Designer Dreams

Would you or have you designed your own cross stitch design? If you have can we see it?

I have designed one piece - it was made into an ornament for my aunt who's a quilter, it was a christmas present last year. You can see the picture in my album under 2003 cross stitch, it's the small piece with houses and trees.

I enjoy stitching others' designs because I'm neither creative nor artistic, if I was I'd love to design but that's another story (i'd love to paint too, or write... ) but alas I'm a computer programmer, and my mind works like an engineer not an artist.

A long weekend... do I say that a lot?

Seriously though it was a long weekend. Friday night - hmm, don't remember friday night much, oh yea the boyfriend went out with friends (cancelling mall plans with me which messed me up big time driving wise because I was already stuck in traffic and passed the mall, so I got through the traffic, to turn around and be in more traffic (friday) - and got to the mall, walked the entire mall - couldn't find a single dress that fit me. Went home in a bad mood and starving (no dinner).

Got up saturday, relaxed a bit got ready, a bit rushed - but we got out of there around noon and with traffic back to ny around 3, where we eventually made it to the mall and I did find a dress, and got my hair cut. Then I dropped bf off with his friends and went to my parent's house to start laundry and fix their router problem. Then I joined bf at party and basically stood around for 6 hours, we got back to my parent's at 2 and slept in.

Sunday we got ready for the wedding, met up with friends, drove up to wedding, sat through wedding and left the reception before dinner started (bf was a little mad but i won't get into details - and it wasn't at me) so we had a LONG drive home through traffic and got home at 10! Yuck! And today it was up and to work. Tonight it will be go home, go grocery shopping, work on website. Not exactly something to look forward to but hey i'm going to the gym today and leaving at 4, that's pretty good! But alas I should start work now - and maybe some time this week i'll have stitching news, there's none for now!

Ah it's Friday! And the office is quiet...

That's right - back to the office but everyone else is out. In total I think 4 of us will be here today but right now it's only 2 people. I like a quiet office - but since I've been gone all week I'm kinda out of the loop with what's going on and I'll have to wait till Monday to find out.

So last night was better than I thought. I found out after blogging that a dear online friend who I do many RR's with is getting tests done and possibly surgery soon - please send good thoughts and prayers out for her if you can. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and she says she's feeling fine so that's a huge plus.
After that I decided to take some tylenol and do the dishes, then I started reading and slowly my headache went away! So then at 10 I proof read a paper for my boyfriend before we went to bed. And no headache this morning so far! We didn't go running either -but that's because my boyfriend had to work on his paper more and I dont' feel safe going running in our neighborhood by myself. So I ran 3 mornings this week - maybe we'll go out tomorrow morning before heading back to NY for the rest of the weekend.

No gym this week at all - but that's due to training and having to leave semi early today to get to the post office before it closes and mail out some stuff. Next week though - on top of the continued running I will go to the gym every day and things will be back to normal (if you call my life normal).

Books
I'm just about finished with the book by William Kennedy that I'm reading : Very Old Bones. Quite strange but a good read and I look forward to reading more books by him. Next I'm going to read another Josephine Humphreys book "Dreams of Sleep". Should be another quick one.

I also finished a book on tape "The Birth of Venus" -- it was quite detailed and graphic but also very good. Definately held my attention and had a lot of historical information in it as well. The prologue itself just captures your attention and I definately recommend this book to anyone - as long as you can read sometimes graphic scenes and definately a few love scenes.

I normally rent books from booksontape.com - just found out that they are no longer renting them out... so now i need to find a library where I can borrow them. They generally aren't something i want to "own" because they take up a lot of room and i probably won't listen to them twice so renting was great but a library would be cheaper so i gotta look into that.

So that's it - I gotta get some work done and hope this day passes quickly - 7 hours to go!

Shop Dreams

If you could design your dream needlework/cross stitch shop, what would it be like?

-- Well my dream needlework shop is one that I own - so that I can stitch all day and share my stitching hobby with others that love it. I would have the charts organized by theme and if the designer has a lot of charts, I would have a section for that designer. The threads would always be stocked fully, and the beads/charms/buttons which I always have a hard time finding. If I have a chart that needs a buttom/charm I will have that button charm too! (And easy to find).
I would have a large stitching room which would showcase finished pieces so while everyone's stitching they can look around and admire other works and get new ideas. Every finished piece on the wall would have a pattern that was easy to locate. I would have a computer section with a program where you could pick the pattern you have bought - and then change the colors and see what it looks like ahead of time and print out the new color lists. The same for the fabric too.
I would have a seperate room for fabric and framing, bolts of fabric and yards and yards of hand dyed ones, not only bought but also done myself so they're always unique.
Most important is that I would have stitch nights, retreats, classes and lots of social activities (exchanges, RRs) to keep my customers coming and visiting to keep the spirit of needlework alive.
Hmmm... maybe when I retire I will open up a shop --- ah gotta enjoy the dreams :)

Darn darn darn!

I missed Gilmore Girls on Tuesday - I totally forgot it was starting up again this week, and I wanted to tape it (since I was at my quilting class). I'm bummed. I have emailed my sister to see if she taped it but she has yet to get back to me.

Anyway - training is over - and i have a pounding headache again! Yesterday I got home, made dinner, cleaned the bathroom and I had a headache so I went to bed (this was at 8). Tonight I got home, cleaned the apartment, (dust/vacuum), did laundry, cut up a chicken, took out the garbage, ate dinner and now my headache is so bad i think i'm going to bed at 8 tonight again. This is really annoying. I will take some tylenol and try just reading - gotta get off the computer though, the light bothers my eyes when my headache gets this bad.

My headaches are wierd - I have lived on a computer now for 4 years, no problems and these past 2 months have been horrible since I started working. I'm used to working all summer long (4 months straight) on a computer for 9 hours a day and never had a problem but something about this summer is different. Plus I've spend endless hours on my laptop during school and never had a problem. Now I find if I use my laptop at work I don't necessarily get a headache but if i use the regular computer (or the laptop today at training - different laptop) i get this pounding headache by the end of the day. My solution has been to bring my laptop to work and use that but there are some things I have to do on the other computer.... UGG, i need to 1) get my eyes checked at an eye doc - never been before so it's about time 2) if nothing is wrong, maybe see a doctor about my headaches and 3) start tracking what i eat/do/drink the days i get them (which right now is every weekday so i'll start keeping track tomorrow).

Enough complaining --- actually i have more complaining but it's something different. I headed out this morning at 7:30 like usual for training and got onto I-95/128 and there I stopped - the normal 40 minute drive took me 2 1/2 hours to get there. It was really bad, i guess they had closed down most of the lanes of 128 for an accident but i had no idea and i was just sitting in gridlock for an hour, then inching for another hour, then finally i got on rt 3 to 495 to I-93 and that part took only half an hour. Lucky for me that is the last time I'm driving up 128 in the morning *i hope*.

Stitching - no cross stitching lately - been a very busy week, getting home late and such. Tuesdya night I had my quilt class - I will post a picture after I actually work on block two. Right now I have the templates cut and some of them traced onto the fabric but no fabric cut. I should get working on it because this one has more sewing than the last but these headaches are hurting my night free time.

I'm sure I'll be on again tomorrow so i will do the QOTW then - right now i have another load of laundry to fold before the bf gets home from the library and then i'm going to bed!

I thought I'd pop on real quick and list out the new stash I have aquired :)

Today was a great day - Two coworkers and I are taking training classes in Andover, which is a tad more of a drive but the day passes quickly and we're actually getting to do some coding which, even thought it's menial stuff I still love it, i haven't coded in SO long!

Anyhow so I took out my stash to fondle and I thought I'd quick pop on here before getting some work done and helping my boyfriend with his resume. Keep in mind I spent only 46 dollars - 40 was my budget so I did really well!

First I found two more of the Shepherd's Bush months for my next RR, Nov and Dec. So now I have 8 I think.
Then I got a sale piece - Shamrock Sampler by The Sweetheart Tree. Now I just need the charm, oh but wait,
the next piece I got comes with the same charm (but that means I need a second still :) Tangled Shamrocks "Teenie Tweenie" by The Sweetheart Tree. It's a Claddagh charm - silver. My boyfriend is Irish and I love the Claddagh charm (matches my ring) :)
Then I saw some cute pieces that I thought I might be able to do something creative with, not sure what yet but they are Mini Ginghams by Twisted Threads - January Snow, October Boo and Dec Joy. I don't want to stitch them on the Gingham because I don't think the patterns stand out enough but I will think of something.
THen I just oogled over the threads and picked out a few WDW that really caught my attention and some GAST - possibly for the SAL in january where the piece is all in one color, I bought 3 skeins, hopefully that will be enough.
Oh and I picked up some beading needles so I can't delay my beads on the True Blue Friends piece :)
That's it - of course I mentioned going to ACMoore too - I bought an album so that I can cover it whenever I finish True Blue friends into an album cover :) Better to be prepared :)

Alright - off to help with the resume and then maybe get some work done. Went running this morning and my legs are tired so I may be heading to bed early tonight so I can run again tomorrow :)

A stitch weekend!!!

Let's start from the beginning:
Friday Night:
Since my boyfriend and my sister's boyfriend both went home to NY to first visit friends and then go to NYC for a bachelor party we decided to start our stitch weekend early. She drove out friday night and while waiting for her I did a little work on the piece for my boyfriend. I realized upon picking it up that I had used only 2 strands for the brown of the mountains and I was supposed to use 4 - so I stitched over the existing 2 with 2 more, looked real nice, then started stitching with 4 and it looked sloppy so I think I'm going to stitch twice for each stitch with just 2... but alas after she showed up I put it away and we just chatted.

Saturday: Boy did it rain! We drove first to Cross Stitch Unlimited in Arlington because there was a wedding piece that I wanted her to see in case she liked it she could do it for her boyfriend's brother's wedding in May - It's by Trilogy, it's real cute. She bought it :) and a few other things. Then in the pouring rain we drove down to RI - a little slipping on the road but we made it fine and we spent 2 hours walking around With Heart and Soul in Cumberland. She bought the things she needed to start the wedding piece and a few other small pieces, and I just browsed and ended up spending about 46 dollars -- hmmm, what did I get ... I will fill in later.

So then we continued to the B&B, stopping first for some candy and water of course.
The B&B was very cute - oh and the rain stopped by now ;) and we stayed up in the 3 floor room, it was 2 single beds and a private bath, very quaint. So we stitched and stitched and stitched.

Sunday - slept in, had breakfast and headed home where we then went to ACMoore and JoAnn's just to finish up the weekend :) Lunch then my sister went home and I proceeded to stitch while listening to my book on tape (Todays the monthly DD SAL), so I started another DD Virtue dragon - Wisdom, a progress pic is in my album, it's not much so I won't post it here yet.

So now it's 6:30, my boyfriend just got home and I should start working on the website but first:
What I stitched:
First I finished my quilt block, here's a pic:


Then I worked on True Blue Friends, and it's finished besides the beads and charms:

And if I have time later I'll add in what I bought at With Heart and Soul :) Thanks for reading!

As promised, my work in progress:

There's block number 1 almost complete. Hopefully I can finish it this weekend.

Last night was a bore, I went home, did nothing really, I did read through the CrossStitcher June 2003 mag that arrived, I can't wait to stitch crafty cat - but it will have to be a 2005 project and I will definately be changing the color of the face, it's too dark for sure.
Then I read through the Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue (2004) a bit, not everything but got the gist and read about my favorite designers. I will have to go through and copy out the recipes I will actually use and I picked out about 5 ornaments that I do really like and will have to do at some point :)

Then I worked on the website for about an hour, and then read - my book is getting a bit odd, I'm reading "Very Old Bones" by William Kennedy. I do plan on reading a few more of his books, he wrote a lot about Albany, NY which is close to where I grew up - the closest "city" to where I grew up anyway. My boyfriend read "O Albany" by him for school two years ago and some of his other books are very popular so I'll have to look into those sometime.

So far in Very Old Bones, I would say it was going along nicely and then part 3 ended with a bit of a strange scene in a strip club with the main character and his wife, very difficult to figure out what type of relationship they have, it seems they really love each other and are attracted to each other but then there's this element that they aren't faithful or truthful with each other, hard to figure out.

newsflash:
Next week I may not be blogging much, if at all - mon-thur, I will be at training in Andover instead of regular work, i may have my computer but no guarentee I can use it and no guarentee I will have time at night to blog since I will be getting home later :( But next friday I will have lots to fill in :)

This weekend should be cool. My boyfriend leaves today to go back to NY for a bachelor party tomorrow night and to see friends tonight. So tonight I have the night to myself, I plan to work on the sight and then cross stitch or quilt and gather supplies for tomorrow. Tomorrow I'm meeting my sister in Rhode Island to go to With Heart and Soul - LNS, we'll shop, eat dinner then go to a nearby B&B for a night of stitching and chatting... note to self: bring ott light. Sunday we can sleep in, eat free breakfast and head out, then I have all sunday to continue stitching/quilting and maybe some work before monday... I should be fully rejuvenated :)

So next friday i may have a bunch of new pictures for you all ! And now I must get some work done -- and read more blogs :)

Thursday - and I'm leaving early (2 hours)...

That's right I got to work before 7 and no break so I'm leaving at 3 and it's 1 now! I actually have to go to Walmart on the way home to get a few things so I won't get home much earlier than normal.

Last night was a good night. My aunt and I didn't work on our small quilt, but I did work on my quilt block for class on tuesday. Maybe I can post a pic tomorrow. I have the 9 patch done and the top row and middle row together so I have only 2 small seams and 2 large seams left to go and the block is done! I can't wait to show a pic, I love the colors together.

An update on life: Not really much to say but yesterday and today we had meetings in the morning and then yesterday for lunch we went out to a business lunch which was a nice 2 hours out. Then my aunt, uncle, cousin and I also went out for dinner so I've had enough restaurant food to hold me over for a while! Today it's leftovers for lunch and I'm grilling steak and corn on the cob for dinner.

Speaking of lunch - i'm hungry so I'm off to heat up my food :)

Pictures Pictures and I stitched!

First - a picture of the progress on True Blue Friends from last thursday's stitch night: (I know not much)

Last night was pretty darn good. I got home, I worked on the website for 2 hours then I put it away and stitched for an hour! 17 hours and the RR is finished! Here's a pic of the finished part I did. If you want to see more of the RR you can visit my album (link on the side bar) and it's in the International RR folder.

I think it came out pretty neat and I'm excited to mail it back to Spain.

Tonight will be a purely quilting night with my aunt. I bought the fabric we need for the border of our quilt and it's all ready for appliquet so we'll do that hopefully. I'll leave it at that - keep the blog on stitching/quilting for today :)

Headaches, headaches, every day!

This is just horrible, I have to live on tylenol just to survive! Last night - headache and this morning still pounding!

So last night I broke in the new grill we got! It took a while to get the propane to work, but then I grilled up some chicken (I bought a whole chicken and cut it up saving the breast meat for stir fry tonight and grilling the rest, saving the carcus for soup some time). I also grilled sliced potatoes, yummy and I even have some left for lunch today!

Then I worked on the website for 2 hours but finally my head hurt so bad I had to sleep so I went to bed at 9:45. Up at 5:30 but it felt like 10pm and my head hurt, took tylenol and slept till 6, no running due to headache. But I got here early and get to leave at 4:15 to head to the RMV to see about getting my license switched.

Again, no stitching -work work work is my life :) If my head didn't hurt maybe i'd stitch after working late but we'll see how tonight goes, i'm armed with tylenol and ready to work on the requirements doc i need to do this week. I"m looking forward to training next week, get up a little later at least :)

Large or Small?
Do you stitch small projects one at a time that you can finish quickly, have numerous large projects going at once that you rotate,or both? How does your current system work for you and have you thought about changing it?

Well I have a complete range of projects going. I have some small, some medium and usually a large project going as well (or 2 or 3). Just in my WIPS album I have 4 I would consider WIPS and 2 UFO's and those are just the ones I have pictures of. On top of that I have my quilting, which is a few WIPS going at one time, one medium, one small and one I would consider kind of large (class project). So my philosophy is to get the ones with deadlines done and then do whatever I want, if I'm bored I switch.

Oh and I'm starting a new project sunday for the DD SAL once a month :) Who cares, it's my HOBBY!

Weekends are too short ...

No stitching this weekend at all. I did work on my quilt a bit friday and saturday. I now have the top row and 2 rows of the 9 patch done and all pieces cut and ready to sew.

I also did work on the website this weekend, saturday and sunday to be exact. I got in 3 hours saturday and made tons of progress. Also on Saturday my uncle stopped by to drop off my new grill! It was my graduation gift, so we put it all together and I'll be grilling dinner tonight now that we have a full propane tank too.

After dinner saturday we drove up to my uncle's for the night, we played video games of course until 2 am then sunday I played with the girls. The youngest is now fully crawling - what a cutie, and I got to hold her sleeping for a while saturday night too. The other 2 just started school last week and we're in very good moods most of the time.

After a late late lunch sunday we headed back and my boyfriend worked on his assignment for today while I napped. I had horrible allergies all day sunday, and they compounded into a sinus headache and sore throat. I slept for 2 hours when we got home, then got up and worked on the site. We didn't go to sleep till about midnight but I slept in till 6 so I'm feeling better, still have a headache but allergies aren't bad. My uncle has cats so they really did me in.

Ahhh this week - what's on the schedule:
Nothing :) Hahah - well Wednesday I have my dinner at my aunt and uncle's and every other night I play on working on the website and stitching the RR to send along before next week. I have another RR to start as well so I want to start that next week I think. So now it's time to start the work day :)

Forgot to take a pic.... but stitch night was great.

I feel completely rejuvinated. Yesterday was rough, for the 4th day in a row I got a headache (that's the 6th work day in a row), by the middle of the day... I think i'm getting eye strain from the computer, I'll have to look into precautionary measures and see an eye doctor real soon, i don't need to be messing with my eyes, how could i stitch then???

Anyway, so I went home, went grocery shopping, folded laundry, took out the garbage, busy busy busy, I felt exhausted, and I just wanted to go to bed but I knew I would regret not going to stitch night (i know you wonder how could i even consider missing it but I was THAT tired and my head hurt - and it's a drive!). Anyway so I went and of course had a blast, and i felt refreshed and in good spirits afterwards!

What I stitched: I worked on True Blue Friends like planned - I will post a pic as soon as I can. I haven't decided whether I should plug along and finish this one or get some other things done but for this weekend I have quilting to do anyway.
What I bought: I hit the winfall :) I got the Just Nan buttons for Barnabee's Quest Pt I and III, I don't like the rooster for part II so I'll have to pic something different. I also put in a request for the Shepherd's Bush buttons for the month series that I'm doing in my next RR. I bought Bunny Gingham and the fabric - now this I've wanted forever because it reminds me of my little bunny and I think I'll stitch it at the next stitch night.
I also bought the Ornament mag. I subscribe to JCS but at the wrong time of year so I don't get the free one, next year I'm going to try to not resubscribe until later in the season and see if I get an offer, maybe miss an issue but no biggie i have newstands.
I bought a project bag because I love to organize and I just needed another :) I also bought some real small Just Nan's, one with frogs, peepers something, and one with ladybugs and two others. They'll be cute to kit up some time and do quickly? nothings ever quick right.

So that was my night, I left promptly at 9 this time and got home in 15 minutes (bonus) and then read before bed. I was kinda cross stitched out due to my eye strain so I need to get on top of this problem pronto! I'm off to read more on the internet about it.

Quilt night at my aunt's...

This really is the best week ever, and tonight is stitch night - i can't wait :)

Last night my aunt and I worked on the quilt we're doing together, it's a log cabin basket. We put the small border pieces on the background fabric and then cut all the pieces for appliquet and starched and pressed the edges under on everything so we're all set next week to start the appliquet. When that's done we just have to put on the last border which I'm going to pick up at JoAnn's tomorrow hopefully.

I also got my fabric washed for my new quilt so today at lunch I might pull it out and play a bit :) And tomorrow/saturday really work on it.
Stitch night tonight - I plan on working on True Blue Friends, so maybe they'll be an updated pic tomorrow and i'm bringing 20 dollars i'm allowed to spend :) Then tomorrow after work I am going to JoAnn's then working on the website and then quilting :) Saturday it's more website and more quilting and then up to my Uncle's to see the cousins. Oh some where in there I have to buy my youngest cousin a birthday present.

I've figured the way I'm going to do the birthday thing is this... near each birthday get them each something special, then on their combined birthday party get the three all something even though the youngest's isn't until February but she will start getting to the age where she will want presents too :) I dont' want to buy all 3 something for each birthday and I think think the two oldest are at the age to understand that it's a special day for their sister etc.

Well it's bagel day so i'm going to go find me a bagle to eat :)

My first quilting class...

The class is taught at the Arlington "Fabric Corner" store. We're doing 6 blocks from:

First we're starting with Blocks in Box which is basically a ninepatch with a border and the border has corner blocks. This block isn't in the book - it's basically "the honeybee" from the book but without the appliquet. hmmm... i like the honeybee... but we're saving our appliquet till the end so i'll have to save that for another quilt.
The class is quilt as you go, so we're going to do 3 blocks then learn the quilting. So far I've got 4 fabrics, which should be enough for the top of all 6 blocks. Then I'll pick out a sashing, border and backing fabrics. The back can actually be something different for each block because it's quilt as you go and then it'll be reversible. I'm so excited. I cut out my templates yesterday when I got home and tonight I'm hoping to get my fabrics washed and pressed. The sewing is all by hand - which is so cool, and totally new to me.
Only problem is I'm not sure how much we're supposed to get finished before the next class. She said 15 minutes a day, I don't have that but I do have chunks of time like an hour every few days. Once I get the 9 patch put together I'll post a pic. I think that's all we have to do, but I couldn't say for sure. I'll probably just do as much as I can.
Tonight I'll be at my aunt and uncle's, we're working on a quilt already, a small one and if my aunt picked up background fabric we can start the appliquet of the log cabin basket we made. More appliquet :) Now I need a trip to JoAnn's to get the rest of my supplies I didn't want to buy at the store since it was kinda overpriced. I did however buy the book there (could have saved 8 dollars elsewhere but i figured it was a good thing to do), and I bought a lot of supplies but some basic stuff like pins (which I have a few of already), seam ripper (have one someplace) and large scissors I could get elsewhere. For now with the square ones I'll probably use my rotary cutter, i want to get a mini mat for it to bring to class too, even though no one else is using one but that's because it's more of an investment and I already have one. I also need a small ruler (only have large ones).
So I have 25 dollars more on my budget still - since I decided 75 for the class supplies - and i have a 10 dollar gift cert to JoAnn's so if i keep that under 20 I can get the rest of my fabric later in budget (we get 20% off fabric for our quilt).
That's my night - it was great and now I have these really long straw needles to get used to, but I already see great possibilities using longer ones for quilting (i just switched to petites for cross stitch recently). And I'm off - to read a bit in my book maybe.

Er… what do you do again??
How do you explain cross stitch to non-cross stitching people? Do they get it or do they say “Oh, right.. you do knitting then (or sewing, or needlepoint)"?

I haven't had to explain too often, usually just saying it's similar to embroidery is enough. I do however often get the, isn't that for old ladies? question -- I just ignore it, my boyfriend's learned that this is a hobby that I do not enjoy criticism about and he's been great. He'd be more great about it if I went along and finished his piece already.

A picture promised...

That's right - I am posting my WIP, True Blue Friends, with 5 hours stitching time put into it.

The borders are in Caron Waterlilies and the rest is DMC, there's Rhodes Hearts -those were a first for me and satin stitches. Fun fun!

Tonight marks my first quilting class - i can't wait! I'll have to start posting pics of my quilting progress too. Comments welcome!

My day off :)

That's right - today is my day off, and so far so good :)

This weekend has been good but busy. Saturday we drove to my boyfriend's parent's house, they had a dinner party which was a good time, then we went to the fair up the road quick to run into old friends from high school in the beer tent. After an hour we were both bored and went back to bed. Sunday we packed up more of my boyfriend's stuff - including a ton of laundry, packed up his car, had dinner at my parent's and headed back home.

Today was a quick clean the apartment, go to walmart and now i'm running loads of laundry through and just settling down to work on the website for a few hours. After which I will just cross stitch and relax the last 2 hours of my night before my hectic week starts. Maybe i'll have some pictures to post later tonight :)

This week is busy:
Tuesday - quilt class day 1 6-8pm in Arlington
Wednesday - uncle's house for dinner and more quilting
Thursday - stitch night in Arlington 6:30-9pm
Friday - MUST work more on the website!
Then the weekend - I love short weeks :)

A new project started!

First a quick pic of the Tiny Tool Pouch I finished the night before:



So last night the cable guy comes - little drama there I will just share quickly. Basically there is no signal coming to the modem, so he goes the basement, finds the problem, fixes it and then the signal is there, but the modem won't work - strange - his modem works though - of course - so we end up renting their modem for 5 dollars a month. Now the real odd thing is that this IDENTICAL thing happened to my sister - i'm just wondering what the odds are that the modem goes bad and the signal from the basement goes - all during an interval in which they tell me they are doing "maintenence", i think they are purposely blocking my modem some how and I wish I could prove it!

On another note - so internet was up but I got some stitching in. First I finished the star on this:

That's my part of the RR i'm stitching -- any opinions on whether I should add more - maybe another star stitched over 2 by the moon, more flowers floating randomly (like near the moon's crown)... any ideas welcome.
Then I started a new project, the True Blue Friends from my friend Carol in Canada. It's the first time stitching with Waterlilies and I Love it - I am more than halfway done with the border design. This project will get worked on sporadically since I have other projects with deadlines but at least it's started :)

Oh - and to start today off I got a nice run in, with DBF and got to work early so I will get some work done, go to the gym today and I can leave around 4! I'm off!

My weekly night away...

And I didn't sleep right after dinner this time :) My aunt and I started our quilt last night. We had picked the fabrics out a while ago and last night we cut the strips before dinner, after dinner we made the single log cabin, mine is finished, my aunt's is almost finished but she found a spot where she put the wrong side on first so she stopped (mistakes just compound when you're tired). We cut my log cabin in half to see what it will look like as a basket, the next step is to appliquet the said basket onto backing fabric. Next week... :)

I also got a bit of time to stitch, i finally finally finished the Tiny Tool Pouch from a class back at Celebrations of NW NH. I will post a pic once the internet at home is up and running which *may* be tonight.
I'm off to read blogs...

September Stitching (and other) Goals:

I am going to start doing this formally now - before it was just random.

1. Finish the band sampler RR and mail back to owner!
2. Start and finish the next RR piece for RR3 (don't know what it is yet)
3. Start and finish friendship kit from Carol for office

I'll go easy on myself this month since my other goals are:
1. Finish the darn website!!!

And activities this month are:
1. 2 stitch nights (thursdays)
2. Quilting class starts every other tuesday
3. Class in rhode island on other 2 thursdays
4. Stitch night in RI with my sister at a B&B

With the quilt class I will start to need time to work on the quilt too - which cuts into my stitching time. That's okay though my only hard deadlines are my RR's for now!

Mid week, but it feel like friday... (as always)

O bother - I hate dealing with Comcast! Still no internet last night, so I called them and set up an appointment for Thursday night between 5 and 7. Even if i find out it's my modem and have to pay them 50 dollars it's worth it so i can work again and earn that money back in an hour!

On the good side of all this, I got to stitch last night! I got home, went grocery shopping and then snuggled up to stitch, with a few breaks to do things for my boyfriend. In total I only got about an hour and a half of stitching in, bring my total for the month of August up to 16 hours. I know that sounds lame but I work two jobs!

On the stitching front - the moon on the RR is finished! It looks adorable even though it's over one and the rest is over 2. What I think I will do is stitch some over 2 stuff around the moon (a small star and more flowers) and then some over one stuff on the other side (more stars and flowers). Then it will be complete. The confetti stitches though are horrible - drive me crazy changing colors so much especially stitching with one strand!

So, soon, maybe next week I will be finished and post a picture in my album and a link from here. Yippee - I love accomplishing something!

Rain today - no running...

Okay - technically that's not why we didn't run, we were too tired, so I changed the alarm but when I did get up it turns out it had been (and still was) raining real hard so we couldn't have gone running anyway. So that worked out good (cleared the conscience).

But I will still go to the gym today! So last night, I get home, relax a bit then my boyfriend and I drive into boston to meet up with my mom, dad, brother, aunt, uncle and cousin for dinner near MIT. That lasts a few hours, then back about 10 so the night's gone. So we read a bit and go to sleep.

On the annoying side - the internet is STILL out, I called again, they're still doing maintenance and it should have been on in a few hours (this was at 5 last night), but it's still not on this morning. So not only did it cost me what I could have made Sunday night working on the site, but now it's costing my boyfriend parking, 12 dollars a day that he doesn't have because he couldn't order his permit which hopefully he can do today at school (after he pays the 12 for today). I'm ready to strangle comcast. So I emailed them my complaint, so it's in writing as well as in a few phone calls where I dumbly didn't get anyone's names.

Still no stitching - and there wont' be tonight if the internet is back, if it's not back I will be stitching so I'll update tomorrow... now to enjoy my hot tea and find some work to do...

Patience is a virtue

Do you feel cross stitching requires patience?

Of course it does. There are many a times when I'm not patient, trying to speed along and then I find the mistake and I have to take it out. That's when I find myself getting frustrated and have to stop and relax. Cross stitch to me is very relaxing, when I find that I'm not relaxed I have to stop. That's why stitching by deadlines is tough but I have managed by keeping myself organized to not have to worry about deadlines too much, except lately when life gets away from me and I'm just SO busy I can't account for my time.

I recommend to anyone starting cross stitch - first stitch something for yourself, no deadlines, and then you can relax and really enjoy it, it's easy to be patient with a piece when you enjoy the actual act of stitching it!

Lawschool life begins...

For my boyfriend anyway :) Today is his first day and of course, heading out this morning, the road we take normally to I-90 is closed for paving! So it was a long drive out of the way but I think he made it okay and I was just 10 minutes later than expected at work.

So far so good - we ran this morning, at a real good pace too, we also ran saturday but it was SO hot I almost passed out! Now if we just get into a routine, mon,tue,wed,fri,sat running I'll be all set. Then mon,tue,wed,thur,fri at the gym and I should be able to get in great shape. Plus I even ate a healthy breakfast this morning (real oatmeal with a sliced banana in it).

The weekend:
Not so bad - Friday night I got home and we went out to walmart and target, got a bunch of stuff including some furniture (a tv stand and a wooden mini bookcase thing for movies and cds). Then my boyfriend put them together while I cleaned the apartment and finally around 12:30am we were finished and went to bed.
Saturday we went to Best Buy and bought the tv we had picked out, then ran some other errands, got back and set up the tv and put away groceries, then my friend and her boyfriend showed up. We all just relaxed then I cooked up a big dinner (including a salad which is really good of me).
After dinner her boyfriend left to go hang out with friends and my friend and I went shopping a bit to chat and relax, then came back and hung out more, watching olympics. Sunday we got up and went into Boston to meet up with her boyfriend, walk around Boston Common and Quincy Market --it was roasty toasty out and real humid so after lunch we just left, and all got stomach aches on the way back!
After coming back they left and we just relaxed, I got a few things done while watching a movie then went to work on the website and the internet was out! I called comcast, no luck, they said to wait till the next day... so no work for me last night, i'd like to tell them they cost me 100 dollars at least!
Stitching:
Luckily this did give me time to stitch and I worked on the RR, the moon is almost finished, then I just have to decide what else to add and I have some small flowers to stitch randomly throughout. I should definately be able to finish it by next weekend with a 3 day weekend.
This week:
So I plan to work, run, go to gym, eat healthy, work on the website and stitch if there's time left over. My only official plans are wednesday night going to my uncle's house and then Saturday going to NY for the weekend. So that gives me lotsa time :) We'll see how this goes...

Ahhhh Ragweed Season!!!

Now I know why even on Allegra the past 2 days have been rough - the Ragweed pollen count is HIGH. Ugg - i hope the season is short, this is real real bad. I think after my dentist appt. I may just go home, use sick time for the rest of the day. That's 3 hours of sick time.

On other news -- Stitch Night was awesome of course. Let's see...

What I stitched
I worked on the round robin (the band sampler), stitching the happy moon over one on 28ct. Made some progress, it's hard to tell the yellows apart, especially stitching such tiny stitches, but the only part I messed up on was the bright pink cheeks! Had to frog a bit and fix it.

What I bought
Sale bins hit again, this time not for myself but for my friends in the RR - I bought a surprise for each of them plus some other little things that I will make into little gifts for them. They've really been such great friends this year, I'm so glad we're going to continue and have another RR!

Other than that I chatted, I was actually really quiet tonight, but I did talk a bit and I listened a lot. There were less people there last night, but also some new people. It was great fun and I can't wait till the next one in September.

A quick note: I got home last night and my boyfriend had put the coat of primer on 3 walls in the diningroom! Awesome! He's going to do the paint today. That leaves the other 3 walls which are mostly kitchen. He's just the best!

So the weekend report:
Today I will clean the apartment top to bottom when I get home. Hit walmart - haven't been in a while and need some stuff. Hit the grocery store after I figure out what's going on for dinner Saturday.
Saturday my girl friend is coming with her boyfriend for the night. So I'll probably cook up some dinner, not sure if her boyfriend will be going into boston to meet some other friends or just hanging out with us. My boyfriend offered to go out to my uncle's for a bit to give us some time to catch up but we'll see how it goes. Either way, there will be tons of chatting I'm sure, maybe sunday we'll go into boston a bit, i could use a trip to boston common.
Then it's my boyfriend's first week at law school starting monday! What a change this will be, but i'm sure we'll get into some sort of routine. I just hope my routine includes plenty of free stitching time!
And now with a headache, stuffy nose, sneezing and overall feeling like crap - I need to stay at least until my dentist appt at 12:30 so I shall get some work done!

Today is going to be rough...

I can hardly keep my eyes open. Yesterday went by so fast - and I have a ton of reading to do at work but that's part of the problem, it's putting me to sleep!

I did no stitching last night, my cousin had soccer practice so my aunt and I walked during that, got back, ate dinner, then I literally fell asleep! I woke up at 11 and went up to bed. Tonight though I will be stitching at Stitch Night! I can't wait. I'll either work on the RR more or on an old WIP and work on the RR this weekend.

I definately ahve to get to the gym today, missed it yesterday (but did run and walk so I don't feel bad). Today there was no running though - so i'll go to the gym, tomorrow i'll run but then I have a dentist appt. at lunch time so no gym.

My aunt brought me some gifts she got in CA - a cross stitch kit - it's adorable, and will look great in my bathroom if I have time to stitch it up. A leaflet of quilt block cross stitch designs which are adorable also and they have a cute idea for a quilt made of them - so my mind is twirling! And a little fabric bag/container, kind of a miniature yarn basket - that i'm sure I can fill up with some stitching goodies and keep on my livingroom end table (next to my stitching area). It was really nice of her and I hope I thanked her enough!

Well (yawn) I think I'll go to sleep now, i mean read some more documents :)

Day 2 running, done! and Book reviews...

That's right, we did it again - got up early and ran - farther this time too! Tomorrow I will be at my uncle's so no running but I'll still go to the gym at least.

No stitching last night, we ordered pizza's and then I started to work on the website, problems with the router caused long delays and finally after a while I gave up (did get some stuff done though). So I read and went to bed :)

'The Princes of Ireland' -- by Edward Rutherfurd, was very interesting. I just finished the unabridged book on tape. At first it's tough because you get to know some characters and then after their story it switches to a new time/new characters with a few connections back. It would have been easier to read instead of listen to because I could have gone back and checked dates and stuff. But it was very entertaining and I definately recommend to anyone that is interested in Irish history (dealings with religion and England really hog the end of the book but the first story is GREAT).

'Rich in Love' by Josephine Humphreys - this one I'm reading, I'm on chapter 4, when it's complete I'll give a quick review. So far it's capturing attention just fine, I can see some great potential too.

'The Namesake' by?? I'll fix that later - It's my next book on tape, and I know I really wanted to read it so it should be good.

Can you tell I also like reading? I do have a 30-45 minute commute each way to work everyday so that's plenty of time to listen to a book on tape, now if they were only cheaper! My aunt's library has books on tape she said, I'll have to find out if they're open Wednesday afternoons and I could stop there on my way to her place.

So tonight I brought my laundry and my cross stitch and I'm ready for a night of chatting and relaxing with NO computer at all :) Tomorrow night will be a night of stitching and chatting big time a my LNS and I can't wait for that either. For now - it's back to work (actually have work today!!!) And I'm sure I'll be back here tomorrow bored :)

Now for my regular blog of the day (weekday anyway)...

Last night was a little bit of everything. I got home, and my boyfriend had cooked up some delicious pork chops and spanish rice. It was great. After eating I cleaned up and worked on the website while he watched a movie. Our landlord hooked up some of our cable ports so we have more options (4 in the bedroom, 2 in the livingroom now).

Then I got out my stitching and started on the moon stitched over one on the round robin band sampler. It's small but I think it will look good if the backstitching comes out okay - i've never stitched over 1 on 28ct and then backstitched, we'll see how it goes. Then after an hour I read for half an hour and then went to sleep. Perfect schedule for me.

This morning is was up bright and early - 5:45, and my boyfriend and I went for just over a mile run. It was great, and I feel good for doing it. I still got to work by 7 too, so I can still go to the gym, lift then leave at 4 to get home. Perfect! Then work on the website some more and maybe more stitching :)

Well I actually do have some reading to do for work so I'm off to continue the day!

Designer Wishes...
What would you most like your favourite designer to design next?

This one is easy - a dragon, plain, simple, elegant, maybe a little sparkly, not too large - somewhere between 5x7 and 8x10 with nothing else, no maidens, castles, people or anything, just a majestic dragon.

Then along comes Futuristic by TW - perfect :) I'm happy. I have so much to stitch right now that I can't wish for more.

My boyfriend is actually here for good...

Sure is a wierd feeling - a good, but definately different feeling, kind of a feeling of permanance. Now hopefully we can not kill each other :) Seriously though I think things will be great, we both have our own things going on so we won't be stepping on each other's toes or anything.

Friday night - what a storm! I stitched for 5 hours, watching Lifetime and listening to the lightning. It was interesting. I started and finished the teapot for the round robin that's due on Monday. It came out real cute, the backstitching really added to the piece and I'm so glad to be done in time. Now if only I could do that with the other RR that's already started.

Saturday I relaxed, went grocery shopping, picked out something new to try out for dinner sunday. My boyfriend showed up in the afternoon so we unpacked him a bit, then we went up and met my aunt, uncle and cousins for dinner and went back to their house for a while. They just got back from a week vacation at a beach house so the kids are still a bit wired from that, but also tired from that. The youngest, is 6 months, and she is starting to really move around, almost crawling, so she's fun to watch, and she loves to watch her sisters playing.

Then Sunday I baked a pie, got the steak ready for dinner later and then we went shopping. I bought a bunch of shirts at Kohl's - for great prices, then we went to best buy. I think we might get a 27" flat screen tv for 350 soon. I have to pay my bills and see how i'm doing on spending money. Funny that I think carefully about that but then a cross stitch retreat comes along and I spend over 300 no questions asked - i may have to work on that a bit, but then again I do work hard and the one thing i enjoy is stitching so I should be allowed to treat myself if i can afford it. I'll just get a cheaper car :)

The rest of sunday ... my brother got dropped off and I made dinner - a broiled herb steak, garlic mashed potatoes and green beans. All pretty good. Then we had pie which was good and I took my brother back to school. After that I got to stitch for an hour - I finally started my boyfriend's piece so I could try out my stand - Peacefull Sillhouette, I just decided I'd start it a bit but then put it off till I finish the RR. Since the background is half stitches I did get a nice chunk done though. I think the piece will go relatively fast for a large piece and I hope it looks great framed. I will probably pay to have it framed professionally since it will be a "gift" for my boyfriend. At least I'm looking forward to working on it, so that will help it get done faster.

Stitching Goals for 2004:
Finish Band Sampler RR
Start and Finish last piece in other RR (hasn't come yet)
Finish pouch from Celebration that is almost finished
Finish Herb Sampler for kitchen
Finish Noah's Arc baby sampler piece for friend
Any other RR or exchange piece that comes along

That's it, I'm sticking to my goals. This is what i have to finish this year, i will definately stitch on other pieces, especially with all my retreats and stuff, plus I have some quilting to do. I almost quilted this weekend but i seemed to have misplaced the handles to the teacups that i am appliquetting so i have to figure out what happened to those - what i pain in the arse! If i don't find them i'll put that block off and start another.

So that was my weekend, now I'm off to a meeting with my cookies :) I'm allowed to eat junk as long as I go to the gym at lunch time - and I'll run today, maybe 2 miles! I'll do the question of the week later ...

Friday - 8 hours to go.

Then i get to go home and start my weekend. This weekend will consist of, first cleaning out my boyfriend's closet so he can move in his stuff, then doing some dusting and making something for dinner.

Then Saturday maybe going to the Audi dealership to test drive a new car :) And find out if i can afford one (yea right). Then maybe finding a Honda dealership to test out a real car that i can afford.

Sunday maybe my brother will come visit from MIT, so we'll take him shopping wherever he needs to go. Maybe we'll start the painting process in the diningroom, one wall at a time :) I would like to get under the bar done - and the wall by the hutch would be easy then. So maybe 3 walls done and save the long wall and the kitchen areas until another time. It's only 2 coats, one of primer, one of paint. But most importantly this weekend I will sleep in! Maybe we'll do some clothes shopping too.

I worked on the website a good deal last night - on setting up the SSL, so far he's got his CC payment stuff integrated which are some big checkmarks so after the SSL is setup I can do the invoices and the UPS needs to be done and he should be ready to go besides the little things that he doesn't need done to go live. I hope he's seeing this like I am. We'll have to do a few dry runs with a credit card and stuff but hopefully all will work fine.

So I'm hoping that finishes up, next week I really need to cross stitch - I need to finish 2 RR's, one I will try to do next week, the other will be late because I"m going to put it off but they know me and will trust that I'm just busy and will still send it on as soon as I can. So tonight maybe i'll get the threads together for the other RR which is a small teapot and maybe I'll finish it this weekend - that would be more than awesome! Nothing like getting my hopes up :)
Alright - it's been an hour and I'm already bored but I think my paper finally printed out!

Almost time to go to the gym...

Hopefully i'll get there today :)

Last night i was a total ditz, i took care of the dog, then went home and met up with my parents so they could see my apartment, then we went to dinner and i came back to my uncle's -- but i had FORGOTTEN to get my baking stuff - stupid! Luckily my aunt had some cake mix and frosting, but upon searching everywhere I could not find ANY vegetable oil!

Well 123 stitch saved me there, i posted a message asking for help and butter was suggested as a substitute, worked great but now I have to buy cake mix and frosting to put back in her cupboard today. But the cupcakes were a hit - yummy yummy and it's not even lunch time yet :)

So I'm off to the gym - get a good workout in, maybe they'll be a cupcake left for me when I get back and I have dinner left over from last night or tacos for lunch. One more night before my boyfriend moves in ... he's been going out with friends, was out real late last night and he sent me a text message which woke me up around 3 am - i hope he's recovered today and was able to work and can go out again tonight to see his other friends...

Oh before I go - i found out a "good" friend of mine who was going to be gone for months doing a hike across 3 states, after a week her and her boyfriend decided it wasn't fun and quit, so she's home - but hasn't called, i only know because my mom saw her last week and told me. I wouldn't even hesitate to call her but now I wonder why she hasn't called me after I last conversation got cut short and she has a ton to fill me in on (plus I don't have a phone number to get a hold of her since she got rid of her cell). We'll see - I'm busy this weekend getting my boyfriend moved in, after that i'll see what happens... now no more delay, i'm off to the gym!

It's a good day...

That's right - today is good, fun and productive.

This morning started with a meeting, got a lot of questions answered and a lot of discussion that needed to be done. Then at lunch I headed to the gym... and my car wouldn't start! My battery was dead. Well this sure turned into something. 5 of us out there, first we checked the battery with a volt meter - 8v, then jump started it, checked it, 16v - so it was definately the battery not the alternator. So then a guy at work took out the battery for me and drove me to walmart to get a new one and put it in. Worked like a charm.

Then i ate and a joke email started going around and now i'm baking cupcakes to bring in tomorrow, cupcakes in ice cream cones anyway - really wanted to try that out.
Then a few minutes ago one of the taller guys in the office taped the air duct shut so the A/C isn't coming in anymore - and it's already warmer! Pretty soon i'll be wearing shorts to work (probably not but i can dream right) ;)

So - more interesting: Last night I went to an LNS in Littleton. It was nice - very large, lots of stuff, tons of needlepoint canvases which are new to me, never seen one, lots of yarn and tons of charts and stuff. I bought one chart by Sweetheart Tree with a bee charm for it, and some beads that i needed. I liked it but i like the cozy arlington store more - it's nice to have options though!

Today my little brother is going to college, my parents just dropped him off, he's going to MIT. I'm so proud :) Plus he'll be real close, he may take the train out sunday to see the apartment since he hasn't been there yet. Tonight after taking care of the dog i'm going to go home and get the mail and maybe meet my parents quick on their way home so they can see the new furniture. Hopefully they'll still be around at 6 when i can get there - only half an hour left till i leave work, then take care of the dog and head home - i'm hoping traffic is light but there's no guarentee either.

So today is good - i'm in a good mood and my boyfriend is moving out here in 2 days!!! I can't wait!! Now i'm off to write some stuff up so i have something finished today ;)

Heirlooms

If you were to stitch something to be passed on to future generations of your family as an heirloom, what would it be and why?

I would want it to be something that really represented who I am as a stitcher, something I love, something I put a lot of time and love into... so basically not anything I've done so far :) Maybe Celtic Woman Sampler by Enchanting Lair, I'm looking forward to getting this sometime and stitching it in some beautiful overdyed threads on some hand dyed linen. I think the verse is lovely and it would be something I'd love to pass down even though I myself am not Irish, but love the history and tradition itself.

And the car is sold, not much else done this weekend...

I went "home" this weekend, Friday night we didn't do anything really, saturday we spent at my family's house, had dinner there and then played poker most of the night. Sunday we did nothing again, went out to lunch but that's it. Then my boyfriend had someone interested in his old car (prelude) and they came by and drove it and stuff. After I left they offered him 1900 cash and he took it, he could have gotten more if he had waited since he hadn't even listed it in the want ads yet but he's glad to just be rid of it and not have to deal with the want ads anyway. Plus there are a few problems with it which these people probably will want to fix so by lowering the price it makes that easier for them. Unfortunately money is so tight right now that it doesn't help him out much, he can basically pay off his computer and 1/4 of his books but he really needs to work a lot this week and get some more money together to get him by until his loan money comes in.

So I went home, packed everything I needed for the week, locked up the apartment real good and read until 9:30 I think when I went to sleep. I was exhausted and I know the next few nights will be me getting to my uncle's after work, taking care of the dog, eating and then working on the website so i figured i'd relax last night. Hopefully I can do a lot of work this week and get the site working well. I just want this to be done.

So no stitching, my grandmother finished the hand towels she stitched for me with my herb patterns for my kitchen. They came out great and will look great with my other herbs that have to be quilted together still but at least are finished (from my RR).

Well I'm back to the exciting place of work! Better find something to do ---- going to be a long day but gotta get back into going to the gym so i'll be here until 5 probably.

Stitch Night was awesome!!!

I will elaborate... I showed up late, mostly due to turning the wrong way on rt 3 and then on turning back hitting really heavy traffic! But I got there before 7 and had till 9. I met everyone, about 12 people there, mostly women but one man and all ages which helped me feel very comfortable. I sat in the corner and chatted with the women nearby while I stitched. Everyone was working on such beautiful pieces!

Then I checked out the sale bins - what a surprise! For 99 cents each I bought 10 patterns, 5 of which are the Shepherd's Bush months that I want to do in my next RR - they usually go for about 4 dollars! Then I found 2 Couchman Creations patterns i really wanted, both tigers that go with True Love II which I have already. Then I got some Autumn patterns. I couldn't believe my luck, it was great!

I have to say I had such a wonderful time, I'm horrible with names and I'm really hoping I remember a few and I can't wait to go back in 2 weeks! I want to finish the RR i'm doing now so I have something new to bring and work on. Of course by then I'll have 2 RR's due to be mailed out soon after so hopefully they are done. I need to stitch this weekend.

I am in a serious stitch fever mode, but I still have 3 hours of work then a 2 1/2 hour drive to my boyfriend's and i'm sure i won't stitch tonight, we'll probably get dinner and watch a movie or something. It really depends on if we go to the race track this weekend, if it rains then we won't go probably. Now i'm hoping for rain so i can stitch (and that's bad because i'm the one that wanted to go :)

Well - work is dragging because it's friday and i want to go home, but i'm in a great mood and i can't wait to see my mom this weekend and show her my new patterns. Plus at least I have a little work today, i worked on the website for our work project and now i'm doing some visio stuff, nothing of great importance but at least it's something to do!

Plus I booked the B&B room for my sister and I in September. It's all set, we are having our very own stitch night, and i will bring my true light ott light because i don't think the lighting will be very good there but who knows. Plus we can hit "With Heart and Soul" on sunday to shop!!!
Alright - back to work -3 hours to go and counting!

Busy busy me...

I can't wait till this weekend, we technically have no plans, except maybe heading to Saratoga for the races - but other than that we can do NOTHING at all!

Yesterday, I got home late - due to heavy heavy traffic by I-95 (128 for those MA people) and then I organized all the garbage that goes out tonight and got a few small things picked up, ate dinner and settled in to work on the website for 2 hours. Then I went to bed and read for half an hour. Some reason, even getting 7 hours of sleep, when I wake up at 6 I'm exhausted and even now I would love to just fall asleep. I think I enjoy sleeping tooooo much!

Tonight is Stitch Nite!!! I can't wait, first I have to get home by 5 to hit the bank, which means I have to leave here some time before 4 in case i hit traffic. Then I will head home, take out the garbage, eat dinner and start cleaning up. Then I'll head to Arlington for stitching, then back to finish cleaning and packing. Tomorrow night I am leaving straight from work to head "home" to my boyfriend's house. That way I get to see my parents this weekend.

The weekend after my boyfriend is moving out here so this is really my last chance for a while. Especially since we need to spend a weekend or 2 painting the diningroom still - so easily I forget that little task! Plus next week I need to organize and clean out his closet so he has some place to move in to. I really should buy a desk because I need one desperately to help keep things in order. My closet is layered with things which could go in a desk so that space could be used for storage of things that are currently throughout the apartment. Plus I need someplace to put my computer and the livingroom end table isnt' quite doing it for me because I'd like it to be a bit "nicer" and neater in there, not full of computer cords. Ho hum! Well I think it's time to break into my hershey kisses - i've been here for 2 hours, it's almost 10am - that's good enough!

A very long night...

I assumed last night would consist of me coming home, maybe ordering some chinese, and getting some work done..

instead, my boyfriend is putting his new laptop together (a good thing), and then we find out the xp cd he has is not bootable and the cd that i have that is bootable is missing, it turns out my little brother "borrowed" my case of computer cds when he wanted to borrow a game - so we drive all the way up to NH to visit my uncle to get the bootable cd, what a pain! So it was a long night of driving, i drove back so he could play on his new laptop, he installed the Doom3 I bought him sunday but since I went to bed as soon as we got back and he still had video drivers to install I have no idea how it worked out.

Needless to say, i didn't get any work done and i'm exhausted and it's only Wednesday! I can't believe it. So tonight I will work double time on the website so tomorrow i can still go to stitch night without a guilty chip on my shoulder. Now i just need to get some work done today and i'll really feel like i've accomplished something this week (yesterday was all meetings!)

A little change ...

I played with the template a bit, I like the change I think.

Still no stitching done here, I did however work on the website last night, got most of the graphics done too, a little touch ups left for tonight then it's on to security.

We went to Jiffy Lube last night, they said that the people on friday put the wrong oil filter on, so they fixed it and changed the oil again. Unfortunately I checked this morning and it looks like there's a small puddle under the car again! I will have to inspect when I got home because I took my boyfriend's car to work again today. After the oil change we went to best buy and target, at target we got a few things for the apartment, mostly decorative things, a small rug for the hallway, which kinda looks dumb because our hallway is so long, some pictures to hang, a wooden box to put in the livingroom (can hold remotes and stuff) and an ironing board. We then had some fun hanging up the pictures.

Tonight will be more of the same, working on the website, same as tomorrow, but thursday is stitch night so it will be dedicated to 2 1/2 hours of stitching i hope. Today I have a doctor appt. with a new doctor, I need to make sure I have directions to get there now.. so i'm off to look before our meeting at 9.

Furniture is here!!!

We had a very up and down weekend. Friday night I got home, cleaned and then started priming the 3 walls in the bedroom that were left. My boyfriend showed up around 9:30 and I was still painting, so I finished up while he relaxed a bit then while I showered he blew up the air mattress for us to sleep on (the bedroom smelled too much like paint).

Saturday we slept late, painted the last coat on the bedroom walls and then got cleaned up. We had to drive to the Fedex place to pick up his package, forgot the slip with the tracking number, drove back to the apartment then back to Fedex, then finally to my uncle's house, we hit some heavy traffic though and we showed up at his house 2 hours later than originally planned.

Finally though we headed out to get the furniture, it all fit perfectly, got it to the apartment and got the loveseat and tables in no problem. Then while the guys worked on getting the couch through an impossibly small door I put the feet on the loveseat and waited. Finally, after almost giving up they got it through - and it all looks great. Unfortunately we couldn't enjoy it for long because we were starving and wanted to get back.

Saturday night we ate pizza then played video games until around midnight, slept in again and then played with the girls all morning. Finally around lunch time we headed back and put our new tables together. Finally the livingroom was complete. We took the tape and plastic off everything in the bedroom and got that all put back together then I cleaned while my boyfriend showered. After everything was cleaned up we could finally just enjoy!

Then we went to the mall to get me some clothes for work, not realizing the mall closed early on sundays (at 6) so we ended up rushing after finding a great deal on some dressy pants, 4 pairs of pants for 100 dollars. The shirts we weren't so lucky with, I got 3 shirts and a pair of shoes for 120. Usually I can do much better but we were stuck with just Filene's open till 7. So maybe next weekend we'll hit the mall again, especially if i go home we can go to the mall I'm used to and go to H&M.

Now for the frustrating part, I got my oil changed on friday (finally), and then saturday when I moved my car so we could unload the truck we saw that my car was leaking oil badly, so they messed something up at jiffy lube. Unfortunately they were closed already and not open on sundays so there was nothing I could do about it. So today I have my boyfriend's car for work and he's going to take my car back and have them fix the oil filter, they must have put it on wrong.

So i'm crossing my fingers that that goes well and my car doesn't break down on me now. My boyfriend is staying here until his laptop comes in the mail which could be today or tomorrow (UPS). Luckily I bought Doom3 to keep him occupied sitting around the apartment all day - just came out and he played last night and loves it. We're hoping it runs better on his new laptop though because on my computer you have to run it at such a low resolution that you can't enjoy it as much.

Well the week begins, doctor appointment tomorrow and working on the website most nights this week. Not really looking forward to much free time. Thursday night though I want to go to my LNS for stitch night 6:30-9, bring my RR i'm working on and maybe finish up another star and the flowers in the center of the stars. I think I"m taking a break from the gym today because I'd like to get home early (3:30 if i don't take a break). Then tomorrow I have my appt. so no gym but wed and thur i can go to the gym. Maybe we'll go running when I get home tonight. What a plan...

Yea it's friday!

I love fridays (after work anyway), but it's still morning time. Last night I went grocery shopping like I wanted, and 6 of the 10 books I had ordered from Barnes and Noble arrived - i got 10 books for 26 dollars, mostly hardcover too! I love shopping the discount section. Then I dusted everywhere real good with the swiffer duster that I love! Then I cooked up some steak and rice for dinner, unfortunately I made enough to bring for lunch today but I forgot it at home! I also have another steak we may cook up tonight or I'll cook it Sunday and have it for lunch monday.

Then I started to not feel well - so I didn't clean the bathroom or vacuum like usual, but since my boyfriend is coming a little later tonight than usual I figure I can get most of the cleaning done when I get home after a trip to Walmart. I want to get the livingroom real clean so we can move the furniture in this weekend no problem, then we have to move the bedroom furniture around once my boyfriend gets here and start the painting process for the weekend. I may have to start that before he gets there depending on when he shows up, my estimate is around 7 though.

My brother has been considering coming to visit this weekend but he's not sure he has a way to get out here, I told him to ask mom to borrow the car, his truck probalby can't make the drive. I hope he does, he could help with moving the furniture too and he hasn't seen the place yet.

So since I wasn't feeling well I decided to at least stitch while I watched Lifetime (I haven't had cable in 4 years so having lifetime back is great!) I got a star complete on the RR I'm working on. I think I'm going to do 2 stars on each side but I may try to fit the moon on one side instead, i just think it may be too large, unless I can scale it down myself - hmmmm...
Around the stars are going to be little floating flowers, I wasn't going to put them in but the stars don't stand out much so now I know i'll have to put them in. I hate doing small confetti stitches with overdyed floss where you can't use the loop method. I would like to work on this again this weekend but I may be too busy. Then I have to get the floss for the teapot RR together so I can get that little guy done (they're both due at the end of august).

This is actually the last piece in our International RR, and after the teapot piece I have one more in my other RR which is newer but much quicker paced because it's all US. I've made great friends with the International RR and I think we're going to just start another one right up as soon as we can :)

Hello out there...

I think I changed it so now comments can be made, we'll see if this works - I also added the blogpatrol so i can see if anyone even reads this thing, all good things to know, am i alone in the universe ??

I wish I had brought my stitching or quilting to my uncle's last night, but i did get a lot of time to read. Next week they will be on vacation so I won't be going there and the week after they're gone and I'm house sitting so i'll be there the whole week, closer to work is nice. The week after that my boyfriend is going to be out here for good - what a change that will be (good hopefully).

So I did nothing last night, chatted with my aunt and read, then slept fitfully. Tonight will be a LONG night - after work (which I can leave early since I came in early), i must go to the grocery store some place, then clean the apartment top to bottom, including dusting which I hate - the blinds, the fans, the furniture, then vacuum real good and maybe - just maybe then I can relax. I need a walmart trip but that will have to wait a bit.

Since I have nothing good to say more I will go back to reading my slides for work ... till next time....

I am tired...

feeling wiped out from my workout I think. I've been doing real well going to the gym Mon-Thur though, just got one more day this week.

Let's see - tons to fill in about the weekend. Friday night my mom came by, my boyfriend and I took her to ACMoore and then we all went to dinner, then back to the apartment to play cards and eat shrimp.

Saturday, we went to Arlington, to Cross Stitch Unlimited (can't wait to go again!) it's such a cute little shop with so much to look at, i felt overwhelmed. There were many patterns on the walls and one of them (Just Nan which is new to me) I decided to buy, little did I know it was in 3 parts, at 6.50 a piece but I bought all 3 plus some overdyed threads. I found out they have a stitch night 2 thursdays a month and i'm looking forward to popping in!

Next we went down the road to The Fabric Corner, browsed and bought some fabric, they have a beginners quilting class starting in September that I am now signed up to take, every other tuesday night. It's hand piecing and hand quilting (no machine required at all) so I'm psyched! I have most of the other things needed, like a matte and rotary cutter and scissors.

After that we took my boyfriend out to lunch at a chinese buffet (as a thank you for driving us around and waiting for us while we shopped). Then my mom left for my sisters and I spent the rest of the night stitching happily away. I finished the little house on the round robin i'm working on and it came out great, now for the stars and then it's done.

Sunday we gave up on painting and just relaxed, drove around looking at houses for sale in the area, dreaming since they all go for over 400,000, even the tiny ones.

Monday after work I painted the Kilz on the bedroom walls that needed it (covers the water damage), that way we just have to prime with the green over it and then paint, we could just paint 2 coats but we have more primer than we do paint. And I worked on the website every night Sun-Tues. Tonight I'm looking forward to not looking at a computer after 4:40 -- 40 minutes to go :)

Last night on my way home I stopped by JoAnn's - the one here has a great selection of fabric, it's just a pain to get to since you can only get to it going one direction on rt. 9, but i can always stop on the way home some night if i need to.

Besides stitching for these RR's i'm really looking forward to working on my quilts, WIPs. I didn't realize how close to done my bugs in jars quilt is (i don't like the quilt so i haven't picked it up in a long time), so i may at least finish the quilting and then just put off the binding. My scenic quilt needs to be quilted but more importantly a pattern for quilting it needs to be picked out and i'm at a loss. Then there's my Debbie Mumm teapot quilt, which still has a lot of appliquet, I'm not doing it like in the book, I blew up the patterns and I'm hand appliquetting it instead of by machine. So far I have 2 of the 5 blocks done and a third almost done, a stack of teacups that's just missing the handles. I'd like to get this one done for my diningroom because it's a perfect kitchen theme and it will really stand out, plus since I haven't finished it yet I can more carefully coordinate the fabrics to match my green walls.

So stitching (besides RR's) will be on hold until the website is done, i don't have enough time, i really only have some time on weekends and i think it's going to be quilting and working on the RR's. Then after the site is done (maybe by september) i will pick up my stitching again, maybe finish up my herb sampler for the kitchen since I'm SO close to done on that one and it'd be nice to finish something kinda large, then start the one for my boyfriend. I'm also joining a SAL in January 2005 - but that's pretty far off, that's a sampler, all in one color so i'll need to do some shopping to pick out the perfect fabric/thread combination.

Some BAD news I got this week :( Big Bummer - the Mystic, CT retreat I wanted to go to is full - and I can't go to the Monday/Tuesday one because it'd be real hard to get those days off of work and then get another friday in november off of work. I'm not 100% sure I can't, i'm on a waiting list in case someone cancels and now that I think of it i may be able to sqeeze in the days off - i'll have to talk to my boss, but i'm not sure it would look good.

If however I don't go - I will take around 150-200 of what I would have spent on it and do a shop hop that weekend in this area, there are a few LNS's and it'd be great to just treat myself guilt free. But only time will tell - November is so far off, i couldn't believe it was already full (and i sent my check in on friday), but she'll hold it in case it opens up.

Alright well this was a long long entry - now i'm headed back to the message boards to see what I missed and kill the last 30 minutes of my day!!!

And Friday is almost over...

I can't wait to leave - 10 more minutes and i'm bustin out of here. My boyfriend showed up last night - surprised me, unfortunately I wasn't feeling well and was about to go to sleep, he took me for a quick ride in his new car though and then I went to sleep :) No problem getting up this morning and getting to work on time but still haven't felt well all day - seems to be a normal thing now - monthly almost.

So I got the apartment cleaned yesterday and grocery shopping done - all set with everything and settled down to have some ice cream and felt sick - couldnt' eat it. So I read for a bit and started falling asleep - that's when my boyfriend called (as I was shutting off the lights).

This weekend should be good - mom should be at my place when I get there, she hasn't called yet though, and tonight we'll relax, cook dinner, chat. Tomorrow we can go to JoAnn's, ACMoore and a cross stitch shop and quilt shop too if we drive over to Arlington later on. THen she's headed to my sister's for dinner so we'll probably go to Home Depot and get the stuff to finish painting the bedroom so that will be done so we can move furniture next weekend while painting the diningroom.

4 minutes to go! Too bad there's nothing really to do at work - but next week should pick up, I'm starting to get more responsibility, and I would have work if i had a certain tool installed on my computer which I don't and can't get done today - no one is around. But hopefully monday it will all be taken care of. Well I"m off - closing up and outta here!

Didn't realize i forgot to blog...

About the weekend that is... Last weekend was packed.  I came home friday and my boyfriend and I painted the dark green in the livingroom and hallway.  Then we drove out to see a movie, it was sold out, went to home depot instead for paint for the diningroom and then back - ended up just going to bed.
Saturday we put the second coat of the dark green on, then cleared out the bedroom and started to prime in there.  Got almost done and found water damage that the paint wasnt' covering, stopped priming (need to buy more anyway) and tried calling the landlord - no answer.  Decided to be done for the day, and headed up to NH to buy furniture.

So we already knew what couch/loveseat set we wanted but with our luck it had been discontinued as of the week before!  IT would have cost only 1000, instead our next cheapest choice was 1500 - so we searched and finally found a leather set we liked, but it cost 1800 -- we also bought coffee table, end tables and a rug - 2500 total.  But now we have to wait a week and a half to get it all.

So then we went to my uncle's house, played with the kids, stayed up playing video games with my uncle and headed home in the morning.  We got home to find out the diningroom ceiling fan was leaking water onto our new table!  So we cleaned it up, thankfully no damage and got a hold of the landlord.  He fixed the problem upstairs (the neighbors up there had been messing with the toilet and really messed things up for him).  He said he'd replace the fan later after it dried out.  It hasn't leaked since luckily.  So we basically did nothing after that.

Sunday night I worked, monday i worked, then came home and worked (website).  I also planted some of my plants, then tuesday work, then worked at home then today work.  But tonight I'm going to dinner and a movie with my aunt and uncle because my cousin is at girl scout camp.  A little over an hour left to go.  Hopefully I can finish the document I'm reviewing before I leave, that's my goal. 

So tomorrow night is cleaning then friday night my mom is going to be here to visit, saturday we'll hang out and do something that I haven't come up with yet and then she's heading to my sister's to visit.  My boyfriend got his new car on monday so i can't wait to take a ride in that (it's a used 1998 Audi A6).  He's been enjoying it, showing it to everyone, even my family already. 

The picture of the project for Stitcher's Hideaway was posted today  - I love it!  I can not wait until November to go!  I'm taking Friday off as a floating holiday to go.  It's going to cost me 380 total plus any stash i buy on top of that.  But I love the design and it's a great experience, i am so excited about it right now, i'm sending my deposit in friday.  Now I just need to budget out my money, with this new furniture, i need to get paid for my work on the website soon.

So that's my long and rambly update - no stitching to update, been busy working on the website since there's currently no deadlines close by.. but soon i'll have more RR's to finish up.  So now i'm off to check my email and get back to my document!

It's been a long week...

Training this week has gone well, unfortunately it takes up the whole day, running late mostly and we've been getting only half hour breaks which means I've gotten to the gym only once this week (Tuesday).  Today's I'm guessing is going to run late but hopefully I can still get out of here by 4 and get to the post office and home to tape up the ceilings to paint. 

Tuesday night went well babysitting, my aunt and uncle actually took the baby with them to dinner and a movie so I had the two older monsters (2 1/2 and 4 1/2), we had a great time, we played outside then came in and had dinner and watched a scoobie doo episode before reading and going to bed.  I fell asleep waiting for the little one to fall asleep and woke up at 9:15 and they were both sound asleep.

Wednesday night I went to my other aunt and uncle's house for dinner and we just relaxed afterwards.  Since I had to work late I didn't even get there until 6:30. 

Then last night, I left around 5, went to walmart, that took forever and I finally got home at 7:30!  Then I cleaned the apartment and at 9 settled in to watch tv and fall asleep.  Pretty boring lately, no stitching or anything and this weekend looks as though it will be packed with painting, furniture shopping, maybe a movie and working on the website sunday night probably.  Speaking of furniture I'm off to see what deals are going on to decide where we should go!

Stitching something completely new to me...
 
That's right, last night I started stitching on Mercedes' Round Robin piece which is a band sampler.  So far everyone has chosen their own patterns and used the hand dyed floss to make everything come together, it's beautiful.  I'm the last to stitch on it and I already had the pattern chosen (from Carol).  Well of course the colors called for are DMC and Anchor, so I went through the GAST and SSS to find some colors to substitute and started on the house last night.  This is all new, the threads and just choosing colors.  I will actually have to buy some colors, probably some SSS to finish it, I need more yellows and maybe some greens but I'm loving this whole idea. 
 
So, as you may be able to tell, i finished the other RR I was working on, sunday night I put in the last whirls and posted a pick in my album before mailing it out yesterday.  The rest of the weekend I didn't do much besides watch movies and just relax with my boyfriend but sunday night was quite busy, besides stitching I also unpacked, baked bran muffins, cooked dinner and baked brownies.  Unlike last night where I got home, went through my mail and stuff, then sat down to stitch until about 8, then i packed and just watched a movie. 
 
I'm babysitting my 3 cousins tonight, really looking forward to it, but that means if I go to my other uncle's tomorrow night I won't be home until thursday night so i had a lot of packing to do.  Plus thursday I will have a lot of prep to do so we can paint on friday, including just cleaning the apartment and going to home depot.  Luckily friday is another pay day :)
 
Well - today should be a good day, got some reading to do and a few meetings, and i gotta get to the gym !!!

Fridays are the hardest...
 
Well this week has gone well, unfortunately fridays always drag because i look forward so much to just starting the weekend.  I'm heading to my boyfriend's for the weekend after work today, going to be a long drive with traffic but i'm really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and sunday. 
 
Yesterday I actually stayed an hour later at work than I had planned but we were in the middle of getting some tests run and we wanted to get the system set up to run tests over night.  But that means I don't feel guilty about leaving today at the normal time. 
 
I have been stitching a bit each night, almost finished now with the Round Robin, I have a few swirls in the november block left to stitch then it will be all set to mail out on monday if i can find the post office somewhere near work. 
 
So next week hopefully I will have some time to get some painting done but it's looking doubtful, I'm so tired when I get home I hardly have energy enough to stitch or read.  4 hours to go - that's keeping me going now :)

Finally back to regular work...

Well last night after a long day of working with no break at all, i finally started working on the website again. I did manage to also get an hour of stitching in. Now the October Snapper is completely finished and the November one is started (I stitched the border line). I actually have to find all the floss for that one still.

Tonight I plan on doing the same thing, working on the website then stitching some more. I do want to go to the gym today however. That's right yesterday I was so busy that i didn't go to the gym or eat lunch, i basically had a few cookies throughout the day and my morning oatmeal. But I did make a dinner for myself. Today will be different, i brough tuna for lunch and I'll go to the gym at 11:30. So for now I'm off to the lab to finish what I started yesterday hopefully. FIrst breakfast :)

A very busy weekend...

Friday night after work, my boyfriend and I started the process of painting the livingroom, this included a lot of taping. Luckily I think it was 10:30 when we finally finished painting a coat of primer on all 4 walls in there. By then my sister and her boyfriend had showed up so we cleaned up and played poker until 1. Saturday we all slept in then I made a big breakfast before getting ready for a day in boston.

My aunt, uncle and cousins all showed up at 1 and we went in to boston, quincy market, boston common etc. Walked around, ate and let the kids try to have fun with us tied to them pretty much. It was a good day but exhausting for sure! When we got back at 8 we were all so tired we took a nap for an hour before ordering some dinner and playing more poker.

Sunday was more painting, we got 3 walls in the livingroom completely finished and the hallway is now primed so the next step is to paint the last livingroom wall and hallway the darker green. Next weekend maybe - unless I go home.

And now i'm back to work, hopefully my day goes by fast - like thursday and friday last week - spent completely in the lab hence no posts. And i'm off to the lab already :)

Already Wednesday...

And it's almost time to go to the gym too. The mornings don't take too long to pass by even without work.

So last night I sanded the walls of the livingroom, what i could reach anyway with the footstool. Then I started working on the new Round robin that's due in 2 weeks (less if i want to mail it on time). Hopefully it won't take too long, i seemed to make good progress on it in just an hour and a half last night.

Tonight I'm headed to my aunt and uncle's house for the night, brought my stitching in case we relax and watch tv again. Thursday after work I will do a trip to walmart and acmoore and then clean the apartment all in preperation for this weekend.

That's it I guess, not much going on in my life, time to go work out - leg day today !

Nice long weekend...

Well Friday went fast, i actually had work, i worked in the lab all day actually, it was great. Then when I got home my boyfriend was there already, so we just relaxed all night long. Saturday we went to home depot and bought paint for the apartment and my boyfriend worked on getting the internet to work but i still have to make a call to comcast about that. Then at 5 we headed up to my uncle's house to hang out.

Saturday night we just played poker and hung out. Sunday we actually slept in and then got ready for the bbq. Around 2 or so everyone showed up and we started up the bbq, ate, relaxed, i fell asleep on benadryl, everyone else pretty much played foosball. Then after dark we did fireworks and then headed home.

Yesterday was a day of relaxation, slept late, then my boyfriend left around noon and i just cross stitched most of the day. I actually stitched for 8 hours. In between I managed to bake bran muffins, cook dinner and make some tuna for lunch today. But mostly i stitched. I finished the round robin i was working on finally, with an accumulation of 26 hours of work into it. After that it was already 10 so i just went online then read and went to bed. Maybe tonight i'll start the other round robin i have that's due in less than two weeks now. Better getta move on since i want to do two months like everyone else not just one which may end up happening.

So we'll see how today goes, unfortunately this morning has shown no work but maybe someone's in the lab that i can chill out in there. First i think i'll have some breakfast. Yummy muffins ---

2 more days of work...

Today is going to drag, i can tell, i've already eaten more than i normally do and it isn't ten am yet.

Yesterday was great, I worked in the lab most of the day. At noon I went and worked out and then did a few laps in the pool instead of shower. After work I went to my aunt and uncle's and we went to the highschool and kicked the soccer ball at my cousin who is practicing to be a goalie, and i walked 2 miles with my aunt. After that we made dinner, ate, baked cookies and relaxed until 11. I even got some stitching in. Then I slept wonderfully and woke up :( at 6 and left before anyone else was even up.

On the RR I am now ready to stitch the 2, that will leave the 3 and 4 till I'm done. I'd say that I am almost 2/3 of the way done now, not quite but almost and tonight after I clean and maybe make some pudding for my boyfriend i'll stitch some more. I also want to replant some of my herbs so I can see how they do and then buy another planter for the others. My basil and thyme will both each need a large planter, not sure yet how the parsley or oregano will do, they're still small.

I am tired that's for sure, saturday i am sleeping in!!! So I just have to get through 2 days of work and i've got almost 3 hours of today done, i actually can leave by 5 today because i was in at 7. Alright - guess it's back to the message board.