a few fibers. I'd love to start the Leporello, but I don't have enough fabric. I could start the JOB because I have everything I need, but I'm not sure it would be so satisfying to stitch all those black boxes. Not sure what I will do but I think I will allow myself one more Chatelaine start in addition to Autumn. Goodness I have a lot of Chatelaines.

Janet has asked a few times for my secret. I don't have one except that I do try to stitch whenever I can and I try to stitch for even a few minutes each day. Sometimes I feel like I'm going at a snails pace (at some point I will show you my plodding progress on the crane medallion in JG), but at least it is some progress.

Is anyone else stating the new year with new starts? I highly encourage you to start something new. I love that moment when the project actually starts. It is a wonderful feeling and the time away from current WIPS makes them feel fresh and new again too.

I Start, Therefore I Am.

2008-01-05T09:53:00.000-05:00

I have attempted a new start everyday of this new year. The serial starter in me is giddy with the joy of multiple new projects.

January 1: Hope Perches by The Sampler Girl (Love it)
January 2: Colored Pencils by Scandinavian Stitches (my first use of Danish Flower Thread--nice) I figured that I should start my teacher gift now so that it is actually finished by the end of this school year. I want to avoid the stressful debacle that was the ornaments.
January 3: Polar Lights by Chatelaine (I try very hard not to squeal with delight every time I put in a new stitch I'm so excited to start this project finally)
January 4: Have a Cup of Cheer by the Sampler Girl (I think I'm going to frog it and start it on a different fabric--so two starts for the price of one!)

And no guilt yet!

No scans as I haven't had time to operate the scanner (unclutter it really). I'm sneaking this post in quickly before Chas has to start working in a few hours.

I attempted to start Autumn by Chatelaine on my lunch, but I've never done a nun stitch and the chart doesn't seem to have a diagram for it. At home I searched for nun stitch diagrams on the Internet, but after looking at several, I still don't fathom it at all. Since I'm not actually finishing this as a bellpull, I may just use a satin stitch instead and be done with it.

I have a few other new starts lined up and I'm contemplating a HAED start but don't know which project I want to use. Nothing is really screaming at me to start, but I'm generally thinking about either Found or Pirate Dragon by Lisa Victoria or maybe the QS for Fireflies on Parade by Stacy Tippin. Or maybe if I want to start a big HAED, I'll go with Bedtime Tales by Lisa Victoria. I'm tempted to start a new Teresa Wentzler and maybe an M Designs chart, perhaps a few other big things. We'll see--I don't think it is possible to have 31 new starts this month.

I'm having a good time. Can you tell?

Contemplating a Guilt-Free January...

2008-01-01T14:58:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to be oh so good and not purchase any new charts this year.

So I think my guilt free January will involve new starts. Serial starter me did not actually start any big projects last year so I may just go wild and start bunches of things. Bunches.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008: Stitching from My Stash

2008-01-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

2008 will be my second year of WIP slaying--and this year, I'm concentrating on stitching from my stash and rather than obtaining more supplies for my stash. With some effort, I'd like to finish more big projects and finish more than ten wips, ufos and swips. I plan to keep the Ornaments SAL and the HAED Challenge SAL plus I hope to do at least two HAED QS SALs each month. I will also be running a Lenten SAL and the Chatelaine Summer Olympics at the Chatelaine BB. I may try to convince Janet to do a Taj SAL with me, but I probably should finish Japanese Gardens first, before Taj lures me away.

I would like to do another Love Quilt Square and would like to stitch a butterfly project for the Houston Holocaust Museum. In my perfect world, I'd love to do an RR, but my stitching time is inconsistent at present and that wouldn't be fair to anyone else. Maybe participating in an RR will be a goal in 2009, but how about I just focus on 2008 and not get ahead of myself?

So once again, from my current WIP and UFO lists, I hope to finish:

Chatelaines:
Japanese Garden
Water Garden
Tree of Hope
Amethyst Mystery
Christmas Tree Mandala

HAED:
QS Frog Prince
QS Buttercup Kitty Fae
2 pages of Bedtime Story
3 pages of HAED Challenge

Teresa Wentzler:
Diamonds in Squares
Tempest

Others:
Santorini
Japanese Angel
Antique Airplane
Stealing Oats

I'm hoping to start the following designs:

Chatelaine:
Midi Mystery 2
Midi Mystery 3
Polar Lights
Japanese Octagon Box
Leporello
St Petersburg White Nights
MXI
Autumn

HAED:
Bedtime Tales (Lisa Victoria)

Teresa Wentzler:
Millennium (Planets only)
Tapestry Dog (taking out the cat, inserting a black lab)
You Were Hatched

Others:
Graceful Lady
Long Dog Paradigm Lost
Ornaments for each monthly SAL
Sampler for a friend
Hope Perches

I know this post is a bit dull, but I'm going to put a list of musts too.

I must finish:
2 Chatelaine Mandalas
Amethyst Mystery
QS Frog Prince
Santorini
Japanese Angel
Antique Airplane
Stealing Oats
Love Quilt Square
Butterfly project

I must start:
Sampler for a friend
1 new Chatelaine
Graceful Lady
Millennium (Planets only)
Tapestry Dog

I will:
Stitch at least one ornament each month
Stitch at least one Pickmachinchose each month
Stitch 5 pendibules during the year
Do a 50 project Challenge when the 25 project Challenge is done
Assemble finished ornaments

I'd like to throw in a motif a week project, which would either be Paradigm Lost or Polar Lights. I may start Midi 4 in July, but we'll see if I can finish either 2 or 3 first.

2008 will definitely be a Stitch from My Stash year. But now, I'm wondering, do I dare indulge in a guilt free January?

Wishing You a Happy New Year

2007-12-31T19:46:00.000-05:00

I know that it is already 2008 in most of the world, but I just wanted to say thanks for reading and commenting here. I'm amazed and pleased that you stop by my blog.

I hope that 2008 is kind to you and is filled with more hope than despair.

Kian is on my lap as I type this, chattering away and clearly intent on making a break from Mommy's lap. Chas is washing dishes and Angie is attempting to finish dinner so that we can introduce Kian to our Family New Year's Tradition--Watching The Jungle Book (animated). Singing and cavorting around the living room are involved. It's a cozy good time.

Just forfun, here is a little glimpse of me, created by my husband in meez. I added an anklet, which you can't see, but pleases me because I know it is there. I think only three people (including Chas) reading this blog have actually seen me in person, so you must trust me when I tell you that this is a reasonably good representation of me, as close as any animated gif will be. I was tempted to add the floor length Winter Goddess robe (in purple), but I couldn't stop giggling--even animated me can't quite pull that off. The black leather international spy top was right out as well. So here you have simply me:

Wishing you peace, joy, love, hope, happiness and other good things in the new year.

Tell Me These Aren't Cute!

2007-12-29T21:50:00.000-05:00

Look here.

You can't can you?

Because they are just adorable.

I was never fond of the cows, but I love these moufles. I'd love to make them two-sided.

Now someone just needs to make some tree shaped designs in this style and I'll be unstoppable.

2007: Year of the WIP Review

2007-12-29T18:38:00.000-05:00

Well back in January, I declared that I would be a WIP slayer and I set some goals for myself. So let us see how well I did (try not to chuckle too loudly).

Of the WIPS and UFOS I had specifically identified as finishing, I managed to finish only Midi 1, Snow Crystal, QS Ballet Pigs and Stretch. Not bad, but I had hoped for more progress. Of course, I did bring a tiny life into the world and he certainly kept me hopping this year, so four finishes isn't terrible.

Of my proposed new starts, I only actually started the Mystery HAED project and ornaments each month. For a serial starter that is just fantastic.

I managed to stitch at least one ornament for every ornament SAL and I stitched during eleven of the twelve HAED Challenge SALs.

As 2007 closes, I have finished 23 projects of my first 25 project challenge.

I had 29 happy dances this year and that is so much better than the measly three from 2006. I think I am up for more SALs and goal setting to keep me motivated. I completed 18 ornaments and 11 other projects. Of those 11, only the Love Quilt Square, Tea with Jane and the Halloween Tuffet were new starts, so eight finishes is attributable to WIP slaying.

Of things projects not finished, I put needle and thread to fabric in all the projects I had hoped to finish so at least progress was made.

I'm pleased with what I was able to accomplish. A few more big finishes would have been good, but, there is always next year!

Done and Dusted.

2007-12-26T19:58:00.001-05:00

I am pleased to announce that Midi 1 is complete as of December 25, 2007. My beloved husband allowed me roughly 42 minutes of stitching time last night to finish the final jessica windows, bottom border beads and all the bi cones.

I wish I could say that I am thrilled at the moment but it feels a bit anticlimactic at the moment. Maybe because I've been struggling to finish her for the last three months. I just have an overwhelming sense of, "Finally!" and a deep sigh of relief that at least one of my big projects will not be carrying over into 2008.

No photos right now. I didn't take a picture at work today (it's usually too dark when I return home in the evening for a decent picture so I take photos on my lunch break. She is lovely and I am looking forward to showing her to you.

I'm working on a few ornaments at the moment (well obviously I'm typing now but your get the idea). They are for Angie's teachers--how tacky is it that I didn't finish them before the break (be honest, I'm actually soliciting your opinions). We did contribute to the group gift for the teachers so we didn't completely ignore them, but I just wanted to make them something as well to show how much I appreciate their work with my daughter. I'm also trying to stitch ornaments for Kian and Angie. Right now I feel that I'm in ornament purgatory and stitching is losing my love at present.

I would have liked to have completed my twenty five project challenge this year, but I suppose I will endure if I don't finish the last few projects until the new year. Poor Amethyst is languishing for the want of a few crystals. Perhaps she'll be the first finish of the new year. With Midi complete I am pondering a new start, or should I just focus on another WIP and knock it out as well?

It's the end of one year and the start of another so I'm contemplating goal setting very soon. 2007 was very successful as I can see many finishes in the sidebar--especially when compared to my paltry three finishes in 2006. The goal setting and this blog have been enormously helpful in motivating me. I'll try to maintain both in the coming year.

I'm wondering if I should add other tricks to my stitching repertoire to fool myself into finishing more projects:

Should I use some variation of Nicki's one motif per week?
Should I have a focus piece?
Should I try a regular SAL on one project (yes Nicki is a huge inspiration to me)?
Should my next challenge be larger or smaller?
Should make 2008 my Stitch from my stash year?
Do I craft a new rotation? (and can my serial starting ways allow me to stick to it?)

I have lots of ideas tumbling around in my brain, we'll see where I land in a few days. I might try to mix it up a little bit to maintain my excitement about stitching.

December Stitchy Hopes and Ponderings

2007-12-04T19:00:00.000-05:00

Well I had high hopes for November, but Thanksgiving and then being ill really took a lot of time from stitching.

But I did manage to stitch on Taj, WG, Midi, and the Christmas Mandala. I don't think I stitched any other Chatelaines. It was nice to focus on them for a bit. I'm disappointed that I didn't finish any Chatelaines this month, but I'm more bothered by the fact that I didn't start anything new. I love starting things.

I'm back to a more varied stitching regimen this month.

1. Finish Midi 1
2. Finish Amethyst Mystery
3. Stitch a bit on WG
4. Stitch a bit on Stealing Oats.
5. Stitch a bit on Taj
6. Stitch a bit on Tree of Hope
7. Stitch a bit on Christmas Tree Mandala (freebie)
8. Start and finish the teacher gifts. (I hope I receive the materials soon).
9. Stitch a bit on Japanese Lady

I think I'll hold off on new starts (except for the teacher gifts) until the new year. And by typing that I realize that I will probably give in to temptation and have multiple starts this month. Maybe I'll just hold off until Christmas. I'm also hoping to do an out with the old/in with the new year SAL at the Chatelaine Board. And then I'll try to do another Lenten SAL there in preparation for the Chatelaine Olympics next summer.

Midi would go faster if I would just stop tinkering with the design. I keep trying different things, some of which don't work and then I frog. I changed the dress, which I love, but then it caused me to change the roses in the archway, which led to a change in the beads serving as the buds on the arch, which caused me to think that I should change the beads in the bush immediately to the left of the arch. But I didn't like it (too bright--it drew the eyes away from the center of the design) so I frogged the beads and re-beaded with the original beads. I didn't like the color used for the sheaf stitch so I went with a different color silk, which caused me to re-think the greenish bead used on the vines. I've selected a substition for the original bead, I hope. Then I decided to go with Martina's original chart for the partial jessica windows, but I don't like the way it looks. I'm not sure I want to use the substitution offered by another stitcher because it moves the center of the window by one square. I think I'm over thinking this design. Sigh.

I just can't believe it's December already.

Awwww--I needed that....

2007-12-03T17:36:00.000-05:00

You Are a Gingerbread House

A little spicy and a little sweet, anyone would like to be lost in the woods with you.

What Holiday Food Are You?

Very nice considering I feel that my personality has taken a nose dive due to being sick. Have I mentioned that both kids were running low grade fevers while Chas was in West Virginia with the boys?

(I pulled the quiz from Janet--Thanks.)

The materials list is out for the Celtic Mystery by Chatelaine. Allow me to say a heartfelt, OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

I have not peeked at the screenshot because I enjoy the slow unveiling of the design. As usual, I'm debating fabric choices--no white for me. I'm leaning toward a bit of green. I'd like to get the kit with my gift certificate, but I'm not certain I have any hope of keeping up with the parts. I have a fairly poor track record as indicated in the sidebar.

End of the Month Update

2007-11-30T22:10:00.000-05:00

Just brief bits from me:

I've been sick this week so no posting and very little stitching. Midi is not done, nor is Amethyst. Bummer. I did stitch two ornaments but I'm just not up to scanning or tinkering with photos (heck I can barely spell "photos" at the moment). I don't think I'll be able to stitch anything for the Holiday Bazaar which is next Thursday unless I have a remarkable recovery in the next twenty four hours.

I did make some progress on Taj ( can I tell you how much I love Taj? Such beautiful colors and I love my fabric) and on the Christmas Mandala (hate the gates, hate the plain white fabric I'm using but I just want this one done) so I'm glad I did the Chatelaine SAL. I might see if anyone wants to join me at the end of December for another week long SAL.

My computer is really misbehaving so if you don't hear from me for even longer, you'll know this antique I use for internet is not cooperating.

In happy news:

My dear friend Cathy gave birth to the handsome, squeaky Myles. Yay!

And from our household: Kian had the "watershed" Cardiology appointment today (Doctor's words not mine). He had both an ECG and an ultrasound/echo thing (very cool--the ultrasound technician let me breastfeed him during the ultrasound to keep him calm. She told me that she had breastfed too and so she understood.) He is basically at the same level as he was immediately following surgery! At this stage, if things start to go wrong, it will most likely be a gradual change that we can detect by our monitoring appointments, instead of the rapid changes immediately after he was born. We will always need to monitor him, but for now, she is very pleased. We are overjoyed.

And from the crazy me file:

Because I am such a good wife, I'm allowing to go on the trip to see his friend this weekend (which was originally planned as a family trip to see his friend's family). I, in my current unhealthy state, will be staying behind with the kids. Heaven help me. I honestly don't know how hubby is going to make this one up to me.

That's it for now--I'm bone tired and need to brace myself for the coming weekend.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

I'm so good!

2007-11-19T19:34:00.000-05:00

How evil are you?

I received that result even though I selected "lawyer"--amazing isn't it.

Thanks for the Birthday wishes. I had a nice day. Angie made me a card and drew a picture of me. Chas gave me the Heroes Season 1 on DVD and a Firefly graphic novel (see how well he knows me?) Kian gave me big smiles even though I had to take him to the nurse for a flu booster shot. And I received gift cards to Barnes and Noble and Amazon from my Mom and a good friend. We had salmon, salad, and rice for dinner and instead of cake (with all those milk proteins), I had a birthday soft pretzel (Beloved husband had a chocolate eclair in honor of my Birthday--golly that is so nice of him. I won't mention how long it is taking for him to eat the durn thing...).

A few posts ago, I asked whether I could stitch some freebies an give them to Angie's school to sell at their fundraising craft fair. Faye wisely suggested I contact the designer. The only problem is that the designs I want to stitch for the school are from this site. My French speaking and writing skills are no longer merely rusty, they are unintelligible. (And my French grammar books are lost somewhere between last year's flood and last year's house fire). I have no idea how to compose an e-mail in French explaining the situation and requesting permission to sell the stitched designs at the craft fair. I shudder to think what babelfish might do to such a request. Anyone know french well enough to help me write an e-mail?

If you haven't done so before, you really ought to peruse her site. The pickmachinchoses are incredible--I'm itching to stitch several of them for Angie. I think the kids at her school would just love them. Even if I can't get an e-mail posted in time for the holiday craft fair, I'll still try to obtain permission for the spring festival.

I was unable to finish Midi today. I need to frog some beads --I made a switcheroo that didn't work so I'll go back to the original beads. I have to finish a little more than half the sheaf stitches and all but one jessica window then only the beads remain. If I had to guess, I'd say that I'm under ten hours to completion. I can't wait to show her to you. I tried to take a few photos at work, but I don't have time to upload them tonight.

We are heading to PA to see my in-laws tomorrow and I will probably pack Midi for the trip, but I might not have a chance to stitch her. Beading really only works well at home or on my lunch hour.

I'm also packing Taj for the trip and I'm hoping to finish part 1--so please join me Janet (and anyone else)! I'm only a little farther along than the photos here. I think you can see the square shape. WG will go with me as well. Perhaps, JG and maybe Autumn for a start in the car. Maybe Tree of Hope as well. Do you see why I am having a Chatelaine SAL at the BB?

I won't have much time to post this week so I hope everyone has a wonderful week and a lovely Thanksgiving.

Happy Birthday

2007-11-19T07:24:00.000-05:00

To Me!

Hope you all have a great day!

Um, and I hope I have a great day too.

Tuffet to Be and Midi Stitchery

2007-11-10T10:58:00.000-05:00

Here are teaser scans of my soon to be finished tuffet--some assembly required. The pattern is the lovely bat pattern from My Aunt's Attic and is stitched over two on a 36 count linen Silkweaver solo. I so rarely stitch on 36 count but I must say the experience was exquisite. The fabric was much softer than Belfast (32) or Cashel (28). I 'd stitch on it more frequently but the Chatelaines call for Belfast and I don't think the Delicas would fit on anything smaller. However, when I stitch my Paradigm Lost by Long Dog, I'm seriously considering 36 count.

The fibers are all Dinky Dyes two silks and a cotton. Eungella, Bickley Valley and Burnt Orange (which is from one of her Autumn Limited Edition packs). The orange is much brighter and more cheerful and pure than the scan indicates. Be warned though: I am a very frugal stitcher and I used almost an entire skein of the Eungella (I have maybe a ten inch length of two strands). Lovely isn't it? It is so Halloweeny! My hope is to complete it by Tuesday.

In the pursuit of Chatelaine Month, I've stitched Midi 1, Christmas Mandala and Tree of Hope. I have a long way to go on the tree, and I'm still debating whether I should find a replacement for the DMC 3371. On the Christmas Mandala, I'm cruising along, but I've lost one of the colors. I can even picture the plastic card on which it is wrapped, but I cannot remember where I put it. It is so frustrating because with this being Chas's busy season, I have no time in which to perform a thorough search. Too bad---I could probably finish the Christmas Mandala this month as well. I can buy another skein, but I've already stitched from the skein I've lost and I've had trouble with DMC dye lots lately.

Midi should be finished within the next week. I only have a handful of stitching and then most of the beading. I need to do the jessicas, the special stitches in the bottom border, the vines and flowers on the arch, the basket and some of the flowers in the beds. I would love to show you a picture, but I'm enjoying stitching her. I'm caught up in the joy of having the end in sight.

I should stitch in the HAED challenge SAL, but I almost hate to put Midi down for anything else at the moment.

In other Stitching news, I received my chart from the Tea with Jane contest. I picked #3 of the Literary Littles collection: Hope Perches. It's such a pretty little design, that I'm itching to stitch it right away. Unfortunately, I have absolutely none of the necessary fibers, but I think I could find some credible substitutes in my stash.

I am probably too focused on my stitching this month, but the siren song of the potential Happy Dance is too powerful to resist.

November Goals

2007-11-01T21:41:00.000-04:00

Because I really want to:

I declare November to be my Month of the Chatelaine(s)!

1. Finish Midi 1
2. Finish Amethyst Mystery
3. Stitch a bit on WG
4. Stitch a bit on JG
5. Stitch a bit on Taj
6. Stitch a bit on Tree of Hope
7. Stitch a bit on Christmas Tree Mandala (freebie)
8. Stitch a bit on CHG (finally picked up the Tapestry Green--Yay)
9. Start Autumn
10. Stitch a bit on MX
11. Start JOB or Polar Lights

Wildly ambitious I know, but these designs are so neglected overall. I'm ridiculously close to finishing Midi and Amethyst Mystery that I will be seriously disappointed in myself if I don't buckle down and finish them this month. I didn't list MTM because, as much as I love the design and the fabric I chose, it is my lowest priority Chatelaine.

I also plan to stitch during the HAED challenge SAL and the Ornament SAL so I won't be exclusively focused on Chatelaines. Let's face it, even at the best of times my stitching focus is a bit blurry.

In other stitching news, last night I finished the top of my tuffet, but since I haven't assembled the whole thing, it doesn't count as a finish. I'm focusing on it until it is stitched. It may be put aside while I search for the perfect bead or button though. I'll post a picture of it soon--it is so cute (but my computer time is very limited tonight so no scanning for me).

I had a very emotional few days at work and to my delight, I came home and discovered that I am one of the winners of the Sampler Girl Tea with Jane Contest. Funny because a few days ago I stumbled across a perfect finishing technique for the design and was convinced that I wasn't going to win (even though I was drawn at random). I may need to stitch it again. Anyway, I get a free chart! Chas was teasing me that this means I'll next be saying that I need to buy more supplies. Who Me? Seriously, I'm in awe of the other talented stitchers who also won charts. Their finished stitching is lovely.

There are some great sales right now and I've been good for a long time. I think I'm due for a little retail therapy--just supplies--I promise no charts. Do you see how close I am to reaching my 25 project challenge? Which reminds me, my October ornament can be found here. If I do well this month, I should have four happy dances just before the holidays--the tuffet, Midi, Amethyst and an ornament. Maybe, just maybe, I'll complete the 25 project challenge this year!

My Very Own Food Pyramid

2007-10-27T15:32:00.000-04:00

Created just for me. Neato (thanks to Tanya at the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog). I'm struggling to get the pdf version to appear, but I'll just keep trying.

I don't post much about breastfeeding because this is primarily a stitching blog, and that is what most people come here to read.

However, breastfeeding has been one of the most enjoyable and profound experiences for me as a person. In my younger days, I thought it was yucky and I assumed I would feed any children I might have with formula. There were no nursing moms among my family or acquaintances when I was young. My first nephew nursed for a bit then his mom added in formula. My other sister in law breastfed her children and I suppose that is when the idea really took root in my mind.

When I became pregnant with Angie, I researched breastfeeding carefully and learned about all the health benefits for moms and babies. I took two breastfeeding classes while pregnant and decided to give breastfeeding a good try based on economic and health reasons. I hoped to manage two years, but decided not to put myself, as a first time mom, under too much pressure.

Angie and I had our struggles early on, but we persisted and I found the experience to be emotionally satisfying in addition to all the other benefits. Kian got the hang of breastfeeding immediately. I don't know how long we'll manage to breastfeed, but so far, we're doing well.

Like his sister, Kian has a milk protein intolerance so dairy products are out of my diet for the present. I wish there was more information about why this happens and when it goes away. I guess not much effort is put into studying this problem because it is assumed that moms stop nursing when the baby is age one (if not sooner--lots have people have suggested that we put him on formula).

Still, I am pleased to have my very own food pyramid. Unfortunately I can't do dairy and it offers no substitutes. It is very hard to find food without milk protein these days. My diet is probably the healthiest ever, but I'd love more information about ensuring I'm consuming enough calcium. Maybe with time, the site will allow more factors to be considered when creating a personalized pyramid.

My pyramid also recommends three and a half ounces of whole grains each day. I guess I need to get more multi-grain bagels instead of my strawberry pop-tarts (which contain no dairy).

Oh well--it is totally worth it.

Being Random

2007-10-27T14:13:00.000-04:00

It's been rough.

Lots of sibling jealousy this week. Angie drew a picture of us holding hands--Mommy, Daddy, and Angie but no Kian. Many tantrums and even a little destructive behavior. I'm sure we'll laugh about it in the future. Right.

On the plus side, she did 'fess up to the destruction.

The work week started with the discovery that one of the parents in a case permanently removed herself from the case and her child's life. That has been a little hard for me to handle as a person and a mom.

Really, I think that is it for the rough. But it all happened on the same day and they were doozies, which made it a bit difficult to regain a good mood for the rest of the week.

A little boy collapsed and died in gym class from a heart defect. He did not have the same problem as Kian, but still, it brings my worries to the surface.

Kian is in a great mood, but he is having some itchy patches and skin irritation so I worry, worry, worry. Though as Chas pointed out, the doctor didn't seem concerned at his check-up last week.

This TMI so you can skip down to the next section if you want....

I'm breastfeeding Kian and sometimes it's a bit more active than I recall it being with Angie at the same age.

Is it at all possible to sprain a breast?

Just wondering.

This site is oodles of fun. Thanks (I think) to Dana for posting the link. It will be appearing in the sidebar soon.

On the stitching front, not much done this week as work was very hectic. However, I have just a few more sections of special stitches, then most of the beading to do. I had hoped to finish it this month, but that is unlikely as I am working on an ornament this weekend and will only be able to stitch at lunchtime next week.

Still, if I continue to focus on it, I could likely finish it by November 10th, give or take a day. I will certainly finish it before the big Chatelaine SAL next month.

Which reminds me....

I'm hosting a long SAL at the Chatelaine Board from November 18th through the 30th. Please feel free to join in the fun (it's in the Olympics forum).

I'm nearly finished with the ornament for this month. I was tempted to start something new from the JCS ornament issue, but I am being good and finishing a SWIP instead. It's a blackwork ornie and I will be so happy when it is done. Ugh. It feels tedious, but maybe I'm just annoyed to be distracted from Midi.

I have most of what I need to stitch Autumn by Chatelaine. I may let myself start it in November if I finish Midi or Amethyst. I only need two crystals for Amethyst. I'm just not certain when I will get around to ordering them.

I'm under 40 projects in progress on the sidebar and I'd like to keep it that way. So no new starts until I finish something other than an ornament or bookmark.

A copyright question:

Angie's school is having a craft fair in December. I was contemplating stitching some freebies for the school to sell. Is it legal to do so? We did not cover that dilemma in my intellectual property class in Law School.

We had a great time at the fall festival at Angie's school last night. Angie loved the attention from us and had a great time playing all the games. Yes, all the games. My pockets were filled with little plastic bugs and spider rings.

Kian has been resting on my lap for two+ hours now. Various body parts have gone numb, but at least my boy is with me and I've been able to blog.

Steven Moffat should write more Doctor Who episodes. He just should. Darn creepy angels frightening the bejeebers out of me.

Flash Gordon is mostly watchable if Flash and Dale have absolutely no scenes together.

Additionally. Ming the bureaucrat needs to be removed. It is bad when Ming menacingly threatens dire punishment for failure and both Chas and I shout, "He'll make you fill out forms in triplicate!"

Little Kian is awake now so I'll end my ramblings for now.

I hope you all have a nice weekend.

give a loose rein to your fancy,...

2007-10-20T09:51:00.000-04:00

Take the Quiz here!

Interesting. I love Elizabeth Bennet, but I thought I would be Elinor Dashwood or Anne Eliot.

EEEEK!!!!!

2007-10-18T22:38:00.000-04:00

I was just checking some things on Midi and discovered the plastic sandwich bags in which I keep the project were covered in a sticky liquid and the chart binder was still damp.

I have no idea how this could have happened as I didn't touch Midi today. Although I tote it to work each day, it sat in my office today because I was on the bench in hearings straight through lunch. I didn't pull it out.

Poor Chas thought I was blaming him, when really, I was just shouting in a panic.

I have checked the fiber baggies and they appear to be clean. The actual stitched piece looks unsullied so I think I'm okay. Everything is in new, clean bags and the binder is wiped and is drying.

Good grief.

So do you think this is a sign that I should stop stitching this month?

Stitching Blurbs

2007-10-18T20:56:00.000-04:00

I've had some bouts of frogging lately, but I've still stitched a bit on a few things.

I beaded Amethyst Mystery--quick and fun. I'm pleased with the substitutes (yes plural--I used two different delicas) Now I only need the right crystals to complete it. If I order them soon, I might receive them in time to finish it this month.

Last night I finished the Rose bookmark--scan to come soon. So that is my 18th finish in the Challenge and my UFO project from the monthly goals. I am mostly pleased with it, but I pulled the wrong thread as I finished it so I need to fix it.

I also stitched a bit on Japanese Garden. It's going to take a very long time to finish even one crane medallion. Or at least that is how it feels to me.

I stitched a bit on my HAED SAL Challenge project during the SAL last weekend, but not much. See:

There is a bit more done since last SAL, but it definitely isn't my best effort this month.

I've finished the herb names on the left side of Midi 1. I tried to work on some of the flowers, but that is where the frogs appeared so I didn't get far. I might be able to finish Midi this month if I focus on her for the rest of the month. I would really love a big finish, but I'm not sure my short attention span stitching style will allow me to focus on one thing for two weeks. Anyone want to try and motivate me with words of encouragement?

I've picked out my ornie for next weekend. hopefully I'll manage to finish it too as it is one of my more challenging ornies. I've stitched at least one ornie each SAL and I'd hate to miss one this late in the year. Of course, if it means I finish Midi, I guess I won't mind.

In other news, Kian is six months old today! He is fussing on my lap at the moment, but I'm just thrilled to have my big, beautiful boy. (Now if only that darn tooth would pop through!)

Don't mind me, I'm in a Mood.

2007-10-13T10:34:00.000-04:00

I've thought about posting several long posts during the last few weeks venting about various things, but I have very limited computer time at present. I've created the posts in my head but they never reach blogger. I'm not really up to venting at the moment, so I'll simply state that there is not an area of my life that isn't causing me some worry or stress.

The topper was yesterday at work--it started out brilliant and I had a genuine sense of satisfaction with my performance, my contributions to the job and with my abilities. Then thirty five minutes before the end of the day, I had a conversation lasting less than a minute with a very significant person and I am doubting the stability of my job. I hate politics and cronyism.

And coincidentally, my not so LNS is seeking a new owner. I would love to buy it, but now is just not the time for me to take a big risk.

In stitchy news, I'm nearly finished with Midi 1 (Medieval Times ) by Chatelaine Designs. I've finished all the cross stitching (except for some ptb in the bottom border) and that leaves the special stitching, beads and crystals. This is a scan so it doesn't show the full design, but you get a good idea of what is done. I have only stitched one herb/flower name which you can just barely discern on the scan. I'm using a skein of Forest of Greens for the words. It is a regular skein of the silk because some of the letters have over one sections and the perle would not work well with it. I must say I'm dreading the knots for the i's. I'll use Colonial knots instead of French knots, but I'm still not eager to get to them. It might be what prevents me from finishing this month.

As you can see I have to stitch all the flowers. There are lots of them so I may not be able to finish Midi this month. I'm tempted to focus on Midi until I'm sick of it or I finish just so that I can possibly finish it. I haven't quite decided yet. I've worked a teeny bit on WG and still have so much to do with it. I started it maybe three years ago and I just want it to be done. Midi is for me and WG is a gift. But Midi is closer to completion. Perhaps I'll finish Midi and then focus on WG rather than starting a new Chatelaine (sigh).

Back to Midi: The lady is now complete. I originally posted my conversion back in January. The dye lots in my possession just did not work together so I converted her gown to the deep reds, which I prefer anyway. And since Teresa Wentzler is another favorite of mine, I couldn't simply back stitch with the black NPI. Instead I rummaged through my stash of NPI's to find colors that worked to my eye.

So, for your stitching amusement, here is my Lady's full conversion:

Instead of the Rusty Amber, I used the Cerise Noir.

Instead of the Crimson Wood, I used the Rosewood.

Instead of the Frosted Auburn, I used the Elephant and Castle.

Her eye is stitched with the Chesnut.

I backstitched her arm with NPI 935 (appropriately the Gothic Red Range)

I backstitched her under skirt with NPI 606

Her shoes are backstitched with NPI 588

I love, love, love the vines on the arch. I didn't think that stitching these with two strands would work, but it looks lush and glorious. It is a pleasure to stitch the vines. I love jessicas so I'm eager to stitch the flowers. I'll probably use the Cerise Noir for the flowers. I may mix it up a bit and do some with the Rosewood too. I haven' decided yet.

I'm doing lots of other stitching this month too. This weekend is a HAED Challenge SAL so I've done a bit on that piece. At Angie's request, I've done more on Frog Prince 3. I've also stitched on the tuffet, Rose Bookmark, WG, Teresa Wentzler's Diamonds in Squares, and Stealing Oats. I've also pulled out a needlepoint design at work for when I'm pumping. I don't enjoy stitching with wool, but I just want to finish the durn thing.

The stitching list sounds impressive, but as I only get a few minutes of stitching at a time, I haven't progressed much in any design.

I'm Having an Existential Crisis

2007-10-04T20:29:00.000-04:00

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
0
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Oh dear.

October Stitching Goals

2007-10-01T21:20:00.000-04:00

September was not so great for big project stitching. Angie starting Kindergarten kept us hopping and I was so tired upon my return to work that I did not stitch much at all.

I'm starting to get back in my stitching groove thanks to a few finishes on Sunday, so for October I hope to:

1. Stitch a bit on the tuffet
2. Stitch a bit on Midi 1
3. Stitch a bit on WG
4. Stitch a bit on JG
5. Stitch a bit on Stealing Oats.
6. Particpate in the SALs at the HAED bb
7. Stitch an ornament at the fourth weekend SAL
8. Stitch a bit on Santorini
9. Stitch a bit on Japanese Lady
10. Stitch a bit on one of my TW WIPs.
11. Finish stitching one project from each of my categories: WIP, SWIP and UFO

Number eleven is fairly ambitious, but it would be fun to try to knock a few more things off my list, even if they are just small things. I would like to be finished with the tuffet, Midi 1, Christmas Mandala, the rose bookmark and Stealing Oats, but I don't think that is likely.

Busy Stitchy Girl

2007-09-30T23:44:00.000-04:00

A toast--today I finished projects 15-17 of my 25 project challenge!

You can see this month's ornament here.

For my small project, I stitched a bookmark from Tea with Jane by Sampler Girl and stitched two tea cups from a chart found at My Aunt's Attic (Jane and I needed something to put our tea in after all). This is my favorite way to finish a bookmark--I picked up this idea from someone at the TWBB years ago (check the Gallery--it was either Shondratasha or KTCatt) The challenge for me was to stitch the two different sides together without going off center. I used Antique Blue Permin linen with Six Strand Sweets in Blueberry Grunt, Daiquiri Ice and Espresso. And I even used one of my platinum needles (if they only came in petites I'd be happy). It came out beautifully and I will use it on my new Terry Pratchett book as soon as I can find some time to read.

I also finished my Love Quilt Square. It looks great, but I don't want to even think about how many different colors are in that bottom section. Actually, there is quite a lot of confetti in this piece. It comes from a Cross Stitch Pattern a Day Calendar and I'm not certain I'll stitch any more designs from there. The key had symbols that weren't on the chart and the chart had symbols that weren't on the key. It required way more guessing and thinking than I really wanted to do. However, the result is cute and there are several adorable charts in there, so I may foolishly attempt another calendar design. Just not in the near future.

I hope it brings the little boy a smile. A creative mind at work suggested the checkerboard border, which looks fantastic. It's a bright red (the boy's favorite color) with a charcoal grey.

I will resume my regularly scheduled WIP slaying tomorrow. I've done a great job finishing projects this year. Much better than last year. I'm still hoping to finish one of my Chatelaine's this year though. I'll be cutting it close I think.

Post SAL Blues

2007-09-27T06:57:00.000-04:00

It was weird stitching on the blues after working on the browns for so long. Can you tell I actually stitched a bit on Bedtime Story or does it look the same?

Well, maybe Angie will finish them someday.

Sigh

Quick pre-SAL scan

2007-09-20T20:58:00.001-04:00

I should write a long post full of deep thoughts upon my return to working outside the home and chock full of lovely things I'm stitching, but I have no time at the moment. I need to take Kian from Chas so he can get Angie ready for bed and then work.

But here is Bedtime Story by Sara Butcher pre-background SAL at the HAED board. I think I'm at just over a half page. I hope I can remember where I am. I'd be completely lost if I didn't grid. I don't anticipate much progress since I'm travelling this weekend. And I'll be stitching the world's smallest Christmas ornament this weekend too for that SAL.

I really need to post a scan of the post SAL challenge project. I hope they still counted me this month even though I only posted a stitch count rather than a photo.

And I picked up Midi 1 this week. The lady is done minus some of the backstitching. I may actually finish it this year! I hit such a nice groove with it today that I hate to put it down for the SAL.

If I find some time, I'll be posting photos of my many WIPs soon.