Where'd It Go?

My stitching mojo has just quite simply vanished. Every time I have picked up a needle in the last few months, it has been a complete disaster! I either screw it up so bad that I have to frog out hours of work or I just can't seem to put the needle to the fabric and make it work.

So I've declared that stitching season is over for me this year. I'm going to learn a new craft. I'm going to learn how to knit!! I don't care if it harelips the president. I'm going to get me some knitting needles and some pretty yarn and see if the ladies down at Heritage Hut can teach this poor uncoordinated soul how to knit something simple like a scarf. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, just a scarf. Then once I figure that out, we'll work on something harder...like maybe a hat to go with a scarf.

Someone in the Crafty Bitch group on myspace recommended a book called Stitch & Bitch. Said she learned how to knit by reading that one. I figure if I get a good book and take lessons, then I've got all my bases covered. Shoot, I'd buy freakin' dvd's if I thought that would help! I'm ready to be a crafty bitch again. I miss my inner crafting bitch. If she's still sunning herself on the beach in Tahiti, I'm ready for her to get herself back to Kansas where she belongs!

So for now, it's see ya later cross stitch....hello knitting!

News That You Never Want To Hear

My grandmother's nurse, Mary, called me this evening. Gran had a stroke on my birthday and just has not recovered from it like they thought she would. It affected her entire right side and her speech. Today Dr Rhodie said it was time to call in hospice for Gran...that she more than qualified.

She has a DNR on file and if she should have another TIA or stroke and need to be revived they are going to let her go. It's so selfish of me to want her to stay alive. I know that logically. But deep down inside me is the little girl who had a phenomenal grandmother who would get down on the floor with her and play jacks or shoot marbles. My gran is the most loving person I have ever met. She has loved me unconditionally since day 1...and the feeling has always been mutual. She and Grandpa were the two that I could always count on to tell me that I had done a good job and not follow it with a backhanded remark telling me that it was good but it could have been better.

I don't love her because she has bought me nice things or spent money on me. I love her because she's been the one stable thing in my life for 40 years. I love her because of the songs she used to sing to me when I was little and because of the stories that she used to tell me about things when she was growing up. I love her because she always wanted to hold my hand when we went places, even when I was well into my 20's. I love her for all of the kisses and hugs that she gave me and for all of the tender words that were whispered when I was sick. I love her for so many reasons...reasons too many to be listed here.

Gran, I love you unconditionally...forever. I love you to the moon and back and more than all of the stars in the night sky. I'll always be your grandbaby, no matter how old or big I get to be.

I love you, Gran.

I'm finally stitching again!

After a very long dry spell, I've finally started stitching again. Granted, it's an obligation piece but it's still got me stitching! It's a bell pull called "Bunny 'n Ewe". At least it's not a subject that I dislike. I've always loved little sheep and these are particularly cute in that they are black-faced sheep like the ones I raised when I was in grade school.

We're trying to get Rhiannon ready for 3rd grade. Yikes! When did she get to be that old? Oh yeah, I forgot...her birthday is 4 days after mine. *silly grin* I keep threatening to put the heaviest rock I can find on her noggin to keep her from growing up any more. She thinks her old mum is just goofy and going round the bend! Fine with me as long as she still loves me and lets me call her "Baby Girl."

We've got Henry's son here for 5 day visit. It was supposed to be a 4 day but his grandmother decided that she wanted to stay in Wichita an extra day. Anyone want one surly 15 yr old? I'll even make sure that he's bathed recently.

The 4-0

I am officially 40 now. I don't know why I thought I would feel any different, but I suppose everyone (or at least some of us) have that unrealistic expectation. Henry took me out Saturday night to Kobe Steakhouse with our friends, Jessie and Anita. He totally faked me out on what he got me for my birthday. I've had a small buckwheat hull pillow that has been my cuddle pillow for 3 years now. I've taken it with me to the hospital every time that I've had to go...except when they made me radio active. He found a full size buckwheat hull pillow! I was so excited! He also found a neat antique postcard from Odessa, too. Then came the real prezzie: Margaret Cho tickets for her November show! WoooooHoooooo! We missed her the last time she came to town. What a honey!

My friend, Merrie, is taking us to dinner tomorrow night. She said anywhere I want to go, so I'm thinking that we'll go to Abuelo's. Henry wants us to go to Garozzo's. I may relent and say do Italian. Garozzo's does the most decadent bisteca marsala that I have EVER had. Kind of funny that the best steak in town is at an Italian joint.

I think I'm going to try to wake up early enough to go to lunch with Vanessa. It's been a really long time since she and I have just hung out. I need to start going over again...and I really need to start stitching again. I've been a horrible slacker in the stitching department. I've got Christmas Elf Fairy almost done and Enchanted Mermaid has been languishing in my WIP bin for months now.

Well, we're kidless tonight, so maybe I'll go back to bed and nibble on Henry. He was so happy that Rhiannon was at Merrie's tonight...and for good reason. *wink, wink, nudge, nudge* So maybe this will be "Ding Ding! Round Two!"

What a doll!

My sister-in-law, Lauren, sent me the link to my little nephew Thomas's first portrait sitting. He has the same expression on his face that my Daddy used to get. Isn't he precious?

I just have to smile...

I decided to take one last peek at my email tonight and I am so glad that I did! My sister in law, Lauren, sent me the link to my little nephew's photos that were taken at Penney's. In the first picture, well, it just made me smile. The expression on his face was so much like the one my Daddy used to get when he knew I was up to something. I can still hear him say in a low voice, "TJ, what are you to?" He always knew when I was up to something...probably because I was always up to something. *grins*

I've just been missing my Daddy lately. He's been gone 15 years this month and not a day goes by that I don't think of him and the way that the tanned skin crinkled around his blue eyes when he smiled. I think about his beard that he always grew in the winter to keep his jaw warm. It was shattered in an oil well accident and it was always achy when the weather was cold.

My Daddy was just a country boy who loved his family. Sometimes he made bad decisions, but he was still my Daddy...no matter what he did. Even when mother wouldn't let him see me, I knew that he loved me. He sent my christmas presents to my grandmother's house because he knew that she would make sure that I got them. He loved me because I was his first born, the first one in the family to graduate from high school and the first one to go to college. He was always so proud of me. I wish he were still here to see his first grandchild. I know he would have just been over the moon for Rhiannon. She tends to have that effect on just about everyone she meets.

Daddy, wherever you are, you've got some incredibly beautiful grandchildren....and you've got four children who miss you very much.

A Very Odd Kind of Day

I haven't written here in a quite a while. Things have been a little chaotic in the house and truthfully, I wasn't sure that I was going to still be married after all was said and done. We're working on it and things have gone pretty smooth for the last couple of weeks.

Today was a tough day for me and Henry. He lost his father 4 years ago and I lost mine 15 years ago. My grandfather has been gone for 20 years already. He misses being able to talk to his dad. I miss having someone I can run to when the world gets too big and mean for me to deal with. My grandpa was always my protector. He loved me no matter how badly I screwed up. And believe me, I had some real doozies between high school and the age of 20. He bailed me out of a lot of messes but he never once criticized me for marching to the beat of my own drummer. He knew that I wasn't like his other grandchildren. He knew that I was going to be the odd girl out. And boy, was he ever right! I hate it that they aren't around to see my little girl, Rhiannon. They both would have loved her so much just because she was mine. She would have been Daddy's first grandbaby. With her big blue eyes and her pretty red hair, I think she probably could have talked either of them into anything...just like her mother used to do.

I miss you, Grandpa and Daddy. Not just today, but every single day that I have been without you.

Mini bit of stitching

Okay, it's not much, but I started one of those tiny freebies that comes with the British stitching magzines that I love so very much. It's a cute little hedgehog named Edwina. It's a hedgehog...what's not to like? *grins* I do so love those little Country Companion hedgehogs. I wish that the charts were more available in the States.

I certainly can't afford to have them sent from the UK as often as I would like. I'm trying to get a job doing customer service work from home. At least I could be in a comfortable chair that way and I wouldn't have to get pretty for anyone other myself.

Still Not Stitching...

I had really hoped to get back to stitching by now. Maybe this week, since Rhiannon's gone, I might actually get the urge to stitch. I've got everything for Girly Gothic set up. I'm finding the chart for The Night to be a little on the daunting side. It's HUGE!!!!!! I've never had a chart that big before and I'm not sure how to tackle it. I hate to go and pay for small, more workable copies when I've already spent more than $20 on the original chart itself. I know that the oversized chart is one way for the designer to protect against bootlegging, but holy cow! Think about the people who are buying this monstrosity and attempting to stitch from it!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

I have had serious stitching block for the last month. Vanessa thinks I just need to start a new piece. Now I'm not sure which one to start! I have fabric and floss for Girly Gothic QS. Maybe that would be the one to start. Of course, I also have everything BUT the PTB's for The Night. I have that incredible blue Italian linen just waiting to be stitched upon.

Incredible Weather!

Lately, the weather here in the Midwest has been a storm chasers dream! First it's cold, then it's warm. Then another cold front moves in and *BAM*! It's clash of of the titans weather-wise! We still haven't had the sirens go off here in Wichita, but I'm sure it's just a short matter of time before we're hanging out in the basement.

It was so nice out today! Low 70's, not quite as windy as it has been for the last several days. Our cherry blossom tree finally bloomed out, but the wind has nearly blown all the blossoms off. It's my favourite of all the trees in our yard. I could so do without the darned Bradford Pears. They tend to set of Henry's allergies really bad and it seems that they now make my eyes watery, too. I'd love to replace the two that we have with pretty redbuds or maybe even another cherry blossom. I'd love to be in DC right now while the Cherry Blossom Festival is going on. I caught the tail end of it last year when I went to ABW with girl jen and the blossoms that were remaining were just gorgeous!

I think I'm about to become a "contest widow" for the next few months while Henry works on details for Leathercamp 2006. He had so much fun helping in planning last years Leathercamp. This year WOOLF has been asked to host the Midwest Intl Leather Sir/Leather boy contest. It's really quite an honour to be asked to host this event and it should boost the attendance of Leathercamp from the 100 that we had last year to nearly 300. And it would get WOOLF more national recognition. That's just what we've been working towards for the last year and a half. We're really trying to build WOOLF's reputation as not only a Leather organization but as an educational organization, too. Jay Wiseman is set to come back and teach classes again this year. If you've never heard of him, all of his books are put out by Greenery Press...and if you are easily offended by anything remotely of a sexual nature, then don't go looking for his stuff. He's a fascinating man. He's been an EMT and last year, he passed the California State Bar Exam so he could become a kink-friendly attorney for those who find themselves in need of such a service. He really does great workshops and is just a really neat guy to hang out with and talk to.

I've been in a bit of a stitching rut. (how's that for changing the subject?) I think it's partly because my thyroid meds have been all screwed up but that should be taken care of tomorrow. I just haven't felt like I have the manual dexterity or the mental clarity to sit and seriously stitch. I'm so close to finishing Christmas Elf Fairy. I need to add the Wisper, kreinik and beads, do a little back stitching and she's done! I may even pick Enchanted Mermaid back up and try to get her finished. Not sure about that one, though. She may just be my back-up piece for a while.

I still cannot find that piece of Sugared Marshmallows fabric that I bought to stitch "Dawn" on. Really aggrivates me, as I can find every piece of fabric BUT that one. I still need to get the petite treasure braids for those. I'll probably just call PTP and order them from Sherry and Marilyn. Pretty sure that their prices are a little lower than Heart's Desire's prices and they usually only charge a buck or two for shipping. Besides, I like calling them for things. Marilyn is always so chatty and happy!

Still nothing on the job hunt. I sent my resume to Dean & DeLuca and to Verizon for positions that I found posted on Craigslist.org. Hopefully, something will come from one of those. I always have T-Mobile and Cox to fall back on. I interviewed with InfonXX last week and it really seems like the job from the bowels of hell itself. I would be a screaming idiot at the end of the day after taking 700 calls and for what? A lousy $8 an hour and benefits that take 3 months to kick in. Verizon, T-Mobile and Cox all have better pay rates and much better benefits (either dirt cheap cell service or cable/internet and bennies that start immediately). Now that I can handle. It will be nice to have full coverage health insurance for the whole family again and a steady paycheck in my bank account.

Oh yeah, the random cuteness at the beginning of this rambling is my adorable little girl, Rhiannon, and our furkid, Spike. We took this one on Fat Tuesday after having dinner at Da Cajun Shak. Rhiannon thought that Spike needed to be a little festive so she decked him out in all of our beads and her mask. Enjoy!

So beautiful outside...

Here it is, the first official week of Spring. The average high temp here in Wichita for this time of year is 54 degrees. It was about 32 today...and we've got snow. Three weeks ago, we had the air conditioner on when it hit record high temps in the 80's. This has been some of the craziest weather that I can recall.

We've got a little over an inch of beautiful undisturbed white snowy goodness outside. Well, semi-undisturbed. We let Spike out when we came home from dinner around 9 and he romped all around the yard. In weather like this we never have to clip him out on his tether. He stays right in his yard, romping and bouncing like a wild rabbit.

It's so quiet outside. Granted, it's late and all of my neighbours are quite a bit older than we are, but still. I love nights like this. I love watching the snow fall and sitting in front of the fireplace. Henry will bring the laptop into the living room and work on things for clients and I'll settle into my stitching spot and stitch a little or curl up with an afghan and drink cocoa. He bought me the most awesome Dulce de Leche cocoa mix from Target last Fall. I had barely touched it until the last few days.

When I came home from my job testing today, he came straight up from his basement office to ask me how it went. He was so sweet, helping me take my boots off for me and warming my hands up since it was so cold outside. Usually, my Escape Hybrid is kept in the garage but he had it in the driveway so he could set up for a photo shoot for Ebay goods. He made that everything was out of the way so that I could park inside tonight. He knows that even in snowy weather I cannot resist a floss sale and that I really shouldn't be out in the cold scraping ice off my car. So I'll probably be going to Michael's either tomorrow or Friday to go buy floss for the PR "Dawn" SAL. How do you say no to a SAL like that when the girl the chart was created for says, "Ah, c'mon and stitch with me!"

Speaking of stitching, I swear that I am going to put some stitches into May I Have This Dance soon. I'm still so intimidated by all that over one...and by the gridding that I did. I keep waivering, wondering if I gridded it right or not. And I don't know if any of my lokscroll rods are long enough. I think I have some rods that Vana made for me that I can baste it on to. I may have to go pick up another pair of side bars, though. I've made some wonderful online friends in the stitching world in the last few months. Just incredible people who worry if I don't post every couple of days or so. It's so touching that people who have never met me in person care so much.

Another plus is I *finally* have my good anti-inflammatory again! I actually slept really good last night because of it. So major thanks given there!

I have so many things to be thankful for. I have an incredible husband who treats me like a princess. I have a beautiful daughter who is just the most awesome 8 yr old anyone could ask for...and did I mention that she's beautiful? *grins* I have wonderful friends who give me unconditional love and acceptance. And my Gran...my dear, sweet Gran, who is all the way down in Midland, TX, 12 hours away from me. Even though she can't really hear me when I call her, she knows that I care enough to call and check on her. She's the most precious thing in my life right now. I still can't believe that my Gran is 93. She'll be 94 at the end of September. If I close my eyes, I can see her snowy white hair and beautiful porcelain skin...her crystal blue eyes and her smile. I truly love my Gran's smile. I love everything about my Gran. I miss being little and snuggling up with her to listen to her stories about growing up poor in the country. I miss watching her get ready for Eastern Star meetings and seeing her dressed up in formals. She always brought something home for me from those meetings: a cookie or two or some homemade fudge and nuts. She'd come in and tell me all about how pretty everyone was. She never talked about what actually happened at the meetings, but I suppose that's part of being in Eastern Star. It's kind of like Vegas. What happens at Eastern Star stays at Eastern Star. I'm pretty sure that they weren't whooping it up with male strippers, but I used to imagine grand tea parties and the like.

Maybe that's what I need to do. There's a new little tea room here in Wichita. Maybe I should get Jessie, Anita and some of the other leather girls together and go for high tea. I haven't had a good tea party in a long time. That would make a good birthday party. Then there's always the Old English Tea at St James in May. The lemon curd tarts are awesome and the Spice Merchant always has some phenomenal tea for us. Last year, it was ginger peach and I fell in love! Hey, I totally forgot that Chelmsford Tea opened up not too far from my house. They make great tea sandwiches and their tea selection is amazing! They have an Earl Grey with a touch of vanilla in it that just makes me smile thinking about it.

Good lord...I've babbled and rambled long enough. You're probably all bored to death if you've even bothered to read this at all.

I'm going to take one more long look at the snow under the moon light and then go snuggle up in bed with Henry and Spike...my two favourite guys.

HEHEHE!

So I had my last visit with Dr Mills today before he moves to Ohio. He read the report that Novacare sent him and he was pissed! The whole time he's reading over it I could see the muscle in his jaw working. He's firing off a response to their "report" that will pretty much tell them that they are incompetent and wouldn't know which end of a stethescope to use if their lives depended on it. He wrote me a new script for my Lortab, but changed with formula I was getting and upped the number in each refill. I was a tad bit shocked when it cost me $61 to pick it up. But when you've got to have something that works, you've got to have it.

I contacted Adult Protective Services in Texas and gave them all of my contact information so I can help them in the case against my mother. I felt better after doing that. If even one thing that I can do helps them get any of Gran's money back then it's worth it. This was the first doctor visit I've had where I didn't call my mother on the way home to let her know what was going on. That was a little sad for me, but it doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would.

Merrie cooked dinner for us tonight. Chicken fried steak, gravy, mashed potatoes...OMG...they were sooooo good! Now that's Texas-style comfort food at its best! Dessert is fresh strawberries and homemade whipped cream. She's spoiling us rotten and taking great pleasure in doing so.

I went to lunch today with Vanessa. Nothing like hitting Cortez for some chile verde and diablo sauce. Then it was off to Frameworks to pick out frames for three pieces of needlework that she and Becky had finished. As usual, we picked out gorgeous frames. They'll be ready on Friday for pickup. Vanessa is one of the most prolific stitchers I know and her pieces are always beautifully stitched. We may not always agree on what pieces we want to stitch or what fabric, but they always turn out really nice.

After a couple of near 80 degree days, its cooling back down to the usual 50-55 range here. There's a mini-cool front that blew in late this afternoon. It just seems so wrong to have the a/c on in early March. Of course, tornadoes in January are just kind of wrong, too. Mother Nature is so not happy with us and she's letting us know in more ways than one.

There was a huge grass fire in Butler County not too far from Wichita that burned about 7000 acres today. Some vacant houses were burned but none that were occupied burned. Some of their siding was scorched, but they never actually burned, thank goodness. This one was sparked by some moron dragging a trailer hitch and chain. There were three grass fires in Wichita yesterday that were started by idiots throwing cigarettes out of their car windows. How stupid do you have to be do something like that when we're in drought conditions and there's a burn-ban through out most of the state?

I'm thinking that tomorrow might be a good day. Today was pretty good. My pain level wasn't quite as high as it has been, but it's still up there higher than it should be. I know that I'm not in the worst shape of my life and that there are people out there who are far worse off than I am. I'm thankful everyday for the gifts I have in my life. And hey, after all is said and done, I did wake up this morning, so that's a good thing!

I Promise that next post will be something happy

So here's how my weekend had gone. Friday, I get a wonderful letter from my neurosurgeon letting me know that as of March 31 he is leaving his practice here in Wichita and moving to Lima, OH. There are no other neurosurgeons in the Wichita Clinic so I'm on my own essentially to try and find someone else to do any and all follow up work.

Today, my sweet grandmother calls. She was so short of breath that we only talked for a couple of minutes. Her live-in nurse, Mary, gets on the phone to talk to me. It's never good when Mary needs to talk to me. When my grandfather died 20 years ago, he left my grandmother very well off. He left her enough money to last her lifetime and still have more than enough to pass on to his two children and their children. Apparently, that's all come crashing down. My mother has been on all of Gran's accounts for several years now and in the last two years or so, she has managed to drain 2 of the 4 accounts and was apparently working on the 3rd when Gran's accountant caught the rapid depletion. So what should have been able to last all of Gran's life and most likely mine will now only cover about 2 1/2 years for Gran. I am devastated that my mother could do something like this. I knew that she was spending more than she should and that she was making frequent trips to casinos in Topeka and Newkirk. But I had no idea what was going on. The accountant has notified Adult Protective Services and now they are investigating. Mother has even threatened to leave the country if they keep calling her trying to find out what she has done with the money.

It breaks my heart that she could do this to my Gran. If she needed money, she could have asked and, more than likely, Gran would have given it to her. She didn't need to take it. Now she's put my baby's college education at risk and that truly pisses me off. She's put my Gran at risk. Gran is now talking about getting a reverse mortgage to make sure that she has the money to live on. When she does that, there goes the house I knew as a safe haven...the house that I could always go to when I needed to go "home." Mom took the money for the down payment on her house 11 years ago...without asking. Mom's house will never again feel like home for me. Mom will never be the one that I call when I need a mother.

I have put together a pretty good family for myself. I married the most amazing man. Henry is my best friend, my life partner, my everything. I have a beautiful, smart and loving daughter in Rhiannon. Thomas is the best grandfather in the world for Rhiannon. He loves her as if she were his own. Then there are my closest friends. Pam, as flakey as she can be, is just wonderful. Vanessa is not only the best stitching buddy I could have asked for, but she's always there for me when I need her. I guess sometimes you do make some of the best friends of your life when you work with someone for years at a time. And then there's Panda and Stephanie. I haven't seen them in person since 2000 but I know that they will always be there for me. They have been for 18 years now. And there's Merrie. Sweet Merrie. She's the newest edition to our family village. She's just amazing. She adores us and Rhiannon and she wants to help me as much as she can while I'm in so much pain.

I have never missed my Grandfather and my Daddy as much as I do tonight. Daddy may not have been the best father when I was growing up, but I know that he loved me and he truly respected my Grandfather and Gran. He loved me until the day he died. He's been gone now for 16 years. Grandpa has been gone for 20. I was Grandpa's baby. I spent more weekends with my grandparents that I can count. I went to poker games with Grandpa. When I was old enough to drive, I would take him all over town on errands. I loved spending time with him at his farm, watching him on the tractor. I can still smell the fresh tomatoes from his garden that he would bring me. I can almost taste fresh tomatoes, feel the juice running down my arm. Sometimes at night, I can hear him whistling and singing. I really miss him. He would have loved my baby girl...just like he loved me.

It's Been a Day...

Valentine's Day was wonderful! Henry, Rhiannon and I went to Kwan Court for sushi. It was nice to get to do something as a family. I got Henry that gorilla from Hallmark that looks like he's playing bongoes on his heart. I've always told Henry that he snores like a gorilla, so he loved getting a stuffed gorilla that was wearing boxer shorts much like the ones I got him the first Valentine's Day we were together. I got Rhiannon an adorable little pink stuffed hippo.

The big surprise was the gift Henry gave me. He was spot on this time. Something that He knew for sure that I wanted. He had to go to literally every Kmart in the area to find it. He was out on a shoot in Newton and when he finished, he went to where their Kmart used to be. He didn't know that it had closed. So then he heads back to Wichita and where the Kmart used to be on the East side. It's been closed for just over 2 years. So then he heads to the one out on the West side of town. Nope, they've been sold out of the pendant for a week. He figures out that there's one other Kmart on the far South end of town and drives like a bat straight out of Hades with his backside on fire. They had one left and he almost got into a fight to buy it. So at dinner, he gave a a beautiful card with a sweet pink corset on it and then he pushed a little blue velvet box across the table to be. There it was...the pretty gold and diamond heart-shaped pendant that I had oohed and ahhed over when I would see it on tv. Gifts from Henry are usually a crap-shoot. He tries, he tries almost too hard sometimes. This time, he was spot on!

His birthday was Thursday so we went out for dimsum. He got his duck fix and I got my dumpling and shumai fix, so all was well. I took him out to buy him new hiking boots. His old ones were so worn out that you could literally see the insoles on the bottom of the boots. There was zero tread left. They had been like this for nearly three years and he would not let me do anything about it. He wouldn't buy himself new ones because they were too expensive. So I decided to take things into my own hands and get him what I knew he would never get himself.

So last night, it's flippin' cold outside...like 7 degrees...and I really don't want to go out. Besides, Rhiannon was on her way home. So Henry went out to Fetish Friday with our friend Merrie. Before they left, Merrie wanted to cook dinner for us. Very sweet offer, but not so edible. She made us Taco Soup...loaded nine ways to Sunday with icky kidney beans. Now I know that it's come up more than once that I hate kidney beans. Won't eat them. Nope. I hate them with a passion. I hate them more than I hate Brussel Sprouts, which I think taste like dirt. There were so many kidney beans in it that I could not pick them out and have much left. So I pretended to eat. When Rhiannon got home around 8:30, she was hungry. She won't eat kidney beans, either, and the soup was a little too spicey for her. So we waited for Henry and Merrie to leave about 10 and were online ordering pizza from Papa John's. Yes! I was finally going to have something that I wanted! A thin crust, All The Meats, minus the pepperoni and add on beef. I ordered Rhiannon some of their cheese stitcks with extra marinara sauce. I had 3 pieces of pizza left. Henry ate one when he got home at 1 this morning, so that left me 2 for lunch today. Oh no...Spike managed to get to it while I was in the bathroom. He ate the topping off of one piece and was 2/3's of the way through the other piece. I was not a happy camper.

So here I am, achy, cold because our furnace is acting up and not wanting to put out heat, hungry and getting progressively crabbier by the minute. Henry offers to make me Frito Pie. Not that he's ever made Frito Pie before, but he offeres. He thinks that all you do is dump chili on top of Fritoes and call it good. No, it takes chopped onions, lots of shredded cheese, Fritoes and chili, all layered together in a casserole and baked for 45 min to an hour. That's Frito Pie made the way we eat it in West Texas. We don't have enough cheese, because they used most of it on that icky soup last night. And I'm just not in the mood to go out and buy more right now. I'm just not having a good day.

Rhiannon fell asleep in our bed last night while she and I were watching tv. She knew that she was going to have to move to her sleeping bag when her Daddy got home. But noooooo, Henry didn't want to move her, so we had to try and sleep with the little mule. I gave up trying to avoid her kicking and flailing about 6 and just moved to the very edge of the bed. Henry gave up trying to sleep about 8 this morning and went down to the basement to get some work done. Once she had half of the bed to herself, Rhiannon stopped wiggling and kicking.

So I'm having an exceptionally bad day. I'm a major crab apple today. So if I snap at anyone, please know that it's not personal. I've just had a crappy day so far and it's not getting any better. Maybe it will get better later. I hope it gets better. If not, this weekend is shot to hell. Maybe I'll be able to get some stitching in later.

Stella's Got Her Groove Back!

And all I can say is that it's about flippin' time! Never will there be a year that passes like the last one. I don't care what my pain level is. I think I'm gonna go back and snuggle up with my hubby. *grins*

There's something to be said for sending the small person to the grandparent's house for the weekend. We've got a great bottle of champagne and some pear nectar. We may come up for air this weekend, we may not. If you haven't heard from us by Sunday evening, send in the rescue party!

It's Mini-Rant Time

Okay, this will mean diddly to most people, but I just have to do it. ARRRRRRGGGGHHHH! Why is it that people insist on spelling the words 'definite' and 'definitely' as 'definate' and 'definately'????? There is no such word as 'definate'! Then there are the ones who think that 'alot' is actually a word. NO, it's not! It is TWO words: A LOT. 'ALOT' is an acronym that does not share a meaning with the phrase 'a lot'. I promise. Look it up on dictionary.com (one of my favourite sites as it also has a nice thesaurus, as well).

Mini-rant over. Next post will be much nice. Promise.

So technically, it's already February 1st and I'm still not finished gridding that fat quarter of Midas Touch. Granted, I'm about 1/3 done with the vertical gridding and done with the horizontal lines. I guess it's a good thing that I have insomnia.

I can stitch about 6-8 rows before I have to get up and move around before my back starts aching mercilessly. Here's hoping that I can stay up for a few hours and get it done. I really want to put the first real stitched into this piece sometime on the 1st.

Another Sleepless Night

I so did not mean to take ten days to post again. Rhiannon and I were both sick, but that shouldn't be an excuse.

So here it is, January 27th. I have a stitch along that starts February 1st and I'm not ready for it. I've got all my floss and blending filament. I've got a new pack of smaller needles. I've got gorgeous fabric from Silkweaver...however said fabric isn't gridded yet. To be honest, it took me forever to figure out a simple method of gridding. I felt like the world's biggest dork when step by step instructions on the HAED BB read like Greek to me. I'm not a stupid female, but I definitely was feeling a tad bit intimidated by gridding. Then in rides Fudgey (HAED's resident saviour) with her simple gridding method. Simply stitch your lines over 2 threads and under 2 threads. So I'm gridding 10x10 squares now. I've finally found stitching that I can do while watching tv that doesn't end up all boogered up and funky. I may have to do La Bella Luna like that. Now I'm feeling my oats and thinking that I'm going to try Becca's thread parking method. Since she does it row by row, that just might be the easiest way to do it for me. No big fuss. I'll just have to make sure that I am only doing one row at a time.

Have I mentioned yet that I hate this damnable Apple keyboard? The space bar sticks and doesn't always move the cursor. Makes for a lot of typos that quite simply drive me NUTS! Half the time, I want to correct my own writing in red and send it back to myself! Speaking of correcting things in red and sending them back to the author, Henry and I were attempting to read the first issue of WOOLF Watch that Richard published since becoming WOOLF's new publicist and we were both just gobsmacked at how pathetic the writing had become. It's obvious that the new publicist has his girl, Jean, writing for him. She writes just as she speaks, disjointed and downright whacked out. I gave up after the first page. Henry kept torturing himself and finished the whole thing. I know he's still upset about losing the election to Richard. I'm out of ways to try and comfort him. I guess there's always Leather Camp in August to keep him occupied.

On to something stitching related. HAED is having another 25% off sale and there are some Sara Butcher charts that I would love to buy. I really should be good and not buy any more, but these are just screaming to me. One is a quick stitch and the other two would be marvelous companion pieces. I've really found myself drawn to Ms Butcher's work. It's so unlike most fantasy art that I like.

Superbowl Sunday, Picture This Plus is opening up at noon for those of us who could give a rip about football. I still have my gift certificate that Vanessa gave me last October. That will get me a fat quarter and a skein of Dinky Dyes silk...maybe a little more since everything will be 25% off.

It's late and I really should be thinking about sleep. Maybe I'll watch Third Watch and then try to sleep.

It's About Time

I've thought about starting a blog for months now. I figured why not give everyone access to my ramblings and oddball musings. Postings may not be frequent or regular, but they will be here eventually.

After battling a monster headache, I'm finally feeling semi-human today. I'm halfway listening to/watching "Love Monkey". I'm on the fence about it so far. It's kind of like a wishy-washy male version of "Sex In The City". I would rather have watched "Threshold" or "Reunion" but the networks suck and cancelled them before we could find out how many people were infected by the signal or just who the hell killed Samantha and why Craig was in a wheelchair. I'm hoping against hope that they won't cancel "Bones". I've finally gotten into it and really look forward to it. I hate it when it's pre-empted for some ignorant sporting event.

I really should be stitching. I've got the majority of Enchanted Mermaid done and I have a good bit of Christmas Elf Fairy done, as well. I just got all the goodies to start a new over one project called May I Have This Dance. This one is a Stitch Along project that the HAED Brat Pack is starting. We start torturing ourselves February 1. I've got my fabric chosen, Midas Touch by Silkweaver. The chart is printed out and the floss is purchased. Now I need to try and get this piece gridded. Did I mention that I've never gridded a piece of cross stitch fabric before? Yep, I'm a gridding virgin. I need to somehow figure out how to grid in the next couple of days so I can get it started. Hmmm...I may even need to go buy a new pair of scrollrods for this one. I think it might be easier for me to just order them straight from Artisan Design than to try and chase them down here in town. I know that the Hobby Lobby across the street from me doesn't have any in stock. I guess I could call the one across town and see if they've got any.

Wow...I've babbled on quite a bit. Perhaps I should stop now and see how things go tommorow.