I haven't blogged in forever, and I'm sorry about that. It's just that I've been so darned busy. It's crazy!!! Getting ready for school, and then going to school, have been hectic. I'm sorry it's been so long, and I'll try and do better. School is going. It's going both well and poorly at the same time, in different areas. The academics are going well. I'm a quick reader, and I learn at a pretty good rate. They physical stuff is killing me though. It's a heck of a walk from my first class to my second, and I'm not used to ANY physical activity. It's killer. It's about a three block walk, and I have ten minutes to do it. I have to stop two or three times to get my asthma under control. Using my inhaler that much makes me shake, all over. By the time I get to class, I'm shaking like a leaf. The best thing I can say about my notes is that they're legible. That's it. Well, mostly legible. There are short lines in strange places, but that's okay. I'm enjoying getting out of the house. I met a couple of very nice girls in chorus today. They's all so young, though, lol. It makes me feel ancient at forty!!! They're nice enough to me, so that's good. It doesn't seem to be too cliquey. I'm happy about that. The Choruses are VERY social. We have an event coming up on the fourteenth and fifteenth of September already. It's a mini retreat. We'll be away overnight (yes, both the men's and women's choruses). I'm hoping it goes well. It's not far away, in IN somewhere. It will be our first actual event, so I'm excited about it. I haven't met any of the men yet, but we will then. The president of the Choruses has already sent out a welcome email, which I thought was nice of him. Chorus was, um, repetitive today. He was matching like voice tones, and that's always boring. I don't think I've heard the words Row, Row, Row your boat so much in all my life. But we're all matched, and they'll have a seating chart for us soon. It's a great class, and I'm so glad I found it (many years ago) through a friend.
And my Computer Applications class is going to be fun too. It's a lot of Microsoft office work, and goes through how to use the various programs in the suite. So far, we're learning the components of the computer. What does the processor look like, what does the RAM look like, etc. It interests me, and (truthfully) makes me want to pull my computer apart to have a look inside to see if I recognize everything. My professor for that class is such a nice man. I've been late to both classes, and I told him after the first one about my asthma and the problems I was having. His first response was to tell me not to overtax myself, and that he didn't mind if I was late everyday. So far, it's been ugly. Twenty minutes or so late both times. This time, I was only so late cause I was gonna take the shuttle. But it was late (really late), so I walked it. And of course, I started late, so that sucked. I hate having asthma. I really do. It limits so much of what I can do. Grrrr... But I will persevere. Hopefully, as I go, I'll get more used to the walk. That would help me immensely. So far, homework for this class hasn't been too bad, so I'm pleased about that. And his lectures are easy to follow. He does, however, take attendance by asking you a question, and it seems that he likes to put people on the spot. I got mine wrong today, so I'll have to work on that!!
And lastly, and least, imo, is my Intro to or Fundamentals of Information Technology class. It's called one thing on blackboard, and another on the schedule. It's a new class, so I guess they don't know the name of it, lol. So far, it's a repeat of my Computer Apps class. We're learning the components and limitations of the computer. The teacher is... He works full time elsewhere, and teaches at night. He told us he'll lecture for an hour to an hour and a half, and then we can go. I was a little bit ticked off by that. It's supposed to be a three hour class. So I don't know why he doesn't fill up the time. And I can understand if he wants to stop lecturing twenty minutes early on Tuesday for questions or comments. That I would be okay with. He said he'll stay after the lecture in case someone needs help or wants to use the room as a computer lab. Honestly, I feel like he's not doing as much as he should. The class started at six (well, actually, five after or ten after) and it's once a week, scheduled for six to eight fifty. He let us go at SEVEN!!!! Went over the syllabus and showed a short presentation on the web that someone else made up. That was it. So we'll see if he's more intense as we really get into it.
I'm off tomorrow. I'm hoping to get some recovery time for my lungs, cause my chest is hurting from the asthma. I walked way out of my way on the first day, cause someone told me the way was blocked by some construction. Then I found out (after class) that it wasn't. I don't think she was trying to mess me up, I think she was trying to be helpful. And then today, I parked in the garage for the first time, and walked all the way around the wrong way cause I wasn't sure where the entrances were. Nicely, the end of the garage is right near where my last class lets out. So I'll park at that end, take the shuttle up for Chorus, and then walk back down for Computer Apps. I'll be tired by the time I finish, so I can make the short walk back to the car. That will help, cause I feel dead tired by the time I get home. My legs were shaking from the effort of walking around the first day. It's not a huge campus, but big for an asthmatic couch potato. Hopefully, the muscles will get used to it quickly. I'm hoping anyways.
And now, on to the stitching. I know that's what you all are waiting for. And dogsitting too. I told you all I had emergency dog sitting weekend before the last. And this time, I remembered to take my camera with me! Whoo hoo!!! No pics of the house per se, as my brother would be ticked at me if I showed off his house. But I have pics of the dog and cats. I also have a video of Reese hissing at me, lol. She's such a brat. I did pet her while she was eating the first day, Friday. Well, until she started growling while eating. Then I stopped. It seemed like a good idea, before she turned around and bit me, lol. They were all good. The dog was pretty good about taking his pills, so I was happy about that. I worked on Country Bloomers and got a pretty good bit done, so that was good. First though, I'm moving my pics to Photobucket. So I uploaded the pics there. If you want to see the dog and a few shots of a gorgeous sky, go here. If you want to see the pics of the cats, and the video of Reese hissing at me, go here. The first "pic" of Reese and Butters is the video. You'll see there's a play button on it. It's very short. Like ten seconds or so. So it won't take you forever to watch. Reese, you'll see, looks a lot like my Yes Dear. Pretty cats, both of them. Butters is a bit of a chunk though. Hope you enjoy the photos.
And now, piccys of my stitchy stuff. And there're a lot of them, so let me get to it. I didn't work on Noah's Sub last week. I was too busy Thursday to even pick it up. So Rosa's now even closer to me than she was. She and her boyfriend are going through a rough patch too, so if anyone could say prayers, that would be awesome and much appreciated. So first up is going to be Country Bloomers (Jeremiah Junction). 
I finished up the parts that I wanted to, namely the pots underneath the bloomers and the letters underneath the pots. I was quite happy about that. Then I started on the next pair of bloomers. They're solid, so I finally got to do some one line after another stitching! It went fast, but so did the day. I didn't get as much done as I had wished to (do I ever???), but I'm happy with it, so nbd. 
I really like the shade of blue I'm using too. It's a lovely color. The outside edges, as you can see in the second pic, are darker blue, but the inside is almost a sky blue. It's easy to do too, as there is very little variation in the colors. I think the outside is all dark blue, and the inside is all light blue. So that makes it go by faster too. Hopefully, the next time I get it out, I can manage to finish this pair of bloomers. We'll see!! (Maybe it's a pipe dream. We'll see how much homework I have then, lol.)
I also worked on Beach Romance (Janlynn) over that weekend and the next. 
I had hoped to finish up the fill it in by this past weekend, but I didn't make it. It's close to done, I only need to do another fifty or sixty stitches or so, but it'll have to wait till next weekend. I like the way her dress is looking. At first, I didn't cause of the tans in it. I can see the violet for shadows, but not tan. I guess it reflects the sand, a little bit. I'm not sure. But now that it's mostly in, I like the colors. It does look all right, so that's good. I haven't shown it to Amy in a while, so I need to do that soon. She'll be happy with it, I think. As soon as I finish off those little fill in spaces, I'm moving the Q-snap over, and starting work on his feet and legs and the surrounding sand.
Next up is Rosa (India Grace Designs). 
It came along very well during this rotation. I did have to do a little bit of frogging, but not too much. I had to frog out one side of the square of Star Stitches and a few times I had to pull out the trellis. I did meet my goal on it. I wanted to do all the Star Stitches, and complete the trellis. I got a LOT done in court on that Monday (I had to testify against the woman who left her baby alone by the street). I didn't have to testify, I just talked to the prosecutors for a few minutes. I hope she's learned her lesson, but who knows.
And then there's Time To Go (Witch Stitch'n'Bits) for Freak. 
I usually do really well on it, but this time I didn't do as well as usual. I don't know why, I just didn't. It is coming along though. I worked on it out on the balcony with Yes Dear, and really enjoyed it. It's so nice out there in the late evenings. Cool and breezy, and really nice. Of course, there are lots of moths out there, so Yes Dear enjoys it too. It's peaceful, away from the street and the noise and stuff. You can hear the crickets, and see the flickering lights of the torches... I love it out there.
I haven't got a piccy of the globe this week, although I did work on it a very little bit. I may have put fifty stitches in it, so it's not a big change. Today was Wednesday, and I did take it to school with me. I worked on it before Chorus started. I'll take Fred on Friday, and work on him both before Chorus and after. On Friday he's separating the altos, so he'll let the sopranos go early, like the altos left early today. It'll be nice to be in my seat at Computer Apps before it starts. I'm so worried I'm gonna miss something. Luckily, the teacher posts everything he does to Blackboard, a part of the university website, so I can go check what I may have missed. That'll be nice!!
I'm sure I've missed a couple of things. Like HAED appreciation days. I can't remember who started it, but in order to help Michele and Bob out, HAED appreciation days are on the tenth of September through the fourteenth. You're encouraged to buy a chart to keep the company up and running strongly. With their recent copyright problems, they've lost a lot of money, and it's hurting them. If it keeps going the way it is, they'll be out of business. And then where will I get charts from? So support HAED if you can. I'm sure they'll be grateful. I probably won't buy any new charts as I have a layaway to pay off and another to make a payment on. But we'll see... Hopefully, it will help. I can't imagine HAED going out of business!! I'd be sooooooooo freaking ticked off...
Once again, thanks for listening to my ramblings. I did pay off a LARGE layaway last week, but I haven't got the energy to post all those pics tonight. If you want to look them up, I got all the birthstone fairies by Rachel Anderson. And one other chart that I can't remember the name of. I'll post the pics next time. And hopefully, it won't be as long. Thanks to all my followers. I appreciate you all, especially when you leave me a comment. I won't be commenting as much, but I'm gonna try and get caught up with email soon, so I'm not a couple of days behind!! Hope you're all having a super night!!!
It's coming along nicely. I'm enjoying it, too. At first, I thought it was gonna take Jesus's place in more ways than just the day, but I like it. Now that I know what to watch out for (with the holes not always being holes), it's working out well. I got lots of fill in done this week. My plan is to have the whole left half of this page done before I move my Q-snap over and work on his feet. I really want to start his feet now, but I keep telling myself I have to do the fill in first. The fill in is the only thing I'm not fond of. And there is still quite a bit to do, as fill in is slow with lots of color changes. But it's coming along well. I'm hoping to finish up everything but the flowers's French Knots in two more sessions. I don't think that's too much. Then I'll start his feet. I want to leave the flowers for last, so I'm not putting pressure on them FK from the Q-snap being moved around. I'll do them last, then take it to the framers.
I got a TON done on this this week. I was out on the balcony forever!!! Must have been five hours or so. I put in about five to six hundred stitches. It's really coming along. As you can see, I'm working away from the first candle now. I feel like I've accomplished something, but I'm on page two of fifty six, lol. Ah, well, I'd like to have that feeling of accomplishment, so I'll take it. Yes Dear sat on my knee and watched the world go by. The other day, we were sitting out there, and I heard a hawk cry, close by. So I started looking, and it was in the tree behind my house. It was about the size of a chicken, but sleeker. Very pretty bird. I got up to go in the house and get the camera, and it flew away. It was a very pretty bird though. And I've been keeping an eye out for it, so if it returns, I can take a pic, but it hasn't come back. It was such a pretty bird, and I would love to have a piccy, but alas, no such luck. I'll keep my eyes out though!!!
I didn't do too badly on this this week either. Rosa called me Thursday evening, and said, "Did you know the Bengals are about to be on?" And of course, I was all, "Ooooooooooooh, football!!!!" So I turned on the TV and then argued with it for over half of the game. It didn't want to get the channel right. It kept pixilating, and signal was iffy. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. Then, finally, I found the directions. It said if you were having trouble getting a channel, to turn the amplifier off. Didn't make sense, but I did it. And that worked for a while. Then I had to put it up higher in the air, to catch the channel right. I finally got it fixed in, get this, the fourth quarter!!!! I was ticked. But at least I'll know for next time. I finished off the band I was working on, finished the next color on the Orca, and then started another band. (Of course, it took me forever to get started. I kept looking at the chart, and then at the project, trying to figure out where I left off. Finally, I figured out I had the chart upside down!!!!! Such a dork, lol.)
Considering how hot I was to start this, I'm not doing well on it at all. I only got about two hundred stitches on it last week. It's just not calling to me. I did some, but I had a bad day Saturday, and Friday night. If you remember, I was so excited about the football game, I didn't sleep on Friday night at all. So I didn't want to stitch because A.) I sweat when I'm overtired, and boy was I overtired, and B.) I always end up having to frog things when I'm overtired. So I hardly got anything done on it. Also, I was soooooo entranced with the football game that I didn't pay any attention to my stitching during the first half. I worked on it during commercials, and that's it. So I didn't get nearly as much done as I wanted to. I love the colors in it too, but it just wasn't calling me. If this keeps up, maybe I'll replace it. After all, if it's not screaming at me, I won't work on it much. And I want to make better progress. We'll see what happens next time.
It's still moving fast. I did almost the whole jug on Monday. And some grass too. It's looking great. I didn't like working with the yellow (UGH) but I did it. I'm hoping to make lots and lots of progress on it over the weekend. It's such an easy project to do, I really feel like it moves ultra quick. It also makes me feel productive, which I really like. Next I'm gonna do the container for the blue flowers. Then I'll work on the lettering below, I think. Or maybe I'll move further right and do the next pair of bloomers. Who knows, lol. I'll decide when I get there!!!
I love them all, but the dragon ones especially. Both are my style of dragon (fierce). The little one though, he makes me want to hug his little body, lol. He's so cute!! I love it!!
I finished up the first row of ten by tens I was working on, then started the next two. They're coming along well. I was very happy with my progress on this one. I think she's gorgeous. I love the artwork (I'm a HUGE Nene Thomas fan), and it's coming along nicely. Hopefully, I'll get as much done on her the next time I have her out.
She's coming along well too. When I created my goal, I wasn't aware of how many stitches there were to do. I was thinking it was the large print chart. It's not. It was a gift from a friend, and she got me the regular chart. So I had more to do than I thought I did. I still made goal though, and then some. (And I'm very proud of that, lol.) I would have really gotten a lot more done if it HAD been the large print chart. But I'm happy with what I accomplished, and that's all that matters.
I didn't do nearly so well with this one. I wanted to get a lot done, but I had trouble with it. I'm working on 28 count as waste cloth. (My mom basted the 28 count onto the dish towels I'm doing it on, and then I'm gonna pull the strands of twenty eight count out from under the crosses when I'm done. Yes, I'm sure it will be a pita to pull out all those little threads. But I'm game.) It's hard because I can't see where my needle is. I push it up three or four times to try and get it in the right place. It's really annoying, and really slooooooooooowwwwwwww.......... So I hardly got anything done on it. I put in about two to three hundred stitches :( Still, progress is progress, so that's a good thing.
I did well on it, too. I did have some frogging to do though. I put one of the patches of ultra light blue in his wing in the wrong place. And yes, I DID know better when I did it. I'm a big, fat dork that way. So I put in parts of the wing that should have merged nicely, and they didn't. So I pulled out the part that was in the wrong place, and started on pulling out the previous work that was in the wrong place. I loved putting in the part that I was putting in though. It cut the X in half, and half of the stitch (one quarter stitch like this \ at the left, one quarter stitch like this / at the right, and that's the top half of the X) is in one color and the other half is another color. It gives you a jagged line (\/\/\/\/\/)) and looks really cool. Heck, some of them are done with all four corners a different color. Makes me glad I'm working over two on 32 count, and not over one on sixteen!!!
I'm doing well on this one. I haven't had to frog it in forever, yay. (Now I'll have to do some sort of major frogging. I've jinxed myself, lol.) I've gotten the stems of the flowers done, and I've also gotten more done on her dress and the sand beneath her feet. I'm mostly doing fill in now, until I get the little holes all filled in. Then I'll move my Q-snap over to the right more and work on the man's feet and legs. And of course, more water and sand!! I can't wait to do the flowers. They're gonna be so pretty!!! I love the color I've picked for them. It's gorgeous. (And expensive. It's a Silk'n'Colors skein. I bought it for myself on my birthday last year at the LNS.)
I've been doing REALLY well on this one. I've gotten a ton done in the last few weeks. I'm doing two rows of ten by tens at a time, and it's moving right along. I've been getting in a good four or five hundred stitches (are you ready for this) per DAY. Per day, wow. It's coming along so quickly. I'll be finished with page two before you know it!!! I knew I didn't have a current photo of it, but I apparently didn't post one last week either. So this is my progress as of two weeks ago. I've gotten lots more than this done!!! I finished that row of ten by tens, and did about 350 stitches in each of the next two rows of ten by tens. Going fast!! Except when I have to stop to grid it. Ugh!!
It's the quilt centerpiece. I'm doing all the water, and Julie is gonna fill in the continents when I'm finished. As you can somewhat see, it's the globe. Yes, it does look funny. It's upside down. I've been working on it that way, and when I took the piccy, I didn't even think to turn it right side up. The land mass you can see to the left is Africa, and the one to the right is South America. At the very bottom, the blue stops, and that's where Europe will go. I like to work from the top down, and since Cyn had worked from the bottom up, I turned it upside down so I could work from top to bottom. It's moving along quickly too. It's easy to do, since there are no color changes. And the rows are long, and very rarely broken up. That makes it go faster. I don't mind the monotony at all. I'm guessing it's because I'm slightly obsessive, lol.
He's really moving along. The sky works up fast since it's all half stitches. And the Orca is coming along too. The only color I still need to do on him is the black. The rest of the shades in him are darker blues. The 939 looks black in this photo, but I'm sure that when I get the black in, it will look like dark blue. I'm working a band of the sky, then doing a color on the Orca. When I finish him, I'll be doing a color on the Zebra. He's cute too, but he's barely in the first page. Only a little bit of his face shows. His neck, and the rest of his body, are in page two. I'm still gonna stop at the end of the page and let Rosa catch up to me. She stitched some yesterday, so that's good. She'll catch up eventually!!