March Goals in Review:

1) Finish Pooh Wallhanging [DONE]
2) Finish Precious Moments [DONE]
3) Finish Scarf 1, start scarf 2 (knit) [DONE - FINISHED SECOND SCARF]
4) Piece 2 ohio stars [FINISHED 1 - CUT SECOND]
5) Start quilting amish quilt [NOPE - PIECED BACK, READY TO BASTE]
6) Stitch Carolyn's RR [DONE]
7) Start Skirt (sewing) - read pattern at least [DONE - even almost made skirt]

Also stitched "Spirit Within"
Also knitted Green Hat and started Green Scarf
They were pretty boring for March - maybe April I can get a bit more done.

An early day today - i was in to work at 6:45. Not bad i'd say, I'll leave around 4, stop home quick and then head to stitch night. Then to the gym of course - a long day :)

Last night was not at all productive as I had hoped. i did stitch for half an hour at lunch time which had me motivated and I wanted to stitch last night. I got to my uncle's around 5, helped prepare dinner, then i knitted a tiny bit, then we baked cookies (yummy cookie dough), then we actually cooked dinner, then we ate. Next thing you know it's 9pm. Then my uncle's computer wouldn't boot because the fan wouldn't start, so we took that apart and "fixed" it - basically looked around, blew on the fan, put it back together and it worked. By then it was almost 10, time for Law and Order so I just watched that and fell asleep half way through. No stitching, quilting or knitting as I had hoped. All well :)

In the month of April I stitched for over 40 hours and quilted over 20 hours. This month i've dropped to stitching maybe 33 hours (depends on tonight) and quilting only 10. On top of that last month was only 28 days!

Unfortunately this weekend isn't looking good for stitching either. Saturday will be spent driving and seeing the new baby (that's 3 1/2 hours driving out, see baby, drive home at night maybe - another 3 1/2 hours). That does leave sunday but i need to clean a bit and do some shopping (groceries, library and Joann's). We shall see if stitching fits in there or not.

The real reason my stitching dropped a bit is because my main project is Peaceful Silhouette which is all in brown - not a blast for sure! Once I start Legends of the Dragons things will probably pick up - but until that fabric arrives i have to keep trying to motivate myself to pick this piece up (unless it's lunch time then i do it willingly).

Alright i'm hungry and i have work to do - time to get the day started with some hot chocolate :)

Ah - the joys of infants.

My coworker brought her baby in yesterday. Wow, i love babies - especially when they are so quiet for 2 hours like this one was! One woman in the office held her during lunch and she went right to sleep - it was so cute and gave my coworker and nice chance to just talk with adults. Then after lunch I held her for a while so my coworker could talk with our manager about what she'll be doing when she gets back monday. She continued sleeping the whole time. Then the mommy fed her before heading home. She's beautiful - a full head of hair and a very expression filled face (even when sleeping). I'm so happy for them!

Other than that yesterday was relatively uneventful. I picked up a pizza on the way home (my cop out since I didn't go to the grocery store the night before). After pizza I cut out 3 more Ohio Stars so they are ready to piece (that leaves 3 more to cut out still). Then I switched to stitching for an hour on Peaceful Silhouette. I really need a few good hours working on this piece as it's hard to decide what to start stitching next and you must really count a lot. Of course i messed up but only 1 stitch in the wrong place so i left it, i did this elsewhere too but i don't think it will be noticeable. I will bring this piece to stitch night on Thursday and work on it at lunch time today and tomorrow too.

Still waiting for my fabric for legends of the dragons. I am however getting the floss i need (Caron Waterlilies and some krieniks) on Thursday. The shop has a Heart in Hand trunk show going on as well that i will have to check out. I've never been a huge fan but it's always different getting to see the pieces in person. I also can't wait to see my friend's progress on Celtic Seasons - she modified the design in 2 places, first the sun's face was kinda strange so she changed it to make him smile, then the snowflake seemed out of place and it wasn't 6 sided so she redesigned that completely, that's what she's working on now and i'm really looking forward to seeing it.

I did make it to the gym last night for a change. We did chest and back. I was really tired but i started out strong. Of course my chest if feeling it today. I brought running clothes in case i want to go running today or tomorrow - unfortunately i'd rather stitch at lunch time :( I don't know if my priorities are wrong or just fine.

Who knows what i will work on tonight, i might start piecing Ohio Star #8, or knit. I think i'll leave my cross stitch at work though. I brought my half finished skirt to show my aunt too. It's not finished so i won't be taking a picture for my album but i figure she'll still appreciate the work i put into it.

Breakfast time and today i do have food :)

Baby visit.

My coworker that had a baby a few weeks ago is bringing the little one in for a visit today. Her maternity leave ends this week so she'll be back full time on Monday. We pitched in and got her a gift to give her today and I have the wallhanging i made her all ready for her to take home (hanging in her office actually).

I got my lab results back from my blood test. They're kind of hard to read. It looks like everything is okay except something about enzymes and I think she wants me to get my blood tested AGAIN in a week... not happy about that since i HATE needles and i told her i didn't want to get this done again. I will have to call her and find out why i'm doing this again, if she suspects something's wrong with me or not (because i feel fine and this was just routine - not looking for anything in particular - just checking cholesterol and stuff).

I got no stitching done last night as I wanted. It was a rough night - I had a headache, i was a little emotional and my boyfriend being such a sweetie took the night away from studying and just pampered me while watching tv. Just some alone time really paying attention to each other. It was very much needed and i can stitch anytime :)
I did stitch at lunch yesterday and tonight i'll probably get some stitching time for sure (or quilting at least).

I also got the backordered part of my 123stitch order. I ordered a bunch of Six Strand Sweets (they had a bunch of new colors released so i went through and ordered a lot of colors that looked nice). Then I ordered the chart Blessed Be - by Enchanting Lair - the red is really magnificent in this. I also got Warm Winter Wishes.

I'm still waiting for my order of the fabric for Legends of the Dragons. I'm also waiting for an order from Dyeing4u, I joined their fabric club and got my first fabric installment (march's) and now i'm waiting for the charts i ordered. 2 of which i already had (oops) and didn't realize until I went through my stash. But they aren't bank breakers so once i get them i'll put them up for trade over at Fiberswappers - a yahoo group created by Carol.

Oh lord - my head is pounding and I had no food to bring for breakfast or lunch today - leaving me only some yogurt (not a huge fan), pudding snacks and strawberries - all snack food not really food food if you ask me. I may have to actually go out and get some lunch today, until then hopefully i can survive!

Monday Pictures again.

Not much to update. I did manage to finish Ohio Star #7:


And some updated progress on Peaceful Silhouette (7.5 hours):


The amount of stitching update is really pathetic. It would be more except I stitched a whole section in the wrong blended color mix and had to take it out last night! So then I put it away, but I am to the boat now so I think I will continue down the left side and then do the boat. I know I started too low on the fabric and the bottom is going to cut it close, i seem to do this a lot!

So this weekend was really good. My sister came up friday evening then we went to my uncle's house that night. After the kids went to bed we played some video games of course. Then we watched Mystic River because my uncle hadn't seen it yet.
Saturday we went to my cousin's soccer game and then spent the day with the kids preparing for "easter dinner". The rest of the family came around 4 and we ate around 7. The kids actually went to bed surprisingly well and we played poker until it was time to head home. It was a nice day - tiring but nice.
Sunday was great, we did nothing. We thought we'd go to the mall to buy running shoes, of course it was closed (duh it's easter), but Sports Authority was open so we went there. My boyfriend and I both got sneakers (i bought his for him for his birthday present). Then we got lunch and my sister headed back home.

The rest of sunday was my time. I started working on the skirt i wanted to make finally. It went fairly well. I wasn't sure (because it wasn't stated anywhere), if the pattern pieces already included a seam allowance or not so i added one. I got it all together in the shape of a skirt and unfortunately the way i cut part of the fabric a mark was showing near the zipper (which i added all by myself too!) The mark is bright white (on dark red fabric). So i decided not to finish it, but now i have the idea down. The pattern i picked was really plain anyway and i got the learning experience out of it. What i didn't do was the lining on the top which had fusible whatever on it, so i'll still have to learn that, and i didn't hem the bottom or the slit. I did however learn how to do all the pattern stuff and i think i'll pick out one of my more interesting patterns and buy some more fabric and make another. I actually have some fabric already, dark dark maroon, that i may use a pattern from the same pack that has a slit on the front and then some embroidery. The fabric is thicker so it will hang better i think.

So a trip to Joann's is in order pretty soon. I'm glad i finally tried it though, even if i can't wear the skirt i made, i put it on and it fit so i know the size to follow now and i know to add a seam allowance and to draw the marks on the back side of the fabric, and next time to maybe use fraycheck or something on fabric like that as it frayed all over the place (cheap fabric).

So then i stitched a bit (and frogged a bit more) and watched tv with my boyfriend. Tonight i think i will do the same (stitch and watch tv). My only plans this week are wednesday go to my uncle's and thursday go to my friend's for a stitch night. Then I plan to go to my mom's this coming weekend to go visit my new cousin who will be 4 weeks old tomorrow!

Well time to get some work done, as always monday is filled with meetings :)

I my -- it's an allergy day for sure! I may resort to taking benadryl but it's hard enough staying awake when reading lengthy work documents - what a horrid day this will be!

Let me say that last night was a blast. My new friend came over for a stitch night. It was great, we mostly chatted but i did get a little stitching done too :) And progress is being made on Peaceful Silhouette! My boyfriend made us a pizza for dinner. It was a great evening and we're going to keep it up on the thursday evenings that we don't have stitch at our LNS, so once a week i will have stitch time!

No gym again last night - it looks like the week is lost. I will be good next week I promise :)

I'm really looking forward to this weekend, tonight we're going up to my uncle's house to play video games, then saturday i'll just hang out with the kids all day. Family will start arriving in the afternoon, then we'll have a big family dinner and probably head home that night so i will have sunday to just relax and stitch ;)

I shouldn't be waiting and expecting my fabric for Legends of the Dragons to arrive as I am or else it will never come, but i can't wait! Until then i will keep focusing on Peaceful Silhouette which isn't a lot of fun but at least i can start a boat now if I want to. I will stitch at lunch today and get some needles threaded with the boat color so i can work on that this weekend.

Oh my - my allergies will not leave me alone! I need some meds quick!

The snow is back.... isn't it spring??

Well I woke up this morning to 4 or 5 inches of snow. It's still coming too. I was staying at my uncle's so it's more snow than i would have seen if instead i went home last night as near boston you don't get the same amount of snow. The drive was no big deal though as it's pretty warm out.

Yesterday was one of those really strange days... i was here from 7:30-6:30 with a 20 minute lunch break where i gobbled down a sub i didn't really even like much. It started with a regular morning, then a meeting then a trip to visit a customer which took a few hours. Then lunch picked up on the way back and eaten back at the office. Then back out to another customer over in Bedford which is a half hour drive. Finally back at 4 and my security briefing which took 2 hours in the closed area. I come out at 6:20 and my phone is ringing (my aunt calling to see when i'm coming over as i had no cell phone in the closed area). Then i quick check my email - 30 emails - turns out i have to go back to the one customer today by myself this time to try out a few other troobleshooting things.

Hopefully today will be nothing like yesterday. I have work to do in the closed area and i have to set up a trip over to the customer site to help them out a bit but i think i can manage to get in my yummy pizza for lunch, some fruit during the day and even the leftover sub i have from dinner last night if it's good warmed up.

Last night i didn't even get much done. I worked on piecing my ohio star, i'm now 2/3 done with it but i wanted to finish it. Unfortunately my aunt had girl scout stuff to do so sitting on the couch while my cousin watched tv i just fell asleep at 9. I woke at 11 and my uncle was back from Blue Ginger (a work dinner) and i went to bed. At least tonight i can get some stitching done as i think my friend is still coming over for a stitch night - unless she's timid about the snow, hopefully not :)

So today i am determined to get an hour of lunch time - with half of that dedicated to stitching more on Peaceful Silhouette. Then i want to leave an hour early (since i was here late yesterday), so i can clean up the apartment a bit as i never know what to expect when i've been gone for a night and i may have some shoveling to do. Then tonight i will stitch from 5-9 :) Hopefully i will get to the gym after that as i haven't gone yet this week!

On a an even brighter note, the fabric i ordered for Legends of the Dragon - the Dragon Myst, is all paid for and i am just awaiting a shipping notice which i was told would be sent as soon as i paid the shipping which i did... so maybe i'll have that fabric some time next week??? Maybe too i can make a trip to my LNS next week, i think she's open later one evening and i could go right after work. The fabric is 32 ct. I do have one dilema with starting another large project while doing Peaceful Silhouette at work. I have only one pair of 11x11 q-snaps, and one pair of 8x8 which are really small. I will try the 8x8 but i may have to bring the 11x11 back and forth to work and use those. I ordered more fabric than i need because i like the color so much, i will probably cut it down to what i need though so i don't have a ton of extra fabric hanging about making it harder for me to hold.
Oh i'm so excited to start this piece!! Now it's time for breakfast.. it's still quiet in the office, the snow keeps people home longer in the morning!

Already had my cocoa...

I generally start my morning at the office with some hot chocolate - it warms me up (because i'm always cold) and keeps me from feeling too hungry. Wonder what i'll do when it gets warm outside (which may be never at this rate) :)

Guild last night was very interesting. The speaker was Joan Shay of Petal Play. She does a technique of appliquet/heat-n-bond that supposedly goes quickly and makes a nice 3-d effect - it works wonderfully on flowers, birds, fish, anything with lots of small parts (petals, feathers, scales). If i had the time i'd try this out, as it is quilt wise i'm booked so i will keep it in mind and in the future some time i may pick up a book of hers and try it out. If i had just seen her books i never would have been that interested, but seeing them in person (the quilts) i can definately say there are a few i really liked. Of course the daisies as that's my favorite flower, but i could see myself doing a bunch, i have a friend in Kansas i could do the sunflower for, i could do gifts for people with there favorite flower, there were lilacs, hyacinths (i love purple), tons to keep me interested ;)

So after my boyfriend made dinner and I filled up on pork chops i went to guild. I actually won the raffle (if you wear your hand made/quilted name-tag you get entered). Then I agreed to help out with the raffle quilt commitee. That means i help with picking the fabric, designing and kitting up of blocks. Then guild members piece the blocks (anyone that does gets entered into the raffle). Then i help piece together, and then 2 quilts are made, one is quilted by guild members (again more raffle chances the more you help). The finished quilt is raffled to the public, maybe at our quilt show in October, i'm not sure. The one that's just a top is raffled to the guild members that helped make it. It's going to be an indigo quilt with pink accents. I don't have days free to do the shopping so much but i offered to help whenever i can, i can cut and package, i can shop on the weekends etc. I like getting involved :)

Then I went home and read some more of Shogun. I need to listen to the next tape and see if i've made it that far yet. I'm nearing the end so it's getting hard to put down as i know something big is going to happen soon!

I've also started a new book on tape, "The Shipping News", this one is from the library and i think i'm going to have to renew it as i've already had it over a week and just started it. I think i get 3 weeks. Well hot chocolate is wearing off, time for some oatmeal :)

And the week continues...

Last night after work I stopped by walmart, i needed just a few things, i ended up stopping by the purse section and getting a new wallet and purse, then the shoe section for some sandals, then some socks... then finally getting the few things i needed. Ho hum! Then I picked up pizza on the way home for dinner :)

I did manage to clean, i vacuumed anyway, no dusting but i also cleaned out my closet completely and reorganized and now so much more stuff fits in there! This closet is huge, it's the size of a laundry room, but it has a slanting ceiling and the clothing rods aren't placed in the best spots. Plus i have to fit all my crafts in there, plus the fake christmas tree and all my just stuff. It fit though!

So then we decided to skip the gym and just make a quick trip to the grocery store and then read (spend some time together). So i picked up "Shogun" and found the spot where the tape i have broke (i've been listening to the book on tape and i am in part 3 towards the end). So i'm just going to read the book for a bit and then find where i am on the tapes.

In other news, i have decided on a new semi-large project to start soon. Yesterday i ordered the fabric that i'm going to use for Legends of the Dragons! Once the fabric gets here (not sure when that will be) i will get the stuff together to start it. I'm going to be stitching along with Carol, she's also using the fabric -
Dragon Myst by The Blended Needle, and then Waterlilies Storm Clouds for the border stitches. I can't wait to do this piece.

In the meantime I have to get some quilting done as I've kind of been putting that off. I would like to get at least one of the ohio stars pieced before the end of march (since i planned on doing 2), and i'd like to get quilting on the amish quilt which is ready to be basted at least. I've kind of stopped knitting for a bit - i will bring it with me when i am in the car or have an appt. or something because it's easier to pick up and put down but at work for lunch time i'm sticking to "Peaceful Silhouette" stitching and at home I will quilt.

Basically I hit a problem by doing this ohio star quilt with my mom. I had already planned on my Amish quilt for my boyfriend's sister, and i have my sampler quilt waiting to be finished, by starting another new one that takes so much hand work i have to juggle more. I'm not going to stress though, if i can get the ohio stars all pieced by the end of May i'll be happy, other than that i will quilt the amish quilt and the sampler quilt will just wait until the amish quilt is done.

As for stitching there's no stress at all. I am in a round robin but i finished the piece i have and i'm not sure when our next mailing date is anyway. Until then i have my lunch time piece with no deadline and will be starting Legends for myself. And even better i'm not already thinking of "what i will stitch after Legends", i'm just going to enjoy Legends, if i need the "start something new" feeling i will do a freebie or something since i have a ton of small dragons and such that i'd like to get done!

Well it looks like i have to do some more reading today... Unfortunately the next step is writing so i'm not looking forward to that either.. i miss coding!

Springtime!
Yesterday even seemed like spring :)

Well it's picture monday so here are my latest pictures:

I finished the Winnie the Pooh Wallhanging last night (put the binding and the sleeve (to hang) on.


I finished the figure in The Spirit Within by Fantacat Designs:

This took 7.5 hours to stitch and most of the colors are not the exact ones called for, i substituted with what i could get.

Then my progress on Peaceful Silhouette - a Dimensions kit. This is 5 hours progress:


Well we sure had a good weekend. Friday was my 5 year anniversary so my boyfriend took me to "The Top of the Hub" which has an amazing view of boston. It's of course expensive but we don't go out very often and rarely to nice places. It was great. The food was "ok" for the price - not as good as Blue Ginger but the view made it worth it.
We wanted to rent the Incredibles after dinner, but hollywood video had run out - so we get a free rental of it next time (hey - saved 5 dollars, that's great!). So instead we bought a few movies and went home.

Saturday I spent the morning and early afternoon going through all my cross stitch stash, organizing my patterns, fabric and kits. Oh my i have a lot! And i found out that I already have 2 of the patterns I just ordered that should be arriving this week. I do have a growing pile of patterns I will never stitch, some of which are nice just not my taste that i will save to give out to friends, others i may sell on ebay (they aren't worth much and i don't know anyone with this taste but for now i have a drawer where i will put said stuff and some day i will get to making a list of it. Nothing great really so i'm in no rush.

After my boyfriend got home saturday from his reveiw session we drove up to my uncle's house for the evening (played with the kiddos) and then played Medal of Honor (computer games) all night. We haven't played that game in months, we've been playing battlefield 1942, so this was a pleasant change and we had a great time.

Sunday i got up early to get some girly time in with the 3 girls and we ended up not leaving until almost 2. It was great though, the youngest is 13 months old and she got really attached to me for a bit. She was tired after lunch (nap time) and she wanted me to hold her so i danced with her cuddled up, then i sat on the couch and she cuddled up and i rocked her (all to music of course). Then she decided she wasn't going to sleep but she wanted to lay on my lap, or next to me, or kinda upside down on my legs, she kept moving but putting her head down and relaxing in whatever position. Then she layed in my arms and just "talked" to me, touching my nose and her nose and showing me her new teeth coming in. What a cutie! She's so quiet (being the 3rd child she knows how to scream to get attention), but generally she's quiet and so cuddly!

I did also get to spend a lot of time with the oldest who is 5 1/2 now. I taught her how to play solitaire, which she actually picked up quite well. And my boyfriend, her and i played catch with a koosh ball for about half an hour - she's getting very good at both catching and throwing and i see little league in her future for sure :)

I didn't get to spend a lot of one on one time with the middle one - she's a doll, loves to play house and dolls and princess. She also loves to just sit in your lap and read. I of course spent time with her but not a 30 minute special time like i did with the other 2, she was more involved in doing her own thing this weekend which of course is fine.. besides i get to see them again next weekend :)

So sunday - very tired - we came home and I got started on my quilting. I finished the Winnie the Pooh wallhanging (above) and pieced the back for my amish quilt. Then i started on ohio star number 7 (just a tad), while watching tv. There was a special on Animal Planet on Dragons, so i watched part of that (and of course taped it), but then switched over to Law and Order CI for my boyfriend.

Unfortunately i didn't get any cleaning done so tonight i need to stop by walmart on the way home, then clean the apartment, then do my grocery shopping and cook. Probably no stitching time at all :) And now - it's monday and i'm hungry!

An update before the weekend...

What a day this has been! I have eaten absolutely nothing but junk food. We started the morning with some doughnuts, then my hot chocolate of course. Then at lunch I had a bowl of oatmeal and some cookie dough. Then i baked up a few cookies to share in the toaster oven so i had a few of those (and some more dough). Then we just had ice cream cake to celebrate someone's birthday.

At lunch time i stitched to, i got a half hour in on Peaceful Silhouette, i will post a progress pic on monday hopefully if i remember to bring it home tonight. Then i finished up the stitching of the green sun on The Spirit Within so all i have left is blue stitching.

Hopefully after all this junk food i'll still be hungry tonight since we're going to a fancy pancy restaurant. How much would my boyfriend not love it if i showed up full :) Well i have 2 hours to go, maybe i can get some work done today...

5 Years

That's right, today marks the end of year 5 that my boyfriend and I have been together. Sometimes it doesn't seem that long, sometimes it seems longer. I guess that's always the way it is. So tonight we're going out to a fancy dinner and I get to get dressed up J

Last night was fun. I went to my stitch night, of course bought a few things, then just stitched and chatted with friends. It was a great time, I worked more on The Spirit Within. I was hoping to buy the kreinik threads it calls for but they are too new and she didn't have them so I just picked some that were close and used them. I think it will look fine. I'm almost done with her lower body and the sun so that leaves only her belt and backstitch when those are completed. Definitely will finish her this weekend, now I just need a saying since I'm not fancying on the one designed for her.

So after my stitch night I came home, I was feeling off so I just went to bed (missed the gym again) but I got a nice 9 hours of sleep last night and I can't complain about that since I love sleeping. I got the new stitcher's world but I haven't checked it out yet, from first glance I didn't see anything in particular I liked. I think I may stop subscribing to this and just cross stitch, I'd rather save my money for patterns that I like individually, but it is nice to get a little treat in the mail (hence I joined a second fabric of the month club - one at dyeing4u.com this time - the other one is silkweaver's). So I'll get fabric instead of magazines.

It's looking like today is going to be boring again. Yesterday at lunch time I didn't get to stitch because I went for a walk with a girl here, it was really nice. I forgot my sneakers today though so I can't go again, but I want to stitch anyway, especially since tonight I won't get to stitch since I'm going out. Well I should get back to reading about Elliptic Curve Cryptography (I'm just doing this for fun since there's no actual work to do) :>)

Hmm... made some progress on The Spirit Within last night, and I was good about it. I stitched for 2 hours and after each hour I not only rested my wrists but i warmed them (trying to make sure i don't develop tendonitis as i seem to have a tendancy to). So her upper body is done, the moon is done and i've made progress on her lower body. Tonight at stitch night maybe i can finish her body leaving only the sun, her belt and backstitching which is all in Kreiniks that i don't have yet but hope to pick up.

So last night my uncle had a business dinner so we went and got dinner from a pizzaria, then i stuffed myself to the max - oh man! I was hurting i was stuffed so bad. Then i settled in to stitch and after a while of that i picked up my knitting a tiny bit here and there, and helped my cousin cast on the new yarn i got her and helped my uncle with his computer when he got home.

It was a nice night. Tonight will also be a great night. I have stitch night so after work i head home, i eat something quick and i go stitch with friends at my LNS where i also end up buying new stuff. I've actually been finding it hard to find new charts to buy. I got a gift certificate to 123stitch for 23 dollars from a friend (an exchange), and then i couldn't fill it with charts, i found 2 that i liked and then i bought a bunch of threads i liked but it was pretty disappointing i couldn't even find more charts, although i do have a LOT of charts already . Hopefully this weekend i can sit down with my stash and organize to make a pile of pieces i want to start real soon. The Spirit Within will be finished quite soon so i will need another piece, of course i've been stitching a lot lately, which means i'm neglecting my quilting big time, the knitting i do here and there for a few minutes at a time but quilting is like stitching in that it takes more supplies and time to set up and do. Maybe this weekend i can get an ohio star pieced though, since i'd like to get them done by the end of May at least and i have quite a few more to go (6).

Alright - i'm just waiting for bagels to arrive since it's thursday, work was really slow yesterday, hopefully today won't be so bad!

Another good day productivity wise.

Yesterday I went home and my boyfriend cooked dinner again (pizza this time)... yum! Then I stitched and watched my taped show from last night, then continued to stitch. I started a new piece "The Spirit Within" I believe it's called, it's a limited edition by FantaCat designs or something. I don't have the Dinky Dyes it calls for but i had a WDW blue that i liked so i am using that. It's really small and i'm not sure i'm stitching the saying either "Celebrate the Spirit within" or something so it should go fast.

So after working on that for a few hours, we went to the gym to lift, a good workout for sure, then home and i read before bed for a half hour. I am reading Poe's Cat by Brenda Walker It's pretty entertaining, wierd but entertaining for sure.

Tonight I go to my aunt's house, i brought my knitting as I will probably do that, but i did bring my new cross stitch design too just in case. I don't have a lunch break to stitch on Peaceful Silhouette because i have a dentist appt but i do have tomorrow :)

Well i must prepare for another interview in 15 minutes.

I am a wimp! Really I am.

So my bloodwork is done... I got so worked up over it, worrying last night and this morning and of course it was no big deal. I hate needles so much but it wasn't bad. Boy did the nurse take a lot of blood though!

So last night I came home from work to dinner almost done - my boyfriend made chili! So we ate, then I got out my stitching while I watched the two episodes of Summerland that I had missed this season. I started working on the piece for my boyfriend again (Peaceful Sillhoutte), it doesn't use a lot of colors which is really nice but it's large and it's all in browns so it's not very interesting.

I'm glad I got that out, the piece goes pretty quickly with a lot of half stitches, so for its size i still think i could get this done within the year.

Then I made it to the gym - and i did a good job too, i had a bit more energy than usual, even though i'm still pretty sick. I pretty much went to bed right after that, although i did get a bit of reading in, i'm trying to read more now that i don't have the website to do, i figure i can fit some form of stitching and some reading in each night if i'm not working. We'll see how this goes.

Well i have to interview a summer intern shortly (schedule just got changed), so i need to read the resume and prepare. I have another one tomorrow. Lucky me.

And I remembered pictures. Stitching first:

I finished the RR this weekend - it's a Sunset kit, i stitched the Hat boxes, the heart and the letters, it took 12 hours:


And a picture of my knitted hat:


Pictures are more fun than words :)

Okay first the news about the cousin - sorry I didn't actually get the details until Friday or else I would have posted sooner. My new cousin Viktoria Alethia was born Tuesday the 8th, and is healthy and strong. She was early but still large (possibly 7lbs) for being so early. I may get to see her this weekend or the first weekend in April, it's undecided so far.

And this weekend -> Good and bad. Friday night I went home with every intention to paint. I cleaned up and moved everything from the kitchen and diningroom and got the paint stuff out. I taped the ceiling (i cut in without tape on the windows and baseboards. And then I pretty much went to bed (actually I started reading a new book but fell asleep).
Saturday of course - I woke up with a horrible cold! I couldn't believe it, but this could not get me down, I got up and showered (to clear up my sinus'), then i did my errands to the library and the bank. Then finally by 1 I started painting and got a first coat on everything in 3 hours. Then we decided to go out to dinner as I needed to go to ACMoore anyway.

Not a great idea it turns out since it was snowing. Not much by me, we got a few inches but out in Natick it was pretty bad. We enjoyed dinner anyway and with all wheel drive we didn't have much of a problem. ACMoore was great, i bought some knitting stuff and my boyfriend got some stuff to, i should get a picture of what he made (he bought a ceramic pot and painted it to look like a copper pot, and then put in fake plants (eucaliptus (?sp) and dried vines it looks like), it came out really good). Now it just needs something to sit on, like a little end table or something so i'm going back to ACMoore to check out their unfinished wood section i think soon.

So saturday night i was exhausted from being sick and went to bed early, then sunday i managed to get up and finish painting - i can't believe it really, but i finished the second coat. Then I did the regular grocery shopping and I took a nap (feeling exhausted). Finally in the evening i picked up my stitching while watching Gladiator (part of it anyway) before Law and Order came on. So I finished the RR above and tonight I hope to get out my WIP and bring it to work tomorrow. I think I'm skipping a break today as I have work in the lab to do. So I'm back to the lab now...

My hat is finished - Monday i will post a picture. I never actually learned how to sew a seam on a knitted hat, i just kinda made it up. I knitted the hat with 2 strands of yarn so i had to weave in 2 from the beginning, and then sew the seam fully with 1 then weave that in and then sew half the seam again and weave the fourth in. I love the hat, i think it came out great. The only thing i'd do differently for my sister's hat is cast on a little looser if i can because that part is tightest, which works great because folded up it then holds on better but still.

So i love my hat, and i started my scarf yesterday. Then last night i finished stitching the hat boxes so this weekend i'll do the letters and start the heart and that will definately be done next week. Plus I have stitch night next week - definately time to start something new for that!

I didn't get to the gym last night, i wanted to and at 9:15 i got ready and was waiting for my boyfriend and i fell asleep, i woke up at 10:45 which is bed time and i took out the garbage and went back to bed. What a pain, i have no idea why i was so tired, i think i am tired a lot and dont' really notice it, i technically should have more energy, i will work on that.

So tonight I'm hoping to get out the painting stuff and at least get ready to paint by moving everything i can. I don't see much use in painting tonight as I won't finish a whole coat so i might as well wait and do that tomorrow, then sunday do the second coat. I will probably do the taping tonight though as that helps tremendously.

After painting prep i will reward myself with some me time as I will do most of the weekend, i do need a trip to ACMoore at some point for canning jars but other than that i have no plans. Well i think i will get some work done, at 11 i have a meeting about what project i am moving to on monday... i can't wait to find out.

He he he he... bagel day.. sometimes life seems to revolve around food. ;)

Well last night was very nice, I went to my uncle's had some low carb pasta with some turkey sausage sauce (they are on south beach diet). Then while watching Troy I knitted, and I taught my 12 year old cousin to knit as well. just passing the torch so to speak. I already taught her to cross stitch and she just recently did two small projects, one for school and one for a friend so i figured i'd teach her something that goes a little quicker, so she's making a purse and i promised next week to bring her better needles and yarn since she's using old stuff she had around from a yard sale.

I finished my hat last night, it's not finished like a hat yet but the knitting is finished. I need my needles (big plastic needles) to sew the seam and the cuff up. It's cool though, it really looks like a hat. I think today I will measure out how much yarn i'll need to sew it up and cut that then start a matching scarf at the doctor's office since last time I was there I had a very long wait.

Tonight i think i'll drive over to my fabric store to buy the fabric i need to finish up my amish quilt, then maybe i'll get out my stitching again and finish up those boxes. Hopefully by the next weekend i'll have the RR finished and my boyfriend's project at work and be focusing on quilting a bit. It's tough having so many hobbies but sometimes it's good because if you're bored with one you always have another :)

Speaking of other hobbies, it's been quite a while since I read. I used to read a lot, then i read a little before bed each night, now i never pick up my book. I think it's because the book i'm reading still "The Peppered Moth" just isn't that capturing. It's not bad, but you dont' make progress. I hate leaving things unfinished though. What i may do is pick up a really good book and start reading again, then go back to the Peppered Moth when i have more free time and more interest in just finishing it. I do listen to a lot of books on tape, i'm almost finished with Shogun but in the middle of tape 6 of part 3, the tape broke so i either need to find out where in the book that is and read until i get to tape 7 or see if the library has a copy of the book on tape and get that. I haven't done either yet and it's been about a month but it would be nice to finish this one so i can guilt free listen to a few others i have waiting.

And another hobby - scrapbooking - i'm not a major scrap booker, i do it more for function, i dont' just make intricate pages, i try to creatively show case things I have (letters/postcards/pictures) without too much work, keeping it simple. Recently i bought a ton of stuff (tons of pages), stickers, paper pieces that i can dress things up a bit more with and maybe this weekend i'll do a few more pages of my "International Friends" scrapbook. I don't have a lot of pictures of anything but my friends send letters and postcards and cards so i'm putting anythign i can from them in it. I'd like to do a family album someday too but i need to actually take pictures first. That means a photo printer is in my future to go with my digital camera, my printer isn't quite up to snuff with photos, it's a printer scanner copier in 1 but the photos don't come out right color wise. So i have 2 semi large purchases in my near future, a photo printer and a dvd player since our dvd player is acting up and i think it's on it's last legs, it can't get through a whole movie without freezing and going bonkers... oh boy :)

It's a wordy day. I feel like writing a lot today so i thought i'd add a quick afternoon update.

Stitching wise: I finished the top hat box, leaving only half of a handle to be finished and then backstitching. I am going to my aunt's house tonight so i figure i'll get some stitching in and i might pick up my knitting a bit too and work on my hat.

Work wise: It looks like by friday we are wrapping up the program we have been working on and monday we will be moved to new programs. This is a semi-good thing. Good because any program we get moved to will be more stable than the one i've been on, but not great because there was some great work to be done that we had designed and i was really looking forward to implementing.

More good news, i have a doctor appt. tomorrow, this is supposed to be a meet the doctor appt, but i already met her in january, but we'll go over my history and everything. It's really good timing because i have a problem with my neck itching for the last month at least and maybe she can tell me why... no rash or anything, it just itches like crazy (i am writing this because it itches right now :)

I'm glad i get to go to my aunt's tonight, i didn't go last week because it was my boyfriend's spring break and he wanted to spend more relaxed time with me, usually he just does work all night after school but during his break we watched movies, went out to dinner etc. Anyhow, this week i hadn't planned on going because they were supposed to have guests but their guests aren't coming until tomorrow so i can go tonight :) So yippee - a nice night of relaxing and eating a great home cooked meal :)

Okay i can't type more my neck itches too much :)

A night of stitching through the storm...

I got in about 6 hours of stitching yesterday! That really is a lot for me, i generally average probably an hour a day. The storm started around 2, the snow anyway, it rained all day long. So i headed home around 3 when it really started coming down and sticking. It was a long drive but no problems. Since i was home early my boyfriend wasn't home yet so i put in a movie, got a glass of water and started stitching. After the movie i had some dinner and continued stitching with no tv on so my boyfriend could get more work done.

Then the tv came on for Gilmore Girls, then off again, then on again for Law and Order SVU, all the while i stitched. Then bed.

So what did i stitch... well i started the round robin that arrived a while ago, it's a kit by Sunset with 2 teddy bears and some other cute country things. I'm stitching 3 stacked hat boxes right now, then i'll also stitch some letters and a quilted heart. I got almost all the actual stitching on the bottom 2 boxes done, that leaves the small top box and backstitching. I'd say not a problem to finish it this month and start a new piece of my own after that.

I also came up with a brilliant plan for this weekend -> finish painting the kitchen :) When we moved into this apartment it was all pink - different shades, from light to dark. We repainted to shades of green that I love! All that's left is half the kitchen/diningroom in a very light shade of green, the half that includes moving and painting around a LOT of things (5 windows, a huge mirror, shelf, fridge, radiator, door etc). So it's mostly cutting in. I figure I will take this task on myself this weekend, maybe starting friday night (or saturday morning) with the primer. I will of course need my boyfriend's help moving the fridge and stuff but i have a latter and everything else i need.

The nice thing about getting the painting done is that all the painting stuff i have can then be packed up or thrown out (if it's disposable). I will buy some canning jars to put the leftover paint in (since there are 3 colors), for touch up painting when we fill the holes in before we move (from my quilt hanger and shelf and stuff and just marks left). I can throw out the roller heads that we used and the sand paper and paint sticks. So a trip to maybe acmoore or something to get canning jars and maybe a bin of some sort to keep the painting stuff packed in will also be needed this weekend (sunday probably).

Other than that no work on the website, so i'm free to just do crafts. I have scrapbooking to do, quilting to do and of course cross stitch. Once I finish this RR i will pack up my boyfriend's piece i'm stitching and bring it to work to be my lunch time piece. Then I will start a new piece for myself to be my carry along, work at home piece. So this weekend i will probably go through all my stitching stuff to figure out what I want to start, i have a small piece i may do because it's quick but i'd really like to start one of my dragon pieces. However any large piece i may need to get fabric for, i can't guarentee i have the perfect piece of fabric so i might as well stitch a small one and plan out the larger piece and get fabric for it in the meantime. Oh i can't wait. Of course i need to start my amish quilt too but i still have to buy the fabric for the back, wash it, sew it together and then baste it! Maybe the weekend after i will do that.

Wow this is a long entry, guess i'm bored at work. I think i'll go see what everyone else is doing today, we're officially in a transition week so i get something new to work on probably next week.. until then i have to occupy myself!

I updated the Precious Moments on the sidebar. If you click the picture you'll get a larger version that is much clearer. I also have some pictures of my knitting and my Amish quilt.

My two scarves:


My Amish Quilt marked for quilting:


You can click the pictures for a closer look.

Last night was pretty good, i did a little work on the website, there isn't much more work to do on the site currently, there will be more work in the future but for now there really isn't anything. So I can concentrate on my stitching (all forms) but need to be careful with money since that job was my spending money source. I think maybe in April or May there will be work again on it so I will just be good until then :)

Then I went to the gym earlier than usual - 8pm instead of 9, and it was packed, we managed to get our lifting in but we had to wait a lot, it was a real pain. Finally got home close to 10 (might as well have gone at 9), and I stitched a tiny bit, starting the round robin which I will now focus on to finish this month. I thought i had taped Summerland but it turns out it was on at 9 not 8 so I missed it :( My sister said she taped it though so i'm hoping i can get that from her.

I have a new cousin being born today - by c-section - so i know it's today. Not sure what time, just waiting for the call :) Hopefully i'll be able to get out to see her in a few weeks (either the weekend before or the weekend after easter). I dont' want it to be too soon after because I know the mom and dad (my aunt and uncle - but she's only been my aunt a short time so i'm not used to calling her that), will need some time to get used to having a baby at all as this wasn't really planned and they didn't even find out she was pregnant until December. So i will have my 7th cousin born today.

And it's a wierd day at work, with the storm coming i may skip my break at lunch so i can leave earlier (3:30) and possibly work from home tomorrow. It looks like that means my quilt class might be cancelled tonight so i'll have to get to the store another night (thurs?) to buy the fabric i need for my amish quilt. It's cold in here too... kinda feels like naptime :)

Girl scout cookies have arrived! Yum!!!

I didn't get pictures last night, hopefully tonight I can take care of that. Sunday nights tend to be me trying to stretch out the weekend and I forget that i have to go to work in the morning so i should get some real stuff done :)

Friday off was great! I slept in for 3 days in a row, what a treat! Friday I started the cleaning process, then my boyfriend and I went to BJ's, Circuit City and Bugaboo for dinner. Then we just relaxed all night playing video games. Saturday I finished the cleaning process and then my parents came over with my brother and we went out to lunch with them and then to 3 different staples to hunt down a chair for my brother. Then we ordered pizza and they left around 8.

Sunday I attempted to work on the website, not so lucky with that, I did get grocery shopping done, cooking (made chicken parm) and traced out the quilting patterns for my Amish Quilt (that alone took 3 hours).

I worked on quite a bit. Thursday at stitch night I finished the PM girl - I will post a finished pic soon! Then I worked a tiny tiny bit on my Wisdom dragon but I was bored with it. I learned how to finish my scarf (knitting) and how to cast on for my second scarf. Saturday morning I finished the second scarf which used 2 and a little of a third skein of fun fir, at 24 stitches across. It came out very nice I think, straight knit.
Then I took this other yarn i bought and made a mini hat to test out purling and decreasing. Then using this green fuzzy yarn, 2 strands at once, i started a real size hat. Hopefully real size - it's 60 stitches, I"m not doing circular knitting because i dont' know how really but I will sew it up the back when it's done. I have a few inches done and I brought it to work on if i have time at the dentist office today.

So 2 scarves done, one hat started, Amish quilt all marked out and the PM finished. This week I will continue with the hat, start the round robin I have now and buy and wash the backing for my amish quilt, also binding for the baby sampler.

Oh so much to do :) Now i must go get my cookies :)

It's my friday today... I love taking fridays off :)

I was very good last night and went to the gym - but i didn't work on the website and i really needed to, unfortunately tonight i won't be home till late, i will have to remember to work on the site when i do get home though.

A bit of stitching last night when i came home to dinner prepared by my boyfriend (he made soup and rolls - i love rolls :) Then I stitched while we watched tv and i got the backstitching on the lower half of the PM girl finished, all that's left is her arms and hair - the hair will take a while though.

Then it was off to the gym, lifting back and biceps, a very good workout. Then bedtime. I did stop by Joanns on the way home to get more yarn and i must have bought my yarn at walmart because they didn't have anything like th is yarn i'm using. I did buy some fun fur yarn in blue though to make my second scarf and a hat for my sister for christmas.

So tonight after work i must stop by walmart now to get the yarn. Then off to stitch night, then to the gym, then work on the website - yipee. Tomorrow though i get to sleep in, clean the apartment, go to BJ's then relax. Saturday I will go visit a yarn store near me and work on the website, maybe meet up with my mom and dad for a bit. I'm loving this weekend and it hasn't even started!

Well i spent yesterday afternoon getting my computer set up for testing so now i can really get some new coding done and then tested so i better get started on it, otherwise i'm sure something else will come up!

It was really hard to get up this morning, I find that to be the case when I've gone to the gym late the night before. I have no choice in this matter though, our stupid gym which we joined back in December I believe - well it was fine then, of course in January when we showed up around 5 or 6 it was packed, not a single treadmill, bike or anything open. This made me really mad, this is not a cheap gym and they make you sign a 2 year contract and if you cancel it's 170 dollars or something there about. So we tried going at 7, still too packed, 8 -- better but no promise you can get two treadmills together. So it became 9pm we go to the gym, at first this was great it was quiet then, now even 9 is busy! Even when we leave at 10:15 they are still busy and they run out of towels etc... i am MAD.

I need to dig out our contract but i'm sure no where in there does it give us reason to cancel because they are too busy. This is bad business practice on their part... I advertise to everyone.. DO NOT GO TO - Work Out World - they do not cap the number of members they take in.

So I made it to the gym last night - one positive, i didn't work on the website though - a negative. I was exhausted when i got home, so i took a nap quick. Then when the TV came on i took out my stitching and worked more on the PM girl, starting the backstitching which is going to take forever! At 9 we went to the gym and when i came home i hit the bed. I am tired! I wonder how i'll get myself to the gym again tonight!

No stitching at lunch yesterday, we went out to lunch - a nice treat - but no stitching. So today i will stitch, i finished all whole stitches on the PM and started backstitching so that's all that's left. I do want to add the child's name or something too maybe, i'm not sure.

So I'm not sure if I already wrote this but this mont I will finish the PM at home and at work.
Then I will start and finish the RR I have both at home and work.
Then I will bring Peaceful Sillhouette to work and leave it here.
I will start a new piece to work on at home --- however more importantly would be my quilting of my Amish Quilt, piecing of my Ohio Star quilt and learning to knit more than just a scarf!

Going to be a busy month!

Almost didn't have pictures but I managed. Here's some progress pictures:

18 hours progress on Precious Moments:


Pooh Wallhanging progress:


Knit Scarf:


Last night was another lazy night - i really need to get back to working on the website in the evenings. Tonight I will definatel. Last night I was at work kinda late, then i went home and picked up my knitting while watching a movie. I ran out of yarn and it's not as long as i'd like so i have to buy some more yarn maybe wednesday and then learn how to change skeins. So after i finished knitting i picked up the precious moments while watching the rest of profiler season 4. I am almost done with the actual cross stitch part, i can finish it at lunch today actually then start on the crazy amount of backstitching.

So march will see the finish of precious moments for sure (which is good because it does have a deadline of april 15th). Then I have a round robin to stitch. Technically after that I have no obligations so I will work on more WIPs, maybe work on my wisdom dragon (virtue series) or pic up the piece for my boyfriend. What I may actually do is bring the piece for my boyfriend to work and leave it here and work on it at lunch time every day. It's a pretty large piece and it's the reason I bought a needlework stand but i never use the stand because it doesn't work well with my couch set :( I need a recliner or something, i'm keeping the stand because i may get a recliner some day when i have a larger livingroom or a stitching room. For now it can collect dust and i'm okay with that.

Well i am hungry so i'm going to go make up some oatmeal and enjoy the currently quiet office and get some work done today!

March Goals:

1) Finish Pooh Wallhanging
2) Finish Precious Moments
3) Finish Scarf 1, start scarf 2 (knit)
4) Piece 2 ohio stars
5) Start quilting amish quilt
6) Stitch Carolyn's RR
7) Start Skirt (sewing) - read pattern at least

I think that's a lot - maybe it's not enough, it's hard to tell but the last two months i've stitched over 40 hours and quilted too so i'm guessing it's not enough stitching stuff but it's okay to go beyond my goals and if i'm going to start something new, i'm not sure what it will be yet, i still have some more WIPs i could break out.