Trip to Columbus 10/5

     Well, I'm so whipped and sore I might be dead and I just don't realize it yet.  She told me she would run me ragged, but I really didn't believe her all that much.  I do now, lol.  We hit every store in greater Columbus it feels like.  Tired, lol.  And crying, lol.  Sad song on the radio.  I'm Already Home is awesome.  You should look up the lyrics.  It's about a soldier that doesn't make it home from the war.  Poignant as heck.  I'm sure it's on You Tube.  It's hard for me to not cry when I'm this tired.  And yes, I'm not really focused.  Too tired.  It's now two AM and I've been up since four AM.  I'm tired, and not functioning on all cylinders.  But I wanted to blog while I'm waiting for my pills to kick in.

     So we left this morning at about nine thirty.  I was excited.  I couldn't go back to sleep at four so I just got up.  We were doing stuff on the PC and lost track of time.  We had planned to leave at nine, but didn't make it.  Our first stop was at the BMV so I could renew my tags.  I went in with my title to find out that my tags are renewed until 2012.  Whoo hoo!!!  So I kitted most of Lust and Frost Moon.  Of course, I  needed lots of certain colors, so they didn't have enough.  Well, I'm getting  ahead of myself.  We hit Keepsakes first.  I'm trying to upload piccys, but Multiply doesn't want to cooperate.  I'll try it again tomorrow when I'm coherent.  I hope.  I didn't much care for Keepsakes.  I think I would have liked it better with some organization.  Everything was stacked pell mell.  Nothing was really together, except for a few things.  There were charts stacked everywhere.  You'll see what I mean in the pics.  (I finally got them uploaded here.)  Sometimes, a framed piece was sitting right next to the charts for it, but I couldn't find what I wanted.  I would have spend thirty dollars or so (I wanted several of the Britty Kitty charts) but I could only find November/ December and that one didn't thrill me.  So I bought one skein of floss, which I haven't taken a piccy of yet.  It's a Silk 'n' Colors Grape Soda, I think.  It's really pretty.  Shades of purple and blue.  Variegated of course.  We left there about eleven and made great time to Columbus.  I told Julie we would probably arrive between twelve thirty and one thirty, and we arrived at about twelve forty five.  She was just coming down to take out the trash and check the mail, so she came and hugged me right away.  (She actually shouted out the window to tell me she unlocked the car so I could my stuff in it and not have to carry it all upstairs.)  We went up and got comfy for a chat.  Ansel (Julie's boyfriend, and my friend) called from work.  They were done, and he called from the job.  Julie said hello.  Then she handed the phone over to me so he could say happy birthday.  Of course, I started harassing him right away.  So when he got home, he unlocked the door, opened it a few inches, and listened for a second.  Then he peered around the jamb, and we all said hello.  LOL, he went right back out, lol.  It was hilarious.  Then Randi asked him if he'd smelled Julie's eyeballs yet.  (Yes, she is crazy, but there is background on this.  Julie read this and laughed her butt off.  Then she read it to Ansel and asked him to smell her eyeball, to which he said (and I quote) HELL NO!!!  So Randi has been waiting to ask him if he'd smelled Julie's eyeball for a long time, lol.)  He was heading into the kitchen, but he stopped dead when she said that.  Then he just shook his head and sort of muttered.  We had a great time visiting (harassing each other, of course).  We left for lunch at about two thirty.  (And we didn't get home till seven thirty, hence the whipped and sore, lol.)  We met up with Lauren of Sassy's Fabbys.  She had an order for Randi.  And I picked out the fabbies I wanted to do my Celtic Ladies on.  I emailed her the links and she brought selections she thought would look good.  She did a sterling job.  Randi got me a gift certificate, and she (Randi) owed me a little bit of money.  So between the two, I put down a deposit on my fabby (thanks again Randi).  I picked out five opalescents, which I'm really pleased with.  (Thanks again Anne, cause if I hadn't felt how cool the fabby felt, I wouldn't have told her to bring some opalescents.)  I picked some great colors.  I'm really excited.  And, even better, she got some twenty eight count opalescent in, so she can dye them all in the right count.  I was really happy about that!!

     After we ate, we hit my friend Lisa's bead shop, and I forgot to take piccys.  My friend Lisa's bead shop is actually called One Stop Bead Shop, and it's awesome.  We had a really nice talk with Lisa.  She used to stitch, but now she doesn't get to do it as often as she likes, cause beading has taken over.  So she was telling us about her latest stitching project.  Then I picked out some great beads for Julie to make me a bracelet.  (Then I told her she's not allowed to ship it to me.  She has to deliver it, lol.  Good excuse for a visit!!)  It's purple and a tealy green.  Really pretty.  Randi picked out the beads for a fob.  It's gonna be pretty.  Then (after about an hour) we hit the Michael's for floss.  (Thanks to Bob for the floss price list, because we all saved some money.)  Randi kitted up some of her Lizzie Kates, and I kitted up Lust and Frost Moon mostly.  I'll go to Hobby Lobby when I'm recovered and pick frames for Cattitude and Cat Lessons, as well as the floss I'm missing.  I'm not missing a lot, but a significant amount.  Maybe thirty or forty skeins.  I was hurting bad when we got done there.  So Julie took Randi (who has back problems too) up to McDonald's to get drinks while I checked out.  I could barely get into the car because my legs were trembling from the pain.  So no more shopping for me.  They both went into Joann's and I waited in the car and poked out floss bobbins.  Then we headed for Julie's house again.  I took some Ibuprofen for my knees, and waited a bit for them to kick in.  Then we loaded up the car and headed home.  It was such a fun day.  I love to get together with friends.  Oh, yeah, I almost forgot.  I stopped by mom's house on the way home.  I wanted her to first meet Randi, and second we're borrowing her crock pot to make the chuck roast.  So we got home, unloaded the car, and here we are.  It was such a fun birthday, almost from start to finish.  And now, I'll say goodnight all.  Hope you're all having a super night.  Thanks Randi and Julie and Ansel for making the day great!

I've arrived

    I have arrived.  My popularity is amazing to me.  I got the greatest comment on my blogger page about my last post.  I'll copy and paste it here:

   

  Anonymous said...

How is it that just anybody can publish a blog and get as popular as this? Its not like youve said anything extremely impressive more like youve painted a quite picture about an issue that you know nothing about! I dont want to sound mean, here. But do you really think that you can get away with adding some quite pictures and not really say anything?

Acheter vimax en France.2011AVEF

     I just want to thank whoever left me this comment.  It cracked me up.  I was laughing so hard at it!!  It tries to be insulting but it falls far short of the mark.  Whoever this is, you have to go a lot further than this to insult me.  But I'm a big, HUGE fan of Jenny Lawson (www.theblogess.com) and she gets fan hate mail all the time.  So now I'm following in her footsteps.  Yay me, lol.
     Even better, vacation is just a few hours away!  I'm so excited.  I'm leaving to pick Randi up at the airport in about an hour and fifty minutes.  She's already at the airport, but I don't think she's boarded yet.  Her flight is only an hour and fifteen minutes or something like that (better than a ten hour drive), but I could be wrong about that.  Anyways, her flight is supposed to arrive here at eight seventeen, so I'll leave for the airport at about five till.  It's about twenty minutes to get to the Greater Cincinnati Airport (which, as a bit of trivia, is located in northern KY).  I can hardly wait.  I'm gonna go in the cell phone lot and wait for her to call me.  Then I'll pack up my stitching and go get her!  Columbus tomorrow!  Whoo hoo.  I just (ten minutes ago or less) got off the phone with Julie M.  It was so exciting for me to say, "See you tomorrow," cause I so rarely get to see her!  So I get Randi for a week and Julie M. for the day Wed.  I can't wait.  It seems like we've been planning this forever, but we really haven't.  We're hitting Keepsakes at about ten, then we're gonna go to Columbus and hit Julie's house.  We'll hang there for a bit, until almost three.  Then we're going to the Waffle House to meet Lauren of Sassy's Fabbys.  Hopefully, her mom can watch her little one so she can have a nice adult lunch for a change.  Then we're hitting my friend Lisa's bead shop (because I really, REALLY like the beads Julie used in the Northern Lights bracelet, and I may get some for her to make me a bracelet).  If you want to see the really cool beads I'm talking about, look here.  They're an AB finish bead, which gives them an odd sort of glow.  (Of course, they odd.  They're mine, lol.)   Okay, nm, I can't link you as she doesn't have it in her artfire or etsy shop.  But you can see the beads here.   if you look at the bottom piccy, you can see that some of them look like blue crystals (left), some look green (to the right), some look brown (further right), and some look gold (center).  It's the finish that does that.  These are clear crystal, so you can imagine what happens with the base crystal is a colored crystal.  They're awesome!!  Then we're going to Michael's for floss (I'm kitting up Lust and Randi is kitting up some of her Lizzie Kates).  We're also going to Joann's for bears eyes, since it's right across the shopping center from my friend Lisa's bead shop.  My mom makes a significant number of teddy bears out of the fur coats and clothing of people who are deceased.  It's a nice way to remember them, without keeping clothes that are useless.  Sometimes each family member picks the outfit that they most remember their loved one in, and mom makes the bears out of them.  Other times, the loved one has a fur coat (real or fake) that the bears are made of.  Either way, they need eyes, so I'm looking at Joann's.  Not all Joann's carry them, so we'll see.
     Randi wants to get Bitter Half set up (floss wound on bobbins, bobbins in their bags) when she gets up from her nap today.  I'm sure we'll sit and stitch for a while when we get up.  I'm picking her up at the airport, then we're going to the grocery store to pick up the food for her visit.  We're just gonna split it down the middle.  I think that's only fair, since we're both gonna eat it.  Then we're coming home to sleep for a while.  I've been up since ten last night, so I'm not as worked around the clock as I want to be.  Hopefully, I'll be up late today (four maybe?) and that will make it easier tomorrow.  We'll see!!  Anywho, I hope you all have a fabulous day.  I may be back to blog again during Randi's vacation, but I'm not sure.  I may not see y'all again till next week!!

Last chance at the Traveling Stash Box

     This is your last chance at the Traveling Stash Box.  I'll be picking the winner Tuesday (acutally, YD or Randi will, depending on if YD is willing to do it or not) so leave a comment on this post if you want it.  It's a simple concept:  go through, pick out what you like, and put in the same number of things you take out.  Then post to your blog that the box is ready to move on, and pick a winner.  I've decided that if someone overseas wants the box, then they have to be willing to pay half the postage.  It will cost around fifteen dollars to post it to the US (Flat Rate Box), but it's really  heavy, so I'm not willing to post it overseas without help.  I suspect, even if I'm only paying half the postage, I'll pay more than the fifteen to ship it overseas!  Anyways, if you want it, and you have not left a comment saying you want it before, leave a comment here saying that you want to be included.  Good luck everyone!!!

Awesome Cards Today!!!

     I got mail today, in spades.  I have two packages for Randi from 123stitch.com, Bec's package from Joann's came in the mail today, and I also got some surprises.  Happy birthday me!!!

     But first...  We (mom, dog, and I) went to the park today.  No pics, unfortunately, as I forgot my camera.  But we had lots of fun!!  Well, sort of.  It was all my fault.  I used to go on this trail at Miami Whitewater Park, in Hamilton County Ohio.  It's a lovely trail, not too long, but beautiful scenery.  It's a lovely park.  I don't think Vin has ever been there.  But I wanted to take him.  It's just that I don't remember it being so challenging!!!  It has a big downhill to start the trail, then curves around the pond.  When you get to the other side of the pond, it splits and makes a circle.  So mom's all ready to go left (there's another trail down at the base of the parking lot, and she thought the two trails connected.  I steered her to the right, cause that's the way I've always done it.  As you move to the right, you go across a bridge type thing at the edge of the pond, then up a fairly large hill that I don't remember being there.  Then you go across the flat top, and down a medium hill, across some more flat, down another medium hill, and then you curve around to where the two paths meet (again to the right) and go up a very small slope.  Then you wind back around the pond in the other direction, and go up the big hill to the parking lot.  It's about three quarters of a mile according to the sign.  Vin pooped three times in that quarter mile (I only brought two bags, so the last time I scooped it up with leaves on top and below and put it into an already partly used bag) and only peed about three times.  I was confused by this cause usually he stops to pee on everything!!  (Including garbage cans if I don't catch him in time!)  I took him home, and mom and I went to her house where she put dinner in the oven (chicken cordon bleu casserole, yummy!!) and I stitched and she sewed until it was ready.

.  I was already stiff, so when I got home, I picked up the mail (lots of it) and dumped it on the couch with my stitching bag and purse.  Into the bathroom I went to run a hot bath!!!  I feel little better for it though.  I called mom afterwards and said, "I'm walking the way an eighty year old pregnant woman would walk," and she told me she was fine.  I called her a not nice name, lol.  It's totally unfair, lol.  The laughs were really nice, and the cards timely.  I got one from Randi (she mailed it, even though she's gonna see me on my birthday) and Sally, who I just love.  She's one of my blogger friends.  You can find her at Stitchyangel's Treasures and Stitchyangel's Jour

ney.  She's awesome.  And this is the front of the card she got me:      

 Dinner was very good with authentic sourdough bread she brought back from 

It just made me crack up with laughter. San Fran and froze.  We ate and cleaned up, and then I came home.   And Randi's card came in today too.  I had her pegged though.  She told me before she sent it that it had sound effects.  I read the front while I was on the phone with Julie and we both cracked up.  You can see it here.

      It farts at me, y'all.  It's absolutely hilarious!!!  I was cracking up and Julie and Randi were both laughing with me!  Inside, it of course says, " A Farting Card of course," and that did it.  I was giggling up a storm!!  I also got a card from Anne D.  Her blog is Doll's Musings.  I got the opalescent fabby today.  She is super fast.  And the fabby is gorgeous.  When I get the ToS chart, I'm gonna see if this piece is big enough to do that.  And then there's enough for a couple of ornies too.  I want to do a couple out of the 2008 JCS Ornie Issue I just got from the Traveling stash box.  The fabby doesn't feel bad at all.  I like it.  I was a little worried about it as someone said it was coarse.  But it doesn't feel bad to me at all.  It's different, but I could use it, no problem.  Here is a piccy of the nicely wrapped package she sent me.  

It was lovely!!

Isn't it beautiful.  She even used my fave color tissue paper.  Thanks Anne!  It's so appreciated!!

     And last but not least, Story Keeper.  I'm down to only one color in the second row of ten by tens.  I'll finish it up tonight or tomorrow and I'll have two thousand stitches in it.  Pic can be seen here.  

I'm awesome

     I stumped Julie and Rosa both on the same night.  I was so excited!!!  I stumped Rosa with stultifying (which didn't mean quite what I thought it meant), and then Julie with bolthole.  I'm just so cool!!!  I'm a sesquipadalianist.  (It's a really big word for people who like big words.  It's my fave word in the English Language.)
     I got another card today.  It's cute.  Pics here:

Front of card

I think it's hilarious, cause I never get asked that.  Heck, I rarely buy anything that I need to show ID for.  I don't drink or smoke, soooo...
Anyways, the inside says, "May all your birthday wishes come true."  It's from Tama, which I really appreciate it Tama!!  Thanks so much.  Tama's blog is here, if you want to go see her.  She also sent me a cute little kit.  It's a beginner kit, so for a quick finish or to give to someone else.  I'm thinking of giving it to my neighbor, who used to stitch but hasn't in years.  Pic is below.  I'm hoping to convince my neighbor to come and stitch with me sometimes.  I'm hoping, anyways.  And lastly, she included some treats for Yes Dear.  She loves them, and I can see I'm gonna have to hide the bag if I don't want her to chew through the bag and eat them all.  Great job Tama.  I'm thrilled with everything.  Thanks Tama!!!

My little kit I may give to my neighbor Dani

      I got one of Randi's packages today.  I went through it and matched everything up with the invoice and everything was there, so it's all good.  I'm still expecting a couple of packages.  Bec's stuff from Joann's still hasn't shown up, which is not a problem, but it shouldn't take this long.  Or, maybe I've been spoiled by ordering from 123stitch.com.  They're super fast.  Randi ordered her package the day after I ordered Bec's stuff, and her package is here already.  Also, I've been gifted.  A blogger friend of mine (Anne, of Doll's Musings) is giving me a piece of opalescent fabby.  She said it's pretty small, so I may take a week off of my rotation this year at Christmastime and make a few ornies.  After all, I just got the 2008 JCS ornie issue from the Traveling Stash Box.  I'll have to see what I come up with.

     I'm dog sitting this week, which is very bad timing.  I just joined a new group, and they're VERY busy.  Almost two thousand emails this month alone.  But I know quite a few people in the group, and I like the premise.  It's a Yahoo group called The Stitch Specialists.  Basically, the owner, Abi G. is making patterns and trying to incorporate as many specialty stitches as she can.  I love to learn new stitches, so I finally caved.  I kept seeing the first pattern she had done (Tree of Stitches) and it's gorgeous!!   So I finally broke down and joined.  I may do it as a SAL with someone.  I absolutely cannot (CANNOT) add another piece to my rotation.  But if I SAL it, we'll choose a day of the week and it shouldn't take me too long.  So we'll see.  Still, I'll have twenty two projects on the go.  Can you say serial starter, lol.  Anyways, that's all for me tonight.  I have emails awaiting my attention!!!  Hope you're all having a good night!!

     It's been a while since I posted anything.  I used to blog a couple of times a week, but not lately.  IDK what's been up with me.  I just don't have the urge to blog as frequently.  This week, I've been wanting to for a couple of days, but I was always on the phone when I wanted to do it, so I never got around to it.  (Now that I've said that, someone will call me, lol.)

     Anyways, first up is my giveaway.  Well, sort of.  Not really.  Okay, here's the deal.  I have the Traveling Stash Box.  It's full of charts, fabbies, a few kits, a few flossies, miscellaneous things.  I took out six items, and put in six large pieces of fabby.  That's the deal.  You put in what you take out.  So...  I've shown off the things I've taken out, and I didn't think to show pics of what I put in.  But it's very full.  As long as you have a blog on blogspot, you can win the travelling stash box.  Leave me a comment (with your email if your profile doesnt' have an email me button), and I'll be picking the winner on October the fourth.  Just a warning, the box is very full.  It cost fourteen and change to post to me, so I'm sure it will be at least that going out.  Good luck to everyone who enters.

     I also wanted to let you know about another giveaway.  Ben is giving away a Halloween woodcarving.  It's lovely, and you can read all about it here.  I love the cute little woodcarving, and would love to display it (probably year round, lol, cause it's too cute to put away).   Good luck to all who enter!

     Paypal has ticked me off.  I bought something for a blogger friend, and she paypaled me the money for it.  For some reason, IDK what, Paypal decided that even though I have a basic account, they're gonna take a fee.  So now I'm ticked.  I sent them an email and am currently awaiting a reply.  This does not make me a happy camper.  Stupid Paypal...  

     Julie needs some prayers.  She's been having a rough time making ends meet lately.  Her boyfriend works in construction, and there's not a lot of work right now, so that's weighing on her.  And then, to make matters worse, she lost most of a tooth up front.  So she needs to go into the dentist.  Neither of them have insurance available, so she'll have to pay everything out of pocket.  And dental work gets expensive.  So say some prayers that her bf gets a sudden, long term, extremely good paying job, so that she can get the care she needs.

     Randi and I are doing some more planning for her vacation here.  She's pretty much a homebody like me, so she doesn't really wanna go anywhere.  We're hitting almost all the shops on the second day.  We're going to go to Keepsakes (the Sharonville LNS) which  is about thirty five to forty minutes away from me, then back in the car to go to Columbus.  We'll go to Julie's house and hang till a few minutes before three.  Then, we'll go to the Waffle House to meet up with Lauren of Sassy's Fabbys.  Randi has a large order with Sassy's Fabbys, and I want to do a floss toss and see how Summer looks against  her opalescents.  I'm hoping she can get some opalescent for me in twenty eight count.  I like twenty eight better than thirty two, which is what she has in stock.  And I want really pretty shimmery fabbies for my Celtic Ladies as they show so much fabby between the borders and around the ladies.  Then we're hitting Hobby Lobby and Joann's for floss and (for my mom) teddy bear's eyes.  Then back to Julie's (I think) for a bit before we head for home.  It will be a shop till you drop day.  Oh, and I forgot my friend Lisa's bead shop.  (It's not really my friend Lisa.  It's Julie M's friend Lisa, but she always calls it my friend Lisa's bead shop instead of by its name.  So, to tease her, I call it my friend Lisa's bead shop too.)  We're going there at some point too.  Then on the sixth, we're going to the post office, my Hobby Lobby (I want to pick out the frame for Cat Lessons for People), and maybe to lunch.  Depends if we're hungry and have money or not.  After that, the plan is to sit and stitch lots.  Lots and lots, lol.  Hopefully, I'll get a few minutes in there for blogs and emails.  So it'll be  a busy vacation without much going anywhere!  She wants to finish the first page of Bitter Half by the time she's ready to leave, and she probably will.  She's super speedy.  So that's what we have planned.  Oh, and a trip to the grocery store the day she comes in from Maryland.  So lots of things in a few short days, then nothing.  I can hardly wait.  Ten days now, whoo hoo!!!

     I got no packages in the mail today, and I'm so disappointed.  I have a package coming from Joann's for my blogger friend that I mentioned earlier, and I have a package coming for Randi from 123stitch.  (Of course, that's not as fun as getting my own package from 123stitch, lol, but I'll live vicariously for now!!!)

     Last but not least, I've been getting a lot of stitching done these last few days.  I was in chat for 2muchXS on Wed for a little bit, a big part of Fri, and again on Saturday morning.  (I got up at ten this morning, and couldn't go back to sleep.  So I got up around ten thirty.  Ugh, now I'm tired.)  So I worked on Story Keeper all that time.  Wed was Harry Potter night too.  We watched Deathly Hallows one.  My mom is sort of confused.  She's certain that the sword is one of the Hallows.  IDK why, but she's sure of it, lol.  She's still calling Dumbledore Dumbledorf.  And now she thinks that since they're wizards and witches, they can raise the dead.  She keeps saying Dumbledorf is doing this or that, and I keep telling her he's dead, lol.  It's all quite amusing.  So anyways, lots of Story Keeper got done.  You can see part of the trees which I'm very excited about.  Before it was just a bluish blob.  So yay for being able to see the trees.  You can see my progress here:  

Story Keeper 9/23

  (I was talking to Julie M on the phone last night, and I said, "I can see the trees," and she thought I was talking about out in the yard.  I was laughing about that.)

     And speaking of Julie M...  We have a bet.  Cause we're both such high rollers, snort.  She bet me that I couldn't catch up to her when Story Keeper came out in my rotation.  We bet gas money for her next trip here, so not a small bet.  That's about fifty bucks.  I'm sure I'll beat her.  I asked her Sunday night how many stitches she had in it and the answer was 2,136.  I have in about twelve hundred so far.

     I'm sure I'm gonna win the bet because I'm doing some dog sitting this week.  Well, it's Saturday, so next week.  David is going on vacation again, this time to Gatlinberg, TN.  He's staying from Sunday morning till Thursday night.  I'll be spending a lot of dog time with Vin, and we'll be doing some walking.  It ought to be nice.  Maybe I'll take him out to the park for a walk a couple of times.  He likes to go slow so he can sniff stuff.  So maybe I'll put that on my agenda for the week.

     And here's a piccy of YD sitting on the base of her cat tree.  It's very tall (six feet) so it has a pretty solid base.  She loves to sit on it.  I guess she likes that carpet better...  You can see it here:    

Yes Dear on her cat tree base

Yes, my carpet is stained.  And those are the projects from Bubbles to Shore Patrol (excluding Story Keeper, because it's out to play) next to her.  Apparently, the magic closet does have limits.

     Anyways, that's it for now.  (I know, it's novel sized, lol.)  Thanks to everyone who made it this far, and again for all my followers who regularly leave comments.  Especially Claudette, who still has me laughing about Jesus's bad spray on tan, giggle, chortle, snort.  Thanks everyone!!!  (Thanks to whoever (I think it was Siobhan) said to update my blogger to the newer version.  I could    easily move my photos around!!)

IHSW and other things

     I made a lot of progress over the weekend, as usual.  I did manage to make my goal on dad's memorial (barely) and got quite a bit done on Jesus too.  I had a really hard time getting started on dad's memorial.  I don't know if I just wasn't ready for it or what.  I didn't touch it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday of the first week.  Friday I worked on it and then tore out everything I'd put into it.  Saturday and Monday, I didn't work on it.  Tuesday I finally felt like working on it.  It was very hard on my fingers though, as I was pushing through the cloth with a blunt tipped needle.  I'm considering getting a sharp for it next time it comes up.  I stab myself with them though,so I may just suffer with the blunt.  IDK yet...
     Anyways, progress is in their albums.  You can look here:   for my lone tomato (Dad's Memorial), and here for Jesus.  I got a lot of time in on him Sunday because of the football games.  I watched Pittsburgh beat Seattle in a shut out.  Then my Bengals lost (ouch) in the last minute to the Broncos (I hate everyone from Denver this week).  Then the Sunday night game was Philly and Atlanta.  I was very disappointed that Philly lost.  Their backup QB wasn't bad, but he just couldn't quite get it.  So again, two out of three lost.  Grrrr... 
     My friend Randi is planning a giveaway.  She's gonna give away a twenty dollar gc to HAED for her fifty followers giveaway.  She's at forty one, so she only needs nine followers.  To be in the giveaway, you only have to be a follower of her blog and leave her a comment.  The post is here, if you'd like to read what she had to say about it.  And now she's up to forty four, so it'll be soon for the giveaway!  Good luck everyone!
     I got some new stash lately.  Some I bought from 123stitch.com, some I bought from individuals, and some was in the Traveling Stash box.  I've been remiss in not mentioning that before, but I've felt so busy...  Anyways, it arrived here either Thursday or Friday morning.  My neighbor took it in for a few days because he was afraid it would get stolen.  As if...  Anyways, it had six things in it that I liked and kept.  I put in six large pieces of fabby I inherited that I didn't like.  It's very full now, lol.  I'll be passing this on on blogspot only, so if you want to have a chance to go through it, leave a comment on my blogspot blog.  It has mostly charts, but there are some fabbies and a few flossies as well.  It cost fourteen and change to ship it to me, so I'm sure it will cost the same for me to ship it out.  Unfortunately, for this, I won't ship international.  The cost would be prohibitive.  Sorry ladies, I just can't afford to pay that much for shipping.  I'll choose a winner on the fourth of October, so you have plenty of time to get your name in the hat.  (I'm gonna have Randi pick the name!!!)  If you want to see my new acquisitions, you can go here, and then keep clicking next for the rest.  One thing that I got from the Traveling Stash box is not pictured.  I got it for Randi and it's a surprise.  Since she reads my blog, I didn't take a piccy.  Na na na na na!!!!
     I'm starting to get really excited about Randi's visit.  It's only two weeks from tomorrow, yay!!!  I just can't wait.  I love to have visits from friends.  And I love to go visit friends.  We're going to Columbus to visit Julie and Lauren from Sassy's Fabbys.  And that's gonna be fun too.  Then we're gonna go back home and crash, probably.  Well, Randi will probably crash in the car, lol.  And then we're gonna stitch and chat and stitch and chat.  Whoo hoo!!!  It's gonna be awesome.  I'm considering extending my rotation by a week so I'm doing cross stitching with her instead of hardanger, which she doesn't do.  We'll see how it goes.
     Anyways, that's it for me this week.  I'm starting Story Keeper soon.  I need to do my emails real quick, and then I'll be stitching for a little bit.  Hope you're all having a great day!!  BTW, I've given up on photos for now.  If anyone out there (please God) can tell me how to move photos vertically, I would sooooooooooooooooooo appreciate it.  I can move things horizontally, but not vertically.  I can move one to the right and one to the left, but can't move them up and down.  So thanks to Joyce L, who told me what HTML to delete to move side to side, and I appreciate that so much.  I don't do html (at all) so it was helpful to me. 

Indecisive

       I'm so indecisive.  I know it, everyone who knows me knows it...  I'm having trouble again, and I need some help deciding what to stitch.  It's the Celtic Ladies who are giving me trouble this time.  I ordered the other two this month, as well as the beads and specialty flosses.  And I got Summer and Christmas, and I feel in love with Summer.  So now I can't decide whether to do Summer (teal and purple) or Spring (purple).  I have a poll on my blogspot blog for this, so please go vote and help me decide.  I need to know soon as I want to floss toss when we go to Columbus.  So please go vote, here. 
     I got a card from Debbie in the mail a couple of days ago, and it's hilarious.  Here's the front: well, never mind, Multiply won't upload the piccy.  It says, "Worried about being forty?  Millions of people turn forty every day, but do they pout and complain and snap at everyone?"  Then the inside says, "Sure they do!  Old people are like that!"  I found this hilarious.  Thanks Debbie, I really appreciate the smiles.
     And last but not least, I have a great new piccy of Yes Dear.  She was leaning her chin on the scratcher and watching me.  I took several pics, but this is the best one.  Go here.  Hope you're all having a great night!!

A stitching update and other things

     I got a lot of stitching done today.  I had such a good day.  Yes, it was the anniversary of the World Trade Center Tragedy.  It was also the first day of football for me this year.  I love me some football.  I watched the Bengals vs Browns game at one (we won, whoo hoo), the Giants vs Redskins game at four fifteen (Giants lost, boo), and the Cowboys vs Jets game at eight thirty (Cowboys lost at the last minute, boo).  It was great.  I got a lot of stitching in, which was really cool.  I put in several hundred stitches on Jesus's hair.  You can see piccys here:   
     I also got the Meerkat back from Hobby Lobby today.  Well, yesterday.  I think it turned out good.  I really like the frame I chose.  It's really pretty.  You can see them here:    There is a tiny piece, up in the left top corner that I'm not crazy about, as they only used a tiny little bit of the frame.  But I still like it.  Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what you think.
     I went over to mom's house Friday night for Harry Potter night.  My cousin Beth was away for the weekend (I can't remember where), and mom was off work.  We watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, which always pisses me off.  ***Spoiler  ~  Spoiler***  I was pissed off when they burned down The Burrow.  It didn't happen in the book, and I was so mad that they did it in the movie.  And in the next movie, there was no mention of rebuilding.  It just looked the same as it ever did.  Grrrr....  ***End Spoiler***  Anyways, I didn't get home till after eleven thirty that night.  I put in about seventy stitches on my memorial for dad, then pulled out every one of them cause (are you ready for this) I started it upside down.  Yep, I kid you not.  Luckily, I had been having trouble with it (couldn't get the waste cloth (regular twenty eight count as they don't make waste cloth in twenty eight count) basted to the towels without getting it crooked, and I didn't have any pins to pin it with.  I guess I could have used needles...) so the seventy stitches were all I had to pull out.  IDK if I"m gonna make my goal now or not.  I only have a week to do it in, and it's hard to stitch on waste canvas sometimes...  Since I pulled it all out, no pics.  I'll get some good time in on it tomorrow, I hope.
     And lastly, I got voicemail on my phone.  It was free to add it, thankfully.  I had been wanting to do it for a while.  When I watched mom's house while she was in San Fransisco, I had to check her messages.  And one day, when she didn't have any messages, the thing said, "No new messages.  To send a message, press two..."  And I was all, "Cool, I can send her a message at three am when I've just remembered something I've been forgetting to tell her."  So I can do that now.  And I left her three messages the other day.  One was to ask her if I could have one of her rocks for Julie to take jewelry pics on.  I'm all gung ho about that!  So that's the news from here today.  Hope you're all having a super night!!  (Again, stupid blogger won't let me move my photos to where I want them.  I'm gonna give up soon, and just post links all the time.)

Today, I celebrate 9/11

     I know it's not really an event to treasure.  But I celebrate the American spirit that was loosed that day.  It was a horrible event, and so many innocents died that day.  But it pulled us all together.  It made us all strive to be better, to each other, to our families, to our friends.  For the first time in years, Americans pulled together and helped each other.  I remember waking up and my bf at the time (he was an absolute shit, and I don't know what I saw in him) was disgusted that it was the only thing on TV.  When I asked him why he didn't wake me up when it happened, he said, "Why should I?"  I was at a loss.  It's such a human response to share tragedy to lessen the pain.  And he didn't feel any pain.  I felt horrible.  I went to work, and worried all day.  We were only a few blocks up from the Federal building.  Downtown was shut down.  A friend and I went to donate blood.  We only had to wait an hour or an hour and a half.  It wasn't bad at all.  I mean, all things considered.
     But after all the horror was passed, after all the tears were shed, I found that the ubiquitous American Spirit was still present.  People mourned those who lost their lives, but they stood up to be counted and were proud to be American.  They worked at removing the rubble so that we could honor those who lost their lives that day.  People stood in line to donate food and clothing.  They stood in line to donate blood.  They gave of their hard earned dollars to help those who lost their loved ones.  People were kinder to everyone they met.  People refused to cower in their homes.  They refused to be beat by terrorists.  They did what they needed to do.  Fear does scary things to us, sometimes.  But no matter the fear we felt, we went about our business.  We worked, we played, we laughed, we cried.  We grieved as a a nation, and, as a nation, we stood up and said, "You will NOT beat us!  We are strong, we are proud.  We will live without fear.  We will deal with this pain you've dealt us, and we will come out strengthened.  We are free, and we will stay that way!!!"  And we have.  We're free, we're out there working to make our lives better.  We have our challenges, but I wish that we could all draw together again, and fight for our country and our lives.  Together, as we should.

It's been a while

     It's been a while since I blogged.  At least a week!  Unusual for me, I know.  It's been busier than usual though.  I've been playing again, and stitching and doing emails and blogs and oh, my Lord how do I keep up with it all!!  I sold a whip to Freak, so I used the proceeds to buy both of my new CS charts.  I was planning on getting the last two Celtic Ladies as well as all the beads and specialty flosses.  But...  It was too expensive.  So I only got the beads and specialty flosses (or most of them.  I still need to get the Rainbow Gallery threads, but 123stitch doesn't carry them.  Apparently, RG won't let them carry their threads because they have no bricks and mortar store.  Stupid!!!).  But now, with the extra money, I bought the two charts, and I'll kit up Lust.  I gave him my mailing addy, and will soon have a money order for them.  Yay!!  I'm so happy about that! 
     I was gonna go to the Labor Day floss sale at Hancock's Fabrics, but I remembered in time that they don't carry DMC.  They have some sort of off brand.  It feels awful.  At least, I think they do.  I "shopped" online to see if they had regular skeins of DMC and they had cones and balls, but no regular floss.  So I assumed they don't have it.  Sad...  Anyways, I'm off to Hobby Lobby tomorrow to pick up my floss for Lust and my framed Meerkat.  I totally forgot about it last month, until the end of the month and then I was broke.  So that's my agenda for tomorrow.  And some stitching and playing and all the usual things.
     I didn't stitch a stitch on Jesus yesterday, so I'll work on him tonight (this morning) after blogging.  I did however, get a lot done on Achoo this weekend.  I dog sat.  I was over there for several hours on Friday (I went at seven thirty PM and stayed till about two the next afternoon) and again on Sunday night and Monday morning.  He was a very good dog except he didn't want to poop for mom or I.  Finally, on Monday morning, I made him stay out till he did.  It took fifteen minutes, but he hadn't gone for over twenty four hours.  For a dog that can easily poop four or five times a day, that's a long time to go without.
     On Saturday morning and afternoon, I alternated working on Achoo with reading (Megan's Mark by Lora Leigh) and petting the dog.  It was too funny.  He'd get up, go look out the window, then sidle up to me to get petted for a few minutes.  Then he'd go lay down on his pillow.  Fifteen minutes later, he'd do the same thing, lol.  Needless to say, he got lots of pettings.  I got lots of specialty fibers, lol.  But Achoo looks great.  I'd say more than a quarter is done.  Which I'm very excited about!  I only wanted to get in five hundred stitches, and I went well over that.  At least triple, maybe more.  You can see the pic here:  

  Okay, maybe not.  Multiply refuses to upload my photos tonight.  Maybe blogspot will let me...  (Edit:  Blogspot let me, yay!!  At least one site has a piccy!!)
     I managed to lock myself out over the weekend twice.  I'm used to locking the door behind me, but not to a door that will let me out and lock behind me...  Luckily the neighbor has a key!!  So they let us back in both times.  I was so happy someone was home both times, lol.  Lucky me!!  Otherwise, not much has been going on.  At least, not that I can think of.  My computer/Multiply is irritating me, but who knows what that's all about...
     It all actually started yesterday.  I was trying to put up photo albums.  I tried to upload the photo for Celtic Spring, and it wouldn't upload.  Finally, I went to 123stitch's site, and saved the pic they had of it.  That one uploaded fine.  So IDK why the uploader won't let me upload anything from my camera anymore.  It's strange...  Stupid computer stuff.  I'm gonna blog on blogspot, then see if I can contact Multiply and see what's going on.  I'm sure I'm not the only one!!!  Wish me luck, y'all!!

Weekend Progress and More

     I made some progress over the weekend, and last week too.  I worked on Achoo most of the time (one morning till six AM) and Jesus on Sunday.  It worked out pretty good.  I got lots done on both.  Jesus is finally starting to look like himself, but I don't really like how his face is turning out.  It's got orange in it, and REALLY???  Whose face has orange in it like that?!?  Ick...  Anyways, you can see him here: 

Jesus 8/29/2011

Achoo 8/27/2011

  And Achoo is coming along really well.  I've gotten lots done on him in the last few days.  It's partly due to Randi.  We talk on the phone a lot, so I spend more time stitching.  I did manage to stay caught up on blogs and emails these last couple of days too, so I'm happy about that!  Achoo has a couple of really weird color blends, but I'm following the pattern.  They mixed light gray and gray with light brown.  Those are the only two blends, and I don't know if I like them or not, lol.  You can see a piccy of Achoo here:   
     I've made a new friend this week.  His name is Benjamin, and he's Charity's (another blogger friend) husband.  He's just started a blog.  He has a little cross stitch, a little woodworking, and a book on his wishlist.  He very nicely asked me if I would share his blog, and of course I agreed.  You can see his blog here, and he asked that everyone check out his wishlist especially.  It has a book on it that he thinks would be helpful for a lot of men, so check it out.
     Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my last post.  I found them all humorous and am so grateful for everyone who leaves a comment.  I love to hear what y'all think about what I've said!  So big bunches of thanks to everyone who's ever left a comment on my blog.
     It seems (and this is slightly scary to me) that I'm normal in a way.  {GASP}  I posted my poll to see what you guys thought I should do for the twentieth piece in my rotation.  I thought I should do Frost Moon, because it's such a big chart.  It looks like y'all agreed with me as Frost Moon won the poll by one vote.  I think I'll kit it up at Christmas time as I should get some money for Christmas.   I'm gonna kit up Celtic Autumn and Lust at the sale for Labor Day.  I got out the floss bags and did all my floss bags for Lust.  So now all I have to do is put the flosses in their bags.  I HATE doing HAEDs cause their symbols make me draw.  I soooooooo cannot draw.  I suck at it.  So it was a bit of a challenge.  But I'm getting excited, which is a bad thing.  It's gonna be a while.  I still have a week of Achoo (this week), then two weeks each dad's memorial, Story Keeper, Calendar Partwork, and Shore Patrol (whoo hoo, I'm sort of SALing that with a friend.  She's gonna work on it when ever, and I'm leaving it in my rotation, but when I work on it, I'm gonna post a good pic, like everything, lol).  So I'm gonna be all excited about organizing it, and I won't get to start it for two months.  Urgh...
     I'm trying to complete my Lora Leigh collection of books this week.  I figured with shipping, I can get them all for about ninety six dollars and change.  That's twelve books, and shipping on a few.  I'm using their super saver shipping.  That way I get free shipping on most of them.   Yay.  But if I buy them a couple at a time, I'll have to pay four bucks shipping each, and that's a lot of money.  So I'm gonna ask mom if I can borrow eighty dollars from her to buy them.  I think she'll be okay with it.  I hope, anyways.  Ah, a girl can dream, right?!?  So we'll see how it goes.
     Randi has a nickname for me.  LOL, she calls me Nutter Butter.  I think it's hilarious.  I don't have a nickname for her yet.  I'm still thinking up a good one.  I was thinking though, Miranda Matilda.  That really speaks to me.  For those who don't know, I make up a middle name that suits me for my friends, instead of a nickname.  Kay is Kay Marie Antoinette (which led to lots of jokes about my wanting her to be headless), Rosa doesn't have a set name, I change hers all the time because her real first name, which she hates, is a longer version of Rosa (I won't say it here as she may read this).  Tora is Tora Jane.  Julie is Julie Ann (because her real middle name is Ann, and Julie Ann and julienne sound so alike.  She even had a friend who called her french fries for a while as french fries are fried julienned potatoes).  And Aly is Aly Louise.  So I like Miranda Matilda.  We will have to see if something better jumps out at me.
     Speaking of Randi, she's coming up earlier than we had planned.  We were making plans for Christmas, but now she's coming up for my birthday.  She just informed me that she purchased her tickets for the week of my birthday, and she'll be coming up to chat, stitch, crochet, eat, shop, and read.  We're gonna have a blast.  It's nice to get along so well with someone.  So now I'm really excited about my birthday.  It's October fifth.  And I have a request.  I'm not asking for gifts, or anything like that.  But I'm gonna post my address for anyone who wants to get me a card.  I'll be forty this year, and they have some fabulous turning forty cards.  So if anyone would like to go out and find an outrageous card for someone turning forty, I would love it!!!!  I want to collect as many as I can, as I find them amazingly humorous.  So if anyone would like to send me a card, here's the addy:
Julie and Yes Dear
2442 Ferguson Road Apt. # 2
Cincinnati, Ohio, 45238
     TIA to anyone who finds me a great card.  I will, of course, post pics when I get them!!!!  I can't wait to see what my creative and crafty friends come up with!!  The more outrageous (over the hill, old as dirt, whatever), the better, guys.  Cause I could definitely use the laughs.  This is my first birthday since my dad died, and until Randi said she was coming for it, I was dreading it.  So hopefully between the cards and the visit, things will be okay.
     Randi has started a new group.  It's called Stitches with Love.  It's a Yahoo group.  It's for anyone who does any kind of fiber art.  Stitching, knitting, hardanger, crochet, crewelwork, weaving, spinning, rug hooking, whatever.  Feel free to check it out here.
     Okay, one more thing, and I'll be done.  I promise.  I'm joining a challenge.  Well, it's sort of a challenge.  Measi over at Measi's Musings (here) is doing WIPacolypse 2012.  You can see the rules here.  Since I've already got my rotation all set up, I'm gonna join in the fun.  So far, there are only a few people (about ten) who've joined her, so feel free to go over and join yourself.  It's basically you listing the WIPs you're gonna work on in 2012, and then posting pics on schedule.  It's gonna be a good time though.
     I'll close by saying I hope y'all had a really good weekend.  Mine was pretty good as I only had to do some minor frogging on Jesus, and none at all on Achoo.  I talked, ate, and laughed a lot.  It was nice.  So here's hoping you all had as nice a weekend as I did.  (It surely felt like it should be IHSW again because I got so much done, lol.)

I'm a terror

     Julie IMed me tonight while I was stitching.  (I was sitting across the room, and saw the message pop up on my computer.)  She wanted to SHARE with me.  She was talking to Vicki, and there were things said about me.  As you all know, I tend to harass Vicki for pics.  She has gotten into the habit of just emailing me a pic when she finishes stuff.  Because if she doesn't, she knows I'll keep IMing her to say, "Have you sent me a pic yet?"  So tonight, the following was said:
     Vicki: Must get round to scanning in *&^%$    Julie:  Yes - you must . Don't let JYD know though otherwise she will will nag you until you do it.  Every 5 minutes you'll get a message "Did you scan it yet?" LOL....  Vicki:  lol I know - she's a terror
     I'm so hurt and upset that they're talking about me behind my back, and I can't believe Vicki would say something so horrible about me.  (Ignore the previous text, it's all a big fat lie.)  I think it's hilarious!  I am a terror about photos with Vicki and Julie and most of my friends, and I admit it.  I like to see what's going on!!!!  So I'm a terror and proud of it.  Sorry, Vick, didn't mean to give you a heart attack.  Love you!!!!!  I'll be bothering you soon for webcam as Rosa is coming up in a couple of months...

1, 2, 3, 4, 5...

     I just read a really neat blog by Nia, and wanted to do the same formula.  She, in turn, found this on someone else's blog.  I don't know who originally started it, but it's fun.  If you want to read her 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 you can go here. So here we go...
ONE project you are particularly proud of.
It would have to be my largest finish to date, Lord of the Plains.  I think it's seventeen by fourteen finished size...  You can see a piccy here.
TWO mistakes you've made in the past.
Oh, man, I can only pick two?!?  Okay, okay, only two.  As some of you may know, I have a counting problem.  I can't do it properly, and so I'm frequently frogging to fix a mistake.  It's not one mistake, but it's the one I keep making over and over.  The second mistake, and this one borders on humorous, is having an open drink anywhere near stitching.  I ended up dropping a bobbin into a mug of milk one time.  By the time I pulled it out, it was saturated.  So, I had to unwind the whole length of floss from the bobbin, wash it and rinse it in the sink, then hang it up to day (YD was particularly fond of the drying portion of the program, and dragged it down to play with it.  I didn't think she could jump that high, but I guess the motivation has to be right.)  So now my drink ALWAYS has a lid.
THREE things that make your work unique.
Wow, not much.  I rarely even sign my work.  I try to remember, but I always forget.  Maybe that in and of itself makes my work unique, cause most people sign theirs.  Um, my messy backs may be unique.  I loop start where I can, and trim up when I tie off, but my backs are still messy.  It's probably because I spend so much time charting my course.  I will stitch some areas side to side, and some up and down, and some on the diagonal, so my backs are never all nice and neat.  The third thing that makes me unique (not my pieces, but me) is that I have so many BAPs in my rotation.  I have twenty pieces (Holy Moley) and almost all of them are BAPs.  My smallest piece is a hardanger small.  It's eight by eight.  Then I have two eight by tens, and a twelve by six (or so, that's just an estimate).  The rest are fourteen inches on the short side.  I have a Chat (22.5 by 22.5) and will have four or five HAEDs.  I have a Miribilia and a L & L too.  All kinds of big, complex things.  Yay!!!
FOUR tools you love to use.
This one is easy peasy.  I LOVE my Q-snaps.  I use them on almost everything these days.  I have some very nice, very SHARP snips that I love.  They cut my threads easily, and they are nice and close to the fabby when I'm done.  I wouldn't stitch without my glasses.  I use them on every size and count, no matter if it's fourteen count or thirty two.  And lastly, I love my floor stand.  I rarely use it anymore, cause it's not equipped for qs, and I need my work to be portable.  I take it (my work, that is) with me to the pharmacy, the doc's office, and mom's house.  I miss being able to stitch two handed.  It's so much faster!!!
FIVE inspirations
This one will be tough.  Um, part of my inspiration comes from my desire to have pretty things hanging in my house or to give pretty things to my friends and family.  I get a lot of inspiration from my stitchy friends, especially when we're doing a SAL.  I follow a lot of blogs that really inspire me (to both stitching and stashing, lol).  Um...  I need one more...  And (and I freely admit, this is a really contrary reason) my dad is number five.  He always said, "You'll never finish that.  I don't know why you bother."  So my impressive amount of stubborn sits up and says, "You wanna bet?!?"  So that's number five, because I'm sure he's watching me now.  So those are my five inspirations.
     Now, on to more fun things.  Randi was very nice to me the other day.  She pulled my pic of Yes Dear and resized it for me.  I didn't have a program to resize photos at the time I put it up, and my camera took it that size, which is just crazy!!!!  So she resized it for me, and emailed it to me.  I immediately put it up, and doesn't it look nicer now?!?  I like it much better, so thanks Randi!!
     Also, my poll closed.  One deadly sin, one Celtic lady, and one something else squeaked out the win by only one vote.  So now I have another poll up.  This one lets you choose more than one answer, cause I would never be able to decide.  It asks you what the something else should be in my rotation.  There are so many options, and I can't decide.  So far, I have like two votes.  (I think they both belong to Julie M.)  One for Water, and one for A Chance Encounter.  So go to my blogspot and vote in my poll.  It's here.
     Lastly, I have progress on Achoo, but not much.  I'm getting behind cause I keep talking to Randi on the phone, so I've been trying to catch up on blogs and emails these last few days.  I've updated my Achoo folder, and you can see my progress here.  It's really quite hard to see, but I'm doing his shadow.  It's all the same color grey, but some half stitches are one strand, some are two strands, and some are three strands.  I'll try and get something that looks like his leg stitched for my next update!!
     Lastly, HAED has another thirty percent off sale, and I'm resisting (so far).  I may buy Air at the Labor Day sale.  We'll see how it goes...  Anyways, that's all for me today.  Hope y'all are having a superb day!!!

IHSW

     This weekend was International Hermit and Stitch Weekend.  I did reach my goal on Chat's Desert Garden Mandala.  Of course, I'm excited about that.  That's two in a row.  Whoo hoo me!!!!  My goal on Desert Garden was to finish up part seven and start part eight.  I finished up part seven, which was a roadrunner and a small blue bird.  I like the blue bird better!!!  You can see it here by itself, and here is the whole thing.  I haven't got much to go left, which is exciting.  There are four borders (parts nine, ten, eleven, and twelve, and the rest of part eight.  Part eight is four medallions over the feathers, and you can see the beginnings of the first one here.  And then came Sunday, and I felt like crap all day.  I didn't stitch a stitch on Jesus, so I'll be putting in a couple of hours on him today.  Then, this week is Achoo.  I haven't started it yet, so I don't really have a goal.  But I want to get at least five hundred stitches in to it.  So I'll make that my goal.  I don't usually do goals like that.  They're more like, I want to get to the end of the row, or I want to finish up part such and such.  We'll see how I do, lol.  It's a really cute chart, so it should go quickly.
     I've been making plans with Randi for her trip up here.    She's gonna be here for a week, and she's nervous that she'll piss me off, lol.  She hasn't yet figured out how easygoing I am, lol.  She apparently has a temper, but I haven't seen it yet.  Of course, I'm not real pushy either, so that could be part of it.  She's gonna fly in on the twentieth  and flying out on the twenty seventh.  We're gonna hit Red Lobster and Outback for dinner one night each.  And we're going to the LNS.  I can't wait for that.  I've never been to one.  The local one is about forty to fifty minutes away, and I've been dying to go, but I never had the money.  Since Randi will have Christmas money, we're gonna go there and she's gonna pick up some cool stuff.  I'm so excited I can hardly wait, and so is she, lol.  Rosa may come up before then, but IDK if we'll have gas money for her to get here and back, so we'll see.  I love having visitors, and I get along so well with both ladies, that I'm excited to have company.  It's gonna be so great!!!
     Julie M just IMed me a great story.  If you are interested in the consequences of bullying, you can read it here.  This is awesome.  If you don't wanna go read her blog, I'll summarize.  This photographer came upon a facebook page, started under a ficticious name, where students can make fun of other students.  One of the first comments was by someone she was scheduled to photograph.  She went through the comments, and found comments that were just as cruel by several others she was scheduled to photograph.  So she cancelled all the appointments, and emailed the girls with a nice email about why she cancelled them.  Then she sent an email to the parents with a screenshot of the nasty comments.  I was like, YOU GO GIRL!!!!!!!  I think that's awesome!!  Great job, Jen.  Wonderful.
     Randi showed me a wonderful site for T shirts the other day.  I want several of them.  If you want to see them, look here.  I want the one that says, "I can only please one person per day.  Today is not your day.  Tomorrow doesn't look good either," and the one that says, "Gone Crazy  Be Back Shortly".  I love them.  I may have to get them eventually.  That cracks me up!!!
     And that's all for me tonight.  Hope y'all are having a good night!!!   Okay, I got a phone call before I had time to edit this, and while I was on the phone, I worked on Jesus.  So I do have some progress on him as well.  You can see him here.  I didn't do a whole lot, mostly cause I was excited to put the first stitches into Achoo!!  It's going well.  I've got quite a bit of the shadow done.  It's all half stitches, so it goes really quickly.  I do think I'm gonna love this chart.  Thanks again to Patty and Savvy for gifting it to me!!!!  I'm not gonna post a pic today, but I will later this week.  Again, I hope you're all doing well!   (And darnit, I forgot to edit this and put it up before my bath, so it's early Tuesday morning, and I'm again late in putting up my IHSW piccys again.  Boo hiss me!)

Another giveaway

     My friend Thea is having a giveaway.  I've not entered (after all, I just won one!!!) but thought you all might like a chance.  You can get to her giveaway post here!  Good luck everyone!!

My mean mom

     She got me tonight.  Here's the scoop.  The first Wed we had Harry Potter night, I got the music stuck in my head.  Same with the second.  The third night though, there was a little bit of stuck in my head Wed, but most of it hit on Saturday.  Which is weird, right??? Delayed stuck in my headness, I guess.  So earlier today, I was talking to Randi and singing the HP theme song.  I was like, "What the heck is going on here?"  So after I got off the phone with Randi, I called mom.  I told her that, and she was laughing at me.  So we have a short conversation, during which I managed to not sing HP to her.  Then we're getting off the phone.  I say, "you have a good night," and she replies by singing the HP theme to me.  I was like, "Oh, thanks.  Like it wasn't stuck in my head enough!!!!"  So I have a mean mom today.  I don't like her anymore, not till tomorrow. 
     I talked to Randi yesterday.  I didn't realize it, but we were on the phone for FIVE HOURS!!!!!!!  I glanced at my phone and was like, "Holy crap, we've been talking for four hours and fifty five minutes" and really, that's a record for me.  Julie and I once talked four and a half or something like that, but this is a new record.  We're still learning all about each other, so we could easily fill five hours.  She's holding a poll on her blog, if you want to go over and vote.  She's going to kit up a couple of HAEDs with her Christmas money, and she can't pick which one she wants to start with.  You can find her here.
     Got great progress on DGM for part of this week, and none for the rest.  I still think I'll make my goal though.  I've got a little bit more bsing to do on part seven, then it's on to part eight.  I really like the birds.  They're so cute.  I didn't stitch a stitch Thursday or Friday.  Friday I was too tired to stitch.  I was just shattered all day long.  But when I tried to nap, my brain said, "No sleeping," so I couldn't.  Thursday, I got my stuff in from the car and did a lot of page protecting.  I had a shopping trip on Wed!
     I called mom Wed afternoon and asked if she minded going to Sam's Wed night.  I needed meat, and theirs is cheaper than at the grocery store.  Since we were there, she wanted to see the kind of ink I wanted her to get in Sept, because that's when I get paid again.  So I took her back to show her, and she was like, let's just buy it now and I"ll put it on my Discover.   Which is okay with me.  More cash back for her, and I get my ink now and not later.  So then we picked up page protectors too (another four hundred of them) and I found a great deal on highlighters.  I couldn't find mine anywhere (I looked all over the desk, but I didn't think to look where I usually put it away.  DUH!!!), so I got a twenty four pack of Sharpie highlighters for eight eighty eight!!!  I was excited at that deal!!  So I have now got highlighters in yellow, pink, purple, blue, green, and orange.  I'm set for a while.  Of course, when I went to put the one of each color highlighters away, I found my old yellow one.  Right where it was supposed to be, lol.  No wonder I didn't find it on my desk, it was put away!!!  So Thursday night and part of Friday, I put charts in page protectors.  I only have a couple of my nineteen to go now.  Then I'll get the ink out and finish printing.  I need to do Sloth, and Water, and maybe one other.  Then I'll be done for quite a while.  Till Halloween or Thanksgiving, whenever the next sale is.
     Anyways, I'm off to make dinner.  Geez, it's ten thirty nine at night, and I'm just now getting around to dinner.  Sure hope the spaghetti is worth it!!!