I'm really sorry this is so long, but I have a LOT to say!!!! It's been forever since I blogged!!!
Okay, it's been over a month since I blogged, but I do have a good excuse. School is keeping me really, REALLY busy. I have regular classes, study time, and events that I have to do, so I'm busier than I can ever remember being. I also have to go to my regular doctor's appointments too, so that takes away from my time as well. I still do get a little stitching time, but it's not every day anymore. (And lately, I've been all over my Xbox 360 with some awesome games, so that's even less stitchy time.)But I'll get you all caught up with stitching and other stuff too, so hang on to your hats.
I've got three classes this semester. The first one (I'm listing them in the order they occur, since I like them all equally) is UC Women's Chorus. I'm loving this class. It's only one credit hour, but it's still three hours per week. I was always a first soprano before, but now I'm a second alto. For those of you who don't know the voice parts, the top one is Soprano I, followed by Soprano II, followed by Alto I followed by Alto II. So I've gone from the top of the heap to the bottom. (I'm MUCH more comfortable down there, though, so it's all good.) I AM having a little trouble with the harmony though. Firsts generally sing the melody, and everyone else harmonizes, and I still have a tendency to want to sing the melody. I'm getting there though. We've had lots of events so far. Mini retreat was on the fourteenth and fifteenth of September. It was fun. We went to a place called Camp Higher Ground in Indiana. It's a retreat place specifically tuned to musical retreats. They even have a football field for band practice!!! Then we had dress rehearsal for the Celebration of the Life of Elmer Thomas concert last weekend. It went off beautifully. We had two songs by our self, then two songs with all the other choruses. It was awesome. Our director, Mike, got so many compliments. And a LOT of the guests were previous faculty and students that had conducted choruses before (several of them women's chorus). The head of the choral department came into rehearsal to compliment us on our performance, and Mike said he's never, EVER heard of that happening before. This weekend we have another performance, for homecoming. We're singing the Alma Matter (with gestures) and the National Anthem. (I'll be happy to never hear either song again, lol.) I had them both memorized from before (the anthem since I was about twelve, the Alma Matter from the last time I was in chorus), so I really didn't need a lot of work on them. Then we have a performance breather, till mid-November, I think. Then it's the UC Choruses concert. One of the songs for that I hate. It's a drinking song, and not only is it difficult, it's celebrating getting drunk when the wine is ready to drink. So they're celebrating something I really don't like (wine) by doing something I don't like to do (getting drunk). Not my fave piece. It's a Hayden, from his seasons series. We're also doing another piece from the fall, the hunt. I like it better so far, but we've barely scratched the surface.
I know that was a lot about chorus, but we've been busy. The other classes won't be nearly as long. My other MWF class is Computer Applications. I've done really, REALLY well in it. I've got 399 out of a possible 395 points so far. (Yes, I have bonus points, and I may get more). It's a lovely class. I like the instructor. The applications we're working on are all from the Microsoft Office Suite: Power Point will be last, Access Database will be next, we're working on Excel now, and Word was first. I've never used office before, and I would never have learned how to use all the functions in it in a million years. It's been fun though. We did some of the projects in the textbook and some of them that Joe K. made up himself. I'm loving Excel, and I really thought I wouldn't as I know it involves math. But I'm good at figuring out how to get from A to C. I know I have to multiply this by that, and then divide by that other. Since I don't have to do the math, I'm good with it. (And the book has extra projects in it, for extra practice. I do them so I know what I'm doing. And I love it when it says, "Write a formula to figure out the percent increase of ______ over the years 2008-2012, then project 2013 with an increase that fits the previous percentages." I know how to do that, and it works out great for me.
My last class is Fundamentals of Information Technology. So far, I have fifteen of fifteen points on it. We have a midterm next week, so I'll get another grade then. It's worth twenty points, so it’s a much bigger deal than the five point homeworks. I don't much like things about this class, although the subject is fascinating. My professor is one of those that lectures at top speed, and skips over things the book thinks are important. I'm writing as fast as I can to keep up with him, and then he finishes the six to eight fifty class a few minutes after seven. That's an hour and fifteen minutes taken up of an almost three hour class. I'm not trying to be rude, but that pisses me off. I'm paying for three hours, and I'm not getting anywhere near that. Luckily, the subject is intriguing. We've learned a lot about how the computer functions, and how to upgrade it. I actually used what I learned in the class to buy myself a DDR2 SDRAM 240 pin memory module. (RAM is where your computer keeps all the temporary things, like instructions and the operating system, while it's turned on. It's cleared out every time you turn the computer off, but if you don't have enough RAM to run on, your computer is very slow. Since I added the office suite, my computer has been very slow, so I'm trying to fix that.) I hope it comes today, as I ordered it on the third, or maybe it was the second...
And now on to... STITCHING!!! And yes, there is a LOT of it. This is also my lost WIPacolypse post for August thirty first, and the end of September. I have lots to show, so let’s go!!
First up is... Where do I start? Okay, how about with SALs. That seems reasonable. My Sunday project has been getting a lot of love since football has been back. (And my team is doing really, REALLY well. They're three and one so far, which is an excellent record. I'm so excited for the rest of the season. Of course, it is gonna be difficult from here on in, but I know we can do it, so I'm excited to watch.) Anyways, Beach Romance (Janlynn). 
I got the first eighth done, and quite a bit more. I had to move my Q-snap a few weeks ago, and I didn't realize how little there was to do on the other side. So I'm making good progress. I do do some homework on Sundays, but I usually watch two games, so it's all good. As you can see, I'm working on his legs now, and his pants, and the sea next to his legs. It's coming along well. I'm still getting several hundred stitches in each week, so it's progressing faster than anything else. I love the sea colors. They're so pretty, the various shades of blue. Very nice. I still need to do the flowers on the other page, but I'm leaving them for last. They're mostly French Knots, and I don't want to put the Q-snap over them, and possibly pull out a knot. So I'm saving them for last.
Next up is Time To Go (Witch Stitch'n'Bits). 
I just talked to Freak about it last night. He's been busy moving, and didn't get time to talk to me much, but he came looking for me yesterday cause it was my birthday. (41 for those of you that want to know.) I just finished (on Tuesday night, so just really means JUST) page two. I'm ready to start page three. It's moving along pretty fast. I stitch on this one pretty regularly too. Tuesday night I have a class, but I have till next Tuesday for homework and reading to be done, so I stitch Tuesday night. Usually out on the balcony with Yes Dear. I'm so excited to be done with page two. It's looking good, even though there's so much brown in it. Freak was happy that I was still working on it, even with school. I love the quality of the light. It's so pretty. Believe it or not, there's a whole bunch of different colors in there. The lightest is closest to the candle. There's gray, yellow, green, blue, and brown to form the shape of the light and the shadows. I love stitching over one, too. The stitches are so tiny you can hardly see them. Since I'm doing it two over one in Tent Stitch, it goes quickly too. (I also stitch before my first class MWF and my class on T too. So that's a little bit of stitchy time per day.)
Next up is my Christmas ornie for Rosa.
She chose the most expensive one in the book (just my luck, right), but she's worth it. I got the supplies a couple of weeks ago, and worked on it for two weeks now. It's coming right along. I'm using overdyed flosses on it, and the colors are soooooo vibrant. It has a charm, beads, and paillettes in it as well (hence the expensive part). I haven't gotten to any of those yet. I've got the leaves stitched and the outer border done too. Now I'm working on the bsing for the leaves and vines. There is a lot of bsing so it's taking me a while. Also, last week I had to frog out quite a bit of bsing (and that was not fun because some of it was stitched over the leaf. I pulled out enough leaf that I had to redo it, so I was not a happy camper with myself. I'm back on track now, though.) I love the shades of green in it. They're beautiful. It's a little hard to tell them apart on the project, but you can sure tell them apart when you look at the skeins. I'm really hoping to get it done in time for Christmas, but who knows!! I need to get cracking if that's gonna happen though... (It's creeping closer and closer by the day. I can't believe it's already October!!!!)
And the last SAL is Noah's Sub(Stoney Creek). 
It's not coming along as well. I'm a terrible overachiever in school, and I spend Thursday reading the next chapter in my textbook, so I know what he's gonna lecture on on Tuesday next. (I also spend quite a bit of time on Saturday and some on Sunday doing chapter exercises, definitions, and reading. I like to be prepared.) This past Thursday, I got to stitch on Noah though. I took it with me to Homecoming rehearsal. And then I stitched on it a little bit when I got home too. I love the colors in the sky still. They're so beautiful. And I've started on the zebra. I've only got one color in, and it's white, so it's really hard to see, but it's a start. I'm getting close to a page finish, which I'll be REALLY excited over as the pages are sooooooooooo big! Or maybe I should say they contain so many stitches. Of course, when I get to the end of the first page, I have to put it aside and work on rotation that day. I'm waiting for Rosa to catch up to me. I'll have to start making her stitch more, lol. I think, though, that what I may do is make Thursday an ornie day too, so I'm working on them Wed and Thurs. I really wanted to make ornies for everyone this year, and I still need David, Amy, Cathy, and Jim after Rosa. (No, with school going, I really don't think I'll get them all done. But I'm gonna try! If not, I'll give them next year.) And speaking of ornies, I did get a whole big bunch of ornie kits in the mail. A LOT of them are Dimensions Gold Collection (petits and regular).
Since I brought it up, of COURSE I'll show pics, lol. I saw a lot of these when Randi was shopping for Christmas ornies, and I just fell in LOVE. So when I had a chance, I bought them. I think they're gorgeous, and cute too. There is a set of six Gold Collection petits that I bought. Each one is a bird, and they look like little bird postage stamps. Some of them have ancient stamp prices on them (three and six cents), and some of them have a postmark. They're just as cute as can be. I love the little birds too. Reminds me of Yes Dear, stalking the birds in the back yard. And they remind me of my grandma on my mom's side, who had a ton of bird feeders in her yard, and loved to watch the birds come and eat. (She also used to chase the blue jays away, because they were pushy, and would eat all the seed without letting anyone else get any, lol. They fly in and push another bird off the perch, and eat and eat and eat!! She was a generous person, but she didn't like that, so she shooed them away!!) Anyways, here are the piccys:
I hope you can see the piccys well enough. The rest of them are six ornament kits (or a pattern, in one case). The kits are all inclusive, with the backing fabby as needed etc. They're just sooooooo cute, I couldn't possibly pass them up. Here are the piccys:
Aren't they all adorable?!? I think they're so cute, and I just had to have them. I’ll have to rotate them on my tree, lol. I’m getting a little tiny tree for Christmas this year, maybe two or three feet. I’ll put it on top of my desk, and hang only homemade ornies on it. Hopefully, that will keep Yes Dear away from it.
Speaking of Yes Dear, I took a cute pic of her the other day. She was just chilling on the back of my stitching chair, with her paws crossed, lol. She lays like that every once in a while, and she looks sooooooo comfy. It’s cute. So of course, I took a piccy. And here she is, in all her feline glory, lol. 
She's just so cute, I can't help but share, lol. No new HAEDs this month, but I have a layaway due next month, so I'll have pics for you then of those. Now, rotation progress. I had four projects to work on since my last blog entry, and I'll go through them one at a time. They are: Frederick the Literate, Shore Patrol, Dad's Memorial, Midnight Hunting, Frost Moon, Story Keeper, and this week is Desert Landscapes, but I don't have a piccy of that yet.
Fred got some work, a long time ago, lol. I started to blog while I had him out, but my computer restarted itself, and I lost the blog I was writing. Then I got back to it again the other day, and the same thing happened (installed Microsoft Office from disc, and it restarted to complete the install. I was in the tub, and had no clue till I got back out, and then I was ticked). So I'm writing this one in Word, and saving it every time I leave it. Anyways, Fred (Dimensions, Charles Wysocki).
Fred is looking good. I love his looks cause they're so close to my Yes Dear. I'm working on his back leg, and part of the book by his back leg. You can see where I diverted myself from the leg and started working on the book, cause the line suddenly goes straight down in an unleglike manner, lol. (Yes, I did make that word up. Hence the lol, cause I find it to be a funny word.) I got some work in on it at David's house too, so that made me happy. I was dogsitting, and catsitting, and stitched quite a bit. I did get a lot of the black in. It's the only color left, so it was easy to do. The interior parts (in between the other stripes) were all black, so I didn't really have to look at the chart to do them. The other parts, on the ends, I had to look at the chart, but still, it was fast. I love when that happens. I spot check in three or four places to make sure the holes that are available are the ones that are supposed to be available, and then I just stitch away. I got some done at school too, waiting for the shuttle. (I take the shuttle up from my parking garage to Dieterle Vocal Arts Center for Chorus. I don't want to arrive breathless from the walk, and I'm good to go when I get there, so it really helps.) I have to admit, it feels funny to stitch standing up! I'm soooooo not used to that, lol.
And next up is Shore Patrol (JCA Creations).
I really did quite well on him this time. Instead of doing the fox, which I just wasn't feeling, I went ahead and did some of the snowy area around his head and neck. Then I started on the darker area of the hillside. I got into it much better than I got into the fox the last time I did him, so I'm pleased with my progress. I had trouble making a goal for this week, so I just didn't, lol. I worked quite a bit though, and made a goodly amount of progress, especially considering how much time homework took up. Good progress and good grades, whoo hoo!!! I'm so pleased about both. I was afraid I would choose to work on stitching instead of homework, as I'm not always as disciplined as I should be, but so far, I haven't had a problem. It could be because I love both of my classes. It's been great to work on the IT stuff, and I've enjoyed every minute of it. (I've already written a ten page paper for my Fundamentals of IT class, and enjoyed every minute of it. It was supposed to be a short paper, lol. But the subject was huge, and I couldn't really break it down, soooo…)
Then there's the ever painful Memorial for Dad (Rosa Winter).
I did much better on it this time around. It's still hard to do, since I can't see through the cloth to where my needle is. But I feel like I got some good progress in spite of that, so I was happy with this one. I almost have the vines finished around the first tomato, and I've got a good start on the leaf between the first tomato and the second tomato. I keep hoping to make better progress, but I'm finally getting used to slow progress. I worked on it at school two days, and at home two days (not all the same days, lol). I did explain to someone at class what I was doing with it, and she was interested in watching. Too bad she's not interested in stitching with me. But that's all right. She recognized it as a tomato right away, which made me happy. (My mom or someone asked why I had apples on it. Since when do apples come on a vine?!? Crazy, lol.)
Okay, getting closer to the end, although there's still a bit to go. Go get yourself a refill if you need one, and then hang on till the end!! Next up is the ever lovely Midnight Hunting (Dracolair Creations).
I totally love this piece. I love the fractionals in it. They're challenging, but I LIKE to be challenged, so that's a good thing. This time I had to frog, blah. I put something in the wrong place (I should know by now that when I'm stitching cross country, I shouldn't go long distances, but I thought I had it right… Blah, blah, blah, lol. I keep thinking that, and I keep on being wrong!!! Maybe someday I'll learn my lesson!) So the frogging part wasn't any fun. But the stitching is always fun, and I always enjoy it. Since I had to frog, and since I had a test that week, I didn't get much done. It was a little bit frustrating, as I wanted to work on it more. But the test had to come first, grrrrr… I was having trouble finding my place on it too. I think something else may be in the wrong place, cause the chart was NOT matching up to what I stitched. I had to frog and then I had to frog again, and then I put it down. Next time I pick it up, I'll see if it matches after the second frog. (I'll probably find I was looking at it wrong, and I didn't need to frog the second time, lol.)
Frost Moon (HAED, Nene Thomas) is up next.
It really got a lot of love. I did get a ton done too. And no frogging, yay!!! I had a few colors left to do, and then I got to do the rest in all the same color. There are areas of confetti, where the stars are, but the sky is almost all 939. (Strangely, the symbol for 939 is the same in both Frost Moon, and Noah's Sub. I found that interesting.) So once I checked a few spots to make sure the stitches that were supposed to be there were actually there, I had all fill in. I started with two rows of ten by tens about half done, and I finished up with a couple of hundred stitches left in the second one, so that tells you how much I got done in that week. I think each row of ten by tens is a thousand stitches on this page. I love working over one. It's faster and easier, and I love the way the tent stitches look. Awesome!!
Last up is Story Keeper (HAED, Selina Fenech).
I didn't get a lot done on her, either. Partially because of homecoming, and partially because I have a midterm today that I needed to study for. I feel well prepared for it though, so I can't complain. She's so pretty. I love the colors in this one too. It's lovely. All the blues blend seamlessly, and the final color is gorgeous. You'd never guess there are twelve or more shades of blue in that! I did lose her for a night (and I was very pissed off about that). At Homecoming Saturday night, we were told to leave our bags and stuff in the stands and someone would watch them. So we did, and when we came back to the student section, our seats were all taken, and our stuff was scattered everywhere. I was peeved. I couldn't find my darned bag, so I left and hoped someone would turn it in after the game was over and they were cleaning up. And, surprisingly, someone did turn it in. (INTACT, even. My money (change) and debit card were still in it. I was amazed by that.) So I went up on Sunday and got it back, happily. But I couldn't stitch on Saturday night, so I lost a lot of time there. (I studied instead, so good for me, lol.)
And I have a few more pics to show. We have really cool chorus tee shirts that we wore for the homecoming game. 
(We were all told to wear blue jeans with them, and then not everyone did. I guess they forgot.) Anyways, we were asked on the first day of class to supply our size. I did, and then forgot about it. So at retreat, they come in with these big boxes, and we all got one to wear. They're very cool, as you can see. We have Men's and Women's Choruses, which are obvious, and then there's cabaret, which is a much smaller group. You have to try out for that. I should have tried out, but I didn't know what kind of time crunch I would be under, so I didn't. We've worked with all three directors, too. Mike is Women's Chorus, Olga is Men's Chorus, and Steve directs Cabaret. It's been fun so far. And at the Homecoming game, we also got a white out shirt. (For those of you that don't know, a white out is when everyone in the student section wears a white shirt. For a blackout, we would all wear a black shirt.) So they were standing at the tops of the rows and handing out T shirts that were white. I got one, but it's only an extra-large so I think I'm gonna give it to my mom. I usually wear a XXX, so I know I can't fit into it. And she can wear it on days when UC has a game that she works, so that's kind of cool. Anyways, here it is: 
Clifton is the area the college is in, and Bearcats is the team's name. (The Queen City is a nickname for Cincinnati, too.) There were a LOT of people wearing these with white shirts on underneath them. They had guys come parachuting into the stadium too. It was cool. Especially as I want to learn to skydive. Two of them had red, white, and blue windsocks attacked to their legs, and two of them had American flags attached to their legs. One was a smaller flag, and the other was huge! It was really cool watching them float down. They came in to land super fast, and slid along the surface of the field till they slowed down enough to run. Lots of pomp and circumstance. And then we sang. They say we did a good job, but it was hard to tell. There's about a three second delay on the microphone/speaker system, so what we heard wasn't what we were singing. To make it easier, we didn't listen, so I can't say if we did well or not. We sang the UC alma matter, and then the National Anthem. (We did the anthem in four parts, and I loved the way it sounded in rehearsal. Awesome!!) Then we were free to go or stay. I stayed for the first half and then couldn't stand it anymore. Maybe I'm too old for this kind of stuff, lol. There were lots of drunk students and they were all hurling insults every time there was an incomplete pass or a short run (even when we were winning). I felt like saying, "Can you do better?" It was really annoying. And then, my stitching bag disappeared with my wallet in it. I was nervous about that. We were told in warm ups that someone would stay behind and watch over our stuff to keep our places, but no one did. So when we got back, stuff was piled every which way. I dug through the pile, but couldn't find my bag. I looked in the other rows, and didn't see it there either. So finally, at halftime, I went home. I was so sore, I couldn't stand it anymore. (Part of that was being in a near riot. The walkway was sooooo crowded, no one could move. And then people behind us just started pushing us out of the way, so they could get through. It was horrible. If there had been any space around me, I would have fallen to the ground, but we were packed as tight as sardines in a can. I have bruises on my stomach and arm from it. People are scary.) Anyways, I called security the next day, and described it. They said it was in the security room (and I was lucky it wasn't locked in the lost and found) and I could come and get it. So I went up to Edwards three, which is the building right next to my parking garage. (I still wore my braces cause my knees hurt from the night before.) I went through it, and believe it or not, it was totally intact. I still had cash in my wallet (change only, but lots of quarters) and my debit card was there too. I was thrilled. And I was so happy to have my stitching back. I was afraid it would be lost forever. (It was Story Keeper, my SAL with Julie that was in there, so that made it doubly sweet.)
And last but not least, it was my birthday on Friday night. Mom took me out to dinner to celebrate. We had a great time, and she gave me a few pressies too. (On top of the two hundred dollars she spent on my school clothes. I told her she needed to not give me anything for Christmas, because that's just too much to spend.) Anyways, she got me toothbrushes, a suncatcher, a lanyard, and a towel. I don't have a piccy of the towel, but it's a lovely light lavender color. It's beautiful. And the other ones are here: 
Aren't they all awesome? She knows me well. I hung the suncatcher up before I did anything else at home. It looks great in my window, day and night. (She even said, "Maybe the sun will shine tomorrow so it will look all pretty." And I said, "It will always look all pretty, sun or not, lol." And it totally does. I love it. I had to laugh at the toothbrushes. They're awesome as well. Who knew they made everything Bengals! We had dinner at Red Lobster (Endless Shrimp, whoo hoo) and then I got pressies, and I got myself two pressies too. Resident Evil 6 came out on October 2nd, at midnight. I wanted to go up and get it immediately, but it's right next door to Red Lobster, so I saved myself a trip. I also picked up Silent Hill Homecoming. If you're not a survival horror fan, both are very strong competitors for best survival horror game. Most survival horror is like that. The name of the game is survival. And you go up against some pretty tough mobs. (Oooops, monsters.) I also have Dead Space, Silent Hill 2 & 3 (on the same disc), and The Rise of Nightmares for X box 360. (And thanks to Dell who gave it to me free with my school laptop purchase. Whoo hoo!!!) I also have a GameCube, which is Nintendo's pre=Wii release. I have Resident Evil Zero through RE 4 on that, plus I also have Code Veronica X. I'm a huge survival horror fan. Plus, on top of that, I have a Playstation with Silent Hill. I'm well stocked with games. Unfortunately, I'm spending more time playing than I am stitching!! (I need an extra ten hours a day, lol. Then I could get everything done!!)
Anyways, I just finished up my freaking midterm. It was so easy a Troglodyte could have done it. Twenty five questions, and we're supposed to be covering SIX chapters. Geez, I studied my butt off, and I finished (I answered the questions, and then checked them against the book to make sure) in twenty minutes. Where's the challenge in that? It was open book, open notes, open Internet. Now I wish I hadn't studied. It might have taken me twenty five minutes then. Geesh. I'm gonna be on my way now. Monsters to kill, he he he. I hope you all have a great night, and thanks to those of you who stuck through all the way till the end. I'll try and blog more often from now on. Hope you all have a great night, and a great rest of the week!!!
