My July goals were to finish Liberty Fence, the two new Mother's Wisdom charts, stitch the new Lizzie Kate ornaments, start and finish Lizzie Kate's A Brother, and at least start In Every Nest. I did all of them!
My goals for August are pretty short. I want to finish both my paid projects this month. Heck, I want to finish them this week, but more on that in a minute. I want to make some start on Persian Iris Garden! By the end of the month, I should have some of the threads I need! I also want to stick to my rotation for the month until I finish all my small projects. That's it for goals!
I finished the keychain Friday, but I forgot to take a picture. It should look just like the picture; I didn't change anything. I took it in that afternoon, and got credit for it. I'm two thirds done with Winter 9 Patch. Blogger won't let me put up any pictures right now. I can get a block a day done, but then I don't have any time for anything else. I'm almost done with The Lord's Prayer. All that's left is bees and backstitch. I didn't spend much time on it this weekend. My deadline's Christmas, so there's rush. I will be glad to be rid of it though.
It's been a rough weekend. Mainly because Jymi has been playing computer games all weekend, and I can't get him to help me with the chores. It's an issue at the moment. We'll hopefully fight it out this evening. I think a big part of his laziness and grumpiness is part of him trying to quit smoking. I knew it would happen, I just didn't know he started already. It occured to me last night that his attitude was very similar to the way he used to get when he was having a "nic fit". Things will get better. They always do. I'll try to put up pictures tomorrow!

Here's the pictures of my paid projects. The first one is the keychain. I hope to finish it tomorrow. There's not much left to do. I just have to stitch the tops of the trees, and the border. Of course, as soon as I finish it, I've got an excuse to go to the shop! Maybe some of my silks will be in.
I'm just over one third done on the pillow. I didn't do much on it yesterday. I will try to do more tonight, but I may go on a frenzy trying to finish the keychain. I will finish at least one entire block tonight.
I am actually surpised how quick my monster project came along. I'm almost done with it. I've got to put the leaves on this branch (today, tomorrow, and possibly Saturday, too), and then I've just got one small branch (Sunday, maybe Monday), and the three bees (Monday). Then I start the backstitching, which should only take a couple days, and I can get rid of it! Talk about a happy dance!
Now for this week's SBQ. Many of us have a few pairs of embroidery scissors and some even have a "collection". How many pairs of scissors do you have? Feel free to share a photo of your favorite pair or pairs with us!
This picture shows my "collection". Impressive, huh? Maybe it's from being broke all the time, but I can't spend ten to forty dollars on a pair of scissors when there's nothing wrong with the ones I have. I got my blue ones (2) when I first started at the shop, because I didn't have any. I had some small scissors I had used until Jymi killed them using them to put a toy together for Darin's birthday. I had been using nail clippers until then, which work pretty good in a pinch. The first thing I did after buying my blue ones was stitch something with alot of Kreinik braids, which quickly dulled the blades. The blue started to come off the handle, too, and there's hardly any there anymore. So they are now my metallics on scissors. My rainbow stork (1) is my main pair. I bought these because they were so pretty, and my others didn't work well on cotton floss anymore (but still terrifc on metallics, go figure). These are my best friend. Tinkerbell likes to know them off my table/cart/leg. Then there's my rainbow fish (3). It's the same idea of my rainbow stork, just as a fish instead. When we went on the cross stitch criuse, they gave them to us as part of the class. The fish went with the sea theme. That's the only reason I have them. I only use them when my stork has been temporarily misplaced/stolen by small children and big cats.
Wow, this was supposed to be short! Just some other news. Our outside cat had kittens. We don't know where they are. She will not come inside, so that was not an option. We know they are somewhere in the neighbor's yard, probably under their bushes. Jymi is going to quit smoking when he runs out of cigarettes (he's got one more pack). That goodness! Darin has discovered how the Viewmaster works, and is now always bumping into things because he won't put it down. Like he needs more bruises. I am dreading taking him to the doctor next month. I'm sick. It's just a cold. How in the world do you get a cold when it's a hundred freaking degrees outside. It's mainly just a runny nose, but it's so irritating! Well, that's all, folks!

Darin likes my Q-Sanp. I may mold him into a stitcher one day.
Blogger's finally letting me put up my picture of Dragons By The Fire. I've been working on all my paid projects, but nothing else. If I have spare time, I've been spending it on Winter 9 Patch. I love the simple mindlessness of it. I'll put up pictures next time. I'm too lazy to do it right now.
After Michael's last DMC sale, there were fourty colors or so I didn't have. Wouldn't you know, The Lord's Prayer calls for one of those colors. For a grand total of TWELVE stitches. So I went to Michaels, and tried to finish my collection. They were out of two colors, one didn't make it onto my list, and one I picked up and it was the wrong one. I needed 150, a burgandy. It was the last one I picked up, and when I got home, I had picked up 815 instead. The only one I didn't double check to make sure I got the right number. I may exchange it, or just keep it (I use it alot), and go try again. So I have 451 colors. I have a shade of varegated thread I swiped from my mom's that has been discontinued.
While I was at Michaels, I saw they have new Dolly Mama kits out. I already needed Domestically Challenged! and Who Are These Kids?, but now I want Sick Days and Burn The Candle, too. I like Better Late..., too, but I'm afraid of what my kids will think when they're older and they see it. They were both, let's say suprises, and eventually they'll learn to subtract and they'll figure that out. I don't want them to think I didn't want them. I just didn't plan them. It turned out that they were the best thing that's ever happened in my life. They gave me a purpose, and they are my life. I love my boys. Especially at times like this, when they're both asleep and quiet.
I also like Ready. I remember that feeling all too well. One morning when I was pregnant with Darin, I said to Jymi, "I'm sick of being pregnant!" His reply was, "I'm sick of you being pregnant, too." That evening, just after dinner, I had Darin! I thought about doing it for the nursery my mom works at, but since she works in the NICU and most of those babies weren't "ready", it seems in bad taste. It seemed so weird when I had Tobi. He was nine pounds nine ounces, which is big even for a two week late baby, but all I had really seen when I was little were the tiny four and five pound babies in the NICU when I went to work with my mom. He's always been a big boy. I was an underweight teeneager when I got pregnant, so they didn't give me a weight limit. It's hard to believe now that I was ever underweight.
I need more money to buy all the things I want to stitch!

42. Only when you know the question will you know what the answer means. Yes, I watched Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy again. What is the question? I have come up with two. The first, is how many mood swings can I have in ten minutes with PMS. Poor Jymi deserves a medal for this weekend. He's been very sweet, and now that I'm back to normal, I feel horrible about how I treated him. I'll do something special to make it up to him. The second question to the answer 42: how many projects can I have started before I lose my mind.
I'm up to eleven. I'm still working on my paid project, The Lord's Prayer (left). I'm about half way through with all the cross stitch. Then I'll do the backstich and send this monster back. The picture looks like it's all half stitches, but it's mostly quarter stitches. On aida. Yuck.
On the right is my (paid project) keychain. It's on 36 ct. (thank goodness it's linen), but it's so tiny, I feel like I'm stitching over one again. It's just an ugly brown right now, but it will look better; I promise.


My last paid project is Winter 9 Patch (left). Sorry about the crooked picture. I spent some extra time on it last night. It's so simple, it goes pretty fast. I actually spent two and a half hours on it last night. It's on aida, too, but it's all whole stitches.
I got a little done on Tobi's stocking. I did the blue stripe at the top. I'll be doing the cuff, next. Here's the last picture I took, way back when I started this blog.
I've also made visible progress on Dragons By The Fire, but I can't put any more pictures up.
I didn't get hardly any stitching done on Friday, so I didn't do anything on In Every Nest. I just got enough time in on my paid projects Saturday, so I didn't start Snowfight: Blue. I've already said I spent my spare stitching time on Sunday working on Winter 9 Patch. I may do that again today. The credit I'm going to get from these is going toward my frame, as is the cash I get from the other one. That should take care of probably three quarters of it.
Here's last week's SBQ: when you get a project professionally framed, do you get glass inserted into the frame? Why or why not? I always get glass. It protects my work from my children. I'm just too paranoid that something horrible will happen if I don't get glass.
I've been called an enabler! That's me! I was a salesperson at The Stitch And Frame Shop for a year. I'm good at enabling and I'm proud of it! I'm also just a little addicted to shopping. I've been enabled by both Sharon's blog and Erin's. I love the new Excuses To Get Together (which I've already said) and the Casey Buonaugurio dessert samplers. I've been trying hard not to buy lemon meringue pie, at the cross stitch and grocery stores. I love the Woodland Sampler! I'm not a sampler person, but I love this verse, and the colors are wonderful!

I've actually put in almost seven hours on my paid project. It's coming along well. I went to the shop to pick up Vince VamPyre, which I ordered way back when. The Hob Nobb stuff takes forever to come in. I got it, and paid a little on my frame. My A Brother was framed and hanging up! They then gave me some stuff to stitch for models. They told me when I brought those in, they'd have something else for me. So I've now got Winter 9 Patch by Pine Mountain Designs and the House on 36 ct. from Sampler Key Chains from Milady's Needle, in addition to my paid project. I have three paid projects, and they're all going toward my framing.
I have made visible progress on Toys And Games and Dragons By The Fire. I'll post pictures on Monday, when Jymi goes back to work. Since I now have three paid projects, I'll work on each of them for forty minutes, which will still total only two hours spent on projects I don't get to keep. Today will be In Every Nest. I will finish the yellow on the first chick. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday will all be new starts, so you will definitely be able to see progress there!
I got some new stash! I got my fabric of the month and some thread I ordered. My Glory is pretty red. I've decided to put my Sweetheart Fence on it. That makes the third time I've changed fabrics for that chart. I had also added some Weeks Dye Works Hot Rod. It's being discontinued, and I'll need it for one of the Raise The Roof monthlies and Hot Enough For Ya' Day.
I love the new Water's Edge designs. They're called Excuses To Get Together. Bobbi used to be the strecther at the shop until she moved. While she's a nice person, I've never really been into her designs, but this new series is pretty cute. The only ones I've seen in the shop or on websites are Hayride, Halloween, and Fiesta, but I love the others, too. Like I need another series to collect. They had those first three at the shop. Bobbi's models. When I went there today, meaning to look at Halloween, someone had stolen it! They were not framed, just stretched, and someone must've just slipped it in their bag. I could not believe it! It enraged me! I couldn't believe someone would do that!
On a similar note (thing that make me very mad and I can't believe any one would do), we had a hit-and-run in our neighborhood Wednesday! The people across the street had a trailer parked in the street in front of their house, next to a telephone pole. That night, we were sitting in the living room, minding our own business. Then we heard this huge crash. Jymi and I looked at each other, got up, and walked outside. I got out first, a saw the car pulling away and one of the people in the house across the street came out. Jymi thinks they were drunk, and hit the trailer, and the telephone pole, and that's what stopped the car. I don't know, but I just can't get over how stupid some people are!

I actually spent two and a half hours on my paid project yesterday. At least half an hour of that was spent looking for the threads I needed. I got one section finished except the backstitch. I plan to leave that until the end. It seems to be going pretty quickly. I hope so. I'm going to have to wash it before I send it back. It's absolutely filthy. I'm babysitting my niece and nephew today, and I'll take it with me. So I will probably get more than two hours done on it. No complaints though; the more I get done today, the sooner I get it out of my house. Which means I get paid sooner, and I can put it toward my Halloween Fairy or my framing. They changed their mind about hanging my Liberty Fence. I think I brought in too many things to hang at once. It's just another reason for me to put off In Every Nest.
I also put in four lengths of thread in on Avatar! They were all very short lengths, but it's still pretty good since I haven't worked on it since January. It doesn't seem as intimidating as it did then. I felt like I was never going to finish it. It will be done this year, if I have to stay awake all through December! I didn't bother with a picture, since you won't really be able to see any difference from the last picture. It's just some half stitches filled in. I'll post a picture of it when I finish the clouds! Today, I'm working on Tobi's Toys And Games Stocking. It's on 25 ct. Lugana, which is nice and big and esy to see.
I think this rotation is only going to last as long as I have the paid project. To be honest, I think I'm using it as an excuse to be able to set a time limit on how long I work on the paid piece.
I've decided to start using names instead of initials when I complain/vent/brag about my family. It will make it a little less confusing. Plus, if I'm doing stockings, you'll see their names anyway!
Our neighbors spent the other night hauling the fallen tree out to the side of the road. They tied the three sections, one at a time, to a car, and pulled them out of the fenced-in yard to the side of the road, where they cut them up with a chainsaw. It was a very good idea to do it that way. Much less work than cutting it up, then taking all the smaller piece out. When I went outside at eight at night, and saw all these people working, it seemed weird, but then I realized; that was the only time it was cool enough to do it. The good news is there is no real damage to the fence.
I went for a walk last night. I didn't leave until 7:30, and it was STILL disgustingly hot. I hate it here in the summer. I always spent the summers at my dad's, where it was a little cooler. I don't remember it being so hot there that I didn't want to go outside and play. Then I spent the winters here, where you don't really need a winter coat and they shut down the schools if there's a chance of snow, because no one knows what to do!

Here's my progress on In Every Nest. It's not very much, but I'm excited about this project right now. At the moment, I'm a little burnt out on overdyed threads. I want to do something with plain DMC.
I also got my paid project in the mail yesterday. I could cry. Everything is wrong. I ripped out what cross stitching had been done. I'm pretty sure the branches weren't meant to be pink. I couldn't just take out the pink either. The back was too messy. I spent two hours ripping it out. It's on aida (ewww!). It was covered in cat hair, and I think she was a smoker, because the fabric was supposed to be white, but it was alot closer to ivory or cream. The words were supposed to be backstitched in one strand of brown; she used two strands of green. I think the color was a choice, but they are so thick you can't really read it. It's a kit, so she sent me all the threads, all balled up together. So I'm using y own. I could've cried when I got it. I'm feeling better about it today. After I ripped it out yesterday, I couldn't stand to work on it then. So I finished the thread I had started on In Every Nest. With shipping and supplies, though, it's going to be a $40 to $50 project. The final price will depend on my frustration with it.
Since I have these two projects that I don't really want to work on, I've decided to go back to a rotation. I will work on my paid project for two hours every morning. The first of the month, I will do that month's part of Persian Iris Garden, or as far as I can go. Alternatively, I will work on it as soon as I get the threads I don't have. The rest will be a days of the week thing. Sundays will be Trick-Or-Treat, Mondays I'll work on Garfield: Bonzai!, Tuesdays are Avatar, Wednesdays will be Toys And Games Stocking, Thursdays are Dragons By The Fire Stocking, Fridays I'll work on In Every Nest, and Saturdays will be Snowfight: Blue. Hopefully that'll work for awhile.
Today I've got to do laundry, and go for a walk, in addition to working on the paid project and Avatar. Yay, laundry.

Before I say anything else, I want to thank everyone for their comments on my last post. It meant alot to me, and I appreciate it! Thank you!
About one, on Friday morning I finished A Brother. I used all the recommended threads, on 28 ct. silvery moon Cashel linen. I backstitched around the sail to help it stand out more. I took it to the shop, and they wanted to hang it. I also dropped off my Mother's Wisdom and got some boards for my ornaments. I came home, and got them all stretched and the cording made. That evening, J. and I went to see Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. By then, I had sewn two of the ornaments together. I stuck the third one in my purse, to finish while we waited for the movie to start. When J. saw me pull it out, he said, "You are sick! You need help!" Isn't he supportive? I wanted to have them all done to take back to the shop Saturday.
He was actually very sweet after the movie. There was a bad storm, and as we went to the car, lightning stuck a tree behind the parking lot, causing one of the limbs to fall. I asked J. to put his seatbelt on because I had a "bad feeling". Instead of calling me crazy, he looked concerned, and did it. The last time I told him I had a "bad feeling", we were driving behind a truck with some chairs stacked in the back. I told J. about my feeling, and asked him stay back. Sure enough, two stoplights later, every last chair fell out of the back of the truck. I would by means call them premonitions. The chairs were my usual paranoia of the worst will happen, and lightning storms just always make me nervous. While nothing happened on the way home, when we got got home everything was fine. The boys went to bed, and J. and I weren't up much later. When we got up in the morning, what did we find? Our neighbors' tree had been struck by lightning and split in three directions. One of them fell into our yard! You can't really see in the picture, but the fence is bent beneath the tree. Since it's in the front yard, it doesn't really affect us. It's their tree, and their fence. I'm glad because it means we don't have to worry about trying to argue about who pays for what. J. cut up what was in our yard. They'll do what they want with what's in their yard, and as far as we're concerned, the fence can stay bent. We don't use it for anything.

I took all my ornaments to the shop Staurday. This was after we had driven to J.'s parents, so he could borrow the chainsaw for the tree, and after we had driven half an hour in the opposite direction to my mom's to give her what we could towards our debt. T. and D. have never wanted to stay there, but they sure did not want to get back into that car. Our car is dark blue, with leather seats, and no air conditioning. It was very miserable. When we went to J.'s parents, his cousin was there visiting. He is about the same age as J.'s little sister. He was so suprised that T. could play video games, particularly that he had beaten Star Wars Legos and Battlefront 2. He still thinks of T. as about two.
Sunday we went to J.'s great greandfather's birthday party. He turned 96, and is still in pretty good health. When we got there, D. gave him a huge hug. I was very proud of how sweet he was. They were both tired though, so we couldn't stay long. We also didn't know anybody there, except J.'s parents and grandparents. It was also hot and crowded, which was another reason we didn't stay long. It was nice to see J.'s "great-paw-paw", though, and he always loves seeing the boys. They're his only great-great grandkids so far. J.'s little sister is the next oldest of the generation, and she will only be twelve this year. So she won't be having kids anytime soon (hopefully, or I'll have to hide J.'s gun), and J. and I don't know if we'll ever have any more kids, but it won't be soon. No more kids until the ones we have are in school.
So all in all, I haven't gotten much stitching done. At the end of the day, I'm just too tired and too hot. I have started In Every Nest, but I haven't gotten much done. I took a picture, but I can't put it up right now. Maybe tomorrow. I've changed all the colors to Weeks Dye Works, since I don't like Six Strand Sweets. I also brightened up all the colors. I'm doing it on Spring Jazlyn, so I had to change the greens. Today, I don't even plan to get dressed; I'm going to sit on my butt and finish a chick! I've still got three and a half discs of Desperate Housewives. J. is still trying not to get sucked in, but it's not working. At one point he said one was pretty, but she was too skinny. That made me feel good, because I think she's beautiful, and would do anything to look like her. I like knowing my husband likes my shape better!

The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. I think I've finally accepted the loss of my job, but I didn't do it in order. I was in denial when the old owner told me there was a possiblility I would not be rehired. I bargained with the owner to let me still hang models. I was very sad, because I loved that job, and all the people there. Then I got mad because I found out part of the reason I wasn't rehired was so the new owner's friend could have my hours. I have to say that pissed me off. I didn't say anything to anyone about that, though because I was also a little embarrassed about it. Yesterday though, J. and I were talking about office politics, and I finally told him. He was very sweet and gave me a hug, telling me that was a stupid decision on her part. He didn't understand, either, why she would give my job to someone who had been gone for over a year when she was just starting out. I think that helped me to accept it. Last night, I laid in bed and felt very calm about the whole thing. I have accepted it, and also that I probably won't be getting my job back in the fall; she was just trying to make me feel better.
I called Michaels to see if they had made a decision yet, and they told me they had a few more people to interview, and then they would call me back. I also got a call from a lady who had called the shop looking for someone to finish a piece for her. They gave her my number, and she's going to send me the piece to finish. I'm supposed to call her with an estimate when I get the package. So I've lost a job, got a job, and am still waiting to hear about a job.
I got a little done on A Brother, but not much, so no picture yet. It says "A brother shares." Maybe I should just stop there. I need to chart what I tell my boys: "Be nice to your brother. You're not getting another one!" I am going to spend most of today working on it. I'm hoping to get through "grown-up," so I can finish it tomorrow and take it to be framed. Then I'll work on In Every Nest until the paid project gets here.
I also want to answer this week's SBQ. Since you started blogging, have you noticed any difference in your stitching habits? Tell us about them.
I only started bloggin a few months ago, and I haven't really noticed any difference. I do take pictures more often, which encourages me alot, so maybe I get projects done faster. It helps to see progress.
I've had a very good morning so far. My boys let me sleep until nine, and when I got up, they both gave me HUGE hugs! They ate all their breakfast (no wonder since they didn't eat any dinner), and D. came and sat on my lap for a few minutes. It was nice; he smelled like peanut butter (they each had a granola bar with their cereal). I feel alot better in general having accepted that I lost my job, and knowing what's going on with Michaels for the moment. My dad called. He's a mechanic, and is going to help us fix our car. I sent him pictures, and he's going to look in the junkyards for a hood, a bumper, and a radiator. We'll buy new headlights and a battery. We have finally gone a whole week with a positive balance in our bank account. So everything is going great, and will continue until J. gets home and does something to ruin it. He's been funny the last couple days. I've been watching the first season of Desperate Housewives on DVD in the evenings, and J., against his will, has gotten into it. He won't admit it, but he is watching, laughing, and enjoying it!
Yesterday, I did sit-ups until I couldn't do any more. I also went for a walk. I did a mile and a half in twenty-seven minutes, which works out to a eighteen minute mile. It's not as good as last time, but it's still better than before. I've also been eating less. I am doing better. If I really wanted to, I could blame my overeating before on stress. Although if I really wanted to, I could've stopped myself. My life is looking up on all accounts. Thank goodness! I'm always grateful for all our health, my wonderful husband, and my sweet kids, but money to pay the bills helps alot, too! Love is not all you need. You tell a four-year-old all he needs is love when what he wants is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! See how long that lasts.

I got alot done on Monday! I finished Look Both Ways and did about half of Mind Your Manners. I took a picture of the whole piece of fabric to show how pretty the whole thing is.






I also took a picture of Study Hard and Wash Your Hands, since I forgt last time, and of course a close up of Look Both Ways and Mind Your Manners. I finished Mind Your Manners yesterday. I also got a good start on A Brother. I would've done more if I hadn't spent a couple hours helping T. play Spongebob Squarepants: Battle For Bikini Bottom. I hope to have it finished Friday to take it in to be framed. I was planning to go down there to get some mat board today, but I think I'll just wait until Friday.
I also went for a walk. I did a mile and a half in twenty-two minutes! That's alot better than I did when I was was trying to lose weight. I have been trying to eat less and exercise more. I go through periods where I want to simplify my life, and then periods when I want to take control. I'm not back to control.
Lastly, here's a pic of D. dressed in J.'s army gear. He put on J.' beret, and then J. put his jacket on him. I thought it was too cute, and just had to share! Believe it or not, this was the best picture I could take. D. never holds still for long.

J. had drill this past weekend. He brought home his handcuffs. He usually just leaves them down there. He asked for my hand when got home, and he tried to put them on me. Then when I put them on D., I got a speech about how they are not toys. This was just after I said the same thing to D. when I told him it was time to put them up.
I finished my ornaments. I finished Family Saturday, and Faith yesterday. I'll ornamentify them soon. I have to get some more matboard. I'm going to wait until I finish my Mother's Wisdom, so I can take it in when I go in to pick them up. I did start Look Both Ways last night, but I only got a few stitches in before I went to bed. My goal was to get it started this weekend though!
I checked Shakespeare's Peddler the other day to see what the fabric of the month was and saw this. It's D.'s birthday! I'm sure I'll get the chart with my fabric. I've gotten them all so far. The first one, No Socks Day, was just two days before my birthday. They are too cute. my fabric this month is Glory. It not one of my favorite colors. It's very pretty, but one of those where you have to have something specific to put on it. I don't know what I'll use it for, but I'm sure I'll find something. Everytime I hear the name though, One Song Glory from Rent starts playing in my head. J. sorta watched it with me the other day. He was on the computer, but he half watched because he said, "If I'm gonna have to listen to the soundtrack all the time, I want to have some idea what the hell they're singing about!" He still doesn't have a clue. He didn't pay enough attention. He's not into musicals. He watched the end of Chicago, but he couldn't make it through more than twenty minutes of Phantom Of The Opera before he said, "I can't take this anymore. I'm sorry. I love you, but please don't make me stay." He volunteered to watch it, but couldn't make it. Oh well. I do the same with his war movies.

Here, finally, are my progress pics of Liberty Fence. I finished it Thursday! Yay! After that, I started the next Lizzie Kate ornament, Caring. Then I finished it the same day! I'm going to wiait on the picture of that until I've finished the other two. Now, I'm about halfway through with Family. I was busy yesterday, so I didn't work on it much. I had to clean my mom's, then I had to go get groceries. I got to come home for an hour, then went to the retirment party at the shop. I talked to the new owner, and she's going to hang my fence. She may want me to take home my Spooky Fence. It's been up for almost a year. It'll be one week short when the new one is done. She's not sure she wants four fences hanging, but they don't sell well until they're done up. Nautical Fence sat there for five months, and we sold two. I do a model, and we're selling one at least every two weeks. I won't hang Sweetheart Fence in the shop, because one of the colors (Weeks Dye Works Cyclamen) has been discontinued. You can't hang something on the wall and then say, "Oh no, you can't have that; they don't make it anymore." I could substitute it, but I don't realy want to. I'll just wait for the framing special and pay for it myself. I'd like to have Garfield done by then, too. I ended up working some at the party. A couple people brought in some framing, and since I was back there with mine, I typed up their's, too. I finally got my new Mother's Wisdom charts while I was there, and some thread. Now all I need for Persian Iris Garden are the Needlepoint Inc. Silks, Gloriana, and Silken Pearl. Oh, and the beads, too.
My third happy dance Thursday had nothing to do with stitching. I finally, after meaning to do it for two months now, organized the DVDs. I separated the J.'s and my movies from the boy's, and put them all in alphabetical order. The picture doesn't show all the boys' movies; they have two more cabinets. They have to stay in alphabetical order, because of the way our living room is set up. The doors don't open all the way, so I have to stick my arm in, pull something out, and decide whether to go forward or back to find the movie I'm looking for. I was going to separate J.'s and mine, too, but there was too much overlap. There's a little overlap with the grown up and the boy's movies but not where you'd expect. There are several live action Disney movies that are mine. The boys are too young to get into Holes, The Princess Diaries, and National Treasure. They will watch Secondhand Lions and The Pacifier, but they won't request them. The grown up movies they like? Ghostbusters, I, Robot, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Pirates Of The Carribean, Star Wars, Moulin Rouge, Men In Black II, The Corpse Bride, and Spaceballs! Do you see the trend? Ghosts, robots, aliens and robots, pirates, aliens and robots, girls in underwear (boys will be boys), aliens and big guns, zombies, aliens and robots. I guess I can't say too much. With the exception of Spaceballs and Star Wars, those are all primarily my movies. Spaceballs is technically J.'s (as in he bought it before we moved in together), but he doesn't really watch it. My dad sent me Star Wars, but I'm not a huge fan (I like them, but I can only see one a month,or I get sick of them), so they're more J.'s.
J. has drill today, so I have the majority of the day free to stitch. I want to finish my Lizzie Kates this weekend, and hopefully get a start on my Mother's Wisdom. I guess I shold feed the boys breakfast. I can hear them banging around their room. I should also get off the stupid computer if I'm going to stitch! Have a nice weekend!

I'm way behind on SBQs, so here are the last three weeks. From June 21, have you ever used a magnifying glass while stitching? If so did you find it helpful? Well, I haven't needed one yet, knock on wood. First thing in the morning and t the end of the evening, I HAVE to wear my glasses, but usually I can get away without them. They're very scratched and D. bent one of the arms back. Now if I lean over, they fall off, so I am pretty short tempered with my glasses.
June 29's question was: what do you do with your charts once you've stitched them? Do you keep them or dispose of them? If you keep them, do you organize them in a way that is different frome the way you keep your unstitched charts? The very first thing to say is I am a packrat. I keep all my stitched charts in a plastic bag in an endtable that was my craft area before J. bought me my carts. They aren't really that organized. I just slide them in the bag, so they are sorta in the order that I stitched them. I am considering trading some of them, to raise the cash for the Mirabilia kits, but I doubt I will. There's only a few I think I could actually sell. I've done alot of free patterns, and I've got a couple that I colored and worked from the originals before I learned to make working copies (like my sister's birds). Then there are some that I may stitch again (like the Dinky Dyes cats), a few I am sentimentally attatched to (like Dragonwings, because I did it for J.), and some I can't bear to get rid of for various reasons. I don't want to get rid of the Raise The Roof charts I've stitched because they're just so much fun, and I sort of collect them. I don't want to get rid of I'll Make my Own Happy Ending, because part of the money goes to charity, and if I sell it to someone else, then that's money the charity wouldn't get. Snowfight: Red is a limited edition, so I don't want to sell it.
Finally, today's SBQ! What is the biggest mishap you have had with your stitching material? When I was working on this piece (The Lovers by Meineck Design Group), I was forever spilling stuff on it! It survived soda, beer (actually that was someone else's fault), baby formula, and alfredo sauce. Thank goodness nothing ever stained. It smalled bad after the formula for a day or two. Last winter, when I was working on Avatar, I spilled hot chocalate on it. That was bad. I tried to spot clean it for about an hour, which helped, but you could still see the stain. So I took our biggest pot and put in some Dawn and cold water. I shoved him in the pot and left him for three or four hours. When I was done crying because I knew it would never come out, I pulled it out. There were still two very small spots that would be covered by the frame and/or mats anyway, but the rest of it came out. That is also why I'm such a huge fan of Picture This Plus fabrics; I'm clumsy, and the cat and D. like to knock stuff over, and their fabrics are colorfast! All the other hand-dyed fabrics they have at the shop aren't.
We had a nice long weekend. J. took Monday off, and had a holiday yesterday, so he had a five day weekend. I can't believe we had that much time together without a fight. As much as J. and I love each other, we drive each other nuts if we're home together all day. Of course I was gone most of the day Friday, and most of the morning Monday. We had a great time, and J. and I had some quality time after the boys went to bed every night. We watched goofy movies, and just generally had a good time together. T. watched Men In Black II with us last night.
I have alomst finished Liberty Fence. All I have left to do Lady Liberty and then attach the buttons. I have new pictures, but now I can't find the right cable to hook up the camera. J. "fixed" all the tangled cords, which means they're all sitting in front of the fishtank. I hope to have a happy dance tomorrow. Actually I hope to have one today, but I'm setting my expectations a little lower.
I haven't heard back from Michaels, but yesterday was a holiday. I'm not sure how long I should wait. Getting the job at Stitch And Frame was a little different than getting one from a big company. This is as far as I've ever gotten in this situation. The Stitch And Frame Shop was my first job. I'm still hopeful. I'm off to stitch Lady Liberty! She's got legs and sandals, but no dress on!

My June goals were finish Dragonwings and The Time I Spend Stitching. I did both of those. Stitch one Christmas ornament. Yeah right. Put at least one length of thread in on Avatar. Not a snowball's chance n hell. I also wanted to start something new this month. I started Liberty Fence. Now, I'm almost done, but Blogger won't let me put up any pictures.
My July goals are to finish Liberty Fence. Hopefully I'll finish it this week. I will add the two new Mother's Wisdom (Look Both Ways and Mind Your Manners) charts to the rest of them. Then I'll stitch the new Lizzie Kate ornaments (Caring, Family, and Faith). I want to start and finish Lizzie Kate's A Brother, then I want to at least start In Every Nest this month.
I had good news yesterday. Michaels called me in the morning, and I went in for an interview. It went really well, and they had me fill out one of the questionaires that asks you three question in different ways. Are drugs bad, are customers important, is stealing wrong again and again. Hopefully they'll call today or tomorrow. Today we have to go visit J.'s grandparents, and then go to a friend of J.'s is having a barbeque. We probably won't stay too long, since it starts at seven and the boys are usually asleep by eight or nine.

Before I say anything else I have to get something off my chest. I watched "A Girl Like Me" Thursday afternoon. I have to say most Lifetime movies end up pretty stupid, and I feel like I've wasted my time when I watched them. This was a very interesting movie though. It kept your attention, it had a solid storyline, and more than anything else you could sympathize with the characters. As they are going to the funeral, even the people who support Gwen seem wrong. Here they are, waving signs like they're at a concert at a woman who's son was just murdered! At the end of the movie, they did their little public service announcement, like they alwasy do. It made me so mad! It went on about how brave it is to be yourself, and how it should be respected. It shouldn't have to be! Being yourself should be as normal as wearing underwear! Sometimes I can't believe how cruel people are over the stupidest things!
I took Dragonwings to be framed Friday. They loved it, and they're going to hang it in the shop. I also ordered the threads I still need for Persian Iris Garden. Of course now, part three has come out, so I need to order more. They're having a celebration at the shop Friday night, so I'll go to that (and register for the prize, a $100 shopping spree) and order them then. Then I went to my mom's, and she loaned us the money to get the car back. I don't think it's going to be as bad as I originally thought, but it's still more than we can afford. It definately needs a new hood, bumper, headlights, radiator, and a battery. I'm not sure what else will need to be replaced. Then T. and I went to see Garfield: A Tale Of Two Kitties with my mom, my grandma, my sister, and her kids. T. has been begging to see it. He loved it, and spent the rest of the day talking about it. It was better than the first Garfield movie. When I got home, I took some pictures of the car.
I spent Saturday working on Liberty Fence, while J. played video games. I got alot done, but Blogger won't let me put up any pictures. I also went to the library and got a book on tape and signed the boys up for the summer reading program. I also go T. his favorite book, "No, David!" He can read it by himself.
J.'s parents took us out to dinner tonight, for J.'s birthday. They took us to a barbeque resteraunt, because I don't like barbeque. I'm sorry, but when I have to spend half the meal waving away flies, I tend not to enjoy it! The for dessert, they ordered a fried Oreo sundae for us. It sounded good, but it should've come with a heart transplant. It was greasy and nasty. T. liked it, though.