Hi all! & SBQ

I have been a bit busy lately and haven't been able to post. Tuesday night I went to the weekly Stitch In at my LNS, The Cross Stitch Cupboard of Fort Lauderdale, FL. I love these evenings of just hanging out with my stitching friends and yakking up a storm.Monday night I was at a Football watching party to watch the Saints beat Atlanta. (Was it Atlanta? I don't remember!) We had a lot of fun, drank a lot of beer, cheered our teams on, etc etc.Yesterday was my first "quiet" night home since the weekend. I could have stitched, but I cooked and watched TV instead.Anyway, I just wanted to come online and say hi to y'all. I'll have a better update tomorrow. Hope everyone is doing

well.

Today's SBQ was suggested by Sharon and is:

When you find yourself making a lot of mistakes in various stitching projects do you find it better to muddle your way through or do you take a brief break from stitching? If you do take a break, how long do you take?

I guess I do both. If I make a few mistakes, I will muddle my way through as best I can. If despite all this, I continue to make mistakes, then I think it's best to just take a break from the project and come back at a later time with "fresh" eyes. The lenght of the break varies, it really has more to do with the project I take up in the place of the one that was frustrating. Sometimes I may want to finish it, other times I may simply have a particular place where I decide to stop.

I too have found that the more tired I am, the more likely I am to make mistakes, so if I feel that this is the reason I am making mistakes, then I simply put it down until the next time.

Ta Da!

Finished Santa Towel - Woo Hoo!! (sorry it's a bit out of focus)

Stitched on Who's the Boss?

Ramblings to follow....

Santa Towel Update

Didn't stitch much last night. Matt (Son 4) came over and I made him dinner. He had mail to pick up and mail to drop off. I still have the PO Box in Hallandale Beach and since he works in HB, he drops by a couple of times a week and gets my mail for me. I guess you can figure out that I didn't go to EGA last night. Oh, well, there is always October...

Stephen (Son 3) called me early yesterday morning while I was ironing my shirt and getting ready to go to work. Thank G-d for speaker phones! He said that he's ready to go to California and much looking forward to it. He also mentioned that it looks like, this time, instead of yet another Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal, that he might get the Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal. I asked him what the difference was and he said that the second is about 6 steps higher than the first. Ok. Whatever... The only thing I am happy about is that he will (FINALLY) be back on US soil. Even if I don't see him until December, knowing he's thousands of miles closer makes me feel a whole lot better.

I didn't stitch at all on the Santa towel last night, between Matt and figuring out what I would wear tonight - and making sure I have fulfilled (or am ready to fulfill) all my new year superstitions, I didn't find any time. So, basically, this is where I was at the night before. Coming along nicely, but I guess I won't be finishing it by the end of this week. Maybe on Sunday.

I will not be posting again until Sunday morning. To all my Jewish friends and readers, L'Shanah Tovah. May you be written in for a Good Year of the sweet things in life: Health, Peace, Prosperity, Love and Happiness!!

SBQ

Today's SBQ was suggested by Elisabeth and is:
How many pieces have you stitched? Out of these, how many have been for you? How many have had specialty stitches or other techniques besides cross stitch?

This is an interesting question, and not one I can readily answer other than : A LOT!

I have been stitching since I was a kid. It was one of the few things that I sat down and stayed still for. I can't possibly go back and count all the pieces I have stitched.

Same thing for specialty stitches. While maybe 10% of what I have stitched calls for specialty stitches, compounded over the years, we still arrive at a sizeable number.

I am happy to say that 99% of what I have stitched - including the crazy two years when I belonged to a lot of Round Robins - I have stitched for MYSELF!

Thursdays

I think I will go to EGA today. I totally missed last month's second meeting and didn't go to this month's first. Truth is that it's quite a drive - even now that I have moved further north. Second, the folks from the group whom I like are the same who I see on Tuesdays and Sundays, and I prefer those two gatherings to EGA's meetings. Still, my best friend is Vice President and I feel I should be more supportive.

I stitched more on Santa's towel. Discovered that I had made a mistake on it. The "A" in "Holidays" has one extra row. This is going to affect the bottom border, but I don't know if enough to where I will pull and re-stitch "A-Y-S". It's not a lot to stitch, but if I can fudge it...

I am now starting to miss "The Rose Garden". If I can manage to finish the Santa towel this week, I will resume stitching on it for the rest of the month. The goal was to have 12 WIPs by the end of the year - and if I reduce by two the number of WIPs in Sept, Oct & Nov - then I can skate through December without any pressure at all.

I have expanded my list on my "Just Another 101 Things in Paradise" blog. 14 more "things" and it will be finished. I also want to include links to others who are doing the 101 in 1001 challenge, so if you are one of them, feel free to let me know where your blog is.

That's it for now. I will post tomorrow morning and then not again until Sunday. Hope to have a picture for you then.

Making Progress

Last night I was at my LNS for the weekly Stitch In. Will come back to post later.

As I was saying when work RUDELY interrupted…

Last night I went to the weekly Stitch In at my LNS. Since I didn’t go last week, I finally got to pick up JCS’s Ornie Issue, as well as this month’s JABC “Stitch Every Day” (Mulligan Day) and the last two L*K’s Xmas ornaments and the bonus one for having bought the entire series. I guess it’s a good thing that we are getting towards the end of the year and I have finally run out of the only “monthlie” at this LNS. I still have two monthlies at “Always in Stitches”, the drab to fab club and the monthly ornament by Brenda. It’s always great to go to the Stitch In and see my friends and what they are working in. My good friend Ruth had just returned from having spent a week in Branson, MO and was sporting a lime green sequined ball cap. It was so cute!

New Finish Posted

Yesterday after work, I went to RJ's orientation for Helicopter training. It was a very long three hours. First, I tried to kill time watching a movie on my iPod. Then I decided that text messaging my other three sons about what a boring time I was having would be far more entertaining than any movie ever made. And it was. Having four kids has its benefits. The other three kept me roaring with laughter. One was in class (Matt), one was supposedly working (Stephen in Japan), and the last was just hanging out on the comptuer. I should also mention that I worked through lunch yesterday to be sure I could get out of work in time to make it to this. All I had to eat all day was one cup of coffee for breakfast around 7am, and one "Soup at Hand" around 12:30. To say I was starving is an understatement. I couldn't get home fast enough. Even Burger King/McDonalds was tempting. (I didn't do it).

So, having arrived at home past 9pm, this left me no time to work on my other two blogs, nor to watch anything new. I did have time to put a few stitches on the Santa Towel.

I really am excited about being down to 16 WIPs. I am really hopeful now that I will be down to 12 by the end of the year.

Monday Again - Ugh!

Good news! I completed the Xmas ornie last night!!! I didn't have time to take a picture this morning, but I will tonight and post. For now, you will just have to take my word for it. :) Next project will be the Santa Towel. I started the month with 18 and I am down to 16. Not bad.

The weekend was productive. I started two new blogs. One is called "Just Another TV Show in Paradise" and I will write there on tv shows (will probably start tonight). The second is "Just Another 101 Things in Paradise" (am I detecting a theme here? LOL) and it will be for my 101 things to do in 1001 days. Just coming up with the 101 things is going to be difficult enough.

Your Birthdate: December 27

You are a spiritual soul - a person who tries to find meaning in everything. You spend a good amount of time meditating, trying to figure out life. Helping others is also important to you. You enjoy social activities with that goal. You are very generous and giving. Yet you expect very little in return. Your strength: Getting along with anyone and everyone Your weakness: Needing a good amount of downtime to recharge Your power color: Cobalt blue Your power symbol: Dove Your power month: September

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

September is my "power month"? I sure hope so! So far it's been a total disaster.

43 Things, 101 in 1001, Numbers Numbers Everywhere!

I was over at 43 things, which is a popular goal list site because I'm toying with the idea of joining the 101 in 1001 bandwagon. To my surprise, and without any deliberate conscious effort on my part, I had completed 5 items on my list in the past 44 weeks (when I joined). List making does work.

So, I had to find 5 more things to add to my 43 Things list, and now I have to come up with at least 58 more to do in the next 1001 days. It's quite a daunting number.

On the stitching front, I am nearly finished with the xmas ornie. Should finish today. This ornie was originally a Little House of Needlework design in last year's JCS Xmas Ornament issue. Since it doesn't get cold in South Florida, and therefore we don't have snowmen or snow, I adapted it to a beach theme.

Also, yesterday I changed this blog a little bit. I added the flip flop tile and changed the background for entries to turquoise. I hope y'all like how it looks.

Latest Finish

As you can all see, I did find the buttons for this piece. They aren't stitched on just yet, I simply placed them for the photo - LOL.

As you can see on the side, the xmas ornie has been moved up to second place. This is the next thing I will be stitching - when I am not stitching The Rose Garden.

On another note, I have renewed my domains and will move hosting to GoDaddy. I also will update my website, which has lanquished months and months on end.

I watched two episodes of Fox's new series "Standoff". The pilot was okay, though I like my dramas to be dramas and I don't watch much comedy on TV. The two main protagonists are work partners and also involved in a relationship. The relationship is somewhat treated as an ongoing joke. I am going to watch one more episode and then make my thumbs up or down decision. Right now I am sitting on the fence.

The second season of Bones is REALLY good. Last night "Project Runway" was on. They brought back two designers that had been booted off the show because they had won a "challenge" and they were going to do a 3 designer elimination. Both losers lost again (lol) and the pageant fashion designer went home.

Feeling Mighty Foolish

Well, I finished Feel the Love Day, but I can't remember where I put away the buttons to it. I hope I find them!!!

Plan of Attack

I was looking over the list of WIPs, trying to come up with a plan of attack to reduce them to - hopefully - 12 by the end of this year (considering that there are only 3 months left to it) and I think I might have to go back to a rotation (Yuk!) in order to do so because I do not want to put down "The Rose Garden". First of all, I don't want to "lose my place" stitching it. Second, I made a commitment to finally finish it since it's my oldest WIP by far.

The good news is that "Feel The Love" is nearly finished (note sidebar) and I should be giving it to the Cupboard for finishing tomorrow. So, immediately I am down 1 project. The bad news is that it's faster to finish projects if you work on them one at a time than it is if you rotate them. Nevertheless, I will attempt a rotation again, even though the reason I have so many WIPs in the first place is because of working rotations. I don't know what it is about rotations that makes me think I can just add another new project, but, for me, it just creates a lot of half-finished things.

So, with "The Rose Garden" as my focus piece - and I haven't really decided how I am going to work the rotation just yet - I am going to work the following in this order:

1. Xmas Ornie
2. Santa Towel
3. Who's the Boss?
4. Pig Baby
5. Cappuccino Towel
6. If a Flower Bloomed

I think this is more than enough for the remainder of the year. I am putting the xmas stuff ahead so I can turn the ornie into the Cupboard for finishing in time to have it back for the Holidays. I really think that I should be able to finish at least four of these AND "The Rose Garden", which would be a wonderful accomplishment, by the end of the year. I really am committed to going back to being a "One-At-A-Time" stitcher, even though I can tell by the amount of projects I have going on now that I have enough to stitch for most of next year and I don't relish the thought of not starting anything new for awhile. However, when I am finally down to about six projects, I may give myself permission to do otherwise. We'll see how good I am at disciplining myself. Stay Tuned.

Major Update

Last night I decided to take pictures of all my WIPs in order to display them on this blog. Call it bold, call it foolish, I'm hoping that seeing how much I have "going" will help me bring the number down into the single digits (yeah, I'd be happy with half as many!). I knew there were "a lot" but I didn't think it would be as many as 18! I bet some of you might be surprised that a third of them are in Aida. I really enjoy stitching in all types of fabric - from 10ct Tulla to 36ct Linen. It really depends on the project and my mood.

It's hard, for me at least, to calculate how much time each would take to be finished. The Snappers, for instance, are quick to stitch, and with only 4 months left to finish the year, it should take me maybe a month to finish. But the border is a different story - boring boring boring - would take forever to motivate me to finish it. The towels don't have that much left to them either - even the cappuccino one that is barely started - however, where are all my cross stitched towels? In a drawer. Now that we don't have kids at home I should start letting them out and enjoying them. Before, I couldn't risk one of our "little darlings" using it to wipe their hands or G-d knows what.

I also think that the xmas ornie, Who's the Boss, and the Pig Baby don't have a whole lot left to them either. I mean, it's an ornie for goodness sake, how long could it possibly take to stitch? The other two projects are clearly more than half stitched. So, considering that I have committed September to getting as much of the Rose Garden stitched and to finish "Feel the Love", I am trying to figure out how to best make use of the remaing 3 months of the year so that I finish as many of these WIPs as possible.

On another note, I was so surprised Thursday when Janelle lost a competition to Mike Boogie and got kicked out of the BB All Star house. It's hard to tell who will win this year none of the two left have many friends at the Jury House.

A new TV Season is starting - I got the new TV Guide with all the skinny on the new shows today - I am going to review and see whether there is anything good worth watching. I am looking forward to my old favorites: The Simpsons 18th season premieres tomorrow (can you believe it? G-d I feel old!) Ghost Whisperer, NCIS, Medium, The Unit, Criminal Minds, Numb3rs.

I have been TiVoing the new Fox Drama "Vanished" and finally got around to watching the first three episodes Friday night and found it surprisingly good. I think the Senator's son is behind it. We'll see.

Bones, another Fox show and favorite of mine began it's second season two weeks ago. (I find David Boreanaz cute). I never could get into CSI - too graphic and gritty - but Bones is enough science/high tech to attract me with really good, plausible story lines to keep me. I got some other pilots TiVoed. We'll let you know what I think after I watch them.

Well, I am off to watch Ohio State and Texas duke it out. Hope to get some stitching done.

Time to Update

I didn't do a whole lot of stitching this 3-day weekend. Saturday I reformatted my Dell tower. I had been wanting to do it since June, but knowing what a PITA it is, I kept putting it off. It took me about 24 hours to get it all perfect and reinstall all the software that had been added to it.

One of the main things was The Sims 2 and all its expansion packs, which are 3 (University, Night Life & Open for Business) plus 2 "stuff" packs (Family Fun & Glamorous Life -this last just came out this past week). I got pretty caught up fixing the computer, and then playing Sims 2, which I did practically all day yesterday. I got to hand it to G-d. I am going nuts managing 60 people, I can't imagine looking after 5 billion!

This is how the Rose Garden looked at the end of August. I am very satisfied with the progress and am toying with the idea of keeping it as the focus piece for September and see how close I can come to finishing it. Not much change from the last update, I know.

Below is my lunch project, one of those "Stitch Every Day" pieces from JABC. I am loving how it's coming out - so psychedelic! I still don't know how it will be finished, but right now I am thinking of not stitching the date and just stitching "Feel The Love" underneath.

Well, that's it for now - see y'all tomorrow!

Never Finished Raising Kids

Found out how much it would cost to put RJ through Helicopter School and was pretty shocked at the price - about $70k when it's all over and done with - and that's to just get him to where he can get a Commercial license, for which you only need 150 flight hours, even though no one will hire you unless you have at least 1,000 hours. Average price for an hour of flight time - a grand. This is going to be fun. Stephen will be receiving yet another Navy Marine Corps Achievement Medal (aka "NAM").

This type of medal is a meritorious service type of award and is given for meritorious service or achievement in a combat or non-combat situation based on sustained performance or specific achievement of a superlative nature, and shall be of such merit as to warrant more tangible recognition than is possible by a fitness report or performance evaluation, but which does not warrant a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal or higher.

Don't ask me what he did this time, I just know that the folks in Okinawa are desperately trying to hang on to him, but he's supposed to rotate out next month and will be stationed at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, CA. Nick, will finally have knee surgery next month - first or second week of October - and I will be going up to Camp Lejeune to nurse him along. Both middle kids will finally be together again (after 3 years) when they spend a month leave here in December. I can't wait!

You Are Animal

A complete lunatic, you're operating on 100% animal instincts. You thrive on uncontrolled energy, and you're downright scary. But you sure can beat a good drum. "Kill! Kill!"

The Muppet Personality Test

TGIF!!!

It sure has been a week here in South Florida! Can't wait for this weekend, even though the beach will be full of tourists and locals. I don't mind. I go to the beach either early in the morning - before the crowds, or late in the afternoon - after the crowds. The building's pool will no doubt be full, with tons of people down for the holiday. I so live for the off season...

Not much happening in my world. RJ wants to take helicopter flying lessons. Sure, why not! The lessons must come with a hefty price tag if he's asking me to help pay for them. I guess I will find out this weekend.

Yet another quiz from Blogthings:

People Envy Your Confidence

You have the attitude and self esteem to take on anything. Failure is beyond not an option for you - it doesn't even cross your mind. People envy your ability to take on any challenge ... and they're secretly afraid you think you're better than them. You don't. You're just sure of yourself.

What Do People Envy About You?