I love my boys. Tuesday, I had to babysit, so I got the boys Burger King for dinner before I left. Tobi was thrilled!
"You got Burger King, mom?"
"Yep."
"You got me chicken nuggets and barbecue sauce?"
"Yep."
"Wow! You're the bess mommy in the whole wide world!"
That makes you feel good! We're working with Darin on manners. Yesterday he said please and thank you on his own once: to ask for a spoonful of peanut butter. My children are sweet, but always hungry!
I finished my model yesterday morning, and put them back in the mail. In the afternoon, I went back to Snowfight: Blue. I hope to finish it by the end of next week. Then I'll be halfway through my challenge. When I finish this one, I'm going to work on Tobi's stocking until it's finished, it's Christmas, or I get a new model.
I've gotten some lovely stash. I haven't bought any charts, but I got my fabric of the month for August and September (Crystal Lagoon, and Raisin). I wasn't looking forward to Raisin, but then I got it! It's gorgeous! The pictures on the website don't nearly do them justice. I also got the fabric and buttons for No Socks Day. I'm going to add the Just Another Button Company Stitch Every Holiday series to my automatic, and just be a little behind. I got some beautiful Dinky Dyes for my last model, and a cute kit for a scissor case and fob (Blue Stylized). Angel, a woman I know from the Wagon and the shop, sent me a RAK: some glow-in-the-dark blending filament and some beads from my wishlist, and a very sweet notepad. I got my ornament issue, too, with my fabric of the month. I love the Raise The Roof one (of course). Their last monthly chart came out last week, too. More stuff to add to my wishlist! I've got the fabric for the ornament already. I just need some Gentle Arts Gingersnap and Weeks Bethlehem. I so need to start another project.

I finished Tobi's Garfield yesterday! It worked out perfectly; the mailman dropped off a few new models right as I started putting the date on this. Talk about timing! This is probably the happiest happy dance I've had in a long while, since I finished Skeleton Crew in May. It's for me (at least my house), and I don't have to worry about seeing if they'll hang it in the shop. Jymi likes it, and he thinks Tobi will love it. I asked him for framing suggestions, and he had some! That's not like him. He suggested an orange inner mat, with a black outer mat, both very thin, and a white frame. I was thinking no mats, and a simple, medium sized black frame. I'll take it in Friday, and play with some things. The framing special starts in a week and a half, but I can go ahead and type it up as a quote. Then when I go in after it starts, all they have to do is change it from a quote to and order. It gets very busy, so I want to get in an out quickly.
I went to the shop Saturday. I took in my Lizzie Kate ornaments, and my Hob Nobbs. The owner wasn't there, but the office manager said they just had to hang it in the shop. So I picked out a frame and filled out a model slip.
I also decided to take hom my Spooky Fence home for Halloween. They asked that I bring it back after the holiday. My year has been up for a couple months, though, so whenever I decide I want it all to myself, I can have it. This piece is very special to me. It was alot of firsts for me: first time really using overdyed threads, Just Another Button Company buttons, and the first time I picked out and typed up an entire frame order be myself.
Here's a closer picture of the stitching. I am very proud of it.
I got a new set of models yesterday in the mail. I'm halfway done already. I hope to put it all back in the mail tomorrow, since our mailman doesn't usually come until four. So I've got all day today, and most of tomorrow.
Our lunch out with everyone Jymi works with, Thursday, was wonderful. He introduced to his partner, who told me sho loves working with him. Jymi told me later that she refuses to work with anyone else. He also told me he'd been demoted. He was working in decontamination, but his superviser wanted to hire her sister, so she knocked Jymi back down to utilities. That's why he's been so miserable. He didn't tell me because it happened while I was going through all my stuff with losing my job, and he didn't want to depress me any more. That's why he's beome so miserable. Poor thing. He's now also been eleven days smoke free. I'm very happy for him and very proud of him, but I'm not allowed to tell him. He does great as long as I don't remind him.
We spent lots of family time together this past weekend. Friday evening, the four of us sat down with a bowl of popcorn and watched Hoodwinked. It was very cute. The boys loved it. Saturday morning we watched The Wild and ate poptarts. I had gotten it out of the DVD vending machine, and they only let you have them for one night. Sunday we went to the park. The boys had a blast. It was a very nice weekend.
Anyway. I've got models to stitch on. Maybe I should have breakfast too. That sounds good, too.

I finished my Lizzie Kate ornaments. I had to stop by the shop on my way to babysit Tuesday, and I stitched, "Peace," yesterday. I'll get some batting to finish them tomorrow, since I've got to go to my mom's anyway.
I also finished Garfield yesterday. I've still got the ice cream bowl to do, but maybe in another week it'll be finished. The framing special starts October 7, so I'll probably try to get it in then. Tobi's birthday is November 27, which means I'll need it by the 22 to give it to him as his party. Since everyone's always together on Thanksgiving, we usually celebrate Tobi's, and at Jymi's family's, his cousin Joseph's, birthday(s). All the evidence shows that Jymi's family can't be bothered to show up for the boys' birthdays' unless they're already getting together for a holiday that involves eating. Sorry. Small in-law rant there.
On another note, I joined HasturTorres' Project Challenge. I'm doing ten. I'm an abstinence virgin. I've never decided to not buy stash until X. I've set up a spereate blog for my finished projects here. Including Peace, I've finished three.
I've designed a pattern for the Cars quilt. With what I've decided to do, I can do two quilt and two pillow cases. It won't be by Christmas, but hopefully sometime next year.
Jymi's feeling better, and is now six days smoke free (thank goodness!) Tobi, Darin, and I now all have his cold. Jymi and I have decided: he's going active duty. I still hate it, but it's the lesser of three evils. The other options are: we stay here, in a rented house forever, with Jymi at a job he hates, and just abrely pays the bills, or he goes on the road with his job for six months out of the year. It pays very well, but that would mean he'd miss half our lives. I'd much rather have Jymi happy and home, which means the army. Remind me how everything works out in the end.
I went to Target to look at Halloween costumes. There wasn't a Harry Potter movie this year, so those costumes are only online. I'll probably order one next week. I aksed if he wanted to be anything else, but no. He has to be Harry Potter, with glasses and a scar. I went to get something out of their closet yesterday, and found Darin's costume from last year. It still fits him, and he got all excited when he saw it. So Darin's going to be a very cute green dragon. We'll have Harry and Norbert.
I have to go give the boys baths. Jymi's company is having their Christmas lunch today, since they'll be in outage at Christmas, and they won't be able to get away. Families are invited, and Jymi loves showing off his cute, well behaved children. It means alot to him that we come, so I figure I should make sure the boys are clean.
For some reason my pictures won't show up, but if you click on the red x, you can see them. Sorry.

Jymi and I had a date Friday night. We went out to dinner, and then to a movie. Dinner was wonderful. I got the best drink: an Orange Dream. It's vanilla cognac, orange juice, and vanilla ice cream, with whipped cream on top! Then we saw Wickerman. Neither of us had ever seen the original. Jymi didn't like it. It's understandable. My guess would be that most men feel the same way. I loved it! For one thing, I could guess the ending within the first ten minutes of the movie. After watching so many Alfred Hitchcock movies, and the sort of books I tend to read, most movies with surprise endings (The Village, Secret Window) are pretty predictable. Another part of it is that I was in the pre-IB program at school. Then made sure you learned to look at EVERY detail. When we read The Great Gatsby in tenth grade (eleventh grade English), the entire class failed the pop quiz with one question: what day does the first chapter take place on? It says something to the nature of: "In exactly two weeks, it will be the longest day of the year." So we were supposed to remember that one, seemingly insignificant, sentence. That was all it took.
Saturday, we all stayed home. After dinner, all four of us sat down to watch Cheaper By The Dozen. Tobi and Darin loved watching all the kids do silly things. I love this movie, but it always makes me cry. Factor in that I had PMS, and as soon as they said, "Mark's gone!" I was bawling! Jymi admits that it always makes him tear up, too, but he was laughing at me for getting so upset. It is a little silly, I guess considering how many times we've seen it, but it still breaks my heart.
After it was over, we put Tobi and Darin to bed. Then Jymi and I watched Lucky Number Slevin. It was similar to Wickerman. It was Jymi's suggestion, but he hated it, and I loved it. He complained that it was too slow. It's not that it was slow; it was more psychological than he was expecting. He though it was going to be a plotless action movie (his favorite kind), when it was one of those you almost have to watch twice to really get everything.
Friday, I went to pick up my new Lizzie Kates and my silks for Persian Iris Garden. I also got the free bonus chart for buying all twelve of the ornaments. I don't really like it though. It wouldn't be so bad, but I don't like that it has the year on it. It's just so simple, too.
Friday morning, I finished my Cross Eyed Kat stuff. I got it out in the mail. I had alot of errands to run before Jymi and I went out so I didn't get anything else done. Saturday I started Home, and I got everything done but the H, O, E, and the border. I finished it up Sunday afternoon. It used up the last of my Holly, which is used to do the letters, so I'll have to get more this evening, after Jymi gets home. I haven't started Faith yet, but I will after lunch. I can't put them together, either, since I'm out of batting. I may see if I can swipe some from my mom this evening, too.
Jymi's gotten over his cold. He's given it to me and Tobi. Darin's got a little cough, but he doesn't have the stuffy nose. I've been giving him Dimetapp when I give it to Tobi, just in case. It does help his cough, in any case. Jymi doesn't feel any better though. Friday night, he had his last cigarette! He's been doing pretty good the last couple days, but today will be the real test. The third day is always hardest for him. Plus, he smokes more when he's at work, and he went back today. Please cross your fingers for him!

I worked on Garfield a little on Monday, between finishing Trick Or Treat and the mail coming. I got a package from Kat Rocha with model stuff! So no progress pics this week. I'm almost finished though. Depending on how much Jymi irritates me this weekend, I may have it finished by the end of the weekend.
This is what the whole Garfield chart looks like. I plan to do the whole thing for the kitchen eventually. It's not bad for a chart that's older than I am.
This little bit is all I'm doing for Tobi. I'm going to stitch "Bonzai!" underneath it.
There are a few things I have to share. I did make it to the post office on Monday. What I forgot was that Darin had dressed himself the day before; in a long sleeve t-shirt (when it's eighty to ninety degrees outside), Madagascar shorts with the snap missing so they're always falling down, Tobi's reading medal from the library, and Jymi's army uniform cap which he found in the car. He was the center of attention there. They were good for the most part, so they each got a bag of M&Ms at the grocery store.
Jymi's been sick. It's either a cold or allergies, but only one medication has helped so far, and he got a little bit stoned off of it. He came home form work early yesterday, and he took my last Sprite this morning for his sore throat.
My strange fat cat has taken to sleeping in Jymi's bookbag. One more thing to add to the "What's Wrong With Tinkerbell" list.
I keep dreaming about our daughter. I know I'm not pregnant, but I keep dreaming about her. This morning was the first one I told Jymi about, because I was very upset. I dreamt that the day we were taking her home from the hospital, his mom came to visit us. She put my baby in a box full of pillows to suffocate her. I saved her, but Jymi had woken me because I was tossing so much. I know she doesn't like me, but I don't honestly think she'd try to kill her grandchild. I told Jymi, and he was scared I was pregnant again. I wasn't completely awake, and just mumbled, "I didn't drink the wagon water." He decided he didn't want to understand, and went to work.
We're weird. It's okay; Jymi and I are both wierd; the kids inheirited it, too. We're just one big weird family. Even the cat is psycho, and the dogs refer to lay ing the mud when it rains instead of going into their doghouse.

I finished my Hob Nobbs this morning at the unholy hour of seven. I had to take Jymi to work today, because I need the car, and he leaves early. It's thirty to forty minutes each way, and we got home a six. So after I finished this, I went back to sleep.
My mom and I took my grandma to the craft show Friday. She gets so depressed when my mom, my sister, and I show her any of our craft stuff. She's got very severe arthritis, and bad eyesight, so even if she could hold a needle, she can't see to thread it. For Mother's Day, my sister got her this kit thing. I can't for the life of me remember what it's called, but it's a piece of foam with a picture cut into it. You get the fabric and use this special tool to push it into the foam. When you're through, it looks like a gorgeous applique quilt. My grandma could do, she loved it, and we knew they had more at the craft show. She got a big one, and two little ones, which should keep her busy for a month or two. There was an eagle that she also liked, but she didn't want to spend that much money. I'm going to try to get it for her for Christmas. They're actually very well priced since they come with all the fabric, too, and you already know all the colors coordinate.
Jymi had drill this weekend, which is how I managed to get so much stitching done. I almost had it finished last night, but I decided to try to go to bed early since I had to get up at 4:30. He did talk to his higher-ups about going active duty, and changing jobs. He'd have to go to training for twenty weeks in Arizona. We're not sure whether or not we'll go with him there. Probably not. Then, whenever he gets stationed somewhere (they were fairly confident he'd get to stay in the states, I'm not convinced, but I'd like to be), he'll get the housing situation set up. I hate not having a say. It feels like Jymi's making all these decisions without me, and I know he's not. He doesn't have a say either, since he sold his soul. I just like to have evrything planned out, and I can't do that in this situation! We've still got more to work out though. That's enough whining from me. I've still got to go to the post office and the grocery store, but I'd like to get the boys to take a nap first.

Have two! I finished my second cow for Gill's quilt this morning. I'm a little suprised; the colors by themselves look wierd together, but they all blend when it's stitched.
I would've finished it last night, but I spent the evening babysitting. My niece loved it. My sister signed up her son for boy scouts, her husband was working, and her daughter didn't want to go. So I stayed with Alex and we played Uno for an hour and a half. After my sister and nephew got home, the kids went ot bed, and Kathy and I talked and vented for another couple hours. It's nice to talk to someone as a girlfriend.
You know what's a little irritating? When I pulled the Puzzle Cow off the scanner, I noticed a mistake. So now I'll rip out a little backstitch, and fix it. Then it'll be back to Greta the Witch until something else takes my attention. I may have a new model soon.
Tobi's black eye is better now, but Darin has busted his lip. The difference is Darin gave Tobi the black eye, and he gave himself his busted lip. You want some exercise, try putting chapstick on a three-year-old who doesn't want it! Tobi decided he wants to be Harry Potter for Halloween. He wanted to be, "Tobi, the boy who lived!" so I suggested Harry Potter. Now he's excited, but he's going to look more like Ron, with his hair. Now to find something for Darin.

Jymi has been so sweet this weekend! Yesterday, he cleaned both the kitchen and our bedroom. Then he made a wonderful lunch, and re-cleaned the kitchen. I washed the dishes, but he still dried them and put them all up. I woke up with a stress headache that was only made worse by the boys, but Jymi put them in time out until they were quiet. He did everything he could to try to make me feel better. He also made the boys dinner while I took a nap, and they were in bed when I woke up. It amazes me how so often he completely clueless, but when it comes down to it, he is too sweet, and I know he would do anything for me.
Anyway, on to stitching. I've gotten three of my monthly goals done in four days! I finished the October house Friday. I went to the shop and picked up the buttons. One of the buttons in the pack was different than pictured so I decided to wait until I took it in to the shop to see which one they wanted. I finished all the stitching at 5:53. The shop closes at six. So I took it in Saturday. They wanted the button that came with the pack. I liked the original better. The one in the pack looked like it was on drugs. I'm thinking about telling them I don't want to do models for them anymore. They don't pay what they're really worth. They only paid me about half of what I expected for this one. On the one hand, I rarely like anything they give me (it's a primarily sampler shop), they don't give me what they're worth, and they always give it to me lately and tell me they really needed it last week, and it's alot of stress. On the other hand, though, we don't have money for cross stitch stuff, and this gives me credit so I can still get stash. It's not like designer models. I always like Cross Eyed Kat stuff. I had most of the charts when I asked if she needed a model stitcher. I still haven't completely decided yet. I think it'll depend on what they give me next. One more rush project I don't like, and I will tell them I don't want to do anymore.
After I finished the house, I pulled all the threads for the cows. It was eleven by the time I finished, and I planned to be in bed in an hour, so I decided not to start one yet. Instead, I sewed together two Christmyth ornaments. Then, Saturday morning, while waiting for the shop to open so I could take in my model, I sewed together the last two. So after having them all stretched since March, I think, I have finally finished finishing all my Christmyth ornaments.
I have also finished Gill's Puzzle Cow. I've got enough fabric, I'm going to do another one. I want to put them both in the mail Friday, if possible.
Why is the picture so clear and straight? I learned how to use the scanner this weekend! Jymi had told me we were missing a cord for it (my sister gave us theirs when they got a new one). He was wrong though. It works wonderfully! Every time I've ever messed with a scanner, it's never worked. I'm easily amused.