Thank You Internets!

I am back to running order no thanks to AT&T. Multiple phone calls, got the run around, had to take time off work and deal with service repair on a Friday evening. Uh, not my idea of fun!

The service guy was a piece of work! He pulled my wires out of the phone box insisting it was inside wiring until the apartment manager made him do a retest. Then he said it was my modem that was causing the failure which I would have accepted if I hadn't realized people couldn't even reach me on my home line. It was interesting how he couldn't answer my "if it was the modem, than why would that be causing a fast busy on the house line. No one can get through to me!" So I played the stupid girl. Mr. Repair Man, I don't know how my internet is connected. I don't know where I'm supposed to plug that in. Friends always help me with this stuff but they're not around right now. If he's going to play stupid with me and not admit AT&T was at fault...then I can play the stupid game and act like a dumb clueless broad. This act paid off. He gave me a new modem, installed it and fixed my security settings. Took a frigging hour and a half! At least *I* didn't have to do it. When he finally left, he admitted that it was the outside wiring plus a faulty modem that caused the problem. Nice that he had to go rip out perfectly good wiring out of the phone box. Geez!

Not much else to report. I haven't started on my on black project yet because the whole internet thing set me into a frustrated rage every night. I'd spend all my stitching time trying to get the internet up without any luck. When I did stitch, it was on Simple Joys just because it was easier...and not on black. So, I hope to make a better start on that this week. I'll show a progress pick on Simple Joys soon.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Until next time...

No Internet

After days of fighting with my home internet, I admit defeat. This may be why it's been taking me an hour to upload photos for blogging lately! Things will be a little quiet on the FogCity Dweller front while I succumb to the torture of calling AT&T to see what is wrong. I have the feeling they'll tell me I have to get a new modem and do a re-install blah de blah *insert nerdy technical speak I do not understand here*. I hate computers! Why is it that things go on the fritz when the nerdy technical guy in your life disappears...without fail!?

All I want is to play on my computer and stitch...not deal with computer mumbo jumbo.

*sigh*

*photo copyright @popbytes.com

Mr. Postman

Mr. Postman was very kind this week and brought me some wonderful mail! First up with the scissor frog I won from Deb's giveaway. I was so excited to win this giveaway! I've been searching for a frog for a while without any luck. I figured I was destined to be frog-less. Well, of the glass variety...those stitching ones still attack once in a while! Deb was kind enough to include some goodies as well...scissors, a strawberry and some tweezers. It will all come in very handy! I had to run around collecting all my scissors and I've put them all in the frog for the photo. Once I include Deb's scissors, I only have 2 free slots left! Who knew I had so many scissors?! I do have to say thank you to everyone who left a congratulatory comment on Deb's post. It gave me many warm fuzzies to read how many people were rooting for me during my "low" period and were happy that I won. You guys are the best blogging buddies! Deb, thank you so much for hosting a terrific giveaway!
Then I received a package from Marjorie. I won her blog giveaway a little while back and even forgot I won so this was a nice surprise to find in my mailbox. Marjorie stitched up a cute pumpkin pillow which I know is a JBW design. She also included some charts, purple fat quarters of fabric, pins, ribbon, buttons and rickrack. Lots of fun stuff! Thanks so much Marjorie!

***

Other things on the stitching front...I realized I forgot to put up a photo of my stash acquisition from NiaH last week.
After my last post, my sister emailed me and said that all she saw was a brown house and that didn't classify as "color". Hey!! I think goldenrod and brown are colors! So maybe this will make her happier. I didn't get to stitch too much last week because I re-caught my cold and was down for the count for a couple of days. Missed the gym and everything. But I stitched my little heart out yesterday and I think I don't want to see any green for a while.
The funny thing is that I started with a different skein of Bean Sprout and it was more yellow than green and the grass was looking sickly. Mind you, lots of grass in California looks sickly because we're always in some form of drought and the sun dries out the grass but that wasn't really the look I was going for. So I looked in my stash and I had 3 (!!) other skeins of Bean Sprout in varying shades of green. How did I end up with so many skeins of one color!? I have to take a little break from Simple Joys so I can do some obligation stitching.

Here is my fabric/floss toss for what I'm about to start! Black fabric! I hope I don't go blind...err...blind-er than I already am. The one good thing about black...all colors go with it!
Hopefully, I can make a decent start tomorrow. I think my right wrist needs a break...I've either been doing too much stitching/typing or I've been twisting it weird in my sleep which I am sometimes prone to do. It's a tad painful. Ow!

I've also been going through my stash and trying to weed out the items I know I won't stitch or already stitched and don't have any need for anymore. I created a stash sale blog years ago and then never put anything on it. Yea, I know, weird. I just posted some OOP kits that I bought in my college/post-college years and then never got around to stitching. My tastes have changed since then. If you like kits, please take a look at my sale blog! They are almost all OOP and hard to find through Google. I'll be adding charts soon.

As for this weekend...the key word is lazyness. Or maybe less busy than normal? I dragged myself out to a happy hour on Friday that was a combination of fun, awkward and intimidating. It's always hard walking into a group of 60 people that you don't know and just be social but I found my niche and hit it off with a handful of people...and that was nice and worth the awkward and uncomfortable aspects of the night. Those being dealing with quasi-stalker and familiar faces I recognize from the online dating world. Um...all just kind of weird. This weekend, my neighborhood's been overrun by it's annual festival so I've been hiding out avoiding the crowds. I did go check it out yesterday to check out the vendors and eat lunch! Tonight I'm looking forward to dinner out with a couple of girlfriends. All pretty quiet and lowkey.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far!

Until next time...

Bring on the Color!

A couple of the comments on my last post made me laugh! I thought I'd share them. I was definitely in a gloomy funk the weekend before last and am feeling brighter.

KarenV said: Start something new, woman! and

LisaD said: We definitely have to get some color in your life...black, grey and fog - oh my!

Karen, I love your conviction and the whimsical Wizard of Oz twist that Lisa relayed. Both of the comments remind me of my sister, whose also a KarenV. My sister has always been this bright colorful person who wears red, teal and magenta more than she wears black. She is the optimist in the family along with my dad. Then there's me who loves fog and wears black, grey and denim the majority of the time. When I wear color, I think there have actually been gasps of astonishment. Yea, really! I wear more color now but I was borderline goth in my college/post-college years. I'm a pessimist. Surprise! Like you guys haven't figured that out already! My mother is the Queen of Pessimists. A couple of weeks ago, my sister told me I was like our mom! I think I died a little inside. Like mom...wonderful! The goal of the year was to be more positive in my thinking. It's hard when things have been crumbling around me but that's still the goal. I know I'm lucky and can recite all the reasons why...now I just need to act that way.

I wish my mom would be less like Chicken Little. Oh my Gosh, the sky is falling! Being the one whose been around the old folks the longest, I wonder if her negative thinking has rubbed off on me or are you just born that way. Just the other day, I talked to her on the phone and she told me to not go out after dark because the car might break down. *sigh* So I'm supposed to stay at home after dark because the car can break down and some rapist can come out of the bushes and attack me. She thinks this way. Ma, really...I can't live my life in fear! That's why we have cell phones and Gold AAA memberships and pepper spray! If she only knew I did so much online stuff...some things are better left unsaid.

It was always like this growing up. I was considered the difficult rebel child because I questioned every curfew. Curfew was at 10pm which as a teen/college student, was ridiculous. You can imagine the fighting. I wish my siblings had broken them in for me. If I left the house at 8pm to do something, I was repeatedly questioned. And having to go "oh my mom won't let me" when you're in college is you know...kind of lame...but sometimes, I was just too tired to fight. It definitely ruined my coolness factor. I think once she hit 75, mom mellowed out. Uhh, yea, that was only 5 years ago! If I still lived at home with the old folks, I'd have gone berserk by now.

***

Hmmm, got a little sidetracked there. Anyways, I pulled out something colorful to start and have been working on it all week. I probably didn't make the wisest choice of starting in the middle since it's not the most colorful area. I was too lazy to do the math to start at the border so the middle it is. I really like the goldenrod color of the house though. It feels like it's taking me forever to build this house.

I'm enjoying it since it's brainless. Very little counting once you build the foundation and I'm working on installing all the windows. After that, time to lay down the sod and plant some flowers. I figure I only have one more week to work on this before I have to move onto obligations. I have an ornament to stitch for the Attic Auction and also need to see if I can stitch up a little something for my mom's birthday. I also have to do the finishing on my blog giveaway gift from back in May...you know...when my life was imploding. Sharon and Lisa, I haven't forgotten. I'm still playing catch up on my stitching obligations.

Last week was all about getting back into yoga and finding a place that was reasonable and conducive to do so. I think I found it and did 2 classes. One relaxing (too relaxing; mind was a-racing) and the other was typical Hatha. The Hatha class kicked my ass...I was sore for 2 days afterwards! Apparently, I'm a tad (ok, a lot) out of shape. But I crashed and slept and I think this will help my sleep schedule and health tremendously. I'm actually excited about working out. Now to juggle the workouts and the social schedule. I think this will take a little finesse.

This weekend was a blur of busyness. Lots of errands and chores and there are still more chores to do. How did things get so messy?! There was great stuff though like seeing old friends and meeting their baby, crabcakes benedict at SeaSalt (new to me place...so yum!), the car show (see below) and getting together with new acquaintences. But the highlight was visiting NiaH at their new location and seeing the new digs. I got a tad lost going there because I thought I knew where it was and apparently not. The street just kind of sneaks by you! The ceiling in the new place is amazing! It took a little bit of time to find where the stuff was that I was looking for especially as I was able to find things in my sleep at the old space but things got found. I was good and only got a Mira pattern (like I need another!), a cut of BOAF fabric that is becoming almost extinct and a CHS tombie pattern. Not bad.

The best part of the trip was that I got to meet up with Lisa and Brandy! Yay! It was so nice to meet Brandy and see Lisa again. We shopped and then sat around and had a little Stitch 'n Bitch. It was so much fun! Time came when we had to part ways but maybe we can do it again sometime soon. Thanks Ladies! If anyone else lives in the Bay Area and wants to meet up at NiaH, drop me an email and let me know. I love meeting stitchy bloggers!

Online dating observations of the week: the old men leave you alone once you call them out on it and put a disclaimer on your profile telling them to not email/wink you. I can spot a juggler a mile away and just can't deal with it so I'm going to mellow out on even reading these profiles since I've established there isn't anyone I want to date. One guy emailed me saying he'd like to meet. I emailed him back inviting him to the car show (because what guy doesn't like cars?!) and he didn't even acknowledge my invitation. Umm, can you say rude?! Meeting was his idea! Considering we went to the same alma mater and we were practically forced into etiquette class...I think that's bad manners. I'm starting to think being single for life may be the way to go. I already have enough drama! I went to the car show anyways...should have taken photos instead of drooling all over the awesome cars!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Until next time...

(Is anyone else having problems loading photos into Blogger? It's taken me an hour just to load the one photo! Photo for the last post has been uploaded.)

Therapy

It's hard when the brain and the body are at odds with one another. One wants to go out, meet people and have fun...anything to avoid the silence and the thinking. When it is entertained, it is much happier. The other is tired, worn out, sleepy and not feeling all that well. How can the brain and the body come to a compromise?

I've been feeling sick for the past week. Tired, achy, scratchy throat and coughing. And I've stayed that way all week. I wish I would either feel better or feel worse so I can then feel better. Since I felt beyond tired and germy, I canceled my weekend plans...much to the disappointment of my quasi-stalker, I'm sure. That pains me too because laying about not being able to do anything fun is not my thing. At least not yet. I can't handle that much time that leads to thinking which then leads to sadness which then leads to frustration.

I lasted to about 4pm before I got in the car and took a drive. I figured as long as I wasn't in contact with people, I wasn't infecting them and I had a sudden desire to be at the beach and breathe in some cold, foggy, salty ocean air. The ocean can make anyone feel better whether its bitterly cold Ocean Beach or the tropical sands of Miami. The weather difference between where I live and the beach was a good 15 degrees! I wish I could have taken pictures but it was just fog beyond fog. I was in my element. I walked about, watched the hang gliders, smiled at puppies, enviously saw folks swing dancing and wished I could join them. It was cleansing. Phase one of therapy for the day.

When I had my fill of the fog, I headed to North Beach to get phase two of therapy which translated to this:

Combo slice from Golden Boy
took 10 minutes to upload this photo and it's sideways...damn technology!!

and
Sacripantina Cake from Stella Pastry
Can I be adopted into this family?! Yum!!

After pizza and cake were gone, I settled in for a Glee marathon. If you didn't grow up as a choir girl who sometimes wished choir was more fun and there were more boys around, Glee can be annoying. I get that. But I love it! I only watched episodes here and there so Netflix is catching me up. Glee was phase three of therapy.

Therapy is sometimes needed especially when the online dating experience of the past week has been getting winked at by 50 and 60 year olds. Seriously...that's in the land of "being old enough to be my dad". I don't care how hot these guys think they are but there is no way I'd go there. Not even if they were millionairres and would write me in their will for a considerable fortune! And frankly, I'm not interested in a "sugar daddy" of any kind. But how did I become this old man magnet?! I'll take the single badge, thank you very much. Things seem particularly dry this go-round in singledom. I wish I could meet a fantastic straight man at the LNS! Somehow, I doubt that's going to happen.

But in the end, I'd be happy if I can meet more people to go out with on a Saturday night. *Everyone* I know is in a totally different place than me. Good for them but incredibly frustrating for me...more than I think they can even understand or remember. So busy trying to meet non-flaky friends too. It's all very busy and time-consuming and hard! Ugh!

*sigh* Someone please pass me the cake!

***

And now to the stitchy portion of the post. Stitching is therapy as well but it's hard to be productive when you get tired holding up your 8" qsnap. I mean, if I can't even hold that up, how am I supposed to hold myself up in yoga?! Class should be interesting this week. I've done some work on a class project for my crochet class. I still think that knitting is much easier than the crochet. I understand the stitches better but have a harder time fixing my mistakes in knitting. In crochet, I often wonder what I'm supposed to do but I do find it easier to go back and fix a mistake. For example, this project is a market bag. You can see I've done the bottom and am working on the lattice sides. The adjustable ring part was hard! 9DC in loop. What? I need a stitch not a loop...how do I double crochet in a loop?! Apparently, it can be done! After like 10 attempts. I'm about half way through the pattern.

(edited 7/27 to add WIP photos)

I'm keeping my new start a mystery for the time being. It sure doesn't look like much right now and between crocheting in grey and stitching in black, I'm getting all bummed out! I need color! So I am debating starting something new that has awesome color or just plugging along.

Since Blogger is being a diva, I'll leave this post here and come back to share more soon!

Hope everyone had a fun weekend!

Until next time...

TUSAL & Single-dom

I'm back...with my TUSAL status report! I had really wanted to post this picture because look at my new acquisition!
Last week, I went to a quirky shop near work. So quirky, that their hours of operations sign says "attempted". Yea, well on my two attempts, they weren't open. That kind of drives me nuts! As I was standing outside seeing if I could leave a message for *them* to call *me* when they decide to be open, the owner walked up and let me in. She had cute stuff! I went in seeing if they had a possible birthday gift for a friend but instead I found this owl vase for me. I love it! It's actually a pitcher but I think I'll be using it as a vase. Isn't it cool?

There's my TUSAL jar. I missed the new moon and then the computer ate my picture. I mean if it's not one thing, it's another. It's getting pretty full. Go me! I find that very impressive since I don't feel like I'm really stitching all that much.

Everything else is a-ok. I'm trying not to be a big whiner because in the grand scheme of things, I'm pretty lucky. In the last couple of weeks, I've encountered people who are unemployed or have serious medical conditions. If all I have to deal with is house-sitting, meeting new people and single-dom...then I'm better than most.

But I will whine about single-dom. It's funny how people have already been asking if I've been out on dates. I think it's a little soon but will admit I made my profiles active. Frustratingly, I completely erased one two years ago because I thought I had met *the one* and now I'm kicking myself since setting one of those things up is akin to, I don't know, something really drawn out and painful. Especially when you've got writer's block about yourself and are having a hard time expressing what you want. So far, it's all been painful and as I browse profiles, I really think that these medium is *not* going to work for me this time around. I'm casting my net in an empty lake.

I tell my married friends they are lucky they don't have to deal with being single business. I'm told married people have their own set of issues. I believe that but you are not dealing with the following:
~Guys that email you just to say hi (uh, can you say more to me than that?! Seriously, the email just says "hi")
~Guys that get upset with you because you don't have the IM function on (I hate IM!)
~ Guys that are ready for a long term relationship after being single for a year and a half and are so ready to find llluuuvvvvvv! (Dude, I'm so not there yet, didn't you read my profile?!)
~Guys that are only looking for a casual hook-up and by that, I don't mean a casual date to the coffee shop.
~Guys sending you winks (this is an online thing; not in real life) - it is the lazy man's way of getting attention. Wink, wink, I think you're cute...look at my profile and if you think I'm cute, you email me. For reals?! What is this...first grade? If guys think a girl is cute, they should send an email stating that or pull something out of the profile and talk about it. (ex: Oh I see you really like movies, I just saw **** and thought***, have you seen it? What are some of your favorites...my #1 is ***). Ahhh, something to talk about! After being the one with the balls the last go round (and uh, being the girl here), it'd be nice if guys would actually take a chance and write a sentence or two.
~Old guys...not old enough to be my dad or anything (cuz, you know...now I'm getting old) but enough to give me the ebbie jeebies.
~Some guy who you talked to years ago and then signs up for the same event as you. Ummm, awkward and kind of un-nerving.
~And have I mentioned that I can't even shop at my local grocery store because an ex works there. It's not as simple as that either. It involves me meeting him in the workplace, dating him, him being a cheater, me ending up being his boss, him being a poor performer and me having to fire him. Ten years later, he's at my neighborhood store. Joy! Seriously, what they say about dating where you work is true. But I can't say that in all seriousness since work is how I met my first love. Mr. Ex (not the first love) did all the grocery shopping. Now I have to grocery shop in the next town over. I know I can be an adult and suck it up and shop at my local store but I'd rather escape that drama altogether and grocery shop in peace when I finally get around to stocking my fridge.

There's more but now my head hurts from thinking about all this.

Well, shoot! I said I wasn't going to whine! Well, that was my whine for the week.

I'll come back soon. I actually figured out my crochet (finally!) AND started a new project. I'll share soon!

Until next time...

Fabric Frenzy

Thanks to everyone who voted on what fabric I should pick for Waiting for Ships. As you can see, the winner was Taupo!

Help Me Decide! What fabric should I pick for Waiting for Ships?
Country Stitch Taupo	45.7%	21
Polstitches Stormy Seas	41.3%	19
Country Stitch Lagoon	6.5%	3
Country Stitch Wintergreen	6.5%	3
total votes: 46
powered by blogpoll

It's funny how I went into things thinking Lagoon was the way to go but I was swayed by the popular vote. I usually resist the bandwagon but I am easily convinced in the arena of fabric and floss. I ended up ordering both Taupo and Stormy Seas because Missy Ann is a bad influence and posted a link to her Mediterranean Mermaid which of course, reminded me that I wanted to do that one too! I'm not sure what I will use for either project yet as I am not up to doing a floss toss yet but I tell you, I am in love with Stormy Seas and I may just do both of the mermaids on the same color! I've already decided that next year will have a heavy focus on Miras...starting with Fairy Moon. Yea, I say this all the time but it's happening once I get over my fear of dark fabric and using 3 skeins of white! There's a spot of honor waiting for her.

I've been fabric stashing like a crazy fiend...all with projects in mind. At this rate, I'll be busy well into my 40's just stitching on the projects for *these* fabbies. Forget the rest of my stash...that will take me into retirement! lol

Here are the recent fabbys to come through my mailbox!

From left to right (back row): SW Scattered Leaves (for Lilac), SW Golden Promises (for Taj Mahal), Polstitches Stormy Seas and CS Taupo (for Med Mermaid and/or Waiting for Ships).
(front row): CS Southern Star (for Stargazer) and then two small cuts that Staci rak'd me with. I had asked Staci for some beginning sock patterns and look what was in the envelope along with it! Thanks Staci!

I am in fabric heaven!

I've been stashing too...
Some LHNs that caught my attention. I bought the threads for Simple Joys which are beautiful colors! There's also some GAST that I received in a trade, some Silk N Colors for a mystery project I think I may start next over anything else and a beginning hardanger kit from GoS.

I finally managed to finish fright on my Boo Club. This took much longer than I thought. There were a lot of color changes not to mention the computer has been eating away at my crafting time. I need to stay away from it...it just sucks too much time!
Sorry for the crooked picture but you get the idea. I really love these designs but I can do without that border. I like the crispness of the black and white...it's just such a bore to do! Time to put this away for a bit and work on my mystery piece and be a good crochet student.

Oops...just lost the photo of my TUSAL update. Guess that will have to wait for another time. Darn computer!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I now I did...so glad I reigned myself in yesterday and just relaxed. No running around with packed plans and such.

Until next time...

Advantages...

There are certain advantages a girl has when she's broken up from her "likes to cook" boyfriend. She's sad, she's busy, she hates grocery shopping, dislikes cooking and frankly is too lazy or tired or sad to be figuring out meals. There's also the fact I am no longer being fed carb-heavy pasta meals multiple times a week. Most of the stuff in my fridge is questionable and if it wasn't for the farmer's market and Trader Joe's, I'd have already died from starvation. As it is, I've skipped a lot of meals in lieu of fruit, popcorn, cereal, etc. And because of that, I've lost weight. I know it's not the healthiest way to lose weight but I do manage 2 decent meals a day. I just end up forgoing dinner unless I actually have dinner plans. Not to mention that pasta/bread heavy diet I was eating was going straight to my lower half. I was being strangled by the "fat pants"

I've been thinking about shopping a lot. But each time I think about going to any specific store, I change my mind. I know I'm losing weight. I know I need new cute clothes. I hate finding clothes that are my style that still look cute and fashionable on me. I'm a fun tee/tank, cargo/capri wearing girl with colorful flipflops and hoodie type of girl. But despite losing weight, I know I'm on a see-saw with it until I commit to some sort of fitness regime. I'm still trying to decide and work out when/how often I can fit that into my schedule.

Today, I was running errands around the city and I had some free time on my hands before an appointment..wondering how to kill 35 minutes. When I saw a huge sign beckoning at me from a known retailer...50% additional off SALE items. Ah...one of my favorite words. SALE! It's not as good as my #1 word...CAKE! But I'll take sale any day so I went in. I still wasn't totally in the mood to try on clothes but I ended up seeing a pair of cute below knee cargos. The grey pair was in my usually strangling size and the pale blue pair was in my usual size. Guess what!? I walked out of there with the grey pair (which I liked better anyways) and they fit...comfortably! They are still on the edge but it's incentive to stay in this size and even better was they were only $20 with the whole sale thing! It was a nice feeling!

Now to figure out this fitness thing so I can get my $20 worth out of these cargos! lol Every class I have taken lately has been a total dud. I don't really like working out either but I think it will help my racing brain plus tire me out so I can actually sleep more than 4 hours a night. As you can imagine, 4 hours a night is not enough and I'm kind of a wreck running on caffeine and adrenaline.

As I sit and type, I'm starving! I slipped two meals today and probably should have eaten pasta for dinner instead of my scallop entree. What am I saying!? I don't need pasta! I can finally fit into all my size 10s. Finally! My wardrobe has increased tremendously now!

Sorry for the stream of consciousness email. If you here for stitching stuff...come back tomorrow. I need to take pictures to post!

What's Next?

What IS next? A lot of you have asked me that after I finished Letter C and the answer is *I have no idea!* Maybe you can help me decide. There's a ton of things I want to start but I know I don't want another BAP or Mira at the moment. My wip's have dwindled down to two and I don't want to add too many because I'm a very bad juggler! After going cross-eyed attaching the last bead on Letter C, I wanted something fun and easy. Boo Club is totally a no-brainer. As you can see, I already finished *pumpkin* and have started on *fright*. Once *fright* is done and I've caught up on the border, I'll put this away for a bit. It's about 2/3 of the way done.
Then there's Mary Wigham which totally has to come out of hibernation. I am a terrible moderator and have left the group abandoned! Time for me to calm down the screaming Mary and rally the troops. I'm still only on Part 1!

So what else to start? I have plenty to choose from at the moment! But the ones that are calling my name are Traveling Stitcher by LHN, Simple Joys by LHN and Cinderella Sampler by Willow Hill Samplings which I was supposed to start ages ago before the real drama hit the fan. So what would you start?

Decisions, decisions!

Hope everyone is having a nice start to the week...

Until next time...

Up For Adoption

A co-worker is packing up for a cross-country move. I think she's nuts! She actually wants to leave SF! But I understand why. She came to work earlier this week saying she had something for me. She called it "cross stitch". When I saw it, I told her it was needlepoint and not my thing but I could probably find a home for it. Her husband bought this for her and she had never needlepointed in her life. This is not a beginner project! OMG, it's huge! There are a few stitches in this but they can easily be taken out.

I am wondering if anyone would be interested in adopting this needlepoint canvas. It's currently on stretcher bars measuring 18"x24". Huge! It also comes with the threads pictured that were bought for this piece. There is a combination of DMC Perle, Impressions, JL Walsh silk and some unmarked, unknown tapestry wool (I think).

I am trying to save this from the trash and/or having in languish forgotten in some stash drawer. If anyone would seriously like to adopt this for the sake of actually stitching it up and transforming it into an actual stocking, I will gladly send this to you for the cost of postage and whatever method you'd like it sent. I don't suppose I can fold the canvas so I'll either need to buy a tube or if you'd like the bars, a box large enough. So those are things to consider. If more than one person is interested, I will draw a name in one week. That would mean any draw would be made on June 17th.

I hope this can find a good home. That would make my co-worker very happy...

Until next time...

Guess What!?!

By 730pm last night, I attached the final bead and stitched the last of the missing quarter stitches into Letter C. It's about frigging time! Sheesh! So without further ado, I present Letter C which is a Sweet Sixteen gift for my niece Cristina (there is no "h" in our spanish spelling). I hope she likes it! (click to biggify)

Letter C by Nora Corbett
32 count Waterlily Belfast w/ recommended Crescent Colors, Kreinik and Mill Hill Beads

I left the photo uncropped so you can see the color of the fabric a little better. Against the cream fabric chair(to the right), you can tell the fabric is a soft green in the photo above. I am so thankful this pattern didn't call for a ton of beads but they do really add to the piece. Letter C has a ton of fractional stitches. After backstitching, there were still 3 or 4 gaps so I had to go back and add some more quarter stitches to fill it in. Pain in the bum! Not to mention dealing with the YLI invisible thread. My eyes aren't what they used to but I was determined! lol

Letter C and another little giftie will be on it's way to Jill soon to see what kind of magic she can work. I am so excited to go back to selfish stitching! I only have one more committment for the year and it's a small and I figure I can start it August 1 and give myself the rest of July to do what I want. It will be a welcome reprieve after everything.

I'm off to watch August Rush (Jonathan Rhys Meyer = drool) and either stitch, read or crochet. I have lots more to talk about but will save it for later.

Hope you're all enjoying the weekend!

Until next time...

Busy, Busy

"In times of great stress and adversity, it's always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive."

- Lee Iacocca

I opened up my inbox this morning and was greeted by this quote. I think I've embraced Lee's wise words wholeheartedly. I've been keeping busy, busy. So much so that I haven't got the energy to blog that much. I'm sure the lack of posts puts my dear sister in some distress that I'm lying dead somewhere or sulking. No worries...I'm so busy keeping my brain and body occupied.

It's been a month now since I've gone from a 2-person household down to one. To be honest, it kind of feels like longer. I spend my days less sad but still quite angry. I suppose it's all normal. To deflect those emotions, I pack my calendar. This past holiday weekend was a blur of activity. I spent a ton of time with Claire and little baby Andre. We had a family style dinner complete with SF drama of someone blocking a friend's neighbor's driveway which resulted in lots of standing around waiting for DPT and the tow truck to arrive to take the car away. Life in SF...people get frustrated looking for street parking and just park wherever they want. That ends up being a painful $300+ mistake! Sometimes...I just don't get people.

The next day was a lovely breakfast out with some shopping in my neighborhood before we went recliner shopping. I'm happy to say my head didn't explode from all the fabric choices! A lot of them were old-lady/old-man-ish and very unstylish. It made deciding pretty easy. I am hoping that when I see the recliner in real life, I am happy otherwise my head may explode for real! I hate deciding on little things that in the end cost a lot of money (i.e. fabric vs. entire chair). Then in the evening, I met up with a different friend and grabbed dinner and watched Gentlemen Prefer Blondes for the first time at the classic movie theater. What a fun movie! I am so glad I made it out there to see it on the big screen complete with wurlitzer performance before the show. Things like that make me very happy! I think I need to make a more conscious effort to go to the classic movie theater this summer. I mean, where else can you be entertained for 3-4 hours for $7. For the cost of the ticket, you can see either one movie or two (double feature) plus get a wurlitzer performance depending on the time you get there. Plus, a huge tub of popcorn and a huge soda will only run you $5 instead of your first-born like at the mainstream theater! It was a great day!

Sunday, Claire, Andre and I trekked to the Fillmore Festival. It's my favorite one out of all the ones put on throughout the summer. There's great jazz and this year, there was even a swing dance section with music, performances and lessons. It was fun to watch. I found a margarita booth and seeing as it was the 4th of July, I indulged greatly and was in need of a nap by the time I got home at 2pm. LOL I reconnected with an old friend on the phone and it was a nice and unexpected surprise! In the evening, I stopped by a friend's house for bbq with her and her family. I made sangria for the bbq and it was just a boozy day in celebration of our independence. My friend introduced me to True Blood and frankly...what a weird show! I know there's this whole vampire following but I don't think I can jump on that bandwagon.

The last day of my weekend was spent doing lots of laundry and stitching up a frenzy. I am *still* not done with Letter C! Ugh, I am so close though. I finished the cross stitching.

Now, it's onto the backstitching and the beading. I am so close, I can taste it! Since the picture above, I've completed about 2/3 of the backstitching. I think I will be finished by tomorrow...Friday at the latest. One can hope!

So I am keeping busy and trying to find the positive. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's hard and sometimes, it's unexpected.

One fun thing is that Deb is having a scissor frog giveaway. I want to win it!! I shouldn't be even telling you guys but I guess I'll do whatever I need to to increase my chance to win! lol

Until next time...

Manic Mondays!

Huh...here I am sitting listening to the news and they are talking about an earthquake that hit here this morning. What? Earthquake? Where? When? What time? I didn't feel anything! Then they say it was 3.3. Are you serious?! Me dropping the shampoo bottle is the equivalent of a 3.3 earthquake...no wonder I didn't feel it! I can't believe they think this is news! 5 or higher and that's something to write home about. 6 or higher and ok...you better be in a safe place...that's really strong. When you've lived in earthquake country your whole life, a 3.3 is nothing.

Anyways, that wasn't what I came here to blab about. Monday was a blur. It's almost bedtime and I did enjoyable things but not the one thing I really wanted to do...stitch! Work was crazy busy but I guess that's good because the days go by fast and I don't have the time to think about...stuff. I ran my errands, went for a walk, had the single girl dinner of guac and chips with a pluot dessert and did some crochet homework and I think I've mastered the single crochet stitch. I would like to master even tension but I guess we can't have everything! I won't feel like a bad student in class tomorrow. Whew!

The weekend was nice. I realize that I was supposed to write yesterday and I had all these intentions to post photos of the bike race that takes over my neighborhood each year but NONE of my pictures came out plus each time I walked down to the race, it was when things weren't really happening...like finishing one age group and not quite starting the other or right at the end when the cyclists just weren't at the top of their game. Oh well. It was fun to see. I kept going to the race because it was just too hot to stand around for long periods of time. If I did, I'd turn red and probably sport another 50 freckles! I still don't understand how I turned out being the palest, nicaraguan girl with freckles on the face of the earth.

The rest of the weekend consisted of girlie pampering things and a fun dinner at one of my favorite places in the city...NOPA. Have you ever been at a place where you feel like you come alive? I have this thing about certain restaurants in the city. The crowd + the vibe + the food + the service + fun waiter + chatter with adjacent tables + company. All that comes into play and NOPA never disappoints. It's all so perfect and I am just glowing with happiness. Claire and I have this thing where we go and split a starter, entree, side and dessert and it's perfect for the two of us. We are both low-key and we always want the pork chop. Mmmm....pork! We get coffee with dessert and I get my favorite cocktail (sometimes multiple times!) which isn't even on their menu anymore but they never complain when I ask for it. We know the server because he *always* serves us and he is the nicest guy...and funny. There's great art and if you sit upstairs (where we always do), it's the most primo spot for people watching. I *heart* NOPA! If you ever go...get the pork chop! It never disappoints and is huge! This is a foodie spot and makes my inner glutton super happy! It is so worth eating salad all week to splurge on your diet here. *sigh* I wish I could live there...or date the chef! That would totally mess with my diet though! lol

I've got a Letter C update! I think this is the project that will not die! Er, umm...I mean not end! Yea that's it. The project that will not end! I've been stitching on it forever and I don't think Letter G took this long (I totally wish I can get Letter G back! But lets not go there). But I am getting closer? What do you think? A little more fill-in, finish up wings, stitch the skin and then backstitching and beading. My new deadline is the end of the upcoming weekend. Not sure about that though seeing as I have plans every single night and day through the long weekend with the exception of Thursday night. Busy, busy!
See...I'm getting there! I'm sorry if you're bored with my one project updates. Shoot...I'm kinda bored too! I'm almost done though...it'll get better! lol

Oh and a quick snap of my Trader Joe flower finds...I love these pretty tulips!
Hope you all have a great weekend!

Until next time...

It Was a Better Week

Thanks for all the encouraging comments on my last post. Last week sucked! This week was much better. I didn't really put myself in a position to be flaked upon and kept things very low-key.

On Monday, I tried out a new workout class through the rec department which employees described like Bar Method. I love Bar Method and it's an intense workout but it's a little out of budget for me. So I signed up for this cheaper class and was kind of disappointed. It was 1/2 modern dance and 1/2 bar method. I don't really like dance classes per se because you have a bunch of dancers who know what they're doing and then there's me going...what are they doing and how do I do that?! Yea...unless it's tap or swing, I'm pretty lost in the dance department. So the modern dance portion was lost on me but the bar method portion was much more my speed. I pondered whether I would keep with the class but the next two days brought about reminders of muscles I forgot I had because I haven't used them in uh....months! So it was definitely a good workout! I'll try it this week and see how I feel.

On Tuesday, I had my crochet class. I felt really bad that I hadn't done any of my "homework" since any focused minute I had went towards Letter C. So, I brought it with me to class and the ladies dutifully oohhhed and aaahhhed over it and I felt much better and motivated about it. They even said I had to bring it to the next class...and was reminded I had to crochet too! Ack! Letter C has gotten some attention...the crochet however....not so much!

The rest of the week was a blur of laziness, self-pampering and stitching. No plans...no expectations. Too much time on my hands and I go a little batty. But what has helped immensely is making plans for the Fall. Looks like I will be jetsetting! Woo! It won't be on the scale as travelling to London, Rome and Greece but I'll take what I can! In September, I'll be heading to the Shepherd's Bush Retreat. I am so excited! So far, everything is booked except for a rental car. I'm considering this my birthday gift to myself for the entire decade seeing as it's a tad pricey but my birthday is the Friday following retreat. I know a couple of other bloggers such at Katrina and Terri are going and I am really grateful Katrina is kind of taking me under her wing since I was initially supposed to go with Mr. Ex but am now (obviously) going solo and am kind of nervous about it. Thanks Katrina for making me feel better about it! Is anyone else going to the retreat?

I was talking to my sister (hi Karen!) about this too. Moaning about driving around UT on my own and not knowing a single thing about the state other than a lot of Mormons live there. She reassured me about it and said it would be exciting and fun...a little adventure! And then she asked me what happened to the girl who picked up and traveled to Paris alone and spent nine days traipsing about. Yea...what happened to that girl?! Oh, yea...that was me. Shoot, talk about a lifetime ago! After a different terrible breakup, I called the airline and asked what would be cheaper...Paris, Rio or Rome. Paris was the cheapest, I booked a ticket and three weeks later...I was on a plane. My mother about had a heart attack. It was a good trip! Mind you, when I got there...I was pretty much in shock myself and had to take a nap because I was very much in a "what the hell am I doing in Paris...I don't know anyone here!?" frame of mind. But the nap helped and I walked and explored and visited every museum, famous monument/church/opera house and met a couple of other tourists along the way. I do have to share that Paris probably wasn't the best choice post-breakup seeing as it's called "the city of love" and there were way too many couples I wanted to smack in the head but it was fun all the same. I mean, where else can you see Operation Petticoat and The Rocky Horror Picture Show performed in French plus acquire dark noir renditions of a slutty Tinkerbell-type that have thus been labeled as "pixie porn" from friends and apartment manager alike. Yea, Paris was interesting and fun! I need to find my adventurous streak again. I've become too "I'll wait for when I have someone to go with" but in all reality, I don't have a very good track record with relationships so I may as well go and have fun on my own and be open to new things.

So on that note, I am also going to New York in the Fall too. Ticket booked, oh so excited! A friend of mine moved to NY last year and has been reminding me that she has a sofa bed I can crash on whenever I want and I've waited long enough to travel to NY. Things have always come up, plans have always gotten canceled...the one place I've wanted to visit forever. Really...what am I waiting for now? New York...here I come! I can't wait!

Said friend is getting married in Dallas and it looks like the wedding is happening a lot earlier than I thought which means that will be my third trip this year. That's a good thing seeing as my sister lives there and I can visit with her and her family and spend some time with them as well. I was hoping to meet some DFW stitchy bloggers but the trip will coincide with holidays and I think that might be hard to coordinate this time around.

I hope you all don't mind my rambling. I figure I may have more retrospective posts in light of my new single status. Hopefully, I won't lose readers because it's more talk and less stitching! Tomorrow, I'll be back with stitchy pictures and more weekend stuff! :)

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Until next time...

Discombobulated

So the last week wasn't a great one...it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't all that great either.

It started off with the car battery which resolved itself fine but made me really wish I was dating some really hot mechanic that could save me and my jalopy car. It's hard to be in a position of always having to take care of everyone else and then when you need help, you're at the mercy of AAA. Which...you know, I pay for and are therefore obligated to come and save me. At least the AAA guy this time around was super nice.

Crochet class was nice and I could actually crochet but my gauge is curling. I still crochet too tight! And is it just me but does crochet seem harder than knitting?!

On Thursday, my tub got royally clogged! How does that happen? One day, it's working perfect and the next day, you're standing in 6 inches of standing water. Ergh! Despite calling the apartment manager and leaving him a note, it still took four days to fix which of course, led to more frustration. It would drain....very, very sloooowly. Like hours. The apartment manager came down yesterday to return a movie I lent him and I, of course, unleash on him. Where have you been?! Clogged tub, clogged tub! Apparently, he completely forgot I called him and he confused my note with a sink clog incident while the now ex was staying here. *sigh* He unclogged the tub which brought forth a clump of boy hair. For once...it wasn't me causing havoc on the pipes!

The rest of the week/weekend brought forth a lot of flakiness from others and cancelled plans which led to a lot of thinking since I had extra time on my hands. Not happy thinking either. Stuff like "why are people so flaky and is that an original SF thing or an SF thing brought on by all the "transplants" now living here?" And "how in the world did I end up in this big mess...broken up, alone and trying to build up a social life from practically scratch"? And "will I find someone else who will accept me, my craft obsession, my un-sexy undies, sarcastic humor and me being the occasional cranky-pants"...because I doubt it. And it's hard to hear people tell you it's ok to be alone when they are all married and in the throes of a seemingly happy relationship. So...I'm far from happy.

Then there are the discoveries...like boy hair clog, and boy taking the last of something and hiding it, and boy washing the dishes so poorly and putting them away that I then have to rewash them...which requires soaking because the grunge is stuck on (eww!) and still being pissed off that boy bent my car visor which requires it to stay down otherwise it will hit me in the head if I try to put it up because it won't stay up.

I apparently have too much time on my hands if I am thinking this much. I was a thinking, sad mess all weekend. It's probably just as well that almost everyone cancelled on me since I was so tired and unmotivated and sad and pathetic. I almost cancelled on the one person who kept our plans and I'm glad I didn't. We had a nice dinner and went to watch Sex in the City 2. It was a lot funnier than I thought it would be! The outfits were kind of atrocious but supposedly, that's called "fashion" or something. The heck?! Although, I have to say, if I pick anyone's outfits, it would be Charlotte...but in the end, I'm a jeans and hoodie girl. I suppose I should start dressing my age...but there's plenty of time to think about that some more. Overall, fun movie.

Stitching again was scarce because for every 10 minutes of stitching, I did like 90 minutes of thinking. There is no way I am going to make my end of month goal now. Here is how Letter C stands. I think all that Blueberry Tart and Lettuce Leaf slowed me down. I'm not big into pastels and so...you know...it got kind of boring.
I've done a little more than what the photo shows now and have moved onto a new color...Deep Fennel. I'm digging it a little more now. Still...a terrible photo!

So that's the update on me and my little corner. I am trying to figure out a new routine and it's hard! The goal this week will be to get a couple of workouts in and see if I can stick with it for more than two weeks. So that I can lose a couple of pounds and fit comfortably in my old pants...and some new ones I want to buy. Don't you hate being in between sizes?! Ergh...story of my life.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Until next time...

Eh, Mondays!

I was so looking forward to leaving work at 5pm and tackling everything I needed to get done at home like putting away the laundry, washing dishes, working on Letter C and working on my chain stitch for crochet. Yea, I know...nothing exciting. But the minute I got in the car and turned the key, I got nothing. And all I could think was that I hope that the car wouldn't cost another $800+ to fix. So I went and bugged my favorite guy co-worker during his workout and told him that the car wouldn't turn on and he suggested that I probably had a dead battery. Ah, I can deal with that...and thinking about it...the battery was a good 5-7 years old. I called AAA for a jump and after their 60 minute estimate, a gal at work said she had cables so we all went out to jump the car. How come my dad never taught me to jumpstart a car? Or change a tire? So the car started up, I called AAA to cancel the call and headed on my way to see how to get someone to change the battery so late in the day! But as I exited the parking lot, I saw the AAA guy and told him I had called and got the car started and I thought I had a dying battery. He said he could do a diagnostic on the battery and so I pulled over and let him do it. I'm glad I did. The AAA guy was really nice and helpful; he verified I basically had a dead battery and when I asked where I could get a battery installed so late, he said that he had new batteries in his truck and could install it right there...for a fee of course. But talk about convenient! And frankly, the battery and install cost me the same now as it did 5-7 years ago so it's not like they charge more than any shop. So the car has a new battery, I am not worried about being stranded out in the middle of nowhere and I'm convinced that my AAA membership is the best $85 I spent in any year...you know...other than stash.

But this little hiccup meant that I got home much later than I thought and there is still laundry to put away and dishes to wash and more gift to stitch and more chain stitch practicing to do. I don't think much will happen tonight now.

There's not much going on with me. I've been feeling pretty low the last few days and I find that if I keep myself busy, I don't have much time to think about "stuff". The anger and sadness is there and it will be there for a while. But at least I get myself out of the house and do the things that need to be done and connect with people even if a lot of the time, I just want to be hiding under the covers.

I signed up for a crochet class and I find that I chain stitch even tighter than I knit. This is slightly problematic!! At least with knitting you can go up a needle size to get the right gauge...apparently, that isn't possible with crochet! I need to practice making looser chaining (?) so I can actually make stitches within the loops! I've gone out to dinners with friends and even tried a new to me restaurant, Destino. They had great tapas and sangria. I think my only complaint is that the tables are pretty close together. It made eavesdropping on the couple seated next to us very easy! They appeared to be on their first date and he seemed very shy, nervous and go with the flow and she seemed very bossy! Good luck guy...I'd run if I were you!

The weekend led itself to doing a lot of the responsible things I had to do like housesitting and laundry. Yesterday was my super social day in which I went to Farmers Market, got a massage (to work out some of the stress knots from the past 6 months), went to my nearby "Art in the Park" with a coworker and then got together with new friends to see a movie (Killers). It was nice to finally be in a movie theater...but if you had any interest in seeing this movie, I'd wait until dvd. Overall...it was a nice weekend.

Now for some stitchy stuff. I don't have much since now I am trying to keep myself busy outside of the house. Here is Letter C so far. I'm not sure I can make my end of the month goal! All that pale blue background took me forever! Ugh...glad to move into the design portion...then backstitching...then beading. Can I do it?! I don't know....
And here is my progress pic in the TUSAL. I didn't post last month because, well...you know...plus I didn't even do any stitching. You can see all the pale blue on the top is from Letter C...1.40 skeins of Blueberry Tart orts!
I took this at an artistic angle because I love that humongous peony in the background from my Trader Joe's flower shop!

I owe a few people email...omg...I had caught up and now I'm behind again! I haven't forgotten. I just haven't been too talkative in front of the computer the past few days. I'll reply soon...

That's it for me...hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Until next time...

SBQ: Dad

Here is this month's SBQ:

Tell us about something that you have stitched or plan to stitch for any father in your life. Maybe it’s for your father, your father-in-law, your children’s father, your grandfather, your godfather, or someone who was or still is an important father-figure in your life. Why did you choose this particular piece of stitching? Tell us the story behind it.

And because a simple one part question is never adequate, let’s go some more:

Often times we identify our love of needlework and our skills with our mothers or grandmothers or other women. It’s understandable because often they were are first teachers or role models. Now let’s think about our stitching life as it relates to our dads. Is there anything about our approach to stitching that we can recognize as traits of our fathers? For instance, does your dad (or any other important man in your life) have an approach to one of his interests that you can observe and think, “Hey….if I substitute the word “needlework” for “fly fishing”, we’d be pretty darn similar!” So tell us about it.

I haven't stitched anything for my dad. Mainly because I know he wouldn't really appreciate it. Even a couple of months ago, I brought over a project to show my mom, which happened to be my sister's 50th birthday present, and he goes "Are you still wasting your time doing that? You should be :::insert whatever he said because I tuned him out at that point::: At one time, I considered doing Love You Dad by Bent Creek. I had done Love you, Mom and this would be the companion piece but there's that tie...and my dad only wears a tie for baptisms, graduations, weddings and funerals because he spent his life being a factory worker. So I scratched that. He's much happier if I gift him with Costco gift cards and cake.

And I don't know if he is really obsessive about much other than food and tv and I inherited that as well as the craftyness from my grandmother on my mom's side. My dad is pretty simple. As long as he can go on his walks, eat, watch tv and take naps...he's a pretty happy guy!

Help Me Decide...

Some may already know I am a completely indecisive person. Especially when left to my own devices trying to select fabric online! I've been in a stashing mood lately and am winding down. I think I'm just going to buy a couple more hand-dyeds to kit up a couple more Mirabilias and call it a day...until my birthday that is. I did decide on a cut of fabric from Country Stitch for Stargazer and while looking around, I saw some that may work for Waiting for Ships. I'm looking for something water-like...so blue-ish/green-ish and not too bright. Why Nora recommends some drab olive/taupe color, I'll never understand. Mermaids have no business on a land color fabric! Here is what WFS looks like. Strangely, this is the only mermaid Mirabilia I have.
Now the choices:

Country Stitch Lagoon

Country Stitch Taupo (on linen scan)

Country Stitch Wintergreen

Polstitches Stormy Seas

So all the colors are pretty similar with the exception of Stormy Seas. I don't think the Polstitches would be a good fit what with the yellow but I think it's a beautiful hand-dyed!! I've opened up a poll in the sidebar. Please vote and help me decide! If you don't think any are a good option, please comment and tell me so. If you have recommendations other than those listed, don't be shy either. I think I'll leave the poll up through the weekend.

So...what do you think?

Until next time...

Back to Regular Programming

So it's time to get back on track and move on. Back to the single life and I slipped into it quietly today. A friend of mine met up with me this morning and we walked to a local place for a scrumptious breakfast. She was kind enough to let me do my neighborhood errands like dropping off a book at the library and scoring strawberries from the farmers market before heading out to what we had really planned to do. We headed over to the art and wine festival a couple of towns over from me. We both had never been before and we came to the realization that we hadn't missed anything all this time. It was a huge dud! It was more fair than street festival so I'm sure it was a big hit with families and kids. But for a couple of single people wanting to see some art...uh, not so much! But that's okay. I got out, got some sun and tried to work the smile. I don't think my smiling muscles are quite up to the workout just yet.

I've got a good amount of things going on this coming week which should leave me duly preoccupied and distracted. Distractions are good!

The past month has not been kind as mentioned in my previous post. And when I'm sad or angry, there is no stitching to be had. It's hard to stitch when you'd rather beat someone with your project versus actually stitching with it. It was much safer tucked away in it's project bag. But I managed a few stitches here and there.

Here's where Letter C stands as of early this afternoon. I've managed to stitch quite a bit since but it's too dark for a photo now. I decided to get the boring part out of the way and I've been stitching on the background since the last time I showed you all Letter C.
I have to get cracking. I need to finish this by the end of the month so I can send this and another item to Jill for framing. Letter C has to be in my niece's hot little hands by mid-August for her birthday.

I've been doing a lot of reading. Well...a lot by my standards. And I read because when your own life is a tragic mess, it's nice to escape to the life of the main character in any book. I read:

A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber - It's about yarn...and knitting. How can that be bad?! It was an enjoyable read and a continuation for me since I had read "The Shop on Blossom Street" a number of years ago when I a was more crazed about knitting than cross stitching. I think the stories intertwined nicely between the 4 main characters and would recommend it for anyone looking for a light read.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett - So when this book first came out...I thought it was a self-help book just based on the title. How wrong was I?! A friend recommended I read it and so I put my name on the list at the local library. When I started this book...I could not put it down! I think I managed to read the 400+ page book in under 3 days...which is fast for me. It was entralling and interesting and opened my eyes to what life would have been like back in the South in the 1960's and the relationship between well off white women and the colored help that catered to them. Excellent book!

Rainwater by Sandra Brown - I read this book for a book club meeting being held at the local library next week. I figured, if I liked the book, maybe I would go to the meeting and see what that was all about. I was surprised they picked a Sandra Brown book because isn't she really a romance novelist? Anyways, even though there was some romance, it was more about Depression Era Texas and how people hurt each other in their effort to survive or gain more power in a time when people had very little. It was another non-stop read for me.

I'm debating what book to read next...The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Society, Water for Elephants or My Life in France (Julia Child). Any thoughts?

Everything else is pretty status quo. I did find out that I will have to furlough 10 days at work in the coming fiscal year. Not what anyone wants to hear but I'm also not surprised by it. I don't feel badly about it since I know that things could be worse and I'm lucky to have a job. There are rockier times down the turnpike with lots of talk of consolidation. I guess only time will tell.

That's it for me today. I think I'll be back with a poll soon...once I figure out how you do that!

Thanks for all the supportive comments in my last post and for sticking with me in my absence.

Until next time...

Betrayed

As of 11pm tonight, I'm back to being a single girl. I didn't think I would feel happy to be single at the end of all this but I am...and extremely relieved. The last month has been a roller coaster ride of sadness, anger, disbelief and in the end, a lot of hurt and pain. I won't go into too much detail but it involved a massive amount of crying...and a massive amount of anger. I don't think I've been so angry and disappointed in another person in my whole life. *The boy* who is now just another ex got himself so sick that he ended up passing out in the street and being sent to the hospital. There he stayed for nine days.

What makes me upset is that his mother was supposed to book his ticket and the day he was set to leave, he discovers his flight was booked out of the wrong airport. Who does that!? Bad enough to book it wrong but then to not double check that the person booking actually did it right? That was bad enough! I had booked my vacation for the same week he was leaving. He'd be gone on a Monday and the next 7 days were to be mine...to regroup, pick myself up and do a few fun things for myself. But...no...he was stuck here and I had to deal with him. Then two days later, he was in the hospital. Haven't I done this already? WTF?! So he was *really* sick. It was all avoidable and preventable which made me angrier and I felt like I just couldn't deal with it. It seemed worse than a broken leg and I called his mother to tell her how sick he was and could you believe that she wouldn't come out?! Or send someone?! So guess who had to deal with it all? Yea...me. The ex-girlfriend trying to get her loafer ex-boyfriend the hell out of her place. I have never wanted to tell off a 70-year old off before that day...I still do...but that's fading. I will still send her an email on my feelings but I promise not to curse at her. I was raised better...respect your elders and all that stuff.

And during the hospital stay, the lies and betrayal came to the surface. So not only am I sad and uber-angry, I find I was used, taken advantage of, lied to and discovered things were used or taken without permission. It is all so unforgiveable.

A ruined vacation, a broken heart and a red mood that will not quit.

I put up with a bad situation all because of hope and now I realize I should have let go a good year ago and given myself the restart then. Then, I was scared of being single but I'll embrace that now. Being single is a lot easier than dealing with the bs I've put up with in the duration of this relationship. It gets lonely sometimes being single but that's easier to deal with than regret and always ranking last.

Because of all this, he leaves two weeks later than planned and not only did it F up my vacation, it messed with plans I had with other people.

It did put a couple of things into perspective. I am always happiest when doing the things I love and I should never be with someone who won't take the time to do things I like even if they don't totally like it. It changes me and I become a shell of who I really am. Also, as much as I complain about my old folks and they drive me nuts, I know they love me and I love them. And I know that if anything terrible happened in which I would have to be hospitalized, my 80 year old crippled, seemingly always sick mother would find her way to me and never, ever leave my side. She would pray over me with her rosary and her million Santa Marias willing me to get better. And if she couldn't, she would send someone and she'd make sure that person got there and they gave constant reports on my progress. And I know that with every fiber of my being. His family left him to rot in a hospital 3,000 miles away. And being the good Catholic girl I was raised to be, I made daily visits despite the hurt and sadness and betrayal...because my mom taught me compassion and good manners. That's not to say I didn't spend my visits bereting him and hating his family with every fiber of my being. Because...they lied to me too and put me in a very bad position. And for all that, they can take a flying leap. I regret every minute I spent stitching gifts for them and that may make me seem like an indian giver but they are truly undeserving...of my time, effort and kindness. You don't leave family cast aside when they need you the most...you just don't!

Now it's time to focus on me. Get back to stitching, catch up with old friends, meet new people, discover a new fitness regime, go to all the summer things I love, learn how to smile again and laugh and find myself again. I can only hope that the last half of 2010 is better than the last year and a half.

If you've stuck with me through all this, I thank you more than you even know. I really appreciate the time taken to comment on my last post and even more the folks who sent me personal emails. You know who you are. It means so much to receive an email that just says "how are you doing...I'm thinking about you". It made me feel less alone and made things a little more bearable.

I promise the next post will be more upbeat! I've done no stitching (ok, a teeny tiny bit) but lots of reading. I'll come back and tell you about that soon.

Until next time...