A Peek into the Boy's Club

The weekend is over and it's Monday...again. I seriously need to figure out how to hop onto that "work 4 days a week" bandwagon because only having two days off in a week, just about kills me. I need another day!

This weekend was "boy's club" weekend. For being a girl, I probably go out with and have more guy friends than girl friends. I work in a boy's club and I can be a smart-ass and a prankster with the best of them if I have to be. Maybe this is why I have so many guy friends? I don't know...would be nice to just find a guy to be a boyfriend already. But perhaps this is another reason for lack of boyfriend. I know too much. I know the games. I know what happened even when they haven't told me. I can sense it.

And because of this...I'm pretty good at taking care of myself in the crazy little world of online dating. Don't worry...my stamina for dating has decreased dramatically and I am sitting here waiting for my fairy godmother to show up already and wave her little wand and bring my Prince Charming to light. Hmmm...not likely but a nice thought.

Boy's Club weekend always contains a lot of interesting conversation which usually revolves around dating, relationships, who we know in common and how we've become friends in the first place. Dating and relationships are always topics in my conversation repertoire. Mainly because I have "girl insight" and way too much dating experience. The topics were particularly interesting this weekend.

Why do guys always find the most damaged, crazy mess of a girl to "fall in love" with and then wonder why things are so f-ed up? Anyone involved in drugs or a heavy alcohol consumer...run for the hills as fast as you can. Seriously, this will save anyone (guy or girl alike) a lot of time and heartache. Put your tennis shoes on and run...pretend you're in a track race. And then I have to hear how "girls are crazy". Ok, yes, there are a lot of crazy girls but not all girls are crazy! I'm not...quirky, maybe but not crazy. But see...I can't even defend my gender because I've come across a lot of crazy girls in my time and so I know girls are crazy just like guys are *insert adjective or noun here*.

Then there was trying to justify the difference between a date and a hook-up. I had to go a couple of rounds on this one and I still think I'm right. Guys can think what they want. And as usual, I had to have my usual conversation about how sometimes, dating within your age bracket is good and maybe the girls would be more responsible, non-crazy and together. No girl in their early 20's is all that responsible, sane or at all together. They are cute and crazy! Once you hit your 30's and 40's, I feel the maximum age difference should be no more than 10 years. Anymore than that and there are some major differences and that girl will be asking you who John Hughes is. Trust me...no one wants to feel that old!

Boy's Club weekend was fun though. How else can a girl hang out with guys, drink beer, bourbon and whiskey, swear a blue streak, eat what they want and argue the sides of dating and relationships? Plus, it gives me more guy insight. Girls can never have too much...

Ta-Da...April Snapper!

Last night, I worked diligently to get my April Snapper done and out of the way. I've got a few other stitching commitments on the horizon and I just wanted to leave this project at a clean point versus in the middle of the square. I like how these are coming out but I've seen the frog many times already and am getting annoyed. First with the border, then with the heart in February and I had to frog out some of the umbrella to get a decent contrast between the two blues there. I am hoping that the frog will hibernate for a while. Here is April:
And here is how it looks in it's entirety so far. Sorry for the messy snap. It really needs to be pressed but what's the point if it's only going to get *more* wrinkled down the road?!
Next on the stitching agenda is starting my Quaker Friendship Round Robin. Hopefully I can start tonight, but if not, definitely tomorrow. It should be a fast stitch and then I can get on with stitching up some Halloween fun and other bits!

Quiet Time and Mistaken Identity

This week is very quiet. No social fun on the calendar which is unlike me and whereas I find it strange, I'm not really interested in filling the quiet time with events and activities. The quiet time is nice and I could definitely use this time to get ahead on my stitching projects and obligations...not to mention the apartment projects I should have gotten to months ago. So the goal for tonight is to finish the April Snapper with border so I can start the Quaker Friendship Round Robin and get that on its way. I'll also start in on cleaning and organizing my office at home which has become the ultimate disaster area. Trust me...there are even more apartment projects after I get finished with this one.

But I do have to say that I know things are very quiet when the most exciting thing to happen so far this week is a funny little case of mistaken identity at the dentist's office yesterday. I was apprehensive about my appointment because the hygenist I had been assigned to the last three times must thrill in torturing me. Why else would I be gripping my hands and cringing so much during a cleaning. She likes torturing the patients. I'm sure of it! I requested a new hygenist and it was my first time visiting with her and I was so hoping she wasn't all into torturing patients too.

So I arrived at the dentist's office and the receptionist said that she would let Dr. H know that I was there. Hmmm. Confused. I had to clarify that I was not there to see Dr. H since I was Dr. L's patient. A little weird but she must have read the screen incorrectly. Then Dr. L mumbled that it was time to go into the exam area and whereas he said a name, I didn't really hear him but I was also the only person in the waiting room and of course, assumed it was me since who else was there? I get situated into the dental chair and Dr. L says "ok, we're going to remove the crown and scrape away the decay..." and I just about yelped and jumped out of the chair! "Um, Dr. L, I think you have me mistaken with someone else. I don't have a crown. I'm just here for a cleaning!" At that point I was thinking...I might be better off without the cleaning and maybe they could just write down that I did one and we can pretend like nothing weird happened. Because let me tell you, that crown business did not sound cool and I wanted no part of it! I turned around and I never saw Dr. L look more red. He was so embarrassed! It was pretty funny and he apologized and said he felt like a "tool". Ha! I haven't heard someone say "tool" in a very, very long time! Maybe now, he'll remember who I am? That would be nice.

And the new hygenist was a dream! No torture session, super gentle and I'll be going back to her. Plus...the best thing...no cavaties. :)

Stitchy Weekend

What a wonderful weekend! Lots of rest, some shopping, accomplishment on chores, massage, video viewing and stitching. Things are good.

Saturday was the highlight of the weekend. I headed to Alameda and met Sweet Mary of NiaH, before the shop opened, for breakfast. She is such a sweetheart with all sorts of crafty ideas. It was so nice to sit and chat when she wasn't working. The shop gets busy and she has to juggle lots of customers. After breakfast, we headed over the shop so I could pick fabric and floss for the Quaker Friendship Round Robin. Last week, Edgar asked me if I had any interest in joining since the group had a problem with one of the members and now needed a sixth. After just a slight episode of nervousness, I said "of course" and now I'm the sixth. It's kind of exciting. I've never done a round robin before but I like the idea of my piece traveling more than I get to and lots of people working on it and it being a work of friendship. Isn't that a nice thought? I think so. So Mary told me to pick 6 colors I like so I headed to the task at hand and gave them to her and then she picked a bunch of complimentary colors. Whoa, there were a lot of colors to pick from. Given many choices, my indecisive Libra trait really shines. *gulp* I had gone into the shop thinking reds or sage green. Next was comparing all the thread colors to fabrics. Oh God, more choices! I managed to set aside all the fabrics I thought were too dark and the threads that were a tad blah and was trying to decide between red/brown or green/gold. And here is what I decided on:

I will be stitching my QFRR on 36 count Lakeside Linens Vintage Light Examplar with Crescent Colors Belle Soie *Creme de Menthe* and Gloriana *Birch Brown*. I am thinking the green for the large motifs in the sampler and the brown (I say gold) for the smaller bits and initials. We'll see if I stay with the two-tone plan. Also in the picture are a lovely pair of scissors. I decided to treat myself to my first pair of Dovos. After hearing so many stitchers talking about their Dovos, I had to check out what they were talking about. Wow, these little scissors are fabulous! I never knew what I was missing out on. It was funny...after coming home and looking at the colors, they reminded me of the colors of my college alma mater. Ha! Very subconsious. So a little shout out. Go Dons! They'll all be starting school and sports soon.

The rest of Saturday was spent housesitting and doing about 4 loads of laundry and other little bits. Sunday was relaxing...massage appointment, going through a mountain of mail (ok, not so relaxing) and stitching. Below is my progress so far on my Bent Creek Snappers. I was really hoping to be done with April tonight but no dice. I'll keep plugging away at this until I get my QFRR chart. Just an umbrella, raindrops and accompanying border to crank out.
I hope everyone had a great weekend and has a smooth start to the workweek...

Where to Begin...

Whew...new blog template = much excitement! I've had a few days for the new look to sink in and I'm really happy with the work Lena did and highly recommend her. She's got lots of freebie blogger templates and is great to work with for customs too.

Now that I'm back to reality, I've realized that I'm very behind on the posts that I've built out in my head so I'll blog about what I consider are the highlights. Starting with last weekend...yep, old news but still good stuff. Last weekend was fairly social. I decided to hit the Burlingame Festival which was very nice. Lots of vendors, lots of food, not much of a crowd since I hit it early and I ran into one of my favorite jewelry vendors who I acquired my thumb ring from. She's great and when I told her that I was contemplating getting a spare, you know, in case something happens to the one I have, she burst into a fit of laughs. Hmmm, I guess that's weird. Apparently no one else thinks of having backups but when I find something I absolutely love that I use over and over again, I worry about wear out and not being able to find it when I want it. Ok, so a tad weird. I also ran into a coworker and his son at the festival and it was nice to visit and chat. That evening, I had decided to meet the "self-centered guy" from an earlier post. Just for coffee and a chat. He stated that he was just a guy who was bad at email and dealt better with one on one interaction. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Initially, it was difficult...I found myself asking a million questions and nervously babbling to just keep the conversation going. Silences straight off the bat is not really all that good. Again, I was the one asking questions and really not having any asked of me. I was feeling like this meetup was a waste of time. But as the minutes ticked past, he seemed to be more comfortable, opened up and asked more about me. That was good but I still didn't have warm fuzzies. I have the feeling that him being touted as a "cute, sexy eligible geek" on national tv may have gone to his head some. Too much to be able to deal with a simple *blue collar* girl who loves life and fun. Things shouldn't be as hard as they end up being and for the present time, I'm just content emailing with a seemingly nice guy. I don't know where that'll take me but it's simple and it's fun.

On Sunday, I met up with an old friend, Lien. Old coworker and old friend who moved out to Austin for grad school. I hadn't seen her in over a year!! It was fantastic to see here. We went to one of our old haunts, ChaChaCha. Wow, it had been forever since I've been there! Although the food is decent at best, the highlight of this little establishment is their sangria and omg, it is so worth going there...unless I'm, of course, making it myself. So after a long boozy lunch filled with eyeopening news and tons of laughs, we walked around Haight Street to see what was new and what was old. And despite being so close to Ameoba (oh, the tension was palpable!), I did not go in and buy out half the store. After our little quest for shoes and shopping, we heading into the park to go to the DeYoung Museum to check out the Chihuly exhibit. Dale Chihuly is an exceptional artist no matter what the SF Chronicle wants to say. I've made special trips to Seattle and Tacoma specifically to view glass artists in action and to the Museum of Glass to see the Chihuly team work in the Hot Shop. Just because glass doesn't have a major following does not mean it is not art. I could totally rip into this reviewer. Apparently I am an admirer of "empty virtuosity" and glass sculptors have no place in the art world despite the fact that the subject at hand is seemingly unpliable yet fragile and that person works under extreme heat and stress to develop the right shape, color and density. I'd like to see that reviewer try to recreate anything that Chihuly or his team can make. And as we strolled through the museum and saw other exhibits consisting of traditional 1800, tribal, modern and some weird stuff made with rock sugar and shellac, I felt that the Chihuly exhibit was 100% more beautiful and inspiring than anything else in that museum. I mean, yes, the rock sugar shallac chandeliers were completely interesting but what the heck?! A tad bizarre, no? Each room in the Chihuly was filled with light and color, shape and beauty. It left me feeling a lot of wonder and inspiration and filled me with questions of how and what. I actually want to go back before the exhibit ends so that I can admire and perhaps answer some of my own questions. It is truly worth it, no matter what some "art critic" thinks.

And that was the extent of last weekend. Lien and I parted ways and it was back to my weekly grind.

Blog Transformation!

Woohoo! Look at me. Yep, I have a new look which has been some time in the making. I hope that everyone likes the browns and blues over the white and the dots. I was really trying to come up with something that felt more personalized to me, my city and my blog name and be easy on the eyes. As many may or may not know, I am one of the few San Francisco natives out there. Most of the city has been taken over by transplants and that's okay since San Franciscans have always been open and happy to share. Just think of the 60's, Summer of Love and Haight-Ashbury. My heart truly belongs to San Francisco and it's the city I love and I can't ever imagine being far from it long...whether it be distance or time.

With help from Lena at Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates, she helped create my blurry, indecisive idea into a reality. I won't lie and say it was easy on my part because it wasn't. I had an idea and searched high and low for a picture that I thought fit me and I finally found the picture above on Flickr and I asked permission from the photographer to use the photo for the blog. That all took a while...many websites of photos and going cross-eyed and not being able to decide what was best. My friend, AM, helped me tremendously. Thanks AM! But the Flickr photographer, Charlie, was kind enough to let me use his picture. What a relief! For those not familiar with San Francisco, this picture was taken on one of the piers along the waterfront and is facing inward. The very tall triangular building is the famous Transamerica Building obscured by the fog that San Francisco is so known for. And everyone knows that I absolutely love fog.

Once the picture was picked out, Lena said I should look at digital scrapbooking templates. Whoa, who knew there were so many?! More looking and indecisiveness and I finally decided on chocolate and blue and Lena made me some different templates to look at and ta-da!!!!

Welcome to my new blog! Isn't she pretty? It's still in a period of transition since I need to update the blogroll, stitching projects and actually write the posts that still exist only in my head. But for now, I'll just sit and admire the new look for a bit.

Reflections on Dating

I haven't had anything positive to say about dating in some time...and I still don't. There has been a lot of reflection and frustration on the subject though. In the past month, I've found myself conversing with unavailable men. There was...

The married guy I had to tell off for the obvious reason that he's married and his wife is dying to have loads of his babies. I will not get involved with attached men and frankly, I don't see screaming, wailing babies in my future.

And there was...

The guy who was married and is now divorced with 2 kids in Reno. Oh geez, that's way more baggage than I can deal with and I told him so. I can deal with divorce but not someone else's children. I don't think I'd even be able to deal with any supposed children I'd have hence me just saying I won't have any.

And there was this...

A while back, I sent an email to this guy on a new dating site I am trying out. We matched up high and even agreed that the other was cute and seemed cool. I contacted him. Problem #1. I contacted HIM. He emailed me back and commented on all the questions I asked of him but he didn't ask any questions of me. Hmmm. Problem #2. If a guy doesn't ask me anything about me and only rambles about himself, I am not interested in "chatting" anymore. I am very good about balancing both and I pose questions throughout my email versus the 20 questions at the end. If you only talk about yourself, I'm going to assume that you're self-centered and not really all that interested in getting to know me. So I never wrote him back. Well, yesterday I received an email from him that said that after review of his last email to me, he realized that he may have come off disinterested but that that wasn't the case at all and that he'd like to meet me for coffee if I was so inclined. Problem #3...why did it take him 6 weeks to figure that out?!

*bangs head on table*

You see what I'm dealing with here? I should just stop dating altogether and start writing that chicklit novel or Guide to Men for Dating from Girl Standpoint already. I have more than enough "research" but now seem to be low on time.

I've been wasting too much time on unavailable men. And I keep telling myself to just lay low, relax and do my own thing. People keep telling me that that's when you "least suspect it". Blech! I hate hearing that. Oh and the whole bit about guys being attracted to happy people. Oh hey...I'm just a little bitter and annoyed right now but I'm truly a happy, smiley person with some sarcasm and quirkiness thrown in. What's not to like about that?! I mean, I'm obviously attracting men here...they are just all the wrong types of men. *sigh*

So I try to deal with the rotten apples I'm being handed here and I also try not to think about the fact that I'm a little pent up. It's been a while...a long one and I'm getting annoyed that it's actually THIS hard to meet a cool yet nice guy. But I still have my wits about me (barely) and am not about to "hook up" with any of the rotten apples I've been handed because that is so not my style. But if things around here don't change soon, I will not be held responsible for any stupid decisions I may end up making.

I've been talking to friends at work and they've been trying to convince me to look into Team in Training as a cool way to meet new people. There's a problem though. I haven't run in about 20 years, I am scared to death of falling off a bicycle and getting run over by a car in the process so I don't bike and I am one of the worst swimmers out there. I do not see a triathalon in my future...at all. So I am brainstorming how to put myself out there. For some reason, I don't have problems meeting strange men on dates but the prospect of putting myself out there to meet new people as friends makes me nervous. I think it's because I've always felt much more comfortable meeting people one on one or in small groups. But all these meet up events are bigger groups and when I'm in a big group...I'm not so witty and sarcastic but more reserved and shy. Go figure.

Does it all really have to be this hard?!

Shopping Frustrations

At lunchtime, I ventured to the local shopping mall to try and find a birthday present for my niece. Note that the keyword in that statement is try. She'll be turning 14 and I was given instructions to find her clothes for her birthday. Ok...I can do that. She likes how I dress except with the hemlines shorter and the necklines lower (much to the objections of her mother). Now, I know I shouldn't have tried to accomplish this task during my allotted one hour lunchtime but I like to multitask during lunch as much as possible so that I can have as much of the evening to myself to lounge or socialize as I see fit. I arrived at the mall and immediately hit:

Gap: I had seen some very cute shorts online and found a pair of them in the store...in size 2. Ummm, yea. Do people out there actually wear a size 2?! Because let me tell you, I for sure do not and neither does my niece. I saw some possibilities there but it all seemed too boring and overpriced. Next...

American Eagle: I think I saw the shortest miniskirt ever made! If it will not cover my butt, it sure ain't being bought. Is there a shortage on fabric that I don't know about? Because I for sure will not pay $40 for maybe 1/4 yard of fabric that somehow got turned into a skirt. Next...

PacSun: Dear Lord, there are stores out there that only carry Junior sizes? We're in America. Doesn't everyone say that we're the most overweight country in the world? How do these stores stay in business? I guess all teenyboppers are supposed to be straight and skinny or something. Next...

Hollister: I wanted to leave the moment I stepped foot into this godforsaken store. Why is it so loud?! I wonder if the kids who work here wear earplugs. There has to be some level of ear damage if you're in there a long time. I wonder if the company realizes that is a workers' comp liability. And why is it so dark?! How do people see what they are trying to potentially buy?! Oh and they only carry Junior sizes too. Next...

Abercrombie and Fitch: It smells like someone dropped a case of cheap cologne and every single bottle broke. I actually saw some cute shorts here but then realized that the biggest size they carried was a 10. I hate stores like that! Who are these stores to define what size they go up until? I guess 10=fat or something. I'm a size 12 on the bottom and a size Small on top. God definitely graced me with too much booty! If the store will not accomodate all of me, I am not shopping there. AnF...please air out your store.

So I managed six stores in one hour including The Walking Company where I bought some leather lotion for my handbags that are looking a little dull. I also managed to get lunch, socialize with some co-workers I ran into at the mall and get a venti iced coffee to keep me awake through the second half of the workday.

In terms of the birthday present...I've no idea where to find some decent fun clothes that will cover booty and the rack. I suppose I'll be hitting Old Navy and Target next. I kind of wish some moms with teenyboppers checked in so they could give me a clue. Finding cool teenybopper clothes that actually fit a curvy yet well proportioned girl...and woman for that matter...seems to be impossible.

Now I kind of wish I had just gone home at lunch to watch tv and stitch a little bit.

Two Down, Ten More To Go

I came back home from Pasadena in one piece and decided that after being away from home for almost an entire workweek, I would reserve the weekend for myself...and I stitched. My goal was to finish the February Snapper square with the accompanying border and I did it! Yay! Here is a picture of January and February with border. I am leaving the snaps off the piece until I am completely finished. Now it's on to March!
I really didn't do very much this weekend except stitch, lounge, eat, run some errands and saw All About Eve at the Stanford Theatre. I totally love this movie and was very happy to catch it on the big screen. Otherwise, it was a pretty quiet and ho-hum weekend. It was the best!

5.4

I leave Pasadena tomorrow. I wish I had more time to walk around Old Pasadena to shop without having my male co-worker with me. It'd be a little awkward going into Victoria's Secret or the many swimsuit shops with him in tow and somehow, I don't manage to get into these shops when I am home. It's nice here and if I had to live in SoCal, I guess I'd have to pick the area around Old Pasadena for the sole reason that it is city-esque. I love city life and can't imagine being far from a city or a large body of water. But I already miss home. Things have been very busy and non-stop since I've been down here! I get back to my room about 930pm and only have enough time to check email and get ready for bed. Not much stitching, tv watching, reading, emailing or exercising has been happening the last few days. Ugh! Not to mention that this training I attended will be a waste. There is no way the projects will be ready for processing in the next four weeks. There is way more work than anyone anticipated and we are not prepared to tackle so much in such a short period of time. We'll be heading back to work with bad news for the head honcho.

The most exciting thing so far this trip was the 5.4 magnitiude earthquake in SoCal on Tuesday. I don't know why I always signify earthquakes with San Francisco. All of California experiences them but I guess I forget. I've lived within the state my entire life and the only one that made me jump out of my skin was the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. I was 14 years old back then...seems like a lifetime ago. The earthquake on Tuesday was strong and it surprised me more for the fact that I left what I consider earthquake mecca to only feel an earthquake. There were a couple of very sharp jolts and light shaking. At first, I thought there was some renovation happening on the level above our conference room before I realized that the speaker stand was rocking back and forth. I knew I was safe where I was sitting. Many people in my training class were shaken up and requested to be let outside so we headed out to lunch early. The moment we walked outside, everyone seemed to be outside on the phone telling their loved ones they were ok but were still standing under the awning. Geez, people!!! If you are worried about the building falling down on your head, you need to get entirely out of the way of said building. Go cross the street and make sure there isn't anything that will fall on you! It seems like common sense to me but maybe all those earthquake drills and working for a public safety agency drilled this into my head more than others would know? I don't know. All in all...strong earthquake...no big deal. No one was hurt and there were no major damages so it was just a reminder that we live in California and earthquake are just one of those things that happen every once in a while.

Random Bullet Points

Hello from Pasadena! I'm away on work travel this week so blogging may be more sporadic than usual. I already miss my fog. What is up with the smog in Southern California?!

The weekend was a blur...as usual. Why does it pass so fast? I made it to the Frida Kahlo exhibit at SFMOMA and it was great! The museum and the exhibit was so crowded though. I think everyone had the same idea on Saturday. I am happy I was able to see the exhibit as it usually occurs to me after the exhibit has already left. Now I just need to get to the DeYoung soon to see Chihuly. I went with a guy I recently met and still can't get over how shy he is. He'd make a good friend but not really a romantic interest. I like my guys a little bold and assertive. I have no idea how I've become a magnet for these shy, pansy-ish guys. Dating is extremely dismal and grim at the moment.

I went and met a friend for dinner at Burma Superstar on Saturday night. If there a day that this place is not crowded?! We waited over an hour for a table! But you know what, it was so worth it. I love this place. My favorite again was the wok tossed calamari. Tender calamari, napa cabbage, chili, vinegar....mmmmm, yummy! I need to get to this place more often so I can slowly make my way through the menu. And better yet, I had enough noodles and rice leftover for lunch the next day. I love leftovers!

I don't have an updated picture of my snappers since I left my camera at home. I managed to finish January and the surrounding border and have slowly made my way to February. As I sat in my hotel room, counting and winding down for the evening, I discovered a counting error all the way at the beginning on my heart! Grrr! I have to frog the entire thing! Looks like I'll have my work cut out for me later. But for now...it's time to head to dreamland.

January Snowman

Just a quick post to share some stitchy progress although this isn't the best snap. I managed to pull out all of the WDW Bark that I had used for the border and have started the border over with GAST Dried Thyme. I like it A LOT better! I still am not as far along in the border as I was with the Bark and I still have a long way to go seeing as I have to get through 12 months! Hopefully, I'll have some time to continue the border and get started on February.

Brillante Weblog Award

I heard from Carol R. a couple of days ago that she nominated me for the Brillante Weblog Award. I am honored. Thanks Carol! I love that this little award is in Spanish too. How fun!

Here are the rules for the award:

1. Put the logo on your blog
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Add links to those blogs on yours
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

Here are my nominees. Most are stitcher blogs...people who have inspired me to be more creative over the last few months by seeing what they create and pushing me to do finishes I've never done before. One is a dear friend new to blogging who I think has caught the blogging bug worse than me! I will not message most as I think most have already been bombarded by similar or the same award but I wanted to acknowledge that I think they are brilliante and that I love checking out their blogs.

1. Carol R.
2. Edgar
3. Carol S.
4. Yuko
5. Staci
6. Natasha
7. Ann Marie

Today, I decided to play hooky from work. I've been feeling very stressed and frazzled and just wanted some quite time to myself. It was also a good excuse to call in sick after all the excitement last night...or shall I say this morning. Around 1am, I heard shouting outsde my building. It's quite late for anyone to be shouting but I live one block away from a bar that can get busy late at night. I figured these folks were drunk and would move on. I was getting ready to go to sleep. I was wired and just can't get to sleep at a decent hour. As I turned off the lights, I looked out the window to make sure the shouters had really moved on. I see a man standing outside my building and a woman lying down on the ground. Weird but I had the feeling she was being a depressive drunk and the man didn't know what to do and was waiting for her to snap out of it. At least he didn't just leave her there. I decided that I would wait 10 minutes to see if they were still there before I either went downstairs or called the police to do a drive-by. A few minutes later...I hear the 911 response. One fire engine, one ambulance and three police cars come rushing to my building. Geez, sirens that late at night are liable to give anyone a fricking heart attack. It took me some time to fall asleep after all that excitement! Today, I relished in staying in on a workday. I watched some Sopranos, took my time getting ready, went and got a relaxing manicure and pedicure and went to my parents to drop off my mom's car and a friend came to get me to drop me off back at home. Tonight, I'll head into the city and try a new restaurant and see Cabaret. It should be a fun night! I wish I could play a hooky day more often. This is nice!!

910 Smakaroos

I finally got my car back from the mechanic yesterday afternoon and the damage was 910 smakaroos for:

3 radiator hoses
1 new radiator
1 new water pump
6 hose clamps
antifreeze
4 hours of labor

Ouch! I hope that the car appreciates this little makeover and that this is the only drama fit it has this year. As it is, I think my travel plans may be on hold for October since I should be focusing on debt reduction instead of travel. This little drama fit did not help my debt reduction goal.

I am happy to have my car back though. I felt nervous driving my mom's immaculate car. I'm much more comfortable in my old little jalopy.

Weekend This and That

So the weekend flew by. I don't understand how each week, it seems to pass by faster than the week before. Must be a sure sign that I am getting old. I always heard that I should take advantage of time when I'm young because time passes faster the older you get. I'm seeing that saying is true and I'm scared how fast tgime will be passing when I'm 10, 20, 30 years older than I am now!

Highlights to the weekend

I hit the Anniversary Sale at Nordstrom and managed to find some decent jeans (that didn't cost over $50) on sale as well as a comfy warm sweater jacket and some funky wedge heel shoes. The goal will be to not fall while wearing said cute shoes!

I went to Davies Symphony Hall to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy in concert. I was excited to see them since they are a fun band but there are also some bittersweet memories intertwined with this group. This was the band that was playing during my first date with The Ex many, many moons ago. I've kept the lines of communication open with The Ex for many years to remain friends but about nine months ago, feelings and emotions reached the brink and we haven't talked to or seen each other since. He definitely isn't the same man anymore...the one who captured my heart so long ago. Many years later, after our break up, I was left with a broken heart again and it took me some time to find myself again. I don't think we were the best couple but we were both young and it was a lot of fun. I can't ever imagine us being a couple again. We are polar opposites so there are no worries about me losing my mind and running back to him. I'm too darn smart for that. He was a pretty decent boyfriend in the beginning but an awful friend to me as the years progressed. Now it's time to make real and true friends which is harder the older you get. Anyways, I digress, there are emotions tied to this group but they did such a good performance! It was so much fun and if I had been sitting in orchestra and had brought a dancing partner instead of a girl friend, I would have been down there dancing! I was disappointed that the Hall was only half full! They are great! I wonder if it's because swing music has fallen out of the graces of many or if people are being careful with their pennies because of the recession (come now...$4.50 a gallon? Total recession). Before the show, we hit Absinthe where I indulged in my usual sidecar, a Daedalus and some scrumptious shared appetizers and strawberry shortcake. YUM!

On Sunday, I headed over to Festa Italia and checked out the goodies and the vendors. It was nice and warm outside and fun to see all the different characters and the classic cars. I was able to find a toe ring booth and got new ones since my old ones had tarnished. So now I have adorned toes again.

Frustrations

I managed to actually get a good amount of stitching time in since I am pretty much carless until I find out what the damage is to my car. So I plugged away on my January Snapper block and started in on the border so I can do the border as I go instead of waiting until the very end. The pattern calls for WDW Bark. I'm working the border and I keep rechecking the pattern and it says Bark but why does Bark look so dark? I've done half the border and am really not liking the Bark at all. It's too dark for a viney-leafy pattern. So the frog is coming out and I have to frog out all the border that I've done. Gah! I should have followed my initial instinct. I probably won't have time to tackle that until the end of the week. I will replace Bark with GAST Dried Thyme. Since I can't stand how it looks with the dark border there are no snaps of my progress. Not to mention I haven't done the french knots yet so the poor snowman is eyeless!

With all the computer hoopla last weekend, I think my Tivo got bumped off my wireless router because it keeps giving me a message about program info. Seeing as I am the most un-techy person out there, I'm confused and a little freaked out at the prospect of figuring out how to get my Tivo back on the wireless router so that my program recordings go on uninteruppted. See...this is where it comes in handy to be dating a total geeky tech guy.

Broken Jalopy

In my previous post, I had mentioned taking my car in for an oil change and the mechanic guy telling me I had a potential oil and coolant leak. I figured that I would go ahead and monitor the situation. I told my apartment manager to let me know if he saw any oil or coolant left in my parking stall when I wasn't there. Then I would know what was actually leaking and how bad it might be. Well, forget monitoring the situation because 5 days later, my car is freaking out on me and I'm wondering why. I'm driving, the car is bucking and I notice that the temperature gauge is almost at H(hot) and I had better get the car off the main road. Luckily, I was only 2 blocks from home and I got there in one piece. After my initial frantic thoughts of "What the heck am I going to do?" and "What am I going to do without a car?", I go inside the building to drop off the things I was carrying and change into comfortable shoes in lieu of the 3 inch wedge sandals I was currently wearing. I ran into the apartment manager and right when I was going to tell him what was wrong, he tells me I have a coolant leak. Ummm, yea. I think I figured out that much by that point.

He comes out with me and we look at the car and the coolant reservoir was bone dry...it had been full only 5 days prior. We fill it up with water and I say that I will take it to the mechanic which is only 5 blocks away from my place. By the time I had driven four blocks, the needle was back at H...I was praying the car would make it one more block so I could give the mechanic the key and get out of what felt like a deathtrap car. When I see the mechanic, I explain the problem and he says he can't look at it til Tuesday. Tuesday!?! Geez, what do I do? I opt to leave the car there and call a friend to come pick me up and take me to my parents so I can borrow one of their cars for the next 4 or more days. I should mention that all this happened at the beginning of my lunch hour and I was supposed to be at work. By the time I got back to work, driving my mom's car, it was three hours later.

I am thankful that the car issue came to light during the day and close to home since my plan was to head into the city after work. If this had happened on the freeway, I'd have blown a vein. That would have involved traffic, the motor club and a tow truck and would have stressed me out even more.

So now my car sits at the mechanic and I am driving my mom's car...hoping that this car repair isn't severe and cost me a fortune.

Weekend Mishaps

If there was such a thing as a re-do button to start over the weekend, I would so push that button now. The weekend sucked. There were some nice points to the weekend but not many.

Mishaps:

I got up early to go to an exercise class but drove to the wrong recreation center. By the time I figured it out, it was pointless to drive to the rigght center since I'd miss a good part of the class.

I went to get an oil change on the car and the mechanic wasn't there. I waited and decided to just leave my key and car there and have them call me when it's done. Three hours later, the mechanic is telling me that I may have an oil AND coolant leak. Great! Just what I needed. Some potentially expensive repair on my old dilapitated car. Can't really afford an expensive repair...or a new car right now. So I am worried.

I drove around to a kabillion stores looking for a storage solution for all my crafty supplies and good but cheap high thread count sheets...and found nothing. Frustrated!!

Finally got home and was dying to check emails and blogs and couldn't. Something happened with my wireless. I could connect in my "office" which is a converted closet I made into an office so is very small and claustrophobic. I don't like working in there really. I couldn't figure out what was wrong and techy computer problems make me anxious and stressed out. I asked my apartment manager to help me and he saved the day. Yay! But he lectured me about not writing important information in a place where I can find it later. Ummm, yea. The "office" is where I throw all the junk that needs sorting. There is more junk than I have time to sort through so it's a little scary in there. The whole router had to be reconfigured. Thank goodness he's techy because I may have blown a vein figuring it out on my own.

I wanted to check out art at Fabric 8 and I thought I knew where it was but apparently the store I thought was Fabric 8 was something else entirely and I was lost and confused in the Mission. It helps to look things up online before heading out of the house. Sheesh!

I had to entertain a nice, but amazingly shy guy. I wonder how I become a magnet for this type. They are nice...don't get me wrong...but I can't help wanting exciting too. The meetup wasn't bad but it wasn't great either.

Since the weekend was so crazy and I was running around looking for stuff I couldn't find, the sitching agenda got blown and I've barely worked on my January BC Snapper. It isn't even worth a snap since all I have done is the light blue border and maybe a third of the snowman. It is so boring and tedious stitching in white!!

The Cool Stuff

I met up with my friend Claire and we went to Rose's Cafe for brunch. We got there early enough that there was no wait and the potato hash and strong coffee was the perfect way to start my day. Eggs and potato make this girl very happy and I was able to sneak a couple of bites of Claire's french toast for a little bready sweetness. Everything was so good! We waked to Fort Mason and that was when I remembered I should have brought my camera to take and share pictures but I have been so scattered lately that I forgot. We were heading to the Renegade Craft Fair. It was cool to see what people create. A lot of things were cool, some were weird and some were quite original. I love looking at crafty stuff but I am choosy about what I buy since clothes are hard to pick out if you can't try them on and I am allergic to most metals in jewelry and I can make most textile related stuff so it's gotta be cool and something I can't make in order for me to pull out my wallet. I walked away with some very cute flat cards for writing notes and Claire bought a very cool cloth tote bag.

I did laundry. It's boring but having clean undies is very important!

So the mishaps far outnumbered the "cool stuff" this weekend. Where is that damn re-do button?!

Letter to the Cheater

It took me a few days to draft a short email to S, The Cheater. I didn't want to ignore him. He'd just think I had lost interest or gotten sidetracked emailing with someone else. I wanted S to know that I found him out and that if I so wanted to, I could contact his wife and rat him out as to his anticipated infidelities. So this is what I wrote...

S,

I have strong suspicions that you are married. I didn't realize that I had to be specific in my post that only single and available men should reply to me considering the venue in which I posted is supposed to be geared towards dating and long-term relationships. Married men are supposed to be done with dating and have obviously found their long term relationship if they are wearing a wedding ring. I highly resent the fact that you have wasted my time. I am a pretty busy lady and don't have time for stupid games from unavailable men. I am looking for someone honest and true who I can feel comfortable sharing things with and that so obviously isn't you. If you are not happy within your marriage, you should definitely talk it out with your wife. Most of my friends have told me I should advise her that you are trolling on CL but I don't need to put myself in that situation.

Please do not contact me...I don't have time to waste on married men.

Valerie

So far so good. I haven't heard from him. I did, however, meet the other guy I was talking to during the weekend and he is so unbelievably shy. I'm really looking for someone who can take the lead in a relationship instead of me always being the dominant one. Lately, I don't know how I end up meeting this guys with no game, no action, no nothing. It's so amazingly frustrating and I have pretty much reached the end of my patience for this segment of my life. I feel lonely despite keeping myself really busy. I just want to meet someone I can relate to who I'm attracted to and who is attracted to me to hang out with and enjoy some fun "recreational" activities. I'm still pretty aware of what I deserve so I'm not yet willing to settle for just anyone but this waiting and being patient game is not working to my advantage. I'm going to act like an ostrich now and bury my head in the sand....

Birthday Gift for BossLady

Last night, we threw BossLady a surprise birthday bbq. I think we had her fooled until her husband drove into the parking lot and she saw all the company cars in the lot. Ack! Well, what are we to do? She was pretty surprised and happy at the bbq and there was lots of food and drink. I went home sleepy and full. Good way to end the day. I managed to whip "Woof" into a small flatfold and Ta-Da...here is what it looks like. I decided to tackle making a bow and used Vonna's tutorial. Vonna is a lifesaver with those tutorials in guiding a new finisher like me to create some cute things like Woof shown below.

Lizzie*Kate Woof Flip-It

28 count Light Mocha Cashel

Recommended threads - WDW, GAST and DMC

Finished as Flatfold

Here is the side view. I really liked the ribbon I used for the bow and the backing fabric. Can you see it? The backing fabric is a cream color with hearts, bones and pawprints. It is very cute! I did have problems joining the trim on the bottom because it began to fray at a crazy speed. I had to use lots of glue to get it back in order so now there is a little bump. But at least that is on the bottom. BossLady seemed to really like it and I also gave her some dark chocolate and strong mints as well.

Now my obligatory stitching is all done and accomplished and it's time for selfish stitching. Instead of working on Santa or Fairy Moon (like I should), I decided to start a new project, the Bent Creek Snappers. I started it this past week but have only managed the border on the January square. I'll share a snap after the weekend to show my progress as I definitely have stitching in the weekend agenda. Yay!

Oh and please keep the state's firefighters in your thoughts. California is in bad shape and my department is now in it's 5th deployment since May. I really wish that it rained in the summer here...

Happy weekend everyone!

Christmas in July Exchange From Becca

On Monday, I received a package from Becca for the Christmas in July exchange. It contained a cute mitten christmas ornament along with some goodies like christmas light trim, buttons, the Lizzie*Kate January Flip-It, some Vicki Clayton silk Perle in lovely colors and some bath beads and shower gel.
Becca, thank you for a lovely exchange! This Christmas in July Group was a cool mix of ladies.

Woof

I finished a small project that I have yet to transform into a cute birthday present for my boss at work. She is a huge dog fanatic and I thought that the Lizzie*Kate "Woof" Flip-it would be really cute for her. Below is a snap of the completed stitching. I think it came out very cute and I really like the combination of colors. Sorry, the snap is so wrinkled.
The Boss Lady has always commented on my stitching and how much she wishes "she can do that". I tried teaching her once but I guess trying to teach someone needlework after they've had a couple of cosmos isn't all that bright. Shoot....cosmos never stop me from stitching! Perhaps having her own piece to study will inspire her. I'm hoping to turn this into a pinkeep or a flatfold. I'll be sure to share the final product once I'm done with the transformation.

Little Hat

A few weeks ago, I got an email from my friends, The Ms, announcing that they are expecting their first baby...and it's a boy. Yay!! I love announcements like that even though babies scare the bejeezus out of me. I love babies and think they are totally cute...when they are quiet and clean. But that's besides the point. Yay...The Ms are having a baby and when I get this type of announcement, the knitting needles must come out! So I got to making one of my little infamous umbrella trim baby hats. I had hoped to give it to them personally when I saw them a couple of weeks ago but seeing I had just started the hat the night before, I just couldn't meet that self-imposed deadline. I whipped it up soon after and sent this to them in the mail.
I received an email from Mr. M saying that they received the hat and that they really liked it. Oh, that made me really happy. Mrs. M thinks the hat was very cute but I think the size of the hat was an eye-opening reality check for Mr. M. I hope it didn't scare him too much. A baby hat or as he called it, "little hat" is pretty darn small.

Since The Ms don't live that far, I may have to make Baby M my guinea pig for baby knitting patterns. I like making baby things but since I don't have a baby, I'm not sure how accurate these patterns translate to the average baby. Maybe Baby M can be my baby model!

Congratulations to The Ms. May November bring them much joy.

Dating Purgatory

Ha! This will make my old friends happy...my friends who tuned in for the crazy dating stories way back when, when I was truly a serial dater. Now I'm a recovering serial dater who still keeps her big toe in the dating pool but would rather be at home blasting music and stitching. Apparently, all I'm missing are the six cats but whatever. Don't my friends know I'd rather have six dogs than one cat?! Oh shoot, maybe I shouldn't have said that...there are a lot of stitchers out there with cats. Sorry...I didn' t mean anything bad about the cats.

Since I've taken my profile down from Match, I've tried not to think about dating and it's been pretty successful what with all the exchange deadlines and exercise classes I've been taking. I get home and barely have time to eat, shower, answer my friends' emails, stitch and blog once in a while. Dating guys...eh. Not totally into it. On the nights when I get antsy because I am yet again at home on a Friday or Saturday night, I will slum it and post an ad on that list there that our dear friend Craig manages. I've met people who have met off of Craig's list as well as Match and they are great couples. Apparently, I must be doing something wrong and exuding vibes that attract all sorts of guys than the type I would actually be attracted to.

That's not to say that there haven't been some decent meetups off of Craig's list. M was a match up through Craig but in the end, he was a self-centered pansy and drove me crazy. Yea, I said pansy...he was. The last guy I met through Craig was another M. He has no car which means that I've been the "guy" dropping him off at home. Not my idea of ideal. Not to mention he keeps suggesting that we meet up when I'm in the city which doesn't really work for me since I head to the city because I ALREADY have plans. Plus, he sounds like a muppet. I'm still trying to figure out which one. Ha! And I thought my voice was unique!

Off the same post, I was emailed by this guy, S. S sounded cool...seemed to like the same things I did and even admitted to being an old soul. In his last email to me, he sent me a link to his fairly political (i.e. boring) blog. I like to remain as anonymous as possible for as long as I can so my correspondance never has my last name nor any way for it to track back to me. If I feel ready and safe, I will share that with the potential suitor later. So no worries friends, I am a very careful online dater because of situations like this. Because there are crazy people (like S) and cautious people (like me). I love Google! Google is my friend and whoever invented it is a f-n genius! I will google guys I may go out with to see if their story matches up with what they've told me. This has come from having been stalked, approached my current girlfriends who are upset with their cheating boyfriends (I had no clue these guys have girlfriends seeing as they're using a dating site) and being completly lied to. I really do have enough material to write my own novel on the horrors of dating. Since S sent me the link to his blog, I briefly scanned it and saw that his username is different than his real name. So I googled that and found a huge array of applicable sites. Near the top of the list was Myspace. I hate Myspace but if it gives me more info, I shall follow and lo' and behold, S is listed as "married" and "proud parent". Ummm, what?! So I figure out who the wife is since she is in the number one spot and there are a bunch of pictures of both S and the wife at their wedding and their honeymoon and at Halloween and at Christmas and with her kid. Ummm, what the heck is a married guy doing trolling for girls on a dating site/section set aside for potential relationships?! It makes me so mad! All that wasted time emailing him when he's not actually available! What are men even thinking?!

I sadly had already sent S an email before I made this discovery so now I am waiting on pins and needles for him to email me back so I can TELL HIM OFF. Oh yea, I will. He is married, with a step-daughter and a wife who seemingly wants loads of his kids. If he doesn't want that, he needs to tell her instead of fooling around with unsuspecting women who don't bother googling his ass. I will completely relish in giving him a piece of my mind should he dare to write me back.

Now, I am left with just one other guy to chat with via email and we are both taking it slow. If he runs the course of S, I will act like an ostrich and bury my head in the f-n sand. The sand has got to be better than dating purgatory.

Cute Threadholders

During an episode of blog trolling a little while back, I saw that all these stitchy bloggers were buying cool threadholders from Monique so I, of course, had to jump on that bandwagon. When I first looked, she didn't have any available that caught my eye but I knew she would be making more soon since her Etsy shop almost was out! I looked back a few days later and these jumped out as being completely me. Always the dreamer...chasing my dreams and seeing if they will come true...ever hopeful. I bought one clear "dream" one and an opaque "daydream" one with blue, green and white bubbles. I love them! And as a thank you, Monique included a skein of Vikki Clayton silk. I didn't know there would be thread in the package though and my letter opener sliced through parts of the skein. Oops!! But it's still useable and I can't wait to find a little project to try out this yummy silk. Thanks Monique...these threadholders are so cute!

Christmas in July Exchange

I saw that Nic posted on the Christmas in July board that she received the exchange that I sent to her. I am very glad that it arrived safely and that she liked it! I saw that she is a big Lizzie*Kate fan so I decided to stitch her the Joy ornament that appeared in the Just Cross Stitch Magazine Ornaments Edition in 2007. I think it is very cute and was eager to stitch it. Below is the exchange in it's entirity. I also included the Heart in Hand "Herbert" chart, DMC needles, a handful of DMC floss in christmasy colors, a piece of christmas backing fabric and some See's lollipops and funny christmas card which are not in the picture. This was my first ornament finish and I like how it came out.

Lizzie*Kate Joy Ornament

2007 Just Cross Stitch Magazine Ornaments Edition

28 count Tasted Almond w/charted WDW

Quaker Mouse Has Landed in the UK!

I received a lovely email from Carol R. in the UK saying that the Quaker Mouse I stitched up for her for the Quaker Inspired exchange made it to the UK safely. Whew!! I was so scared that this would be the package that would mysteriously disappear within the crazy postal system. I was so relieved it made it there in one piece and that Carol liked it. Yay!! That made me so happy.

Carol and I have become good friends within the past few months and she had talked me into joining this exchange. It didn't take much convincing though! We had both talked about the different Quaker Animals and how we thought the Mouse was so cute. Next thing I know, the moderator emailed me saying Carol R. was my partner! It was very hard keeping it a secret since I usually talk about all my exchanges with Carol! I was very excited but nervous to have Carol as my partner since I am very new to finishing and she is a super expert. I decided to stitch up the Quaker Mouse and make it into a flatfold. This was the first quaker pattern I've stitched and I really enjoyed the design. I didn't really envision how it would turn out until I made a trip to Britex, the super duper huge fabric and notions shop in the city. There I found some super Batik fabric and after staring at the wall of trim for about an hour and trying different combinations, my eyes landed on the funky ribbon trim and the snapshot entered my imagination. That was it! Here is what the flatfold looks like.

The Workbasket Quaker Mouse

32 count Vintage Light Examplar

Caron Waterlilies Silk in Flagstone

Finished as Flatfold with batik fabby and ribbon trim

I included some extras to make this exchange extra special for Carol. I sent her the Samplers and Such "A Spot of Tea I" chart with some coordinating Gloriana silk, some fancy french Bohin needles, a magnetic notepad, some cosmos flowers seeds and yummy chocolate bars. I had so much fun stitching and finishing Quaker Mouse. So glad you enjoyed your exchange Carol!

Quaker Cat Has Arrived!

Last Wednesday, I came home today to find a huge box in my apartment! I was a little surprised as the box was huge and I was expecting a stitchy order in the mail but nowhere near enough to fill up such a big box.
But then my poor ailed eyes saw that it said Quaker Exchange on the box! I received my Quaker Inspired exchange from Margie. Oh my! She spoiled me. She stitched me up Quaker Cat on a very pale green linen and finished it up in a lovely green box. It is lovely. This is the first box I've ever received so I will be sure to study it. She did such a great job and the green cording and tassel are perfect!

Plus she filled the box with goodies. She sent me a couple of pieces of backing fabric, charms, 2 skeins of Vikki Clayton silk that I've been curious about, M Designs Rose Mosaic Needle Roll chart, a box set of a tape measure, pin cushion/threader and needlecase that looks very interesting and Altoids. I feel very spoiled. Wow...what a wonderful day to end a long day filled with work, an exercise class and a climb up 50 stairs! Thank you so much Margie!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Fifty-three years ago today, my mom and dad got married at La Iglesia Merced in Granada, Nicaragua. The church is pictured below. Today, they are in Granada so I can't celebrate with them and most likely they are quibbling with each other and have forgotten that they have been together for so long. They never were much for anniversaries but 53 years together is a very long time and I didn't want the day to go by undocumented.
La Iglesia Merced is a beautiful structure that has stood in the same spot for many years through political upheaval and revolution. I suppose the black patina is a testimant to all it has witnessed.

Three years ago, in 2005, we (the kids) decided to throw mom and dad a big party to celebrate fifty years of marriage. This involved a big family reunion as there are many relatives and most are in Nicaragua. So we saw a lot of relatives we hadn't seen in years, had mom and dad do a renewal of vows at La Iglesia Merced at the same tiny alter they said their vows at 50 years prior and threw them a big party at what is considered the "country club" over there. The renewal of vows was very special and at that moment, as I watched my parents, I realized that despite all the quibbling that I listened to all those years, they really loved and depended on each other. I guess quibbling is just a normal part of marriage...at least for them.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

My Neighborhood Was Taken Over!

On Sunday, my neighborhood was taken over by crazy cyclists!! This happens every year. There is this event called "Centurion" or something like that every June and they map out this bicycle course through the downtown area of the city that I live in. It is madness since downtown in pretty busy on the weekends as it is and then they block off areas so the congestion moves to other areas of the city...like my block! I was basically homebound for a good part of the afternoon since I did not want to lose my parking spot and also didn't want to drag all my laundry and packages to my car which was parked pretty far as it is due to all the crazy congestion. After my workout and a pit stop at the nearby farmers' market to pick up fresh goodies, I went back home to grab my camera so I could take a couple of snaps to share. Here they are coming around a bend. Can you see? There are a lot of them!!

And here they go around the other bend. They move fast!

I'm a little bummed that I did not have my camera for the kiddie section of the race. It was cute seeing all these little kids on their tiny racing bikes. Usually Centurion is children in the morning and then adults in the late(r) morning. Even though it was fun to see...I was happy when my neighborhood returned back to normal!

New Toy for Me!

I finally hopped on the bandwagon and got this new toy. Do you see it? It's an 8G iPod Nano! I've always been the last one to jump on any gadget bandwagon. Digital cameras, mp3 players, Tivo, etc. Recently, the IT Department at my job is cracking down on broadband streaming so I wasn't going to be able to listen to internet radio at work. Oh my gosh! It may as well be the end of the world! I need music in order to get through my workday. Music is like a white noise to me at work...it drowns out any pesky little sounds coming from other areas of the office and I play what I like which is typically big band, jazz, 60s brit-pop, 80's and anything else that is NOT Top 40, rap, new country, R&B and most electronica. Yes, I am 32 and listen to music most people identify with older folks. I need that music to survive my 9 hour workday in front of a computer! When the music restriction came down, I knew I needed an iPod since I could them plug it in through the computer speakers and listen to my music all day and you know what?! It's the best thing I've done in a long time! I absolutely love this little music gadget. I still need to learn how to use it properly but it responds to my non-techy commands.
Here is the nano (not sure what that reflection is) posed with my red Fantasia Centaurette. She is so vain! She is always looking at herself in that mirror!

The Mom Project...Unveiled

Wow, I actually have a stitchy picture to show. It's a miracle! This is actually an oldie but goodie now. Here is the final framed Love You Mom by Bent Creek sampler that I made my mom for Mother's Day. I was so frazzled when I picked this piece up from the framers and gave it to my mom, that I forgot to take a picture. And then each time I've gone to my parent's since, I kept forgetting the camera. But this time I remembered! My mom immediately put it up on the wall after I gave it to her and so the background is blah since my parents have boring white walls.

Love you Mom by Bent Creek

32 count Lakeside Linens Vintage Light Examplar

Recommended Threads with the following exceptions:

WDW Hazelnut instead of GAST Harvest Basket

WDW Chestnut instead of WDW Cocoa

Frame: Goldish Metallic w/lattice pattern

Growing Nyokkis

Wow...look how much Froggie and Chickee have grown! And this picture was taken last week. Truly behind on blogging here. I can't believe how fast the Nyokkis are growing! You will notice that the Eggling is sadly absent from the picture. The last heatwave made my front room such a sundrenched sauna that the eggling almost died! I knew something like that would happen! I rushed it to a shadier darker room in the apartment and gave it lots of water and love and urged it to live and thank goodness...it did. It's resusitated and is slowly growing again.
But here are the smiling Nyokkis. I've since moved the Nyokkis to the darker room since they were starting to look a little fried too. That front room just gets so much sun! I'll post another progress pic soon to include the Eggling.

NiaH Meetup

Yesterday, I had a very special meetup planned. I was to meet Edgar! The last time I was at NiaH a couple of weeks ago, Mary told me I had missed Edgar by three hours. That was it! I couldn't handle being so close to another stitchy blogger and not know them so I emailed Edgar and asked if he was willing to meet me at NiaH the next time he needed to go as I would love to meet him. I figured NiaH was neutral territory and Mary would be there to protect him in case he thought I may be a loony and plus she could vouch for me and tell him I was cool and seriously, non-loony. So Saturday was the day and I was excited! The minute I stepped into the shop, we were stuck to each other like glue. We chatted and chatted and chatted and would take a few minutes to look around and grab something and we would chat and chat and chat again! The next thing we knew, we had blown two hours and had to go refill the parking meters. We were both chatty cathies and I loved every minute of it. Despite all the chatting, we did managed to get a bit of shopping done and I did truly selfish shopping this time around. Below is my haul:
I came out of NiaH with the La-D-Da Zippity Do Da chart as well as the Heart in Hand Mr Byrd chart as I love snowmen! I bought a half yard of some 32 count linen for my Bent Creek Snappers project and have some leftover for some smalls which will be nice. I also bought the border snappers for the Snappers project and a couple of skeins of Belle Soie silk to try out in Grape Juice and Sister Scarlett. These shades are just lovely and it feels divine! Oh and I can't wait to get started on selfish stitching. Just one more gift to make.

So NiaH was loads of fun and I am so happy to have met Edgar and know another stitchy exchange blogger in real life. Thanks for making the time for me Edgar!

Buh-Bye Packages

Oh Dear Mr. Postman...please guard these packages and treat them as your own. I've put a lot of time, thought and love into these exchanges and gifts and I so want them to arrive safely to my recipients and in one piece. I greatly fear that they'll get lost and if they do..I will totally cry.

Buh-bye packages...I hope you are loved as much as I love you.

Random Thoughts

It's still so busy and I have loads of thoughts racing through my head...and of course, no stitchy progress or pictures outside of the exchanges I will be mailing out very, very soon.

I am so tired that I could probably fall asleep at my desk, sitting up right this minute...like right now. I've cancelled my workout appointment for this evening so I can literally fall into bed. There is plenty of other stuff I can and need to do but my body is telling me, in a very annoying way, that I had better take it easy and get a good night's sleep for once. I think I had better listen.

I'm getting a little tired of how my blog look and am trying to pick a new template but can't seem to find anything that totally feels like me and that I'd want me and my readers to look at everyday. I wonder if anyone has a good lead on blog templates or an inexpensive web designer who would be patient with a simple but non-techy customer.

How the heck do people work out everyday and still have the time and energy for work, dating, family, kids, cleaning and cooking? I can barely handle working out 4 times a week. Three times a week is manageable.

I need to find a good storage system for my cross stitch and finishing supplies because now I end up trashing my place each time an exchange is due to find the pins, fabric, trim, scissors and such from my current big supply bin. I need something with drawers or compartments that are easy to get too and easy to see. This will be an upcoming project.

There is way too much fun stuff going on in the city and not enough time.

I don't understand how come my recent dating prospects are carless. Ummm, that makes dating difficult is I'm the one who is playing the "guy role". I've played it before and it gets old fast. I would feel lost without a car and even had one the whole time I actually lived in the city limits. This now makes me feel like I have to go through the series of questions that Lisa Kudrow's character asks of her dating prospects in P.S. I Love You. Which was a cute chick flick by the way.

I've been on a little shopping spree and can't wait for the mailman to visit my apartment. I am waiting for an Ott-lite task lamp delivery from Joann's, some threadholders from Monique, lots of overdyed floss from Stitching Bits and Bobs since they were having a sale and some Bar Method dvds I bought through eBay. Ohhh...lots of stuff....better lay off the spending.

And I can't wait til Friday...is it Friday yet?!

Gah! So Busy!

Things have once again gotten so busy that I have reached that stressed out, scatter-brained mode where I feel like a million things are coming at me at once. So blogging has taken a backseat. But I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel so that's a relief. I have something to look forward to now.

Let's see...what has been keeping me so busy. It doesn't seem like much but what there is, has been time consuming. Work has gotten ever busier. Since my last blog post about the Humboldt wildfire, the guys came back in one piece to only have us send different guys to the Watsonville Fire and then back up to Humboldt. As we are short staffed already because of us helping out other districts, our own city experienced three structure fires. As I said before, this will be a bad fire season. As I stepped out of my apartment building this morning, I smelled smoke. The smoky air was not because of a fire anywhere near me, it was just because of all the wildfires in Northern California. The wind is bringing the smoky air this way with it's charred wood scent. With all these deployments and structure fires comes more paperwork and personnel tracking which falls on my desk. So my already paper-ridden desk is becoming a crazy messy mountain of paperwork. I knew I should have organized my desk earlier! Bar Method is also keeping me busy since I am trying to get maximum results and am going to classes 3-4 times a week. My one month "trial" offer is over this coming Sunday and I am debating whether I will sign up for a normal membership or try other exercise options as Bar Method is very, very pricey and I should be putting any extra money into paying down debt and/or saving some money...not an exercise program. But I'm apt to completely change my mind despite how logical things seem to be.

Besides work and exercise, I've been housesitting and working on exchange projects or gifts which is why there have been no stitchy project progress pics. Any spare minute I've had lately has gone exclusively into exchange and gift projects. But I will probably be mailing out my exchanges tomorrow or the next day and they shouldn't take too long to be received. Once received...I can show pictures. I can't wait since I am all proud of my projects! I have one more birthday gift project to start and then it's back to regular programming for a while...Valerie's personal project stitching. I am so looking forward to some selfish stitching for a while as I haven't touched my stocking or Fairy Moon in months now. Months!

And dating...yea...I'm slowly taking baby steps back so I reclaim my sanity and ease the feeling of "insanely busy".

What a Fun Idea!

The other day, I was blog surfing and came across this on Simone's blog and thought it was a fantastic idea!

The Concept:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name? Valerie
2. What is your favorite food? Pork Chops
3. What high school did you go to? Mercy High School
4. What is your favorite color? Red
5. Who is your celebrity crush? George Eads
6. Favorite drink? Sidecar
7. Dream vacation? Greece
8. Favorite dessert? Cake...any kind.
9. What you want to be when you grow up? Jetsetter
10. What do you love most in life? True friends
11. One word to describe you: Snarky
12. Your flickr name: Don't have one so I said "Foggy San Francisco" to match up with my blog name of FogCityDweller

1. Valérie, 2. Untitled, 3. Mercy High School, 4. rojo sobre negro (mosaico) / red on black (mosaic), 5. Celebrity-Image-George-Eads-230561, 6. sidecar_350x500.jpg, 7. OIA, handmade houses, 8. coffee and chocolate mousse cake, 9. Zoom, zoom!, 10. Friends silhouetted, 11. SNARKY ON DRUM, 12. SF Sea of Clouds

A Small Request...

As some of you already know, I work with firefighters. It isn't as glamourous or as exciting as most people think. Not for me anyways. They are like annoying older brothers to me and I am like a pesky little sister to them. But despite the annoyances, we are one big dysfunctional second family to each other. And I worry about them...although I probably would never admit that to any of them. The early heatwaves this year have wrecked havoc with the state already. So far, there have been at least 5 wildfires and it's only June! I have a feeling this is going to be one bad year. We've sent some of our guys to the Summit Fire about three weeks ago and some came back with stories about the serious conditions there. Today, I came to work to find out six others were sent to the Butte County wildfire. Having guys away from "the nest" makes me nervous. Structure fires are dangerous enough...wildfires are worse. A slight change of the wind and even the most experienced can have mere seconds to develop an alternate course of action. So I ask that you keep these guys in your thoughts and prayers that they come back home safely. And remember to be careful with fire...always be sure candles are blown out, appliances are turned off and that your camping fires are completely smothered.

photo by Jason Halley via Associated Press

Thursday...Friday? Thursday...

It's only Thursday and it so completely feels like Friday. I always feel so disoriented when my body clock thinks it's later than it really is. But then, I have really been working my body a lot more than it's used to. I'm slowly becoming addicted to Bar Method even though it truly kicks my ass. I come out of there walking like an old lady sometimes but it's a good ache. I know I'm working muscles that I have probably never worked out before. Because of the workouts, I come home, eat, shower, check mail and go to sleep. I don't have time for anything else and stitching has definitely been placed on the backseat lately. I don't want stitching on the backseat though. I want to be able to juggle everything...I just need another 2 hands and maybe 4 hours to the day.

I finally was able to start stitching on my quaker animal exchange and decided to check in on that blog and lo and behold...almost everyone is done?! OMG, the deadline is still 18 days away! Now I feel like a slacker and more behind. So I decided to devote this weekend to stitching so I can complete the quaker animal exchange and my christmas in july exchange. When I am not stitching, I will be going to Bar Method, getting my nails done or doing laundry. Those are the things on the weekend agenda.

I also know I am addicted to bar Method when I'd rather exercise than go out on a date. I guess that's good...right?!