New Mira Mermaid and Disney Angst

This is Mirabilia’s new release, Mermaid of Atlantis! I have been hoping and hoping for a new Mira mermaid soon, so that I could have her included in my all mermaids Mira Round Robin. I’ll have to buy the chart and send a working copy to whoever has my RR by the time I get her and any needed supplies. This will mean that since there are 9 stitchers and 10 mermaids and 10 round robin sections (Atlantis will go in a blank spot I had set aside) – everyone who stitches on my round robin will get to choose between at least two mermaids. I felt a little bad before that someone was going to get “stuck” at the end with whatever no one else felt like stitching. At least this way the last stitcher can pick between 2 mermaids.

The only thing I don’t particularly care for is the fabric, and of course that won’t be a problem for my RR as the fabric is already picked out and it seems like this mermaid will work just fine on my fabric too.

On a completely unrelated note – ONLY 9 DAYS left until our Disney vacation! Our excitement has reached fever pitch here and I can only hope that I haven’t hyped this trip to the kids too much. Hopefully, they haven’t built it up in their minds to the point that anything less than perfection will be a disappointment. I’ve been trying to temper the excitement with reminders that we will have to wait in lines, and it probably will be hotter than what we are used to here in Wisconsin. I’ve also been stressing that we will have to do things (or not do things) based on how the WHOLE family is feeling, and sometimes that is going to mean slowing down for Katie to take a nap even though Alex is still wanting to keep going on the rides. I think we should be covered for all the contingencies – I’ve planned downtime into every day anyway, but even if we need extra time at the hotel and out of the parks at least Alex and I can go to the pool while DH and Katie nap or some other similar compromise.

As I’ve admitted earlier, I can be an obsessive planner about the “big” things and this vacation has been no exception to that. My biggest fear now is that I’ll have invested all this time, money, and tons of energy into it and it’ll be a big flop. I’ve had more than one nightmare about not being able to leave the house in time to catch our flight, not being allowed on the plane, and our reservation not being in the computer at the resort! BUT we have received calls from the airline confirming our reservations and a flight change for the return trip – and our vacation documents have arrived from Disney – so I KNOW our reservations are valid and in place.

Every day I remember 3 or 4 things to do before the trip or to pack and add to my list. I am holding myself back from starting to pack already as I know it is too early for that but my obsessive planning gene keeps urging me to start packing so that I’ll have more time to remember all the things I’m sure to forget.

Ah well, it will come, I know it will come. It might not be perfect – but in all likelihood we will have a reasonably good time and will build some nice family memories along the way. That is really all I can ask for.

Another Mira RR Finish :)

This is Angi's RR. I really like the fabric she choose for her piece and this particular pattern really goes well I think. I hope she agrees! This is of course "Fairy Tales"; luckily Angi wants to do the beads on her own at the end and use Delicas instead of the recommended Mill Hills, so I didn't have to bead it and was able to finish up last night. :) Glad to have it done before the vacation, but it was a lot of fun to stitch. :)

You're Not My Friend!

Katie has officially transferred over to the three year old room at daycare. I'm really glad we decided to go ahead with it now instead of waiting til her birthday at the end of next month. The three year old room is more educationally structured and uses an early preschool curriculum. In the two-year old room they definitely did structured and educational activities, but just not really like being in a 'school' type environment. Katie really likes having circle time and the extra structure, and I can tell she really likes the feeling of achievement when she learns something new and can then practice it right there in the classroom. She also feels so grown up being with the other "big" kids. She is just bursting with pride at moving up to "Miss Katie's room" (the teacher's name is Katie too).

Of course, it hasn't all been roses and rainbows. I've also noticed the beginning of that girly cattiness we've all experienced at one time or another in groups of our peers. She talks about other little girls in her class and how they didn't want her to play with a certain toy, or how she and another girl didn't let so-and-so play. Whenever she is upset with me now, for say making her go to bed on time (oh the horrors!), she'll say, "You're NOT my Friend!" Apparently, this is the be-all end-all of three year old girls and their tiny social psyches. DH and I have of course been reminding her to be nice to the other girls, but really I get the sense that it is tiny squabbles forgotten within minutes. She doesn't seem to be adversely affected except for the new line to use on Mommy when she doesn't get something she wants. Kind of funny, but it also just took me aback to see my sweet princess (yeah, right!) already figuring out and particpating in this social stuff.

In stitching news, I spent all my stitching time this weekend working on Angi's Mira RR. I'm getting close to being finished - but still not quite there yet. Will probably finish within the next few days - possibly even tonight, but I'm just not sure how long the beading will take, so we'll see.

My Spring Exchange Package Arrived!

Marie (timetosew) sent me this wonderful package for the spring exchange. I just love the flatfold she sent and have already proudly displayed it in my living room on top of the bookcase! :) She must have read somewhere that my favorite color is pink - cause she really nailed that one! :) I really like the fabric she sent too - might use it to line a scissor case I was thinking of making one of these days when I have time to squeeze in a smaller project. Thank you Marie!

M, N, and Strawberries

Finished another round on the afghans. Only one more on Katie's blanket (the pink one) to go! So next time I'll be able to Happy Dance that one.

I plan to spend the rest of my stitching time this weekend on Angi's Mira RR. Probably will stitch on that exculusively until it is done as I want to be sure it is done in time to mail before we go on our trip. :)

Spring Exchange Revealed

I sent my Spring Exchange item to Marjean. Click on her name to visit her blog where she posted some pictures of the needlebook I stitched for her. It is the needlebook design included in the "Silkwood Manor" pattern designed by Just Nan. I think it came out really nicely if I do say so myself even though I was sort of nervous about the finishing.

In other news I found out our cabin assignment on the ship for our trip is room 8092! This is awesome because it is a Category 4 cabin and we booked a Catagory 6 - seems we scored a free upgrade. Woo Hoo! Not an incredible difference in the rooms really, just a bit bigger room and an extra pull-down murphy bed - so we won't have to use the upper bunk for one of the kids if we don't want to. We're excited anyway.

I also have almost finished another square on Katie's blanket - just the backstitching left, then it'll be onto 2 more letters on the Alphabet blanket. Those go by quick, so I'm hoping to get going on Angi's Mira RR sometime over the weekend. :) I only have one more square to do for Katie's blanket after this one, so I'll be really glad to have that whole thing done! I've decided to replace it with Silkwood Manor in the small rotation I have going.

Disney Anticipation

We are now less than 30 days away from our trip, and my planning obsession has shifted into high gear! The kids are full throttle into it too - most of our dinner conversation is now about the trip and what we will do on the trip, what it will be like to fly on the airplane, and be on a cruise ship. We are doing a Disney Land & Sea trip which means the first half is at Disney World in Florida, and then we take a 3-day Bahamas cruise before returning home.

It doesn't help that at work I really have nothing to do right now. I ended my last consulting assignment as a technical editor on March 30 - and I'm benched at the moment. My next assignment is already waiting in the wings - I'll be writing some online coursework for a financial/banking company - but my firm hasn't worked out my start date yet. So I have to come in to the office everyday (since I'm salaried) but there is NOTHING for me to be doing. Except obsess over Disney of course!

I have each day planned out, with breaks in the middle of each afternoon to avoid Katie meltdowns and DH meltdowns. Sean gets a little grumpy and stressed in crowded or overstimulating situations, so I tried to plan breaks for him too. We are spending the half day after we arrive at MGM Disney studios, since it is one of the smaller parks and we aren't interested in doing the big scarey rides there - so we can probably finish it that day. We are going to eat at Sci-Fi theater there for dinner that night and if Katie hold up (we'll see), we are going to stay for the Fantasmic! fireworks show. Alex and DH are really excited about the theming at the Sci Fi - you eat in "cars" and watch old drive in flicks and have burgers and milkshakes. :) Exactly our kind of restaurant! :)

I also have planned to do the Hoop-Dee-Do review, 2 days at Magic Kingdom, 2 days at Epcot, and an evening and a morning at Animal Kingdom. If we can do all I have "scheduled" with no major meltdowns it will be a miracle, so I'm just hoping we get to do most of it and I'm going to try to go with the flow if we have to detour from our plans. I know it will be a lot to take in, and it will be better to take a time out and miss out on something than to have a complete meltdown that will be harder to recover from.

Right now I'm anxiously awaiting our cabin assignment on the ship. We booked a guarantee room (really had no choice as the category we wanted didn't have the option to pick our stateroom at the time that I booked). If you book a guarentee you are guaranteed a stateroom in that category or one above it, but they get to pick which one. I'll be happy no matter what room we get, I just want to know where we are going to be so I can start mapping out in my head where we are in relation to the pool, the kids clubs, and everything else. I know, it is an obsession!

Anyway, guess I've bored you all long enough with all the details. I will be posting a detailed trip report when we return, so you might want to avoid my blog for a week or two after we return May 13! :)

Last Just Nan RR finish!

This one is Kari's. I stitched the last three bands, all taken from "With My Needle". I'm all done with this Round Robin now, which is good cause I just received the first package for the Mirabilia RR. Over the next week or so I'll be stitching 3 more afghan squares, then probably the Mira RR piece after that. :) I think I found a cute design to put on Katie's blanket - it is a freebie from Vermillion Stitchery. The March freebie is a cute little strawberry patch that I'm going to try stitching on the afghan. Just one more square after that one and I'll finally have that blanket done. I'll be doing letters M and N on the baby blanket. Off to get started on the strawberries now~

Just Nan RR Christmas Theme

This is Angi's piece. Obviously, it is a Christmas theme, and I think it is turning out very nicely. :) I picked bands from the 1999 JCS Just Nan Christmas ornament stocking and from Sweet Remembrance. I'll be stitching on Kari's over the next few days and should have a pic of that one up over the weekend barring any catastrophic events. ;)

Afghan Progress

I've been stitching on my afghans again. I finished a sun and moon design that was designed as a clock face onto Katie's blanket and finished the K and L blocks on the baby blanket. I only have two more squares to stitch for Katie's blanket, but I'm running out of cute designs to do - which is surprising considering my magazine collection! If you know of any cute small designs that would look good on a little kids blanket, let me know! I'm looking for designs about 70 x 70 or less.

In other stitching news I finished my piece for the Spring exchange, and I'm very pleased with how it came out. Can't show pictures yet though. I'll share once I've mailed it and the other person has received it. :)

For the next few days/week I'll be finishing up two Just Nan RR pieces, so I'll have those to post soon. :)