It's 11:30 in the morning, and I'm ready to go to bed. My sister and mom our out of town on a quilting thing, and I get to babysit. Which means I get to borrow my sister's van to pick up the kids from school. I had planned yesterday to go to the Medicaid office and the grocery store, come home and have lunch, and go pick up Chris and Alex. As I was getting ready to leave, the school called to tell me Chris had a fever, and I had to come pick him up. So I had to go to the Medicaid office today. If you've ever had to deal with Medicaid, you know that in itself is enough to drive you to drink.
We got there, and there was one person ahead of us. He told me last time he was there, there was only one person ahead of him, and he still had to wait two hours. We only had to wait about ten minutes, but that was in the waiting room, where they had coloring sheets. Once we got in the office, we had to spend another half hour in there, where there was nothing for the boys to do but put there mittens on and off, and ask if we could get back in the car yet. Kathy's car is cool, because it has a DVD player. After they did all the paperwork, they told me to call my worker in Columbia to let her know it was coming.
We came home, and I got the boys settled. Then I called the general number, since I didn't have the number for my worker directly. I was on hold for ten minutes, when my phone beeped. Leon called to tell me he had kept Chris out of school and taken him to the doctor. He did ask that I still pick up Alex, because he didn't want to drag Chris out in the cold again. No problem. I go back to the line on hold, to find out they've hung up on me. So I call again, spend another five minutes on hold, opening all those letters they've been sending me, and find the right number. So I did finally get through. I am so sick of doing this every year, but what else can I do. Health insurance costs almost as much as our rent, and we can barely pay that. Sorry for the bitchfest, but I needed to unload.
Since I had to sit in line at the school, I got A Wee Bit Irish ready to start. I got a good bit done yesterday while waiting for Alex. I may get it done today. I've just got one more shamrock to stitch, then the words and button. I've got an American flag button I'm considering using, too. The deciding factor is going to be whether or not there's even room. I thought it might be nice, since we're both much more American than Irish, but it's both out heritages. My family came over on the ship with Lord Baltimore way back when, and that is why there's still alot of us up there. Jymi says his family came over after the potato famine thing. We both love Irish/Celtic/Gaelic things.
I used Weeks Dye Works Envy for the border. I think it's one of the most beautiful colors they make! Everything else is DMC (310, 700, and 704). It's stitched on 28 ct. Crystal Highland linen from Picture This Plus. I've got Irish Coffee kitted up for when I finish this. It's goint to be on the same fabric, so they'll go together. I still need to get the Whisper for it, but that's it. I have it, but it's in the bottom of a very crowded drawer, and I haven't felt like digging through it. I won't need it for a couple days at least anyway.
I finished my model Friday, so I did participate in the SALs this week. Here's my progress from both day of The Castle. It's not much, but I've been busy with real life.
I also did the Black Swan SAL. I got a little done on Jymi's stocking. Again, it's not much. Sunday I had to go get the van, and Jymi wanted to spend the day watching Ghost Hunters in the dark.
Friday, I got my payment for my last model! All kinds of great stuff! I got the new Teresa Wentzler book, Christmas Elf Fairy (Mirabilia), Dragons Welcome, When In Rome, and Egypt (all Cross Eyed Kats). I also got a new pair of scissors, a skein of regular Dinky Dyes silk, and a Dinky Dyes Oops Pack. I got some gorgeous silks in it, and a few cottons, too! I gotta tell you, it was hard not to drool on them! Now I'm going to get a little stitching in on In Every Nest before I have to leave to get Alex.

Labels: In Every Nest, Jymi's Stocking, Kids, Models, New Starts, Real Life Sucks, SBQ, The Castle

by Julie. So now I have to share six weird things about myself.
I can touch my nose with my tongue. Both my sister and I can, but none of our kids can. Darin may pick it up; he could do it as a baby.
I will probably be banned from the internet for this, but I'm not a big fan of Star Wars. I can stand to watch them about once a year, and even then there's only a 50/50 chance I'll stay awake. I'm just not a huge sci-fi fan.
I have a phobia about police officers. I think it comes from a combination of my evil teenagerdom, and nightmares where the police take away my boys, telling me I'm too young to be a good mother.
When I lived with my mom, all the cats names started with "s". From when I was in kindergarden until now: Sebastian, Smokey Joe, Spooky, Sharkie, Simon, Sophie, and Sissy. This was never done on purpose, and we only just realized it a year ago. Living with Jymi, all our pets have had people names, with the exception of Tinkerbell, who was named that when we got her. We've had: Kiki (cat), Lula (dog), Aurora (dog), Leia (kitten), Padme (kitten), and Bruce (beta). Padme and Leia may not really count, but they only lived with us for a couple months. Tobi wanted to name them both Darth Vader, but they were girls.
I can recite The Lorax by Dr. Suess from memory. I've always liked it, but I've been reading it alot, since Tobi likes it so much.
When I eat my meals, the different foods cannot touch each other. I'm told this is something most people grow out of, but it bugs me. If they touch, they're contaminated.
That was harder than I thought it would be, considering how wierd I know I am. I still don't think I have six readers, so if you want it, you're tagged!
Pictures will come tomorrow. There are no batteries in the house. Nothing with AA batteries works, so I can't even take the batteries out of something else for the camera. I'll pick some up today while running errands.

Labels: Fun Stuff

I've added a poll to my sidebar; all votes would be appreciated. Jymi's grandmother got a Christmas card with some Valerie Pfeiffer birds, and liked it so much, she bought a frame for it. I'm planning of doing a trio for her for Christmas, but I can't decide which one. The only two I can decided not to do are Fish Tonight? and Three Little Maids. I think she'd like a set of songbirds more. That makes it harder for me though, because Three Little Maids is my favorite. I asked Tobi to help me pick, and he also liked Three Little Maids best. Please vote and help me pick. Thanks!
I also have three weeks of SBQs to catch up on, so here goes. Do you dream of running your own LNS/ONS? If so, tell us about your dream. If not, tell us about your cross stitch dream… maybe you dream of designing, dyeing your own floss or fabric, etc. Yes and no. On the one hand I loved my job at the shop. I did kinda dream that I could buy it when it was up for sale, but as the owner said, it cannot be a hobby. If you're going to own any business, it has to be your life, or it will go under. I just don't want that. I want my job to be just that; a job I can leave behind at the end of the day. I like being home with my kids most days, and I love tucking them into bed and reading them stories every night. No job could ever pay enough to make it worthwhile to miss that. That's why I haven't tried too hard to find another job. Two days a week was great. I wouldn't mind dying my own fabric and/or flosses, but I don't think the colors I pick would sell very well to normal people. I'd also love to design, but I have absolutely no artistic talent, and I pretty sure you'd need at least a little bit.
Have you had a happy dance yet this year? If so, tell us about it! (Or just point to the entry that talks about it.) If not, when do you predict it will be? No happy dances yet, but I plan to have one later today or very early tomorrow (like one or two in the morning, before I go to bed tonight). That will be the model, so no pictures. I finished part three, and I guess that's sort of a happy dance. I also plan to finish In Every Nest the day after I finish the model. That will be my first happy dance I can show pictures of. I just have the one egg left, and the last one only took me a day to do. That kinda depresses me, because it seems like everyone else has already had one.
What company produces your favorite hand-dyed fabric? Are there any companies whose hand-dyed fabric you do not like? If so, why? I LOVE PICTURE THIS PLUS FABRICS! They are colorfast, and that's a major plus. They come in sparkly fabrics which I love (in case you haven't noticed), they're soft, they have beautiful colors, and they smell good. Yes, I know that last one seems silly, but when ever I opened the box to check in the fabrics, it always smelled like cinnamon. I don't like Lakeside Linens, and part of that is that they always smell weird. Another part is they only seem to come in neutrals. I like blue and green fabrics. So about 85% of what I stitch is on Picture This Plus Crystal linens.

Labels: In Every Nest, Models, New Starts, SBQ

I've been working on lots of stuff. I finally finished part three! I knew a new model was on it's way, and I expected it Thursday, so I stitched all day to finish the last carpet. Then it didn't come that day, so I worked on In Every Nest.
I've just got one chick left! I worked on it until the mail came Friday. As soon as it did though, we had to go visit Jymi's parents. The three kids (Tobi, Jymi, and his sister) all played video games all evening. Darin was very funny. They have three dogs, Skip, a male papillion, Maddie, a female papillion, and Maya, a husky mix. Skip is the oldest, and he doesn't take to small kids the way the others do. He's my buddy, though, and we played fetch until he was too tired, at which point he got in my lap and went to sleep. Darin and Maya are both scared of each other, because Maya's a big dog. She's scared of him, because the first time she saw him, was Halloween, when he was green with an extra head and a tail. She still doesn't know how to handle him. Maddie though, loved Darin, and vice versa. They played fetch and keep away for hours. At one point, Darin laid down and played dead. Maya and Maddie licked his hands and ears until he was giggling.
Saturday was my brother-in-law's birthday, and he had gotten tickets to a basketball game. So I babysat Chris and Alex. Alex got a little mad. We were playing Monopoly, when she decided she was bored. So Chris came over and wanted to take he place, and he won. Chris and I watched The Ant Bully while Alex went in the other room to watch Garfield. I didn't have high expectations, but it was cute. Gross, but cute. Then Alex wanted to read her new library book to me, so I let her. While she read, I got a little stitching done. She did wonderful. She's in fourth grade, reading on an eighth grade level.
Sunday, I was lazy all day. I got up at eleven, and showered. I got groceries and Jymi and I spent the afternoon watching the first season of Ghost Hunters. I did get to stitch after Jymi went to bed. Now I need to get back to the model. I will finish it this week.

Labels: Family, In Every Nest, Models, Movies, Persian Iris Garden

Here's my progress on The Castle from Saturday and Monday. Not much difference. Saturday, Jymi's friend had to go spend the day visiting various family members. So Jymi was bored, and sat around in my stitching chair all day, getting mad at video games. As I've mentioned our living room is small. So small that there is not room for a couch, and if Jymi's in the arm chair, I either have to sit at the computer or on the floor, which hurts my back. Monday, he went back to work, but as soon as he came home, I had to run some errands, and by the time I was back and we'd had dinner, it was ten, and we had to go to bed. Jymi gets up for work at 4:45, so we usually go to bed at nine, but he had to stay up to see 24.
Sunday is now the SAL day for Black Swan on the Needle And Thread board. I'm still mad at Avatar, so I worked on Jymi's stocking. I think I made some nice progress on it. Saturday, while Jymi was hogging the TV, I was recording a Hex marathon on BBC America. Sunday morning, Jymi's friends picked him up, and I shoved the three of them out the door, locked it, and spent the day watching Hex and stitching. It's a little distracting, what with Azazeal being so sexy. So he's evil; what man isn't at least a little?

Labels: Jymi's Stocking, The Castle

With Jymi, his friend, Matt, Matt's brother, Ben, and a friend of all their's from high school, Chris, all coming over to play video games, I had to go in the bedroom. Our house is tiny, and there is just not room for five adults in one room, especially when two of them are over six feet tall. The lighting in there is horrible, so I couldn't see well enough to stitch on 32 ct. black. So I looked in my project drawer. On top was The Castle, and under that was In Every Nest. So that's what I worked on. I made some nice progress, considering I only worked on it one day.
I'm still working on part three. I decided to stitch the last two carpet at the same time. Just the darker shade of blue to fill them in!
Jymi and his friends are driving me nuts. Ben smokes, and the first night they went out, Jymi came home with cigarettes. We were watching tv, talking, and I asked half joking. I was just making sure, since he lied/didn't tell me last time. He told me he did, and I was so mad I threw his pillows at him and locked him out of the bedroom. That was the first time since we've moved in together that he slept in the living room. I was so mad, it was three in the morning before I calmed down enough to go to sleep. The next day, when he asked me about the lunch plans we had, I told him afterwards I was taking his keyboard to the pawn shop. We had agreed on this before we bought it. The keyboard was bought under the condition that he stopped smoking. I don't know if sleeping alone or the thought of losing the keyboard (probably a combination of both) convinced him, but he gave me the cigarettes. I broke every last one, and threw them in the trash. Jymi apologized, and we have made up.
Today, they're hanging out at Matt's dad's until dinner, so I've got some time to stitch on part three. Tomorrow's The Castle, and Sundays are now a Black Swan SAL (from the Needle And Thread board). I'll probably work on Jymi's stocking. Then Monday is back to the Castle.

Labels: In Every Nest, Jymi, Persian Iris Garden, Real Life Sucks

I just wanted to post a picture of The Catsle. I worked on it yesterday for the Teresa Wentzler SAL. What's amazing is Jymi could look at it and tell what part of the picture I was stitching. I've been working on it staraight out of the book, but I gave up on that last night and went to the library to make working copies. We've got a copier/scanner/printer, but it's out of ink, and at the moment, it's alot cheap to go make four copies at the library than to buy more ink. The librarians were so happy to see me walk in at 8:30 when they close at nine.
I've been working on Persian, too, but not enough to bother posting a picture. I'll continue on it when I get my lazy butt off the computer.
I haven't gotten any of the Irish stuff kitted, started, or anything. I've decided to wait until I finish part three.
Jymi has a friend who lives in Florida, and he's visiting for the week. He's a nice guy, but whenever he visits, I don't see my husband until he leaves again. Tonight they're getting Japanese food and playing video games, while I babysit. Tomorrow we're all going out to McAllister's Deli for dinner. Their plans are to watch movies and play video games. Tobi and Darin's plans? To wach movies and play video games. Are the similarities between five- and three-year-old little boys and twenty-six-year-old men astounding?

Labels: Jymi, Persian Iris Garden, The Castle

I don't have too much to say today. Here's my progress from the Castle SAL yesterday. I didn't feel much like stitching, but after dinner, the boys and I sat down to watch Pete's Dragon. Stitching on The Castle just seemed appropriate. I'll pick it up again on Monday.
Jymi had drill, so it was just the three of us. He called me about four, but the battery on his phone was almost dead, so it wasn't for long. They told him they would probably only have to more drills before they left. I think that was a big part of my mood yesterday. Ever since then, it's felt like I had a lead ball in my stomach, and it's always very cold. Then again, it is winter, so maybe it really is cold. I just can't bear to think about it. I guess I'm still in denial, but I hang out there alot, and they know me there.
I'm still working on part three. The second carpet went alot faster than the first, and hopefully the last two will go as smoothly. This is why rotations just slow me down; it takes me a couple days to get into a groove, where I really enjoy the project. The first carpet took me five days, where the second only took three.
I had to go to the lns to get some needles, and to see if my Halloween thing was framed yet. They told me the beginning of November, then never called. So I hadn't been in. It was ready, and I paid some on both of them. Framing's especially expensive when you can only afford to pay ten dollars a week and you don't get a discount. In the sale bin, I found Irish Coffee. I'd always liked it, but I wasn't sure I'd stitch it, or if Jymi would like it. I don't drink coffee, so it's going to be a sort of gift for him, for the kitchen. I wouldn't pay the regular price for it, but for half off, it was okay. I also got another Hob Nobb Doodle to do (this will make three that I haven't done yet), but this one's for Jymi, to kinda go with the Irish Coffee one. I got A Wee Bit Irish. I've got a quarter yard of Crystal Highland from my fabric of the month club last year, that I haven't made any plans for, so I think I'll do them both on it. I was planning on taking them at the next framing special in April, but I guess it won't matter that much if Jymi's gone. I was considering working on them while he's at work, so he would be suprised. I may still try, but I'm gonna finish part three first. I've gotta get some new fabric scissors first anyway. Cutting the sparklie fabrics dull the scissor blades quickly, so I don't want to use the nice Ginghers my mom gave me (because I could never afford them on my own). I think I'll start the little one tomorrow, when I get up. I can get some cheap scissors tonight after Jymi gets home. I'm gonna go pull the threads now, as my brain seems to have stopped working. That way, as soon as I get up, I can get started.

Labels: Persian Iris Garden, Real Life Sucks, Stash, The Castle

This post will include a recap of my 2006 stitching, 2007 stitching goals, December accomplishments, January goals, and my one night stand (no, not that kind,as a coat check girl at a party).
At the beginning of 2006, I had four projects started: Toys And Games Room Stocking, Avatar, Skeleton Crew, and Dragons By The Fire. I did finish Skeleton Crew. The others are still waiting for me to get around to them. I also started and finished five Mother's Wisdom charts, twenty Christmas ornaments, (four Dragon Dreams, twelve Lizzie Kates, two Cross Eyed Kats, one Raise The Roof, and one Monsterbubbles, for an exchange), five shop models, eleven designer models (released as four charts, one hasn't been released yet), four for gifts or exchanges, and twelve for myself or my family. I also started, but haven't finished, In Every Nest and Persian Iris Garden.
The totals: I started the year with four projects, I started another fifty-eight, and finished fifty-seven, ending the year with five works in progress.
My goals for 2007 are pretty simple. I want to finish (in no particular order) Toys And Games Room, Avatar, Dragons By The Fire, In Every Nest, and Persian Iris Garden. I also want to start and finish Brittercup's Antarctic Penguins: Penguin Family for Darin. If I finish Persian Iris Garden, I will start another Chatelaine. I'm not sure yet whether it will be Taj Mahal or St. Petersburg, but probably the latter. When/if I finish both stockings and the wizard, I want to start Merlin And Aurthur for Jymi. I also want to participate is The Castle SAL, every weekend when possible.
Speaking of The Castle, here's what I got done on the first day! All twenty stitches of it. I only managed to get in a few minutes, obviously. The picture on the right is to better show the fabric. It's 28 ct. Crystal Mercedes Cashel linen from Picture This Plus.
My goals for December were to finish the model. Plus start, finish, and ornamentify the new Dragon Dreams Christmyth ornament, sew Grandmother's butterflies into pillows, pick a project to stick with until it's finished, and kit up The Castle for the stitch along on New Year's.
The model's finished, along with the Wyvern. I had issues with the sewing machine, so the pillows didn't get made. They did get yelled at, though. I'm working on part three of Persian Iris Garden, but I'm switching when I finish this part. I did get The Castle all ready to go.
My goals for this month are to participate in The Castle SAL every Saturday and the Teresa Wentzler SAL every Monday, finish part three, and then pick another project.
I babysat my sister's kids Friday, and afterword, since we both needed to drive up to Charlotte, we decided to ride together. She had to stop by her husband's theater, because they were getting ready for a big fancy New Year's party, and he needed to try on his tux jacket. We all went shopping, first for Leon's tux stuff, then to spend the gift card Jymi gave me for Old Navy. On the way home, Kathy was telling me about the party. They had senators secretaries calling trying to get tickets! They were all sold out very quickly. Then she asked me what Jymi and I had planned. Jymi and I usually just hang out and watch a movie. She asked if I wanted to work at the party, since it paid ten dollars an hour, with ten hours guaranteed. She said it would just be bussing tables, and making sure everyone had champagne for the toast at midnight. Jymi and I talked about it, and I decided to do it.
Saturday, she kept the kids, so Jymi and I could go to dinner and a movie. It was good for both of us, to help keep us up late, so we'd be ready to stay up late the next night. She was working, too. So we had a nice dinner at Olive Garden, and then we went to see Casino Royale. Jymi's a big Bond fan. I enjoy them every once in a while, because I have to be willing to be bored for an hour before they get interesting. I did enjoy it though. It was nice to have some quiet time together. We had to wait an hour for a table at dinner, so we had some time to just talk.
Kathy picked me up at about three, Sunday. We had to drop her kids off at our mom's, and then drive up to Charlotte. At five we had the meeting, where everyone was assigned jobs and told the rules. Leon told us, "This is going to be a very high class crowd. So if you see any having sex in the auditoriums or using cocaine in the bathroom, to let me or one of the other managers know immediately." That kinda freaked me out, but I have to admit it didn't really surprise me. I didn't want to be the one to find someone using drugs. I was assigned to coat check with two other people, and once the rush had died down, I was to go inside and bus tables. I was the only person assigned to coat check who actually showed up there once the people started coming in. That was fine with me though. If I had to stay outside all night hanging people's coats and giving them green bracelets (to tell who was over twenty-one, so the bartender wouldn't have to worry about IDs), that meant I wouldn't have to worry about to "high class" people with drugs in the bathroom.
They had a photographer to take pictures of everyone as they came in, and also to get some candid shots. There were quite a few with Leon (one here and here), and a couple of me (here and here), but Kathy managed to not get her picture taken. At least not that I've found. If you want to see more, go the calender, December 2006, Ballantyne Village New Year's party. They have several groups.
They even had fake paparazzi to take pictures and scream when the people came in. At first Kathy or Leon would come out every hours or so and ask how I was doing. I'd ask them to get me a Sprite (the soda, beer, and wine were free, but I don't drink much), and told them I was fine. Kathy told me on the way home that she had been worried about me because they had alot of assholes upstairs, where she was helping with one of the pay bars. We didn't really have much to deal with. Around eleven, we had a few groups of teenagers show up and ask what the cover charge was. We had to explain that this was not a club and all the tickets were sold out. One tried to steal one of the green bracelets, but the bouncer saw him take and kicked his butt back out. They stopped checking on me at eleven. They had to get the champagne toast ready, and clean up the mess the drunks were making.
After midnight, everyone started to leave. I didn't know I'd get tips for bringing people their coats, but I made $25. We also had to hand out papers with the numbers of the cab companies, and make sure nobody left with alcoholic drinks. There was another girl who'd been taking tickets before midnight to help give the coats back and pass out papers. Right after midnight we had a small problem. A woman had gotten champagne dumped on her from one of the balconies, and was very upset and wanted her money back. We found her a manager to talk to, and then she came and yelled at us some more. I understand why she was upset, but we couldn't do anymore for her than we already had. We took her name and number, and one of the managers will take care of it when they had more time.
Around one, we did have the one and only real asshole. I saw a girl in tears talking to the police officer, and her boyfriend walking away angrily. From what I gathered, he had hit her just before coming out. He then yelled at the police officer. He started to leave, but then the police officer told him to go. Of course if it was what the officer wanted, he couldn't do it, and he tried to come back up. The officer stood in his way, and the man tried to throw him down the stairs. After that he was arrested. Everyone kept saying how stupid the girl was for not wanting him to go to jail. I didn't think of it that way, though. I felt so bad for her, knowing she was going back to a man (and I use the VERY loosely) who treats her so badly. She will spend so much time in pain over him, and she may never get out of that destructive relationship. He was the only one who acted like asshole out where we were, and I didn't have to deal with it. Thank goodness!
All the customers were gone by about two, and then we had to clean up all the broken balloons and glasses. We were supposed to be there until three, but it was closer to four when we finished. I got to take home a peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake, and some balloons for the boys.
Kathy drove me home, and it was about 4:45 by the time I got to bed. Jymi was sweet and let me sleep until 1:30. Then he made me stay up for the rest of the day, because he knew if I went back to sleep, I wouldn't sleep that night. He was very sweet, watching the Absolutely Fabulous marathon I'd recorded the day before, even though he doesn't really like it, because he knew I'd stay awake to see it. He enjoys it, and laughs, but it's not something he'd watch of his own free will. It wasn't until both boys and Jymi had all gone to bed (at 11:30) that I got to start my Castle. Of course, I didn't get much done, since I had to find the right size Q-Snaps, the book, the middle of the fabric, and by then I only had time to get one length of thread before it was no longer New Year's.
I hope everyone had a happy New Year, and have a great 2007!

Labels: Family, Goals, Holidays, Movies, Persian Iris Garden, The Castle, Work