Hopeful house plans

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.

Holy Mortgage Batman!

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....

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.

Being greedy.

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.

It happened again

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.

On Pins and Needles

--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.

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

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.

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

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

Really.

Fingers crossed

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.......................

Happy New Year

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)

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.

November Random Poli Sci Thoughts

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

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

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

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

Election Day at Last

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

Dear Candidates:

Stop Lying!

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

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

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

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

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

Lots of Little Pictures

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.

Wishing You a Happy New Year

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.

2007: Year of the WIP Review

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!

End of the Month Update

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.

Tuffet to Be and Midi Stitchery

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.

Just a Little Update

I have managed to take photos of Tina's book so I present the cover, interior and spine.

I loved making the book. I almost had to pinch myself to believe I was actually finishing it all on my own. Once I jumped in and started the sewing, the directions became very clear to me. I was giddy with my success. Not bad for a first effort.

I am quite proud of the spine and how well it works as a book. I used a thin layer of batting to give the spine some body and it came together fairly easily. I will say that I cheated and used the sticky back mat board to attach the batting for each piece. Also, since I have small kids, I used Aleene's craft glue rather than a hot glue gun. Angie had fun helping me glue a second layer of batting.

I wish the ribbons would make a pretty bow, but they look nice, all the same. You can see closer scans of the interior designs here and here. I have a few of Judy Odell's books, I need a few more.

The masses found in Tina's brain are not more tumors, they are blood clots. I never thought I'd be relieved to hear that someone "just" had blood clots. She is feeling a bit better. My Mom gave me Tina's new address tonight so I'm hoping to mail it by Saturday.

I won't be able to enter the tuffet contest--I ran out of a Dinky Dyes silk and no one around here carries her silks. Oh well, I intend to finish it as soon as I get a new skein so I'll post pictures of it later. Since this was to be a quickie project and shouldn't have gone past August, I plan to acquire another skein somehow and finish it in September. I love my tuffet-to-be and hope you will too.

I managed to stitch two ornaments for this month's SAL. You can see them at the Ornament SAL blog. Let me just say again: that was a ridiculous amount of beads for an ornie. It is heavy.

It's been ages since I posted a scan of Frog Prince 3 so here it is. Look: she has face and hair! I'm hoping to finish it by the end of the year. I still have a long way to go though. I'm afraid to think about how much confetti that table has. I mean, she's eating peas for heaven's sake! Peas! The world's tiniest vegetable. Sigh. And this would be why I removed the Gustafson's from my wish list: I love the designs, but the confetti is both necessary and mind-boggling.

HAED is starting to post freebies and the very first one was the Pirate Dragon by Lisa Victoria. It's a mini portion of the QS so I was thinking of stitching it rather quickly for Kian. I know I don't need another start. But to my credit, I'll at least wait until I finish either my tuffet or a bookmark UFO. Any bets on whether I can go down to fewer than 30 WIPs, SWIPs and UFOs by the end of December. Yeah, I think it's unlikely as well.

I have faithfully stitched on my Love Quilt project a little bit each day. At my current rate, I should finish it by the end of September at the latest. I ran out of one thread (seems to be a theme this month) and the new DMC skein is clearly a different dyelot, so I'll need to tinker a bt to make it look acceptable.

I'm trying to develope a rotation for my return to work. I'm thinking of focusing on WG, JG, Midi 1, Santorini and the Japanese Angel at work with a full work week being devoted to each, except that the last two would share a week. Frog Prince would be the Wednesday SAL project as well as the Angie bath project and I would still do the HAED challenge and Ornie SALs. During the partial weeks, I could stitch something else.

We have been heavy into the start of Kindergarten this week so I've had little computer time. Angie is loving school thus far, but I think it is sinking in that, oh wow, this is an everyday kind of thing. The school has lots of variety throughout the week so she won't get bored: swimming one day, computers and music another, art, gym. She is still doing Gymboree as well so at night there is very little trouble getting her to fall asleep. For myself, I wonder if I should ask the teacher more questions about how Angie is doing or just assume all is well. I'm going to miss the excitement of picking her up from school when I return to work. She's bubbling over to tell us about the fun she's had. Today she met Mr. D and he taught them dancing. Very cool stuff for Angie.

Unfortunately, her allergies are flaring and I'm not certain we will be able to send her to school. She will be so disappointed.

Kian is as handsome as ever. He's outgrown most of his clothes already and is in the six to nine month range for clothes now. I'm getting great exercise just lifting and carrying him. He is very into studying hands (his and mine) at present.

I'm just trying to savor this last little bit of leave before I return to work. Chas told me today that he has enjoyed having me home these past few months. That was nice to hear. As stressful as it has been at times, spending time with my family has been a treasure and a blessing.

Bits and Pieces

The biggie:

We had our follow up cardiology visit today. This was the big one. The one that would give us a good look at his response to the valvuloplasty. I have been anxious for two weeks about it, but today I woke feeling strangely calm, like I was in a haze (of course that could have been the Zyrtec I took last night). Chas was tense and I heard him tell Angie that she really needed to behave today because Mommy and Daddy would not be as patient as usual.

The good news: Kian's pulse ox was at 100% and his blood pressure was great. No ECG today. No Ultrasound. The doctor could hear that there was no significant change between the previous visit and today which means that the stenosis is minimal compared to what it was prior to the procedure.

We still must watch him carefully but she doesn't need to see him until the end of November. Depending on how he sounds at that time, we may need to schedule a sedated ECG at the hospital. She said that he might still need another procedure in a year or two, but she thought there was even a possibility that he won't need further intervention.

We can hope right? Thank you everyone for your support, thoughts and prayers. They have helped us immensely.

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They found some masses in Tina's brain, but I have no idea what that indicates. My Dad didn't mention it when I spoke to him last night. For those who don't read my blog regularly, Tina is my oldest brother's fiance and she is battling lymphoma. Treatments have, thus far, been unsuccessful in stoping or controlling the cancer.

I finished Tina's book Wednesday night! Tina has been moved to an apartment near the hospital so I am waiting for someone to give me her new address. It's cute. I decided against ruching ribbon around the edges because it finished better than I imagined it would. Judy Odell writes wonderful instructions. The only part I'm not pleased with is the ribbon tie. For those of you who work with ribbon embellishment, am I correct in assuming that silk ribbon just rests better than the satin stuff JoAnn's sells? The colors match the fabric perfectly, but they don't make a nice bow.

I'll try to post a picture tomorrow.

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Pompeii is officially out of reach now. Both of our cars need repairs so I can't justify buying another chart at the moment. Surely I will finish JG before Pompeii is released in a year or so.

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I'm happily stitching Snowberries for the Christmas ornament SAL. I have another ornie lined up to start if I finish Snowberries. I just need to find the conversion from SJ beads to Mill Hill, though I suppose it won't matter if I just pick beads I like. The frustrating part is that I had written a conversion when I started 'berries two or three years ago. I'm certain I saw it recently, but I can't seem to find it now. Most likely, I'll find it once I've finished beading.

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Angie is struggling so much right now. "New and different" is very upsetting for her. I ache for her. She never threw tantrums as a baby, but this summer she has pulled out all the stops. I know she just wants and needs attention, but that doesn't make it easier. I really hope that she'll be okay with Kindergarten next week. Tonight we go to the school to meet the teacher and attend an ice cream social.

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I'm trying to finish a tuffet for the Just a Thought board. I wasn't going to do it, but I found a chart screaming to be stitched. The photo deadline is next Friday and I think I'll need every free minute to complete it. I was foolish to start something new, but I'm enjoying stitching it.

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Do I dare join the Seasonal SAL? I like seasonal designs. I have Autumn Faery by TW started. I have the Autumn bellpull by Chatelaine in my stash. (Can you guess in which season I was born?) Heck, even my HAED SAL Challenge project would probably count.

It's so tempting....

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I hope you all have a happy Friday.