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2009-02-13T19:19:00.001-05:00

http://ratherbehappythanright.blogspot.com/

It's Been A While

2008-02-01T15:27:00.000-05:00

Life's been busy. When is it not? I'm gonna try to do better. I've been stitching a little more lately. I've mostly been working on Dragonfly. I've done more since this scan, but I haven't had time to get a new scan yet. It's about 20% done though. I got discouraged for awhile with all the confetti, but I finally sucked it up and got going. I'm working on the skin, now. I've also got a few stitches in on the dragon, but no more than five.
Most days, I only get about 45 minutes to stitch, now, while I wait for Tobi to get out of school. That's the downside to my new, healthier lifestyle. I've gone from five hours of sleep a night to eight. That's great, but guess what I used to do with those extra three hours at night? Not to mention the two hours at YMCA six days a week. It's worth it though. I am almost to a healthy weight! And then I get a new tattoo!
I started Dorothy And Toto for the Heaven And Earth Designs SAL challenge. It doesn't look like much, but it goes pretty fast. I really love it. It's got alot more colors than you can tell in the picture. I love Wizard Of Oz stuff. I'm still really hoping that Wicked Witch And Her Flying Monkey will be charted, so I can stitch it as a companion. Not that I'll ever finish either.
There was also a SWIP SAL, so I pulled out Invariance. It had been neglected the longest. I managed to get in a few hundred stitches. They were all the same shade of blue. So next time I pull it out, I put in a different shade.
Tobi has started his yellow belt class. They start sparring this week. They're not allowed to actually hit each other though, until they've got protective gear. Part of what that means is I have to buy Tobi an athletic cup. That is so not a mommy job! That is daddy job if there ever was one!
For now though, I have to go make dinner, and get Tobi ready for class. Have a great weekend.

Proud Mommy Post

2008-01-04T19:55:00.000-05:00

See this picture? This is the last picture of Tobi as a white belt! Tonight, he passed his yellow belt test! I'm so proud of him! I want to tell everyone! Yay Tobi! Parents were allowed in the classroom during the test, but I couldn't just stand around and wait. So I walked around the indoor track for half a mile.
I have been stitching a little, but life still gets in the way. I've been working on Dragonfly QS. She's got lots of hair. I'm enjoying it though.
I worked at the New Year's Party and my brother-in-law's theater again. It was much better this year. There were only about half as many people as last year. There weren't nearly as many drunks, and the ones there were weren't as bad as last year. There was only one puker, and no fights. Thank goodness!
I worked coat check again, and got some nice tips. One guy gave me a twenty for his wife and her two friends. He said his ex-wife used to be a coat check girl, and he remembered how much tips were appreciated.
I also had one guy ask me out. This was after he sent his already drunk girlfriend inside and called her an idiot. Because, you know, disrespecting women is such a turn on. I had to be polite, but I've never actually had to bite my tongue while biting my tongue. When I checked his ID, I saw that he was ten years older than Jymi. I make Jymi feel old as it is, and he's only five years older than me. It was all I could do to not scream, "Oh God no!"
Hope everyone had a pleasant New Year's.

One More Finish!

2007-12-30T18:23:00.000-05:00

I finished Kitty Love! I guess I did just need a switch. Ive been toying with the idea of rotating again. My plan at the moment is to pick a project at the beginning of the month. If I finish it before the end of the month, I'll work on something else. If not, I'll switch to a different project at the beginning of the next month. So that may last a week. Since I just finished Kitty Love, I think I'll pull out Dragonfly Quick Stitch. It's calling pretty loudly, and I've got another day to stitch this month. I can stitch for a little while tonight, and a little bit tomorrow, between the YMCA and the party.
I don't remember my 2007 goals. I think they were to finish everything I already had started. So, not even close! It's all good, though. I think I only had about ten finishes, almost all of them small. I've also lost count on how many projects I started.
My 2008 goals are simple. I want to finish five projects that I already have started. Which five doesn't matter. No, that's wrong. I will finish Tobi's stocking this year! That's about it for goals.
I also would like to lose at least twenty pounds. I have lost ten since the end of September. It's been hard, but I would love to lose a total of about sixty pounds. The actual weight is not as important as being healthier.
That's all for me! Happy New Year!

To Slump Or Not Slump

2007-12-24T15:06:00.000-05:00

I think I might be in a stitching slump. I'm not sure though. I've been so busy lately, I don't know if it's really a slump, or I'm just too tired when I do have a few minutes to stitch.
I did stitch two ornaments for Tobi's teachers. I did Apples 25 Cents by Hob Nobb Designs on Crystal Carnival Cashel linen from Picture This Plus. I finished them as mat board ornaments. Of course I didn't start them until the Sunday night before school got out for the holidays. The last day was a Wednesday, so I was up until two that morning to make sure I got them done in time. So that's why no pictures. By the time I got them done, all I wanted to do was sleep. They loved them though.
I did pick up two frames. First I got Happy Hoppers by Lizzie Kate back. It's stitched on 28 ct. Spring Cashel linen from Picture This Plus, which came with the kit. I stitched it up over a year ago for my niece. Her birthday was last week, so I'll give it to her next time I see her. I'll probably never know if she likes it. She's such a little snot at the moment. I'm sure part of it is her age (eleven now), but she gets away with way to much. She calls her mom fat, and she is always rude. Last time I saw her, we were all at my mom's. They were getting ready to leave, and she said to here mom, who didn't hear her, "Come on! Just stop talking already!" I got so mad, that I pulled her aside and told her she needed to be nicer to her mother; she was being just plain mean, for no reason at all. It wasn't like she had anything planned to do. She was gonna go home and watch cartoons. She was better for the rest of the time they were there, but I doubt it lasted until they get home. I could understand if she was just mean and pissy one week a month, but it is every freaking day! After they left, I apologized to my mom, for anytime I was ever that bad.
Back to framing stuff though. I also got back The Time I Spend Stitching by Dragon Dreams. I think this one is on Mulberry Cashel linen by Zweigart. I brought it to show my mom, and she loved it. I also showed it to my grandma. I brought In Every Nest at the same time. Her response was, "Wow! Those are bright colors!"
I'm thinking next I'm gonna finish Kitty Love. Maybe a quick finish is what I need. I was going to work on Pirate for the Mermaid SAL on the HAED board, but then the weekend kinda exploded on me.
Last Friday, I took Darin to the doctor, because he had had a cold, and the cough just wouldn't go away. The doctor said it was asthma. The doctor had to give him a nebulizer treatment before we left though, because Darin couldn't take a deep enough breath for him to be sure. They make dinosaur masks for kids to wear. They let Darin keep his, since they can't reuse them.
So this Friday, we had to go back, to make sure the medicine was working. Meanwhile, Jymi tells me he also has a family history with asthma. I didn't know this, because neither he nor his sister have it. So when we went back to the doctor, I told him this. He said he was going to put Darin on a inhaled steroid, since he had so many risk factors. He also needed the inhaler more often than he should.
We go back in another two weeks to make sure he's doing better. Then, they're also going to do a blood test to see if the animals are triggers. The doctor doesn't think so, though, or we would've found out about the asthma sooner, since we've always had cats. Which is good, since the cats, especially Hannah, are kinda his. The upside to this, is now Jymi will finally quit smoking and not start again. He has been trying to quit for about a month now, and this has given him extra incentive. It also gives him a very good reason not to start again. For some reason, "It's bad for your health," and, "I don't want to lose you," have not been good enough reasons. Now, "It could cause Darin to have an asthma attack," is working. That may be an exaggeration; I'm still learning details, but Jymi's as ignorant on the subject as I am, and if it keeps him quitting, I'll keep exaggerating. The ends justify the means kinda thing.
So we spent the second Friday in a row at the doctor's in the morning and at the pharmacist in the afternoon. While doing the basics, the doctor said Darin had fluid in his ears. If they weren't infected yet, they would be the next day. So we also had to get him an antibiotic. It was fun trying to get him to take it, too. The doctor had given him an oral medicine for his asthma the visit before, which evidently tasted very bad. He screamed when he saw the new red bottle, after I promised him no more of the nasty one. Once I held him down and got him to take it, it wasn't a problem anymore. This one, I guess tastes much better. The pharmacy was out of the inhaler the doctor prescribed though. So we had to go back today to get it. Did I mention we use the pharmacy at Target? That was fun. NOT! We've got it now, though.
Saturday, we were supposed to go to Jymi's dad's family's Christmas party. I woke up at three in the morning, sick though. So when they showed up, I let them take the boys, and I stayed home. After a couple hours, I called my mom, and asked her to bring me some popsicles. She did, along with lots of other easy to make foods, in case I wasn't feeling up to cooking when the boys got home. I was feeling better by the time the boys got home though. It was short lived.
Around eight, Tobi came out of my room, screaming his head off, saying his ear hurt. So I got dressed, and we went to the urgent care center. After two and a half hours, we were finally seen. The first hour, Tobi screamed nonstop, because he was in so much pain. When we did see the doctor, he was very nice. He talked to Tobi, and asked him about his Wolfie he'd brought. He also listened while Darin told him how his ears were sick, too, and he had to take orange medicine. The doctor said both Tobi's ears were infected, and gave us a prescription. By then, it was eleven, four hours past Darin's bedtime, and three hours past Tobi's. So we went home, and Saturday morning it was back to the pharmacy. Tobi got a different medicine though.
I've got all the presents wrapped now. I've also got to open the present Jymi ordered me. He wasn't sure he'd get Christmas off, and he wanted to see me open it. So we put on the webcams, and he watched me open my pink sapphire and diamond heart necklace. It's gorgeous!
I feel kinda bad, since Jymi doesn't have any presents to open. I already sent him his, and he's already opened them. He says he's okay, but I'm getting the impression he's a little down. It is late, too though. It's already Christmas there. We'll make it up to him when he gets home though. Only a few more months. It's more than halfway through.
Anyway. That's plenty for today. Maybe I'll get a few stitches in Kitty Love after dinner. Happy holidays! Peace on Earth, and goodwill to all!

Framing Pics!

2007-12-12T16:36:00.001-05:00

Sorry it took so long, but here are my framing pics. First up is Irish Coffee, by RK Portfolio. It's done on 28 ct. Crystal Highland Cashel linen from Picture This Plus. I stitched it for Jymi, and hung it in the kitchen.
Next up is A Wee Bit Irish by Hob Nobb Doodles For Leftovers. I did it on the same fabric as Irish Coffee, so they would go together. So I used the same frame and also hung it in the kitchen, across from it's partner.
I also hung this one in the kitchen. It's In Every Nest by Raise The Roof. It's stitched on 28 ct. Spring Jazlyn, again from Picture This Plus. I changed the soft pastel Six Strand Sweets called for with bright obnoxious Weeks Dye Works. It was a little difficult to pick a frame for this one, since nothing "normal" worked with it. I like the way it came out, but I think I may be the only one. Jymi will probably pitch a fit when he comes home.
This is one Jymi's grandma did for him when he was little. She never did anything with it, but gave it to me last spring. So I got it framed and hung it in the boys room. I'm thinking of taking it with us when we go for Christmas to show her. It meant alot to me that she gave it to me instead of one of her daughters. I guess it makes more sense to give it Jymi's kids since it was a little young for Jymi now. She does consider me another grandchild, too.
Here is my Dragon Soul print, that Jymi bought me. I think it came out beautifully! Darin likes it, too.
I also had another one framed, Happy Hoppers by Lizzie Kate. When I went to pick it up though, it had a big gaudy gold frame. I know some people think gold frames look good on everything, but I usually hate them. In case you haven't noticed, I prefer black or silver frames. It looked horrible. So I picked the frame it was supposed to get again, and sent it back. They called me today to tell me it's ready. It's going to be a present for my niece.
Tobi's birthday was in the last week of November. He came home from school that day, very upset. He told me I'd forgotten to bring his class cupcakes. He hadn't told me he wanted me to though. So the next week, I brought cupcakes. The store was nice enough to make it into Spiderman crawling up a wall. I felt kinda bad, loading a bunch of kindergartners up on sugar and leaving. I learned though that recess is right after snack time, just so the kids can run off the extra energy. Darin got to go outside and play with the other kids, too. He thought that was the coolest thing.
I have started and finished a model. No pictures yet, though. I'm going to get back to Tobi's stocking now. I will finish it eventually. Pictures of progress on that will be coming soon!

November Accomplishments, December Goals, And Thanksgiving Recap

2007-12-01T19:54:00.000-05:00

My November goal was to finish all the cross stitch on Tobi's stocking. Didn't happen, but it is getting there. I've got a small model, so Tobi's stocking is on hold. At this point though, I don't think I could get it finished and put together by this Christmas anyway. I will have it done by the next Christmas, though. I really mean it this time.
My December goals are to finish the model and work on Tobi's stocking.
The model shouldn't take too long. I haven't worked on it near as much as I should, but it goes fast when I pick it up. I've been taking it with me to stitch on in the car while I wait for Tobi to get out of school. Although, I have to admit, one day this past week, I was so tired, I took a nap in the front seat instead.
I decided to take the boys to my dad's house in Virginia for Thanksgiving. We drove up Wednesday. Eight hours in a car with a four-year-old and a six-year-old. I was ready to scream by the time we got there. I had given in to listening to Halloween songs. Anything to get them to quiet down.
Thursday, we got back in the car and drove two hours to my aunt's house in Maryland for Thanksgiving dinner. Her grandson was there, too, and he and my boys had a blast. Tobi couldn't remember his name to save his life, but he's still asking when we're going to go see his, "friends in the yellow shirt," again. We drove back that evening.
Friday, I was so tired, the boys stayed at my dad's all day watching movies. My dad had to work. In the evening though, we drove through our old neighborhood, to see if there were any lights up yet. The boys loved the few lights we saw.
Saturday, I took the to The Children's Museum in Portsmouth. They had a blast! They have a whole pretend city. All the exhibits are so cool and so much fun, that even the adults forget they're educational! We spent a couple hours looking at everything, pushing every button, and looking at everything! That evening, after my dad got off work, we went down to see the light show on the boardwalk. The boys oohed and ahhed over all the lights.
Sunday, we went to the Navy Exchange, and I bought some Christmas presents for Jymi and the boys. They had some Thomas The Tank Engine Lego sets, where I haven't found them anywhere around here. So I bought one of each set they had for Darin. After that, we went back to my dad's for lunch. Then we started back home. Another eight hours in the car. At least this time, the boy slept about halfway. It was only after I stopped at a gas station to make sure everyone had their own blankies, stuffed animals, and pillows. I also had to make sure their pillows didn't touch. My children are obnoxious.
I picked up most of my framing today. One had somehow gotten the wrong frame. My print of Dragon Soul is gorgeous! It came out beautifully! I will post pictures tomorrow. It's almost bedtime here, and I'm ready for it. Have a nice weekend!

Stocking And SBQs

2007-11-18T15:42:00.000-05:00

Ta-da! This is Tobi's stocking, as of the twelfth. I've done even more since then! Now I've just got to keep it up. It's going to be close trying to get it done by this Christmas.
Now for some old SBQs. Is there anything you would like to see more of in the world of cross stitching? Is there anything you would like to see less of? This can be patterns, flosses, fabrics, etc etc. More dragons! I haven't seen many new dragons out lately. I think there are plenty of hand dyed fabrics and flosses out. It seems like so many people have started their own lines on hand dyed fabrics. Sometimes it seems like too many. I guess that mean you can always find just the right color though, I guess.
What are your favorite online stitching supply sources? If I buy something online, it's usually through Shakespeare's Peddler. They have or can order everything I ever want. I get a Picture This Plus automatic, so I usually can just have extras sent with that. They also have frequent buyer cards. Every $200 spent gets you $10 off. That's the only online shop I've used lately.
What for you means to achieve mastery as a stitcher? To me, it's an impossibility. There will always be something else you can learn.
What proportion of your stitching is for your own personal use versus gifts? I'd say 80% is for me. 15% is gifts that will stay in my house (for Jymi or boys). That leaves 5% for gifts for other people. I just don't have alot of people in my life who would appreciate it, so I don't bother much with gift stitching.
Do you railroad? Sometimes, but not usually. I always picked projects with lots of confetti when I started, so I couldn't really railroad.
If you were a cross stitch designer, what would your design style be? Fantasy stuff, probably. That's what I always loved. It'll never happen though. I can't even draw stick figures. Not to mention it's alot of work, and I'm just too lazy. I'm happy just following other people's charts.
When you have to frog out stitches, do you reuse that thread or do you start over with a new strand? I use to reuse it, but I don't anymore. Now I get too frustrated too quick, and cut thread as I'm frogging to keep it out of the way. I still use it if it's only a few stitches though.
That's all. I'll post another pic of Tobi's stocking after the holiday. Happy Thanksgiving!

Long Overdue

2007-11-17T14:15:00.000-05:00

Pictures! First, the boys in their Ren Fest stuff. I think they're very cute but I may be biased!
Next, Halloween pics. Tobi is Harry Potter and Darin is Diego. Also in the picture, my niece (grim reaper), my nephew (a phantom), and one of their friends (Spiderman).
I though this one was cute. I was carrying Darin since he was tired, and the other boy asked his mom to carry him, too. So I let him carry Darin, and told him it would be about the same as his mom carrying him. The way he held him though, it looked like Spiderman saving a child. It may just be that I'm goofy, but it struck me as funny.
This is Tobi on his school field trip. They went to the local apple orchard. This picture is form the hayride. Tobi's class had three chaperones cancel at the last minute, but we still had seven parents there. The other kindergarten classes from his school only had four, at most. I got to be in charge of taking the kids to the potty. You want a challenge, try taking 21 kindergartners for four porta-potties on a field trip.
I've been doing alot of volunteer work at the school lately. I've been helping pass out fundraiser stuff, and next week I'm working at the book fair.
I love Tobi's school. Public schools weren't as nice when I was little. Everything is so clean and beautiful. All the teachers are so nice. The kids have painted the ceiling tiles in art. There are amazing murals on the walls. There is even a garden where teachers can have outdoor classes. The garden is unreal. It looks like the kind of chaotic yet organized place where you might find a fairy. They also teach all the children French. Even the kindergartners know the pledge of allegiance in French. Why you would ever need to know the pledge of allegiance to the American flag in French, I haven't figured out, but it's kinda neat to watch these little kids say it. They don't even realize what they're saying when it's in English!
he school has the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program. To graduate with and IB diploma, you had to do so much community service, and they're teaching them that at Tobi's school. The kindergarten classes collected over thirty pounds of goodies to send to Jymi and his friends. The fifth graders have been selling T-shirts to help save the rain forests. Every ten shirts they sell saves an acre of rain forest in the school's name. I bought one for each of us, since that has always been a cause close to my heart, and mentioned it to my dad a couple days later. He asked me to get him one, too. So our family has saved half an acre rain forest. The third graders were also raising money, for charity, by selling donuts. I don't eat donuts though, so I didn't help out with that one.
I have been working on Tobi's stocking. I even have a picture, but Blogger won't let me put it up right now. I'll try again tomorrow. I may still get it done by Christmas. I've been taking it with me to stitch on while I wait for Tobi to get out of school. It is getting there. Pictures tomorrow!

Still Exhausted With New Goals

2007-11-01T21:28:00.000-05:00

Life is still hectic, but getting a little better. I have been stitching more than before, but still not much. I am going to try to put up a picture of my pitiful progress on Tobi's stocking. I guess pitiful progress is still progress though.
My October goal was to work on Tobi's stocking for an hour everyday. Not even close. I did maybe an hour a week.
My November goal is to finish all the cross stitch on Tobi's stocking. I have to. I have to get this done by Christmas. It is getting there, slowly, but surely.
Speaking of Christmas, for the first time ever, I've gotten my shopping done early! I have gotten almost all of the boys' presents. I still want to get Darin a droppable toddler's digital camera. Maybe then, he'll stop stealing mine. I also want to get them Ratatouille and the DVD of Pixar shorts. They both come out Tuesday.
The boys had a good Halloween. Tobi was a very cute Harry Potter, and Darin was Diego. Pictures will come when I have more energy. We went trick-or-treating with my sister and her family. I ended up carrying Darin about half the way. My arms and back are still very sore. They got more candy than I know what to do with. So not what I need to lose weight.
I have lost a total of three pounds in a month. Not bad, but not great. I am going to the YMCA at least five times a week. I am doing aerobics on the weekend. I have done at least twenty minutes of cardio every day since the fourteenth. Even when I don't lose weight, my measurements get smaller.
My wedding ring doesn't fit anymore. It's really starting to slip off easily now. I may start wearing it on a chain instead. I'm not sure about getting it sized. We bought it off eBay. I've never had a ring sized, but I'm just not sure it's worth it. I don't know how much it costs, and I'm afraid it will cost more to size the ring than we paid for it. It's a mystic topaz set in sterling silver. It's not worth much, but it's all we could afford. It's very pretty and special to me.
Tomorrow is Tobi's first school field trip. I get to chaperone! The teacher said they'd had lots of volunteers, but most of them had not had their background checks done. I passed mine, and I'm very excited. They're going to an apple orchard, and I remember going there in first grade. Tobi's very excited, too.
Darin is spending tonight at my mom's, and tomorrow while we're gone. Every eight weeks or so, dealing with my difficult son, worrying about my husband, and PMS all catch up with me. I think Darin is the biggest factor in this. It's not really his fault though. It's just that we're together, all day, every day, and we both grate on each other's nerves. He's a stubborn child, at a difficult age, going through a stressful, confusing (to a four-year-old) situation. The doctor said it was normal. I just need a break sometimes. Of course, that makes me feel like a bad mom, along with several other things I just can't seem to teach Darin. Today I cried in the locker room after a child care worker had to come get me because Darin had an accident. It wouldn't be so bad if it really was an accident, but he does it because he's mad at me. Oh well. At least I know they gave me the right baby. He's just like I was at that age.
Anyway. I think that's all for now. I gotta get some sleep if I'm gonna help look after a buttload of kindergartners tomorrow. Have a nice weekend.

Exhausted

2007-10-17T11:37:00.000-05:00

Today is the first day I've had in what seems like forever where I didn't have anything planned. I have not blogged in forever, and I haven't commented on other blogs. I haven't even stitched! By the time I get home, I'm too exhausted to do anything at all.
We went to the Renaissance Festival Sunday, with Jymi's family. It's unfair to say that my in-laws don't like me, because most of them do. It's just Jymi's parents. I think that is why the always favor Tobi over Darin. Tobi is more like Jymi, and Darin is more like me. As soon as we got there, they bought Tobi a hat, a sword, a shield, a tunic, and a belt. Then the bought Darin dice. If someone can understand how that's fair, please enlighten me, cause I couldn't figure it out. After Darin kept wanting to see Tobi's sword, they got him his own set of stuff. They looked very cute, and I have pictures, but Blogger won't let me put them up right now. They rode a camel with Jymi's sister and her friend, and Tobi is still talking about it.
Monday school was out, and I had a parent/teacher conference. She said Tobi's doing well. The teacher's assistant has a soft spot for Tobi. After that, I took the car in for an estimate. It finally stopped overheating, and then the power steering went out. That was going to be a $700 problem.
Tuesday, I took the car in, and went to my sister's. We made cookies for the kids to take to school. It took most of the day, both to get the car fixed and to make three batches of cookies for four kids to takes to class.
Tobi's class was ecstatic! When we came in with a box of cookies, all the little kids started thanking Tobi. He was suddenly the most popular student. One little boy who didn't like Tobi is now his friend.
Since Darin doesn't go to school, he took some cookies to his "class" at the YMCA child care center. They loved them. They said they get lots of cookies at Christmas, but they never get Halloween cookies.
I'm still going to the YMCA Monday through Friday mornings. The first week, I gained a pound, but last week I lost two. I haven't weighed myself this week, but hopefully I've lost another pound or two. Either way, I'm enjoying an hour or so a day without Darin. That may sound mean, but that child drives me insane some days.
Anyway. I've got a free hour, so I'm gonna try to stitch some on Tobi's stocking. Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

September Accomplishments And October Goals

2007-10-02T19:08:00.000-05:00

I didn't really have any goals for September. I worked on Angel Of Capricorn, Dragonfly QS, and Ruby QS. I also started and finished the newest Mother's Wisdom, Listen To Your Teacher.
My goal for October is to put in at least on hour everyday on Tobi's stocking. I hope to finish it November. Then he can finally have it for Christmas. It's driving me nuts.
Tobi lost another tooth! He let me pull it, which I thought was a big deal. I always hated having somebody pull my teeth! He showed me how much it was wiggling, and you could see the root of the tooth poking through his gums! So I gave it a little tug, and it came right out. Tobi was so excited about the tooth fairy coming back, he didn't realize how much he was bleeding! I had to give him a wet washcloth to hold on it. I am so proud of him. He didn't cry or whine or anything. He "took it like a man." He forgot to put it under his pillow, but the tooth fairy left him some money anyway. He asked me this morning if I would go to Target and buy him a set of Star Wars guys with his money while he was in school. Unfortunately, they only had a few sets, and they were all ones he already had.
I joined the YMCA and Spark People. I've decided that when Jymi comes home I will be skinny. I joined Monday morning, and have been four times. When I drop Darin off at the child care room, he gets so upset. Monday, I couldn't leave him, and today they told me they'd get me if he wouldn't stop. So I did about fifteen minutes on the treadmill, and went back to check on him. There's always someone at the door, and she saw me coming down the hall and said he was fine. Worrying about Darin helped keep my heart rate up, though. So I went back and worked out some more.
Monday afternoon, after Darin's tantrum in the morning, we went back after school with Tobi. He was fine while Tobi was there, too. They didn't play together, but Darin just felt more secure with Tobi there. He was still not happy to be there this morning. After I picked up Tobi, he asked if we were going back. I didn't see why not, so we went back again in the afternoon. According to Spark People, in two days, I've burned over six hundred calories. I don't plan to go twice a day everyday, but for now, while Darin is still getting used to the child care.
The boys have also joined a self defense/Karate class at the YMCA. The first class is in a couple days, and the boys are excited. Every time we pass the stairs, they ask if we're going up there. I think they'll enjoy it. After the two work outs though, I'm exhausted. Good night, all!

Post-SAL Post

2007-09-25T07:14:00.000-05:00

I did finish all the wallpaper on the first page, but by the time I finished, was ready to move on. So for the whole SAL, I only got in about five hundred stitches.
I'm not sure what to work on next. Starting in October, I'm going to work on Tobi's stocking exclusively, so I may go ahead and start working on it.
Believe it or not, I haven't bought anything in a week. I haven't started anything in two weeks! I must be sick or something. Of course, I'm considering another new star when I finish Tobi's stocking. Darin loves penguins, so I bought The Magic Place a while back. Since I've got a Schimmel started for Tobi, and I'll be starting one for my dad, I might as well start Darin's too. Plus I've got Merlin And Arthur started for Jymi. That way I'll have something for everyone. It won't be much longer before I never have to start another project again! of course, I will anyway, but that's beside the point.

Pre-SAL Post And Car Rant

2007-09-21T09:17:00.000-05:00

There's a background SAL on the HAED board, and I'll be working on Ruby. This is my progress from my last post. Not much but I have gotten a few lengths in. I'm hoping to get at least all the wallpaper on the first page done in the SAL. Jymi now has Internet in his room, and I've been spending alot of time talking to him, instead of stitching.
I am ready to start walking everywhere. Two weeks ago, my car overheated, and I got the radiator replaced. A couple days ago, it overheated again. I took it back to the shop. They told me it was fixed, and I picked it up. I went to the library and and Wendy's, and the damn thing overheated again. I'm out of money to get it fixed though. I'm tempted to use the money on a baseball bat instead, and use it to "fix" the car.
The boys are driving me nuts. Tobi has another new girlfriend, Emily. At this rate, he'll be out of girls in his class by Christmas. Darin loves talking to Jymi online. Both boys get a kick out of seeing him on the webcam, and waving back. He's trying to irritate me at the moment, though and it's working. So that's all my babbling for today. I've gotta go get Darin out of the bathroom, and yell at my husband online. Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Some Questions

2007-09-18T10:40:00.000-05:00

Here's a couple old SBQs. How did you get started stitching? Was there a person that inspired you? When I was little my mom and sister used to go to the Spirit Of Cross Stitch Festival in Winston Salem. When they came back one year, I asked if they'd teach me, too. I think I was about eight or nine. So they gave me a piece of pink Aida and a purple, blue, and green variegated thread. They showed me how t make an X, told me they all had to go the same way, and told me to make my name. They sat with me and watched. A little later when I'd finished, I asked for another piece of fabric. They gave me a bag with some small scrap sized pieces and let me pick what I wanted. I picked out the purple one, and began stitching my name again. When I brought it to Kathy, she looked surprised. I'd picked a 28 ct. or 32 ct. piece and was stitching over one. I stitched my name on that, too.
I picked up several kits after that, but never finished anything. I started a nativity scene from a magazine with seven little figures. I finished those at various points in time, but I finished the entire thing while pregnant with Darin in 2003.
Would you ever stitch one of your BAPs a second time? (This does not include starting over because of mistakes, bad fabric, etc., rather stitching something from the first stitch for a second time.) I kinda did this yesterday. As a general rule, no. The exception was Earth Song. I did consider it for awhile, before deciding to stitch something else instead.
Here is another question, but this one is from The Floss Box. The Internet has made it incredibly easy to share free patterns (I am not referring to pirated stuff). Do you spend less money now on buying patterns these days because of the access to good quality free patterns than a few years ago when freebies weren’t so common? To be honest, I think the only freebies I've ever stitched are the Dragon Dreams Christmyth series. I collect alot of freebies, but because I haven't invest any money in these projects yet, they get stuck on the bottom of my to do list. I don't think it's had any impact on the charts I buy. To me, freebies are meant to be a taste of a designer's style, to see if you'd like to purchase more. Anyway, that's enough of my opinions today.

No New Starts!

2007-09-17T18:25:00.000-05:00

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!

It's Been A While

2007-09-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

I've been stitching, but I've been having issues with the printer/scanner. I finally gave up on Angel Of Capricorn for the moment. The colors are pretty, but it's more confetti than I want to deal with right now.
I started Dragonfly Quick Stitch. It was another big block of black, like Earth Song, so it was nice and easy. It looks funny up close, but from a distance, you can start to see the picture.
For once I didn't start something new. I pulled out Ruby again. I've only put in two lengths of thread though, so it's not enough for a picture. Soon though. Emerald was just released, and everytime she releases the next in the series, I get the urge to stitch on Ruby again.
Life's been hectic. We're all feeling better Tobi's on his second "girlfriend" at school. Darin got better, but he's feeling worse today. He went to the doctor last week for his check up. He got three shots, and I think this is just from those. They said he was in the fiftieth percentile for height, but only the tenth for weight. They said not to worry; he's just like Jymi, tall and scrawny. After a few minutes with him, the doctor went to get his shots. She came back with an extra nurse. After that little bit of time with Darin, she knew she'd need some extra help to hold him down. They also told me his iron was low, and ordered some blood work.
The next day, I was planning to take him to the lab, but the car overheated while taking Tobi to school. So we spent the day at my mom's, waiting for them to finish. They said I needed a new radiator, and it would take, at most, three hours. That was at ten. They called me at FIVE! That was after I'd called twice to see if it was ready. I am proud of Tobi's school though. My mom took us to pick him up, and when the helpers told the teachers Tobi's ride was there, they held him back, saying, "No, that's not Tobi's car." I had to get out and show them it was Tobi's mom, even if it wasn't Tobi's car. I love his school.

September Goals And August Laziness

2007-09-01T19:48:00.000-05:00

My August goals were all new starts. I wanted to start: Angel Of Capricorn, Earth Song, and Wizard Of Oz. I decided I didn't want to start Wizard of Oz right now anymore. I did get a good start on Earth Song. I am doing better with Angel Of Capricorn, but it's still slow going. It's not quite confetti, but it's not far from it.
This month, I'm not sure what I want to do. I'm thinking I'll just wing it, and stitch on whatever sounds good when I put down something else. Waiting is calling me very loudly, but I don't have fabric yet. We'll see.
I decided Oriental Courage would be my waiting-in-the-car-for-Tobi project. It's small and only has one color. Right now I'm still rereading, so I don't need it yet. Besides, right now, it's so insanely hot (the a/c in both cars are broken), that I'm not even willing to think about taking a piece of fabric have in my lap. Yesterday, I rolled up my jeans as far as I could. I've also been putting three bottles of water in the freezer at lunch, so they'll stay cool the whole time in the car.
Tobi's doing well in school. He was the Star Student one day last week. He got in trouble one day, and after a evening of no video or computer games, he was so much better behaved, that his teacher called to remark on his improvement! he's a little upset that he doesn't get to go on Monday.
Right now we're all sick, and he may not go Tuesday either, if he's not better. He seems to have it worst. At bedtime, he told me he thought he needed to go to the doctor, but they won't be open again until Tuesday. If he gets worse, I'll take him to the emergency medical center, but I really think it's just the flu, though. Darin and I are both feeling horrible, too. I had to get some groceries earlier, and I could barely lift Darin to put him in the cart. He's only thirty pounds! We're all exhausted and miserable. Which is why there's no updated picture of Angel Of Capricorn. I have made progress, I'm just wiped out to get up and scan it. I will post one when I fell better.
Jymi has arrived in Iraq. He says it's pretty quiet at the moment. Cross your fingers, and hope it stays that way.

New Start Again

2007-08-27T22:17:00.000-05:00

I started Earth Song with the SAL on the HAED board. I got in 1700 stitches, and 1500 are black. It doesn't look like much, but it was fun. I'm sick of black thread now though. I'm gonna try to work on Angel Of Capricorn some more, but I don't know how long that will last.
Tobi's enjoying school. Darin's enjoying being able to play with Tobi's toys while he's gone. I'm enjoying it, too. It much easier to go to the store when I only have one child to fight into the cart.
Friday, Darin and I are meeting my sister at my mom's to dye some fabric and play with the clay stuff she got. She bought it to make buttons for sweaters she knits for charity, but she says there's an awful lot in the "sampler Pack" she got. I want to play with it, and the kids loved the buttons she'd already made. Anyway. It's time for bed, and I have to fold laundry so I can get to the bed.

Angels And Demons

2007-08-23T11:46:00.000-05:00

Here's my pitiful progress on Angel Of Capricorn. I've only worked on it two days. It's not that I don't want to stitch; it's just when I have time, I'm so exhausted. I'm going to spend all day tomorrow on Earth Song.
They caught the suspect! He was arrested this morning! I'm so happy for Jill and her mother. They've been so upset since it happened. As it says in the article, they've been afraid to bring the kids home. I still can't believe anyone would do something so horrible, especially to such wonderful people. That's enough ranting for today, though. While I'm still very angry about what happened, right now I'm so happy to hear they think they have the culprit!
Tobi is enjoying school. He had a friend now. I think he's made a few friends, but he can only remeber one name. He also brought home his first homework assignment; a picture of a computer to color. I miss kindergarden. Life was so much easier then. Tomorrow is the last day I will walk him in. He's going to show me where to go, so I know he knows where to go. He's lucky; his is the first classroom after you go in, so it's not very hard. Anyway. It's time for bed. I'm not used to getting up at six. I usually get up at ten!

Tobi's First Day

2007-08-22T18:37:00.000-05:00

Tobi started school today. It was kinda bittersweet. I think it'll be worse next week. This week I get to help him find his classroom, and walk him into the school in the mornings. Next week, he'll get out of the car, walk in, and he'll be gone. His teachers are very nice, and he says he's made lots of friends. The pick up line at the end of the day was pretty long, but it won't be as long next week. I know some of the parents are just picking up their kids this first week.
I was worried about how Darin would react to Tobi being gone all day. When we got back in the car after taking Tobi inside, he wanted to ride in Tobi's seat. They both still ride in booster seat, so it wasn't a big deal. Then when we got home, Darin wanted to watch cartoons in my room. It wasn't wrong before I remembered why I let Tobi watch cartoons in there, but not Darin. The little twerp kept going through my stuff. Darin and I met my mom and sister for lunch at Olive Garden. Darin ate salad, breadsticks, fondue, his mac and cheese, and a sundae for dessert. Which he well deserved. Then we went to Target with Kathy, and back to her house for a while to hang out before picking up the kids.
If you click on the picture, you can see Tobi had another milestone this past week. He lost his first tooth! He came up to me one morning, all excited because the tooth fairy was gonna visit him. That was the first I'd heard of his loose tooth, but it fell out that evening at dinner. He was so excited! The only problem was when I went to play tooth fairy, I couldn't find the tooth.
Jymi called me tonight. It was the first time I've talked to him in about a week. He's going somewhere different now. It's still in Iraq, but it has phone and internet access, so I hopefully won't have to go two months without hearing from him. It's also alot safer than the area he was supposed to be going into. I can't tell you how happy I was when he told me!
About my last post, I've been looking at the local paper's website. I found an article today saying they have a suspect! The article says he could fifteen years in prison if convicted. I SOOOOOO hope they find him. Here's a link to original article my dad told me about. The paper's website was down yesterday. I was so mad though, I had to let it out somewhere.
I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted a stitching update. I've stitched a grand total of four days this month. I will post a picture of Angel Of Capricorn tomorrow, what little bit there is to show. Friday, I'm starting Earth Song for the New Start SAL. The whole first page has two different colors! Wow! I don't know how I'll keep up! That's all for today! Stitchy stuff tomorrow!

I Could Scream!

2007-08-21T13:58:00.000-05:00

I simply cannot find words to describe what I'm feeling right now. I am so angry at the people responsible, and so upset than anyone could do something so hurtful. I can't believe people are willing to hurt each other over something as trivial as the color of their skin!
One of my friends from high school had her car parked in front of her house. It was vandalized with racial slurs and then set on fire, because she's her boyfriend's black and they have two kids! You know what? Who freaking cares? She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. Her husband is very nice, and a wonderful father. Their kids are wonderful children.
How can people be so cruel?

My New Toy!!

2007-08-15T15:13:00.000-05:00

I'm typing this on my new laptop! It was an early Christmas present! Jymi's jealous because my dad had told him about it, and mine's nicer than his. I'd tell you all the technical stuff, but I don't understand any of it, and it bores the hell out of me! All that really matters is that it works, and I can play my Sims games on it!
My dad also brought me a router and anew camera, since Jymi took the old one. He took u shopping, and spent an obscene about of money on back to school clothes. He did the same thing for my sister. He also gave us each money for new tires, since we both needed them. He also bought us a new PS2 since our last one died, and we had to sell the PS3. So I was out of excuses to not buy Tobi Harry Potter And The Order Of The Pheonix. We had a great time, and my dad loved spoiling all the kids.
Jymi's leaving the country today. The phones and internet are down where they're going, so it'll be at least two month before I hear from him at all. That's gonna make it even harder.
The boys are acting out because they miss him, and Darin's going to get worse when Tobi starts school. Tobi starts one week from today! It's a little scary for me, but Tobi's very excited, now that it's finally August. We're having a sleep over tonight, since it'll probably be the last chance this summer. They should be here soon, so it's time to set up the slip and slide and order pizza!

Two Weeks Later

2007-08-13T09:48:00.000-05:00

After two weeks of not stitching at all, I finally picked up Cascade again! The picture's not very good. There's at least fifteen shades of brown in there, not that you can see them. In real life, you can almost tell that the black blobs are the top of the tree. I'd try the camera, but Jymi took it with him. My dad got me a new one for Christmas. He's coming down in a couple days, and bringing it then.
I'm moving on to Angel Of Capricorn, next, but I won't get much done for the first couple days. I plan to start it today, but my dad's coming tomorrow. He's taking both me and my sister shopping for clothes for the kids. We're going to the outlet mall an hour away, so it's going to be an all day thing. He's going home Wednesday, but my niece and nephew are going to have a sleep over that night. I was supposed to babysit all night a couple weeks ago, but I couldn't sleep at all, so it didn't happen. I offered to have a sleep over to make up for it. We're gonna order pizza and watch movies. Darin got a slip and slide for his birthday (see picture), and they'll play on that. I also found Pixar Monopoly at Target, and had to buy it! My kids are too little to play, though, so I'm looking forward to Chris and Alex coming over to play.
Darin's ear infection is better now. He finished his medicine yesterday. He's gotta go back to the doctor again in a couple weeks, for his regular check up and shots. Fun.

Jymi's Gone Again

2007-08-09T14:34:00.000-05:00

It was a wonderful four days. We spent Sunday with his family. It was outside, and very hot, but still fun. Jymi said he didn't want to spend everyday with his parents, but I didn't really think he meant it. On Monday, though, they called, asking us to dinner. We had just sat down though, so we didn't go.
They kept hinting at doing something Tuesday, but he kept telling them we were going to the movies. We saw The Simpsons (very funny, if nonsensical, like the show) and Harry Potter (after seeing it the second time, I've decided it was pretty disappointing; there's nothing to except the battle at the end). Then we bought Darin's birthday presents, and brought them home. When we got home, Jymi's parents called his cell. He knew they wanted us to go to dinner again, and didn't answer. They called the house phone, my cell, and Jymi's cell again before giving up. Jymi waited until we went to Dairy Queen before the last movie, at eight, before calling them back. He wanted to talk to them about Darin's birthday, but not in person. After DQ, we saw The Bourne Ultimatum. It probably would've made more sense if I could remember anything from the first two.
After that we came home, and wrapped presents while we watched Shaun Of The Dead (the best zombie movie EVER!). We had watched Hot Fuzz (also very good) a few days earlier, and it put me in the mood to watch Shaun. You almost have to watch them together; they sorta play off each other.
Yesterday was Darin's birthday. My "baby" turned four! We had pizza and cake at my mom's. Darin had a blast, and got a ton of presents. Then we had pizza for dinner at Jymi's aunt's. He had fun and got even more presents. I think I will spend the rest of my life picking up puzzle pieces and Hot Wheels. He also got some cash, which was his favorite present. He didn't want anyone else to touch his "dollars".
I took him to Target to spend it after we said good bye to Jymi this morning. Afterward we went to my mom's for awhile. I didn't want to go home. I'm still not sure I want to be here. I did decided to treat myself to Selina Fenech's QS Dragonfly. When I downloaded it, though, it was the wrong QS Dragonfly. That'll be fixed soon though. I decided to start it for the new start SAL on the HAED board later this month. Like I need a new project!

Thank Goodness For Maternal Instints!

2007-08-03T16:00:00.000-05:00

We've all been congested for about a week now. It's been miserable, but it's just allergies. This morning, Darin woke up saying his ear had boo boos. My first thought was that it was infected, but my brain told me to wait and see if it still hurt tomorrow. So I gave him some medicine, and asked Tobi if his ears hurt, too.
After breakfast, I kissed his forehead, and he was burning up. I panicked, and called the doctor to made an appointment. I'm glad I did. When we got there, his temperature was 100.3, and the doctor said it was definitely infected. He prescribed antibiotics. I am so glad I didn't listen to my brain.
Jymi's even more eager about coming home, now that Darin's sick. Jymi always worries so much about the boys when they're sick, especially Darin. Part of that may be that the only time Darin really lets Jymi hold him is when he's too sick to get away. Darin's very much a mama's boy. Jymi's leaving tonight, and he'll be home by lunchtime tomorrow!
I still haven't gotten any stitching done. It's been almost a week now. I've been cleaning house. I've got pictures of that, but that's more to prove to Jymi that the house was clean before the boys destroyed it again. All that's left is my room and a couple loads of laundry. There is now a (visible) floor in every room, and all but mine have been cleaned and Febreezed! I'll do mine after dinner. Right now, I think both boys need a dose on Benadryl, and I need a shower. My car doesn't have air conditioning, and it's almost a necessity her in the summer. The house is almost clean, and my husband's almost home! The only downside is Darin's ear, and it doesn't bother him nearly as much as his congestion! Hope everyone else has a great weekend!

SBQs And Goals

2007-07-31T06:47:00.000-05:00

I don't have any new stitching to show right now. Cascade is still on my Q-Snaps, but it's being neglected at the moment. I've spent almost all of the last two days cleaning, and when I did have time to sit down, I didn't want to have to think. My sleeping patterns are now totally out of whack. I go to bed at two and get up at eleven. So I've been getting up, making brunch, and spending two hours cleaning the boys' room. I should finish today, the third day of working on it. It's been quite a while since I REALLY cleaned in there. After I'd finished on the boys' room, I've had to wash dishes and make dinner. Not long after dinner, it's time to get the boy's ready for bed. Once I get their room done, I'm gonna clean the rest of the house, too. Hopefully I'll get it done before Jymi gets home.
Once the boys go to bed, I've been reading. I'm still rereading Harry Potter, and I'm about halfway through Goblet Of Fire. I can only read after the boys go to bed, though. I can stitch for five minutes, go do something for them, come back and stitch for another five minutes, and so on. I can't do that when I'm reading. I don't need quiet, but I don't like to be interrupted either. So reading goes much slower now that I can't go in the bedroom and lock Jymi and the boys out.
Now for SBQs. Do you consider yourself a “floss miser?” A little, but not nearly as much as I used to. When Jymi and I first moved in together, I'd stitch till the very end of a thread, and then do three more stitches. We just didn't have the money to buy more thread, so I made it go as far as I could. Now, I still use all the thread, but I stop with alot more left than I used to. Does that make sense? Probably not.
What do you love to do that many people hate? What do you hate to do, but do anyway?
I like working with metallic braid. I discovered Thread Heaven, which helped so much! I do still hate blending filament, though. I also hate lazy daisies and any kind of knot.
Which project (finished or in progress) are you most proud of? Explain why.
Right now, it's Cascade. It's going to be beautiful, and huge. If I ever finish it, I will have to throw a party to celebrate. Of course, I'll be eighty by then. That will probably change with my next project, though.
Have you ever thought of getting a rider on your household insurance to properly cover your stash (some of us have quite an extensive stash that an average household policy wouldn't fully cover) in the case of some sort of damage to your house that would destroy/ruin charts, fabrics, floss, etc?
No, because, um, I don't have any household insurance. I know, bad, but we can barely pay all the bills normally. It just doesn't seem like a good idea to add another one. When we buy a house (hopefully soon), will definitely get insurance. I may do it then though.
Now my mom has a cross stitch quilt that she has had insured. Before I was born, the other nurses where she worked each stitched a Precious Moments block, and then they had it sewn into a quilt. One of the ladies (I don't know if it was Gloria or Pat), was at the cross stitch store my mom went to then. She took it and showed her. She suggested the insurance, since it would've cost her over a thousand dollars to have a model stitcher do all that, and have it quilted. That was in the eighties, too.
My July goals were: work on Tobi's stocking and 900 stitches each on Pirate, Cascade, and Angel Of Capricorn. I did everything except start Angel Of Capricorn. I also worked on seven other projects this month.
My August goals are more new starts. I want to start: Angel Of Capricorn, Earth Song, and Wizard Of Oz. I also need to pick a project to stitch in line in the car when I go pick Tobi up from school. I'll probably take book until I finish rereading Harry Potter though, so no rush.
In non-stitchy goals, I want to Darin to have a happy birthday (eight more days), enjoy all of Jymi's visit, even the time spent with in-laws, and make it through Tobi's first day of school without crying. My mom and my sister are already making plans. I also need to survive the next few days. They're going to be very busy with trying to get everything clean. Today I will finish the boys' room, clean the kitchen, and give the boys baths. Tomorrow I'm cleaning the living room, taking the boys to get haircuts, and number of other boring errands. Every time I think about everything I have to do, it just overwhelms me. Deep breath. One thing at a time.

One More Week!

2007-07-28T10:54:00.000-05:00

For the first time in almost a year, I worked on Avatar. I got alot done on the clouds. I finally got all the half stitches done, and the whole stitches done in the same color! Next time, I'll finish the clouds, but for now it's put away for another year.
I also started Garden Fence. I love Weeks Dye Works Envy! It's the most gorgeous shades of green I have ever seen!
I got my fabric in last week. I started Cascade! This is the ultimate big ass project! The fabric is 21 inches by 40! I've got several hundred stitches in already. The first day went slow, since it was fifteen shades of brown, and all confetti. After that it was alot of black, and it's gone alot faster. I am loving this piece!
Jymi comes home in one more week! I am so excited! We decided not to tell the boys; just to surprise them. Jymi's planning to buy a teddy bear or something to bring home to them. He just finished emergency medical training. He seemed to really enjoy it, and is now considering becoming an EMT when he comes home. This morning he sent me a text saying he'd gotten promoted, too. He's pretty happy at the moment. I can't wait until he gets home!

Not The Mama's Coming Home Soon

2007-07-21T18:47:00.000-05:00

I worked on The Castle a little bit. I got bored quick though. I stitched some greenery, and after a day, I put it away.
Then I started Sweetheart Fence. I finished the ground, and put it away, too. Now I'm working on Avatar again. My fabric for Cascade should come in Monday. Another new start!
I got my new Harry Potter book today. I'm not ready to read it yet, though. I'm still rereading the first six. I'm taking my time, and I'm a few chapters into Prisoner Of Azkaban. I'm not in a hurry for it to be over, despite the desperate desire to know what happens next. Problem is, I can't talk to my sister or do much online until I finish it. I'll get there though.
I took Tobi to the new movie Wednesday. He wasn't scared really, but one particular scene that made him jump two inches in the air. I'm sure anyone who's seen it knows what it was. He didn't get upset, though. I don't think he even blinked! He loved it, but I don't think he understood everything going on. I think I enjoyed it, too. I won't know for sure until I see it again.
I will, though, when Jymi comes home. We're planning to spend a whole day at the movie theater. Jymi wants to see Harry Potter, The Simpsons, and Bourne Ultimatum while he's home. I think we'll see Bourne last, so I can't go to sleep if I want. I'd love to see Harry Potter again, and I'm dying to see The Simpsons, but I couldn't care less about Bourne. I knew Jymi was dying to see it, though, and it comes out the day before he gets home. It's only two more weeks until Jymi comes home! He's counting down the days, and I've got it marked on a every calender, and a calender in every room.
Darin once went up to Jymi, looked at him, said, "You're not mommy," and walked away. It reminded me of the old TV show Dinosaurs. I used to love it when I was little, so I added it to their Netflix list. They got it last weekend, and loved it! So I bought it for them. They've watched the whole set, and Tobi and I are currently watching the second disc. Most of the shows I've rented that I watched when I was little now suck. I actually called to apologize to my mom after watching an episode of Pee Wee's Playhouse. Dinosaurs is still hilarious though. I've really enjoyed watching it again, and realizing all the "grown-up jokes" I never got. Stuff about environmentalism and the difficulties of trying to raise a family. I still love that baby!

You Both Had Tantrums?

2007-07-16T22:02:00.000-05:00

This Jymi's reaction when I explained to him why Darin spent Friday night at Grandma's. After all the errands I had to do (see my last post), I went to pick up the boys from my mom's. When I got there, my sister and her kids were visiting, too. Darin had been crabby for about a week, and threw himself on the floor, screaming, because we made him share the toys. I tried to calm him down, but I couldn't. My sister picked him up and rocked him for a few minutes, and of course he fell right to sleep.
I felt like such a bad mother, that I started crying, too. They told me I was a good mother, just over stressed. They also said part of it was his age. They reminded me that Tobi had been just as obnoxious about everything a couple years ago. My mom told me about calling Grandma when I was Darin's age, and threw a tantrum that lasted two days over a video tape. Grandma had told her, "When you were that age, I also had your brother, and another one on the way!" At that, my sister and I both said, "Poor Grandma!"
Darin fell asleep around six. We all had dinner, and at eight, my mom suggested I just let Darin spend the night, since he hadn't moved since Kathy put him down. So Tobi and I went home. We both slept twelve hours that night, and the three of us were happy to see each other the next day. My mom said the first thing Darin said when he woke up was, "Where's Tobi?"
I've been working on Kitty Love. I've gone as far as I can until I get the color I'm missing. There's not much left to it.
I've got The Castle on my Q-Snaps now. I'll work on it next for a couple days.
Tobi has a pre-screening test for kindergarten at school. They're testing to see what each specific child needs to focus on during the next year. I had to reschedule Tobi's though, since they scheduled his test for Jymi's last day home. I explained the situation, and they said it was no problem. I know I shouldn't worry, because Tobi's very smart, and it's just to see what he needs to work on, but I'm still a little nervous about it. Wish us luck!

Starts, Shopping, Soup, And Stash

2007-07-13T09:49:00.000-05:00

I've started Oriental Courage, but with just black thread, I got bored kinda fast. So I also started Kitty Love by Dinky Dyes Designs. I'm really enjoying this one, but I need one more color. I need another skein of another color for a different project, so I'll order those soon. I hate to just order two skeins of thread, and there aren't any shops nearby that carry Dinky Dyes.
Speaking of Dinky Dyes, look what I got as part of my model payment! All the new Dinky Dyes silks! I especially love Black Opal and Parrot Fish! Bright colors! I also got all the new Cross Eyed Kat designs, and a quarter yard of Picture This Plus Legacy linen. I'm think With Cat For Comforter would look great on the Legacy, and my grandmother would love it. Not to mention the fact that I can't wait to start it!
Of course, I would've been much happier about this package if it weren't for what happened just before the mail came. A debt collection agency called asking for James, saying he owed $1800 on an insurance policy he canceled! After freaking out and crying on the phone, the person I talked to said she'd email the records. I had no idea about any of this! When I looked at the email, the "James" on the paperwork had a different last name. I called the person I had talked to, and told her this. She asked if we lived at the address she had listed, and it wasn't us. So that was a small heart attack over a wrong number.
I get a day off from the boys today. I'm getting new shoes, which I've needed since April. Jymi wants me to send him a PSP, and getting that, packing it, and going to the post office will be so much easier without the boys! Afterwards, my mom is making homemade chicken noodle soup! I mean homemade, too. She makes the noodles herself! I know how, but Jymi and Tobi won't eat it. It's too much work for just me and Darin. The last time I made them, Darin was only two months old, and Tobi was two years old. When I turned away, Tobi tried to feed his noodles to Darin! Which would've been fine, if Darin had been ready to eat solid foods! So when my mom makes it for us, it is really special!
I have also paid all the bills, on time, for the first time on over a year! I'm alot more excited about that than is probably normal, but it is a big deal to me. Not to mention the power company found the $200 payment they lost.
I also bought more HAEDs. They're discontinuing some of their artists, and they were on sale. So I bought Life Force and Love And Magic. I couldn't just buy two charts, though. I'm a little embarrassed to admit how many I bought, but please keep in mind, I was VERY happy about paying off all the bills. Plus new stash and new starts are helping to keep me off antidepressants for a while. That being said, I also bought Matrix, River Genesis, Riddle Fisher, Hansel And Gretel, Wizard Of Oz, Earth Song, Magic Place, and Warmth Of Home. I think I have a problem.

We Have Always Lived In The Castle

2007-07-11T11:16:00.000-05:00

I finished the castle last night. It took me awhile though. I think it was almost midnight when I put it down. Time to move now. I'm going to start Courage today. I gridded the fabric last night. The blue pen doesn't show up as well on the red fabric as it does on the white. I think it will be well worth it though. I should be very pretty on the red. It should also go much faster. I may actually finish this one!
Jymi survived yesterday. He said it was even worse than he anticipated, but he did well. He texted me at three to tell me it was over. When I talked to him at nine, he was still "recovering". He was also exhausted, since he didn't sleep well from worrying. Hopefully, he'll never have to do it again.
The new Harry Potter comes out today. I can't wait to see it. One more week for us. Of course part of the reason I'm so eager is just for some time away from Darin. I need a break from both boys, but that will have to be another day. I'll have to have someone else watch the boys while I get Darin's birthday presents, so I guess I can have a day to myself then. I don't know how single parents do it.

Something's Missing

2007-07-10T09:59:00.000-05:00

I've been working on Jymi's stocking. I don't like this one when I pick it up, but after about twenty minutes, it's not so bad. I should be able to finish the castle today. That is, if I have enough energy. I have to wrestle my kids to the grocery store. I think wrestling alligators would be easier, and much less painful. I'll bet they wouldn't ask for M&Ms, either.
I'm worried about Jymi today. He's going to have a very rough day of training. Last night, he was panicking about it. The more upset he got, the more I worried about him.
Not much else to say. Our life is kinda boring right now. The boys are fine. They spend their days driving me crazy, but it's a short trip. Jymi asks me everyday how many more day until he gets to come home, since he can never remember. I had to send him directions. It never occurred to him or his friend that neither of them has ever driven to Mississippi before, so they don't know how to get home. Darin picked out his birthday cake. We'll get present next payday. That's about it!

On The Wagon

2007-07-07T10:45:00.000-05:00

Okay, not really. I have finished the wagon on Tobi's stocking. It only takes me a couple days to get sick of this one. If it's not done by October, I'll put everything else away and finish it. There's not really that much, but it just drives me nuts!
I'm going to work on Jymi's stocking next. I'm gonna try to finish the picture of the castle before moving on, but no promises.
I bought some more charts. There's a big shock, huh? HAED had a Fourth Of July sale, and I decided I'd only buy two charts this time. That lasted until the next morning when I decided on two more. I also bought a story keep last night, too. I'm done now, though, until the next sale. I bought Angel Of Capricorn, Isis, The Awakening, Forest Light, and Oriental Courage.
I'll start Courage when I get sick of Jymi's stocking. I'm just going to stitch the black on a piece of Picture This Plus Crystal Phoenix I already have. I think it's the perfect shade of red, and then I may actually finish a HAED in this lifetime! I considered doing Strength for Jymi, since he likes dragons with wings more than Asian dragons, but I don't think he'd use it. He doesn't read much anymore. Even when he was home, he hasn't really read a book in awhile. He never had the time, and when he did, he didn't want to have to use his brain. Maybe I'll do it for my niece, Alex. I know she'd love it, and she reads constantly.
I added two tickers to the top of my blog. I'm so excited about Jymi coming home, and he is, too. Last night he said he'd been down all day, just wishing he was here. Jymi is not flying home now. His friend Paul, who lives about ten minutes away from us is renting a car, and they're going to ride together. That way they can leave as soon as they're set free. They'll get here sooner, and be able to stay longer. Jymi's decided while he's here, he wants to have a party for Darin's birthday, see Harry Potter, and get a new tattoo if we have the money. Since he's not flying and I don't have to buy a plane ticket, we just may. He just wants something small. I want Selina Fenech's Motherhood. I want to make her tail blue, and her hair brown, though. We'll see. Other than Darin's party and the movie, we're just gonna play it by ear.
Tobi and I are still going to see Harry Potter a week after it comes out though. I have the perfect attention span to watch movies again and again. Again, I'm figuring if I wait until it's been out a week, and take Tobi to the first show on Wednesday morning, there won't be as many people. Jymi understands.

July Goals And June Accomplishments

2007-07-02T21:58:00.000-05:00

My June goal was just to stitch and enjoy it. Done!
I put my July goals up on the HAED board, and the first one was to put at least 900 stitches in Pirate. I did that today. I want to start Cascade and Angel Of Capricorn this month. I also want to work on Tobi's stocking some. I'll start stitching on that tomorrow. I've ordered fabric for the other two, but it's not here yet.
I bought Tobi a backpack today. We don't have his full supplies list, but I know he'll need a bookbag. Darin is very jealous. I promised him next payday we'd get him one, too. We also picked up a few other basics: pencils, a sharpener, and a notebook. Both Tobi and I are excited and nervous about his first day. That's all for now. Have a safe and happy Independence Day!

Garden Pi-Rats

2007-06-30T08:25:00.000-05:00

I finally finished the first corner of part four! As I've said before, it's not that's it's hard or I don't like it. Sometimes I get sick of all the specialty stitches. Sometimes I get sick of the silks, too. They all seem to tangle more often. I can't finish it for a while yet anyway, cause I don't have the beads. I'll get them when the chart pack comes out and European Cross Stitch has them again. So I'm taking my time on this one.
I started Pirate yesterday after all the errands were done. We had alot to do yesterday, so I didn't get to sit down and stitch until six. I did get about 300 stitches in, though. Lots of pretty reds to come, though. I'm going to my mom's later if she didn't have a bad night at work, but other than that I'll be home all day. That'll give me plenty of time to work on it.
This was my piece I stitched for the Dragon Dreams Exchange. It's Joy from the Dragon Virtues afghan. I used the recommended Hearthside fabric, and I never will again. I didn't like stitching on it at all. My mom finished it into a beautiful pillow for me, but I forgot to take a picture before I mailed it. I'm not a good sewer, and it doesn't help that Darin broke my sewing machine. My mom, however, is wonderful.
Here's a picture of one of the models I stitched in the spring. The second one isn't ready yet, but should be soon. Again forgot to take a picture of the whole thing before I put it in the mail, so I borrowed the picture from Kat Rocha. It's called Balloonist's Prayer. It was alot of fun to do.
There's a new (to me)SBQ to answer. When you start a new work do you look for something small, do you look for another huge project or do you consider your UFOs? When I start a new project, I just start whatever's calling loudest. There's not that much planning that goes into it.
We had a busy day yesterday. Jymi texted me at six in the morning to tell me they had the exact dates for their leave. So I got up and checked hotel prices. I decided to go for a cheaper hotel, since we weren't gonna be there that much. The cheapest nice hotel was still $100 a night, which we just can't afford. Jymi had gotten paid early, so I sat down to pay the bills next. That's when I found out the power company had lost my last payment. They told me I had to get a statement from the bank showing the money had come out of my account. I had decided to take the boys to the first showing of Ratatouille, since we had the money, and the bank was right down the street. At 8:30, we left to go to the bank. After talking to a couple different people, one guy typed up my letter and printed a statement of my account showing where the money came out.
By then there was an hour and half left until the movie started, and I wanted to get there early, since I wasn't sure how crowded it would be. Not to mention trying to hold two hands, two booster seats, and their food. So I planned to get there about 10:30 (the movie started at eleven). I wasn't sure how long we would have to be at the power company but it's a twenty minute drive just to get there. So we went to Target to wait. Darin needed new shoes anyway. We looked around, and got Darin's shoes. Then we went to the movie. My sister had already given us passes, so we didn't have to pay for tickets, just concessions. There were quite a few other families, with kids about the boys' ages. The later shows would be packed, I'm sure. The boys loved the movie and the short at the beginning. I think it was the best Pixar movie in a long time. Since Monsters Inc., I'd say. They've all been cute, but this one was wonderful! It was just on a different level than the others. Tobi has wanted to see this one since we first saw the preview at Cars, over a year ago. I think it was well worth the wait.
After the movie it was back to the real world, where they were threatening to disconnect my power because they'd lost $200 of my money. By then Darin was getting tired, and it was getting to be his nap time. I wanted to go ahead and get the thing sorted though, so we went to the power company. We stood in line, and then were told somewhere else to go. We went there, and waited twenty minutes to be told this was the wrong place to deal with this, too. They had to send all my paperwork upstairs, to someone else, but she was off today. She will call me on Monday, supposedly. Bureaucracy in action. Here's hoping we get all this sorted quickly.
In the evening, Jymi called. We decided that instead of us driving out to see him, it would be easier (and he would rather) fly home. Flying out was not an option for me, because we wouldn't have a car. You have to be eighteen to rent a car, but you have to be 25 to drive it. So I canceled the hotel reservation, and for about the same price, I can get Jymi a round trip plane ticket. He'll be here for Drain's birthday, so we're gonna have a party at Olive Garden probably, with both our families. We also solved ou Transformers issue. Since Tobi and Jymi are both dying to see it, we're gonna wait until Jymi's here, and he'll take Tobi to see it. So now I've just gotta make it through one more month, and I get a few days with my hubby!

Still Can't See

2007-06-27T08:53:00.000-05:00

You still can't see the stitching very well. I've put in over 1700 stitches, and you can't tell. I've put it away for now though.
I'm moving on to Persian Iris Garden. I started stitching on it again yesterday, but there's not enough to bother with a pic. I hope to have one in a few days though.
I didn't get much stitching done over the weekend. I spent most of it cleaning and texting Jymi. When I wasn't doing that, I was kitting up more new projects.
We're gonna have to go down to Mississippi in August. They're only getting a four day pass when their training's complete, so there's not really time for him to come home. Ten hours in a car with two small children. Yay. Maybe it'd be worthwhile to get a portable DVD player or something.
Not much else going on here. The boys are being good. I'm taking them to see Ratatouille. Tobi wants to see Transformers, too, but I don't. I'm talking to my sister about him going with her when she takes her kids. Her daughter keeps going back and forth on whether or not she's going. So if she doesn't want to go, I'll take her and Darin to see something else.
I've been talking to Jymi, but he's not allowed to tell me what they're doing. Not that I really care about any of it anyway. I'd be interested in the language and culture, but that's about it. He does tell me often that he misses us and wants to come home. I can't wait for August!

Dragon Soul And Other Babblings

2007-06-22T09:37:00.000-05:00

Okay, you can't see much of the stitching in the picture. I've put in over 800 stitches and about 600 of those are 3865 on white fabric. It doesn't show up well on the scanner. I'll have to find batteries for the camera and see if that works and better. I started Dragon Soul. Since so much of it is 3865, it goes pretty fast. I'm really enjoying it.
Yesterday was Jymi's birthday. I couldn't talk to him, but I left him a voicemail. His parents took the boys for the afternoon. They went to Paw Paw's house. As long as long as I have lived in the south, I have never gotten used to that phrase. I had a nice afternoon without the boys though. I finally picked up our family pictures we had made before Jymi left. I also went to the bookstore just to look. It was so nice to walk around and just look for an hour. I didn't have any money to spend, but I love to just walk around the bookstore. I also found out how much more relaxing yoga can be when there aren't any small children crawling through you legs while trying to do triangle pose.
I would also like to brag on our new baby, Hannah. When we got her from animal control, her records said she wasn't even a full pound. She is now four or five pounds! She still needs to gain a couple more pounds, but she is much healthier. When we got her, she was fur and bones. They had cut the fur around her head because it was very tangled. It's finally growing back in. I didn't think she could get any prettier. She's also more playful. She loves watching the fish and sneaking up on Tinkerbell. She's been sleeping with me, too, since Jymi left. She's such a sweetie.
I got my new charts in the mail, too. Cascade doesn't to bad. Huge, but not to much confetti. I can't wait to start! I guess I'll go get my fabric next weekend. I can wait. If I sit on my hands. Maybe.

Another New Start And More To Come

2007-06-20T08:41:00.000-05:00

This is the beginning of Ruby QS. It seems a little odd working on a quick stitch. I can already see the pattern in the wallpaper and the gold work. This one is four full pages and five partials. I'm putting it away now, and starting Dragon Soul later today.
There was another sale at Heaven And Earth Designs last weekend. This time I bought Beckon, Cascade, Goddess Of Tides, and Lotus Wood. I've decided I have to have all of Jonathon Earl Bowser's Mythic Naturalism series. I also think I should go ahead and start them all, too. I will start Cascade as soon as I get the fabric. It's 400x948, so if I'm gonna get halfway done before I die, I figure I'd better start now. So I'll buy a yard of fabric first of the month. I told Jymi what I wanted to do, and how big Cascade is. He said as long as it made me happy and we had enough money, he didn't care. He did tell me he thought I was insane for starting something that big, but he knew I was insane when we got married.
Before I started Ruby, I did finish the ground on Snow Fence. I'll start Sweetheart Fence when I need a break from the over one.
Here's last week's SBQ. How do you store your WIPs and other projects that you have kitted up? All my projects live in Ziploc bags, in my cross stitch cart. Although my wip drawers are getting too full with all my new starts. I'm gonna have to do something else with them soon.
Tomorrow is Jymi's birthday. We put a package in the mail for him Monday, with his birthday presents in it. It should get there today, but they're going out in the field again, so he won't get it until they come back. He's not allowed to take his phone either, so I can't even tell him happy birthday.
I'm starting to get anxious about Tobi starting school. I'm not sure why. I think part of it is my dad. He keeps calling and asking what Tobi's gonna need. Kathy knows already, but her kids are going to a different school. Tobi's school doesn't send out all that stuff until mid-July. Plus, since this is his first year, and we have enough money, I kinda want to take Tobi to the store and get everything myself. I guess it's silly, but this is the first time I get to do it. Just another piece of my insanity, I guess.

Savannah Stitching And Swimming

2007-06-15T18:47:00.000-05:00

We spent the majority of this week in Savannah with my mom. She and my stepdad have a condo there. He was there the first two days, but had to go back to work. We had a blast.
The boys loved the pool. Rick wanted to do other things, but the boys were perfectly happy with only coming in from the pool to eat, sleep, and maybe watch a movie.
Tobi has gotten so tall that he could stand in the shallow end by himself. Jymi couldn't believe it when I told him. I have to say, the spray on sunscreen my mom had worked very well. After four days in the pool, Tobi is still paler than paper. Darin and I didn't get much sun either. I wouldn't mind a little tan, but I was told alot of sun wasn't good for my tattoos. Rick goes to the tanning bed at least once a week, and his tattoo is so fuzzy, I still haven't figured out what it's supposed to be. So I wore alot more sunscreen than I used to.
It rained one morning, so we went to the mall. The boys didn't want a toy, but they were very excited when Grandma offered to get them a book. They looked at the books all through lunch and the drive back. By the time we got back to the condo, it had stopped raining, and we had to go to the pool.
I started Snow Fence while we were down there. The whole four days, I only got in about 250 stitches. Most of what's in the picture, I did today. I plan to finish the ground before I go to bed.
I got my fabrics and the chart for Garden Fence today. I'll start Ruby as soon as I finish the ground on Snow Fence. I may alternate between over one and over two projects.
I went to court this morning. My mom was watching the boys, so we went out to breakfast first. Then she took the boys to the park, while I went to court. I was a little bit terrified. After an hour, an officer called my name, and I had to go to a different judge. I'm glad, too, because he was much nicer than the other judge. When it was my turn, I explained the situation. He saw that I had gotten the tags fixed quickly, and he said it was dismissed. I didn't have to pay anything. I was grateful and happy on the way to pick up the boys.
Tobi's gone to bed now, so I can get back to stitching. Have a nice weekend!

Quickie Post

2007-06-11T06:40:00.000-05:00

Here is Merlin And Arthur where I left off on Friday. I didn't stitch at all this weekend, but I plan to start Snow Fence today. I will have to wait for fabric Garden Fence. I'll be doing Snow Fence on 28 ct. Crystal Dwarf Cashel linen, one of the new colors released in February. I'm also gonna start Sweetheart Fence soon, on Crystal Whimsey. Both are Picture this Plus fabrics, as are most of my hand dyeds.
Here's the SBQ from last week. What has been your most challenging project and why? A number of pain in the ass projects spring to mind, but none of them were really hard. I guess Darin's stocking, The Music Room by Better Homes And Gardens/Cross Stitch And Country Crafts would be my most challenging. At that point I had done my nativity scene (where the only thing difficult was working with metallic threads) and The Lovers (which was big, but it was all cross stitch/quarter stitches and backstitch). So Darin's stocking was my third project. It used almost every type of Kreinik thread. It had a ton of lazy daises, straight stitches, French knots, blended threads, and couching, none of which I'd ever done before. Plus I had to attach jingle bells and a tassel to the top.
I go to court Friday. I'm getting more nervous about it everyday. At least it's on payday, so if I do have to pay a fine, I'll have the money. The police officer said the fine was $150, so that's not too bad. Wish me luck!

Brown Blob And Bright Colors

2007-06-08T07:30:00.000-05:00

Here's my progress on Merlin And Arthur. It doesn't look like much but I haven't worked on it much, either. I've only worked on it three days since my last picture. I think after today, though, I'm gonna move on to something else. I'm not sure what, yet, though. Probably Persian Iris Garden.
I ordered fabric for Pirate, Dragon Soul, and Ruby. It won't come in until after next payday, so I'm still being good on that front. I've got all three kitted up, ready to go.
I've also got Garden Fence waiting for me, and the buttons should be on order. They're also holding a piece of Monster Green and Twisted Peppermint Pink by R&R Fabrics for me. I've already got a piece of Monster Green, but they were marked down to five bucks each. I also bought DMC Light Effect Fluorescent and Tropical colors. I don't know what yet, but I'm gonna do something really obnoxious and bright with those colors and fabrics.
I also want to start Transcendeffervesence and Tending The Dragon Sleep, but I'm trying to resist. We'll see how long that lasts. Maybe a week? I was looking through the Transcendeffervesence chart yesterday, when Darin ran by with a shoestring. Which brought Hannah running out of the kitchen, jumping into my lap, and onto my chart. Her claws poked a few holes in a couple pages, but nothing major. It's still readable. That was after, while doing yoga, Hannah tried to climb up my leg. I guess she thought it was tree pose. I've got some very nice scratches on my side and legs now. She and Tinkerbell are still mad because I treated them for fleas, I guess.
The boys are doing better. Jymi got to call early yesterday, because he had a root canal. So they got to talk to him. Mostly he only gets to call after ten. We're going with my mom to her condo in Savannah one week. The boys are very excited about going with Grandma to the swimming pool. There's also a day where children of deployed guard members get in the zoo free. They're very excited about that, too.
I have good days and bad days. If it's not better in a couple weeks, I may go to the doctor to see about antidepressants. It's a step I don't want to take, but the bad days are pretty bad. The only reason I can drag myself out of bed at all is because the boys need me. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, though.

May Accomplishments And June Goals

2007-06-01T14:25:00.000-05:00

My May goals were finish the model, SAL, and work on Tobi's stocking. I finished the model, and another one. I participated in three SALs. I did work a little on Tobi's stocking. I also started Merlin And Arthur and Invariance.
My June goals are pretty simple. Stitch on something, enjoy, relax, repeat.
I've totally blown up on the project challenge. I bought another four HAEDs (Pirate, Dragon Soul, Impossible Love, and Transcendeffervescence) at the Memorial Day sale, and a discontinued one I found at Gryphon's Moon. Then I saw a thread on the board about Meredith Dillman's Gemstone ACEOs. All the ones she's finished are beautiful, and Tobi's birthstone (November, Topaz) is my absolute favorite. Only Ruby has been charted so far, but I had to have it. So I'm a bad girl, and a stashinite, but Jymi got paid today. Before I bought Frosted Fantasia and Ruby, I paid all the bills that were late, and all the current ones that were due before next payday. There is still plenty of money left, too, for groceries and for Jymi to get anything he may need (definitely new shoes). So I don't feel bad treating myself. As I've said before, I fighting the addiction to stash acquisition and cancer sticks, and stash is much less harmful to my (and everyone else's) health.
I've been working on Invariance. You can almost see where the darker shade of navy is forming the tree limbs. I'm almost to the one percent point, but I'm ready to move on to Merlin. I may go ahead and buy fabric next payday and start Dragon Soul, Pirate, and Ruby. It would make for a nice variety of colors. Dragon Soul is one of the largest HAEDs I own (fourteen by twenty), but the key looks odd. It's such a big piece, and it's only got ten colors. While Ruby will be a little over six inches by almost nine, and has three pages of color keys.
To add to my stashitis, Raise The Roof has released and new fence. I have a piece of Willow, and a piece of Highland, both of which would look fine, but this may be my opportunity to finally buy a piece of Kermit! I'll wait until next payday for that, too, though. As for the challenge, I'll try again when I'm somewhere close to a finish. At the moment, it may be Christmas before I finish anything.
We got cards for Jymi when we got groceries, and today we finally had money to get stamps. So I sent him some so he could write us back, and some envelopes in an anniversary card. June 9, will be the seven year anniversary of when we started dating. I also got a sheet of the new Star Wars stamps for Tobi. I'm not sure what to do with special stamps, but I'm thinking of getting them framed or something. Right now, I've got them hidden. The boys think they're just stickers. Tobi's been asking for them since he saw the poster at the post office. They even had a standee of C-3PO and R2-D2 that lit before they came out. It was gone when we went today, and the boys were a little upset.
I guess that enough babbling for today. With Jymi gone, my life's gotten more boring. I stitch and watch TV. I hang out on the computer. The boys and I play Candy Land and Hide And Seek. We read Green Eggs And Ham. We go outside and play with the dogs, but since we're all a whiter shade of pale, we can't stay out for more than fifteen minutes at a time before we start turning pink. That's pretty much it. Not terribly exciting, but it's comfortable for us at the moment. Another week or two, and we'll all go stir crazy. Then we'll do something everyday.

Merry Christmas!

2007-05-30T09:24:00.000-05:00

I've been working on Christmas stockings. Here's Jymi's after the SAL. I don't think I'm going to SAL anymore. It takes me at least three days to really get into a project, so I never get much done on SAL days, and it screws with my mojo for whatever else I was working on. I'm now doing a screaming rotation, I guess.
I also worked on Tobi's stocking. It's my closest to being finished, but I can't stand to work on it too often. I'm using the book, where all the charts in the series were reprinted. There are so many mistakes in the chart, it's incredibly irritating to try to work on. I managed to get a section done, though. After a week or so on Invariance, I'll want to go back to it. A week on 28 ct. over one, and over two on 25 ct. is a nice break. If I'm not done by August, I'll work on it exclusively until it'd finished. I will have it done by this Christmas. Until now, he's always used mine, but now he can spell his name, and he knows it's not "Faye."
Here's this week's SBQ. How many needles do you use during a project? Have you ever loaded up a needle for every color? Do you use a new needle for every project or recycle your favorite needle? I start off with one needle. If it breaks, tarnishes, or gets lost, I get out a new one. When I finish a project, I keep using that same needle. I have needle loaded, on my first figure on my nativity scene, way back when. To me, it was a major pain. I had given up on that idea before the figure was finished.
The school called me to let me know the zoning had changed and to tell me where the boys would go to school now. I didn't know where it was, so I looked it up on the district's website. The zoning is insane. If you go to the next intersection either way on our street, the other kids will go to the same school the boys were supposed to. It's just our fifty foot section of street. There are two schools within a ten minute walk, and seven more within a fifteen minute drive. The boys' new school is all the way on the other side of town, twenty to thirty minutes away, depending on traffic, since I'll now have to get on the interstate to take them. They will go to the closest middle school, but by that time, the zoning will have changed again, and hopefully, we'll have moved anyway.

Exchange Stuff

2007-05-27T11:18:00.000-05:00

I received my Dragon Dreams exchange from Sally! It's a gorgeous flat fold and a fob. She also sent me the Runekeeper chart/story. I feel kinda bad now. Mine's not half as nice as this.
I spent four hours on Invariance, Friday. I got another four hundred or so stitches in, not that you can see much change. They're having another sale at Heaven And Earth this weekend, and Jymi does still owe me a chart. I may have to get the new Selina Fenech, Pirate. I've been waiting for that one. All those reds would be a nice change from the blue projects I usually gravitate towards. Today I'm working on Jymi's stocking, and tomorrow's The Castle. After that though, I'll either go back to Invariance, or work on Tobi's stocking. I'd like to get it finished by the end of summer.
We're all doing okay with Jymi being gone. Tobi and Darin seem to be adjusting well. They get talk to him when he calls to tell us all goodnight. I'm getting better. I've started sleeping again, which is always a good thing. I don't have much appetite. Yesterday I had lunch, and gum, and that was it. I could stand to lose quite a few pounds though, so I'm not that worried about it.

Further Proof Of My Insanity

2007-05-25T10:46:00.000-05:00

Jymi's gone for real now. He got to come home and spend Wednesday night with us. We took him to Columbia yesterday. He had to be there at six in the morning, which means we had to get up at 3:30. We got the boys dressed before they went to bed, so all we had to do was put their shoes on. That way they got to sleep a little later (until four). We dropped him off at the armory, and the boys and I had breakfast at Waffle House while they packed the buses. we went back to the armory, and had some time with Jymi. All his friends were amazed by how much Tobi looks like him. Jymi's parents got there about eight. They had to be in formation at 8:40, so about ten minutes before that, Jymi started his goodbyes. He hugged Tobi, and Darin hugged me, and it turned into a group hug. Then he hugged his parents and his sister. I got my own hug after that. Suffice it to say it was a good thing I brought two packets of tissues. Then there was a ceremony, and they got on the buses. Jymi texted me so I'd know where he was on which bus, so we could wave goodbye. That was when Tobi (and all the other kids there, too, it seemed) started crying because he missed his daddy. I picked him up and hugged him (which I can't do often, he's fifty pounds), and told him I missed Daddy, too.
I keep going through it in my head again and again, and it always makes me cry. It's the last time I'm gonna see him for at least two months, though, and I don't want to forget a second of it. He called me last night to let me know he was there. He talked to the boys a little, too. Tobi has changed his mind. Daddy is no longer fighting robots, but skeletons instead. Darin is the ultimate mama's boy, and hasn't really noticed yet that Daddy's gone. When it's been a week, and he still hasn't seen Daddy at all, he'll be upset. I could sure use any spare hugs.
I started Invariance. At this point it doesn't look much different from Merlin And Arthur. I'm really enjoying it, but I haven't been able to work on it more than an hour and a half each day. My eyes have been sore. Plus I've been a little depressed, and that has lessened my urge to stitch.
I've considered trying a new rotation, but I don't know if I'll stick to it or not. I was going to start it the first of June, but now I'm thinking to hell with it. I'll work on what I want, when I want. It's what I end up doing anyway. When I'm sick of Invariance, I'll move on.
I mailed my Dragon Dreams exchange, but I forgot to take a picture of it finished. I had to mail it to England, and it cost twenty bucks! Yikes! I haven't gotten mine yet.
I also have two SBQs to answer. How do you choose a project for an exchange? Do you pick solely on what you know of the taste of the recipient or are there other reasons you pick the piece you do? I usually try to pick something I already have all the materials for. That probably gonna sound cheap, but it's more that I want to get started right away. I've only ever done two exchanges, though.
If you could only stitch one more piece what would it be and why? That's a hard one. At the moment, I'd say Impossible Love. I think it's gorgeous, and I've always loved it. Plus it would take a long time to do, and I could extend my stitching pleasure! Of course, it'll be something different next week.

My Lucky Day

2007-05-21T08:18:00.000-05:00

I got a wonderful surprise Saturday afternoon! Jymi called and told me he was going to get to come home for a day! He came home Saturday night, and he didn't have to leave until this morning! We took the boys to see Shrek The Third, and then had dinner with Jymi's family. We hadn't planned to tell them he was back for a day; all the good-byes had been said, and Jymi didn't want to do it again. His dad called to invite the boys and me to dinner for Jymi's grandfather's birthday, and Jymi answered the phone. So we saw them all again. The boys loved the movie and dinner, and I loved that we all got one more special day together.
I worked on The Castle Saturday, after Jymi gave me the good news. Before then all I wanted to do was sleep. Not bad for only a couple hours.
I didn't work on anything for the Black Swan SAL. I had better things to do on Sunday (see above).
Today I will work on The Castle again, but first I've gotta go to the post office. My Dragon Dreams exchange piece is going to be almost a week late going in the mail. Another picture coming soon!
I also want to thank everyone for their hugs and thoughts. I was pretty depressed in my last post, but I'm feeling better now. I know he's safe right now, and will be while they're training. That will help my mental health for a couple months.

It's Done

2007-05-18T21:40:00.000-05:00

It's been a full and wonderful week. I had a nice birthday, and an even nicer day after my birthday. "The boys" (read as Jymi) got me a beautiful Chinese doll, which I will share a picture of when I'm not so lethargic. My sister also got me a necklace of a heart with a key cut out of it that says, "He who holds the key can unlock my heart," and a necklace with the key for Jymi. I never thought he'd go for it, but he's worn it since that night.
His coworkers all put in money to buy him a laptop, so he can get email while he's gone. He works with some very nice people.
We shopped, packed, and had pictures made. Jymi had some old friends come over for awhile. My mom watched the boys one night for us to go see a movie. We saw Spiderman 3, and we both agreed not to take Tobi to see it in theaters. Not because it was scary, but because most of the time he was Peter Parker, and if he's not in the Spiderman suit, Tobi's not going to pay attention.
All in all, it was a very nice week, until last night. Knowing that was going to be my last good night kiss for awhile was hard. Today he went down to the armory, and I had to go down later, for my ID card. He was able to sit and wait with me for most of the three hours, which was nice. I was very happy to not have to talk to the "Army Wives." Women who were horrified at the suggestion of getting a job, and did nothing but complain about how long they had to wait. They were in a hurry to wait for their husbands to be let so they could go to dinner. After watching them, Jymi no longer minds that I don't want to go to the support meetings. I will get to see him at least one more time, right before he gets on the bus to leave. He may get to come home one night this week, but that's a big maybe. He may also get a couple days off when they're done training, before they actually go overseas. Then we'll go down to see him there.
I've done good today. My eyes are so dry after crying so much last night, I don't know if I could cry today. I'm trying to keep myself distracted, but I'm afraid to go to bed. That was the worst when he was in boot camp; laying in the bed by myself. I have to know that I will fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow, or I know I will lay there and cry. At the end of Jymi's training, I was going to bed at three and getting up a six, almost every night. It's all good though. It's more time for stitching.
The boys are taking it well, but I don't think they understand. This morning Tobi asked where Daddy was, and I told him he'd gone to be a soldier. Tobi's now absolutely sure that Daddy's fighting evil alien robots, and nothing will convince him otherwise. Darin hasn't say anything about it, but he's only been gone a day.
Stitchy news now. I've finished two models, to be released in June, I think. With my birthday money, I bought Invariance, Tending The Dragon Sleep, Desire, and Cathedral. I've gridded the first page of Invariance and will start it Tuesday. SALs until then. I'm hoping to actually work on The Castle for the first time in awhile. It will depend on how depressed I am tomorrow, though. Have a nice weekend!

Proof That I've Lost My Mind

2007-05-09T07:27:00.000-05:00

See this black blob? It's 263 stitches, and about two and a half hours work. It's also smaller in real life. I started Merlin And Arthur yesterday, for Jymi. I told him this would be a major project, but I don't think he really understood until he saw it last night. I told him all the details, and how big it was going to be when it's finished (about twenty-one inches by twelve).
I'm hoping to buy at least Invariance on Friday. I bought fabric for both projects Monday, and kitted them up. I'm all excited! Or insane. Take your pick.
Hannah went to the vet Monday. He said she'd heal very well from getting fixed, and he was happy that she'd put on some weight. You can no longer feel every single bone in her body, but she still needs to gain some more. She likes sleeping with Tobi, and last night we found out she's much quieter that way. She and Tinkerbell chased each other all night.
Today is Jymi's last day at work. He's taking tomorrow and next week as vacation time, to spend with me and the boys. So no blogging and not much stitching the next week. Tomorrow we're going out with his parents for my birthday. Friday we're going to my mom's for my birthday. Saturday, one of Jymi's work friends is throwing him a going way party. Then there's things we need to buy, stuff to do. It's going to be a busy week.
To add to that, I'm going to go see Spiderman 3 Monday, and if it's not too scary, Jymi and I'll take Tobi to see it. Other people can't really help me, because Tobi isn't scared y the things most kids are. My sister was scared of the flying monkeys in The Wizard Of Oz, and I was afraid of the witch. Tobi's scared of the Cowardly Lion. The graveyard scene in Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire didn't bother him a bit, but the grindylows freaked him. When we bought Prisoner of Azkaban for his third birthday, and the werewolf went into the woods, Tobi said, "Where the doggy go?" Darin says he wants to see it, too, but I don't think he'd sit through it, scary or not. Darin can watch the rain for hours, but he's not into TV or movies, with the exception of Spongebob and The Upside Down Show.
So the next time I post will probably be after my husband is gone. The computer is conspiring against me anyway. It keeps playing songs like Leaving on A Jet Plane, Stellar, Anti-Gravity Love Song, and To Be With You. Hope everyone has a nice week, and a happy Mother's Day.

Non-Stitchy News

2007-05-05T08:32:00.000-05:00

Jymi's at drill this weekend. He got his orders. On May 18, he has to go to Columbia, until May 21, when they leave for Mississippi. They don't have global orders to go to Iraq yet, but they have a couple months of training in Mississippi. It's just a technicality. At least this time, he'll still be here for my birthday. When he went to boot camp, he left a week before.
I thought I had finally made peace with it. I mean, I've been crying about this since November! You'd think I'd have dealt with it all by now. At least he'll still be safe while he's in Mississippi.
So I guess I do have some stitchy news, because today is definitely a new start day. I'll start something small, and depending on when Jymi gets home, I may go get a piece of fabric to start a HAED or two (or three or four or eight). I've got at least twenty pieces of hand dyed fabric, but noting plain. Since they're fully stitched, I don't see much point on putting it on a more expensive piece. When I do the Kitchen Witches, I'll probably them on a hand dyed so I don't have to stitch the background. I may even get a custom piece. If I can't get the plain fabric today, I'll get it Monday.
I may go to my mom's, and raid her stash. I want to ask her to go to court with me anyway, since Jymi will be gone. I'm a little scared, and I don't want to go by myself.
My Uncle Jim came to to visit for Mother's Day, and his daughter is coming in this week, too. She's flying, while my uncle rode his motorcycle all the way from Denver. That's a long ride. We went to see him yesterday. The boys always make up to him so much, and he's having a very hard time with his son. So when the boys love him so much immediately, it helps make him feel better. I feel bad for my sister's kids, though. They've got Uncle Jymi, Uncle Jim (my stepbrother who lives a couple hours away), and Great Uncle Jim, visiting from Denver.
The picture is Jymi and Darin, playing with the keyboard last Christmas.

Tobi's Stocking And SBQs

2007-05-03T09:41:00.000-05:00

As promised, here is the progress I've made on Tobi's stocking. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's only a pinprick, but it's there. I should get back to it in a couple days.
I'm still working on my model. I've almost finished the section I ripped out. I've got a half an hour's work left on that, but I found another small section that's off by one stitch. I think I must've been drunk the first time I stitched this part. That'll take me an hour to rip out, and a little over an hour to put back in.
I thought I'd catch up on some SBQs, since I haven't in awhile. First one. How do you decide which stitching blogs are worth repeat and/or regular viewings? Are there certain things you look for in particular? Are there things you wish there were more of? Less of? Is your blog a good example of what you like to read?
This is kinda like how I pick friends, or how I used to pick boyfriends. I don't know why I like someone or their blogs. I just look through, and if it strikes me, I add it to my Google Reader. Before I started using Google Reader, I would delete blogs from my favorites if they went a month without posting. Clear as mud? I guess mine is what I like to read. Stitching and people's real life. When I started my blog, I never expected anyone to read it. I love that there are a few people crazy enough to read the insanity that comes out of my head, but I blog to keep track of my progress, and to get out everything that rattling around in my head.
How many WIPs do you have? How many UFOs do you have? When does a WIP become a UFO?
Counting the model, I have five WIPs. I don't have any I consider to be UFOs, although I probably should. To me WIPS become UFOs when I give up on them, and as my husband will happily point out, I'm a stubborn b****. It takes alot to make me give up on just about anything. The first cross stitch project I ever finished spanned about three years of on again off again stitching. It was a nativity scene, with seven stand up figures. In 2000, I stitched the first two. In 2001, I stitched one when my mom and I went to the CATS show in Atlanta. That fall I moved to Virginia to live with my dad, and left stitching here. When I came to visit in 2002, I did another figure, but again I left the stitching. When I moved back here in 2003, I was pregnant, living in an upstairs apartment, with me my 35 pound one and a half-year-old. I could go many places, since I had a hard time carrying Tobi up and down all those stairs, so I picked up my nativity scene from my mom, and stitched the last three while waiting for Darin. I never gave up it. I always planned to finish it.
Are you on “The Wagon?” If so, how long have you been on and how “serious” are you about it? If not, have you considered it? I'm not technically on "The Wagon", but I'm on the Fifty Project Challenge. I've been on it since March, but I'm not good at it though. I've got some stash plans for next week, after I get my birthday money.
I decided to treat myself to some HAEDs for my birthday/stress reduction/Mother's Day. I picked out six that I can't live without. Since shipping goes up for six to tn charts, I decided to get a couple more, if I was going to pay that much. So I picked out eight, which brought my total to $90. Well, at a hundred, shipping is free, so what's one more chart. So I've picked out nine charts to buy next week, after I get birthday money, but before the Mother's Day sale is over. My birthday's next Thursday, three days before Mother's Day.
In case you're interested, I'm planning to get five Bowsers, twos Feneches, one Camprubi, and one Shimmel. The Feneches are Dragon Soul and Impossible Love. I loved the Dragon Soul freebie Michelle did. Of course, it's not a freebie anymore, and if I'm gonna pay for it, I'm gonna buy the full size one. As for Impossible Love, I just love the colors, the idea, and the expressiveness of their faces. It's just beautiful.
The Bowsers I'm planning on are: Invariance, Tending The Dragon Sleep, Desire, Goddess Of Tides, and Cathedral. Cathedral was a tough decision. That was my last one added to get free shipping, and I had a hard time picking between Cathedral, Beckon, and Lotus Wood. I also like Forest Light, but it was also the first one I threw out of the running. That's enough rambling for now, and plenty of links. Have a nice weekend.

Long Time No Post

2007-05-01T09:04:00.000-05:00

Don't you just love when everything in life blows up at you? Two weeks ago, Jymi had five teeth pulled, (four wisdom teeth, and one other). For a week, I had an extra child. It took me three days of sleeping in for me to become halfway human again. The next weekend, the computer died. Yay. It took Jymi a week and quite a few obscenities to get that fixed. Friday night, I got a ticket, because apparently my tags have expired. My notice must've gotten lost in the mail, because we had no idea. So now I have to go to court in June. Yesterday I had to take Jymi to another dentist, for cavities. They worked on one, and decided it was going to have to be pulled, and they didn't have time to work on the other two. If all that was enough, on the way to the babysitter's, we had a tire blow out. The spare was flat, and the other rear tire won't last much longer. So I had to get up early this morning, go pay the taxes, and then go to the DMV, so Jymi could drive my car to work. We can't afford new tires for his car until payday. Then there's my kids, who are always trying to kill each other, and the entire three days I spent cleaning the house. I'm ready to start pulling my hair out.
The good news is, I got my birthday present early. I had been considering getting a kitten when Jymi left, to ease the loneliness. Tobi's been watching alot of Animal Planet lately, which always has heart breaking animal shelter PSAs. He's been coming out crying "for the pets". I tried explaining that, despite how much I would love to be able to give all the poor animals a loving home, we just can't. Tobi replied, "Well can we just have one kitty?" When I told Jymi, he suggested we go ahead and get one. So that Friday, we went down to animal control. We had seen one called Miss Priss online, that Jymi liked, but when we got there, she came right up to the glass. She loved on the boys through the window. We looked at all the other cats, but our mind was kinda made up already. We brought her home and changed her name to Hannah. She's about three years old, and has been a stray all her life. We considered naming her Anna, since she was so anorexic looking (under all that fur; her vet says she doesn't even weigh a whole pound), but it seemed a little bleak. Tobi misheard and said, "Like Hannah Montana?", and we decided Hannah was good. She's very sweet and affectionate. She's smart, too. The first person she really made up to Jymi, who loves her now.
I've been stitching on my model, but still no pictures. I also worked on Tobi's stocking some too, but Blogger's gone funny, so no pictures of it today. I think I can finish it by July, at the rate I'm going. I've also decided that when Jymi leaves, I'm going to start Merlin And Arthur. I'm also considering starting Invariance, either at the same time, or after I finish two of the other big things I've got started. the thing is, I don't have the chart yet, and I'm supposed to be on the Fifty Project Challenge. After all the chaos and headbanging of the last couple weeks, I need to give in to one addiction, and stash buying is healthier than smoking. I'll probably just use my birthday money. What I really want is to see the companion, Blue Invariance charted. Maybe one day.
My April goals were: finish my model, try to do the SALs, and work on Tobi's stocking. The model's not done yet, but it's close. I had to frog and restitch part of it, and in doing so, I found that part of it was half a stitch off. So I spent all my stitching time yesterday frogging. I'll start restitching today. It shouldn't take too long. My May goals are: finish the model, SAL, and work on Tobi's stocking. Sound familiar?

Rock On!

2007-04-16T08:21:00.000-05:00

I got as far as I could with my model, so I stitched along on The Castle Saturday. More rocks. I'll work on it again, today. I'll probably stitch more rocks.
I also worked on Jymi's stocking yesterday. I didn't get much stitching done. I had to do laundry. Jymi insists on having clean clothes to wear. Of course, Jymi's only got four pairs of pants, where the boys and I have enough clothes to last two or three weeks. Jymi did stop to look at it though, and told me it looked nice. For Jymi referring to my stitching, that's a huge compliment.
Now back to The Castle, and more rocks.

Goals And SBQ

2007-04-05T09:42:00.000-05:00

My goals for March were: participate in The Castle, Black Swan, and Teresa Wentzler SALs, continue with Tobi's stocking (finsh at least the shelves, maybe the drawers), and maybe start something small. I SALed when I could, and I did finish the shelves and drawers. I did my Dragon Dreams exchange piece, which could qualify as my small project. I also started a model.
Time for my April goals. First up is to finish my model. Of course, I'm also gonna try to do the SALs, when I'm done with the model. Other than that, I just plan to work on Tobi's stocking.
Now for last week's SBQ. Do you have a system for organizing freebie charts in your stash? If so, what is it? Do you print out copies of all of the freebies that you find on the web (that you think you might actually stitch) or do you maintain electronic copies of them until you are ready to stitch them?
Mostly, I print them when I'm ready to stitch them. I have different folders for different designers. The ones I do have printed are organized in my notebooks by designers.
No current stitching pics to share. So here's a picture of the chart for Land Of Enchantment (Heaven And Earth Designs). I got the email version in a trade awhile back, but the printer ran out of ink after about ten pages. We got more ink recently, so I printed the other twenty something pages. I'm currently having a hard time resisting starting one of these. I went to get needles yesterday, and debated whether or not to get fabric. Maybe when I finish Tobi's stocking.
I did find out that the peeling on my tattoos was normal. They're done peeling now, and they itch like mad. Jymi says I'll be ready for my next one as soon as it stops itching. I'm ready now, I just don't have anymore spare cash, and I want to lose more weight before I get another. Between two kids and depression, I've gain about seventy-five pounds. I've lost seven, though. I'll get my next one when I've lost at least fifty.

New Tattos

2007-04-02T14:17:00.000-05:00

This is my very first tattoo! It's about three inches wide and six inches tall, on my right shoulder/back.
We went Friday afternoon, and got there about two. There was nobody else there, and since I wanted Jymi there with me, I got to go first. My artist was very nice, and started in a section that wouldn't hurt as much, so I could get used to it. About an hour after he started, he got a call from the owner that the health inspector was coming. So I got to take a break, while he found all the necessary paperwork, made sure the bathroom had been swept, etc. When he started again, he apologized for the delay, and said he hated having to stop in the middle like that. After another, more painful, hour the outlining was done! Jymi had a different artist doing his (different artists, different strengths), so once my outline was done, he went ahead and got started with his. It took another half hour to fill it in. The artist said that my skin was too soft; he had to keep going back over it to get it dark enough.
I can't get a good picture of my second one. It's about two inches by two inches.
After my first one, my artist needed a cigarette break, and I needed a drink. So I went and sat with Jymi for a couple minutes. I was there when the health inspector told Jymi's artist that everything was great, and gave them their paperwork. That's always reassuring.
Then it was time for my second one. The little one only took about twenty minutes, total. I added the boys' names. I got it on my left breast, because they'll always be close to my heart. Cheesy, I know, but true nonetheless.
It was then that my artist told me I picked a big design for my first tattoo, and in a few places it came close to my spine, which is why it hurt so much at the end. The little one barely hurt at all.
I'm having issues now, though. The lotion Jymi got to put on them started to peel off what skin had started to grow back. So I had to go back to the ointment you use the first few days, which can drain the color if you use it too much. Now there are a couple spots on my big one you can see it's pulled some out. You should get them touched up every few years anyway though, so I may just have to do it a little sooner.
Jymi got his in the middle of his chest. I sat with him after I was finished, and there were a couple times he was about to cry. That was painful. Much worse the my big one, I'm sure, but I've still got him beat. I gave birth. Twice.
It's gorgeous though. The picture does not begin to do it justice. His first two tattoos (an Egyptian eye, and the Japanese Kanji for father) look very sad in comparison. When he was finished, the artist took a picture of it for his portfolio.
Saturday, we had the deployment meeting. It was boring, and only created more anxiety for me. The boys had fun at the child care, though. Tobi drew over twenty pictures for me. At first, I thought he was taking home other kids' pictures, but they all had his name, and little men with light sabers, so I know they're really his.
I will post my goals and answer recent SBQs later. Jymi's got the week off so I can only have five minutes at a time on the computer!

Ups And Downs

2007-03-26T09:51:00.000-05:00

It's been a heck of a week. I've had more of the ups, but the downs were pretty freaking low. Tuesday, we got a letter about a meeting to discuss the "imminent deployment." At drill this past weekend, they were told they'd probably be leaving around the middle of May. This first they've mentioned it in awhile. I was really getting my hopes up that he wouldn't have to go. I'm taking it better than I thought I would, but I don't think it's really hit me yet. I'm not really talking about it much. The class/lecture/informational session is going to be so much fun, what with me not wanting to talk about it.
Darin's been sick. He's had a cough, and one day a fever. He's better now, but Tobi's got it. I think they've just got what I had last week. It caused Jymi to worry I was pregnant again. I was tired and nauseous, and I had to put nacho cheese on everything. So now Darin doesn't have any more symptoms, but he's still very whiny. It's understandable, though.
There's good news, too, though. I finished my exchange piece and started my new model. I haven't worked on it much, though.
Someone knocked on our door, and offered Jymi $60 for the wrecked Nissan. Then Jymi sold his Xbox 360 to a friend from work. I had already paid all the bills, so we decided to get tattoos. Jymi has been wanting another one, and I've wanted one since I was ten. So I spent most of Thursday looking online for ideas. Friday we went, but we didn't find anything we liked there. We had found a few things online, but you have to pay to download them, and we figured what we wanted was so common, they'd have something similar there. So we decided to pay for the ones we'd already found and come back next week. I don't want to settle on something that's going to be on my body forever. So I spent most of Saturday online, looking at designs, and reading about the process. I guess knowledge really is power, because I'm not afraid anymore. Still anxious and nervous, but the big nasty ball of fear that was in my stomach is gone. So I'm glad we didn't get them Friday. I've found three I love. I've picked one to get Friday, and another one to get Friday, depending on how much the first one costs. The other one I'll get some other time. So all that was three days of stitching lost (two days on research and one at the tattoo parlor.) Kathy's already agreed to babysit next Friday, so we're all set. I''m really excited, and it's helping to take my mind off of everything else.

Babbling Again

2007-03-19T08:32:00.000-05:00

I did finish stitching the drawers on Tuesday. It took me all day, as bad as I was feeling, though. That night, I went to bed at eight, and told Jymi I wasn't getting out of bed until I felt better. I got up at 10:30 Wednesday morning, and I did feel much better. I got out of bed just in time for my sister to call, with the exact same symptoms.
I started my Dragon Dreams exchange piece that day. Sorry, no pictures, yet. I don't like the fabric, so it took awhile to get into it. Especially since half my stitching time the first day was spent frogging. It's going better now, though. Another day or two, and it'll be finished.
My mom's going to help me finish it, but she had her gall bladder out last week, so I'm not gonna ask her about it for awhile. I've got plenty of time. She's doing well, just very tired.
We had a little extra money this weekend, so I was finally able to finish paying off my last frame. Sorry about the photo; it was the best I could get. You can see Darin's fingerprints, where he wanted to help me hang it up. I wanted it framed in the same fashion as my other fences, but it was kinda hard. With Spooky and Nautical, I knew what would look good, and when I picked the mats, they "popped". Nothing really popped with this one, but these came close. I can take home Nautical Fence anytime I feel like going down there and asking for it.
Here's this week's SBQ. If you had $500 to spend on stitching-related items, what would you buy? As many quarter yards of Picture This Plus Cashel linens as possible. That was easy. That's it for now.

The Number 23

2007-03-13T08:20:00.000-05:00

Jymi and I went out with his friend, Jason, and his fiancee, to dinner and a movie. We went to see The Number 23. I thought it was pretty good. Jymi didn't think he'd like, because it's a serious movie starring Jim Carrey. He was wonderful though. He was still funny in the beginning, but in the beginning, he's just a normal, goofy, everyday guy. I've seen too many comedians in dramatic movies that try so hard to be serious, that there are no jokes at all. Most of the time, those movies aren't any good. It is easy to find the number in real life. The year I was born (1985) adds up. My address is three numbers, and they add up to twenty. We went to be that night at 12:19. Jymi was 23 when Darin was born. We started dating on June 9. 6/9. 69/3=23. This weekend, I participated in 2/3 SALs. No, I haven't lost my mind. It's just fun, and it bugs Jymi.
Saturday, I really meant to work on The Castle. I had to finish a thread on Tobi's stocking, though, and that was it. Once I picked it up, I couldn't switch. I'm going to finish the drawers today, and then I'm going to start my Dragon Dreams exchange piece. It should only take a few days, but I'm expecting a new model soon. The exchange mail date isn't until May, so I've got plenty of time. I want to get it done soon, though, so I have plenty of time for the finishing. My mom's going to help me, but she's also having her gall bladder taken out. I don't want to bother her right after she has surgery.
Sunday I worked on Jymi's stocking. It doesn't look like much, but I finished the star on the right, and did all of his name, over one. Next time, I can actually start the picture! I haven't decided where to start next, but probably the tree.
Sunday night, I started to feel bad. I took something to make me feel better, but it made me very sleepy. Jymi, who's been doing lead all weekend, got up at nine for work, and didn't wake me until he left at ten. I was still pretty dopey though, and I went back to sleep at eleven and didn't get up until two. I had to get groceries, because there was noting in the house to eat. I felt better after I ate, when we got back. After that, I did finally work on The Castle. Still stitching rocks. I always feel like I've made progress, but it never looks like much. I'm still feeling sick and sleepy. Jymi left this morning at nine, and I didn't hear him at all. Not only did he leave without my noticing, but another guy came over, in, and left again (Jymi was giving him a ride to the plant)! I'm awake now though. Not moving fast, but I'm alive. I hope veryone else is feeling better today!

Finally!

2007-03-08T09:22:00.000-05:00

Almost two years after I first started those shelves, I have finished! At least the cross stitch! It's not much, but I've barely worked on it since I started, so any achievement seems huge! I keep getting distarcted. Now on to the drawers!
Here's this week's SBQ. Do you use your needle, a seam ripper, or something else when you have to frog stitches? Why do you use the method that you do? I usually just use my needle. Working at the shop, I saw too many people buying whole new pieces of fabric because they'd cut holes in their fabric with scissors or seam rippers. I'll use my scissors if there's ALOT to cut out, but I go very slowly.
I also sewed a button on Jymi's pants last night. It's not really that big a deal, but he was so funny. He got so excited when I told him I could fix his pants. The biggest reason I fixed them was so I wouldn't have to do laundry.
Tobi has been doing lots of chores lately. He found out there were Star Wars Galactic Heroes he didn't have yet, so he asked if he could have more guys for his "Star Wars Collection". I told him we didn't have the money right now, so he picked up all the change he could find, and brought it to me. He said, "Mommy, I've got money now." He was actually only a dollar short. So now he's been helping me clean the kitchen and the living room, picking up the trash, ect., and I've been paying him. I'm sure by now he has enough money, but I'm not taking six dollars in change to Target, so when I have money in the account, I'll take him and let him pick out a new set. By then though, he may have enough money for two. I'm proud of him, learning to earn money. Anyway. I think I'm done rambling now! Have a nice weekend!

Not Much Progress

2007-03-06T09:38:00.000-05:00

I only managed about an hour on The Castle yesterday. We had a busy day.
I reorganized my charts last week, and went through them all. I listed all the ones I really want to stitch, and had over 150. So I've decided to put myself on the fifty project challenge. I'm restricting it to charts and kits, though, because for most of them, I'll still need threads and embellishments. I do have fabric for at least fifty, but I also get my fabric of the month from Shakespeare's Peddler, and I'm not cancelling it. That will probably be the only fabric I get, though. Of course, being broke has also influenced my decision. So it's all for the best. That's all for today!

SAL Progress

2007-03-05T11:00:00.000-05:00

Saturday was The Castle SAL. I stitched more rocks. I never get very many done, but I always feel like I've made great progress. Today's the Teresa Wentzler SAL, so I'll work on it again today, after lunch.
Sunday was the Black Swan SAL, and I worked on Jymi's stocking. For the second week in a row, I did nothing but Kreinik. I finished the band, though, and next time I can put his name on it. He's going to be James, though. I know he's not going to spell it "Jymi" forever, especially since he doesn't really like being Jymi/Jimmy. At some point, he going to start asking to be James.
In non stitching news, Tobi is registered for school. He's going to go to the same school I did. I remember it being alot bigger. They still have the same art teacher. I saw her in the office. I even managed not to cry. I wanted to, once I got back in my car, but I didn't. They told me I could bring him during the summer to walk around to see the school, when there's no other kids around. There will also be an open house where he can meet his teacher. Jymi and I decided we're going to drive him back and forth. In our neighborhood, all the bus riders wait at the corner, and I don't want to let him do that by himself when he's still so little. Now to make it through his first day.

School And An SBQ

2007-03-02T09:21:00.000-05:00

Today, after Jymi gets home, I am going to register Tobi for school. It's a bittersweet thing. I know I'll have so much more time in my day when I don't have to stop the boys from beating each other, but I'm having a hard time with the idea of trusting a stranger with my baby for six and a half hours a day. I don't trust my husband alone with them that long! Nobody knows him like I do. I'll get over it, though. The way things are going right now, Jymi may still be here to hold my hand on Tobi's first day. That will help. Tobi goes back and forth about whether or not he wants to go. He's a little nervous about not being with me all day, too.
I'm still working on Tobi's stocking. Half the colors are in my bag with The Castle stuff, so I'll get them out tomorrow. Maybe I will get it finished this year.
Here's this week's SBQ. Do you find yourself stitching faster when you are getting to the end of a design? I wouldn't say faster. I'm more motivated, and so I stitch more, but it's at the same speed. My stitching speed depends on what I'm watching on tv and/or what my children/husband/animals are doing. Watching 24 in the afternoon, when the boys are running around, and Jymi's asking me question, it can take me an hour to put in ten stitches. At night, after they've all gone to bed though, if I put on a movie or something I've seen a hundred times, I can get quite a bit done. It's usually mixed though. Most of the time, I watch old sitcoms on Liftime during the day with the boys running around, and after they go to bed I watch Lost or 24 or something I actually have to pay attention to. So it works out evenly, I guess.

New Stuff And March Goals

2007-03-01T11:15:00.000-05:00

I finally got my Halloween Hob Nobbs back from the framers. Money's very tight at the moment, so I haven't been paying on my frames. You can see it in the picture, but you can see the wood grain in the frame. That little bit of variation goes so well with overdyed border.
I've been working on Tobi's stocking. I'm going to try to finish the shelves this week. It's starting to feel like Darin's did. It took forever to get through the piano, and it was as boring as could be, but once I got through it, everything else went so much faster. Once I finsh the shelves and drawers, there's not that much to it. So I'm gonna stick with this for awhile, and resist starting something new. Yes, I hear you all booing.
I got my payment for Snowfight: Violet yesterday. I got a copy of each new Cross Eyed Kat designs from Nashville (Triangularity, Easter Ellipse, Mayan Mystery, Snowfight: Violet, and X Marks The Spot, a freebie). I also got the Waterlilies for Mayan Mystery, one of the Dinky Dyes for White Nights In St. Petersburg, Trail Creek Farm's Winter, and fabric to finsh my own Snowfight: Violet.
I have just noticed I never set my goals for Feburary. Well, I finished A Wee Bit Irish and In Every Nest. I started and finished Irish Coffee. I worked on part four of Persian Iris Garden, but got fed up with it. I partcipated in some of the Black Swan and Teresa Wentzler SALs, but I was always busy, or sick, or something on Saturdays for The Castle.
My goals for March are: participate in The Castle, Black Swan, and Teresa Wentzler SALs, continue with Tobi's stocking (finsh at least the shelves, maybe the drawers), and maybe start something small (must resist Merlin And Arthur).

Nothing's Ever Easy

2007-02-26T09:04:00.000-05:00

In my last post, I mentioned I was going to rent a car to go to Virginia. Guess what I learned. You can't rent a car without a major credit card, and if you manage to, you still have to be twenty-five to drive it. I was so ready too scream! I understand why they have to do it that way, but it's still irritating.
So we had to wait until Jymi got off work Thursday night, and we borrowed my mom's car. We left Friday morning, and got to Virginia around lunch time. We couldn't afford to go the Marine Science Center, like I planned, but my dad bought the four of us tickets to the circus (he had to work, so he couldn't go with us).
It really was the greatest show on earth, but not because of the clowns or elephants. The best part was watching the boys. We had great seats (they're normally the floor seats; it's a basketball arena) We were in the second row, and close enough to smell the elephants. We were also close enough Tobi got to shake hands with the star clown, which made his day. Darin had fallen asleep by then. They both loved it, but it started at Darin's normal bedtime. He fought it as long as he could, but he fell asleep during the second half. Everything was wonderful.
There were only two problems; everything was so expensive and PETA. My dad gave us some money to get the boys souvenirs, and they each got a light up thing, and they were $39! I told myself the money was going towards the elephant sanctuary. Now I have no problem with PETA's ideals. I am all for ethical/kind treatment of animals. Handing out information on the treatment of the animals in front of the circus is fine with me; I will read it over. When they start handing out comic books that show elephants being hunted and tortured to my very small kids though, that's a different thing. When they are scaring the hell out of my children, that is no longer a peaceful protest. I'm glad I flipped through it before I let them have it.
We got our car, and left Saturday morning. It was a long trip back, especially since we had to stop by my mom's and my sister's before we could go home. Our new car is a 86 Honda, and it's butt ugly. It's was in our price range though, and now I have a car during the day. Which is great, because I don't have anything to feed the boys for lunch, but I can go get groceries.
I've made some progress on Persian Iris Garden. This is going to be last picture of this one for awhile. I'm getting sick of it. I can make good progress when I can make myself work on it, but I never want to. So I think for the moment, I'll focus on Tobi's stocking during the week.
I keep wanting to start something small as a break from all my bigger projects, but the first thing that comes to my mind in Merlin And Aurthur. How's that for a small project? I have kinda decided to start something small once a month, just to break the monotony. I've also halfway decided that this project will be one of the Stitch Every Holiday series, but I can't pick which one. I could either start with the beginning of the series, the beginning of the year, or do whatever month it is. I guess I'll see which one I have the most threads for already.
Yesterday was the Black Swan SAL, and here is Jymi's stocking. I didn't get much done, but I didn't pick it up until nine. We spent Sunday cleaning, unpacking, and relaxing.
Today, after I get some groceries, I'll work on The Castle. I've got plenty more rocks to stitch.
Before I go, here's last week's SBQ. What is the smallest count fabric you have ever used? Did you stitch over one? Conversely, what is the largest count fabric you have ever used? The smallest I've used is 36 ct., and I have one that has to go on 40 ct. to fit in the frame I want for it, but I prefer 28 or 32 ct. I have stitched over one on 25 and 28 ct. I also stitched on 32 ct., and that time I was supposed to. The first two times, I didn't know I was supposed to stitch over two. The largest I've used is probably 14 ct. aida, unless you count over two on 25 ct., which works out to be 12.5 ct. Isn't math fun?

SALs And Silly Stuff

2007-02-20T08:28:00.000-05:00

First, here's a picture of The Castle. I did work on it yesterday for the Teresa Wentzler SAL. Aren't my rocks pretty? Aren't all the colors pretty when they're scanned and not washed out by the flash from the camera? I'm really enjoying it. Today it's back to Persian.
I'm leaving tomorrow, but since I'll only be gone a couple days, I doubt I'll take any stitching. I'm going to spend eight hours in the car driving up, then the afternoon dealing with the new car. After that, we'll have time for dinner and visiting with the boys' godparents. Thursday, I'm gonna take the boys to the Virginia Marine Science Museum. love all the fish and touch tanks. It's very child friendly. They'll also love the otters. They always like to play. There's also a temporary penguin exhibit, and Darin loves penguins. Then we'll have dinner, and come home. I'm hoping that they'll wear themselves out at the museum, so after dinner, they'll be ready for bed, and sleep the whole way home.
Now for the silly stuff. I've been tagged by Julie. Here are the rules. Five Questions and Five Things.
For the first part, 5 Questions - my dear readers can ask me five questions--either in comments or feel free to email them if you'd prefer. I'll answer them in the blog as soon as I can.
For the second, Five Things About Me. Here are the rules: 1. Get tagged. 2. List five things that have not been revealed on your blog. 3. Tag five others.
I can play the flute, the saxophone (though I've had the most practice on a tenor), and a keyboard. I cannot read piano or sax music though. I'm too used to the high notes of the flute music. I can't really read music below the staff.
When I was a toddler, I bit my tongue off. Eww, right? I fell on the kitchen floor, and bit it almost completely off. My mom then had to drive extremely fast in the snow (the one time it snowed in Georgia when we lived there). After they stitched it back on, my mom took me home. It's good thing the cells in your mouth are some of the fastest to heal, because that night I pulled every last stitch out. I guess that was the first time I frogged. I didn't have to have it restitched though. It had healed enough.
I've been reading adult books since I was in fifth grade. In second grade, I was reading on a eighth grade level. The cause of my love for reading was Disney's Beauty And The Beast. The heroine liked to read, and I wanted to be just like her.
I am the only female member of my family with a thyroid, and will soon be the only one with a gall bladder. My mom is going to have hers out soon. I'm supposed to have mine checked regularly, given that kind of family history.
I like kids video games. I can't play shooter games, or Zelda, or anything else like that. I can kick but at Harry Potter and Spongebob games, though.
I saw this on Abi's blog, and I already know I have no life (signaled by a number of eighty-five), but it looked like fun.
(X) Rocky Horror Picture Show
( ) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(X) Fight Club
(X) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
(X) Airplane
( ) The Princess Bride
(X) AnchorMan
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
(X) Labyrinth
(X) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
(X) White Oleander
(X) Anger Management
(X) 50 First Dates
(X) The Princess Diaries
(X) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
(X) Scream
(X) Scream 2
(X) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
( ) American Pie
( ) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
(X) Harry Potter 1
(X) Harry Potter 2
(X) Harry Potter 3
(X) Harry Potter 4
(X) Resident Evil 1
(X) Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
(X) The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch
(X) Finding Nemo
(X) Finding Neverland
( ) Signs
(X) The Grinch
(X) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
(X) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
(X) I, Robot
(X) Robots
( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
(X) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(X) Along Came Polly
(X) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
(X) Never Been Kissed
(X) Meet The Parents
(X) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
(X) King Kong
( ) A Cinderella Story
(X) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(X) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(X) Halloween
(X) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving Christmas
(X) Flubber
( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
(X) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(X) Hellboy
(X) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
(X) The Day After Tomorrow
(X) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
(X) Bride of Chucky
(X) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
(X) Gothika
(X) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
(X) Bad Boys
(X) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
(X) Lucky Number Sleven
(X) Ocean's Eleven
( ) Ocean's Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity
(X) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
(X) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(X) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
(X) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(X) E.T.
(X) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(X) Maid in Manhattan
(X) War of the Worlds
(X) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
(X) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(X) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(X) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
( ) The Terminator
( ) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
(X) X-Men
(X) X-2
(X) X3
(X) Spider-Man
(X) Spider-Man 2
(X) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
(X) Freaky Friday
(X) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
(X) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2
(X) Swimfan
(X) Miracle on 34th street
(X) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old Virgin
(X) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
(X) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(X) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King
( ) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
( ) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
( ) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
(X) Base-ketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(X) Elf
( ) Highlander
(X) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(X) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(X) Shaun Of the Dead
(X) Willard
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(X) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
(X) Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
(X) Kill Bill Vol. 1
(X) Kill Bill Vol. 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
(X) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(X) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks: Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks: The Battle For Endor
(X) The Matrix
(X) The Matrix: Reloaded
(X) The Matrix: Revolutions
(X) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
(X) Team America: World Police
(X) Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
(X) Hannibal
Total: 122, and at least half of what I haven't seen is on my Netflix list.

Another Busy Weekend

2007-02-19T08:56:00.000-05:00

We had a pleasant Valentine's Day. On his way home, Jymi called to tell me to get the boys dressed; we were going out to dinner. I got him season one of 24 (now he just needs season four, and his collection's complete). I had gone to Target to get the boys Cinderella III and Bambi for the boys for Valentine's. While in the store, I saw they had season one marked down from $60 to twenty! I also went to the bookstore, since I finished Mirror, Mirror. (It had a surprise ending for a retelling of a fairy tale, but it was still a little anticlimactic.) While I was there, I saw they had James Bond 007 Scene It? on the sale table for $20, marked down from fifty. So now when we play, he'll use his to have James Bond questions, and I'll use mine and have Harry Potter.
Jymi was sick again, and stayed home Thursday. So I went to get tags and insurance for the new (to us) car. I actually didn't have to wait much at either place (it's a sign of the apocalypse), but it still took all day. Everything is set for the car now, though. I just have to go pick it up now. If all goes well, the boys and I will rent a car and go up Wednesday.
Friday, Jymi gave me my Valentine's gift, since he couldn't get me what he originally planned. He was going to get me these earrings, but we didn't have the money. They would go with the dragon ring Jymi bought me on our honeymoon. Instead, while I took the boys to my mom's, he cleaned the kitchen, living room, and bathroom. My mom asked to babysit over night for Jymi and I to go out. She was eager to see the boys, and we weren't going to argue with a night off. Jymi and I went to see Ghost Rider. I enjoyed it, but Jymi didn't. I went in expecting it to be stupid, but Jymi thought it would great. Low expectations make movies so much better. It was predictable, but it was a comic book movie, and they're all pretty similar. Afterward we came home, and the two of us cleaned our room and rearranged the furniture.
When I got home Saturday from picking up the boys, Jymi wanted to move the computer into the bedroom. I agreed, on the condition that we finally get some ink for the printer. So I have finally been able to print parts six through ten of Persian Iris Garden! Now I just need the time to stitch them!
He also fixed the scanner. I did work on part four some this week. Not much, though. I haven't felt like stitching much, but I'm getting more into it.
Yesterday was the Black Swan SAL, and I finished the top of Jymi's stocking! It's only been fourteen months since I started it. Obviously, I haven't worked on it much. I hoping to finish it this year with the SAL every Sunday. I didn't work on The Castle Saturday; too much going on. It is on the Q-Snaps though, so I will work on it today.
I'm also behind on SBQs, as always. So here's one. Have you ever been to a stitching retreat? January of last year, my mom took me on the cruise offered through the cross stitch shop. The three days we were at sea all day, we had class for an hour in the morning. More than anything else, it was an excuse to take a cruise, and we had a blast. I worked on my class project in class, and that was it. I have not touched it since. I doubt I'll ever finish it. In 2001, my mom and I went to the CATS show Atlanta. My sister was also moving out of Atlanta and after the show we helped her move. That was a bittersweet experience. On the way down there, my mom told Teresa Wentzler might be there. She was, and I got her Four Seasons Faeries book, and got it autographed! On the other hand, I was fifteen, and just found out I was pregnant. I was scared to death I'd get morning sickness, and my mom would find out. She didn't though, and we had a great time.
Now for the second. Do you like to buy “chartpacks” that include charms, buttons, and/or beads or do you prefer to gather all materials yourself? I don't really care either way. If it's got the beads/charms/buttons included, great. If not, it's no big deal.

As Promised

2007-02-13T13:11:00.000-05:00

Here's what I've done stitching wise lately. I've finished Irish Coffee. My last project that used Whisper, I was told to use a (clean) toothbrush to fluff it up. It didn't do much, though. I recently heard someone say try Velcro, so I decided to try it. The first Velcro I could find was on a pair of Tobi's old shoes, that just happened to be by my stitching chair. Jymi came home right as I started. He took one look at me and said, "If I put a shoe anywhere near your cross stitch, you'd freak." He was right. It's all done now, and I'll take it to be framed in April.
Here's my progress on Persian Iris Garden. Impressive, huh? I only spent one day on it so far. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I hate the Silken Pearl. It's a pain! So of course when I screwed up, what did I have to rip out and restitch? The Silken Pearl.
I'm not getting the kit for St. Petersburg any time soon. It's now official. I did go ahead and pay for the class. I guess I'll get what I need when I get there and can afford it. Jymi had gotten his big thing with the tax money already, and felt bad that I wasn't getting mine. Especially since I always put off getting what I want to pay the bills. He offered to sell his Xbox 360 for me. I appreciated the thought, but it wouldn't have paid for the kit, and we would've had to put it toward the bills, anyway. So in a couple weeks, when I sell Jymi's old car, I get the money to put towards it. Jymi's also gonna try to do lead next month, and give me a little of the extra from that. We'll see, though.
I did work on The Castle yesterday. It was only a hour and half, but I made enough progress to feel good about. I showed it to Jymi, who complained he couldn't see anything in it. The boys like to asked what it is, and I show them the book. Every single time, "WOW! A dragon!" Anyway, now I'm off to stitch the columns on part four!

The Unveiling!

2007-02-12T09:46:00.000-05:00

Nashville is over! I can now show pictures of my last two models! Are you ready? First, I stitched Triangularity, the last companion to Labyrinth and Maze. Progress pictures are up in my Webshots, and start here.

The second one is Snowfight: Purple. This is the one that we thought the mail had lost. Now, Blue and Red remind me of Chris and Tobi (throwing snowballs at each other), and this one reminds me of Alex (playing nicely by herself and getting caught in the crossfire. Now I just need one either ignoring the other three, or sneaking up on them, and I'll have Darin. Now I'm tempted to restitch them each and putting the kids names on them. Progress pictures for this one start here. I guess I've stalled enough, so now for the picture!

I have also finished Irish Coffee and started part four of Persian Iris Garden, but I'm saving that for my next post. I don't want to break Blogger with the pictures.
Jymi's been sick since Wednesday. I haven't been stitching since then, because I've been busy taking care of him. We've also had some finacial problems this week, and I've been a bit depressed. I haven't really wanted to do anything but sleep. Thanks to the money problems, it looks like I'm not going to be able to get the kit for St. Petersburg White Nights. Just another thing to make me depressed.
I didn't work on the Saturday and Sunday SALs, but I've got The Castle on the Q-Snaps. I will work on it today for the Teresa Wentzler SAL. Until tomorrow, when I show the pictures!

Green Around The Gills

2007-02-06T09:17:00.000-05:00

I've been doing lots of green things lately. Here's A Wee Bit Irish, which I finished Tuesday, while waiting to pick up Alex from school. Actually, I finished the last shamrock while in line. Once I got home, it seemed silly to stop, since all I left was to backstitch the letters. So I finished it up that afternoon.
Wednesday, both Chris and Alex stayed home from school, and Leon asked me to sit with them, so he could go to work. That was one miserable day. Chris and Alex spend the day in quarantine in Chris' room, per their dad's instruction, trying to keep Tobi and Darin from getting sick. So while I have to play waitress and nurse to them, I also have to try to keep my boys halfway quiet and entertained. By noon, I was sick of watching Noggin with the boys. For those lucky enough to not know what Noggin is, it's a TV station that shows preschool shows from six in the morning until six at night. So after lunch, I went into Kathy's room to watch some grown up TV and stitch. I did finish In Every Nest. When Jymi got off work at 4:30, he stopped by and picked up the boys. Then Chris and Alex could come out. So the three of us played cards until Leon got home.
Thursday, I had asked Jymi to wake me when he left. Leon was going to call me early to let me know whether the kids had gone to school. Jymi leaves at five in the morning. So he woke me, kissed me good bye, and reset the alarm clock for a couple hours later. Does my hubby know me or what? At 5:30, the phone rang. I get up, cussing about Leon calling this early, and it's Jymi. He tells me to look out the window; it's snowing! It wasn't snowing at our house yet, but it was within ten minutes. By the time Leon called, two hours later, there was six inches of snow on the ground. If you click on the picture, you can see it was still falling at the time. It doesn't snow here often, and they cancel school if there's even a chance of snow. Leon asked if I would come over and babysit. I didn't want to drive in all that snow, but I offered to let them come over. Leon said that was fine, but by the time he got here, he'd changed his mind. Chris has asthma, and is allergic to cats. So Leon was worried about him staying all day at my house. He got there and asked if the kids could borrow a couple movies to watch in his office. His theater doesn't show kids' movies. They only show independent/serious/award winner movies. He was hoping that by taking them with him, he could get out early. I was so happy to not have to babysit, since the kids had given me their flu.
That's also why I haven't been around lately. I haven't really been on the message boards, or commenting on blogs. I've been so wiped out, it's all I can do to check my email and bank account. I've been reading, and I am interested; I just haven't had the energy to type out comments. Sorry.
Friday, most of the snow was gone, so I did have to babysit, all day. Leon told me he was going to try to come home after a meeting at two. At seven, Jymi had called me five times, asking if I was ever coming home. I love those kids like they were my own, but by the end of the week, I was sick of them. I agreed to watch them for a few hours after school, not all day, everyday.
I've been working on Irish Coffee. I didn't do my usual SALs this past weekend, because I was still feeling bad. I didn't want to work on something I really had to think about. So I'm almost done with it. I'll do the handle and backstitch today, and finish it tomorrow with the Whisper and button.
Everything I've worked on the past week has been on green fabric. It kinda looks blue in the picture, but the fabric for A Wee Bit Irish and Irish Coffee is Crystal Highland, and yellowy-green.
The last model I stitched had some issues with the mail. It finally got there yesterday, like a week and a half after I sent it. It usually only takes a few days. The good news is I can show pictures next week of my two models! Yay!

Is It Too Early To Start Drinking?

2007-01-30T11:31:00.000-05:00

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.

I've Been Tagged

2007-01-29T10:28:00.000-05:00

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.

SBQs And A Poll

2007-01-25T09:36:00.000-05:00

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.

No SALs This Week

2007-01-22T11:50:00.000-05:00

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.

SAL Progress

2007-01-16T09:57:00.000-05:00

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?

The One Night War

2007-01-12T15:51:00.000-05:00

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.

Another Castle Picture

2007-01-09T10:31:00.000-05:00

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?

One In The Afternoon, And My Brain Still Hasn't Woken Up

2007-01-07T12:32:00.000-05:00

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.

Grab A Snack, This Will Be A Long Post

2007-01-02T10:11:00.000-05:00

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!

It's Over

2006-12-27T11:31:00.000-05:00

We've all survived Christmas. The boys got a nice haul. For their one early present, they both picked the one from my dad. Tobi went for the DVD/game shaped one, and Darin went for the one in penguin paper. Shouts of "Star Wars" and "Thomas" filled the house. Tobi got Attack Of The Clones, completing his Star Wars DVD collection. Darin actually got Percy, to go with his Thomas The Tank Engine Lego set. The boys decided that Jymi could open a present early, too, so they him their gift. When I told Jymi I couldn't get what I'd planned to, he guessed I'd gotten season five of 24. I told him no, because technically, that's what the boys got him.
That night, when I took off my shirt, Jymi noticed my bra had a hole in it, and told me to open a specific present. Inside the shoebox he wrapped, was a gift card to Old navy so I could buy some new jeans and shirts, and some cash, so I could finally buy some new bras. The best part of it was, he promised not to come or ask me to take the boys, because he knows I'd end up spending it on them. I went last night to spend the cash. Let me just say now, Victoria's Secret sucks. All their bras run small. I did find some that fit at another store, and with all the sales, I saved almost as much as I spent. Friday, I'm driving up to Charlotte to spend the rest.
The boys had a wonderful Christmas. They were amazed to see all that Santa had brought! Darin was excited by his books, and Tobi was over the moon about all his Star Wars guys. It's now his "Star Wars collection." Jymi's parents gave him even more Star Wars Galactic Heroes. He still need Yoda, and then he's got everybody he loves. I wish they made a General Grevious.
When Darin opened his Diego playhouse, he really got in the mood! It was the first time he's ever torn the paper off that fast! He loves it. I'm ready to return it. It's the only present they got this year that requires batteries. Tobi got an Imaginext castle, which Jymi decided was really cool while he opened it. Tobi's going to take his Christmas money and get the dragon to go with it, and some more people.
Darin was all about his bath time pirate ship. Tinkerbell likes Diego's playhouse, too. She keeps walking through it, and chewing on Mama Jaguar. I gave Jymi a copy of Eldest. He loved Eragon, but he hasn't wanted to spend the money on the hardcover sequel. When I wrapped it, I noticed it was a special edition. It has all these extras in it, including a list of all characters and places, a preview of the next book, a picture of the cover, and some other stuff. He was really pleased, but now he wants to reread Eragon first.
The "boys" got me my favorite present. It's a charm bracelet. It's got two little boy charms, one for each of them. They remind me so much of my boys. They're standing, smiling, with their hands in their pockets. I can see my boys doing that, only it's scary when they do it. When they do it, I know they've done something else, and I have to o see what they've broken, drawn on, or put the cat in. Between the two boys, there's a heart, for Jymi. It was so sweet.
The picture is just my obnoxious cat, hiding in my blanket. We had a nice time at Jymi's grandparents. The boys made out like bandits. Once again, shouts of "Thomas" and "Star Wars" filled the room. The boys loved everything, even the clothes! In fact Darin's favorite present was the Buzz Lightyear pajamas. He insisted on taking all his normal clothes and putting them on. Jymi was a little disappointed. He was hoping for more gift cards, so he could get a Wii. He loves everything, though. Jymi's grandparents gave me a beautiful bracelet and earrings to match!
On the way to his grandparents, Jymi scared the hell out of me and the kids. He decided to take a dirt road, that's usually shorter. Unfortunately, it was raining, and there was a huge puddle. Jymi tried to drive through it, and we hydroplaned, which was very scary since the woods are very close to the woods. We got through it fine though, no accident, no injury, just a small heart attack. As soon as we turned off the dirt road, though, the car stalled! The engine had flooded. We tried for about fifteen minutes, to get the car started. Jymi, then called his dad, and when he got off the phone, he tried the car one more time. Of course, then it started. Thank goodness!
After Jymi's family, we went to my mom's. My niece and nephew both loved their presents. The boys got even more stuff. They got nine movies, if you count the two copies of The Little Mermaid as one movie. We're giving one to my sister's kids. My mom knitted me a hat (white thing in the picture), and crocheted me a purse (blue thing in the picture). It's from the Happy Hooker book we got her for her birthday. She made a red one, and decided to give me one for Christmas, but that I wouldn't use a red one. So she started a black one for me. I came over for something, and saw the red one. I told her I'd like one in blue or black. So she gave the black one to my sister, and ordered more of the special nylon yarn (she had to special order it from Mexico) in blue. I love it! All in all, we had a wonderful holiday!
My grandma also had an exciting day! She told her chiropractor about her foster children one day. He told his friend, who's a reporter for the local newspaper. He came out to the house to interview her! After the interview, he said it was such a heartwarming story, they were going to put it in the Christmas edition! Come Christmas day, she was on the front page! She was so embarrassed by all this fuss! As she said in the article, "Babies are babies. They need love." If you want to read the article, here's the link.

I have been stitching on part three of Persian Iris Garden, while I try to pick my next project. I still haven't decided. I am not really planning a one at a time thing, so much as a one at a time until I get sick of it and move on to something else. If anybody else has an opinion, I'm still taking suggestions.

Happy Holidays!

2006-12-24T11:01:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, and happy Kwanzaa! Happy any holiday I forgot, too! I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday!
Today is our first day off in forever! The last few weeks, even on Jymi's day off, we've had a hundred other things we needed to do. So the last few days, we've been at each others' throats! He's exhausted from work, and I'm stressed out from spending ALL my time with the kids and worrying about their insurance. I love my kids, but ever once in a while, I need a break! By some freak of nature, Jymi got today and tomorrow off! So last night, my sister watched the boys, and Jymi and I went to see Eragon. Jymi's read the book and said it was okay, but they left out most of the things that made the book so great. I haven't read it, but I probably will when I run out of Gregory Maguire books (two more after I finish the one I'm on). It was nice to be just the two of us, even if it was only for two hours.
On the way home from the theater (or at least on the way to Kathy's), we stopped at Best Buy, to finish our Christmas shopping. I had planned to get Jymi's sister a gift card, so she can get another game for the Wii she's getting (she's getting so much, I don't want to hear about how we owe Jymi's parents money this year). Jymi had planned to get one for Kristi, and his cousins, too. They're not kids anymore, but they're both younger than him (one's younger than me, the other's a few months older than me), so he wanted to include them. That was fine with me, so we got three. Then, when we got home, I had to go out to the grocery store for some Christmas cards to stick them in, and some wrapping paper for two more Santa gifts for the boys. It was all 50% off, which was great!
I came home to find the boys in their room, with their faces pressed against the window. When I got out of the car, I could hear them screaming, "Mommy's home!" I brought everything in, and Jymi went in and said, "Yes, Mommy's home, but it's time for bed. Go to sleep!" I went in to say good night, and had to re-tuck them in. I usually do it, the same way every night, and Jymi doesn't know my way, which to the boys is the only way. They (especially Darin) can't go to sleep if their blankets are in the wrong order, or if they're missing Teddy (Darin's favorite teddy bear), Wolfie (Tobi's wolf who "keeps the monsters away"), and Puppy (Darin's otter, and, no, I don't know why). After that, I wrapped the last two of the boy's presents. The only thing still not wrapped in the TV, and we're not going to wrap that.
Today we are not doing a thing! Jymi's in our room, watching a movie, relaxing. The boys are watching Blue's Clues. I'm also being lazy, playing on the computer! Just a nice, relaxing, lazy day. Before bedtime, the boys each get to open one present.
There's no time to relax tomorrow. We're getting up, and opening presents. Then we've gotta give the boys a bath. It's easier to bathe the cat. Then we're going to Jymi's grandparents for Christmas dinner/lunch, and to open presents. Then we go straight from there to my mom's, for another dinner and presents. By the time we get home, it'll be bed time, for all of us. It'll be fun, but it will also be exhausting!
Hastur- I would love to do a SAL for Dragons By The Fire! I'm doing the Teresa Wentzler SAL on Mondays, and the Castle on Saturdays, but any other day is good for me. Please continue to help me pick! All help is appreciated! Happy holidays! God bless us, everyone!

Help Me Pick

2006-12-22T09:16:00.001-05:00

I can't decided on my next project. I don't like the number of projects I have started. There's one more I'd like to start right away, but other than that, I want to keep working on the ones already started. Please help me choose. They all have pros and cons. Here they are, from oldest to newest.
First is Tobi's Toy's And Games Stocking. The reasons I should work on this: it's almost two years old, which is longer than I've let a project go, it's one of my family's traditions, and I don't want Tobi to be jealous that Darin has a stocking and he doesn't. The reasons I don't want to work on it: it never seems to end, there's no way I'll have it done by this Christmas, and I'll have to sew it together, and I currently hate sewing machines.
Next is Avatar: The Wizard Of The Wind. The reasons I should work on this: it's a year and a half old, I've only worked on it maybe three days all year, and Jymi likes it. The reasons I don't want to work on it: it never seems to end, I never feel like I'm making any progress, and it seems like there's always so much left to do.
The there's Jymi's Dragons By The Fire Stocking. The reasons I should work on this: it's only barely started, I don't want Jymi to be the only one in our family without a stocking, it's a year old. The reasons I don't want to work on it: it's only barely started, there's no way it'll be done for this Christmas, and if/when Jymi leaves, it's going to kill me every time I pick it up to work on it.
There's also In Every Nest. The reasons I should work on this: it's only barely started, I could have it finished this year, it's a small, relatively quick finish, to boost my confidence. The reasons I don't want to work on it: it's entirely converted, which I hate doing and keeping track of, it done with overdyes, which I'm not always in the mood yo work with, and I don't know what I'm going to do with it when it is finished.
Last, but definitely not least, is Persian Iris Garden. The reasons I should work on this: it's huge, it's gorgeous, I'm not allowing myself another chatelaine until I finish this one, and I LOVE the new White Lights. The reasons I don't want to work on it: it's on 32 ct. black, so I can't see well enough to work on it in the evenings, I haven't had the extra money to get the bead packs yet, and it's almost all silks, so I have to wash my hands even more often than usual.
Help me out, please! Thanks!

Can You Spot The Happy Dance?

2006-12-21T09:07:00.000-05:00

Since Jymi took last Monday off to be with his dad, he got this Monday off, too. There's a safety rule about having to have one day off out of every seven. So I took the model to the post office, and then went to Michaels to see if I could find a fiber optic tree. All they had were eight foot trees. They were half off, but they started at three hundred dollars! If I'm gonna have a tree that big, it's gonna be real. So I went across the street to Target, and I found one. I mean one. I got the last green one they had. They still had plenty of silver ones.
After lunch, I took the boys to see Santa at the mall. When we got there, though, Santa had just left for his lunch break, so I let them play in the play area. I never thought of my boys as particularly well behaved, but they were compared to most of the other kids there. They'd come up and shove Tobi and Tobi wouldn't do anything back. He wouldn't even say anything mean, and as big as Tobi is, he could've taken any of them if he wanted. I was very proud him. He played nice with all the kids, no matter how they treated him. Darin didn't want to play with the other kids. That's my boy, the loner. They were very excited to see Santa while we were in line, but when they were next, they got shy. Once they got up there, though, Tobi started telling him that he wanted Cars, the video game. They got their picture taken, but the scanner still doesn't work.
In the evening, after dinner, I put on A Muppet Christmas Carol. Jymi was on the computer, and got his current Netflix movie, and was going to watch it in the bedroom. By the time he finished what he was doing on the computer, though, he was "sucked in" to the movie, and he enjoyed it, too. Tuesday, we watched the original How The Grinch Stole Christmas. The boys sat entranced, while Jymi and I discussed the pros and cons of each version. We both like the original better.
Yesterday, Jymi stayed home again, because he didn't feel well. Tobi didn't feel good either. So I went out and finished our Christmas shopping. All we have left is something for Jymi's sister, and she's already getting so much. She just getting a gift card for Best Buy. I had planned to get Jymi a James Bond boxed set, but they were out of my price range. I did find something else for him, but I can't say what. He keeps trying to figure out/find it, and I wouldn't put it past him to check here. I put it in another box, so he couldn't guess from the shape. I also put in plastic bags, so he couldn't shake it. I had gotten Alex a bouncy ball maker for her present at Michaels, and also the last color I need for The Castle. I took the ball kit out and stuffed the bag in the box. When I went to bed, I remembered the thread, which I had left in the bag! Jymi told me to write it on the package, because he'd forget. So we now have a present that says, "To Daddy, Love Tobi and Darin," in one corner, and, "My thread is in this box," on the other.
I had planned to go to the DMV to try to figure out the car stuff, and I stopped at the bookstore, since I finished Son Of A Witch. It was very good as long as you remember that Liir is not Elphaba, and he's also never had any guidance at all. He doesn't know what to do with his life, and is just struggling to survive each horrific event, until he knows what to do. I'd read lots of bad reviews, but I really enjoyed it, maybe because I can relate to Liir's aimlessness, and the way he finds purpose to his life.
At the bookstore, I got Mirror, Mirror, and decided to see if they had No, David!, one of Tobi's favorite books. Lately, they've been more interested in books, but the only one they ever want to read is Alphabet Soup by Scott Gustafson. It's a good book, but every page is like a tongue twister. When I'm really tired, that's not a good choice. When I got to the children's books, they had a big display of Dr. Suess books. They were three for the price of two. So I got The Cat In The Hat and Green Eggs And Ham for Darin, and The Lorax and No, David! for Tobi. I am very eager for Santa to bring these. I can almost recite Alphabet Soup in my sleep.
Darin found a purpose for Jymi's whip. It's Tinkerbell's new favorite toy. She'll keep playing with it for an hour after we've quit. She's such a funny, psychotic, little kitty.
Here's the answer for those of you who couldn't find the happy dance. I finished it Tuesday night. I tried to be crafty yesterday, but it just didn't work out. I got some fabric to finish Jymi's grandmother's butterflies, but then the bobbin on the sewing machine ran out out on the first seam. After an hour of fighting with it, I figured out how to wind a new one. It was exactly how I tried the first time, but it didn't work the first time. So I started hand doing it. I had a small tantrum, and found that then the stupid machine wanted to work. So I ended up having to re-wind the bobbin on the machine. Jymi thought this was hilarious. He's very lucky I didn't throw anything at him. Then I couldn't re-thread the machine (it's borrowed from my mom). After another hour of fighting with the stupid machine to try to get it threaded right, I gave up, and had another tantrum. The boys were in bed, and it was just Jymi, laughing at me, so I started yelling obscenities at it.
I also got the word that my ornament exchange has been received. It's Feliz Navidad, by Monsterbubbles, from the 2006 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue, on 28 ct. Midas Jazlyn from Picture This Plus. I made some changes to suit what I had on hand, but I think it came out well. I found a pretty tin at the grocery store, and filled it with a bag of Ghiradelli special holiday chocolates. They come in peppermint bark, eggnog, and spiced cinnamon with nuts. I bought us a bag of the peppermint ones to keep here. I also sent some floss, and a calender. My grandma gave me some calenders charities have sent her, and I put one in the package, since we don't need eight calenders. I should stop writing about it now though. Thinking about the chocolates is making me hungry. I guess it's close enough to lunch time.

Happy Dances, An SBQ, And Jymi's No-So-Secret Santa

2006-12-17T11:12:00.000-05:00

I finished my model last night! I'll show pictures eventually, but for now, it's top secret! You'll have to settle for a picture of the ornament I finished last night! I've had everything but the buttons done since October, and I got the buttons probably a month ago. I didn't want to put down the model though. So after I finished the model last night, I spent all of five minutes putting the buttons on, and tying a bow. Next up is the Christmyth Wyvern!
Here's this week's SBQ. Do you have any good internet links to tutorials for your favorite finishing techniques that you would like to share? I like having my pieces framed. I don't really finish much in other ways. I finish most of my ornaments as matboard ornaments, just because I love how neat they look, I don't have to drag out the sewing machine, and I don't usually have to buy anything to do it. I didn't learn it from any tutorial. I just kind of picked it up at the shop. One of things I love about it, is it only takes me an hour to do everything.
Jymi got his Christmas present early. He's been begging for a keyboard for a couple months. Since the night of no sleep, the boys have been alot happier to see Jymi when he gets home. Now that he's got the keyboard, too, Darin can't spend enough time with him. It's amazing what one day with a REALLY mean mommy can do.
They had a Secret Santa exchange at Jymi's work. Jymi, being the dorkball he is, pulled his own name though. So he traded names with Latonya, and he's known the whole time who had his name. She wanted to get him a mini whip as a gag gift, but she made sure it was okay with me first. I woke up this morning to find he'd hung it over the TV. I thought it was funny, but Jymi was kind of embarrassed to open it in front of everyone. She also gave him a restaurant gift card, so he had a real present, too. His boss also gave him a coffee cup, with some nice coffee and cinnamon sticks. So he did get something nice.
Next weekend, we're going to get a new Christmas tree. We're planning to get a fiber optic one, because the boys loved my mom's. Plus, it wouldn't have to be weighted down, which is why we always wait so long to put up the one we've got now. Then we'll take the boys to see Santa. All Tobi wants from Santa is the Cars video game. Good thing Santa's bringing it. Darin will just be happy to see Santa, and whatever Santa brings.

Bad News

2006-12-13T10:45:00.000-05:00

Sunday, right after Jymi got home, I went out to get trash bags at the grocery store, about two miles away. Jymi called me halfway there, to tell me his father was in the hospital. I hurried home, and Jymi left. He hadn't been feeling well, and he got to work that night, and was going home, complaining of chest pains. The others there wouldn't let him drive, and called an ambulance. His blood pressure and blood sugar were both very high, and they decided to keep him overnight.
Monday, we took the boys to my mom's and both of us went to the hospital. Jymi's mom called us on the way there to tell us they were going to do a heart catheterization in the afternoon. We'd only been there about ten minutes when they came to get him, because they had an opening, and they could do it earlier. Once they prepped him, it took them two hours to start. They told us it would take an hour. Another two hours later, the doctor called us into the conference room. He said Jymi's dad had three blockages, in two arteries. They put in two stints, and he'll have to go back in again for the third.
He had to stay another night, but he finally got to go home yesterday afternoon. When Jymi got off work we all went over to see him. He's feeling better now, although last night he was a little down because he had to miss his lodge meeting. The boys gave Pops (it started as joke, but the name stuck) a big hug and asked if he was still sick. They're three and five, so we didn't go into anymore detail than that. Jymi and his mom went to go get his medicine, and some dinner. Neither them or us have had time to get groceries this past week. The boys kept Jymi's dad pretty entertained. Darin kept playing fetch with two of dogs, and Jymi and Kristi played video games. It was some James Bond game, and Tobi kept kicking Kristi's butt. It was pretty funny, considering my five-year-old son kept setting his twelve-year-old aunt on fire. He had never played before, but he was so much better than her. He had so much fun, too, and was laughed so hard, you could help but laugh, too.
This has all been very hard on Jymi. He's been snippy, and had completely lost his sense of humor. This is all understandable, but a little difficult. My method of coping includes babbling, and making jokes to keep my mind off of it. He's feeling better now, too. It's all worked out okay now.
Needless to say I haven't had that much stitching time this week. I did get alot done last night, though. I'm almost finished with my model. The shop called today with a stocking someone wanted finished. I know I could use the money, but the idea of stitching someone else's stocking, from a Dimensions kit, with all that mixed up thread, aida fabric, and someone else's stitching (I had to rip out most of The Lord's Prayer I did in a similar situation) just made me want to cry. I turned down the offer. I've got enough to deal with right now without a project I really don't want, and I'm looking forward to finishing something of mine. I'm not starting any new projects (except models) until I finish everything I've got started. I know it can be done, even by me. For now though, it's lunchtime on Wednesday, which means we get to order pizza. Yay!

It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas

2006-12-10T11:10:00.000-05:00

I ended up sleeping most of Thursday away. I went to take a shower at seven, and could barely stand up. I figured it was time to finally go to bed. The boys got up at nine, and they came into my room and watched cartoons until I got up at eleven. They both took naps in the afternoon, and I took another nap at about three, for a couple hours. I then tried to go to bed early, but felt sick, as I always do when I haven't had enough sleep. I ended up staying awake until about midnight, when I felt better.
Friday, we had our annual shopping spree at Steve And Barry's. The boys and I each got a new jacket, since theirs from last year are too small, and I haven't had one in years. I've always just swiped Jymi's or worn a sweatshirt. We always get some new t-shirts there, too, since they have some funny one. The one in the picture is one we got for Tobi. It's actually an adult small, and a little big on him, but they didn't have it in kid's sizes. It's not as big on him as you'd think. We'll be buying him adult size clothes by the time he's seven. Jymi and I each got a shirt with an Irish flag, (since we're both of Irish descent). I found one with a witch silhouetted against the moon, that said, "Wicked Witch," that I had to have (probably influenced by my recent reading). Tobi freaked out that saying I couldn't buy that shirt; it was evil.
We then went to dinner with Latonya and her sons. Tobi loved talking to them, and he even won a game of checkers. We took the scenic route home, to see all the Christmas lights. As soon as we got home, though, I had to go back out to Target. Jymi told me on the way home his dad's family's Christmas was Saturday. Thanks for giving me plenty of notice! This year they were just doing presents for kids, so we had to get something for two of his cousins, and his cousin's baby. The two older ones we just gave cash in a card, because they're teenagers and everything they want is expensive. I bought some Peek-A-Blocks for the baby though, since she's only one. I made an effort to find something cool to her without irritating Jymi's cousin and his girlfriend. Then we get there, and the give my boys a mini pinball table! Next year, I'm buying his daughter a drum!
Darin was very sweet at the party. Tobi played mostly with the big kids, but Darin and the baby played together all afternoon. She wanted to play every one-year-old's favorite game, Throw It On The Floor To See How Many Times They'll Pick It Back Up. Darin picked it up and gave it back to her every single time. When it was time for presents, Darin was handed one of his first, and gave it to Trinity. Her dad was the one handing out presents, and he had to find one for her before Darin would open his. As much as he liked her and playing with her, he got very upset when she wanted to play with the train he got. He always got something else for her to play with, before he took his train back.
Then we went to Toys-R-Us, for some Santa shopping. Evidently there was a huge sale, because everyone in the world was there! I spent more time in line than I did fighting through all the people trying to find what the boys wanted. It was the first time in my life I ever thought to myself that I hate Christmas. It bothered me, because I love Christmas. I hate the crowds, the traffic, and the people who seem to think the only way to show their loved ones they care is by going into debt. I also got pretty mad at the people in the middle of the toy store, with six kids just with them, cussing at every other word. Does it not occur to them that maybe they should be more careful of what they say? I did mange to get the boys what they wanted. I'm gonna take the Christmas money they got from Jymi's grandfather and get them some more figures for their castle, and maybe another set of Star Wars Galactic Heroes for Tobi. He got Luke Skywalker and R2-D2 for his birthday, and I got most of his other favorites yesterday (Chewbacca, Anakin, Obi Wan, and Darth Vader, along with the others who come with those guys, C-3PO and Count Dooku, I think). His last favorite is Yoda. He'd probably like a Han Solo, too, but he's not as important. We were going to take the boys to see Santa, too, but by the time we got out of the toy store, Jymi and I were both out of patience. We did see a Santa and reindeer driving by, playing Christmas carols. Tobi and Darin waved and they waved back. We'll take them to really see Santa next weekend.
I got my ornament exchange Friday, from Vicki! She sent me Dragon Dreams' Not A Creature Was Stirring ornament. I love the finishing. She also sent some overdyed threads, some DMC in black, white, and ecru (colors every stitcher always needs), a card, and a chocolate bar. Can you guess why the candy's not in the picture? For once is not because my obnoxious children stole it! I also got an American flag button, from Canada! I didn't get a chance to mail mine until Saturday, but it should get there next week. When it's there, I'll share a picture!
I'm almost finished with my model. Just a few more days. So I should probably get my lazy butt off the computer and fix lunch, so I can start stitching!

Conspiracy Theories

2006-12-07T05:25:00.000-05:00

I am almost certain that my entire family is trying to drive me insane. They've got the straight jacket in the closet, just waiting. Even Tinkerbell is in on it! Jymi's smoking, which makes it very hard for me to not start again. The cat keeps meowing at me and stealing my blanket, which is silly, because the electric blanket is set on high on my bed, and much warmer.
Tobi went to bed at nine, an hour after Darin, just like normal. Darin wouldn't go to sleep though. Tobi fell asleep right away, like he usually does. I laid down at eleven, but I had a wierd feeling in my stomach, and had to get right back up. It was like I'd forgotten something important, or I was worried. So I came back out, only to find Darin was still awake. I wanted to make sure he went to sleep, and at one, I heard Tobi, too. Darin had woken him up, and everytime Tobi started to go back to sleep, he did it again. At two, I gave in, and gave Darin a dose of Dimetapp to help him get to sleep. Darin was still awake, and by now so was Tobi. Again I gave in, and stole a couple of Jymi's cigarettes, and went outside to smoke. It was so nice outside. It was quiet. There weren't even any cars. I could hear the train on the tracks three or four miles away. I came back in at 2:30, because I could hear the boys outside, and it was no longer as peaceful. I seperated them, and brought Tobi into the living room. I put on Return Of The Jedi, because it's a nice long movie that he loves, and he'll sit still through it, and fall back asleep. Without Tobi, Darin was asleep by three. Now Tobi, the king of cat naps, was wide awake though. He sat still, and was quiet, and watched the whole freaking movie! When it was over, I put him in his bed and he went to sleep. That was at four! Jymi gets up at 4:45, so I decided not to bother going to bed. It's easier for me to function on no sleep than to try to sleep for just a couple hours and get back up. So I stole another cigarette and went back outside.
Jymi got up and found me outside. He said he was worried I had run away. We joke that he held my hands at our wedding to keep me from running away, since he knew how scared I was to get married. He considered staying home from work so I could sleep, but they have alot of jobs they have to do today, and if he did, it would prett much screw everyone else. I told him to go; we need the money. He didn't want to, but he went to work. It was enough that he wanted to stay and help me. I plan on waking the boys at nine, so they'll nap in the afternoon, and still go to bed at the regular time. I'll take a nap when Darin does. Tobi can play video games while I nap, and he'll be good.
I was a little productive during all this, at least. I didn't stitch; I've gotta take a long shower and wash my hair before I'll even sit in my stitching chair. I put some clean towels over the stitching I had out before I even stole the cigarettes, so it won't smell. I've been having problems posting pictures on the boards using Blogger, and I hate Yahoo Photos, so I started a Webshots account. I spent the evening seeing just how long the batteries last in my MP3 player (all night, and it still has a little over half the battery left), and adding my pictures to my Webshots album, along with any necessary info. Maybe taking pictures of all my older projects will be my "stay awake" job today. Since there's only five in the house that I haven't photographed already, anyway, though, I doubt it'll take much time. Since I can't show any progress pics, here's one of my tormenters, sleeping peacefully. This was about a year and a half ago, and Darin's first night in his big boy bed. It's also the only time their room has ever been that clean longer than ten minutes.

A Love/Hate Realtionship

2006-12-06T12:21:00.000-05:00

Every time Jymi does something sweet, I find out I should be very mad at him. Monday night he went shopping with Latonya, to help her pick out a MP3 player for her son. He came home with an early Christmas present for me: my own MP3 player. He said they looked at him funny when he went to check out with a pink one. Of course people look at him funny when he's out with Latonya anyway. A white boy in his mid-twenties out with an African-American woman in her late thirties gets some odd looks. He said he was also gonna get me a jacket, but he wasn't sure what size to get.
This was all very sweet. When I went to take the trash out the next morning, though, a receipt fell out. It was from a gas station, and everything was abbreviated, like they always are. It looked to me like Jymi's brand of cigarettes, so I asked him about when he got home. He told me he's been smoking for about three weeks now, at work and drill. I was so mad. He said he didn't want to tell me, because I had enough stress in my life already. Having a husband who smokes doesn't cause near as much stress as having one who lies to me. He has apologized, both for smoking again and hiding it from me, but I'm still a little mad at him. He's paying for it, though. He can only smoke outside, and it gets pretty cold after the sun goes down (remembering here, it rarely drops below about 30 degrees F, not considered cold to some people, but it is to us). He also jut bought me all the NPI silks I still need for Persian. He's also gonna buy me the new Best Of Teresa Wentzler book. He says he'll quit in January, but I don't believe he will. I can't make him stop, but I wish I could. All the ways I can think of to get him to stop involve murder, and with Jymi dead and me in jail, there'd be no one to take care of the boys.
It just drives me nuts when every sweet thing he does ends up getting overshadowed by whatever he's done to piss me off.

Grandmother's Pieces

2006-12-03T10:20:00.000-05:00

Here's pictures of the pieces Jymi's grandmother gave me. The one on the right is a close up of the date. I needs a wash and an iron, but it's been folded in her closet for twenty-one years! It's very cute, but not something I'd ever stitch myself. I'm not gonna be able to get it framed until April, but I'm already choosing in my head. I'm thinking probably just a plain medium wood frame. Maybe (and that's a big maybe) a blue mat that looks like denim. It might look cute, but it may also be too much, and darw away from the picture.These are the butterflies. Jymi still hasn't fixed the scanner, so I took seperate pictures so I could zoom in as much as possible. The pictures still don't do them justice.
Here's the back of the first one. Even the backs are beautiful! My over one backs don't look anywhere near this good.
The computer's back to normal now. I have more time for stitching again. I hope to finish my model by next weekend.
We didn't make it to the toy store. Jymi was too tired. We'll go next Saturday. I'm gonna be exhausted. I also have to go to my mom's, the post office, and the DMV that day. I have to go to the car insurance office, too, if I can find the time. Fun. Lots of hurry-up-and-wait places. I may have to treat myself to a new book, because I'm about halfway through Son Of A Witch. I will be done by then, so I'll just add the bookstore to my list, and not tell Jymi.

Accomplishments, Goals, And SBQs

2006-12-01T08:15:00.000-05:00

My goals for November were to finish my ornament for the exchange and work on my model. Done.
My goals for December are to finish the model, start, finish, and ornamentify the new Dragon Dreams Christmyth ornament, sew Grandmother's (in-law) butterflies into pillows, pick a project to stick with until it's finished (yeah right), and kit up The Castle for the stitch along on New Year's.
Non-stitching goals for this month include getting present for children only. Adults and their wants are not in our budget. Children and their wants are only barely in our budget. I love giving people presents, so this may be hard. Other than that, just survive the month and all it's stresses.
Christmas is always a scramble for us. When everyone else starts shopping in the beginning of November, we start trying to scrape together money for Tobi's birthday (November 27), and only after that's taken care do we remember Christmas is not far behind. Last night I bought the boys a new TV for their room for Christmas. I had priced them at Target, and the cheapest ones all had bad reviews when I checked the brands out online. So I got a name brand. What didn't make any sense to me though, was the smaller TVs cost alot more. I decided to pay less for the bigger one. I got out to the parking lot, only to find it was too big to get in my car. It would have fit if the front passenger door opened, but it doesn't anymore. Yes, my car sucks that bad. So I called my mom (she has a SUV) and she took the TV to hide until we have out Christmas get together. Tonight, Jymi's going to get off work early, and I'm going to try to mail my ornament, otherwise it's going to be late. After that we're going to Toys-R-Us. We'll take the boys through the store to make lists for Santa, and then Jymi will take them to look at video games or something, while I pick out what Santa will bring them, buy it, and load it into the car. Since they're getting a TV, they won't get much else.
I've also gotta find two presents for my niece. Her birthday is four days before Christmas, and she'll be ten. She's decided she's too old for Barbies and princess stuff, which has suddenly made shopping for her insanely difficult. She may end up with a gift certificate to Michael's or the bookstore if I can't find anything. She does like crafts and books very much. I swear she's my mini me. She looked just like me when she was born, and the only way to tell us apart in pictures of us at the same age is to look at how old the other people are. Especially since she got alot of my old baby/toddler dresses my mom made.
I've got two SBQs to catch up on. Do you stitch Christmas ornaments? If so, how many do you stitch each year and for whom? If not, why not? I do stitch ornament, of course. This year, I think I've done eighteen or nineteen, and I plan to do at least one more. I stitched one for an exchange, and the rest are for our tree. Yes I am stingy, but please also remember Jymi and I have only been living together for three years. We haven't had time or money to collect ornaments, and the few we have bought, are too heavy for the little fake tree we have, and we don't have room for anything bigger at the moment. So it need some light cross stitch ornaments. When the boys go to school, I plan to stitch and ornament for each of their teachers. My mom always did for my teachers, and they always loved it. I don't stitch ornaments for Jymi's family. I stitch Just Another Button Company's Oh Holy Night for Jymi's grandmother last year, because she collects nativity scenes. She loved it. Jymi's mom (who doesn't like me anyway), however gave me the dirtiest look that said, "How could you be so cheap?" First of all, for as little as it was, it was pretty expensive. Not to mention the four hours I spent fighting to try to finish it (it was my first attempt at that particular method). In my family, handmade gifts means you are very loved, because someone spent alot of time to make something just for you. I guess the same is not true for Jymi's family.
How do you secure your thread when you begin a new one? Specifically, do you or have you ever used a waste knot? Usually, I use the loop method. If I'm using overdyes, or an odd number of threads, I'll either run it under stitches that are already there or hold a small tail in the back and stitch over it. I have only ever used a waste knot once, on my very first project, and I'm pretty sure I did it wrong. I just tied a knot in my thread and started stitching. If that piece is still around anywhere, that knot is still on the back. After that, my mom taught me the loop method, and then when I did something with a blend, I figured I could start a thread the same way I ended it, and that would hold it enough.
I've taken a picture of one of the projects Jymi's grandmother gave me, but the butterflies need to be scanned to even begin to show their beauty, and I can't for the life of me get it to work. So that will be my next post! Have a nice weekend!

I'm Back Again

2006-11-29T15:13:00.000-05:00

The day after my last post, the computer did finally die. The new one got here that Saturday, and Jymi fought with it most of the evening that Sunday. It was Wednesday before I could really get on and do anything. I've been trying to get all my stuff onto the new computer for the past week. Now that we finally have a halfway decent video card, I can play The Sims 2 again, and I have to admit, that eats up a couple hours of my day. By the end of this weekend though, I'll be sick of it for another month. When everyone's happy and doing what they need to it's not as much fun. I much prefer the chaos of making them have as many kids as possible, while trying to get them to to work, get promotions, and cheat with the maids. It's fun to torment them.
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Our's was pretty good. Jymi called me from work that morning to let me know he'd be getting off at noon, so we could go to his grandparents'. I asked why. It had completely slipped my mind. My mom decided not to do Thanksgiving this year, since she had to work, and didn't feel up to cleaning so everyone could come over. That was fine with us, since it meant we didn't have to rush across town to try to have two dinners. Tobi and Darin were as sweet and well behaved as could be. They've got everyone fooled. Although when we first got there, Tobi announced to everyone that he wanted to play with his little sister. They all looked at me, and I looked horrified, I'm sure.
Jymi's grandparents usually have one long table set up in the den, but this year they had a small table in the kitchen, and one in the den. Tobi and Darin staked out their usual spots (in the den) and ordered "Aunt Kreeky" (Kristi) to sit with them. I also sat with them, since I don't trust them in the nice clean house when they have food, and Jymi sat with me. There was only one seat left, so Jymi's cousin, Kyle sat with us, too. So despite the fact that we were all three adults (Kristi's only 12), we still wound up at the kiddie table.
After dinner, the boys insisted the "Kreeky" play with the toys with them, until dessert was served. Tobi and Darin both decided they like pumpkin pie when Kristi had some, but they had to eat the whipped cream separately. When Jymi's parents left, Tobi and Darin kidnapped Kyle (who is only a year younger than me) to play with the toys. Kyle was more than happy too, though. They played train and Duck, Duck, Goose. Tobi came back into the kitchen to tell everyone that Kyle was his new best friend.
After Jymi's aunt and her family left, Jymi's grandmother told me she had something for me. I couldn't believe it! She brought out two cross stitch pieces she had done years ago. Neither of her daughters stitch, so I guess she thought I'd appreciate it more. I can't explain why but it meant so much to me. Maybe it's cause I'm so stingy with me stitching. I'll have to take pictures when I get a chance. One is a little boy on a tree limb, trying to save a kitten, and it says, "O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust... Psalm 7:1" She said she made it for Jymi when he was little. It's dated 1985, so he was five years old when she finished it. When the next framing special come around, I'm going to have it framed and put it in the boys' room. The other piece is even more beautiful. It's three gorgeous butterflies, done over one on a (I think) 28 ct. patterned fabric. She said she had planned to make it a bell pull, but never got around to it. She suggested cutting them apart and making little pillows with them, which I think is what I'll do. I'm not much of a bell pull person.
Friday afternoon, Latonya called me to see if I wanted to go shopping with her that evening. We ended up going out to dinner, all eight of us (her, her husband, her two sons (my age), Jymi, the boys, and me). She and I spilt a brownie/ice cream dessert, and Darin ate half of mine. We then sent the men home (with Darin on a sugar high, Jymi caught on to my evil plan), and she and I went to K-Mart. She was looking for Cars for Playstation 2 for a nephew, and I was just along for some grown up time. I ended up getting Lego Star Wars 2 for Tobi's birthday, though, and another Doodle Monster for my nephew.
We decided to have Tobi's birthday party Saturday afternoon, because in Jymi's mind, I didn't have enough places to go already. When I got up, I had to order the cake, go to the bank, the bookstore, and post office. I'd finished my ornament for the exchange, and was going to mail it. I got to the post office, and realized I'd forgotten the address. The house is only a mile from the post office, so I go home to get the address out of my email, only to find Jymi's taken the new computer apart in the kitchen! Since the post office closes at noon on Saturdays, and it was already 10:30, I was a little screwed. Then I try to go to the DMV to get the title for the new car in our name. I get the DMVs mixed up though. The one five minutes away isn't the one that's open on Saturdays. No big deal, the one that is open is just another ten minutes up the road. I get there, and it's closed for Thanksgiving.
I went back home and took Tobi to Target to get new shoes with his birthday money from his godparents. We got the shoes, and then went to pick out party stuff. Tobi had asked for a surprise costume party with goody bags and chocolate cake. So we picked out goody bags, and some stuff to go in them. We got Star Wars party plates, Cars goody bags, and Spongebob party hats. It didn't match, but Tobi was happy. Then I decided to look at video game real quick, just to see how much they would be for Christmas presents, since there were about four that Tobi wants. While I was looking, I saw that they had Cars, for Playstation 2, for a GREAT!! price. Since Latonya hadn't been able to find one, I decided to get one for her, and since it was such a great price, I decided to get one for Santa to bring us, too. While the guy was getting them out (both at one time, so Tobi wouldn't notice we weren't only getting one for Miss Latonya), Tobi told him that he wanted Sat Wars Legos, too. Guess I made the right choice.
Tobi had a nice party. We went to Chick-Fil-A, and the kids played in the little play area. Kristi was mad because we had chocolate cake, and she doesn't like chocolate. Tobi had been asking for over a month though, for chocolate cake for his birthday, and I was not about to tell him no. Then she was upset because all the candy in the goody bags was chocolate, but that's what Tobi picked out. She got over it though, and Tobi opened his presents. Jymi's grandparents got Darin two Happy Feet books, too, so he wouldn't get jealous. He's all about Happy Feet and "peng-ins" (pronounced similar to young-uns, gotta love living in the south). We made Tobi open the game last, because the we knew the world would stop once he saw it. He wakes up and wants to play, and the only way to get him to bed is to promise that he can play it in the morning.
I've been working on my model, too, but with everything else that's been going on, I haven't had as much time as I'd like to spend on it.
I finished Wicked. It was wonderful. I expected it to be very much like Politically Correct Fairy Tales; just the funny other side of the story, but it was so much more. It reminded me more of Lord Of The Rings in the beginning, with the history and mythology of Oz, but towards then end it reminded me alot, also, of 1984, with the wizard's oppressive regime. I've started Son Of A Witch (the sequel), but I'm finding it hard to read. Everyone's always so mean to poor Liir, and he's had such a miserable life, all I ever feel when reading about him is heartache. I've heard the author is also working on a book about the Cowardly Lion and the military, but I'm thinking I'm not going to be in the best mindset to read that one anytime soon.
Well, I think that's enough babbling for one day.I'm off to kill a few Sims beofre Jymi comes home and kicks me off the computer!

Not Much Going On Here

2006-11-14T09:52:00.000-05:00

Since I don't have much to say today, here's a fun Blogthing.

You Are a Mermaid

You are a total daydreamer, and people tend to think you're flakier than you actually are.
While your head is often in the clouds, you'll always come back to earth to help someone in need.
Beyond being a caring person, you are also very intelligent and rational.
You understand the connections of the universe better than almost anyone else.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

I've not been posting because there's nothing I can show. I have been stitching alot, though. I got to a stopping point on the model, and I'm currently trying to finish my ornament. I got the embellishment pack in yesterday's mail. It's over one, so I can only work on it in short bursts, but I did get four hours in.
Our computer is dying a slow, noisy, painful to me death. Last time it took me half an hour to get it to turn on. Since then I've been afraid to turn it off. We've ordered a new one, but it won't get here until sometime between Friday and Tuesday. Jymi's very good with computers, so he can take all the memory, and drives, and other stuff out of the old one and put it in the new one, and make a Frankenstein computer. It's the motherboard, fan, and video card we've had to replace. Jymi leaves for drill Friday morning though, and won't be back until Sunday. He won't feel like fixing when he gets home from that. The outage has started, so Jymi is currently working twelve hour days, six days a week, so he won't have a day off until next Saturday. I don't know that he'll want to fix it after work one day. Especially since he'll have to call Microsoft to load Windows again. So it'll probably be next week before I do not want to hit the computer with a baseball bat. It's a good thing we don't have one.
I got Jymi to quit smoking. Since he found out he's leaving, he's been whining that he wants an MP3 player. I've been asking for one for a year, but that's a bitch for another day. He had to have it right now, despite the fact that we didn't have the money. I told he could have it if he quit smoking. He threw the cigarettes away in front of Best Buy. It has (so far) cost us $125 in No Bounce fees at the bank, and as much as that bugs me, if it got Jymi to quit smoking before it had even been a week, it was worth it. He will not be getting any new toys for awhile, and he will have to eat Hot Pockets for lunch for the next couple weeks because that's all we'll be able to afford.
This outage is screwing up my system. I've been two days ahead all week, because Jymi went to work on Saturday. So it felt like Monday, and I've been off ever since. Jymi came home and found I'd lost half my mind yesterday, so that's all the signs of the outage. Jymi's always tired, and I'm always crazy. As much as I love my kids, I need a little break from them everyday. That's a little hard during the outage. Yesterday was particularly rough, because Darin was sick. He's fine today, so I guess it was just a bug. He got very mad at me last night when I gave him a peanut butter sandwich for dinner. Since he wasn't feeling well, though, it seemed like a bad idea to give him Cajun chicken and spicy rice. Call me strange.

SBQ And A Quiz

2006-11-09T10:26:00.000-05:00

Time for this week's SBQ. How many different brands of “complete" embroidery floss sets do you own? How do you keep track of it? (i.e., spread sheet program, index cards, palm pilot, etc.) I have all the regular DMC and the varigated (not the Color Variations). That's about it. I have about half the collection of Weeks Dye Works. I've also got alot of Kreinik, Gentle Arts, and Dinky Dyes. I've got a few of lots of others, too; Caron Waterlilies, Needlepoint Inc. Silks, Crescent Colors, Rainbow Gallery, Anchor, and some DMC specialties. For the few I have alot of, I have checklists printed from websites that I keep in a notebook. I need to get some for the collections I only have a few of, because my collections keep growing.
Here's a quiz I saw on Holley's and Nicki's blogs.

You scored as Faramir. You're Faramir of Gondor! Although you are a brilliant fighter and strategist, your parent(s) never seem to appreciate your talent and effort. You have an optimistic attitude, and would be willing to get into trouble if it would get others out of trouble.
"I think at last, we understand one another, Frodo Baggins."
Which LOTR character are you?
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Thank for all your comments about my Jymi's leaving. They are very appreciated. I'm working on accepting it. I told my sister, which means I don't have to tell the rest of my family. Kathy was going to see our mom and grandma that evening, so they know by now. Which works out can I can only stand to talk about it once a day. Jymi started smoking again when he got the news. Hopefully he'll quit when he runs out like he keeps promising me he will. I think he will, because it's getting cold, and he's not allowed to smoke in the house.
The boys are driving my nuts. Nothing new or different. This morning, they came and got in my bed when they woke up, and I turned on cartoons for them. I found out when I woke up and hour later, they'd been in the Halloween candy. I was so mad I threw the rest of it away. The rule is one piece for each time they eat a good meal, and never before noon. They have way to much energy without truckloads of sugar.
That's all I have to say today. Still working on the model which I can't show. I'm also still ignoring my ornament, but I will focus on that next week. Have a nice weekend!

Best Laid Plans

2006-11-06T10:11:00.000-05:00

So much for the wonderful weekend we had planned. Jymi was supposed to get off work at midnight, Friday night. The station where he was working is over an hour away, so I did not expect him home until 1:30 at the earliest. So at eleven, I decided to take a nice bubble bath and finish The End. I finished at about twelve. All I can say is "WOW!" I'm not usually surprised by movies or books anymore (too much Alfred Hitchcock), but this one left me with my mouth hanging open and crying for characters I never thought I would!
After that, I laid there, digesting it all. At 12:30 the phone rang. I figured it was Jymi, calling to let me know he was on his way home, knowing I would be going to bed soon. It was Latonya, his work partner. She called because Jymi asked her to let me know what was going on. Jymi had been contaminated, and he had to take a shower before he could leave. She assured me that he was fine, but they were going to be late, because there was no way of telling how long it would take to decontaminate him. Well, that sacred the hell out of me, and I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep until I knew Jymi was home. At one, he called me and said they were going to eat at Waffle House, and then come home. I couldn't concentrate enough to do anything until Jymi got home okay at 2:30. They had one more scare on the way home (Jymi rode with Latonya, and another guy, Joe). On the interstate, the almost hit a deer. It was Jymi, in the backseat, who pointed it out to the driver, who almost missed it (or not, depending on how you look at it)! They did all get home safely eventually.
Saturday, Latonya and another woman Jymi works with, and I went to breakfast and shopping. We had a great time. I got a new sweater to wear when Jymi and I went out and some stuff for the boys. Tobi needed some jeans and a jacket. They also had Doodle Monsters for eight dollars a piece. The boys have really wanted one of these, so I got them each one. I'm thinking of going back and getting one for Chris, too. I got home and took the boys to my mom's, who had Alcatraz bears for them from her visit last week to California. Jymi and I went to dinner, which was nice. After that, we went to the bookstore to buy my mom's birthday present. I wish I had a picture of Jymi's face when I told him I wanted to get my mom The Happy Hooker for her birthday. Jymi also bought me Wicked, because I'd wanted it for a while, and it was on sale. Then Jymi suggested we go to Pineville. It was fine with me, and we ended up going to Best Buy, because it was the only one in the area that carries Ghost Hunters Season 2, which Jymi wanted. We ended the evening by going to see Man Of The Year. It was very good! Laugh out loud funny, and at the same time pretty scary.
Sunday Jymi didn't feel well, so we didn't go to the Renaissance Festival. After lunch, I went to pick up the boys. When I got home, Jymi said he had to go to the store, and he wouldn't tell me why. He asked me to be out side when he got home. I asked if what he was getting would make me mad, and he said I would be sad. So I sit on the front porch, with all kinds of horrible things going through my mind. He came home with cigarettes, and I started yelling at him. He stopped me, and told me his unit called while I was gone. They are going to Iraq in the spring.
I cannot think of any kind of torture that could hurt more than this. Giving birth was less painful than this, and I've had both a C-section and a completely drug free birth. What are the boys going to think when Daddy leaves again? He's going to miss their birthdays and holidays. He'll miss Tobi's first day of school, and probably Darin's, too. What if the worst should happen? The boys are still so little, I don't think they'd remember him. Jymi doesn't want to tell his family until after his next drill in a couple weeks, but I don't think I can wait that long until I tell my mom or my sister. I'll need someone to talk to and cry on before then.
Needless to say, I haven't gotten much stitching done this busy weekend. It seems like everyone else gets the most stitching time on weekends, but I have to do most of my weekly errands when Jymi's home for the weekend. I did get some work done on my model last night, but I did have to stop and cry again. It seemed like everything I had recorded was about the military or people getting shot. I went to bed at one, and laid their and prayed for Jymi to be okay for at least another hour before falling asleep. It's not really surprising that I had nightmares for most of the night. Jymi woke me when he left to kiss me goodbye, and I turned on cartoons to take my mind off all the horrible thoughts that kept going through my head. So much for our wonderful weekend.

SBQ

2006-11-03T13:35:00.000-05:00

Time for this week's SBQ! How did you decide on the title of your stitching blog? Was it random, or does it have a special meaning to you or about you? I got it from an episode of Jimmy Neutron on Nickelodeon. I don't remember exactly what happened, but for some reason Carl (the fat boy with glasses and a strange obsession with llamas) yelled, "Stop the world! I want to get off!" It always stuck in my head, especially on those days when everything seems to be crashing around me. So when I decided to start a blog to show my stitching and vent about my strange children, it made sense. It's a place for me to organize my thoughts and keep track of my stitching progress. So this is where I go when I get off the world. It has helped me to relieve some stress. There are not nearly as many days where Jymi comes home and I lock myself in the bedroom cause I need a break.
The model is coming along great! I love it! I worked on my ornament one day. I'm so into the model now though, that I can't put it down.
The money situation is still improving. Yesterday, though we somehow got $200 in our savings account that wasn't ours. I called the bank today, and they've figured out the problem. It was just a typo when they were depositing the money, and it got put in the wrong account. They said they would take care of it, but it's still there. Hopefully they'll get it all worked out quickly. Someone probably needs that money.
Jymi's working extra today, doing lead. I'm not exactly sure what that means, but they pay him about time and a half for straight lead pay, and time and a half from that for overtime. So he ends up making a little over twice as much as his normal pay. Today, he's working for noon to midnight, with a two hour orientation first. He also gets two days per diem. I'm not sure why, but I'm not gonna argue! What are we doing with all this extra money? Nothing too interesting. Most of it's going to pay back my mom and/or bills.
We are going out this weekend with some of it, though. My mom agreed to watch the boys overnight Saturday so Jymi and I could celebrate! Sunday will be our two year anniversary. Saturday night, Jymi and I are doing our usual night out. We'll go to dinner, probably at Applebee's, then to a movie. After that, the bookstore, and then Blockbuster, to get another movie to watch. I'm going shopping with some of the women he works with, so I may get something new to wear. It will be a little awkward, as I don't know most of them very well, and I will be the youngest. Most of them have children my age. When his partner asked if I wanted to go, though, I couldn't say no. As Jymi told her, I never turn down an invitation to go shopping!
Sunday, we are going to the Renaissance Festival! Neither of us have been in about seven years. We never seem to have the money or the time. Especially if we want to take he boys. It's just going to be the two of though. I can't wait! This is looking like it's oing to be a wonderful weekend! The only thing I'm worried about is I probably should've mentioned to my mom that the boys haven't adjusted to the time change yet, and are getting up at 5:30. After this weekend, she may never be willing to babysit again!

October Accomplishments And November Goals

2006-11-01T09:24:00.000-05:00

Tobi was very sweet while trick-or-treating! We went with Jymi's little sister, Kristi (12), her friend (also 12), and her friend's brother (about 6 or 7).
One house had a guy in a Michael Myers mask who was perfectly still until he decided to scare someone. My boys went and trick-or-treated at the house, and Kristi went and stood right in front of Michael Myers man and said, "If he moves, I'm gonna scream!" (He was very good, you really had to watch to tell whether or not he was real). So when she left, he picked her to scare. She kinda asked for it.
All he did was move just a little when she walked by, and scared the heck out of her! She ran to her mom crying, saying she didn't want to trick-or-treat anymore. Jymi's dad told the man off for scaring the little kids, which I don't agree with. He didn't scare the LITTLE kids. He didn't make a move when it was Tobi , Darin (3), and the friend's brother. He scared the twelve-yaer-olds. But Tobi went with him when he did it, and stood on foot from Michael Myers, shook his finger at him, and said, "It's not funny!" in a very authorative way. The he went to Kristi and gave her hug, and said, "Are you okay Aunt Kwissy?" At the next house, he held her hand up the driveway, just in case she got scared again! I was so proud of him! Everyone loved his costume, and remarked that he looked just like Harry Potter. Darin was very cute, too! He would only put them head hood on to roar at people. When we stopped at Jymi's parents' house, one of their dogs freaked out. This was her first Halloween, and she han't seen us since July, so when this short, green person with a tail showed up, she had a fit. She got used to Jymi, Tobi, and I very quickly, but she barked at Darin for an hour. Once Darin came to show me something, with his back to the dog. So she bit his tail. I don't if she thought she was dominant, or realized it was fake, or what, but after that she was okay with Darin. I didn't get a chance to take pictures, or I'd post them. They had alot of fun!
Now for my goals. My goals in October were work on any models I get, and stitch on Tobi's stocking. I've done both of those! I stitch two sets of models (four fobs per set). The one on the left is called Fiber Fobs, and the one on the right is Fab Fobs. I've also started my ornament for the exchange, and finished part 2 of my Persian Iris Garden, just in time to get part 7! I also finished An Arm And A Leg, except for the buttons, and I ornamentified that and my two Snowfights. Not bad.
My goals for November are to finsh my ornament for the exchange and work on my model. I doubt I'll have time for anything else this month. If I do, I'll probably start Kitty Love. I got the chart and most of the silks needed as payment for the two sets of fobs. I still need one more color, but I can start it as soon as I have time. I do want to have it done in time for Valentine's Day. I've already done the first two.