Home Therapy

This week has been pretty rough and I am beat! It was hard...knowing *the boy* was leaving to go 3,000 miles away and having to be the one who in a way pushes him away. We both cried our fair share of tears. Both sad and upset at the hand we've both been dealt. The day he was leaving, he asked if he could leave the next day and I had to be the lucid one and say "no". It was already painful. What good would it be to spend one more day together to only go through the same turmoil and emotions the next day? He made it to Rhode Island ok and he's in a funk already about how hot, humid and rainy it is. Oh no, this does not bode well for my upcoming trip!! I don't handle hot, humid or rainy all that well!

We will be apart for five weeks...until I go out for my vacation.

The last couple of days, I have been feeling sad and mopey. No longer is that 6'2" figure on sticks crutching around or chirping in my ear or feeding me. It's quiet...but the quiet is also nice. I haven't felt motivated enough to start my fitness regime. Comfy pants, futon, tv remote and lounging is more my style when I feel blue. I also become restless so it's hard to focus on anything. But these are the things that help me get happy.
My tv remote, netflix, a stitchy project, my current book and a nice beverage. Oops...forgot to put netflix in the picture but you get the idea. All sorts of relaxing type stuff. As you can see...I'm very close to another mini happy dance. Only the border left to stitch on my November block and then I only have one. more. block. to. stitch. OMG...I can't believe I made it this far especially after my whole border derailment! Once this project is done, I am most likely adding the Newton's baby announcement and Mary Wigham to the rotation. Poor Fairy Moon will have to wait a little longer until I can fully concentrate on her.

Ok...going to go finish that border tonight! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Until next time...

Moving Right Along

I don't have a lot to say but do have progress to share. I completed the October block of my Bent Creek Snappers. Only two more blocks to go and I'll be all done! Woo!
The weekend has been pretty uneventful. Lots of errands trying to get *the boy* ready for his trip on Tuesday. We did go try a new place in the city yesterday. *The boy* was craving pizza and so we went to try Tony's Pizza Napoletana in North Beach. I wasn't really in the mood for pizza but went along for the ride and we had the calamari which was some of the freshest calamari I've had in a long, long while. Tony is famous for his margherita pizza so we went for that and *the boy* was a total piggie and had four slices! For him to eat that much, it has to be good! We also ordered a stromboli to go which ended up being dinner tonight. That was also pretty tasty so this will be a spot to come to later on.

Today was a lazy day. I could barely muster up the energy to go to the grocery store and around 4pm, I got a teaspoon worth of energy to get out of the house and run a couple of errands. I'm hoping I'll be a little more energetic tomorrow otherwise, it will be a long and trying day.

Well, better go...want to put more stitches into my November block! :)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Until next time...

Tuesdays Are My Stitchy Night

Thanks the wonderful and supportive comments on my last post. *The boy* and I are handling the news well and getting things into gear. I have my moments of feeling blue and that usually makes stitching hard. I can't really stitch if I'm all bummed out. I sleep more and try to wacth tv or read.

Sooo...with that being said, I've only made a little bit of progress on my BC Snappers shown below. I was happy to work with a color other than green for a bit but am back to the green since I had to use it for the stem and am just getting the border out of the way for now. It is also time for the Totally Useless SAL reporting. Seriously...where does the time go?! Here's my progress so far. It always seems like I haven't been doing any stitching when I see a picture of my jar! But you can see the green with a little orange sprinkled on top. Those have been the main colors lately.
And a picture *the boy* took. I told him to play photographer while I was at work so he provided the photos for this post. He liked seeing the fog rolling in. Means no whining on his part about how the apartment is so hot but I love me some fog and will always welcomingly accept it.
*The boy* booked his ticket and leaves next Tuesday night...so it will not be a stitchy night and I will be taking a break from "regular programming". I'm a bit sad, a bit happy, a bit tired and a bit apprehensive about the whole thing but I know that I will be keeping myself busy between work, housesitting and finding the motivation to get back into a healthy portion/good exercise regime while he is gone (and not trying to plump me up like a thanksgiving turkey!). I'll be heading out for a visit at the end of August. Even scored a $99 (each way) fare to Boston. Cheap!! So I am excited about visiting a bit of the world I haven't seen and discovering what stitchy goodness I can discover there. I already know and have been warned I will be eating my way through the tri-state area. May as well lose those 10 pounds now so I can gain them back later! Haha!

Again, thanks for the support and giving me a virtual shoulder to cry on and vent my frustrations. I greatly appreciate it and promise more stitchy progress soon!

Until next time...

News...Not So Good

The title says it all. The news from the doctor was not so good.

The bone stimulation machine is working but very, very slowly.

The verdict: eight more weeks on crutches and to continue using the bone stimulation machine.

*The boy* will be buying his plane ticket to spend 6 weeks of that time back home in Rhode Island.

It was not the news we wanted to hear but we are trying to look at the upside. He gets to spend time with family and be coddled by the mom. I get some time to myself and a little space back from the constant togetherness I was so not ready for. Plus, I have a reason to see what Rhode Island is all about. I've never been to the East Coast before so this will be my first taste of it. If anyone has some cool needlework shop recommendations around Rhode Island, Massachusetts or New York, let me know! I'll be going to visit sometime next month.

If things have not healed at the end of these eight weeks...surgery...and it all starts over again. Yea...not so good.

Thanks for hanging in there with me and sending your good thoughts my way. We both appreciate whatever good mojo people have to offer. Lots of hugs to everybody!

I'll probably be offline for the next few days...to you know...let it all sink in. Despite resigning myself to this before the appointment, it's all just a little sad.

Until next time...

Tuesdays Are My Stitchy Night

Usually...

Except for tonight...

Because we're having a heatwave...again.

I received emails from *the boy* all day about how hot it was in the apartment and how he was "melting into a puddle" and just basically hot, tired, grumpy and dying to be anywhere else than home because it was just too hot. I felt for him. It gets really hot in my apartment during heatwaves and I don't have any air conditioning. I'm lucky to work in aircon all day!

So after work, I picked him up and took him to the mall. He needed some basic boy necessities and I needed girlie moisturizing stuff. So we went to do the necessary errands and relish in air conditioning. *The boy* was so happy to be out of the house and go to the mall...he was actually waiting for me all ready at the curb. He *hates* shopping but I guess he hates the heat even more! So he bought boy stuff and I bought my girl stuff plus...a pair of very nice heels. I didn't have any interview, nice night out, potential funeral basic black heels and so I invested in some really nice ones. And after the shopping *the boy* treated me to CPK and frozen yogurt.

So we were successful in our attempt to shop and cool off but I couldn't keep to my Tuesday stitchy agenda. Oh well...I only managed to stitch some plain border. Not exciting enough to warrant a picture. Perhaps later this week.

*The boy's* follow up appointment is Thursday. He is dreading it...a tad scared to hear any more potential bad news. Please think happy thoughts for him. We'd both appreciate it.

Hope you're all staying cool and relishing in air-con...that's if you're in heatwave mode like us.

Until next time...

Weekend Happenings

What a weekend! Lots and lots of happenings to talk about so hopefully I don't bore anyone. The most fun item on the agenda for the weekend was going to NiaH for a Stitchers by the Bay yahoo get together. I joined the group about two or three months ago but this was the first time that I went to a get together or met anyone from the group. I was a total newbie and the funny thing is that I am the third *Valerie* in the group! It's been a long time since I've been in the same room with another Valerie...let alone two others! I think a fun time was had by all and I got to meet Lisa and Natasha there too! I was on hyper overload. It had been over two months since my last visit to the shop and I was a shopping fiend, not to mention meeting lots of new people, hearing funny stories and seeing loads of beautiful work and finishing! It was just such an amazing day! I had such fun and despite my crazy shopping, I didn't buy out the store. Maybe next time though! I had to put my Mary Wigham fabric on order so I will be making another trip shortly. Oh, can't wait!

On Sunday, I heard from Anna who was my exchange partner for the HoE Christmas in July exchange that I was so tardy on. I cannot believe it arrived in Norway in only one week! One week...can you believe it?! Norway is really far! I received a sweet email from Anna saying she loved everything I sent her. I was so happy! I stitched her up a cute Santa ornie and a floss tag. Below is the front side:

Prairie Schooler Santa Ornament
Gift of Stitching e-Magazine
32 count Antique Ivory Belfast w/Recommended DMC
Finish: pillow ornament w/green Mill Hill glass beads

Floss Tag
Motif taken from Peppermint Twist - Blue Ribbon Designs
32 count Antique Ivory Belfast w/Recommended WDW

And here is the back of the ornie and floss tag:
And here is everything I included in the package. I was happy to find some California natural lemon drops at my local neighborhood candy shop for Anna as she said lemon is her favorite flavor! I also included ribbon, needles, backing fabric, threads and a couple of small charts. So happy she liked everything. As a funny sidenote to my exchange, my friend Claire and *the boy* both saw me working on the floss tag. They would look at the tag, look at me and be all skeptical. I had to explain that I wasn't rudely calling dear Anna a ho(e) but that the abbreviation for Hooked on Exchanging was HoE and we all referred to it as that. They didn't really buy the explanation and I was hoping Anna wouldn't get offended but she seemed to like both pieces.

Other cool weekend stuff.

I reached my goal on Sunday of having the border up to September all done. I am all caught up! Yay! Here's how it looks so far. It's hard getting a decent picture of it since it's so long!

Here's my attempt at an artistic shot. I really love those July birdies! This was taken before I finished off the border...as you can tell. I think I will keep on keeping on with the Snappers for the week. I really like the October block and seem to be on a roll. It will be nice to work with other autumnal colors...you know...other than the blasted green!

And the perfect ending to a great weekend? On Sundays, we, me and *the boy*, like having a low-key dinner at home. He cooks and I get to stitch. I had asked him last week if he could make bread salad. He says bread stuffing...I say bread salad. We go back and forth. He doesn't get it so I say, "bread salad like they make with the roast chicken at Zuni!" And then he understood. Zuni makes awesome bread salad and roasted chicken...it is very, very good as well as very expensive. I had the wonderful chance at trying it with AM last year and she blogged about it here. Now that I am dating this total foodie, "I went to culinary school" boyfriend, I like challenging him once in a while. He tells me I have to eat better and stop laying off the popcorn. So this was my attempt at eating healthier.
And here is it. Bread salad and roasted chicken a la Zuni. It was pretty yum...crispy skin, tender meat, soaked bread with crispy outsides, toasted pinenuts, sweet currants and the bitter kick from the arugala. It was pretty spot on and I'm not just saying that. Mr. I Went to Culinary School sometimes has disasters and I end up eating popcorn. I wish there was more bread salad!! Wow, it was really good.

And that was the end to a great weekend! I hope everyone had a great weekend too.

Until next time...

Tuesdays Are My Stitchy Night

No pictures and no real progress to share since my last post. I've continued the border up to the March block but have until September to do and am trying to intermix threads from different skeins of Dried Thyme to make the new border section blend more with the old border section. To be honest...it's kind of a pain in the a**, but that's ok. The border actually goes pretty fast.

Last night was fairly disappointing. *The boy* lost his contracting gig and he is back to square one...again. It's really frustrating to me because all I've known is this really nice guy who tells me he can take care of himself but it's something I haven't really seen in the 10 months I've been seeing him. So I'm cranky and frustrated and annoyed and pretty much running on fumes in the patience department. He's frustrated because his bad luck is running amock for some reason and he is still stuck on crutches. So again...we had the conversation about the *what if's* surrounding his upcoming doctor's appointment.

What if the doctor says the healing is coming along and he's off the crutches? He stays and goes to every interview he can to find another job and move out of my place to get his own place. I am craving space and frankly, to go from crazy serial dater who is strongly independent to immediate live-in, practically marriage with no chance at having an entire day to myself in my own apartment is killing me. Like seriously. It's too much at one time. I'm surprised I haven't gone running to the hills screaming.

What if the doctor says the leg is not healing? *The boy* is getting on a plane back to the east coast to spend time with family and have a stronger support system. As much as I have done, *I* am the only one who has done anything. His friends deserted him when he needed the most help and I'm pretty much at the end of my rope and super pissed at his friends that I can spit nails! So, he would leave until it either healed or after any surgery he might need and he says he'll come back to SF. Frankly, after this whole scenario, I'm too wiped out to even think about jumping on the dating bandwagon for a really long time. If anything, I'll have plenty of time to stitch!

I'm hoping to distract myself enough to not think about the *what if's* until next Thursday so maybe I'll actually get some good progress done on this border before the start of the weekend.

On a happier note, Violarium and Patti are both having giveaways next week. Hurry and take a look on my sidebar before time runs out! Good luck...

Hope everyone is having a good start to their week!

Until next time...

Vacation: Days Four and Five

Days Four and Five of my vacation were pretty uneventful so I won't bother drawing out the details. The majority of it was spent being lazy, napping, watching bad tv and doing some errands. But the rest was much needed and welcome. I hope that everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! *The boy* and I climbed up to the roof of my building for a private showing of the fireworks three towns over. From the roof, we could just see them. There is this monster tree that blocked a lot of it but we enjoyed seeing them shoot into the sky. I couldn't get a picture to save my life! They came out all blurred so I have nothing to show. *The boy* took a lot with his super fancy schmancy camera but I don't know if any of his came out either. He is as slow as molasses when I ask him to do things like that so maybe I'll surprise you guys later.

The little bit of stitching post-exchange and rr wrap-up was devoted to this blast from the past. Since it seems like I am on a bit of a green trend, I figured I would continue and re-stitch my border. Here is what I have done so far.
Not a lot but a little bit is better than nothing. I think I will devote the week to doing as much as I can with the border. The goal is to make it to the end of September and as you can see, I've made it only to February. Once I hit NiaH on Saturday, I will be way too distracted with a new start or many to focus on boring borders!

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday weekend...

Until next time...

Vacation - Day Three

The plan for Day three was to eat everything that was bad for you but tasted oh so good. There were a few places in the city that I've been dying to try for some time now. So the eating smorgasbord menu was pizza, ice cream and donuts.

A little after noon, we headed into the city for pizza at Pizzeria Delfina. I dropped *the boy* off and headed to park. At my first turn around the block, *the boy* flags me down to tell me that there are 10 people ahead of us on the list and he wanted to leave. He is the most impatient person ever! Doesn't he know that you have to wait for the good things? I sent him back to the line and found parking. No matter what time of day you get to this little spot, there is always a huge crowd of people waiting for a tabe. The place is tiny!!...and totally worth the wait. We were seated at a wonderful sidewalk table and we people watched and chitchatted until out sand dabs came out. They were yum! Then we had our sausage pizza which was super yum! I found I didn't like the pieces that were a little burnt on the bottom (not all were) and so *the boy* ae those. It was a yummy pizza and we ate every bite! We also ordered the stuffed shells with ricotta, anchovy and broccoli rabe to save for dinner. We were so stuffed with the pizza that we didn't eat those shells until very late! We both enjoyed them except for the broccoli rabe. Definitely have to go back to try more things on their menu. We were both bummed that they day we went, they didn't have squash blossoms so perheps on another day!

Next...ice cream at Bi-Rite Creamery just down the block. This place has gotten so many write-ups that I had to go try. *The boy* had cookies and cream with hot fudge. OMG...their fudge is *so* good and for not being the biggest cookies and cream fan, I secretly wish I had ordered that too! I had the salted caramel and toasted coconut. Both really good. Next time...oh yes, there will be a next time...I am getting the almond joy sundae. Toasted coconut ice cream with hot fudge, toasted almonds and whipped cream. Is your mouth watering too?!

And finally...donuts. We were going to buy a couple to save for breakfast the following day since we were pretty stuffed and sleepy at that point. Dynamo Donuts has been talked about all over foodie blogland! We obviously waited too late in the day to score any donuts. The staff wasn't very polite when I walked up and I asked where the donuts were to only be told they had sold out. *sigh*

Probably just as well considering the fried sand dabs, pizza and ice cream. OMG...I can feel the pounds creeping up! haha

*The boy* and I were content and headed home....he took a nap and I intently and determinedly sat down and finished my exchange like a good girl...finally. That's ready to be mailed out now! Whew...so relieved. I just hope my partner likes what I made for her.

And that made for a very full day.

Agenda for Day Four....laundry and fireworks. Yep..I'm loaded with excitement! :)

Until next time...

Vacation - Day Two

Day two of vacation was the type of day where at 8pm, you wonder what the heck happened to the day. Have you ever felt that way? It was fairly uneventful yet busy. The car got a wonderful spa treatment...tune-up, oil change and car wash. For being a 12 year old car, it's looking pretty nice at the moment!

Since I was carless for the better part of the day, I was left with walking everywhere. I walked home from the mechanic which is about a 3/4 mile, then my friend Claire came by and we went on a 2 mile walk around the neighborhood and then 3/4 miles back to the mechanic. Once reunited with the car, I ran some errands and went back home and it was 6pm! Any free time I had was spent on the computer. Amazing how time flies when attached to the internet machine so needless to say, my goal of finishing my exchange has been postponed to Day #3. Boo! So disappointed with myself!

The highlight of my day was receiving my HoE Christmas In July exchange from Jayne. Here's what she sent me.

I received a beautifully stitched christmas tree ornament from Jayne! Stitched over 1 and with beautiful gold beads attached. I love it! It took *the boy* a few minutes to realize that the hidden message of "joy" was imbedded in the stitching. :)
And here is the entire package from Jayne. She included lots of useful things like needles, floss rings, floss bobbins, some metallic threads, a cut of fabric and a cute little kit. Everything will come in quite handy!Jayne, thanks for the wonderful exchange!!

Goal for Day Three of vacation: finish my own exchange which is now late!

Until next time...

Vacation - Day One

So I am officially on vacation but is it really a vacation if you aren't going anywhere or really doing anything? Since I am *so* close to paying off my credit card debt, I didn't want to book a vacation and well...I have a broken down boyfriend at the moment so that pretty much cancels out any vacation I want to take! Touristy siteseeing...hard on crutches! Beach vacation...can you even crutch on sand?! I can't imagine. So I brought a bit of the tropics to me and made some sangria. I *love* sangria but don't usually make it for myself since it's pretty much a "mmmm, tastes like punch and smacks you in the head after a glass" kind of stuff. I don't have any pretty pitchers so I'm stuck ladling it out of a plastic bowl. Note to self: buy a pretty pitcher!
See! Sangria in a bowl. =) Loaded with lemon, oranges, apple and some grapes. And I eat every bit of the booze-soaked fruit...except for the lemon of course! Love, love sangria!
Besides making sangria...and drinking it too. I spent the morning at a doctor's appointment and doing housesitting chores. Bor-ing! Once I settled in after lunch, I devoted my time to this. I finished my section on CarolR's QFRR. Yay! I completed the bottom left section. This is ready to be mailed to the last and final stitcher on this piece.

Carol R's QFRR
35ct Lambswool
HDF Imperialosity and AVAS 1743

The plan for Day Two: Get car repaired and finish christmas exchange. Let's see if I can get those two accomplished without any drama. :)

Until next time...

Fifty Four Years Ago Today

Fifty-four years ago today, my parents got married and have been together ever since!

July 2, 1955

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!

Tuesdays Are My Stitchy Nights

I am procrastinating big time! I always do when I have finishing deadlines. Love stitching...mental block with finishing. I'll get over it. I should be working on my exchange but figured I would be better off working on that during the light of day. I'll be a day or two late getting it in the mail but I think my partner will forgive me! =)

I've been using my procrastinating time working on Carol's QFRR but am too lazy to take it off the qsnaps for a picture. I only have 1.25 motifs to do and will bust through that tomorrow. Woo! Will show it off once it's done and ready to be mailed to Wendy.

I promised to show off my stash. I put in an order with Sew and So in the UK because I decided to do Newton's Little Uns Sampler as the birth announcement for my friend Claire. Newton is a UK-based product and I figured Claire would love the little bear in the tub with the ducky and bath bubbles stuck on his nose. It seemed very "Claire". I will most likely switch out the aida for some linen at my upcoming LNS-shopping spree. Since I had to order from the UK already, I decided to splurge and buy that Elbesee embroidery hoop/seat frame that I mentioned after my RSN Intro to Embroidery Class. I *have* to finish the class project and it would be much easier to complete that and other future projects with this handy little device. Service from Sew and So was amazing! I ordered on a Friday evening and received the package by the following Wednesday! Fast! In the picture below is the Heart in Hand Little Angel in the Clouds chart. This was the chart I won from KarenV's recent chart giveaway. I was so excited to win it as I've seen it stitched up but haven't come across it in shops or online. It is *so* cute! Thanks Karen!
Oh yes, and there is even more stash. I put in an order with Drema because I saw that she had a chart that I was coveting and that led to more buying, or course. I have seen everyone stitching up BBD Beneath the Sunlit Sky and the more I saw it, the more I had to have it! Drema had it so that's what started this order. I also bought BBD Autumn Song, Cricket Collection Rest and Be Thankful and all the overdyed threads for Mary Wigham per The Daily Mel. I'm not sure I will completely stick to the conversion but it's a good start. Fabric for Mary wont be purchased til the aforementioned LNS-shopping spree.Well, I am off to finish that QFRR...that way I have no other excuse to keep procrastinating on my exchange finishing!! Vacation has officially started...loads and loads of stitching on the agenda. I am so excited. Hopefully I do a little road trip too but we'll see.

Until next time...

Nothing Exciting to Report

I wish I had exciting stuff to report. I had grand aspirations for the weekend. I would stitch my heart out and get my exchange done and start on the round robin. I would go check out cars in San Jose. I would drag *the boy* to the eye doctor and find him some new eyeglasses that didn't make him look like an old man (like his old glasses) and had some style.

But there were a couple of hang-ups with my plan.

#1. It was 95 degrees...where I live...which is unimaginable when you live in a 3rd floor walk-up apartment without air conditioning. Yep...95 degrees without air conditioning is not a cool thing. I barely had the energy to hold my q-snap to stitch. Not to mention the mind-splitting migraine I had most of Saturday. Saturday basically took a crapper. We managed to go to the eye doctor and have lunch before the jackhammering started in my head. We headed home and I laid on the futon for the rest of the day with ice on my neck and all the windows open and the fans going just trying to catch the breeze and cool off a little.

#2. Blasted frogs! The little bit I did stitch on the round robin and 2nd half of my exchange needed to be frogged from miscounting. I had really wanted to finish my exchange and make a decent start on the round robin but it was frustrating to get to a certain point and be all excited and then realize I had to frog the whole bit! Stitching was definitely not in my favor this weekend. I will be stitching and finishing a ton this week to catch up.

The only successful thing this weekend was finding *the boy* some cool glasses. And trust me...that took some doing!

So no pictures since there was no stitching and I felt like my head was going to fall off my body with all the jackhammering. I could insert a picture of the Centurion event in my neighborhood....had I taken my camera along with me yesterday. This event happens every year and my neighborhood becomes overrun with bicycling enthusiants. Here are a couple of pictures from last year. *The boy* managed to snag a curb-side table where we could sit and have breakfast and be entertained.

Nothing else new...will have a stash picture to show soon. Because apparently, the only thing that I'm managing to do all that well is shop for new stash!

I have the feeling Stitchy Tuesday will be all about finishing the stitching on my exchange and finishing it. But :::drumroll:::, I'm on vacation starting Wednesday and the plan is to stitch, stitch and stitch some more! Well...that's if all goes according to plan! Now I just need to queue up those chick flicks and my vacation will be just perfect!!

I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Until next time...

Tuesdays Are My Stitchy Night

So Tuesday came and went and I did manage to get a little bit of stitching done but I can't show you what I've been stitching since it's for an exchange. No sneak peeks...sorry! I still have one more week to get this exchange in the mail and there is still so much I want to add. I have the front done. Still need to stitch a back and I wanted to stitch another little something before sending it far, far away. I really want to get the exchange done by this weekend so I can work on the QFRR before my so-called vacation next week.

Even though there are no stitchy pictures, I have other pictures to share. Over the weekend, *the boy* and I went to Costco. He has an unhealthy addiction to blueberries. Yes, I know blueberries are healthy but with as many as he eats, he should be a Boy Smurf by now! Jeezus! Costco is cheap...2 pounds of blueberries for $6. So we walked out with 8 pounds worth. Why? Because we are crazy!! To be honest, we froze about 5 pounds for baking throughout the year and the rest...*the boy* will probably eat without a problem. At Costco, I saw a bunch of bright pink peonies. I love peonies and have been inspired by bloggers who actually have real peonies growing in their garden. Living in a 3rd floor apartment, there is no such thing as "garden"! I bought a bunch and they opened up so fast! They are a bright splash of color in my living room. The next day, *the boy* crutched over to the farmers' market and bought be lilys. He came home with three abundant stems sticking out of his backpack. I decided to just arrange them with the peonies and ta-da! It's a lot of pink but it's a fun arrangement...If I only had some baby's breath or greens, it's be just perfect!
*The boy* had his birthday a few weeks ago and this tee shirt was part of his birthday present (along with a very nice leather wallet and dinner at his favorite restaurant). I bought the tee shirt as a joke because I call him "dorkasaurus" all the time! *The boy* is truly a dork and he sometimes frustrates me which leads me to exclaim "gawd, you are such a dorkasaurus. Shut up!" Well, lo and behold, they actually sell this tee shirt. *The boy* loves it and will sometimes wear it out in public! OMG, how embarrassing! I truly meant it as a jokey house shirt. I thought I'd show you guys the dorkasaurus.
And here is *the boy's* travel around accessories. Lovely crutches aren't they?! He's going on 5 months on crutches. We are hoping that he won't have to hit the 6-month mark on them. It makes doing fun summer stuff like concerts and festivals really, really difficult. And before I forget, the new moon was on Monday so I am reporting my TUSAL a couple of days late. The snips are still pretty low in my jar even though I feel like I was stitching up a storm (per my standards anyways)!Mostly what shows up on top are the red, white and green bits from the Christmas in July exchange I am working on. Below that are the browns from my ABC Lessons.
I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Mine was mainly errands, resting, baking (unsuccessful recipe at that) and car shopping. I have my top 2 cars from a car make I wasn't even considering. Go figure! Still more looking around to though.

Have a wonderful week!

Until next time...

Curious

So in my blog surfing today, I noticed this type of stand on this blog. I've never seen this stand before but for some reason, it looks like a good solution for my "owww, my wrist is hurting from holding this q-snap so long and gee, I wonder if that's why my shoulder hurts" dilemma.
I can't really get a floor stand since I have the weird propensity to sit sideways on the couch instead of forwards like any normal person and that habit probably won't get fixed until I get a stitching chair which sadly, isn't anytime soon. I wonder if this will work. Problem is that I am used to stitching one handed so that I can hold the q-snap as close to my face as possible since I have these lovely coke-bottle nerdy glasses that grace my face. I don't really know if this type of a "clip frame" as it is called would work for me. As far as I can tell, they don't sell these clip frames in the US. Why do I love all things British?! They are so hard to get!

So my question to the readership is...have you seen these? What do you think? If you have one, do you like it? And general stuff like that.

Perhaps, I should take out my Z Frame again and give that another whirl now that I'm not trying to put 20" q-snaps in it like a dummie.

And better yet, I am curious what stitchy folk use for their stitching in terms of frames, stands and lamps/magnifiers...if any.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. The gloom and doom weather has lifted to give way to warm and sunny weather here in my area. Definitely an outdoor-type of weekend.

Until next time...

Tuesdays Are My Stitchy Night

Just a quick "hit and run" post today and I am itching to head off and stitch! I haven't put needle to fabric in a week and needless to say, I am jonesing for a fix! Definitely need to get cracking on some obligation stitching. Since I haven't stitched, I have no pictures other than the sad display below. Can you see what's wrong?

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Did you see it? The "after" picture is after I frogged the entire bottom border I had stitched minus one lonely leaf. The only leaf I managed to stitch correctly. I know you folks all think I'm nuts! I'm well aware and ok with it!! This project is being shelved until after I finish my obligation stitching for the month and maybe even beyond. I have a birth sampler I need to fit into the rotation (what rotation but anyways!) to get done by October. I still haven't decided what sampler to stitch up though. I am having a major mental block making a decision for this project but I have it narrowed down to three choices...erm...maybe four. Ack!

The weekend was great and busy! I eliminated my front running car because the rear window was too small and the side windows may as well have not been there. Cute design and sporty looking car but not very functional where you need it...you know...like windows and a good seat. Lots more looking around for me to do.

For those of you who stopped by yesterday, my blog was f'd! It had weird techie problems I couldn't even begin to understand but it all came down to how my blog designer had a credit card snafu with her photo-supporting account or whatever. I don't understand this stuff. All I know was that I was relieved to see my browns, blues and foggy Transamerica shot this morning. Whew! It seemingly resolved itself and I didn't have to do anything! Wow, I love that!

Thanks to everyone...new and otherwise who have been visiting and commenting. I love meeting new people and appreciate you taking the time to say hi. Hi!

That's it for me...time to work on my exchange.

Until next time...

Goldilocks and the Threaded Needles

I'm not Goldilocks nor do I have golden hair but I did feel like Goldilocks the other night. I finally sat down to start my exchange piece and grabbed a needle off my little magnet...stitched a few stitches and deemed the needle too thick. "This needle is too thick!" Then I grabbed another needle and threaded it and realized it was more like a sewing needle and too bendy with too small an eye. "This needle is too bendy!" That just wouldn't do! So off goes Goldilocks...errrr...I mean off I go to the big ol' craft cabinet to grab a size 28 Bohin needle and then everything was just right! "This needle is just right!" *sigh*

Except it was late by that point and I didn't continue stitching!

I have been incredibly scattered this week and haven't stitched much of anything. I have frogged a lot though. I will have to show you that sad, sad picture comparison soon.

I feel exhausted! I try to go to sleep early but my brain is always a buzzing to begin with but now it's buzzing with interest rates and financing options and the internal debate as to why all the colors I like for a car come with cream interior and I **don't** want cream interior!! Argh! I'm pretty confident with my financing now since I've pre-qualified for two loans at very good rates. But since I have very good credit (woo!! that was a fab realization yesterday), I can probably score better financing through the dealership through one of those purchasing incentive deals provided they have those sales going on. I feel pretty confident that financially...I can do it! Woohoo! I'm still scared to deal with the salepeople so I told *the boy*, it's his job to be the bulldog.

So this weekend, I think I will start hitting the car lots just to sit and see if I like the dash and take a test drive or two. That will be in-between the housesitting, hitting my neighborhood's "Art in the Park" Festival which is one of my favorites and the usual errands, tv, stitching and baking juggle.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Until next time...

Tuesdays Are My Stitchy Night

Today was just that type of day...the one where you get up, think it will be great and it ends up being crappy. It started with me forgetting my cell phone at home and ended with me forgetting my purse at work. Apparently, I wasn't all together!?! I guess not...Plus, I felt like people beat me up all day. It was a whirlwind and by the time I got home, I needed a glass of wine and a cuddle but had to go back to work due to forgotten purse! *The boy* was very nice and had my glass of wine, cuddle and snack waiting for me when I got back and dutifully listened to me vent about the bad day and all the *stupid people*!

Since I was obviously out of sorts, I didn't get much stitching done. I tidied a bit and got my stitching stuff together but really...no stitching. But I did finish Wishful Sheep by Shepherd's Bush! Woo! Happy Dance! It came as a kit so I used the materials provided in the kit but stitched it 2 over 2 as I didn't like the coverage of 1 over 2. That meant that I ran out of two colors doing it this way and had to order more silk in order to finish off the birthday cake. I left off the pink backstitch *frosting* as I liked it better without. Sorry for the poor picture but it has been rather dreary here the last couple of days...gloom, fog and mist. Should I be surprised...these are the type of summer days that Mark Twain wrote about.
*The boy* kept complaining that the sheepie didn't have any eyes. I had to keep reminding him that people close their eyes when they wish upon a birthday cake! How could he forget...his birthday was barely two weeks ago!

I have plenty to be stitching on. Since I was out of sorts, I pulled out my Bent Creek Snappers and frogged another 3 months length of bottom border *sob*! Well, it has to be done if I want to finish it the way I want. The rest of the week will be QFRR and exchange stitching. I am hoping to make decent progress!

Oh yea, my dear friend Claire is pregnant. I mentioned it before I think and she is due in October. I am having a really hard time finding a birth announcement I would like to stitch that would suit her. She isn't traditional and neither am I really...but I also don't want over the top cutsie. I have some old Dimension kits in my stash from way back when but I think they are rather large. I'm just in flux about this. Maybe someone has a suggestion...something not mainstream that isn't all over the standard cross stitch sites. I definitely should make a decision in the next couple of weeks.

Hope everyone is having a happy week!

Until next time...

Great Weekend!

Yay! I had a great weekend! It was busy and I had to drag myself out of bed with a crane to get to work this morning but it was a fun and productive weekend. A lot of the events revolved around food.

Friday night, *the boy* took me out for pizza nearby and then I spent the rest of the evening in this ADD circle of stitching, watching tv, looking on the computer for god knows what and trying not to succumb to a food coma since I ate one breadstick too many at dinner. Don't you hate when you do that?!

Saturday, I did a ton of errands and then dragged *the boy* to the farmers' market one town over from me. Let me tell you, it's amazing the number of people who have complete lack of consideration for a person on crutches. They don't move out of the way, people push, they are too busy yapping on their cell phones and don't pay attention where they are going and then there are the kids going in all different directions including crashing straight into his leg. We saw that one coming through and the kid was like a little runaway toddler. Luckily his mom caught him/her right at impact so it softened the blow. At the market, we bought a truckload of stuff...apples, apricots, peaches, cherries, tomatoes, shallots and green onions. We were crushed to see the *sold out* sign at the blueberries stand! We absolutely love farmers' market!! After that, I took a nap from all the running around and being in the sun and *the boy* went on a neighborhood adventure. After my *you need to exercise and get out!* and *no, I'm not driving you the two blocks to Safeway* rants of the past couple of weeks, the boy is much more adventurous. It's good...he has to get his heart pumping to improve circulation so that hopefully that bone of his heals. After our respective jaunts to dreamland and the hardware store, we got ready to head out for dinner. I had told *the boy* on Friday, I wanted to have a nice dinner out and then I remembered this Cuban restaurant that I have been wanting to try for at least the last three years! So we headed to La Bodeguita del Medio. Let me tell you, it was fantastic! We decided to hit the appetizers and just share everything. We had croquettas, empanadas, mussells, greycliff conch/shrimp chowder and the cuban sandwich. How we finished everything is beyond me. We were stuffed to the gills. I probably should have run a few laps just to work all that food off! Everything was amazing! My only complaint was that the drinks were done with a light pour instead of an average or heavy pour. I'll probably just get wine next time. And there will definitely be a next time. YUM! OMG, drooling just thinking about it...

Sunday, I treated myself to a lovely massage and then dragged *the boy* to the farmer's market on my street. Yes, we are crazy farmers' market people! We got fresh prawns for dinner and a blueberry muffin for *the boy* and I got a much needed coffee. Again, they were out of blueberries! *The boy* and I had made a barter. He would make me lobster ravioli with prawns if I made blueberry muffins. Since the farmers' markets' were out of blueberries, I had to head to the much dreaded Costco. So more errands, blueberry shopping and quick housesitting stop before dashing back home so I could get *the boy* and we could go see UP. It was a great movie and we saw it in 3-D. I like 3-D but I didn't notice very many 3-D scenes in the movie. Maybe it's just me. I'd recommend it. It had some really funny parts, and sad parts and scary parts and parts that were heartwarming. Go see it! But if you have kids that are scared of dogs, they might get scared in the movie. After that, he made me dinner and I made him muffins...both which turned out great! And that was the end of the weekend!

Wow, I've rambled...hope I didn't bore you to tears! As for stitching, this is all I can show for it. I finished the ABC row!

Five rows down...four more to go!I finished that first row on my Lizzie*Kate ABC Lessons and that's about it! I always have such grand stitching goals! But I only have about 20 stitches left in my sheepie and the button to sew on! I'll have abother HD before you know it. Now to decide what to do with it. After that, the week and weekend will be devoted to RR and exchange stitching.

Time to bring my rambling post to an end. Hope you all had a grand weekend too. :D

Until next time...

Weekend Events

So what's on your agenda for the weekend? Mine? Stitching, stitching and more stitching. It has not been a very good week so I definitely need some stitch therapy and hopefully all the frogs will stay in the pond.

Yesterday, I called out sick (of working) and slept almost the entire day. I woke up about 4pm (yup) and watched some tv, read a bit and indulged myself in some ABC Lessons stitching. No picture though since I barely made it through the saying for *A*. In the mail, I received Carol's QFRR awaiting me to stitch a section. This is the last one I will stitch on and the rotation is over! I think I will claim that bottom left corner.
Also, I received the necessary silk from Drema to finish my Wishful Sheep. Wow, talk about fast. I just put in the order on Tuesday night and received the silk plus Mirabilia Lilac with embellishments that I treated myself to last night! From order to in hand in two days! Awesome. I have no idea whan I will get to Lilac but I could not resist her...she is too beautiful to not stitch in my lifetime!

So I think there will be ABC stitching and QFRR stitching and Sheepie stitching and there should be some exchange stitching. My tushie is so being planted on the futon most of the weekend. There is responsibility stuff I should do too like housesitting stuff and errands and looking at new cars. I am very, very nervous about car shopping. I just want to look around and not be pressured and car salesmen have this reputation of being sharks. I don't want to be bullied into something I don't want. We'll see how things go. Plus, I think I need to squeeze in some fun outside stuff too. It will be one busy weekend but after such a crappy week, I am determined to have a great weekend.

I hope you all have a great weekend too!

Until next time...

When You Have Carrots...

You grab bags, throw in some potatoes and pears and hand them off to your co-workers!

Yup, I took the easy way out, asked my co-workers if they wanted carrots and they all said YES! After cleaning out my parents cupboards and fridge, I found potatoes and pears and my co-workers reaped the benefits of my dad being crazy and shopping at Costco for a 2-person household! He is *so* getting his Costco card revoked!

I did keep enough carrots to make a yummy carrot cake by the end of the week.

I have no stitching to show and frankly, it's been a rather difficult start to the week. It's not pleasant being in the role of caretaker girlfriend on what seems an indefinite basis and I'm quite fed up and ready to walk.

But enough unpleasantness...onto something exciting! All of stitchy blogland is talking about the Mary Wigham SAL.
I think this is a great idea and for this being an incredibly traditional sampler, which I'm usually not into, this calls to me for some reason. My plate is quite full at the moment so I think I'll sit back and see how everyone comes along and what ends up looking pretty neat. You can read more about Mary Wigham and the plight that these old samplers are going through on Needleprint. For the USA, Shari is the ringleader and she's created a Mary Wigham USA blog...go sign up if you want to participate in the SAL. All Needleprint asks for is a small donation for the free downloads. It goes towards a good cause...housing for the 219 year old Mary Wigham sampler and many others like hers that need special conditions to be displayed and cared for properly after so many years of age.

And I have a calling to techie bloggers out in blogland. How in the world do you get your blog list to come up with people's updated posts and the little pictures?! That looks cool and I searched and couldn't find out how you do it. Help! My blogroll needs a makeover and some major editing too! :)

Until next time...

Tuesdays Are My Stitchy Night

Well, it was a very busy weekend with lots of activity! The birthdaying and bon-voyaging all went well but it didn't leave very much time to stitch.

*The boy* turned the big 3-8 on Sunday. To celebrate, we headed to his beloved Franchino in North Beach for an awesome Italian dinner. Since he's a regular at this little family owned establishment, he was treated to a yummy dessert by the owner after the *entire* restaurant sang Happy Birthday to him! It was hysterical! *The boy* was very happy and as a bonus, he enjoyed the birthday presents I gifted to him. It seemed like everywhere we went, people were throwing free desserts at him. While incredibly yummy...I think I need to fast for the next week! I was supposed to take a picture of his birthday cake slice with candle but won't you know, I got all frazzled and forgot after said slice fell over onto the table twice! Ugh! Finally just had to lay the slice down on a bigger plate and slam the candle in it. At least it didn't fall on the table with a lit candle on it. There is always something to be thankful for! =)

The parentals made it to their destination with no problems other than forgetting their spending money! A daughter's job is never done! They had just gone through security when this discovery came to light so my stitchy Tuesday will be busy with taking care of that, laundry, cleaning out their fridge and taking out the garbage. I thought I could enjoy the week before the true housesitting duties kicked in but forgetful 80 year olds will always create more work for you, won't you know it!

With all the activity...very little stitching got done but I have finished as much of my Wishful Sheep as I could. I ran out of two colors so I cannot finish the cake. So there are missing stitches of Old Lace and Soft Black on the cake with a little rose backstitching and the birthday hat button still needs to be sewn on. So close!
I'm carting around the supplies to start my Christmas in July exchange. I am hoping to get to it sooner than later since it has a far distance to travel. Hopefully by the weekend, I can get a good amount of it done but you know what that means...Yup! No stitchy pictures for a bit unless I sneak some time on my ABCs. We'll see.

This week proves to be a busy one between work, housesitting and car research. I hope to stitch...my list of to-stitch's keeps getting longer and longer but not as long as my list of to-dos. I hope everyone had a happy weekend and you all have a nice week!

Until next time...

Edited: I started the refrigerator cleanout at my parent's on Saturday where I took home about 8lbs of carrots. How many carrots do two 80-year olds eat?! Jeezus! I am taking my dad's Costco card away!! Even after giving 10 carrots to my apartment manager...I still have a ton. If anyone can lead me to some good carrot recipes...help! I'm looking for a lowfat(ish) carrot cake recipe. I keep coming across many that call for over a cup of oil! Ick...Anybody want some carrots?! ;-)

Frazzled Stitcher

Hmmm, I'm feeling a little scattered this week and haven't put needle to fabric since Monday. But that doesn't mean I don't think about stitching. I think about stitching daily and it absorbs the majority of my thoughts.

Earlier this week, I received an email from a YahooGroup I signed up with recently basically saying the monthly get together was at a not-so LNS that I've never heard of. Being the *Google Queen* I am, I wanted to see if I could find more info on the shop to see if the drive and the get together was worth my while. While googling, imagine my surprise when I found that there is a new LNS not 5 minutes from work! I decided to check it out during my lunch hour. I have run out of a Soie d'Alger silk for my Wishful Sheep and thought maybe I could find it. But despite it being a very cute and teeny shop, it was strictly needlepoint. I was a tad disappointed but not surprised. If there are any needlepointers in the Bay Area, they may want to check out Luv 2 Stitch. They had some pretty canvases and nice specialty threads but there is really nothing there for a cross stitcher other than plain DMC and some silk that I can't remember but also haven't heard of before.

After work, I decided I need to stop the futon spread and go outside and walk around a bit...you know, exercise since I have completely fallen off the wagon. My LNS is techically The Status Thimble. It's a cute shop within walking distance from home and the owner is quite friendly but oftentimes, they don't have what I am looking for. Other times, it's my savior and saves me from making the 35 mile trip to my beloved NiaH. On Thursdays, they have stitch-in and are open late. I figured I could incorporate a pit-stop in there on my walk and they didn't have any Soie d'Alger either. *sigh* I took a peek around and continued my walk.

I think I'll always consider NiaH as my LNS despite it being a 45 minute drive there and a 45 minute drive back home. It really isn't so local but I never fail to find what I need there. I'll take advantage of online sales and eBay because this craft is expensive and sometimes the wallet is getting a little bare. I'll keep working on Wishful Sheep until I fully run out of colors so I know what I need. It was nice taking a little field trip to the other shops yesterday.

Let's see...no stitchy pictures but there is news. *The boy* got a contracting job. It's not ideal but also nothing to scoff at so he'll be staying put for a while and trying to get prepared for the "worst case scenario" regarding his leg. *The boy* wants to buy my car off of me. It's an old junker and I do need a new one so I might start car shopping next week. It's kind of scary! I've never bought a new car nor had to *wheel and deal* before. I kind of have an idea of what I want but there are a lot of cars I am curious about so I think this might take me a while. There will be lots of test driving in my near future. If anyone out there drives a Nissan, Toyota, Acura or Honda Crossover, I'd love to hear what you like or not like. That's the type of car I'd like but I'll have to drive around in them to help me decide.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. I have birthday dinner, fundraiser pancake breakfast, movie watching and parental bonvoyaging planned. Busy, busy!

Until next time...

Tuesdays Are My Stitchy Night

Well, I'm writing my Tuesday update one night early. I had plans tonight to go out with a friend but at the last minute she asked me if I could postpone to Tuesday night so I'll be having a juicy burger, fries and beer and following that up with a movie. Umm, this will not help my quest to lose 10 pounds but I promise to take a walk after work each day thereafter. I swear!

This weekend involved a lot of sleep and rest so I didn't get a lot of stitching done but I did manage to make it to the end of the row I was working on on my ABC Lessons. So I finished off the D, E, F and G row. I am loving this project!!
I will have to put ABC Lessons aside for the time being to work on some smalls. I'd like to get as much done on Wishful Sheep to see what I'll need to order since I know I will run out of some of the silk. I decided to sign up for the HoE Christmas in July Exchange and need to get started on that for my partner and I am dying to start on Barbara Ana's Spring biscornu. It's such a fun and whimsical design and I figure it's something I would like for myself and can learn how to put together a biscornu all at the same time. I have everything for those two smalls kitted up...just need to sit down and stitch!

In the photo above, you can see my orts jar. It's the new moon and here is the progress on my jar for the Totally Useless SAL. I decided to just put thread ends in my jar. I think the fabric bits and floss tags will clutter up the jar too much so my jar still looks pretty empty. Most of the threads contributed lately have been from my giveaway scissor fob and my ABC Lessons project.
Hmmm, maybe I should throw in those floss tags and fabric bits after all! I wish I could stitch faster to get this jar more full!

Well, that's about it for me as I have a pest of a boyfriend who keeps trying to distract me while I blog. But before I leave, the lovely CarolR is having a scissor fob giveaway! She made them herself and there will be three lucky winners! How cool is that?!? I've posted a picture with link on my right sidebar. Go and have a looksie. All you have to do is sign up by 5/29 and do a little shoutout about the giveaway on your own blog. Easy! Good luck to everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend and has a nice week ahead. I have a fairly easy week but busy weekend coming up. My parents leave for their annual four-month trip to Central America and *the boy* has his birthday on the very same day...next Sunday. I'll be busy bon-voyaging and happy birthdaying. Why'd it have to fall on the same day!? Anyways, not sure how much stitching or posting I'll get done in the next week but I'll definitely have an update afterwards.

Until next time...

Tuesdays Are my Stitchy Night

Just a quick hit and run post today since I actually didn't get any stitching done today. My friend met me after work and we took a nice long walk in the neighborhood and grabbed a bite for dinner. By the time I got home, all I wanted to do was watch some tv and relax. That was hung up by techie issues I'll explain in a bit.

For now...stitchy pictures. Below is the small progress I made on my Lizzie*Kate ABC Lessons. I'd have gotten farther if I hadn't received a visit from a small frog. I had finished "Dream" and then realized I made a mistake and had to frog four letters and start that bit over again. Since it's a long weekend coming up for Memorial Day, I hope to get to the end of this row by the end of the weekend.
And here is my travel project, Wishing Sheep by Shepherd's Bush. I've been running so many errands that I actually haven't worked on this much. Most of the progress was made while waiting for *the boy's* doctor's appointment. That place *always* runs late!
Anyways, I was hoping to come home after hanging out with my friend and do a quick posting and then watch tv. No matter what I did, my photos kept uploading sideways. Grrr!! I told *the boy* and he's all, "Oh, I'll show you how to rotate pictures". For being a nerd, he can be a dummy sometimes! Like I don't know how to rotate pictures!! Well, I showed him what happens and so he took it upon himself to find out the problem when I had resigned myself to just watching tv and so then he wouldn't let me watch my program because he "figured it out!". So I will share his genius with you guys. I think a lot of people have been having the same problem with their photos and blogger and you know, it's really frustrating. Apparently, it's well known that Blogger has a photo bug problem. I have this problem more on my home computer than at work but I really shouldn't be blogging from work. Don't tell anyone...ok?! Apparently, you need to open your photos in paint and save them as PNG because there is photo data in JPG that is telling Picasa it's a sideways picture. And computers are supposed to be smart! Ha! Anyways, this smart guy named Peter talks about it here. It's an added step to use Paint but it's better than uploading your pictures 50 million times and throwing your computer on the floor in frustration. Hopefully that helps other stitchy bloggers who aren't techie.

Also, I got the ornament preview JCS magazine issue in the mail yesterday and was really disappointed in the ornaments. There wasn't even one that I wanted to stitch! I hope the christmas issue is a lot better. But despite the ornaments not being my speed, I really like the Italian Tile piece and will have to figure out how to work on that sometime sooner rather than later. :)

Ok, time to go but I hope everyone is having a good start to the week!

Until next time...

H, I, J, K

Thanks for the showing of support in regards to my previous posting. I've been trying to deal with it all and we'll see what happens. Changes will have to happen soon.

In the midst of my emotional ups and down this weekend, I've managed to finish another row in my Lizzie*Kate ABC Lessons. This snap makes the fabric look a little washed out. In real life, it's a warm-toned lovely fabric. I've finish the letters H, I, J and K.
I'm off to start the row that contains D, E, F and G.

It's 90 degrees in what is supposed to be foggy San Francisco. I am dying! For all you folks that think I'm a wimp, I live in a 3rd floor walk-up apartment with no air-conditioning. Ugh...would love air conditioning right now! And as a dummy, I've held off the laundry until today so I have already gone up and down the stairs (no in-unit machines) eight times today. My quads are screaming! As I type, I am leaning against a cold ice pack to keep my core temperature down. The two fans and having all the windows open didn't help much but I finally feel a nice breeze blowing through the apartment now. I think I might actually look forward to being at work tomorrow just to have some aircon as the temperature will be high again. I can't wait for the fog to roll back in!

Well, I'm off to round up that last load of laundry and relax with the ice pack and stitching.

Hope everyone is having a happy weekend!

Until next time...

Seven Stages of Grief

Each time *the boy* goes to the doctor, I get thrown into a turmoil of emotions.

Shock = What?! Jawdrops to the floor and I wonder if the doctor actually said what I think I heard.

Pain and Guilt = I feel bad that I am taking things worse than *the boy* and I wonder if I hadn't fought with him that day, he wouldn't have gone to North Beach and gotten assaulted.

Anger = Resent being thrust into the role of caretaker for this guy I had only been dating for 4 months and at this point he's been well the same amount of time as he's been broken. Shoot, all I really wanted out of this relationship was basic dating fun...dinners out, see a few shows, have someone to go out and do stuff with. This relationship is *a lot* of fricking work!! I'm quite tired. I think I've bent over backwards for *the boy* considering the circumstances and most people think I'm the most amazing girlfriend but it's hard to feel amazing amongst all the anger and resentment.

Depression: Between madness at work, madness with family and dealing with a broken boyfriend who has the worst luck ever and I am convinced is jinxed or that someone has a voodoo doll in his likeness stuck with a gazillion pins locked in some drawer somewhere, it is quite hard to keep a positive attitude. In fact, my attitude has gotten quite negative, snarky and completely downright annoyed. I try to stay home to not subject the public with the bad luck that is my life as of late.

Right now, I am stuck between anger and depression.

Upward turn, reconstruction and acceptance will follow soon.

If you haven't guessed yet, *the boy* recent doctor appointment did not go well. His leg is not healing and he has to remain on crutches for another 8 weeks which would hit the six month mark. He is allowed to put 40 pounds worth of weight on his leg which is only 1/5th his weight so it's not like 40 pounds is a lot but at least it's something. He is also going to start using a bone stimulation machine to see if the electrical impulses will help prod along his bone growth.

Eight. More. Weeks. Just shoot me now.

If the bone isn't healed after six months, he will be put into a program monitoring his progress each month for the following three months. Ummm, that would be another three months of the same crutching around crap.

After nine months, if that goddamn bone hasn't healed, he has to go in for bone grafting surgery. Yea...that's not good. Worse case scenario.

This is way more than I signed up for. Remember...me...dating...dinner out and stuff...shows...happy hours...movies...festivals...walks around the neighborhood. That is my life! Not this caretaking, multiple errand running, super chauffering life I've been roped into. I'm at a complete loss of what I should do.

Giveaway Gift Revealed!

I heard from Meari today letting me know she received my blogaversary giveaway package safely. Yay! What a relief! I always worry that handmade things will get lost in the mail.

I decided to stitch Shepherd's Bush Happy Wishes scissor fob as the giveaway gift. Can you believe it was my first Shepherd's Bush design and only my second scissor fob?! I think I did really well if I do say so myself! It was a fun spring-like stitch to do and it really helped me get out of my stitching slump. I bought this as a kit ages ago when I started up on exchanges and so I used what came in the kit. Here's the front..."A buzzillion"

And here's the back..."happy wishes".I'm a very nervous finisher. I can stitch til the cows come home but when it comes to finishing...it's like I get this mental block. I knew I could stitch the fob up fine but I wondered if I should fill it with just polyfill. But I wanted weight and in the end, I made a little sack filled with rice and stuffed that in the fob with a little polyfill. I was actually surprised the fob turned out as big as it did (3.25" x 3.25") but I think I've gotten used to the scissor fob I have on my Dovos which is teeny. It was also my second attempt at cording which came out *much* better than my first time. Cording looks much better with perle cotton thread versus six strand embroidery floss. Well, at least that's my opinion for now. I am filing this tidbit away for future cording and will give it some practice. Since I couldn't get the tension right by myself. I recruited *the boy*. I told him early on during finishing day that he would have to help me later and I think he was all worried about what I was getting him into and if he was going to mess up. In the end, his instructions were "here, hold this while I twist and whatever you do, don't let go!" He didn't and I had beautiful cording. Yay! Despite the mental block, I came out with a great finish and am so happy that Meari likes it. Double yay!

I also sent Meari a bunch of goodies. My theme was pink as I had an abundance of pink in my stash and lucky for Meari that she's a bright color/pastel fan. I sent her some cotton and silk floss, 2 charts, a notepad with coordinating tape measure, some pink hand-dyed linen and pink toile finishing fabric as well as mints and of course, the scissor fob with coordinating scissors.

Meari has lots of fabulous pictures about the giveaway here. Check them out if you wish plus she's got a fabulous blog that's loads of fun to read. I look forward to her "Marvelous Mondays" posts each week.

Hope everyone has a happy weekend!

Until next time...