A long overdue update (long, lol)

     I had a really good week with Rosa and I was sad to see her go.  We had some trouble though, and that made it easier to say goodbye...  I guess I should start at the beginning, lol.  I haven't posted for a while as I wanted to spend all the time with her that I could.  I told her at the beginning of the week that she was here to relax, and not lift a finger.  So she didn't.  I cooked and cleaned up and helped her out as much as I could.  She's taken some real blows lately, and lost people she loves.  She's had a lot of days lately where she just doesn't wanna get out of bed.  So I told her to come up for a week and see if that made her feel better.  I was hoping she would stay longer, but she thinks her mom needs her, so she left this morning.  We had a lot of fun and quite a few tears as well.  There's nothing like talking to a good friend about what's going on inside you.
     I'm really hoping it helped her to get away for a while and be with someone who really loves her.  She lives with her parents and brother, but she really needed to get away for a bit.  She got here last week on Saturday night, and stayed with me for the week.  I was hoping she could at least stay till Monday as Sunday is Father's Day and it's my first one without my dad.  I already know it's gonna be ugly here.  Shoot, I'm already emotional about it!!
     As for trouble, it was all Yes Dear's fault.  She figured out on Monday night that Rosa's dog was a sentient being in her territory.  And the hissing and spitting started.  The slapping was close behind.  She must have tried to slap him ten times.  And of course, since he's two pounds and she's six, he was scared of her.  He ran every time she hissed at him, which probably saved his butt from getting scratched!!  So then, when I was sleeping or bathing, I had to lock her in with me.  And she cried and complained and whined...  Ugh!!
     A lot of stitching got done while she was here though.  We went to Hobby Lobby and she bought floss and I bought a whole honking bag of floss (I needed it to kit up Impossible Love, Country Bloomers, and Cattitude (most of Cattitude's flosses are GAST, but it calls for a few skeins of DMC) and I also got a few just cause they were pretty!!).  I also got two more Q snaps.  I got one more six by six and an eleven by eleven.  Then she sat and went through all my charts (hers are packed away in storage cause I guess she doesn't have room for them at her mom's.  Which is okay cause they never let her sit and stitch.  It's always do this, do that, etc.)  She found an angel book that she really liked, so I told her to take it home with her.  She's also taking home a Christmas Ornie book.  She finished up one ornie while we were watching The Book of Eli (which I didn't like, I wanted something really bad to happen to one of the chars, and it didn't).  It was a little stocking that said Joy.  And she also finished a bookmark while she was here.  She did it all in variegated flosses, and it turned out great!!  I told her she needed to take a pic and put it on her blog!  I worked on Rosa and Cattitude (I promised her I'd do Rosa for her, and that I'd start it while she was here.  BTW, Rosa will now be referred to as Bad Rosa or BR) and didn't get a lot of progress on either.  I had to keep frogging Rosa.  Mostly because I can't count!!!!!!!!!!  My frustration was at an all time high with this piece.  Pic can be found here.  I did the same thing twice (and OMG, I REALLY can't count!!!!) and frogged it twice.  I finally decided to do it a different way.  This is what had to be frogged twice.  Cattitude played nice, for the most part.  I do have one small problem with it though.  I picked up all the GAST needed for it at one ninety a skein.  There is a color in this chart that I picked up a full skein and used enough floss for eleven stitches.  That's it.  I was a bit peeved when I figured that out.  Hopefully, I will find something to use the rest of it on!!
     Julie came down for a day on Monday.  She got here shortly after one and sat directly in my chair.  She only did it cause I told her NOT to sit in my chair.  She's ornery that way, lol.  We had a good day.  We ordered in pizza (yum!!) and sat and stitched and chatted up a storm.  It was sooooooo much fun.  Rosa said something Julie and I both thought was blogworthy, but now none of us can remember it, lol.  (I guess it wasn't as blogworthy as we thought, lol.)  It's always good to see Julie, and I'm glad she came down. 
     At the end of the day Monday, David said he'd come over and fix the sofa bed so Rosa could sleep on it.  It was fastened to the bottom of the couch by straps that looked a lot like seatbelts.  They were stapled to the sides.  He ripped them off, stood up and turned around and saw Rosa's dog.  (She has the smallest dog I've ever seen.  His name is Chewey and he weighs two pounds.)  He said, "What the f is that?!?"  It was hilarious!!!  Rosa, of course, said, "That's my dog."  He petted Chewey and then headed out with his sixty some pound Boxer, lol.  It was great!
     A couple of other things.  I have some progress on Jesus, but I may be frogging again on  him soon.  I can't figure out where I went wrong, but his face is all screwy.  I can't figure out which color is which, so I can't figure out what's done and what's not!!  Anyways, he's here.  And I have an update on Cattitude.  I finally got her face done, so she's starting to look like what she is.  You can see her here.
     And finally, I have an announcement to make.  I said something a few weeks ago (either on my blog or in an email, I can't remember) that I would have a major announcement soon.  Now is the time!!!  Recently, my friend Vicki was contacted by Nordic Needle, one of the premier outlets for hardanger.  They are now carrying six of her designs.  Grats Vicki!!!  You can see them here.  (You'll have to go halfway down the page to see them as they were just added and don't have a page for IGD yet.)  I really hope they sell beautifully!  Vicki has such a flair for designing!!  (I have three of the six.  Rosa, Marguerite, and Aurora.  Guess I have good taste!!!)
     And that is it for me.  I'm off to bed.  Nighty Night!!!!