My stitching sister

You probably don't know, but Terri is my stitching sister.  We share very similar backgrounds - both of us were in the Air Force, we're both accident prone, we both have ankle issues, we're both going through graduate school, and most importantly, we both love to stitch.

Out of the blue a package arrived yesterday.  I wasn't expecting anything, so I was totally blown away when I opened it and kept pulling out item after item.  Terri had chosen to surprise me with the most adorable Easter bunny stitched over 1, and all sorts of other goodies.

You might notice 2 of the chocolates are missing.  Both parents were hovering as I opened the package, and chocolate was immediately consumed.

Terri - thank you so much for spoiling me!  Random surprises are the absolute best!

A few weeks ago I posted about a new blog, The Snowflake Diaries, and an adorable freebie on it.  I chose to go out of my normal comfort zone of 36 or 40 count linen and stitch on 28 gingham.  For some reason the pale green gingham screamed Spring! to me and seemed perfect for this design.  I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to be brave enough to sew this into an egg-shaped pillow, or if I'm going to try and find an oval frame.

Spring Bunny Love, stitched on 28 ct gingham with
Nina's Threads (slightly altered from charted colors)

Several months ago I posted about having artificial turf put in the back yard.  I thought I was going to hate it, but I have to admit, I love it.  I never did take a true "before" picture.  The one below is after we'd spent several days pulling up plants and cutting out bushes.  Its hard to see, but what's left in this picture are the root balls of about 40 bushes.  I spent an hour trying to dig one out without any progress.  The easiest solution was to rent a stump grinder for half a day to grind them out.  Dad was done in about 90 minutes.

And here's the after pictures.  The yard is just so open now, doesn't look like a total overgrown mess (only partly overgrown now).  Annie has gotten used to it, and we have a great area for me to throw a ball for her.  We're still working on the part of her bringing it back and dropping it for another throw.  She thinks the game is for me to chase her to get the ball.

MIA Blogger

Yeah, yeah, I've been MIA both from posting and reading/commenting.  Luckily that doesn't mean I no stitching either.  Not a lot done in the past few weeks, but some.

Last month a fellow blogger (a very generous one I want to add) was kind enough to remember from my rant the end of November that I liked the new CCN Cottages series, but wasn't going to be purchasing them.  Kris very kindly offered to gift me with her patterns as she finished them.  The one condition is that I must gift them to someone else once I'm finished.

I held off starting on January for a few weeks, since I have so many other WIPs begging for attention, but I couldn't hold out forever.  I had a picture in my mind of exactly what silk flosses in my stash I wanted to use.

Once January was complete it was just too easy to continue onto February.  Again, I converted this to silk floss from my stash, using a more muted and dusty palette.  Both are stitched on 38 count Natural Gander linen.

On a side note, Kris is going through a rough time right now, with a family member having some medical issues.  This is very similar to what I was facing a month ago with my grandmother, so please keep her in your thoughts, or even stop by her blog to offer up some good wishes.

For the non-stitchy news, I've been pretty busy.  The weight loss goal has turned into 2 personal training sessions, 4 spin classes, and 2 water aerobics classes per week, and sometimes some yoga classes thrown in.  Princess Annie (the dog) is getting walked twice a day, with some of those walks being 3+ miles on hilly terrain.  I'm still not losing much weight.  It almost looked like I had an under-active thyroid, but more extensive testing came back normal.  Damnit.

I got diagnosed with arthritis in my spine, so add in 2 physical therapy sessions each week.

Dad went to the ER again, for back pain.  6 hours and an MRI later we got sent home with directions to follow-up with his spine surgeon.  They admitted that any other person would have been admitted for surgery right then and there, but since his MRI from a year ago didn't show further deterioration, they were sending him home.  Moral of the story - he should have gotten the third surgery a year ago when they suggested it.  Now he's having to find a way to live with the pain 30 days before taking off on a 40 day cruise.  Listen to your doctors!

Somewhere between the fitness, ER trips, and doctor's appointments, I've managed to work on my MBA.  Not as much as I'd have liked, but I turned in my first assignment and I'm working on my second.  Hopefully things will quiet down soon.

Procrastination...

...will kill me every time.  I'm the Queen of procrastination, and it really bit me in the ass this time.  About a week ago I received a fantastic surprise in the mail from Myra.  I was the very lucky recipient of one of her sewn project bags.  She picked out totally adorable Halloween fabric, making it perfect for the Halloween rules project we're doing as a SAL together (and no, I haven't stitched on it for a month).

The procrastination bit comes in that I didn't do the right thing and immediately get my tush up to the computer and send her an e-mail thank you that night.  The next morning my internet woes started.  To make matters worse, I never even thought to send her a hand-written thank you through snail mail until the day I got internet back.  How quickly I forget some of the rules of politeness my mother raised me with.  Now imagine the guilt I felt when I finally did get internet back, and before I could even send that e-mail thank you out, there's a very concerned email from Myra wondering if I was ok, since I had dropped out of blog-land for a while.

Anyway, she's forgiven me (I think), life is getting better, just hectic, and I'm trying to solve my time-management problems (I probably never will).  Lots of updating to do in this post.

WIPocalypse is due today (thank you so much to Measi for the lovely e-mail reminder, I'd totally spaced out on the moon date).  I don't have too much to show on that.  No real progress on Halloween Rules since you last saw it for Theme-a-licious.  My primary focus has been on Christmas Garden (my BAP challenge piece).  Crappy picture, both for the colors and the wrinkles, but I'm lazy and don't iron my pieces just for pictures.

My January wrap-up for Theme-a-licious was due a week ago (eep!), and I'm just going to say, look at the picture above!  The theme was gardens and flowers, and I think Christmas Garden fits perfectly.  I also got a finish in of Poinsettia House, but no picture.  Right now its so dreary and overcast, it would be useless to try and take one.  I promise I'll post one once I actually get it finish-finished.  Oh, and then there was the partially stitched sunflower on Halloween Rules.

The theme for this month is Fangirl February - stitch on designs from your favorite designer.  I'm going to make it a BBD month, and tie it in with WIPocalypse and try to get some done on Anniversaries of the Heart, and more of Christmas Garden.

If I haven't been stitching, or surfing the web reading blogs, what the heck have I been up to?  I started classes for my MBA on Feb 1 (just in time for the internet to go wacky), and that's all online.  No spending hundreds of dollars on books, but I need an internet connection to read them online, they can't be downloaded.  I swear the first tuition check I get from the VA is getting spent on a tablet of some sort so I'm not tied to my damn computer.

I  joined a gym in January, and I've been getting into the routine of exercising.  Monday and Wednesday mornings I have a session with a personal trainer at 6 am (gasp!).  Mon, Wed, and Fri I do gentle Hatha yoga at 1 pm.  Tue and Thur is water aerobics (mom joins me for this), and scattered in there I do some extra cardio work.  I've been hitting the gym at least once a day, 6 days a week (I feel like I almost live there).  Despite all of this, and religiously logging what I eat and staying below my goal calorie count for the day, I seemed to have hit a plateau already.  In fact, I actually gained weight.  I'm trying to be optimistic and telling myself I'm getting muscle mass back (which weighs more than fat), but its hard.  Maybe I should just ignore the scale and just use the old stand-by of "how do the jeans fit."

Grandma.  In some ways she's doing better, in others a lot worse.  Last week when I showed up at her place to take her for the weekly hair appointment, I saw she'd forgotten to take not only her morning pills, but also the evening ones from the day before.  Mom and I decided to bring her home, so she's been with us for the last week.  Daily trips to her place and phone calls to remind her to take her pills and eat weren't enough.  There aren't any obvious signs of distress, she's not on oxygen, she's not incontinent, she doesn't wander off and get lost.  She's just tired all of the time, has absolutely no short-term memory, and has become an extremely picky eater - meaning she's not really eating anything and trying to survive on Vanilla Ensure drinks.  Grandma is having a tough time deciding who's bossier - me or my mother.  At least I sneak her small amounts of chocolate as rewards for various thing.  Yeah, I know, not the best for a diabetic, especially when that's one of the meds she had to quit taking due to kidney problems.  Its time for us to re-evaluate where she's living, the care she needs, and come up with a long-term solution.

Sorry I wrote a novel about so much personal stuff in what is supposed to be a stitching-focused blog.  There just seemed to be a lot to catch up on and explain why I dropped off the face of the earth.  I've got a little surprise planned, and some other great things to post about, once I get some more stitching finished.

Amazing mail day!

This morning was supposed to be hair day.  I haven't had my hair highlighted or cut in over 6 months, so it was way past due.  Well, when you decide to save money and go to a student for a full head of highlights, the morning turned into over 5 hours.  I can home tired, hungry, and just slightly cranky.  All of that went away when I saw the pile of bounty waiting at the front door.  Not to be totally greedy, 2 of the 4 packages were for mom, since its her birthday today.  I'll even let her open them when they get home from the camping trip!

First up was a box from Terri.  Back before Christmas I won a giveaway from her, and the prize was going to be a surprise.  I was definitely surprised.  And amazed.  And wowed, shocked, and almost cried.

For everyone that's having true winter weather, please don't hate me for opening the mail on the back patio, in the sunshine.  I'd actually enjoy a bit of winter and gladly trade places - for about a week!

I started in on the pile-o-pressies by opening the big daddy with the adorable twine.  Jackpot!

An amazing hinged box with a stitched top.  And look at the inside, incredible!

Sorry for the fob being upside down, but its stitched with an M on both sides, and filled with what feels like crushed walnut shells to give it some heft.

Lots and lots of extras were included.  Two different kinds of stitching fabric, two kinds of quilting fabric, some red ribbons for trim, needles, Godiva chocolate, monogrammed tissues!  And OMG, the charts!  Terri had asked me what I liked to stitch, and my response was I had eclectic tastes.  That's exactly what she sent me!  Two different reproduction samplers, an adorable Heart in Hand chart called Red Letter Day (she knew my favorite color is red), and a fantastic Ewe & Eye & Friends chart.  I have a few of the Primitive series by them, but never managed to find Primitive Star!  Totally amazing, she couldn't have picked out better stuff for me.

Next up was a box from Shepherd's Bush.  Hrmm, a box?  I thought all I was getting was an envelope with January Word Play, part 3 of Margaret Cottam, my Eggshell floss for 6 Fat Men, and my Christmas Garden chart.  Well, my friends at the Bush and my EGA chapter surprised me with some gifts.  It was like Christmas all over again, opening up the guild Christmas present and other surprises.

I cried when I opened up the BBD chart and saw a lot of the women had left me a message inside.  I really miss them.  Moving around so much I didn't make a lot of friends, but I made enough in Utah to make up for the lack in previous states.  I really miss the ladies, and its been hard adjusting to not being able to pop over to the Bush whenever I feel like chatting.  Not to mention those spur of the moment Wednesday evening calls inviting me out to dinner, or a place to take all my baked goods whenever I felt the urge to bake.

I've gotten a bit of stitching done this week.  Not as much as I'd hope, since this is supposed to be finished by Sunday.  Not sure if I'll make it.

LHN Poinsttia House, stitched over 1 on 28 ct evenweave,
my conversion to silk floss

Last January my mom had picked this chart out of my stash and put in her "wish list" pile.  Its chart I've always loved, and I came up with the bright idea of stitching it for her this week while she's gone as a birthday gift.  Unfortunately, between hair appointments (mine and grandma's), looking for a gym to join, finalizing my enrollment into my MBA program, Annie, household chores, and a plethora of other stuff, I haven't had as much stitching time as I thought.

Ok, enough time at the computer, Annie is complaining that its late, and we both should have eaten dinner an hour ago.  Thank you for stopping by!

Gift received

I was the winner of Catherine's giveaway and kept forgetting to take a picture of what she sent me.  Every single time I remembered, the camera was in another room, or it was an awful time of day with horrible lighting.  Finally, almost a week later, I got a snap.  I thought I was getting just the Chessie & Me chart, but there was a fantastic bonus in the envelope, overdyed floss needed to stitch the design!  Catherine, not only do I thank you, but my mother thanks you, and my own summer-time designs thank you since this means they get to stay with me and not migrate to mom's house.

It goes like this.
Mom:  Oh, that's a nice piece you're working on.
Me: Yep, I really like this one.
Mom:  I know the perfect place to hang it.
Me:  But, I was going to keep this for myself.
Mom:  But, I like it.
Me:  Just because you like it means I'm supposed to give it to you?
Mom:  Yes.

For 3 years I kept my Celtic Noel out of her hands.  Guess where it is now?  Its been on "loan" for 5 years.

This year mom spent a good portion of time at my house, helping me out after an ankle surgery (I couldn't walk for 7 weeks, and didn't drive for 8 weeks).  During that time she had a great time snooping exploring my house.  Is it really a hint when she dumps a stack of 20 charts on my bed next to me and says "I like these"?  And then adds, she doesn't have any patriotic stitched items, and she'd happily borrow one of mine until I got something stitched for her.  Borrow?  Yeah right.  To finally get to the end of the rambling, she's going to get this, and I get to keep my stuff.

I feel the need to add, she also tried to say she didn't have any autumn type stitched designs, then I had to remind her of at least 4 items I'd given her, either Halloween or Thanksgiving related.  I wonder which piece up in the loft she had her eye on.

This might sound like complaining, but I swear it isn't.  Its nice knowing she loves my work, and has a great appreciation of what goes into it.  If I gift her with a stitched piece, I know it won't end up in a garage sale or in a dumpster.  In fact, it took me over a year to convince her that yes, the biscournu really is meant to be used as a pincushion and she won't hurt it.

Despite what it may seem, I actually have been doing some stitching, just not really taking pictures.  However, Carol's iStitch SAL forces me to take pictures if I want the next part.  Here's my part 5.

iStitch Mystery SAL stitched on 35 ct WDW Grape Ice
with HDF Old Maid of the Vineyard

I still have no clue what I'm going to do with this, since its too big for the original intent, since the linen was mis-labeled.  Oh well, I'll figure it out later.  Hopefully I can take some more stitchy pictures later today, since I leave on a road trip tomorrow.