First New Start of the New Year

I'm off to a pretty good start on Their Song! Two leaves and three blackbirds!

Can anyone else who has stitched this design tell me how many skeins of WDW Moss you needed? I read somewhere that you need two, and since the two skeins I have look entirely different, I want to be able to run out and find two that are a closer match if I'm going to need them.

For the folks wondering what thread I need to finish my October Monthly Mania, it's WDW Sweet Potato. I've bought three new skeins from three different shops but all of them are way too dark. The DMC equivalent (301) is about as close as I've managed to get, but it's still a shade or two browner. Just enough for me to notice. I'm sure you all know how that goes! So right now I'm thinking I'll try blending a couple of different colors and see if that doesn't work. I'm open to suggestions!

Here's a couple "just for fun" shots from out at the lake on Wednesday:Three fellas were out ice fishing. Just sitting there in their frozen lawn chairs with what looked like little propane heaters at their feet. I'm thinking they must be crazy to be sitting out there, but as the saying goes, "a bad day fishing beats a good day working!"

Here's another crazy person, pretending she's ice skating. Wait! That's me!

It's snowing here A LOT today, with more snow expected tonight. We're stocked up on food and toilet paper so I'm planning to stay inside where it's warm and cozy, and stitch!

Nine Years Later...

I'm not quite ready for any strutting in the end zone, but I'm close! I put the last stitches in December's Monthly Mania Sunday night and, WOOHOO! Did it ever feel good! I was practically giddy! I'm still working on finding a suitable color match for the last bit of October's pumpkin. That's the only thing keeping this nine-years-in-the-making project from being one more for the win column.

Next on the Q-Snaps? Looks like it'll be Their Song from Blackbird Designs. I ironed the fabric for it this morning, then promptly misplaced it. You'd think in a 600 square foot house it'd be impossible to lose anything but when your trying to squash 1200 square feet of stuff into it, things start to disappear. I've assembled a search party, and as soon as we find the envelopes that went missing three days ago, we'll move on to my fabric.

Work has been slow since the holidays so we're taking advantage of the break and working on the house. Temperatures have been in the 20s but as long as it's dry enough we try to get things done. Yesterday was simply gorgeous! Heaven sent for those of us who needed some sunshine! We took a little stroll ON the lake, testing the ice, but didn't get far before we heard some cracking. You should have seen how fast I scurried back to shore! (Who me? Panic?) Our lake is spring fed so it doesn't freeze as fast as some of the others in the area. There's ice fishing 'hidey holes' set up on the lake next door. They look like this:
You really have to love fishing to sit in one of those! I'll stick to my stitching chair!

Feelin' Fine in 2009!

I trust everyone had a wonderful New Year's! Did you manage to stay up 'til midnight? I did, but just barely! We usually go out to eat on New Year's Eve, but this year decided to stay home. We cooked up a big pot of chili and spent the evening playing Yahtzee and Uno, and eating like maybe we'd made a resolution to lose 10 pounds in 2009 and this was our last chance to indulge!

Of course, it's next to impossible to lose weight when you have a son who loves to cook. Yesterday he made us some fresh tamales to go with all that leftover chili. Here they are in the pot, getting ready to be steamed:
They were delicious!

Now that the holidays are over, I'm looking forward to getting back into a stitching routine. I'm still loving my new floor stand! I finished November's Monthly Mania (no pic yet because it's all Q-Snapped up in the stand) and got started on December a couple of nights ago. Here's my progress so far:Whoa! Santa's looking a little strange there! Those two pink blotches look like crazy eyes, but they're supposed to be his rosy cheeks! Stitching is going so much faster now, or maybe I'm just excited to be almost finished with this piece! I still have to find some matching thread to finish October with, but WOOHOO! I'm so close to being DONE!

Thank you all so much for the lovely comments on my floor stand! I appreciate every single one of them! I swear, if we ever get our house built I'm inviting everyone over for coffee and Sara Lee pound cake!

Happy New Year!

Santa Came Through!

Yes! I am now the proud owner of a Needlework System 4 floor stand!


My son had already laid claim to the only real chair in our living room, so I set up camp on our big cushy ottoman. I made myself a cozy nest with my sweater and a pillow and settled in for a few hours of stitching last night after dinner. I was so surprised at how much I got done! I can't wait to get back to it!

I hope Santa was equally as good to everyone else, and that you all had an enjoyable Christmas Day!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!and may God bless us, everyone!

One More Sleep 'Til Christmas

Written by Paul Williams
(and sung by Kermit)

There's magic in the air this evening
Magic in the air
The world is at her best, you know
When people love and care
The promise of excitement
Is one the night will keep
After all, there's only one more sleep 'til Christmas

The world has got a smile today
The world has got a glow
There's no such thing as strangers when
A stranger says hello
And everyone is family
We're having so much fun
After all, there's only one more sleep 'til Christmas

'Tis the season to be jolly and joyous
With a burst of pleasure, we feel it arrive
It's the season when the saints can employ us
To spread the news about peace and to keep love alive

There's something in the wind today
That's good for everyone
Yes, faith is in our hearts today
We're shining like the sun
And everyone can feel it
The feeling's running deep
After all, there's only one more sleep 'til Christmas
After all, there's only one more sleep 'til Christmas day

Answer Time!

Here are the answers to my little Christmas movie quiz from yesterday:

1. Home Alone
2. The Polar Express
3. Christmas Vacation
4. Elf
5. Jingle All the Way
6. The Santa Clause
7. Miracle on 34th Street
8. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
9. A Christmas Story
10. Home Alone 2: Lost In New York

Doesn't that list make you want to grab a bag of Orville Redenbacher and pop a DVD in?

Is everyone staying warm? We never got out of single digits today, and the windchill was well below zero! Definitely snotsicle weather in this part of the country!

I know how busy everyone is this time of year, so thanks for stopping by!

A Little Christmas Fun

One of my favorite things to do this time of year is watch Christmas movies with my kids. The other night I noticed that some of the DVD covers had taglines on them... you know, those little phrases used in the movie trailers and advertisements. So I thought it would be fun to put together a little quiz for everyone. See if you can guess the Christmas movie but it's tagline!

1. A family comedy without the family.

2. Journey beyond your imagination.

3. Yule crack up!

4. This holiday, discover your inner elf.

5. Two dads. One toy. No prisoners.

6. This Christmas, the snow hits the fan.

7. Experience the miracle.

8. Inside a snowflake, like the one on your sleeve, there happened a story you must see to believe.

9. Peace, harmony, comfort and joy... maybe next year.

10. He's up past his bedtime in the city that never sleeps.

Have fun! I'll post the answers tomorrow!

Long Time No Post

It has been a while, hasn't it!? I hope everyone is well and enjoying the holiday season! And staying warm, of course! We had a wonderful time with my oldest son while he was here! Unfortunately, his leave could not be extended to allow him to be here for Christmas, but we were able to celebrate his birthday, and mine too! We also had a "Thanksgiving Rewind" because just like Hiro Nakamura on Heroes, I bend space and time! At least some VCR magic made it seem that way! I'd recorded the Macy's Parade and the dog show that comes on after it, both of which are a tradition for us to watch. Throw in Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving special and no one even missed the fact that there were no football games on! I cooked a full-blown Thanksgiving meal which was a bit of a challenge in our tiny kitchen, but I guess there was enough of that magic left because everything was delicious! (I'm really quite pleased with myself in case you can't tell, haha!)

Not much news on the stitching front. I must confess, I haven't picked up a needle in three weeks! I did receive some stash for my birthday, so here's a picture of those goodies.
Their Song is all kitted up now, and I'm thinking of making that my first project for the New Year. Finishing off this year's projects might just have to wait!

Is everyone ready for Christmas? It's just a week away, you know! All of our decorations are in storage, but I did go dig out our small table top tree, and I put up a string of lights. I've had my online radio tuned in to the holiday music channel for the last few days because I felt a bit of the ole Scrooge mood coming on, LOL! It's so easy to start feeling sorry for myself this time of year, I have to do whatever I can to fight it off!! It's hard to be mopey with some perky music playing! Not to mention my sources in the North Pole report seeing a Needlework System 4 floor stand in Santa's sleigh with my name on it! Woohoo!

Okay, this Rudolph has to run! She still has shopping to do!

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