Jesus is toast

     I worked some on Jesus today, as I worked for so long on Bubbles yesterday.  I've decided he's toast.  The fabby is still irritating me, and now I have frogging problems again.  His face is just a mess.  I'll do his face first this next time, so it's not messed up.  I'm off by one row both horizontally and vertically.  (Vicki said, "Sounds slightly Picasso!!")  IDK how he got so messed up, but he's done.  Totally FUBAR.  I just ordered a new piece of fabby from Picture This Plus (Chalice, how appropriate is that, lol) and really, she's worth it, and the fabby can't possibly be any worse, right?!?  I got lugana, which I really like and it should be here in a few days.  It's a little bit bigger than the other piece, but hey, as long as it's not smaller, it doesn't matter.  I'm thinking I'll have my brother throw Jesus in the fire pit.  You're supposed to burn holy things when you replace them, so it seems appropriate.  It's not blessed or anything, but it IS Jesus.  I just can't make myself throw him in the trash.  So it's all good.  You can see a pic here of what he looks like before being burned in effigy.  Wish me luck with the replacement fabby, and here's hoping for Christmas!!!

Some stuff (long, again)

     Firefox crashed tonight.  I wrote my blog entry before I left for dinner, and lost the whole darned thing.  Grrrr...  What a pain.  I hope I remember everything I wanted to say, lol.
     Okay, I'll start with dinner.  I had dinner with my mom tonight.  We went to Red Lobster, one of my favorite places in the world to go.  She called me up, oh, maybe Thursday.  She was like, "Beth (my cousin who lives with her) is going to Jeannie's (Beth's sister's house in Tenn) for the weekend.  I have to work Friday night and Saturday night.  Would you like to go out for dinner on Sunday?"  Of course, I said yes.  That means neither of us has to cook or clean up.  Yippee!!!  So we went.  We split an appetizer.  She got maple glazed salmon and shrimp and I got the seaside shrimp trio.  It was all good.  Except the first mushroom I ate.  Their stuffed mushrooms are great, don't get me wrong.  But they must have just come out of the oven.  It burned the roof of my mouth and made my eyes water!!!  I saved the rest of them till later.  Ouch!  We had mozzarella sticks and fried calamari and veggies too.  Really good.  Mom didn't like the stuffed mushrooms, so I got to eat most of them.  I thought they were very good.  And she didn't like the calamari rings.  Too chewy.  And the waitress and I looked at each other like, "Um, they're supposed to be chewy.  That's how fried squid is!!!"  The waitress offered to replace it with something else, but mom was like no.  She barely finished her dinner, lol.  I think I ate seven biscuits.  Or maybe it was five.  IDK, but they're sooooo good.  I could live on Cheddar Bay Biscuits!  Then we went back to mom's house and talked and stitched for a bit.  She fixed a few small things, then we went into the living room and she sort of read the paper while I stitched.  It's Sunday, and SAL day, but...  The SAL I'm working on is a surprise for my mom.  She looked at the pattern and liked it, so I let her pick out the fabby.  (That's how I got horrible, scratchy, brown fabby) and I started it.  It's driven my crazy from the get go.  Anyways, I couldn't very well work on it in front of her.  I want her to think I've forgotten about it and will never finish it.  When she goes to San Francisco in ten days, I'm gonna go over and water her plants.  So I'm gonna "steal" the frame for Jesus (yes, she already picked it out too) and bring it to my house.  It's going in the back of the magic closet until Jesus is done, and then I'll get it framed for her for Christmas.  But this week is Bubbles.  I've really gotten a huge amount of stitches done, even though it doesn't look like much.
     I started putting together projects on Wednesday (I think) and got most of them out and sorted into piles.  Then Thursday I put them all into the project bags.  I was missing the floss to Astral Lion and Shore Patrol when I got finished.  It was the only thing missing in my eighteen project rotation.  I even have the first Bubbles I started (one over one on twenty eight count) which I'm eventually gonna frog and reuse that piece of fabby.  I got all the bags properly filled and they're lining my living room.  I'm not quite ready to put them away yet, as I like looking at them all for now.  I was getting ready to email Dimensions over the lost floss (I didn't know if they could do anything for me as the chart is OOP, but I thought I'd try and see what happened) when I suddenly thought, "I didn't take apart the organizer in the magic closet," lol.  So I went and looked.  Sure enough, the floss was there, under a box.  Why I put a box on top of it, I'll never know.  Because I"m crazy, lol.  I was really happy to see it though, as I'm about out of floss bags.
     So, I showed my teeny tiny stitches to mom, and she made the funniest face.  Sort of a serious look and a frown combined.  It was hilarious.  I put in about three hundred stitches at her house tonight.  I showed her what I have so far (twelve hundred stitches) and her jaw just dropped.  It's not a very big area, but as I'm working on 28 count, the stitches are really tiny.  I feel like my skill has impressed her (and I don't feel as though I impress her very much) so I was happy about that.  I'm trying to decide if I want to switch this upcoming Sunday and have Bubbles be short several days or wait until next Sunday and have Bubbles be over by a few days.  I'm leaning towards over, but we'll see.
     I have an engagement tomorrow.  An old school friend of mine called today.  (They're rare.  I only had two friends, and I've lost touch with them after school.  To say I was shocked to hear from her is an understatement of gigantic proportions.)  She invited me over for a bit in the afternoon.  It was nice to catch up with her.  She has two kids, a nice guy, and a mortgage so she's got her fair share of stress.  It helps that she's a stay at home mom, so she doesn't have job stress.  I'll be taking Bubbles with me to impress her too, lol.  She has cross stitched, although she isn't nearly as rabid about it as I am.  (Yes, folks, I AM rabid.)  I'm hoping it turns out okay and we still have a lot to talk about.
     While I was on the phone with Barb today, I was also taking pics.  I talked to my insurance agent the other day.  I found out my friend Dawn has fine arts riders on her finished pieces, and wondered if that was something my agent would recommend.  He did not, simply because of the nature of the beast.  My cross stitch is all about the journey, not so much about the finished product.  It's not like I can go out and buy another one.  I'd have to MAKE another one.  He said as long as my stitching pieces are covered (materials wise) in my policy, I'm good.  After talking to him, I decided to update my stash folder.  I kept the pics on Multiply as a way to prove what I had.  So I looked, and half of my stash was listed, and half was not.  There are things listed that I don't have anymore, and there are things listed that are in progress.  So I decided to start over.  I deleted the whole album and have started refilling it.  I pulled out all my kits and charts today and took a pic of each one while I was on the phone.  It's been a pain uploading them though.  It takes about forty minutes for twenty photos to upload, which to my mind is really sloooooooooowwwww...  So I may be doing them in smaller batches tomorrow to see if that is faster.
     I'm really happy to have my rotation up and running.  It's very exciting for me.  Unfortunately, I've been spending more time stitching, and less time computering.  I'm behind on blogs and on emails.  This is not a good thing.  My email program is messing with me.  IDK what it's problem is, but it refuses to delete anything or move anything out of my inbox.  I've tried clicking delete, I've tried right clicking and choosing delete, and I've tried right clicking and choosing move to folder ~ deleted items.  Nothing works.  So I emailed Incredimail and we'll see if they can fix it.  Hopefully, they can.  And fast.  I'll be doing emails via webmail, which I really don't like.
     Lastly, I'll have a pic of Bubbles uploaded soon.  I got about three hundred stitches into it today, and about the same yesterday.  The day before, I got in two hundred stitches and an hour and a half of gridding.  It's coming along really quickly, and I just love it.  I'm working in tent stitch (when I remember, which is rare) and half stitch (when I don't remember).  This makes it work up even faster.  I'm sure I'll finish page one if I keep up the pace and go until next Sunday.  I promise I'll take a pic soon, even though there's not much to see yet.  Lots of purple and blue background!!
     I can't sleep, so I decided to rewrite my blog entry while I wait for my sleeping pill to kick in.  Hope y'all are sleeping like babies tonight!

A finish

     I finished up my Cattitude last night, but couldn't take a picture because my camera batteries died.  So I took one last night, and uploaded it today.  It's so cute!!  I had a little problem with the one corner, and had to frog (about five times) but I finally got it worked out.  You can see the pic here.
     I got all my projects bagged up as I got my project bags a couple of days ago.  I'm missing the floss for Dimensions's Astral Lion and for Shore Patrol.  Shore Patrol will be no problem to replace as they give DMC numbers.  AL will be a problem.  Dimensions uses their own floss, so I'll need to find a conversion, and hope they match well enough.  Wish me luck!
     I hope you're all having a good day!!

IHSW

     It's a bit late, but it was International Hermit and Stitch Weekend this past weekend.  I got a lot done on Cattitude.  It's almost finished.  I'll have a pic probably tomorrow.  There's really not much left.  I didn't stitch much Sunday (slept most of the day and cried the rest of it) as it was the first Father's Day without dad.  It was not pretty, but I made it through and another first is behind me.
     Yesterday, I got quite a bit done on Cattitude too.  I spend an hour or two sitting at the hospital.  Mom called me about one fifteen to tell me she was ambulanced to the hospital from work as she had a very scary dizzy spell.  The docs ran some basic tests, and couldn't find anything.  They said it was just an episode of vertigo and she would be okay.  (No cause was determined.)  They did give her a prescription for an anti vertigo med, but she hasn't filled it yet.  I made her promise that when she goes in to Sam's to work tomorrow, she'll get it filled.  I don't think she'll break her promise.  She doesn't think she needs it.  I keep pointing out that if she has another attack, she needs to have them on hand so she can take one.  She can't very well drive to the pharmacy with an attack of vertigo. 
     Then, today, she and I went out to get her hair cut.  She was afraid to go alone (and hasn't filled the prescription yet) so she asked me to go with her.  Ugh!!  All the way out (her appt was at eleven fifteen, way too early for me) I was sooooooo tired.  While she went in, I took a nap in the car (bad for me to sleep without my machine, but I had to do it as I couldn't stay awake) until she was done.  She HAD to get her hair done as she is going to San Fransisco in a couple of weeks (a gift from some family members as she's always wanted to go).  They're going for four days, and she has a list of sites to see, lol.  She has several guides to San Fran (given to her for her birthday) and so has decided based on them what to see.
     I got my project bags yesterday, got everything sorted out and piled up and realized...  I can't find Queen of Peace.  I think it may be hidden in the magic closet somewhere, but there's so much stuff in it, it will be a real job to search through all of it and find it!!  (At first, I couldn't find Bubbles either, but then I thought to look in the drawers in the bedroom and viola!  There it was.)  I need to find the floss for Shore Patrol and Astral Lion (AL could be a real PITA if I don't find it as it's a Dimensions kit and they use their own floss.)  My living room is a disaster though.  I'm getting ready to redo my stash album here.  I have about half of my stash in it.  For insurance purposes, I need to go through and get pics of what I have,  just in case.  So, to that end, I unpacked all my kits and they're on the floor.  It's a real mess!!
     That's about all that's going on here.  I've been stitching a lot (getting close to a finish fever) so I'm behind on blogs and emails.  Off to try and catch up now.  Later, y'all!!

A giveaway

And a really good one at that.  Bev has started a new blog and is giving away an HAED chart, fifteen dollar gift card to so and sew, or a donation to your fave charity.  Please stop by her blog and enter!!  It's here. 

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!!!!

A finish and progres on a new piece

     I finished the Meerkat ~ Mere Cat piece earlier today.  And I got a lot done on Cattitude.  I'm hoping all my supplies get here before I finish Cattitude, lol.  Anyways, photos of meerkat here, and photo of Cattitude here.  If you want to see what Cattitude will look like, you can go here.  I'm so pleased with how the meerkat came out.  It was a difficult stitch what with all the brown (UGH!!!) and fractionals.  I really enjoyed the kitten part.  LOL, the meerkat took me weeks to complete, and the kitten took three days!!!  I'm really enjoying Cattitude too.  It's been a quick stitch so far.  I put in about fifty or so stitches on the border of the meerkat to finish it up, and lo and behold, I'm already at least a hundred stitches into Cattitude today.  Probably cause I have company.
     A friend of mine has come to stay for a week.  She brought with her the teeniest dog I've ever seen.  He's two pounds, and smaller than YD is, lol.  She hasn't decided what to do with him yet.  At first, she stalked him, but now she just looks at him with her head cocked to the side, lol.  It's so funny.  I'll try to get a pic of them together, but I don't know if I can.  He's scared of her, she's scared of him...  It's gonna be an interesting week.
     Tomorrow we're gonna go to Hobby Lobby and pick out the frame for Meerkat ~ Mere Cat and get floss.  I'm glad she's gonna be with me as I can have her read color numbers and I'll get them and put them in the basket.  Yay, less work for me.  Or maybe just easier work for me, lol.  Then maybe a trip to the grocery store.  After that, who knows.  I think we're just gonna hang and talk and stitch and laugh at the dog and cat!!!  Boring, but she's a bit fragile and I'm having a rough time now too.  Football season will be here soon, and so I'm really missing my dad.  He was the only local friend I had who likes football.  He and I talked after every game.  We talked draft picks, and signings and training camp.  So I've been missing that outlet quite a bit.
     We'll see if I get behind on my emails and blogs while she's here, lol.  I'll probably spend a lot of time stitching and chatting (and very little time reading) so I'll have a struggle to keep up.  But if I get a little behind, I guess it's no big deal.  It's only a week after all!!!  I hope you're all having a good night!!  Hopefully, I'll blog again soon with lots more progress!!

We had company

     We had company tonight.  David and Vin came over.  He was gonna leave the poor dog in the truck for a few minutes so I put YD in the bedroom and had him bring Vin in.  He sniffed everything, and slobbered everywhere.  Typical Vin, lol.  Of course, YD freaked out when she got back out here and smelled him.  He wanted to give me some advice on where to hang stuff, and how to hang it.  I have to go up to the hardware store and get a masonry bit for my drill.  (If the extension cord is long enough, that is.)  No big deal.
     I got out and deadheaded the Petunias (a big job) and cut my finger.  I had to keep digging in deep to get the stems to break, and I literally cut a quarter inch deep cut on my finger.  DUH!!!  It didn't seem to hurt that bad though...  Anyways, mom's gonna make me a thimble out of denim to put over it.  Cause I use that finger for stitching!!!
     I took piccys of my house tonight.  It's messy of course (when is my house not messy and cluttered, lol), but you'll get the idea.  My living room is crammed.  It has three bookcases (two small and a large), my couch, coffee table, overstuffed chair, table lamp, cat tree, TV on stand, and two "side tables" made out of tray tables.  Dad bought them for me, so I won't get rid of them.  Oh, and my desk, can't forget that!!  Anyways, you can see the pics here.  I'm not done with the bedroom yet, so I haven't taken pics in there yet.  Will do so when it's finished!!  And now I'm off to get my bath and go to bed.  Y'all hagn!!

Good progress, with many things

     Yesterday was the first SAL day for the Chocoholic Cross Stitchers Holy SAL, and the first time I participated in the 2muchXS UFO SAL.  I'm doing the same piece for both (luckily, as they're on the same day).  It's a Sandy Orton chart called Portrait of Christ.  I hate all the brown in it (I'm making it for my mom) and the fabby is horrible.  It's DMC, and I trusted them because of their floss, so I didn't feel the linen.  It's horribly scratchy.  And it seems like the holes are huge!!  I haven't worked on it in a long while because of this.  BUT...  I got it out yesterday for the SALs as I really need to get it finished before my mom dies!  Low and behold (and I don't know WHY I didn't think of it before this) it was great.  I enjoyed it <gasp> and I attribute it all to Chris.  This is the first time I've worked on Jesus with a Q snap huggie, and it made it so much easier to work on without the scratchiness!!  I was soooooo happy!  Pics are here (before yesterday) and here (at the end of the day).
     And speaking of Chris, she's super fast.  I ordered some more Q snap huggies from her last week, and I already have them.  She made them up the same day (I think it was Wed) and then I had to find the invoice to pay her.  Finally found it Thursday night, and paid her through Paypal.  I got them today.  They're wonderful.  I uploaded photos of everything that came in the package except the business cards, lol.  The back had a cute sticker on it, and I uploaded a pic of that too.  And (bad Chris, BAD) she sent me another chart.  It's a cat, of course (thank God she seems to be done sending me underwear things, lol) and it's a Dimensions kit.  Blends, multicolored chart, the whole nine yards.  It's darling, and of course I want to start it.  But I'm not gonna!!!  Not until a spot opens up in my rotation, which shouldn't take too long.  It's a bunch of cats out fishing (one is even smoking  a cig, lol) and it's called Catch of the Day.  It's been on my Dimensions wishlist for a while.  Thanks Chris, both for the little extra and for being so fast and keeping me informed.  Sorry about the numbers problem!!  (I told her upfront I needed ten Q snap huggies, then ordered eleven.  Then I had to explain to her that I don't count well.  I even said I frog a lot.  I was afraid she would find some froggy fabby and make me a huggy out of that, lol.  I'm sure that would just draw them in!!!!)  Anyways, if you want to see them, pics are here.
     In other news, I've kitted up a new design, and purchased another one.  I think I'm Vicki's best customer, lol.  I was talking to her and she mentioned having to pay shipping to So and Sew for one pack of beads.  So I subsidized her shipping (LOL, sounds official, doesn't it) by purchasing Aurora.  I've loved this ever since I saw it and have been wanting it for a long time.  It will go in Marguerite's space when I finish it.  Or Rosa, whichever comes first.  I'm so excited to pick floss for it.  I have fabby already picked out.  I have (again, from my friend Dawn, who loves her hand dyed fabbies) a fat quarter of 28 count Lugana in Seamist from Heaven Lee Creations (The Blended Needle).  It's gorgeous, and next I need to find floss for it.  I just can't wait.  I love to kit up Vicki's charts as I pick different colors of fabby and floss.  I absolutely love variegated floss, but I can't use it in most of my cross stitch.  So, I use it in Hardanger.  Which just gives Vicki fits as I use six stranded floss instead of Perles, and she says I should use Perles for hardanger.  But Vicki, I LOVE my six stranded flossies!!!!!!  Anyways, if you want to see Aurora, you can go to Vicki's site, here.  And the one I kitted up is called Cattitude.  I saw it on someone's blog and just loved it.  So I'm gonna work on that after I finish the meerkat piece.  I will probably get to it before the rotation starts though, and it will fill the meerkat spot in my rotation as that piece is going fast.  I have gotten a good start on the kitten, and all the bsing is done on the words and the meerkat.  So I'm happy with it.  If you want to see Cattitude, you can go here.
     I've been so busy reading emails and blogs and stitching and reading lately, it's amazing I have time to eat!!!  Unfortunately, I got my webcam working yesterday and now my auto play window doesn't come up for my other camera.  I'm deciding if I want to do a System Restore or just snag pics the old fashioned way!  Drag and drop works, but it's a pain, so we shall see... 
     I think that's about it for me these last few days.  Oh, one more thing, and it's quite funny.  I was speaking to my mom the other day about a hooked rug, and referred to, "my hooker friend Alice..."  My mom was like, "YOU KNOW A PROSTITUTE???????"  I had to laugh at that.  I just assumed she would know when I'm talking about hooking a rug that I mean a rug hooker.  It was cute.  Of course, she knows I'm extremely open minded, and I'm sure she would disapprove of a real hooker friendship, lol.  Hope you're all having a good day today!!!

Almost

     I'm almost done with the cross stitching on the meerkat.  I have about ten crosses to go (or less, I didn't exactly count) and then I'll start the bsing.  Of course, when I finish the crosses, I'll have a piccy!!  He's just as cute as can be.  I have to put his eye and nose in still though.  And a few brown stitches, and a few grey, and I'm all finished.  Then, I should finish the bsing sometime today or tomorrow, and I'll start on the kitten.  I'm thinking he'll be easier cause there aren't so many color changes in him.  Less confetti too.  And less fractionals, which will make him a little bit easier.  I'm not thinking I'll have him till I get to my rotation, but that's all right as I forgot two projects.  One of them is coming in the mail from Ylva.  When she finished up her Siamese Cats, she offered me the chart.  So I have that coming.  And I'll have to buy a piece of fabby for it, so I'm gonna put it in the last spot in my rotation.  Then, when Rosa comes up this summer (IDK when it will be, as we haven't finalized plans yet) I told her I would start Rosa for her.  I'm actually doing two Rosas, one for me and one for her.  I'll keep the first one (practicing the new stitches) for me, and give the second one (perfected new stitches) to her.  So they'll go in my rotation in place of the meerkat.  IDK if I'll only work on them two weeks.  If I finish up the bullion knots on mine, but not on hers, I'm not gonna put it aside until I come back to it in the rotation.  I'll finish up the bullion knots on hers, and take some extra time out of the next item's spot.  After that is Impossible Love, which I'll be doing two over one in tent stitch.  It will go really fast, so it won't matter so much if I take a few minutes out of time for it.
     I lost a tooth today, yay!!  I was eating a wrap last night (from Arby's) and it has fresh apples in it.  I must have hit it just wrong, cause I knocked a fragment of tooth that was left from my root canal loose.  I was afraid to just pull it, but when I ate today, I made sure to chew on that side of my mouth.  When I finished eating, it was gone.  I was happy cause I can't afford to go in to the dentist.  Medicare doesn't cover dental, so I would have to pay it out of my monthly disability, and I can't possibly afford that.  It hardly hurt at all, which I'm happy about.
     I belong to Doubleday's book club.  You get six books for ten bucks or sixteen or something like that, then have to buy three more at regular price.  But they often have buy one get one free sales.  So, I took advantage.  And then they sent me a similar thing from Colombia House.  I LOVE movies, even though I haven't been watching them much lately.  I blame that on the Gamecube.  I've only got one AV input on the VCR, and none on the TV.  So when I use the DVD player or Gamecube, I have to hook it up through the VCR and put the channel selector on axillary.  So if I'm playing a lot, I don't generally watch movies cause I have to pull the TV out and change around the wires.  It's a pain.  I don't think I've got much left of the game though.  So it shouldn't be long before I watch my new movies.  I picked up Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, The Book of Eli, Salt, and Inception.  I'll be watching them in the next few weeks.  I should have gotten The Deathly Hallows part one, but I didn't think of it.  Grrrrr...  I'll look it up next time, cause I really want to see it.  Okay, looked it up.  And picked up The Rite at sixty percent off.  Have no idea what it's about, but it looks scary, so I'm hoping it's good.
     I found a new type of word puzzle the other day.  Someone in one of my groups has the link in her siggie, and they're awesome.  They're called Cricklers, and you can find them here.   It's sort of like a crossword puzzle, but not.  You fill in words based on the clues given.  As you fill in letters, it fills in those letters in other words.  So you have hints.  They're great!  I love them.  Watch out though, they're addictive!!
     I chatted for a few minutes between starting this blog entry and finishing this blog entry, and I finished up the stitching on the meerkat.  Piccys here.  He's turning out so cute!  Now on to the backstitching.  Then I'll start working on the kitten.  Hope you're all having a good day!!

My rotation

     Okay, I'm doing pretty well on my rotation.  I've got the big bags coming via Peggy in NY (thanks again, Peggy, you're a lifesaver) and I've decided exactly what's gonna be in my rotation.  Of course, I forgot two things when I ordered Qs, so now I need two more.  Typical.  Hobby Lobby, here I come!  I need floss too, so nbd, right?  Anyways, I've decided to work on one project for two weeks and then switch to a different one.  I still have to find a randomizer that will list them in a random order, but I'm sure I can do that easily enough.  Anyways, the projects in my rotation are:

1. Bubbles (HAED, Selina Fenech)
2. Astral Lion (Dimensions)
3. Country Bloomers (Jeremiah Junction)
4. Story Keeper (HAED, Selina Fenech)
5. Calendar Partwork (India Grace Designs, hardanger)
6. Achoo (Dimensions)
7. In Her Garden (Dimensions)
8. Memorial for my dad (Rosa Winter)
9. Marguerite (India Grace Designs, hardanger)
10. Meerkat ~ Mere Cat (Heritage Stitchcraft, Peter Underhill)
11. Impossible Love (HAED, Selina Fenech)
12. Queen of Peace (Miribilia)
13. Shore Patrol (JCA)
14. Fredrick the Literate (Dimensions, Charles Wysoki)
15. Desert Garden Mandala (Chatelaine, Martina Rosenberg)
16. Midnight Hunting (Dracolair Creations)
17. Monopoly (Hasbro) 
    

     Yes, I have a thing for Dimensions pieces (even though I hate the multicolored charts) and Selena Fenech.  As pieces get finished, I'll be adding new things into the rotation in their spot.  I know, there's a lot to do, but I do like to stitch, so it'll be fine.  As long as I live to 532 years old, I'll be good, lol.  Each chart name is a link to the chart except for the one my friend Rosa Designed for me.  I don't have a way to show that one as it's a Pattern Maker chart.  Or do I?  Hmmmm...   BRB.  Okay, I figured it out.  There isn't a pic of Monopoly, so I can't link that, but I do have a pic of the memorial.  I just did a screenshot of the pattern showing stitches instead of symbols.  Then saved to paint, and viola!!  I'm so smart sometimes, lol.  Anyways, those are my rotation pieces. I'll also be working on Portrait of Christ on Sundays as part of two SALs, until I finish it up.  Then I'll be working on that week's focus piece instead.  Now I'm off to find a randomizer.  Ta ta, ladies and gents!!

Happy belated Memorial Day

     To all my US friends.  (And happy non holiday Monday to my other friends, lol.)  I had a decent Memorial Day weekend.  Mostly stayed home and did my thing.  Stitched, blogged, frogged, read, played, and emailed.  It was nice.  Mom invited me over for a cookout Sunday night, and I said I would go, even though I really didn't want to.  Well, I guess she was afraid I would back out, and she mentioned that to Shannon while David was out working on mom's yard.  So David called about two minutes after they left and invited himself and Shannon to dinner.  Mom called and told me that, and sort of insinuated that I didn't have to come since they were.  So then I had to explain to her that with my depression levels, I don't want to go anywhere.  That doesn't mean that a.) I won't, b.)  I won't enjoy myself after I get there, and c.) it isn't good for me to get out and socialize for a change.  I had a pretty good time, although by the time we got to eat, I was starving.  I ate my "dinner" at about two PM on Saturday.  Sunday night, we ate around nine thirty.  So I went thirty one and a half hours with no food.  STARVING!!!!  I usually only eat once a day, and since I knew I would be eating at mom's house, I didn't make a meal on Sunday afternoon.  Then I got over there and the problems began...
     First, David didn't think he'd get there till seven or seven thirty cause he still had to cut and trim his yard and his neighbor's yard (She's old and lives alone and her kids are all far away, so he's nice and does her yardwork.  In return, she lets him store stuff in her garage.  Fair trade, right).  Then he called and said eight or eight thirty.  Then mom and I started the grill, and it wouldn't go above low.  David said it has a bubble or something in it, and we need to blow it out.  I know, bad choice of words with a propane grill, but you know... 
     So I follow his instructions.  Turn it all off (gas, burners, grill, the whole enchilada), wait one minute, turn it all on, wait four seconds, then ignite.  I couldn't get it to ignite.  I waited and waited but it wouldn't catch, and after ten or twelve seconds, I got nervous and quit.  He arrived at nine thirty (Cathy and Jim stopped by, unannounced, to get his pressure washer and then needed a lesson in how to use it so they don't lose any body parts) and grilled the burgers and brauts.  Mom had taken the corn and the veggie skewers in to do them on the stove by this time.  It was all good.  I had two helpings of veggie skewers (cherry tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, onion (I skipped the onion, ick), red peppers, yellow peppers, and mushrooms with Italian dressing for a marinade.  I had two helping of potato salad.  I had two brauts, a hamburger, and an ear of corn.  She made some stuff to brush on the corn, but we both thought it had too much lime juice.  Other than the corn, it was all really good. 
     I said a prayer for all servicemen, past and present this weekend, including both my grandfathers.  My paternal grandfather served in the European theater of WWII, and my maternal grandfather served in the Japanese theater.  They're both long dead and gone, one in 1988 of lung cancer and the other in 2002 from a heart attack.  I've been thinking a lot of my dad too, this Memorial day.  He didn't serve as he was blind in one eye, but he's gone and it's still fairly recent.  So he's been on my mind as well.  I have a chart, created for me by my friend Rosa W.  It's got his tomatoes on it (up until he couldn't, he grew his own tomatoes) and a boxer that is just dead on Vin except Vin has a teeny bit of white on his chin.  I'm sure I can change it!!  That's one of the projects I'll be doing in my rotation.  Thanks a million to Rosa, who also designed my F you.  Both of them are lovely charts!!
     I can't sleep this morning.  I talked to Vicki for a little bit, and she waved and said hi to India for me.  India gave me a full body wave back, lol.  She's so enthusiastic.  And cute as can be!!!!!  Of course, I've only seen pics, so I don't know if she's as cute in person.  (I would assume she is, though.  Cause she's right up there with teddy bears and doggie eyes in her photos.)  We haven't told her yet that I'm making her something.  It's a surprise!  Of course, I had to frog it again this morning, so God knows when it will get done.  Still, for as many fractionals as it has, I'm doing great to have only frogged it twice.  Will get that part put back in, then I'll go back to filling in the last little bits on the meerkat.  I should start the kitten in the next couple of days, I think.  Unless (crossing my fingers) I find another mistake.  That's all that's going on here today, so I'm heading back for bed.  Hope you have a great day!!

New Acquisitions

     I found the cutest pair of scissors the other day.  I found it through a blog I follow.  They're stork scissors, and they're beautiful colors.  I love them!!!  Here's a pic.  I think they're darling.  I got them from Anita's Little Stitches, at www.anitalittlestitches.com.  Shipping was really quick.  I got them in three days!  There was a twenty dollar minimum, so I bought the third pair, the tiny little purple snips.  I like all three pairs, and they're resting in the bag Julie got me for Christmas and gave me in April.  (It's so much more fun to see the person and give them their gift.  I was thrilled, and I'm sure she could see that!)  Here's a pic of the little bag.  Isnt' it cute!!!
I just love it.  Of course, it has the Bengals logo on it, so of course I love it.  I use it for notions.  I have all my needles and scissors and glasses in it.  It fits nicely in my stitching bag, so it's perfect.  There is a little bit of color bleeding though, and that's my fault.  I had to wash it (hand washed it, since I didn't want to throw it in with my clothes) when I had the vomiting problem.  I didn't notice the bleeding till it was all dry, and then there was nothing I could do about it.  But I still love it.  Julie knows me so well, lol.  Rosa keeps saying she's gonna get me a Tom Brady jersey (he plays for those who shall not be named).  I keep telling her that's fine with me.  If she wants to waste her eighty five dollars, I'll take it and burn it in effigy.  I'll actually enjoy it too, lol.  I think she gets that I'm serious though, because although she keeps threatening, she hasn't done it.  I was thinking, the last time she threatened it, I'll do it at one of my brother's bonfires.  Make it a ritual.  We can burn it in the firepit, and I'll have someone take video of it.  Wouldn't that be great!
     I went through my kits today to get out the ones I want to start (namely Achoo and Fredrick the Literate).  I also found (oh yay) some new fabbies.  I got them from my friend Dawn up in Columbus.  There's a little Silkweaver solo that will be perfect for Marguerite!  It's a gorgeous shade of purple.  I want to use my CC Hunter on it.  I think it will look really good!  I still have to floss toss it though.  Here's the pic of the fabby by itself though.  Isn't it pretty?!?  Dawn gave me several pieces that she's decided she won't use, and I love all the colors.  Two purples, a blue, an aqua, a burgundy, and a pink.  Lovely!!  I'll have to find a place to put them as my fabby drawer in the other room is full of other luscious hand dyed fabbies from Dawn, lol.  I'm really enjoying this starting a rotation thing.  I love to organize projects (but not my house as a whole, go figure).  I've got the floss and fabby ready to go for Fredrick.  Floss bags labeled, fabby dyed, good to go.  Achoo and In Her Garden are kits, so I have fabby and floss for them.  I just need to get the floss bags so I can get them labeled and sorted.  Impossible Love and Country Bloomers are charts, so I need to stop in to Hobby Lobby and get the floss.  I also, duh, need to get fabby for Impossible Love.  I don't think I have a piece big enough.  At least it will be plain white, so not hard to shop for.  123stitch, here I come!
     Otherwise, not much going on here today.  I'm a little put out that I didn't get to sleep until eight this morning and then woke at eleven.  I couldn't go back to sleep.  I'm tired, but not sleepy.  So, of course, I'm taking pics, lol.  My camera has been so busy lately!  I'm gonna go check the laundry, then start doing emails again.  Hope everyone is having a great day!!

     I've uploaded pics of the Meerkat ~ Mere Cat piece so far.  This is, of course, after the frogging.  It's coming along well.  Tonight I didn't seem to have any problem motivating to work on the white on white, and so I've gotten a good bit of the belly done.  Pics are here.  I went ahead and took it with flash (you can't really see any of the white) and without (you can see most of the white).  We're keeping it a secret from India though.
     I went about buying some things I needed for my rotation.  I'm really lazy (I know, it's a fault) but I don't feel like taking something off the Q snap every week or every other week.  So I borrowed some money from my mom (who can be a pushover) and bought myself two hundred floss bags and ten sets of Q snaps, eight eight inch and two six inch.  The six inch ones are for Monopoly (On this, I'll switch to an eight when I get to the center, but the blocks around the outside are good with just a six) and Achoo.  Achoo was a gift from Patty and Savvy, but although I wanted to start it, I've been trying not to start too much.  I've given up on that, and if I have twenty pieces in my rotation, oh well.  I need to get fabby for Marguerite too.  I want to get something hand dyed, so I'll be looking at Polstitches and Silkweavers.  Maybe a couple of others.  Then comes the fun part.  I get to pick floss!!!  Well, I guess with the variegated fabbies, it will all be fun.  Usually I use boring white fabby cause it's hard to tell if the floss will match the fabby from the pics.  But this time, I'm willing to take a chance that something in my couple of hundred skeins of variegated floss will match the fabby.  Especially as I tend to pick shades of green, blue, pink, and purple.  Those are my fave colors.  Now I just need to get floss to fill those floss bags.
     Last but not least, here is a piccy of In Her Garden, the piece (well, one of them, anyways) that started this whole thing!  Love the shawl, which,unfortunately, is already done.  Grrr..  Here is the pic of the front: 

And here is what has been done (very nicely) so far:

A burning desire

     I really want to start a couple of new things.  Badly.  A while back, my friend Kay had this thing about showing me her new knickers.  Brand new, never been worn, but I feel funny about seeing another woman's underwear, ya know?  So I kept saying no.  She, being as contrary as she is, decided she was going to flash them at me every time we were on webcam.  So she'd pull it up a little bit so an inch was showing above her pants, and she'd flash me.  (She even got Claire to pull up her skirt one day and flash me, lol. Kay is nothing if not determined!!!)  There were several messages about it passed on Multiply or the groups (I can't remember which.)  This brought it to Chris's attention.  Chris is awesome, but she likes to tease me.  So she sent me a chart called Country Bloomers.  It's a woman hanging her long undies (circa 1900) on the clothes line.  I had to laugh my butt off at that, because it's really funny.  So I've been wanting to start that for a while.  I also wanted to start Frederick the Literate, the first of Charles Wysocki's charts that I have.  It's a Dimensions chart, so lots of colors (some symbols in pink, others in blue, others in black, which can be a real pain in the butt for me).  And I have quite a few other pieces started too.  So I'm thinking I may just work up a rotation, and see if I can remember to change them out once a week or every two weeks.  My HAEDs will be in there, and my Chat will be in there, as well as several other things I have in progress.
     What brought this to a head is that (Oh, and I have Achoo that I want to start too.  So that'll go in the rotation as well) I got a kit today from Meg.  It's beautiful.  It's a Dimension's Gold kit.  It's called In Her Garden.  It's a lovely woman with a beautiful shawl in her garden.  Meg, who's a really nice lady, got it from a friend who did about a hundred and fifty stitches (give or take) and decided it was too much for her.  So she gave it to Meg, but Meg is all about all things Russian (she's the one I mentioned my love of Saint Basil's too, which got me that beautiful Monster Chart of St. Basil's in the snow).  So she passed it on to me, and it took about two days to get from NH to here!!!  Wow, USPS was awesome in this case!  I also have another chart coming that I want to start.  It's a pair of Siamese cats.  Ylva, who is a pretty good friend of mine in the UK, just finished it and offered to send me the chart.  Of course, I accepted that.  I'll pay both ladies postage of course.  I need to email Meg about that, actually... 
     So, here's my question to all of you who have a rotation:  How do you set up your rotation?  Is it one page per project, one week, one month, one thousand stitches?  How do you keep track of what project is up?  I'm thinking I'll do two weeks per project, and then switch, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep good track of my projects that way.  Since I don't work, the days blend together for me.  And are there any tips you can give me for things to do or not do to make this easier on me?  TIA for anyone who can give me any advice at all.  I've only done a rotation once, and it didn't work out for me, so I'm hoping this time it will.
     Also, I have uploaded another video of Yes Dear playing.  She's not playing hard (and she knows she's being filmed, so she doesn't play for long), but it's still kinda cute.  You can see it here.  Hope all of you in blogland are having a good day today.  Now I'm off to read some more blogs!!
     Oh, and one more note...  Thanks to Karen R.  She posted today about her MTM framed by Jill Rensel, who does really great custom mats and frames.  I want her to frame my Chat, as I'm dedicating it to my dad.  I did a whole heck of a lot of the work at his house, so I thought that would be fitting.  I needed to contact her, and Karen posted a link to her blog on Blogspot today.  I left her a comment, and I hope to hear back from her soon.  So, thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU Karen.  Your blog was so timely!!!

A quick update

     I've been busy with the camera today.  I took pics of my flowers for this year.  I'd call it my garden, but I just have pots...  Anyways, I have pink Celosia and purple Petunias everywhere on my balcony.  The Morning Glories are just starting to vine so no flowers on them yet.  They're slow starters this year.  You can see the flowers here.  I didn't want to upload so many piccys to my blog, so I started an album for them.  The two really big pots on the front porch have only been planted for a couple of days, so they're not doing really well yet.  And I have another pic of Yes Dear, this time sitting on her scratcher.  You can see it here.  I hope you're all having a very nice day.  It's pretty here.  Sunny and about eighty degrees.  A little warm, but not so much that I can't breathe!!

A long update

     I'm sure this will be a long post, as I haven't posted in a while.  It's been a week or so, and I have been busy.  And not busy on some other things on the other hand, which I'll explain.  I stitched last Saturday, and then I didn't stitch again till yesterday, a full week.  There are several reasons for that.  Firstly, and most importantly, I'm working white on white, which I HATE!!!  I'm working on the meerkat, and his chest and throat and head have a lot of white on them.  At first, I thought, I'll tackle it all now.  Then I started doing it and realized how much I hate it.  Then I had to frog it(reason number two).  UGH!!!  (I put a half stitch in the wrong place, and just as I was thinking I was doing so well with the fractionals, BAM.  Don't get me wrong, I like fractionals, but I still occasionally mess them up.)  It was difficult, especially as I couldn't see where the top thread of the x was and where the bottom thread was.  One of the strands I pulled out couldn't be used again, and the other one could.  (I learned from the first one, lol.)  So I pulled it all out Friday night late (or Sat morning early, depending on your point of view) and put it aside for what turned out to be a week.  Finally, I made myself pick it up and redo some of the white.  Then I did some of the other colors.  It will work better for me that way.  No pic yet, as I just haven't taken one.
     Then mom and I went shopping on Wednesday.  She wanted to get me a hamper for my bedroom (because for some reason, the laundry basket isn't good enough to put my clothes in).  I also ended up getting a bookcase (almost six foot tall by three feet wide by eighteen inches deep), cat treats, a skillet (my  Teflon is coming off), a backscrubber (mine bit the dust last week), and pasta salad.  Oh, and curtain rods and brackets for them.  I put together the bookcase (easily and with no mistakes, I think dad was helping me) and I've put some of my books on it.  I left enough room at the bottom for my big photo albums and scrapbook (which I need to put together).  The smaller bookcase I had in it's place is still sitting in the living room as I'm deciding what table I want out on the back balcony.  The other one will go to goodwill, and then there will be room for the bookcase in there.
     Then, on Friday, I ran errands alone.  I went to the pharmacy, the grocery store, the post office, Game Stop (I have/had a GameCube from them that broke during the warranty period and I had to get it replaced).  I also got a new game, Eternal Darkness:  Sanity's Requiem.  The guy at the shop recommended it to me since I like the survival horror genre.  He said, and I quote, "The game never stops fing with you," and I was like, okay.  When certain monsters get close, you start hallucinating.  Well, your char does.  And the game messes with you in other ways.  The other day, I was fighting and got a blue screen of death message.  I was, understandably, ticked off.  I put down the controller and went to reset the game, and suddenly my char is under attack again.  I ran for the controller, but was dead before I got there.  It was not funny atm, but it sure is now.  And then I was playing last night, and there was a fly on the screen.  I kept trying to swat it, but it wasn't working.  Then there was suddenly a thick covering of them, and I figured out it was the game.  It was funny.  So I really like it.  Plus it has twelve playable chars, and that's fun.
     Yes Dear has a new toy.  The bookcase box is open at both ends as I had to hold it on an angle and push from the other end to get the wood out.  So she is using it like a tunnel.  I've found her in there several times, and she always comes out as soon as I find her, lol.  It's funny, it's like once I figure out where she is, then it's no fun to hide in there anymore!!  She's so silly.
     Also, my friend Julie M. has joined this new site.  It's called Varolo.  It's a new method of advertising for advertisers who are tired of people TiVoing or DVRing their TV shows and then skipping the commercials.  You can join up and watch ads.  It shows you ads that you chose to see (you choose your "channels" and it shows you ads from those channels).  When you rate the add at the end, you get ten points.  For each ad you watch, you get a jackpot entry, and your "sponsor" gets paid.  It seems to be legit.  If anyone wants to join, I'd love to have you.  You can go here.  And thanks to anyone who's interested and joins me.  The whole site is very informative.  If you go to help and look at the questions about getting paid, there is a very good ten minute video that explains the process and how you can make money from watching ads.
     And last, but certainly not least, I've bought a new chart this month (another HAED, I wish they'd stop having sales!!!) and I have another slated for next month.  This months chart is Luna and you can see it here.  And the one for next month was sort of an accident, lol.  I mentioned on one of my groups (IntricateXS) that I liked St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.  And several charts were suggested to me.  This summer/fall I'm going to pick up White Nights in St. Petersburg (Martina Rosenberg).  This next month, though, I'm going to get a different St. Basil's chart.  You can see it here.  I think it's gorgeous.  I have too many new patterns.  I think I need to do a rotation.  Maybe I'll get some more eight inch Q snaps, and put all my rotation pieces on one, so I can switch back and forth easily.
     And speaking of stitching, I almost forgot this little tidbit.  I was talking to my friend Christy, on Chocoholic Cross Stitchers, and I mentioned how badly I hate Jesus.  And I explained about the horrible, scratchy linen and all the brown.  I also said that someday, I'd finish it as it's for my mom.  So Christy mentioned that she had a Jesus too, and maybe we should do a SAL.  And I'm all for a SAL, so I said yes.  So I have to dig the horrible thing out and work on it on Sundays.  (And if I forgot for a Sunday, then I'll work on it that Monday, cause I really do need to get it done before my mom dies or goes in a home or something.)
     So that's what I've been up to.  Hope everyone is having a good day.  I'll take pics next time, I promise!!!

YD in the corner

     I have a silly girl today.  She put herself in the corner, lol.  I don't know why, but she crawled herself into a very tight spot and laid down to rest there.  I have a great piccy of her in her corner.  You can see it here.
     I started on the meerkat the day after I finished up DGM, but I don't have a lot done.  Just as I was thinking it was going well (and fast, because I didn't think it would with so many fractionals), I discovered that I put a half stitch in the wrong place.  And because the first row was off, the second and third rows were off too.  I ended up frogging more than I stitched that day!!!  So now I've gotten it back to the point where I'm ready to stitch again.  Well, sort of.  First, I have to get the little bit of floss I frogged out secured.  It should be fairly easy to do, and then I'll be ready to stitch it in the right place!!
     I went up to Excel Monday, only to be told (after a half an hour drive) that my housing specialist had changed my file on Friday that I only needed to send in some paperwork.  I asked why, and was told that she didn't notate the file as to why, and she wasn't in that day for me to ask her.  I was quite upset.  That's a lot of gas to be using (an hour round trip) for a completely unnecessary trip.  So I went downtown and got the paperwork they required (a statement from Department of Human Services that I don't get anything (food stamps, cash, etc) from them).  Now they should be sending me my lease to sign.  I hope.  And when I asked, I was told that I don't have to go back up (we'll see how long that lasts) and that it will be retroactive to  my move in date.  So they'll send my landlord a big, fat check, and he'll cut me a big fat check.  It will just go into my savings, so nothing fun from it.  But still, I'll have it if I need it, which I don't right now.  Have it, I mean, not need it.  So that's what's up with me.

A real panel finish

     I finished the landscape panel for part seven.  I don't like the color palette too much (too much brown and yellow), but I like the way it looks.  I have uploaded photos, of course.  You can see the detail photo here, and the whole thing is here.  It was quick to do the bsing.  I did it all in about an hour.  I made a substitution on part of it though.  Most of the one side cacti are blue, and the others are a brown.  The floss for bsing was supposed to be Silk 'n' Colors  Pond Scum, which is a very light green.  For the blue cacti, I used it, as it shows up against the blue.  But for the brown cacti, I used Camouflage.  It shows up better against the brown.  Enjoy the pics, and I'm off to bed.  Will start the meerkat piece tomorrow!!  Whoo hoo!!

A finish (sort of) but no piccy yet

     I finally got to stitch today.  I was so happy to do so.  I figured I haven't vomited in a couple of days, so I should be safe.  Also, I kept regular food down for two days, so I'm good.  (As a precaution, I didn't eat before I stitched, lol.  You know, JIC!!)  So I finished up the cross stitching on the first part of part seven while listening to Pandora.  I felt so much better when I started stitching.  It's been since Thursday sometime!!!  I finished up the cross stitching on the landscape panel.  Now I have to do the backstitching, and I'll take a piccy.  There's a lot of bsing, but it goes pretty fast, so I may have a new pic tonight if things go right.  Well, early morning tomorrow, lol.
     I got a great new pic of Yes Dear today.  She has a box.  At the old house, I unloaded something and left the box on my desk.  She knocked it down on the floor, pushed it under her chair, and laid in it.  It was so funny.  So I brought it with us, and put it back under her chair.  She's a perfect fit for it, cause she's so small.  So I took her pic today, and you can see it here. 
     Also, I have a recommendation.  For those of you that like saucy chicken salad, Arby's has a really good one.  It's got chicken, mayo, apples, grapes, pecans, and celery in it, but no onions, yay!!!  I just had a wrap and it was delicious.  They also have a sandwich, and I'm sure it's good too.
     I got my deposit back from my old apartment today.  Part of the reason it's so late is that I forgot to give them my new addy.  Duh, I know.  I also forgot to give them the mailbox key at first.  But I remedied that, so they gave me back my whole deposit.  I've never given them any reason to distrust me, but the wife (whom I don't like as she ripped out half of my garden) kind of pissed me off.  I called to give them my new addy, and she answered the phone.  And I told her why I was calling.  She asked me (dumb b*&^h) how much my deposit was when I moved in.  I told her it was $440.  She was like, "Okay, as soon as I look up the paperwork, I'll mail it out."  I was a little bit ticked.  Like I'm gonna lie to her, you know?  So she looked it up and sent out a check (for $440) to Julie Nemis.  I was like, OMG, she can't even get close to spelling my name right.  Nemitz.  You'd think, seeing it on the check every month, would do it, but no.  Not Sandy.  But mom pointed out that the bank knows me, so they'll probably cash it anyways.  I hope so.  I would hate to have to call her up again and tell her she spelled my name way wrong.
     Oh, and one last YD story.  I was sitting on my chair the other day, being miserable and reading between vomits, when Yes Dear suddenly decided she must comfort me, IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!  She happened to be sitting on her scratcher at the time, and so she jumped on my chest from the top.  (It's six foot, one inch or something like that!)  I went, "Oooof," (loudly) and she dug her claws in so she wouldn't slide down my chest and off onto the floor.  I have some very interesting scratches on my breasts and belly from it.  I was like, "Next time, come down the scratcher till you're lvl with me, then jump over."  She, of course, just looked at me like, "eh, whatever," lol.  She's done that before when I'm not in the chair and run right into the arm of it (yes, she takes after me in dorkiness.)  But I still love her, lol.
     Hope you're all having a good evening.  I'm gonna check the blogs and then do some bsing!!

A repost from Tina's blog

Tina over at "The World According to Me" posted this earlier. This is powerful, and scary, and sad as all get out.  It made me cry, and if you have a heart, it will make you cry too.

You Can't Keep your Pet? Really??
-by a shelter director.

Our society needs a huge "Wake-up" call.
As a shelter manager, I am going to share
a little insight with you all...
a "view from the inside" - if you will.
First off, any of you whom have surrendered a pet
to a shelter or humane society should be made to work
in the "back" of an animal shelter - for just ONE DAY.
Maybe if you saw the life drain from those sad,
lost, confused eyes, you'd stop flagging the ads on here
and help these animals find homes.
That puppy you just dropped off will most-likely end up
in my shelter when it's no longer a cute little puppy anymore.
Just so you know, there's a 90% chance that your dog will never
walk out back out, once entered in to the shelter system...
Purebred or not!
About 25% of all of the dogs that are "owner surrenders" or "strays"
that come into a shelter are purebred dogs.
The most common excuses:
"We're moving and can't take our dog (or cat)."
Really? Where are you moving to that doesn't allow pets?
Or they say "The dog got bigger than we thought it would".
How big did you think a German Shepherd would get?
"We don't have time for her".
Really? I work a 10-12 hour day and still have time for my 6 dogs!
"She's tearing up our yard".
How about making her a part of your family?
"We just don't want to have to stress about finding
a place for her & we know she'll get adopted,
she's a good dog".
Odds are, your pet won't get adopted
& how stressful do you think it is for your pet?

Did you know...
Your pet has 72 hours to find a new family
from the moment you drop it off?
Sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn't full
and your dog/cat manages to stay completely healthy.
If it sniffles, it is euthanized.
Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room
with other barking & crying animals.
It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps.
It will be depressed and will cry constantly for you.
If your pet is lucky, there will be enough volunteers in that day
to take him/her for a walk.
If not, your pet won't get any attention besides having a bowl of food
slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of it's pen
with a high-powered hose.
If your dog is big, black or any of the "Bully" breeds
(pit bull, rottie, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when
you walked it through the front door.
If your cat is scared and doesn't act friendly enough,
or if it catches a cold (which most of them 'do'),
it will be put to sleep.
Those dogs & cats just don't get adopted.
In most cases, it doesn't matter how 'sweet' or 'well behaved' they are.
If your pet doesn't get adopted within it's 72 hours
and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed.
If the shelter isn't full and your pet is good enough,
and of a desirable enough breed it may get a stay of execution,
but not for long.
Most dogs get very kennel protective after about a week and are
destroyed for showing aggression.
Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment.
If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles chances are it
will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be
destroyed because the shelter gets paid a fee to euthanize each animal and
making money is better than spending money to take this animal to the vet.
Here's a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a
perfectly healthy, scared animal being "put-down".

First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash.
They always look like they think they are going for a walk...
happy, wagging their tails...
until they get to "The Room",
every one of them freaks out and puts on the brakes when they get to the door.
It must smell like death or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there.
It's strange, but it happens with every one of them.
Your dog or cat will be restrained, held down by 1 or 2 shelter workers,
depending on the size and how freaked out they are.
Then a shelter worker who we call a "euthanasia tech (not a vet)"
finds a vein in the front leg and injects a lethal dose of the "pink stuff".
Hopefully your pet doesn't panic from being restrained and jerks.
I've seen the needles tear out of a leg and been covered with the resulting blood...
the yelps and screams are deafening.
They all don't just "go to sleep", sometimes they spasm for a while,
gasp for air and defecate on themselves.
You see, shelters are trying to make money to pay employee pay checks
and then, there's the board of directors...
who need to be paid too!
Consequently, corners are cut, & we don't spend our funds to
tranquilize the animal before injecting them with the lethal drug,
we just put the burning lethal drug in their vein and let them suffer until dead.
If it were not a business for profit, we'd do it humanely and hire a
licensed vet do this procedure.
That way, the animal would be sedated or tranquilized and THEN euthanized.
But to do this procedure correctly would only cost more money...
so we don't necessarily do what is right for the animal,
we do what's expedient so we can continue to make a buck!
Shelters do not have to have a vet perform their euthanasia procedures.
Oftentimes, they are untrained personnel administering lethal injections.
So... that employee may take 50 pokes with a needle and 3 hours to get inside the vein.
In the end, your pet's corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer,
usually in the back of the building with all of the other animals that were killed.
There they will sit until being picked up like garbage.

What happens next? Cremated?
Taken to the dump?
Rendered into pet food?
Or used for schools to dissect and experiment on?
You'll never know and it probably won't even cross your mind.
After all, it was just an animal and you can always buy another one, right?!
I hope that those of you who still have a beating heart and have read this
are bawling your eyes out and can't get the pictures out of your head.
I deal with this everyday.
I hate my job, I hate that it exists &
I hate that it will always be there unless you people make changes
and start educating yourselves, your children, the public.
Do the research, do your homework, and know exactly
what you are getting into before getting a pet.
These shelters and humane societies exist because people just do not care about animals anymore.
And PLEASE stop breeding!
Animals were not intended to be disposable but somehow that is what they've become.

For those of you that care---
please repost this to at least one other Craigslist in another City/State.

 

Animals don't understand a bad economy.

Something to think about.