I am a cartoon....

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Gratuitous Self-Recognition

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!

I'm thirty-nine today.

Seriously.

Some Anxiety.

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.

Happy Birthday Kian

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

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

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

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.

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

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?

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.

I'm so good!

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

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

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

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!