Here's my weekend progress on Ruby! I got in almost eight hundred stitches! Right now, my plan is to keep working on it for the rest of the month, but I'm not great with plans.
I can't remember if I mentioned it before, but Earth Song, which I started because I thought Jymi'd like it, has now also been claimed by Tobi and my dad. My dad is a big Schimmel fan. I've been thinking about it, and I've decided to keep Earth Song here, for Tobi and Jymi. Instead, I'll stitch Only One Home for my dad instead. He loves tigers, too, so he'll still like it. Plus, it's relatively small for a HAED. He stitches a little, but he says he can't see well enough to stitch over one. I suggested Schimmel to HAED, and they sent me a copy of the email the sent to his representation. I forwarded it to my dad, and sent him a link when the charts were first put on the site. He bought Tobi some of Schimmel's children's books when we lived with him. I looked through one the other day (they'd been packed up in the box with the grown up books when we moved), and saw Earth Song! There were several others I'd love to see charted, but I can't find any of them online.
I showed my grandma one of the HAEDs I had started, and she doesn't ask about my cross stitch anymore. Now she calls it my "fancy work." She likes to see what I've done, since she can't sew anymore herself. Her arthritis is so bad, she can't even thread a needle anymore.
I got to talk to Jymi everyday this weekend! At regular times too, not at two in the morning. I sent him a box full of stuff, and when I told him what they were, I couldn't believe what excited him most. I sent him Kool Aid singles to put in his water and Rice Krispie Treats. Never mind the stuff he had told me he needed or the DVDs, he was getting Kool Aid and cookies! The DVDs, by the way, were cartoons (The Simpsons and Family Guy). I always thought my mom was kidding when she told me men never grow up.
I've found a great new way to get some good exercise. I took Darin to the park after dropping Tobi off at school. The park has a mile and a half trail. I took Darin for a walk before going to the playground. He walked for about half a mile, then his legs got tired. So for the next mile, I gave him a piggyback ride. Talk about having a monkey on your back! That was the best work out I've had in a long time! The half mile Darin walked on his own served as a nice warm up, too. After the walk, Darin payed on the playground for about an hour, while I rested. Once we got home, Darin went straight to bed for a nap until it was time to go pick up Tobi. We've done this twice now, and I'm definitely gonna make this a regular thing!

Labels: Earth Song, HAED, Jymi, Kids, Ruby QS