Happy first day of Spring!!! I sure wish it wasn't cloudy out :(

I'm just exhausted - all this getting up early and going to work for a few days is too much for me :) I can't wait until the weekend - next week is going to be very rough on me! If only I could focus but all I want to do is sleep - not good!

No knitting last night as I fell asleep on the couch watching a movie. Tonight will most likely be similar, I haven't figured out if I'm working from home tomorrow or not yet, that will determine how much sleep I get.

My start on Bine's NRR:

Unfortunately I was feeling too sick last night to continue stitching on this, i'm bringing it to my aunt's tonight in the hope I can put a few hours in. This cold is wiping me out - I'm so achy and tired yet clear headed which is odd for a cold. So I'm staying on pain medicine to see if that helps, so far my neck doesn't hurt so badly (just a sore throat) but my back and head still hurt. Atleast that's 1 less pain.

My decision with regards to work has been made. I've switched my schedule and i'm now working 7:30-5pm and after 5 I'm not checking email at all. No work on weekends either. So far I haven't been able to really enjoy my evenings since this cold is wiping me out but I'm sure I'd be feeling worse with this cold if I wasn't getting the time I'm relaxing and sleeping. So it's all for the good. OH and Monday I walked for 40 minutes, last night I was in too much pain but I hope to get back to it tomorrow for sure.

Work work work... that was my weekend - luckily I'm feeling much better (saturday was a horrible coughing day and i needed a nap just from coughing!).

Anyhow, I stitched a bit more on the Shepherd's Bush purse and hopefully i'll remember it tomorrow to scan in a picture!

With all this working long hours I've decided a few things need to get done this week no matter what -
1) the singer costume - needs to get done this week actually
2) Block 9 of Leanne's Quilt - I need to just piece it already, it's halfway there and I need to get it pieced and out of the way before the little girls all come next weekend.

I'm not sure if i mentioned it but my 3 little cousins will be staying with us this weekend, (ages 8, 6 and 3 1/2) - they're parents have a wedding to attend in PA so we agreed to watch them, so my sewing room will become a little girls' room and i need to pick up!!!

Well back to work so I can work late and figure out how to get all that done at the same time :)

Two days sick and I actually get a little evening stitching time so I have something to show!!

It's been quite some time since I started something new and being sick it had to be something kitted up so I pulled out my Shepherd's Bush Purse kit I bought a while back. I love to work with silks when I can and this piece is so sweet and delicate. I've kind of jumped around and since I'm not doing the beading yet I'm also not doing the flower buds that aren't beads so i can do them all at once. The blank spot is for initials and date and I'll save those until I'm closer to finishing.

It felt SO good to stitch, even if I had to take breaks because it tired me out (i've been really sick) but today i'm feeling much better and i'm at work for the long haul. I think i may take a small lunch break and stitch for 20 minutes! It's been almost a year since I did that :) I need to take care of myself more so we'll see.

Anyway, I'll be working all weekend so there won't be much of a stitching update but maybe i'll have a little free time to start the other halloween costume I'm to make for my other cousin (she wants to be a singer). So maybe pics to come, we'll see.

Work and Life.

Well work yesterday was a very bad day. I had a bug and I made no progress at all - I just found and fixed the bug this morning - a serious 24 hours of wasted time later! Yikes and I was already a little behind schedule! But it's working now so hopefully today will be a good day ... fingers crossed.

Let's see ... life .. well I've been RUNNING! 3 miles of running and walking a day (Sun, Mon and Tues) so far! It's great. Tonight I go to my uncle's but i'm hoping to run Thur, Fri and on the weekend!

Monday night I went to Joann's and bought a Pirate costume pattern and most of the needed fabric. What is this you may ask???? Well I've been asked by my cousins for halloween costumes/birthday presents again this year. So the oldest is a pirate and the middle is a singer. The singer is easy, I have some fun fabric for the skirt and i just need some matching top fabric.

The pirate on the other hand... yikes... 70 dollars later (pattern/fabric/accessories) and I'm looking towards an entire weekend of sewing and probably won't get the jacket done (there are boots, pants, shirt, vest and jacket). She may get the jacket after her birthday just before halloween! There are a lot of new things in this costume that i've never done before (elastic, buttons, cuffs etc). It will be interesting and a real learning experience (not a bad thing!)

So hopefully there will be pirate costume pictures come monday! In the meantime that is what I'm devoting any free time to in the evenings so I won't have any other progress pictures.

I mailed out the NRR to Leslie yesterday, thank you for all the wonderful comments on it, I really enjoyed stitching it and each one of these RRs will be so memorable to me because of my love for each house (So far i've stitched very favorite houses I've always wanted to stitch!). I really hope Karen likes what I stitched for her! And soon I'll be getting Bine's and picking out a new house to temporarily stay in :)

Well my code is almost done building so it's back to work!

Unmotivated...

That's me.. lately. Of course pair that with a constant allergy attack that started yesterday morning and I'm not getting anything done! The sneezing just started up again a minute ago and I was just starting to think i was doing better today. Ho Hum!

Sorry there's no picture yet of my block 7 -- I will try to remember to take it tonight. I have worked on it a tiny bit lately and I'm starting to get closer to the end of the block! It's a lot of embroidery though!

Well I just thought of a task I wanted to get done quickly so I'm going to do that before I write up my to do list for the day!

Well with the onset of the diet and exercise again I've started a new work schedule as well. I've decided to work from 8:30-4:30 (with an hour break for the gym) - and then go home to have dinner with my fiance. Then work from home for 2-3 hours in the peace and quiet of my office/sewing room.

This does cut out stitching time a bit but I still get a little time during the dinner break. Last night I pulled out my fishy pin from Celebrations - knotwork and worked on that a bit. I'd like to make some progress on my Celebrations pieces this weekend before starting Carol's RR but we'll see - it's hard to stay away from it!

Well back to work - it's amazing how I can get more work done in 2 hours at home than 4 hours here! Then add in the meetings and the day is just insane!

I know I owe a Celebrations report - and an apartment report - soon I promise. I'm still working until 9:30/10 each night (maybe later tonight). Last night I got to leave at 6, only because we were going up to look at an apartment. Now I'm crossing my fingers that we get it - getting very close to the deadline!

Please keep you fingers crossed we get this place and then this weekend or monday i promise a proper update is coming!

Sorry - I haven't been blogging - that will continue for a short while longer, things at work changed unexpectedly towards the busier side of things so now i have new deadlines that come on fast and I'm working long hours etc...

HOWEVER - today is CELEBRATIONS!! I'm taking a punch needle class at 1! I can't wait - leaving work early to do it. I'm taking a knotwork class tomorrow at 2 (again leaving work early for that) and then I'm taking a class saturday morning.

All i can say is that i can not wait until noon to head north, listening to my audio book and forgetting about work for a few hours!!!

Working from home today - no bad weather like predicted but this way i'm home already at 5:30 when it's time to go to dinner for my fiance's birthday. And i get a full day with little to know interruption of work in. Unless you call laundry an interruption.

Back to work!

Worked late... no stitching...

Last night I left work pretty early (4pm) and went and got my hair cut. Then I settled in for the evening to continue working. I just wanted to get home before we had people coming to look at the apartment. I ended up working until 10pm and then I read for a half hour before bed.

Ahh that reminds me, I wanted to start a reading blog... to keep track of the books I've read and if I enjoyed them etc. I too often get books confused with each other.

I am SO SORE today from lifting yesterday, it was great though and I'm so glad to be back on the diet and exercise and doing well. Tonight I need to run, didn't run yesterday but I can make up for that :)

Totally spaced.. on the picture of the quilt that is. I will try to take one tonight before it gets given away :)

Unfortunately I got home last night with a headache and went right to bed at 9pm. I did read a bit but the headache would not go away. Today has been a busy work day (still at work and it's 7pm) but I should be leaving shortly (7:30 maybe??) and meeting my fiance for dinner and then a quick shopping trip.

I'm not sure all the cleaning i wanted to do will get done tonight but I can get up tomorrow and clean before my sister comes and we head up to celebrate easter with family. That's my plan and i'm sticking to it :)

For now I will eat some skittles and try to get out of here!

Sick day - kind of, not really...

Well I tried to stay home sick today but ended up working a full day anyway, just from home is all. But the sleeping in helped immensely and I'm on DayQuil now so I'm feeling okay and I'm going to stitch for a bit - been almost 2 weeks since i did any cross stitch.. so I'm pulling out Barnabee to see what kind of progress I can make on part III finally!

And my friends are getting together for stitch saturday night - i can't wait! I'd like to bring barnabee to that probably.

I'm going to keep work as a light day tomorrow if i can, so I can come home and relax. Then saturday I'll work on the website all day until going to stitch. Sunday I'll try to finish the website and then I need to finish the baby quilt! I will need the coming week to add the binding! man time has flown by on that!

i hurt all over....

yup that's right - i got sick - a really nasty cold that comes with horrible pain (even aleve isn't helping) and did we make our deadline yesterday - NOPE..

so i'm at work, trying to help us deliver today or tomorrow. If it's tomorrow I won't be involved so i have to do everything today - i'm taking a sick day tomorrow... i need to sleep!

Almost over ...

I can tell because last night I got to read for an hour before bedtime! I finished working a little after 9pm for a change.. oh how nice! And tonight should be even sooner!

My car is in the shop to get the timing belt changed. It will cost a LOT but then my car can go another 80K which will be another ~5-6 years! So today all the stress should be lifted (car and work) and tonight I plan on ... dare i say it... stitching?!

Now to get back to the grind - 3pm is our deadline!

Nap Time...

That's what happened to me today. So I ended up staying over at my uncle's last night. We slept on the pull out couch. I didn't go to bed until about midnight and unfortunatly at 6:45 I heard pitter patter and *wispers*. Two of them (the oldest and youngest) were up and about. They kept running in, looking over the couch to see if we were sleeping and then running off into the other room. The oldest keeping the youngest quiet the whole time and berading her for asking "why" too much - it was cute - but it was also 6:45 on a sunday morning!

Finally by 7:30 they couldn't hold off anymore and I had 3 little munchkins jumping on me and giggling. By 8 I had given up trying to fall back asleep and we left around 9.

The day was going well, I got some work done, then we went out for a late lunch and some shopping. Came back and I was so stuffed from lunch that I fell asleep for 3 hours! I'm sure not getting enough sleep last night was part of it. But since 6 I've been back online trying to get all my work done. I was hoping for some me time later tonight but it won't happen. At least I got out to Linens N Things (I had a gift card) and got some fun kitchen stuff....
I got :
-a small metal strainer, good for getting the yuckies out of drippings on a roast.
-A really nice baster with a cleaning brush
-Meat thermometer - digital, with a wire so you stick it in and the the wire can run outside of the oven to the digital reader and alert you when the meat hits the right temp
-Can opener
I guess I'm in the mood for cooking a roast of some sorts :) It was fun though. I also got a new mattress pad. I promised myself when I got a new mattress 3 years ago that the cheap 20 dollar mattress pad would get replaced by something better in a few years. That time is now and I can't wait to put it on tonight! My cheap one doesn't stay on anymore, the mesh has ripped in the corners.

Wow this is long - i'm just stalling. Back to work. Look out for crazy stitching later this week! I hope!

Stitching deprived...

That's how I'm feeling. I didn't realize it had been so long (since last monday night and that was just quilting at the machine) - but I was catching up on blogs and all the stitching going on made me realize how much I miss it. It will be a short while longer before I get to stitch though - soon hopefully but a few more days.

Babysitting went just fine today. Of course there were ups and downs (there are 3 of them) but the day went pretty smoothly and no one got hurt (most importantly not me). I haven't figured out if I'm staying over or just going home tonight - it's already 8pm (the kids are being put to bed).

Tomorrow will be work work work. I want to work on the website and I have regular work to get done as well. Maybe if I'm lucky and manage my time well I can do a little something for myself at some point. But Tuesday is my work deadline so after catching up on sleep, by thursday and friday I should be stitching again - especially if I take a day off work to just relax. Plus I need to get that baby quilt done still!

Of course the stress of the past 2 weeks is hitting me pretty hard now that I've taken a day away from it all. It will be very hard to get myself to actually get out of bed tomorrow. :(

Well just popping on quick, I know I'm usually better about blogging but work has been insane - beyond insane. Last monday night was the last time I did anything besides work or sleep! It's almost over though - next tuesday should be the last day of this craziness.

Tues, Wed and last night I worked till midnight (luckily from home after 7pm). Tonight will be another late night but tomorrow is a day off - well from work anyway - instead I'll be going up and babysitting the 3 little monsters cousins. A whole day with them, then an evening with my aunt, uncle and fiance.

Then sunday it's back to the grind, I need to work and i need to work on the website as best I can so that next weekend I can finish that. It does look like I may be taking off at least next friday for free (due to all my overtime). That will be a much needed day of sleep! 6 hours is just not enough for me - i really need 8 a night!

Weekend wrap-up:
1. Work on website - YES - spent over 6 hours on it!
2. Start quilting baby quilt by machine YUP!
3. Start appliqué of block 7 Finished appliqué, started embroidery!
4. out for dinner and bowling (7 year anniversary on sunday!) Nope -watched P&P instead

What a great weekend, I worked a lot more than I would have liked but I got the feeling of accomplishment from all the work I did do.

Website work went well, I have a long list of what's left but it's broken down so it's maybe a day or two of work and all time dependent, so hopefully next sunday I will be just wrapping things up!

Started quilting the baby quilt about an hour ago - did quite a bit. I think I can finish the center quilting tomorrow night even and then I just have to measure out the border quilting :) I need to send this picture to my mom with the quilting lines drawn out so she knows what i'm doing and we can stay in sync.
The red is what i've quilted so far, the pink is my plan. Then I'll do the big square (in ditch by border), and then figure out the border stuff. I think that should be enough without having to also outline the pinwheel squares.

Now for one more episode of 4400 (season 2) and a little more embroidery maybe. I never did pull out peaceful silhouette last night - but it will surely come out this week when i get bored with block 7!

Working from Home and Stitch night..

Well with the expected bad weather today and with working until 11pm last night (after 9 that is) I decided to work from home today. I get more work done (less interuptions) and I miss the drive which is at least 1 1/2 hours of the day - worse if there's snow. Unfortunately I'll still be working pretty late tonight (probably 8 or 9) but at least I can take it easy this morning (slow start) having stayed up late.

Last night I did got to stitch for 2 hours - had dinner with friends and pulled out Barnabee. The problem with stitch is that I need to work on something where I don't need the pattern, so I stuck to the border, finishing it for Part II and making good border progress on Part III. Tonight I'll work on the actual bands and my goal is to finish part II. I'll post a picture monday morning.

Oh so much to do this weekend:
1. Work on website - get it near completion! (goal is to finish it next weekend)
2. Start quilting baby quilt by machine
3. Start applique of block 7
4. out for dinner and bowling (7 year anniversary on sunday!)

Okay it doesn't look like a lot but for a weekend it is especially the website stuff, that will take a while!