I survived! And even passed - the first exam at least - so I can take the class this spring and the midterm went just fine. I at least got a B so I'm sure I passed. Now just 2 more homework assignments and a final in that class and I'll be done with 2/8 classes towards my masters :)

So tonight I'm looking forward to some sewing! I'm going to start the applique on block 3 so I don't feel guilty this weekend starting to piece block 4 if i have time. Also my stitching bits and bobs order finally got mailed so I'll have my Whisper thread to finish Peace and Quiet soon so I hope to get back to that piece and maybe finish that this month coming month... now let's end with a review of october's goals:

October Goals:

1) Piece and embroider BOM 2 [DONE!!!]
2) Work on Peaceful Silhouette [hmm.. don't think so...]
3) Work on Peace and Quiet - finish tub and start shelf/towel hanger [Oh yes - finished all stitching except for towels and backstitching!]
4) Make something for oldest cousin's birthday [well i didn't make anything but got her something :)]
[that was easy - i also pieced block 3 of Leanne's Quilt]

I survived - and I'm almost ready for my exams. What a long day yesterday!

I got all the midterm studying done nice and early (by 4) yesterday and then took a short break before starting back on learning LISP/Scheme. Well it was a long night and the more I worked on it the less I felt comfortable about the Scheme test. I decided to go through as much as I could of the "Little Schemer" book - 130 pages and then back to the problems to see if I could do them... well I didn't make more progress on the problems (at this point it was 10:30 and I was tired and frustrated). So I went to bed. So where am I at?

Well today at lunch I will pull out the problems and try to feel comfortable with a few more of them. Then I leave work at 3:30 - my exam is at 4:30-5. That gives 5-6 to go over my study notes and assignments for my midterm and my midterm is 6-7:30.
Unfortunately my night doesn't end there, then we have lecture 7:30-9 before I get to go home and sleep. Let me tell you - there will be NO MORE school work until next monday when I go to class again - that's for sure (of course i have nothing due so it just works out that way). Oh i can't wait!
I guess it's still going to be a long day. I really don't miss undergrad days!

I'm still alive and studying! I made great progress last night, we took a break and watched some ER episodes and then I stayed up from 12-1:30 working on the LISP practice problems chapter I had to read.

Today I'm back to the grind, trying to go through the last two lecture notes and readings (about 40 pages of reading to go in one chapter and then the last -hopefully shorter-chapter after that). Then it's back to LISP practice problems.

I'm trying to think of a nice treat to myself when I finish up my midterm studying before going back to LISP, i think i've decided on one tv show episode. I won't pull out stitching but maybe i'll cut out my applique pieces for block 3 and start getting those ready while I watch... we'll see.

Oh i loved getting the extra hour of sleep last night - and i hope it helps me get up early tomorrow since i have to leave work early.

Carol's got this great fabric selling spree going - it makes me realize I should go through my bin of fabric and think about selling some of the ones I get that I'm not in love with. I always wonder though "what if something just perfect comes along for this" :) I have a few items I've been meaning to sell on Ebay as well and I have not yet figured out how to do that.. i may have to look into it soon.

Thank you everyone for the encouraging comments :) The studying is going well. I didn't get as much done last night as I had planned but really it wasn't realistic planning to do the same amount friday night as saturday.

Today I made up for it and I'm almost all caught up with my plan, just have to get back to learning Lisp and see how much I need to do tomorrow to feel good about that exam. The midterm i'm 3/4 done studying - so with tomorrow I will get that all finishe up.

I had a nice lunch break with a friend today, evidently it's comfort food weekend for me, I had some chocolate chip cookies (break and bake) and grilled cheese sandwiches. Then for dinner I made french toast with milk - yummy! If i finish up by 9 I'm treating myself to some ice cream while watching some ER with my sweety. That all depends on if i can get myself back to the grind for another hour - ugg!

Happy Halloween (almost):


That was my pumpkin carving from last sunday - oh what fun it was :)
Well I managed to finish the chapters of the LISP book I had planned. Tonight I will start on studying for my midterm and tomorrow and sunday will be a mixture of both. I think i can handle this - i have a checklist of things to do get done, if i stick to that i should be golden :) going to be a long weekend. But first i have to get through today - working till 5 today - onlly 4 1/2 hours to go !

Ack I forgot my pictures - i'll post them tomorrow - they're off my pumpkin nice and carved :)

Last night was rough, I found out that not only do I have my midterm monday but I have another exam on monday which will determine whether I can take a class this spring or not. That's one weekend to study for two exams! Needless to say it will be a busy weekend with no stitching and I will so be looking forward to next friday - i think i'm going to the gathering with my aunt that day (still have to confirm).

Looks like i'm working from home tomorrow which will save me some driving time, if i can work a good 9 hours straight, maybe get a run in at lunch time, then switch gears to studying I think I'll be on track for the weekend.

My goal is -
Tonight - finish chapter 1 and 4 of lisp book for refresher
Friday night - read through Lectures 1 and 2 and book assignments relating
Saturday - read through lectures 3 and 4 and book assignments,
- Read as much in Little Schemer as I can
Sunday - read through lectures 5 and 6 and book assignments,
- finish all prep work for scheme exam
- go through class homework assignments and prepare
Sounds reasonable, if I give myself a good lunch break to run each day I might even survive :) I definitely don't miss undergrad right now!

I spent way too much yesterday - but it was much needed. I got two new space heaters to help with the heating of the apartment to keep our oil cost low (we'll see how much it raises the electricity) but I really hate that the oil heat heats the wrong areas of the apartment - for instance - one of the heaters is right by the fridge - really - so the cost to keep the fridge cool goes up and who needs heat way over there anyway???

Plus we only need either the bedroom and livingroom warm or the livingroom and diningroom/kitchen, so getting moveable heaters should help. We'll keep one in the livingroom by the thermostat and keep the heat set to about 60 so the pipes don't freeze but hopefully when we're home and the electric heaters are on the oil heat won't kick on.

Plus i bought a new warm mist humidifier, i have a cool mist one from the last two years but i need a new filter and the warm mist one is filterless. I figure it can't hurt to have two, if i get a new filter i can put that one in the livingroom.

Didn't get any studying done last night - I did get things organized and put away and got to bed early but that's it. My dvd's are now back in alphabetical order (that was really bugging me) even if they are stacked because we ran out of shelf space at least they can be alphabetical :)

Tonight I will definitely study, oh man i just realized i didn't take anything out for dinner ... oops... i'll have to figure out something quick. Well work beckons...

When it rains it pours - such a true statement.

Well it looks like things will be quite busy for a while - busier than i had thought - but with the bad comes good as well so we'll see how it all works out in the end.

I won't get into details but the bad has to do with the class I have to take this spring, there's an exam I need to take as a prereq and I can't take the exam when it's offered - due to both time to study not being there and also just not being here for the exam.. nothing I can do about it. So we'll see where that all goes.

Class last night but I did some backstitching on Peace and Quiet. It's going to take a while to backstitch and I still have the towels to stitch but i'm still waiting on the Whisper thread - my order is backordered, not that i'm in a rush, i don't really have time to stitch anyway :)

So study tonight and wednesday. Thursday take the night off and stitch. Friday work on the website. Saturday and sunday, both study and work on the website and maybe work on my quilt block a bit - is that too optimistic? I wonder how i'm doing for my goals this month!

A very good weekend - after a horrible day friday - I'll skip the friday monologue - what a horrible day. But I did get some embroidery time and most of my homework finished friday and then last night I put the final embroidery stitches into Leanne's Quilt Block 2!:
Loving this block - but very glad it's over. Block 3 is applique heavy, but embroidery light, i have a feeling I'll be wishing for the embroidery when I'm busy appliqueing but for now i'm looking forward to it.

I also got some finishing done yesterday! I finally made the pyn pillow from Celebrations into a pyn pillow :)
And here it is from the side, with ribbon all around to hide the seam:
And the basket pin from Celebrations also finished up - this one was easy but cute and I'm glad to have it done now:
It was a packed weekend, Saturday was a day spent with friends, we went to a tea room for lunch and then shopping - both ACMoore and Joann's, I had a blast, then on my way home I stopped at a quilt shop and really got into the quilting mood again (got the stuffing for the pyn pillow too).
Sunday was a day to just get things done, I did laundry, finished homework, carved my pumpkin, made dinner, all those things I haven't done in so long :)
And now it's back to work - hopefully not as crazy as the last few weeks but definitely busy none the less. And class tonight - and next week is my midterm oh my!

Where did yesterday go? I was wondering the same thing, it was a long day working so no fun stuff got done but I still have fun pictures from this weekend to show and some good news:
Progress on block 2:

And here is block 3 pieced and ready to be appliqued:


So good news - My boyfriend got his job that he was hoping for :) We'll be moving to NH in May and he starts working Sept. to Sept. after taking the bar this summer. I'm very excited. It does mean he'll be doing the job search again a year from now - but for now we have some security :)

Well work is busy... i'll try to update the pic again tomorrow.

Short day at work with class tonight so no pictures - but tomorrow definitely as I actually do have something to show.

This weekend was great, we went down to Hartford to see the new baby born into the family, adorable :) Then we came back up and had my sister and her boyfriend over for the evening. Sunday we went to my cousin's birthday party up in NH and spent the day with family. Then in the evening I got to quilt a bit.

I pieced block 3 of Leanne's Quilt - so it's ready for the applique now (the applique pieces aren't cut but the rest of the block is pieced! Then I worked a little more on Block 2 embroidery in the car this weekend and I got mini block 3 finished and just started mini block 4 which has a TON of embroidery! I will continue to work on that this week if I have time and maybe get it done by the end of the month.

Class tonight, tomorrow night I have to work late and then do homework, wednesday homework, thursday homework... etc. I'm hoping to get the homework done some time friday and enjoy the weekend.. plus there's always that website!

What day is it? Is it the weekend yet .. i am so exhausted!

Well I did get to go to stitch last night, it was a small group and I didn't get there until 7:30 but leaving work at 6:30 when you got in at 7 and had no lunch break is just killer. I stitch a tiny bit - filling in that tub on Peace and Quiet. I won't post a pic until I have more progress than that at least. Maybe I'll see if i can work on that at lunch today - lunch - hah!

Tonight might be a late night at work - we'll see, then i have some shopping to do and then the bathtub is calling my name with a good book (Dragonsong) to join me. Tomorrow it looks like we're driving down to Hartford for the morning, then coming back up and having my sister and her boyfriend over for the night, then sunday going up to NH for the day. Looks like a lot of driving, if I can be the passenger maybe I can get some stitching done! Always trying to look on the bright side.

Oh and my boyfriend just had an interview for a job he *really* wants next year (after he graduates law school) so please keep your fingers crossed for him, he's not having the best luck but this one he really really wants and it would be very good for his career (it's only a year long job)... The interview seemed to go very well so I'm really hoping he gets it ...

Allergies are attacking - don't know why but it's going to be a long morning!

So I was the last person at work last night, closing up, and this morning I opened being the first - that's just wrong! I got no sewing/stitching done last night - i was too tired, by the time I got to my uncle's, had dinner and helped clean up it was almost bed time. We watched the dvr'd Gilmore Girls and then I read a bit... still continuing the Ann McCaffrey series, I finished the first trilogy and I'm on the first book of the second trilogy (Dragonsong). Love these books!

Tonight is stitch night - I just can't miss it, I most likely will be late but that's better than nothing and maybe I'll get to work on Peace and Quiet a little...

Ugg... sneeze .. .. wish I was sleeping right now!

A picture a day ... :) I like when I have progress to show... here is the embroidery and applique for Block 2 mini blocks 1 and 2 finished:

Tonight I hope to work on mini block 3 (the rectangle to the left) and then all the tan fabric on the 4th mini block is embroidered .. that will take a while!

But I've decided this Friday, after work, after shopping for birthday gifts (for my cousin), I will then work on piecing the third block and get that ready for applique. Saturday I will split between working on the website and working on these blocks and sunday I have a birthday party to go to but maybe I can get some work on these done as well.

I did work on the website last night - just figuring out an estimate. I haven't talked to the owner, she wasn't home last night but hopefully today or tomorrow we can get in touch so I can get started on saturday.
Well lots of meetings today so I must get to some work before they start.. oh and yoga day!

Doing better - here's my updated Peace and Quiet Please pic:

As you can see, besides the towels (one in the baseket and two hanging), I just have to fill in the rest of the tub and stitch one more bubble.. then backstitch! There's a lot of backstitching but it should be enjoyable.

Last night I worked on Leanne's Quilt Block 2 some, I appliqued the 3 hearts and finished the embroider on mini block 1, and started it on mini block 2. I think mini block 4 will take the longest but I have it all traced out now so I'll just keep plugging away this week. Block 3 doesn't have nearly as much embroidery, just a lot of applique, so it will be a nice change of pace and I hope to get that block pieced maybe this weekend so I can just continue on making progress.

Today I absolutely have to call the owner of the new website and get that rolling along, i'm spanning time saturday for working on the site before my class on monday and homework to do... The next 2 weeks (after this week) look bad .. The 16-23 I have a homework assignment due, maybe I can finish that friday night again like the last assignment since that weekend is a friend's birthday and concert. Then the 23-30 I have to study for my midterm - oh joy! Then I get a week off (which includes my sister's birthday) before the next homework goes out... I can do this, i can do this....
and now i must work :)

A little something done...

Sunday morning I finished piecing block two of leanne's quilt... now to get to all that embroidery! I'm actually very pleased with the fourth mini block, the points all came out okay! I will soon be receiving block 4 so I need to finish this block up and do block 3 still!

Also this weekend, saturday night, I worked on Peace and Quiet some more, I'm almost done with all the cross stitches, mostly waiting on the Wisper thread for the towels and still have 1 bubble to stitch. PLUS all the backstitching - so it will take a while but it feels good to be so far.

We went apple picking this weekend - and sunday i did some baking, I baked 3 apple pies, plus I made 2 and froze them. Then i made a big batch of apple sauce and i still have apples left over .. it's insane. The thought of apples is making me sick right now :)

I didn't manage to squeeze in time on the new website but I have no class tonight so I'm hoping to work on that tonight. With no class I still have no homework, so any fun stuff must be sqeezed in this week before my next class when my life ends all over again :)

Tomorrow I will update the Peace and Quiet photo!

Not much progress but I worked on the sky a bit lately and I'm almost over to the other side now (probably 30 stitches away or so). Here's my Peaceful Silhouette update from my lunch breaks (2 this week):


Last night was stitch night but I didn't really get to enjoy it... traffic was bad and i left work late, finally getting home at 6:30 (stitch is 6-9) i grabbed my stuff and headed over to stitch to show my newly framed pieces (from a few weeks ago). I only stayed about 20 minutes, then I picked up dinner on the way home to spend a little time with my boyfriend and get some work done.
We decided to pop in Serenity - ah i love that movie :) And since my work vpn was actually down I ended up stitching a bit :) I worked on Peace and Quiet - getting the bubbles on the right hand side done and starting the shelf. I now have exactly 1 bubble left to stitch and the shelf and towel hanger. This piece really does go fast.

Tonight my goal is to piece the rest of Block 2 of Leanne's quilt and get it ready to embroider, then work on the website research a bit so I can call the site owner this weekend. Apple picking this weekend, then making apple sauce and a couple of apple pies - yummy!

A real homework free night!
Not that I stitched, but I did get to watch a movie while doing some research for this new website I've decided to take on and I think the website won't be so bad, there's lots of free shopping cart options and since I can modify them I at least don't have to start from scratch :)

Here's my update from monday night stitching on Peaceful Silhouette:


On the left all I'm missing is a towel in the basket stitched in Whisper but I'm waiting for my SB&B order for the whisper which I ordered in blue because i thought that would look nice. Then tonight I'll finish filling in the tub and start on the shelf up to the right of the tub and the towel hanger. I should have this piece finished by the end of november maybe. I'm not starting new projects because of my class but finishing things up would be nice!

Ah - and Tuesday night - I started piecing Leanne's Quilt Block 2 finally, I got mini blocks 1-3 all pieced, I'm hoping friday night to piece mini block 4 so I can start on the embroidery for it. Maybe I should also start piecing Block 3 if I find any free time...
Looks like apple picking this weekend in NH? THen making some apple sauce?? Going to be a possibly busy weekend but fun at least!

2 weeks off...

I had class last night, got a little stitching done before class while waiting for it to start. Working on Peace and Quiet and I'll post an update photo tomorrow maybe. With stitch night this week I should be able to finish the tub so I'm starting the shelf above the dragon now I think.

I have no class next week and no homework for the next 2 weeks so I get a bit of a break, i could do some reading, I may try to catch up on reading the sections that correspond to the lectures but it's not required so we'll see how busy this weekend is.

It looks like I might be starting up a new "part time" job working on another website, I don't know that i have time free for this but I'm looking forward to the challenge and I could really use the money with christmas coming up. So I may have even LESS time for stitching than I had hoped, we will see...
Alright back to work, we just had an ice cream social at work today and i'm feeling very tired after stuffing myself with toppings - all healthy of course :)

October Goals:

1) Piece and embroider BOM 2
2) Work on Peaceful Silhouette
3) Work on Peace and Quiet - finish tub and start shelf/towel hanger
4) Make something for oldest cousin's birthday

Unfortunately i have to leave it at that as I don't anticipate a lot of free time this month :(

September recap:
1) Finish BOM 2 (quilt) [nope - not started!]
2) Work on Peaceful Silhouette (finish posts/bird) [yup!]
3) Work on Peace and Quiet (finish tub) [worked on - tub isn't finished but I made the same amount of progress]
4) Work on Celtic Banner (finish through 'u') [still at 'o']
5) Make princess dress for cousin's birthday [yup!]

So not great but my class really is taking a lot of time and the next 2 weeks i should get a bit of a break before the third hw assignment and then midterm!

now to figure out october goals...