Would anyone like some whine?

Here is my latest progress picture for my November Montly Mania. I have seriously developed a bad, BAD attitude about this project! I love the fabric I'm using, I thought it was absolutely perfect for this project! But it's a 22-count and I'm using four strands of floss! If you've ever tried to get four strands of floss to lie together nicely you know what I'm going through! Nightmare!

Anyway, enough of that!

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving with plenty of family, friends, and food! We ate dinner over at my boyfriend's parents' house so sadly we have no turkey leftovers.

Darn it! I'm whining again! Somebody shush me!

Wait! One last whine! Today is the last day of NaBloPoMo and...
Thank you Comcast!
Okay, I'm done! And I promise I will have a smile on my face tomorrow because my oldest son is coming to visit us for two weeks!! Hooray!!

292!

That's the number of blog posts in my Google Reader at the moment, the result of having no internet connection for the past few days and not being able to keep up with my bloggy pals. I also missed posting on my blog for three days, so no "Yatta!" for me for this year's NaBloPoMo.

I'm a sad panda!Oh, you poor thing!
(I'd say this fella needed a hug if it wasn't for those claws!)

Oh Yeah!

The wait is over! The Sampler Girl Companion, Booklet One is now available! There's even a downloadable PDF version for those of you who need instant gratification!

All I Want For Christmas

A Needlework System 4 floor stand with Q-snap holder.

And yes, I've been good.

November Continued

I finished up the acorn's "cap" tonight. (Does that part of the acorn have an actual name?) The rest of the acorn is about a bazillion stitches done in GAST Sable. I am not looking forward to it! There are a dozen or so Rhodes stitches scattered throughout the acorn so that might break up the monotony a bit. Tomorrow night is my Stitch-a-Thon night so I imagine I'll be working on this fella some more.

We stopped at Best Buy the other day when we were out shopping, and the first thing I saw when we walked in was a mountain of Nintendo Wii's. Looks like they aren't going to be so scarce this year! We picked up the latest Animal Crossing game and have been having a lot of fun with it. I'd recommend it for anyone's Christmas list!

Thanks for stopping by!

November

I know we're officially in the middle of the month, but here in the Land of the Monthly Manias, November has just begun. I wish I could remember the name of this fabric. It has squares woven into it which turned out to be the perfect size for these charts. Anyone recognize it?

Hopefully I'll have more progress to post tomorrow! Happy stitching, everyone!

Woke up to more snow this morning. I take it this doesn't stop until March? April? (May???) I am slowly learning the in's and out's of snow removal! (While trying not to think about how it's still in the 70s back in Texas!)

We made a trip up to Kalamazoo today for some "big city" shopping. Turtlenecks, coats, and snow boots for everyone! Woohoo! I also made a stay-in-the-car-I'll-only-be-a-minute stop at Distinctive Stitches to pick up a few goodies. I got a few overdyed threads that I need for my Monthly Manias, and two of the Dickens' Mittens charts that I wanted. I'll pick up the one they were sold out of when their next order comes in. I also got Lizzie Kate's Don't Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle and the JABC buttons to go with it. I'm hoping to use that phrase at least once this Christmas season!

Anyhoo, this girl is plum tuckered! We're having baked potatoes and leftover chili for dinner, and then it's stitchin' time!

Hope you all had a great day!

Go Ahead and Laugh!

I put the last stitch in Laugh last night. Did this one go fast or what? Only Create and Live to go now! Woohoo!

Next on my To Do list is my Monthly Manias that I have been working on forever! I have November and December left to do, plus finishing up October. I am heading up to my not-so-local LNS tomorrow to stock up on the thread I need. I ran out of WDW Sweet Potato while working on October, and haven't found a good match for it yet. The shop ordered more for me so we'll see if those are any better. Fingers crossed so I don't have to rip out an entire pumpkin!

It's been snowing all day here and there's probably a good 4-5 inches on the ground. I can see that I'm going to need a pair of snow boots before long!

Hope everyone is staying warm and dry tonight!

Oh No! Snow!

My daughter's commentary on this morning's weather:

A Progress Pic and a Quote

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

It's SAT Night!

I'm going to continue working on my Lizzie Kate piece during tonight's Stitch-a-Thon. Next up is "Laugh" and it looks like it'll stitch up pretty quick. (I hope!)

Here's a (wrinkly) photo of how it looks so far: I had to stand on a chair to fit it all in! It's sooo looong!

Easy as Pie!

I was going to show you the apple crisp I made for tonight's dessert but every picture I took had that 70s "Harvest Gold" kind of tint to it. It was quite delicious, however, so I will share the link to the recipe I used. It's an Everyday Food recipe from Martha Stewart, and you can check it out here.

My other source of inspiration was this video from StartCooking.com:

Such an easy dessert to throw together, and it really was yummy. Using the MS recipe with the oatmeal in the topping made me feel like I was eating something good for me, too! Not to mention the house smelled DEVINE!

Time for a Happy Dance!

Woohoo! Here's Encourage, hot off the Q-Snaps! It didn't take too long to finish it up. Next on the list is Laugh.

Now I hear that Lizzie Kate will be doing a Halloween Double Flip series next year! I can't wait to see them!

Thank you for your good wishes for Spitz! He continues to improve and is acting more and more like his old self! He sends kitty kisses to everyone!

Miracle of Miracles

Look who's home!

My baby Spitz!

He went from kidney failure to having difficulty breathing, but I told the vet we weren't going to give up on him. We visited him at the animal hospital like you would any family member, and held him and loved on him and talked to him and told him we wanted him home. And here he is! Very thin and still weak, but he's eating and drinking again and hopefully he'll be back to his old self soon.

What's on your Google Reader?

One of my favorite non-stitchy blogs is Cake Wrecks.

You'll see a lot of this:

But there's also some pretty amazing ones, like this: It's a Corpse Bride wedding cake! How cool is that?

Weekend Stitching

Yep, that's it. The only stitching I did this weekend was N-C-O-U-R-A and part of G. A little disappointing, but then this was one of those weekends I felt like I was being pulled in a hundred different directions. When I did have some time to myself, I just wanted to VEG! I'm sure you all know how that is!

Our snow flurries continue, and it's even sticking here and there! I got my daughter an ice scraper for her car when I ventured out for 'provisions' today. I know she'll be thrilled, haha!

We've had one of our kitties (Spitz) at the vet over the weekend, being treated for kidney failure. Poor little guy is so sick but we are still hoping and praying for the best. Any happy thoughts/prayers you could send his way would be much appreciated!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Thank you so much for the comments on my "view"! I really can't wait to have our house done so I can sit and stare out the window at the water!

Baby It's Cold Outside

We had our first snow today. Nothing major, and it didn't stick, but it was still exciting for us southerners to see some "white stuff" falling from the sky. Now, was I inside all warm and cozy, tucked into my chair with a hot cup of coffee and my cross stitch? Of course not! I was outside lugging these things around:
(This picture was taken back when it was a steamy 71 degrees outside!)

Those are our floor trusses, and we have about forty some odd of these to nail in place. Let me tell you, they are HEAVY! Fortunately, we had some help moving them. Unfortunately, the gorgeous weather we had earlier this week didn't hold out until the weekend.

Here's a list of what I was wearing but any northerners have to promise not to laugh! From bottom to top: two pairs of socks, tennis shoes, jeans, long sleeved t-shirt, sweat shirt, fleece jacket, coat, gloves, work gloves, two scarves, and a hat. I think that's all. I told everyone I'd almost be comfortable if I had a pair of long johns on under my jeans.

Okay, fine! You can laugh now!

Stitch-a-Thon Tonight!

Woohoo! Tonight is the weekly Stitch-a-Thon for the Let's Stitch blog. I so look forward to Friday nights! I will be working on Encourage from the Lizzie Kate Double Flip series.
(I made a tiny start on it just so there'd be something to take a picture of!)
I'm still hoping to get all twelve of these done by the end of the year. Only four more to go!

Becky has had such an overwhelming response to the Let's Stitch blog that she has started a second one called Let's Stitch TOO! Head on over if you're interested in joining the fun!

A Room With A View

Here is what I will see when I look out the window of my future stitching room. It's a little barren this time of year, but I know I'll enjoy watching the seasons change. Now, if only we could get the darn house built!

Too tired...

...to post, so here's a pretty picture instead.
My son took a bunch of pictures out at the lake yesterday and this one was my favorite.

It's been absolutely gorgeous here the last few days, but I think I'm suffering from too much fresh air! Early bedtime tonight, for certain!

Who Will Win?

Polls are closing and the votes are being counted! Who will be our next president?

We were lucky here and only had to wait a minute or two to vote this morning. And I have to admit, I got a bit misty watching my son and daughter vote for the very first time. Not quite like the first day of school, but still a milestone for them. Daughter got a hug and son got a pat on the back. Mom got two pairs of eyes rolled at her!

Off to watch CNN!

Some Enabling

What would a stitchy blog be without a little enabling now and then? This is courtesy of my House of Stitches newsletter so maybe I'm just enabling by proxy?

A Christmas Carol is one of my favorite books. I read it every year at Christmas time, aloud to anyone who cares to listen. (I also make sure we watch The Muppets Christmas Carol every year, because Kermit as Bob Cratchit is just too perfect!) So today I learned The Cricket Collection has designed a set of mitten ornaments, one for each of the main characters! Dickens' Mittens, Chapter OneDickens' Mittens, Chapter TwoDickens' Mittens, The Last Word
We have Scrooge, Marley, and Kermit... I mean Bob... and all three of the Christmas ghosts! Last but not least is Tiny Tim's mitten! God bless me! I need these charts!

November Goals

November Goals:

1. Start & finish Encourage (LK Double Flip)
2. Start & finish Laugh (LK Double Flip)
3. Start & finish November Monthly Mania (Heart in Hand)
4. Finish October Monthly Mania (waiting for thread)
5. Finish Into the Night (Shepherd's Bush kit)
6. Continue to work on VoHRH on Tuesdays

I got behind with my Lizzie Kate Double Flips so I'll be trying to catch up. I'm still aiming to finish all 12 by the end of the year. The Montly Manias are a project I started back in 2000. It was my first "one-a-month" type project, but I lost interest in it (surprise!) and never finished. With only 2.25 months left to stitch, this is the year I get 'er done! (Really!) Into the Night has been such a fun stitch, I can't imagine not finishing it soon. And VoHRH... oy! That one will be listed in my goals for the rest of my stitching life!

Now can someone please tell me why, with an extra hour in the day due to "falling back", I still feel like I'm running behind??

It's that time of year again!

Time for National Blog Posting Month! Yep! Once again I will be attempting to post every single day for the month of November! This will be quite a challenge for someone who has become a once-a-weeker at best! So every day I will be stretching my wee brain, trying to come up with something blogworthy. My goal is to come out the other side a better blogger, and be able to yell YATTA! I DID IT!