2013 in 60 seconds

I'm still alive!

My friend Shawn came for a visit from Chicago, one of the things we did was go on a bike tour of Coronado Island.  Total blast, and a bit of a cheat since we had electric bikes (but I swear I barely used the battery).

I got serious about losing weight and participated in a medical study through the VA.  Part of it involved having genetic testing done to link my genes to an "ideal" diet.  I can officially say I have the fat gene.  Despite what a lot of people would like, its actually fairly rare.  By the way, my ideal diet is low carb (30% fat, 30% protein, 40% carb).  Lean meat, veggies and Greek yogurt are my friends now.  Oh, and I'm down 25 pounds (it was almost 30 before the holiday season struck).

I went to my first ever pro football game, 2 actually (pre-season) and had a blast.

Managed to hook up with my college roommate that lives less than a mile from the house.  How's that for coincidence?  We've been having fun and I get to spoil her kids like an Auntie.

She hosted a Halloween party and I sort of dressed up.

I took up a new sport/hobby - paddle boarding!  Totally love it.  Even better I love the San Diego weather that allows me to go paddle boarding on Boxing Day (December 26 for the non-Anglophiles).

There was a single stitching exchange with Parsley.  She sent me a gorgeous gold box and tons of extra goodies.  She knows I love to cook, so included some cookbooks.

I chose to stitch a covered shadow box, borrowing design inspiration from Blackbird Designs, and using pattern elements from Blue Ribbon Designs.

I had some other stitching finishes as well

The last two are part of a larger project - a collage.  I borrowed inspiration from Gigi's large sheets she stitches.  I was getting tired of having a bunch of small pieces.  You can only  have so many pillows and framing gets expensive, not to mention running out of wall space.

Christmas snuck up faster than usual, and then was gone in a blink of an eye.  Jim, Mary Lou and the goldens came out as usual.  Buddy (on the left) is their newest rescue, and he's a mix, there's definitely some hound in him.  Holly (on the right) is a playful as usual, despite getting up there in years.

I found out Annie is a total ham when it comes to taking pictures.  I was trying to get the settings right on my DSLR and she had fun posing for me. No, the settings weren't correct for this shot, its over exposed!

Mom even got me to eat turkey this year.  I enjoyed the duck I cooked for Christmas Eve much better, but never got a snap of it.

And probably the highlight of the season for me was getting my picture taken with Santa.  I was bundled up in a ton of layers, we were at a members-only event on the Midway to watch the Parade of Lights (various boats decorated for the holiday cruise the bay in an aquatic parade).

Uncle Greg and his daughter Delaney came down for a visit after Christmas.  Delaney is severely handicapped and has the most wonderful companion dog, Breona.  Unfortunately she's getting up there in years.

Hoping everyone has a joyful and blessed 2014!

Super Ninja-Quick post

September has been a crazy month for me, and its not over yet.  It started out with a trip up to the LA area, to meet up with a group of Southern California stitchers.  It was my first time meeting them, and it was a very enjoyable day of stitching and chatting.

I combined that trip with a short RV-camping trip with my parents.  They were on their way up to Oregon for my dad's 50th high school reunion, but they started out by staying for a few nights at Seal Beach.  While we were there, we visited the Getty Center, the Getty Villa in Malibu, the Queen Mary, and the Aquarium of the Pacific.  I then got to drive back down to San Diego where Princess Annie and I got the house too ourselves for a few days.

A friend came out from Chicago to stay for a long weekend and of course I jam-packed the time with fun things to do.  A tour of the Midway, a wine-tasting walking tour in Temecula, an evening of dining at the La Mesa food truck gathering, and of course a trip to the zoo.

Another few days alone, then the parents get back from their trip and I immediately leave for a drive up to Ogden and Park City, UT.  Yep, the Shepherd's Bush Retreat.  I've been looking forward to this for ages, and had budgeted my pennies for it.

Anyway, I'm slowly getting the hundreds of pictures I've taken the last few weeks organized, and needed to post about an exchange I participated in earlier this summer.  It was my first exchange with Stitched With Love Exchanges, and I really enjoyed it.

I received a lovely pillow from Loretta, who obviously paid very close attention to my profile sent out with the exchange information.  She stitched my a Blackbird Designs pattern (one of my favorite designers) in red (my favorite color).  Lots of other goodies were included, and I can't wait to try the Carrie's Creation's silk she put in the package.

I stitched Summer Splendor by LHN for Cherise, since that was one of her favorite designers, but I brightened up the colors a bit since one of her dislikes was "dull" colors.  I finished it into a small stitchers tray, and also included a coordinating crushed walnut pin cushion and fob, using motifs from the design.

LHN Summer Splendor, stitched on 36 ct linen with assorted overdyed floss;
 finished as a stitchers tray with coordinating accessories

Hopefully soon I'll get some pictures posted from the various outings, or at least uploaded to a public album.  The jaguar babies at the zoo are so adorable, and one of them was being very adventurous while we were there.

Somewhere in all this madness I've been doing stitching for an Animal Antics exchange, 2 Halloween exchanges, and working on the 3 packages for my blogoversary winners.  Oh, and of course school too.  I'll probably spend all of October posting pics and catching up from what I did in September.

Theme-a-licious

Heather came up with a great way to keep us from getting bored with out stitching in 2012, called Theme-a-licious.  Each month has a different theme.  I decided I'd play along as much as possible and try to fit it in with my other planned stitching.  There are definitely going to be some repeats from month to month, and some of it might even be stretching it a bit.

For Jardin January we were supposed to work on anything with flowers or gardens in it.  First up is Poinsettia House.  Nope, didn't get a finish in on this like I hoped, but I have a valid reason.  More about that later.  Close, but not quite, and its not getting done tonight, I'm exhausted.

Next up is my Halloween Rules.  I stopped working on this about a week ago, but I got enough of that sunflower stitched that I'm counting it!  Yeah, yeah, its stretching the whole jardin theme a bit, but I warned you.

Its been a very busy day, starting off with a phone call letting me know grandma had taken an ambulance ride to the emergency room during the night.  Mom and Dad were supposed to come back from their camping trip anyway, but to make matters worse, Dad is sick with food poisoning (we think).  Mom has a tendency to keep foot just a bit too long, and Dad just can't say no to cilantro lime shrimp from Costco.  He's paying for it now.  This would explain why why I err on the side of caution when it comes to cleaning out the fridge.

Anyway, back to grandma.  She ended up getting admitted to the hospital (which is a good thing) and I found my way over to it to visit and make sure everything was ok.  Now I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to kill off my grandmother, but the lady is 92 years old; so one of the top priorities was to ensure the medical staff know she has a DNR (do not resuscitate) order, and to NOT give her a stress test for her heart.  They just cause more harm than its worth.

She seems to be doing ok, other than not being able to breathe without oxygen and tiring very easily.  About this time last year she was admitted with congestive heart failure and we thought that was the end.  She pulled through like the fighter she is, but I don't think this is the same thing.  First off, she's talking much easier than last time, and doesn't have the same swelling.  The suspicion is a blood clot from her legs worked its way up to her heart or lungs.  Of course being admitted on a Sat night/Sun morning means medical staff is at a low, so I don't think we'll find much out until Monday.

By the time I got home from the hospital, a trip to Trader Joe's and the Costco Zoo, the motorhome was parked in the driveway.  So much for my plans to cook a surprise birthday dinner for my mother, with a lemon cake for dessert, much less finish Poinsettia House.  She got Costco rotisserie chicken.  I did make her some Lemon Olive Oil cake while she was out visiting grandma this evening.  I omitted sprinkling the extra sugar on the top before baking.  Technically these are lime cakes, since we get really great limes from the neighbor's tree.

As you can see by this picture, they're pretty darn tasty and the glaze just puts them over the top.  Again, I just used the lime I grated the zest from.  The limes are so ripe and mild, they look like lemons, and taste pretty close.  Mom was going for another slice when I had to remind her she has the weekly family weigh in tomorrow morning.  She put the knife back down.  I'll wrap some of these up and give to the neighbors, since this household is supposed to be on a diet.  Poor Shepherd's Bush, they got used to getting my baking, but I think driving 750 miles to drop these off is a bit far.

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!