I've been bitten by the RR bug again!

Somehow over the past year or so I've gotten myself involved in 4 Round Robins. I've known about RRs for years but was never very interested until I got involved in the Stitcher's Lane RR at the beginning of 2005. That one is now finishing up, as is the open-themed RR I joined next. I'm also involved in a Band Sampler RR and even moderating a Mirabilia RR. After I started the Mirabilia RR I said to myself that I was going to cool it with the RRs for awhile - mostly because I was scared of overcommitting myself. HA! That lasted all of a few months.

I got this great idea for doing a Round Robin of Foldable Books like the ones the Designing Ladies did for 2006. I posted about it on The Worldwide Round Robins board only to discover that a few others had some good ideas for RRs too! So now I could potentially be joining three more RRs! The other two besides the foldable books are RRs for Fancy Letters (monogram type) and Just Nan. Autumn did a JN theme for the open-themed RR and it looked so nice I really wished I had a JN RR. So I HAVE to be in that one. At least all my stitching is done for the Stitchers Lane RR and the open-themed RR. So if we can stagger the start dates a bit maybe I won't have more than 3 or 4 on the go at once. Even if I do though, I'm excited about them and I've discovered I have a lot of fun picking out what to stitch for others and it lets me excersice a bit of creativity which I really like. I'm not talented enough to draw or design my own stuff, but I can usually manipulate the real designer's stuff into a unique and fun project. Round Robins seem to give me the opportunity to do that. :)

Beginning to function again

Yikes, it has been a long time since I was that sick. I managed to get through the rest of the day at work yesterday somehow. I'm just so glad I haven't been placed at a client site yet, so all that was really expected of me was to sit at my desk and not fall out of my chair. I did have to sit through one hour meeting about an upcoming asignment that I'm working on today and just making it through that one hour focusing and engaging was really challenging. And there was no slacking cause it was just three of us in a room, the other two bringing me up to speed on the project. If I had been just one iota more sleepy I'd have just closed my eyes mid sentence and fallen asleep right there.

It only got worse when I got home cause I arrive two hours before DH and of course Katie is still mega-clingy during that time cause she is still adjusting to the daycare. I managed to feed her a microwave hotdog and Alex cooked his own dinner also in the microwave. I fell asleep on the couch and asked Alex to come out in the living room and watch his afternoon cartoons and make sure Katie doesn't hang herself from the rafters. She just sat and climbed on me while I slept and I was too tired to care. DH saved me when he came home and took over Katie and her clinginess, thank God.

I felt a bit better around 9pm after the kids were all in bed so I had some bread. Apparently a mistake as I was up again at 3am with the stomach cramps just like the night before. Somehow I managed to sleep through them much better this time around. When I'd wake up hurting I'd just roll over and fall back to sleep. I guess I was just too tired to care that my stomach was in knots.

Today I'm much less sleepy, but the stomach is still a little woozy. I cautiously ate a bit of cereal for breakfast and had some water at my desk instead of coffee or hot choc. My stomach is still cramping some, but not nearly as much as yesterday, so hopefully I'm turning the corner. I actually got to do real work this morning - diving into the assignment the meeting was for yesterday. It feels good to be productive.

Stitching wise I got quite a bit done over the weekend on Karen's Mira RR. I wasn't able to do anything last night because of being sick, but I'm hoping I'll get in a few hours tonight provided I continue to feel better. I'm stitching a portion of "Baby Boat" which is a really nice pattern but one I might not ever get to if I was going to do the whole thing. I hope Karen likes it when it is done. :)

Sleep, who needs Sleep?

Apparently I do. I'm so tired this morning. After a pretty uneventful weekend I went to bed last night without suspecting anything was amiss. I awoke at 3:10am to terrible stomach cramps. I don't know if it was something I ate or a bug, but I downed some Pepto and tried to go back to sleep, but really only managed to snooze a bit between trips to the bathroom and more doses of Pepto. Yuck, I hate being sick like that. Around about 5:30am Katie starts crying. Normally when she does this at night it is because she's kicked off her covers and she's cold. She was actually up two times earlier in the night for that reason and I was able to cover her back up and get back in bed. At 5:30 though there was just no consoling her, and normal wake-up time is 6:30am at our house. At first I was afraid she had whatever was making my stomach upset. I gave her some Mylicon drops and tried to go back to sleep on the couch with her ( she wouldn't let me leave her without howling ). She kept saying she had to go potty, but when I'd take her she wouldn't go. Not very amusing that early in the morning let me tell you! But I figured she was having those stomach cramps I was having and that was making her think she had to go.

Finally she started calling for Alex and Daddy and it became clear she just wanted to get up for the day. I think she was asking to go potty cause that is the first thing we always do in our morning routine. About this time she started asking for crackers too. She was hungry! I remembered that she hadn't really eaten dinner last night cause she wanted to just eat rolls and I let her have one, but wouldn't let her have any more until she ate some other stuff on her plate. She chose to just not eat anything else - so of course she was starving! As soon as I gave her some breakfast she was back to her old self. I'm just glad she doesn't have whatever stomach ailment I have cause it is nasty!

I made it into work, but I'm bone tired, and my stomach still hasn't settled down all the way. I don't think it is a bug though, cause no one else has it. All I can think is that maybe when I cooked the chicken for dinner last night I somehow didn't wash my hands after handling the raw meat and contaminated myself. I'm usually very good about stuff like that, but it is the only thing that explains why no one else is sick.

Alhambra Garden

A quick progress pic of Alhambra Garden. Seems like I can stitch and stitch on that piece and not see much progress. I did finally get to make the outline for the outermost corner on one side though, so I'm at least taking up a little more real estate on the fabric. I got tired of Alhambra Garden while waiting for the next Mira RR piece to arrive so I started Autumn's cow quilt square last night. Of course, the Mira RR arrived today. I'll probably still knock out the quilt square first since it is so easy and quick. :)

Katie got mad when I was taking the picture of Alhambra Garden - she wanted me to take her picture too. Of course that doesn't mean she'll smile - just got this wacky face. Silly Girl!

SNOW

UGH. That is what I get for commenting on all those easterners blogs about how pretty the snow looked. We got our own dumping last night and this morning. My bosses were nice enough to tell me to go home this morning at about 10:45am due to the weather. In retrospect probably not the smartest thing, since it was the peak of the storm at the time. I would have been better off waiting an hour or two for the worst to blow over before heading home. Anyway, I went and it was the worst driving conditions I've ever been in. It was white-out conditions and unfortunately the tires on my little old dodge neon are not that new. I was white-knuckling it and going slow and cautious all the way home. Somehow I made the ususal 35 min drive in about one hour, which I would have thought would be a very optomistic estimate. I picked up Katie at the daycare on my way home since I didn't want to drive any more in the snow than necessary and I was going right by the daycare on my way home. I got home just in time for lunch and her nap. Then I spent the next two hours shoveling the driveway while she napped so DH won't have to do it when he gets home tonight and so that I'd be able to get back out of the driveway to get Alex from school which miraculously was still on today. Of course about the time I finished the plow came through. ARGH. Okay, I knew that was going to happen and of course it was necessary, but then I had to shovel a lot of really heavy snow from the end of the driveway so that I could get out to go get Alex from school. And all of the snow was wet and heavy, but I had to get it cleared cause it is supposed to be really cold tomorrow and all that wet snow would be iced down and impossible to remove if I didn't do it now. My back and arms are now killing me! No extra stitching time for me on this snowday! Maybe tonight after a hot shower!

An Ordeal

UGH! I had all these plans to take care of some volunteer work I'm doing for Alex's school, get Katie to the DRs office to catch up on her shots, and get home in time to make dinner. HA!

I left work a bit early with the approval of the boss only to get in my car and realize that the battery was dead because *smarty pants me* left the lights on this morning. What a feeling of dread realizing I needed to go back in and beg a jump off these people (who are really very nice!) I just met this past week. I *hate* hate, hate when I make a fool of myself in front of people I'm still getting to know.

Anyway, one nice man who started the same day as me offered to help me jump the car, only between the two of us we couldn't figure it out, rocket scientists that we are. Yeah, we knew red was positive, black negative and how to attach to the battery and such, but we were having zero luck. Finally we had to give up and when I went back in and told the receptionist my dilemna she knew just who to call. Soon our office computer network guru showed up and went out to take a look. Turned out we were stupidly trying to ground the negative charge on the stalled car on plastic instead of metal. DUH! Started right up after he tried it the right way. Thankfully I was then able to start home only an hour and a half after I was supposed to leave.

I managed to call Alex's school during all of this and have him walk the mile home. He knows there is a hidden key and where it is, but couldn't find it. So by the time I had picked up Katie and gotten home he had been outside for an entire hour, including the walk. I felt so terrible for him, and he looked so worried and then relieved when I finally drove up. I went and got Little Caesar's for dinner as all that just sent me too far over the edge for making dinner. Alex really likes that place and I was figuring he could use a little treat about now.

So now I have to do the volunteer stuff tomorrow while I'm on my way to my interview and I had to reschedule Katie's doctor appt, which wouldn't be such a big deal except that she is behind on her shots now cause we were without medical insurance for awhile when I wasn't working.

I am going to sleep good tonight. I'm just glad we are all home safe and fed. I need to go stitch and relax now!

Emma's Garden

Managed to get some good progress in on Emma's Garden this last week. I think she is going to be relatively quick to finish. I did her face, hair and some of the boquet this time.

I'm doing really well on my Feb. goals, just have to get some time in on Alhambra Garden and finish my Mira RR section for the month in order to meet them all. I'm thinking I might try to also squeeze in another square on Katie's blanket and the square for Autumn's cow quilt this month too, but we'll see that might be a bit too ambitious. The Mira RR tends to take awhile.

I have an interview for work on Tuesday, so I'm already stressing about that. Since the job is consulting, we have to sometimes interview for our placements and since this will be my first I really want to do well. I've been able to do a little clearance shopping at Kohl's and I've updated my business wardrobe a bit which was really nice. Not much else going on...

A Small Round Robin HD

With all the activity surrounding Sean and I both getting new jobs this week, I've only had a little bit of time to stitch. I did manage to finish my section on Lisa's RR for the Any Designer Band Sampler RR. I did the bottom portion starting with the acorns. :)

Day 2

Today was a good day. :) At work I busied myself familiarizing myself with a new-to-me software package that I'll likely be using for several assignments. It was an easy self-tutorial that took up most of my time at work today. The rest of the time was spent in "get-to-know-you" meetings with the sales group that will be trying to market my skills to various companies. (The job is in consulting.)

Katie did much better today. Her teacher said that she cried a lot less today and that she seemed to be more interested in playing with the other kids. The main problem is that she isn't used to all the other children and she gets overwhelmed at times. They have been dealing with that by just picking her up and holding her for a bit when she seems overwhelmed until she calms down. So far, so good and I'm glad that they are being attentive and understanding to the situation. My boss has also been really understanding asking how things are going with her and making sure I know not to be afraid to ask to leave early or whatever for family needs. You can't get much more understanding than that.

DH also seems to be liking his new job. He was worried about having to work a 12hr on call schedule once a week, but it seems they have nixed that idea. (The dept. he is in is in the process of restructuring, so the gameplan is sort of in flux right now.) He has his own office, which he never had before so he is sort of excited about that.

Now if I can get supper on the table and get some good stitching time in after Katie is in bed tonight all will be right with the world! :)

Day 1

Well today went as well as could be expected. The good news is I found out my boss is fine with me coming in early so that I can leave early and be home in time to pick up Alex from school. The bad news is that Katie looked so sad when I picked her up today. So listless... that is the only word I can think of to describe it. I picked her up when I walked in the door and it took a minute for it to register with her that it was really mama. She just had a blank stare on her face and her eyes were sort of puffy so I know she had been crying. The teachers said she was pretty fussy, but no more than to be expected for a first day of a kid who isn't used to daycare at all. I'm sure she'll adjust, I just felt like the worst mommy in the world. She seemed to bounce back okay though once I got her home.

DH said his first day went okay too - now we have to sort through all the benefit info and decide whose insurance we will use for medical, dental and vision. Joy.

Tomorrow is the big day.

If you've been following my blog or any of my posts on the stitching boards you probably know tomorrow is my first day of work at a new job. I'm so nervous - I haven't worked in about 16 months now and I worked my last job for more than 6 years. That makes about 8 years since I had a "first day on the job". Dh is also nervous as tomorrow is his first day at a new job too.

I'm also really nervous about how Katie is going to be a daycare. :( We had another trial run on Thursday morning, which went okay, but not as well as Tuesday's dry run. She was crying and screaming when I came to pick her up. The teacher said she had been pushed by one of the other kids and that is why she was crying and that it had just happened and that she was fine the rest of the time I was gone. I'm sure that is true, but Katie was clingy and cranky the rest of the day - like she didn't want me out of her sight. Then this morning at the church nursery she was also clingy for the Sunday nursery volunteer. She is always fine in nursery so all I can guess is that she senses that something is up and mommy is going to be leaving her more often and she doesn't like it.

Mostly I've been trying to block out my anxiety about it all by stitching and stitching and more stitching. I finished part 2 of the Chatelaine Sampler Mystery this evening. Next I'm going to be stitching Lisa's RR for the Any Designer Band Sampler RR. Here is a pic of the Sampler Mystery.

Ducks in a Row

Only 5 days til I start the new job. Such mixed feelings still swirling in my head, but I think I'm finally getting all my ducks in a row and preparations in place. We were lucky enough to get into Katie into our first choice of daycares. Yay! She already had a trial run for a few hours yesterday morning and she seemed to love the place. Didn't even look at me funny when I left her there. When I came back 2 hours later she was sitting at the little play table with all the other kids playing with playdough like she'd always been in daycare. I asked her if she had fun and she threw her arms in the air and shouted, "Yeah" with a big smile. The teachers both said she did fine and no problems. *sigh* I have to admit to feeling a little bad that she didn't even miss me, but I wasn't entirely surprised as she has always done fine for the hour at nursery at church on Sunday. I guess Monday when she has to have lunch and nap there we'll see. Probably the whole thing will be harder on me than on her and I guess that is the best that can be hoped for. She goes for another dry run tomorrow morning for another 2 hours - I just want her to be familiar with the place before I leave her for an entire day.

Figuring out what to do with Alex has been more problematic. It seems all his friends stay home for the hour or so after school before their moms/dads get home. I wouldn't necessarily have an issue with this for Alex if we lived closer to the school. He does really well for an hour or so on his own, it isn't a matter of him not being mature enough or responsible enough. His friends live within 3 - 4 blocks from school and we live more like a mile and a half from school. He can manage the walk if necessary, but I really don't want him doing it everyday especially in cold weather which is very common for WI. For the first week or two I should be able to get out of work in time to pick him up from school, from there we are going to play it by ear and see. Hopefully I'll be able to keep my schedule like that, but if not we may have to send him to the Y after school or possibly the after school program at Katie's daycare. We haven't been too enthused about doing that right away just because it seems most of the kids in those programs are 1st and 2nd graders and Alex is in 5th grade.

Other than the daycare issues I've been trying to get all the major tasks taken care of before I start back to work since my free time is going to be seriously affected. I got both the Federal and State taxes filed for the year and I've been working on giving the house a good cleaning. (It needs it!) I also want to complete some stitching goals before I start since I know I will have lots less stitching time. I started part 2 of the Sampler Mystery this morning and this part looks smaller than the first part which is good. No peacocks though - Martina had hinted this part would have peacocks, but it is just an inner border and some flowers. It's pretty though, so I won't complain. After I finish that I have to work on Lisa's RR for the Band Sampler RR. I have an idea of what I want to stitch though and those band samplers seem to go pretty quick for me. Hopefully I can have both done before I start work on Monday. We'll see - if not I should be pretty close.

January/February Goals

I did really well on my stitching goals for January. Guess I didn't really set the bar that high though. :)

January Goals
1. Complete part 1 of the Chatelaine Sampler Mystery II - done!
2. Finish the Stitcher's Lane RR - done
3. Do another Any Designer Band Sampler RR section - done
4. Finish the next section for the Mira RR - done
5. Stitch another square on Katie's blanket - done, and working on the second square for this month now.

Optional - if all the above gets completed
1. Stitch some on Hardanger Table Runner - yep
2. Stitch some on Angel of Summer - yep

I also finished my Open-themed RR, so I think I did quite well. I'll probably finish the second square I started for Katie's blanket today or tomorrow. I wanted to also do the square for Autumn's quilt but didn't quite get to it. My stitching time the last few days was twarted by doing this years taxes. At least we are getting a good refund this year.

So now the goals for February. I'm going to be pretty conservative as I'm starting a new job next Monday and obviously I'm going to have less stitching time.

1. Finish the next section for the Sampler Mystery
2. Finish another section on the Any Designer Band Sampler RR
3. Finish another section on the Mirabilia RR
4. Do another square on Katie's blanket

Optional
1. Stitch some on Alhambra Garden
2. Stitch some on Emma's Garden
3. Do the quilt square for Autumn
4. If I get to everything on this list I might start Mother's Tree. :)

11 Years!

Today is my 11th Wedding Anniversary. Didn't we look pretty dorky back in 1995? :) Ah well, wer're still going strong and I can't complain. We agreed not to do presents this year cause we are still focused on spending carefully until we get a few good paychecks coming in. Besides, we are sort of at that point where we don't know what to get each other anymore. We have all the stuff we really need and the stuff we want is bigger stuff we'd buy together when funds allow. He did bring me my favorite chocolate bar anyway this morning for our anniversary, so I'd say he's a keeper. Its the little surprises that really make me happy anyway. :) We'll have Chinese takeout tonight for dinner, but that will likely be the extent of our celebration for this year.

Can't say we've never had issues, and that first year I almost left several times. But I feel we've ridden out all our issues (so far anyway! ) and I'm so happy we're still together. While Sean has his faults he has always been someone to strive for self-improvement and that has been so important to our marriage. I admire that in him and honestly wish I had a bit more of it myself. Guess I'm feeling lucky we made it this far and hopeful that we have a bright future together. :) Who could ask for more?

Stitching Stash Stuff

Now that we are going to have some money coming in again I've been trying to prioritize my stash wish list. :) I've decided that my next start will definitely be "Mother's Tree". I've ordered a piece of 40ct linen from Silkweaver in a color called "Tropical Breeze". It is a light blue. I'm also going to stitch it in silks - probably Dinky Dyes, but I haven't decided which shades yet. Greens obviously, just not sure which ones yet. I'll probably wait til Stitching Bits and Bobs has another 25% off sale and get the Dinky Dyes from them then, since none of the shops near me carry Dinky Dyes.

I'm also planning on taking a day and hitting all the local shops once before I have to start back to work. See what deals are to be had out there, and pick up Mermaids of the Deep Blue by Mirabilia and possibly Stargazer if they have it stocked already. I'm also thinking about Just Nan's "Winterhaven". It has been so long since I've been able to splurge a little on stash I'm getting a little giddy just thinking about it. I'm such a nerd.

I put in a few days stitching on my Table Runner but I got real sick of the blanket stitch edging. It is just so incredibly boring. I did force myself to do half of it - that way I only have the other half to do next time I work on it. Then finally I'll get to do some of the more fun stuff on that piece. Yesterday and today I've been stitching on Angel of Summer which is actually stitching up sort of quickly. :) There is a bunch of greenery though that I haven't really started yet which I think is going to be a big pain cause it is all confetti type stitching. Maybe I'll takle part of that next time I work on it. Tomorrow I'm going to stitch another square on Katie's blanket - but I've picked a real simple small design of a cat with no quarter stitches so hopefully that'll go quick. If I still have time in the month left I'm going to try to knock out the square I said I'd do for Autumn's quilt. When Feb 1st comes it'll be time to work on the Sampler Mystery so I'm getting excited for that as Martina has hinted that there will be peacocks in the next portion. :)

Daycare Doings

I've been spending the last few days vamping up for my return to work and trying to get my ducks in a row. My biggest task is finding the right daycare for Katie. I've visited three different ones now, all of which were definitely passible. I just want to send her to absolute best place we can. Since DH and I both got good jobs paying far more than any previous job we've ever held we can definitely afford top notch care - so that is what she's gonna get. I like the last place I visited the best, and incidentally it is also $30 cheaper per week than any other place I've visited or called. I liked it the best because the classrooms seemed brighter (more windows), more open, cleaner, and the teachers all seemed friendly and open too. I just got a better feeling there, like the people there like their jobs. Only problem is that another family called first and has first dibbs on the open space in the toddler group. They are deciding by the end of the week whether they want it or are going to go with a different center. I told the director today that they were our first choice, so if the other family doesn't work out definitely give us a call. *sigh*

Our second choice is also nice and there was nothing wrong with the place at all, everyone seemed competent and friendly, I just didn't have the same instinctual "I really like this place" feeling I had at our first choice. So I guess it is up to fate - we have our first and second choices lined up.

I'm also waffling on what to do with Alex. I'm hoping my schedule will allow me to go in early and then leave early to pick him up from school and that DH will be able to go in late enough to drop him off at school on his way in - then we wouldn't need any care for him. That might not always be possible though as my new job is as a consultant and depending on what company I'm assigned to work at my start and end time might vary form assignment to assignment. Most of the daycares I talked to do have after/before school programs for school age kids. However, when I ask about the kids enrolled it seems they are more 1st and 2nd graders and Alex is in 5th grade. I don't want him stuck in a room full of blocks and crayons and 6 yr olds, but I'm not sure he is ready for the responsibility of being at home everyday for an hour or two after school until I get home. I'm going to call a few of the moms of his friends that I know work and see what they do with their 10/11 year olds. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm listening! :)

DH got his job too!

Yay! We actually got the call yesterday morning while we are at the grocery store only I didn't find the message on the machine until mid-morning today. Who calls about a job offer on Sunday? Anyway, it is for the county and is very competitive and we are so surprised and thrilled that he actually got it. The pay is pretty good too, although not quite enough for me to not have to take a job too. But there is definite potential for me to work part-time once we get our bills/debt caught up. Since it is a government agency, the health insurance is also really good. I am so happy for DH as this kind of non-commission job in therapy is hard to come by (at least around here) and now he can continue to do the job he really loves and make enough money to put a little bread on the table too. I was getting so worried that he'd have to take another social work position and that he would resent me and the kids for making him work a paying job when therapy was where his heart was. Now we get the best of both worlds. :) :)

He is going to start Feb. 6 too - so we will both be starting new jobs on the same day. His schedule will include some night time hours so two days a week he goes in after lunch and works through the evening hours. This will help us keep Katie out of daycare a few more hours a week as he'll be the one dropping her off and I intend to go in as early as possible so that I can leave as early as possible and be home for Katie and Alex when he gets home from school and needs to be carted to his after-school activities. Financially things are looking way up for us, but we are bit concerned about making sure we are still there for the kids as much as we can be and as much as they need us. So cross your fingers for us that we have a smooth transition.

Round Robin finish

I finished up my ornament on Ruth's RR this weekend. Her whole piece is just gorgeous and includes all the TW Byzantine ornaments. I was glad that when it came to me the one that was left to do wasn't one I'd already done. :) It was fun to stitch and I used a bit of dinky dyes from the Ooops pack I bought last summer to do the accent colors. So now I've finished with 2 of the four Round Robins I'm involved in. That will be good for going back to work as I'm not sure just how much stitching time I'm going to have.

Today's objectives are to call around to a few daycares in the area, get prices and details and set up appointments to visit them. If I get any time to stitch today I'm going to work on the Hardanger Table runner.

Transistion

Ugh. I feel so in between modes now. Since the new job doesn't start til Feb. 6 I still have two more weeks at home. I'm glad to have a little time, yet I almost feel like I just want to get going on the new phase of my life I guess. On the other hand, I've been procrasitinating about finding a daycare. DH hasn't heard from the companies he interviewed with recently, so I've been telling myself I want to know what his schedule is going to be, but really I just hate the thought of dropping off the little tyke for the largest chunck of the day everyday 5 days a week. *sigh* If DH does not get one of the jobs he interviewed for we've decided that he will work a part-time schedule doing therapy and then stay home with Katie the rest of the day. That way she only has to be in daycare about 20 hours a week instead of 40+. That makes me feel a lot better about her and since I was gutsy enough to push for a little higher salary we should be able to make all our bills pretty much on my income alone. DH's part time gig will just be for extras (and daycare). He doesn't want to stay home full time though cause he wants to keep his resume active in the hopes of finding more lucrative employment in a few years when she is school age. Guess I'm just feeling like all our balls are still in the air and I just want them to land already so we can move on. I don't know if any of this makes any sense to anyone reading it - but at least I'm getting it off my chest.

Stitchingwise I've hit a little roadblock the last few days. I decided when I did my Jan. goals to try to finish one block on Katie's blanket this month. UGH I hate working on that dang thing. It is sratchy and I always pick patterns with lots of quarter stitches which are a big pain on 18ct over one. I am almost finished with the block, but it took 4 days to finish a smallish design I would normally do in 2. All the job stress of getting and negotiating my offer kept me from wanting to stitch too - so that was also part of it. Anyway, I'll get that goal accomplished tonight - just doing the backstitch now - and move onto working on my Hardanger Table runner until my next RR piece arrives. Actually it will probably arrive tomorrow, so I'll have to decide whether to drop the runner and do the RR as soon as it arrives or put in a few days on the runner then do the RR. Most times I find it irresitable to do a RR once it shows up - so that will probably win out.

Negotiations

I hate, hate, hate negotiations. This morning I had to go into the office for the new job and receive my offer. Actually I should probably back up and say that during my interview the two managers interviewing me asked me if I knew Jane (Jane not her real name) who also worked at my previous job. I said yes, and they asked me a few questions about her. I said all positive things cause I thought she was a good co-worker. So then I ask how they know her and they said she had also interviewed last week. So when it was clear yesterday that they would be making an offer I called her up and asked how her interview went and found out they had already made an offer to her too. She didn't tell me what the number was for the salary, but she indicated that it was way better than what she was making before and that she was surprised at how high it was and that she was really impressed with everything about the company. Since I knew what her salary was at the previous job I had a ballpark for about what they offered her.

Sooo fast forward to this morning when I go in to get my offer. It is 8 - 10k less than what I think they offered her. I know they based it off what I had put for a salary requirement and is in the range I might have accepted if I didn't know what I know. BUT I'm feeling crappy that someone with fewer years experience and no Educational background in our field (Jane's degree is in something else) is getting offered so much more just cause she had the balls to put down a higher figure on her application.

So I told the recruiter I was a little dissapointed in the that figure and was really hoping for about 5 - 10k more. She of course looks at my application and can see that doesn't match with the application and I explain that I've done a little research over the past few days on what Tech Writers make in the Metro Milwaukee area and that the figure they've offered is more entry-level than five years experience. I also mention that I just went off the salary at my most recent position without thinking and that I felt really underpaid there (It's true), and I don't want to be in that situation again. So she says we'll see what we can do and ushers me out of the building saying they will contact me later in the day.

They of course figured out that Jane and I talked - they were the ones to tell me she was interviewing there too for Pete's sake. There was much drama of the HR person calling me up a few times to try to feel me out and I just stuck to the same reasons I gave before and not mentioning Jane. They called up Jane to feel out where she was and she admitted to talking to me but told them she didn't disclose her offer number, which was true, and I told the same story when they pressed me about it.

In the end they came up 6k on their offer and I've accepted and all is well. What stress though - I just hate negotiating and it always makes me feel like I'm the evil money-grubbing bitch or something. But seriously, I would have hated to work next to a writer who I know has less experience and education for less than what she was making. I guess I'm glad I stood up for myself, but now I'm feeling like maybe I'm starting off on the wrong foot with these people. All can I do now though is show up on Feb. 6 and work hard and show I'm worth it I guess.

I got a job! :) :)

Woo Hoo! I received two calls today from the company I interviewed with yesterday. The first call to let me know they were going to be checking my references and education, and then about an hour later to let me know that was all coming back okay and they want to meet with me tomorrow morning to make an offer! :) :)

I'm so relieved that I can actually get a job and update my resume! Not to mention pay some bills! Just a little sad that I'm going to have to start daycare hunting immediately - but it is a necessary evil at this point.

Waiting....

Well, DH's interviews went well last week, as did mine this morning. Now we wait. My interview this morning said they would let me know one way or the other by the end of the week, so at least I won't be wondering for years wheather they thought I was any good. The conversation went over the allotted time, which I'm hoping is a good sign. They wouldn't want to keep talking to me if they already decided I wasn't a good fit.

I'm sort of excited at the prospect of working for this place too - they seem like they have a diverse workload and would be far less boring than working at many other places where you write technical manuals, which can be very tedious if there is no variety in your workload.

DH feels like he will be hired at the county position, which is the one he wants. I really hope he is right, but my sense has always been that they are very competitive positions to get, so we'll see.

That's about all that is going on with me right now. Still stitching on the Mira RR - should have a happy dance for that one soon. :)

A couple of Round Robin Happy Dances

I've been working on these two pieces the last few days. The house is from Sam Hawkins' "50 House Designs" and the bands on the band sampler are adaptations from Indigo Rose's "White Diamonds and Orchids." They were both quick and fun to stitch.

Now I'm working on my Mirabilia Round Robin. I chose to do Cinderella for Shannon's piece and I have a smidge done, but a long way to go yet. I forgot to note on my goals in my last post that I will also need to do a section on the Open -themed Round Robin, probably it will come in the mail late next week, or early the following week - so that will probably be around the time I finish on the Mira RR. This house was my last for the Stitcher's Lane RR and when I finish the next section for the Open-themed RR, that one will be done too. That will be nice cause I think I'm going to need the stitching time to work on the Sampler Mystery.

Sean (DH) is at an interview this morning for a job he doesn't think he really wants - but it pays really good money, so I'm sort of hoping he changes his mind. It would be enough that I wouldn't have to go back to work if I didn't want too and would at least take some pressure off me to find a job RIGHT NOW. He also has that other interview I posted about last week tomorrow. That is also a good job (doesn't pay as well as the other, but is better than most), but I'm sure there will be stiff competition, so I don't feel confident it will be offered to him. Finally I have an interview on Monday. I'm a little wary and nervous mostly cause I've been on a few interviews now during this job search and didn't get the job in those cases - so I'm worried I'm doing something wrong and no one will tell me what it is. So there are three possibilities for improving our financial situation right now - I just need one of the to work out.

I've been feeling so good this last week with a little hope from these possibilities coming up - I'm just worried that all three will be wash outs and I'll be back to feeling desperate and horrible.

Also I volunteered to help with the Sock Hop/Raffle Committee at Alex's school. It hasn't really been all that much work, but I'm finding that calling up businesses to try to get donations just makes me feel nervous and stressed and I keep putting it off. Need to get my but in gear. Maybe that can at least take my mind off this other stuff. Ever just want to put that little hamster in your head asleep for awhile?

January Stitching Goals

I've finally decided that it might be helpful to jot down some goals for each month. Might help me to stay on track. I know it is already the 9th and January is already almost a 3rd over with, but there's no time like the present - right?

January Goals
1. Complete part 1 of the Chatelaine Sampler Mystery II - done - yay!
2. Finish the Stitcher's Lane RR - working on the last square now :)
3. Do another Any Designer Band Sampler RR section - just came in the mail today.
4. Finish the next section for the Mira RR - picked out but not started yet.
5. Stitch another square on Katie's blanket

Optional - if all the above gets completed
1. Stitch some on Hardanger Table Runner
2. Stitch some on Angel of Summer

That is probably way more than I can do in the next 22 days - but I'm going to give it a shot.

Sampler Mystery II part I complete :)

Woo Hoo - finished part I! Those flowers got to be pretty tedious - but I think it looks good. Curious now to see what Martina puts inside of that gorgeous border. :)

For the next week or so I'm going to be catching up on my Round Robins. I just have one house left to stitch for the Stitcher's Lane Round Robin - and Karen was kind enough to send it on to me early - so I'm going to try to knock that off the list next. Then the band sampler Round Robin should be here tomorrow, so that will be next. Then I will get to sink my stitching teeth into the Mira RR - which is the one I'm most dying to start right now. It will probably take longer than the others though, so I'm going to get them out of the way first.

DH has an interview!

For a really good job! I'm so excited, but trying hard not to get my hopes up too much. It isn't as though they are making him an offer - just an interview, so we'll see. If he does get it we'll at least be able to pay all our expenses without going into any more debt. The interview is next Friday morning, so cross your fingers for us okay?

Stitching wise I'm still plugging along on part I of the Sampler Mystery. I finished the "waves" in the border all the way around and I did that in my small metal hoop cause I was having to move around so much it seemed to much work to keep adjusting on the q-snap. I'm regretting it now though cause my hand cramped up holding the hoop for so long. So I didn't get any stitching in last night trying to let it rest up. It is still a little sore this morning, but much better. So now I'm stitching on the flowers in the q-snap. Since I'm going around a lot more slowly doing the flowers, that should be fine. I'm almost half done with the flowers. It will probably still take me a few days to finish part 1 - depending on how much stitching time I get.

The band sampler RR and the Mira RR should both be arriving at my home in the next few days. I plan to finish stitching the Sampler Mystery first, then the band sampler, then the Mira RR. We'll see though, I'm getting pretty tired of those flowers and I might have to set them aside and do one of the RR pieces for a break. :)

Year's End/ New Year Stitching

Well everyone else is doing it, so I guess I should too right? (No mom, I'm not jumping off any bridges.) Just reviewing what I finished in the last year and what I hope to accomplish in the next with my stitching.

First though, I'll share a pic of what I worked on over new year's eve and new year's day. It is the Chatelaine Sampler Mystery II that started on the first. It was released mid-day on the 31st, so I actually got to start it the night before. I really like the colors - blues and purples mostly. I'm a little concerned that the lightest color at the top of the flowers fades into the fabric too much, although it seems to stand out pretty good in the scan. Also I took a chance and subbed GAST Corn Husk for the called for SNC Chartruese and it looks like it goes well enough with the other chosen colors so I think I'm safe there.

Okay, so back to the one year ending another starting thing. :)

2005 finishes in the order that they pop into my head

1. Lady of the Flag
2. English Garden Welcome
3. Cottage Garden Fairy
4. Sisters
5. Noah's Ark blanket for sister's baby
6. Peonies glasses case for my grandmother
7. Hardanger pillow for my mom
8. several Christmas ornaments (5 to be exact)
9. a portion of Just Nan's Common Ground that I put into a box top.
10. Yellow "Knockered " Fairy contest entry
11. a bunch of squares on Katie's afghan blanket - too lazy to count how many right now
12. 8 of 9 houses on the Stitcher's Lane RR
13. 5 of 6 sections on the Open-themed RR
14. 3 of 8 sections on the Any Designer Band Sampler RR
15. 1 of 6 sections on the Mirabilia RR

I think that is a pretty good list for one year's time. :) I also worked on these projects that aren't complete yet.

1. Angel of Summer
2. Hardanger Table runner
3. Alhambra Garden
4. Emma's Garden
5. Chatelaine Sampler Mystery II

Now for 2006 goals

1. Finish all my RRs and don't enter any more until all are complete. I've had/am having a lot of fun with them, but they are seriously cutting into my time for other projects and I just think I'll need a little break for a bit. Also four is just too many at one time. :)
2. Keep up with and finish the Sampler Mystery
3. Finish Emma's Garden
4. Finish Alhambra Garden
5. Finish the Table runner
6. Make good progress on Angel of Summer

New projects for 2006. If I'm making good progress on my goals these are the new projects I want to add as I finish the others.

1. Mother's Tree
2. Silkwood Manor
3. Stone Roses
4. Chatelaine's Persian Iris Garden (starts in May - we'll see how expensive the fibers are and how the finances are doing on this one.)
5. St Basil's Cathedral on opalescent fabric.

I think that is about it - although there are sure to be more projects that come up that I really want to do - so it'll be interesting to see where I'm at this time next year. Also I'm hoping I'll find a job soon, and that is sure to cut into the stitching time. Hopefully I'll still be able to finish a few things though.

Alhambra Garden

Here's my progress on Alhambra Garden. The fabric is actually a bright white, and the colors are brighter in real life too. For some reason my digital camera washed it out a bit in this pic.

I started the Sampler Mystery last night and I'm already frogging. The symbols in the key don't exactly match the symbols on the chart and I mistook one of them. Since it is a mystery, I didn't have a picture to compare to see what it should look like. At least I only put in two lengths before I realized my mistake when I logged onto the support group on yahoo and saw what the colors were supposed to be. grrrrr.... You'd think for $22 just for the chart the symbols could match, right? I think Martina's designs are beautiful, but I have to say that I've been dissapointed with the quality of the charts/instructions. Alhambra Garden has several symbols that are very close, and used close together in the design too. If I hadn't seen a warning about this on the BB, I might easily have stitched the wrong color somewhere on AG too. Also there are instructions missing for which color to use for rhodes stitches and the diagrams aren't over the correct number of threads for the stitches either. Luckily I've been doing this long enough that I can figure it out usually - but for someone who was learning to stitch - it would be really hard - and it wouldn't need to be. None of the stitches are difficult, just the instructions hard to follow.

Anyway, I'll be spending the rest of today stitching (and frogging) on the mystery. It does look like it will be beautiful anyway.

Done!

I am so glad to be done with this small yet frustrating design! It is "As Brother and Sister" by Marie Barber from JCS. I have only 14 blocks left before this blanket is done, and I cannot wait. Each design is stitched on 18ct Anne Cloth afghan fabric over 1. That isn't so bad until you have a design with a ton of fractional stitches - like this one. Also a lot of unnecessary color changes if you ask me. I changed the design a bit by making the pants on the little boy all one shade of red, as well as his stockings, hair, and shoes all one shade. I was just too annoyed with it to do four shades within such a small area. The overall appearance maybe would have been better as designed, but I'm happy with it as it is and you know what? It's done! Now onto Alhambra Garden for a few days until the Chatelaine Sampler Mystery II starts up on Jan. 1.

In other news, I have another interview tomorrow at a different staffing agency. At least I know what I'm going into this time - I'm not really interviewing for a specific job, just hoping they like me and my resume enough to get me a placement somewhere. In the meantime I've also sent out about 5 more resumes over Christmas. It's so frustrating to just sit and listen to the phone not ring all day. UGH.

Emma's Garden

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. :) I sure did. My family got together on Christmas Eve and surprisingly there was no drama just harmony and good food and the kids being happy with everything they got, etc. It was like all the stars aligned and the angels sang. Even the traditional pic of all the grandkids turned out. (Well Alex is a little squinty-eyed, but this is still a really good pic compared to some!)

For Christmas I decided to reward myself a bit by starting a new project - Emma's Garden by Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum. I tried to dye the linen per the instructions but it didn't really work - it just lightened the color a bit. I was using Twilght Blue linen though instead of the Amsterdam recommended, so I suppose that is why. I decided to just change the dress to yellow shades so that the blue dress wouldn't blend into the linen color to much. This is what I got done on the 23rd and then on Christmas day. Today it is back to the grind on Katie's blanket. Once I finish one square there I can get onto more fun stuff.

I'm doing a stitch-a-long for Alhambra Garden Dec. 28, 29, 30 &31. Then on Jan1st I'm going to be stitching on my first Chatelaine mystery - Chatelaine's Sampler Mystery II for which I even have the silks! Yippee. Once I finish that the first Mirabilia Round Robin piece should have arrived and I can get going on that. Still have to pick out what to stitch next to Autumn's Forest Goddess, but maybe I'll wait til it arrives to decide. :)

Contract work

Well, my interview is over, and it went okay. Except that I found out the position for which I applied has already been filled. I knew the company I was interviewing at was just filling the contract position and wasn't the actual company for which I'd be working, but I didn't realize that I wasn't interviewing for a specific job. I'm kinda dissapointed about that because I thought I had a real chance of getting a real job after today's interview, but obviously that didn't happen. The interview did go well though, and the recruiter did say they have writing jobs come up all the time and she thought I had a good chance of getting some sort of placement. Anything would be good at this point just to get some more current work experience on my resume. In the meantime, the job search continues. *sigh*

Stitching wise I finished my section on Deanna's flower-themed Round Robin last night. The Band Sampler RR piece should be arriving soon, but what to work on in the meantime? If I go back to my regular rotation I should do another square on Katie's blanket, but I really don't feel like it. I might also work on the Hardanger Table Runner. Guess it just depends on how disciplined I feel like being today. I also need to get busy and start wrapping some presents, so maybe I'll just do that and not worry about stitching today.

Cross Your Fingers for Me

I have another interview tomorrow morning. I'm very nervous about it because I really need this job, and the last few interviews I've been on have obviously not landed me a job. I spent the last few days panicing about it because they asked me to bring writing samples. I said , "Sure, no problem." thinking I had several saved on a 3 1/2 floppy from my last job. I've turned the house upside down and cannot find this disk. I did find one stray writing sample from about 5 years ago on another disk, but I had to recreate several more. I have four to take - so I'm hoping that is enough. The job is just a contract position for 6 -8 weeks. I wrote each sample for a different type of writing since it sounds like the job is for a proposal writer, but if they ask the person to stay on permanent they will need to do other types of writing too.

I'm also having trouble reaching all my references. I've gotten ahold of two out of three who have graciously agreed to speak for me. The other though isn't returning my emails/calls. Now, it is the week before Christmas so I know this could be the reason - but he is also the person I know the least out of my references, so I guess I'm paranoid that he doesn't really want to be a reference. I know him only on a professional level, and I always thought he respected my work, but now I'm having doubts. I called his voicemail after office hours today just to see if the recording would say he is on vacation for the holidays, but it doesn't - he should have been in the office the last few days. So is he ignoring me?

I guess if I don't get the job it isn't the end of the world as it is only a contract position for a short amount of time. BUT it would really help my resume to have some more current work experience so that employers know I'm serious about getting back into the workforce. So say a prayer or cross your fingers for me okay? Seriously - I need it.

More ornaments!

Here are some pics of the ornaments I have completed over the last week or ten days. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. :)

The first ornament is "Shepard's Watch" by Shepard's Bush. It was designed for GAST threads, but I used the DMC conversion for the most part. I changed one or two colors to different DMC numbers cause I didn't think they looked good with some of the others. I also stitched the sheep twice - there is a sheep charm that is supposed to be where the center sheep is instead.

The second ornament is by Elizabeth Designs and is called "Christmas Cottage". This was designed to be stitched in Kreinik silks, but I just used DMC sort of going by the picture in the magazine and what colors looked good together and with the cord I was using to finish it.

The next ornament is "A-mazing Hearts" by The Nutmeg Needle. I really enjoyed this one and had orginally planned to do a second one with lavendar hearts, but it took much more time than the other ornaments and I ended up not having the patience to do two. I'll definitely think about doing it again some other year. I stitched it with Dinky Dyes silks that I had left over from my Oops pack and backstitched with some Soie de Alger I had left over from "My Son". I really liked finishing the ornament off this way - it was easier than it sounded and no sewing machine or fussing around with trying to close your
seam evenly or invisibly. You just chain stitch around each side, then join the chain stitches together.

The last ornament is by Elizabeth Designs - I forget the title off hand and I'm too lazy to go drag out my magazine to check. I've stitched this design several times before though - I did it on three hand towels several Christmases ago for my grandmothers and SIL. It is a really easy, quick design and I still had enough of the thread and beads from the other times I did it to make the ornament.

Peace Ornament

This is what I worked on yesterday. It is Peace Ornament by Catherine Strickler of Indigo Rose and appears in one of the Just Cross Stitch Ornament issues. It was really quick and fun to stitch. I'm giving it to Alex's Christian Formation teacher for Christmas this year. His last class until after Christmas break is tomorrow, so I just finished it in the nick of time! I wanted to use a darker color cording, but this is what I had on hand, the back is finished with some green velvet my mom gave me that she had left over from a dress she made. I may finish most of the ornaments I do with that velvet - it makes it look rich. :)

I have several other ornaments I want to stitch too - working on a Shepard's Bush one and another designed by The Nutmeg Needle. I'll probably wait til they are all done and take one pic of them together and post, but since this one is going out to the recipient tomorrow I had to take the pic now.

Gingerbread Snowmen

Instead of our standard cutout cookies, this year I decided to make gingerbread men. After searching Walmart and the grocery for a gingerbread cookie cutter and finding none, I just decided to go with the snowman cutter I already had. I had such visions of cute little gingerbread men (now snowmen) all decked out in multi-colors of frosting. I saw on the food network how to outline in thick frosting and "flood the inside with a thinner frosting to make it look professional. I learned from the Betty Crocker cookbook that you can cut off one tip of an envelope or plastic ziploc bag for a makeshift frosting bag that you can write/draw with. I'd actually used that tip before to write on birthday cakes.

Of course nothing came out like planned, as you can see in the pic. First, I forgot to put in the baking soda when I mixed the dough - which was very thick by the way. I didn't notice this til I was already cutting out cookies. So my cookies, taste pretty good, but they are hard as rocks. When I went to frost them this morning I tried my trusty plastic bag trick to outline the snowmen and ended up with a very sticky hand because the top did not seal properly. Also that was going to take forever. I made it through outlining 2 1/2 cookies before I scraped that idea and decided to just frost them all white with my butterknife and add decorations. This also scraped the idea of making some blue, red, green frostings and 'drawing' on the decorations cause I wasn't messing with that plastic bag anymore. I did manage a few sort of cute cookies with jimmies, choc chips and red hots, but that got real tedious too - so I ended up doing a lot of the above as just frosted with a few decorations thrown on. (If you click on the picture above, you can see some of the cuter ones on the top better.) I got through the 2 dozen I plan on taking to my sis's house on Christmas Eve before I gave up. There are probably another 3 - 4 dozen left. The batch said it made 2 1/2 dozen cookies, but I got way more than twice that.

I think I will just frost the rest and skip the decorating part. You need the frosting to eat them though cause otherwise you can't get past how hard they are! Probably my whole family will just make fun of my hard cookies anyway. Live and learn, I guess - next year I won't forget the baking soda!

Mira RR ready to go

Here are two pics of my Mirabilia Round Robin piece now ready to be mailed out. One more thing off my to-do list before the holidays. :) The pattern is Mirabilia's "Mother's Arms". I left off the background which is solid shades of blue stitching in the original pattern. I also added some backstitch lines to the hands because they looked too weird to me without defined fingers. (Actually they still look a little weird to me, but this is better than it was and I'm not a designer.) The original pattern also calls for petite beads because the recommended fabric is 32ct. I used the regular mill hill beads cause I was using a 28ct fabric. They fit just fine that way - the petites would have been way too small.

Deanna's flower themed round robin came in the mail today, so I guess I'll be working on that for the next few days. I found a nice Marie Barber rose design to do in one of my Just Cross Stitch issues. Hope it stitches up easily. :)

Weight Loss :)

Surprisingly my weight loss is continuing to go well. :) Since mid October I haven't really been able to do my 30-40 min walk that I had been doing nearly everyday since April. I credit those walks with jump starting my metabolism and helping me to lose the 14 or so lbs I lost between April and October. Wisconsin is not conducive to long walks in the winter. Especially this week when the highs have only been in the teens. I'd probably tough it out if it were just me, but I cannot take Katie out in the stroller on cold days - even in October I'd bundle her up and when we got home she'd have the coldest hands and cheeks - and the temp was probably in the 40s then.

So all that said, my goal was to just maintain until spring when I can start up my exercise program again. I figured I'd have to really be careful not to gain the weight back without exercising, not to mention all the temptation of the holidays. But I've lost two more lbs since I stopped exercising! At one point I had even lost 4 and broke into the 160s (which I haven't seen since right after Alex was born!) but my body did its usual bounce back when I lose weight. I tend to suddenly lose like four lbs, then gain back two the next day and stay there - for a net loss of two lbs. I cannot say I've been all that good - I had more Halloween candy than I should have and I had desert a few days in a row at Thanksgiving - ummm yummy pumpkin cheesecake. I do try to still eat in moderation and watch portion size. I also don't eat at night anymore and I don't finish my plate just because anymore either. When I feel I've had enough I stop, I don't just keep plowing through cause there is still stuff on my plate. Anyway, whatever the reason I'll take it, even the small amount that it is!

The really weird thing is that the only person besides my DH who has noticed it is my dad. He commented both in August when I saw him for my sis's baby shower and then at Thanksgiving that he could tell I was losing weight. My dad never notices anything - when I got glasses it was two YEARS later that he finally said, "When did you start wearing glasses?" You would think my mom and sisters would notice - but they haven't said a word. I guess part of the problem is that although I've dropped a size (almost two) I'm still wearing the old (big) size clothing because I cannot afford to go out and buy new right now. The waist of my jeans ride at the thickest part of my hips now. So I look the same cause I'm wearing the same clothes. Both times I saw my dad I was wearing a smaller size that had been in my closet since I gained the weight and now I can finally wear that pair of pants again. Course the sisters and mom were there too those days - I dunno.

I should also mention that I'm keeping a ticker of my weight at the bottom of my blog now. I have been for quite a while now, but I don't think I mentioned it before and probably people wouldn't scroll all the way down if they don't know it is there.

I guess that is enough patting myself on the back for one day huh?

I Won, I Won!

I won the Dinky Dyes "Yellow Knockered Fairy" thread contest! :) :) You can see and read about my entry here. The prize is my choice of 20 skeins of Dinky Dyes silk thread. I'm just bouncing off the ceiling cause I really didn't have the money to splurge for the cottons for the Chatelaine Sampler Mystery starting in Jan. let alone the silks. Now I can do it in silks. You can see all the competition entries here. There were some really nice entries, in fact, I didn't really think I had much of a chance after seeing some of the other great entries.

In other news, I finished my mom's Christmas present for this year. After the bullion knot debacle I decided to do a hardanger pillow for her. I like hardanger for quick yet impressive gifts - if you pick a simple design it will work up quickly yet still cover a large enough area to look like a large project. I finished this in just one weekend, if I wanted to do a cross stitch this size it would probably take a few whole weeks. I used all stuff from my stash too, so it was essentially free for me to do - very important these days. The pattern is from Hardanger burda special magazine issue E-579. If there is a designer and pattern name listed I couldn't find it. I still might add some cord around the edges, but I think it also looks good without. This was the first time I did an envelope back on a pillow and I'm totally converted to that way of finishing pillows now. That way you can wash the covering if you ever need to, and you don't have to fiddle with trying to close the hole you left to be able to turn the pillow right side out after sewing.

Bullion Knots - Yuck!

Today I discovered that I hate Bullion knots. I had never tried them before, and I had a pattern for a beautiful box cover in an old issue of Cross Stitch and Needlework that I had always wanted to do. Thought I would finally get around to it and do it for my mom for Christmas. I got the center motif done except for the bullion knot rose yesterday. Now as you can see in the pic, I can do a reasonably good bullion knot if I work at it really hard. I even managed to do a whole rose plus the one bud off to the side. BUT, it took almost an hour of cursing and redoing and knoted mess of thread and frustration to accomplish this. By the time I finished it I knew there was no way I could do the whole boxtop, which has an oval border of these hellish things.

Not willing to just scrap what I'd already done I turned it into an ornament. I'm not really happy with the finishing - so I think I'll just keep it for my own tree rather than giving it away. I did think I might use it as a teacher gift or something, but it doesn't look professional enough for me to do that.

So now back to the drawing board for finding something to do for mom for Christmas. I may do a hardanger doily - I dunno....

Peony Eyeglasses Case

I just finished this for my grandmother for Christmas. The design is "Peony Eyeglasses Case" by Marie Barber and it appears in the Feb 2004 issue of Just Cross Stitch. The model in the mag was done on black fabric and was very stunning. Since I didn't have any 32ct black in my stash I used this blue color instead. It was just a remanent in my stash that I picked up from my old LNS when she closed. (She let me take a bunch of remanents for a crazy low price.) So I don't really know what kind of linen or color this fabric really is. The cording is just two shades of pink DMC from the design attached with quilting invisible thread. The backing fabric isn't visible in the photo but is a blue satin that I had scraps left over from other projects.

I'm pretty please with how it came out - I think my Grandma Hamm will like it. :)

Nothing much

Nothing much new really going on. I've been stitching diligently on my grandmother's Christmas present for this year and it is coming along, although slowly. I should have a happy dance for that within a few days. I am making her a glasses case called "Peonies" designed by Marie Barber from JCS mag. After that I need to do something for my mom. Since funds are low I'm doing homemade gifts for everyone that I can this year. I haven't decided for sure yet what to do for my mom, but I'm thinking I might attempt an oval box top that has bullion knot roses on it. I've never done bullion knots before, but it is a small piece, so even if it becomes frustrating it shouldn't be too bad.

I've decided to give my dad my Lady of the Flag. She doesn't really go with my decor and he really liked her when he was here for Thanksgiving. My dad really needs some pictures for his house too - there is almost nothing on his walls at all. Besides all that he is really hard to buy for and probably wouldn't use the dumb $20 shirt or whatever that I usually buy him. He always comments on my needlework, so as long as I don't start giving him something I made for every occasion I think he will appreciate it. I've never done a large piece before for him and everyone else in the family has one - so I guess he should too.

Sean has finally, FINALLY, come to the realization that he cannot stay at the job he is working now. Although he loves the actual work, the boss is more than a little crocked and Sean isn't making near enough money to support us. He got his 3rd paycheck today in more that 5 months and the grand total for all that time is only $2300. Not enough to pay a mortgage and feed two kids anyway. I reminded him that it is about what he made as a part-time bagger at a grocery store when we met 12 yrs ago and this job requires a Master's degree and experience - something ain't right there. So he has gotten busy sending out the resumes, etc.

I am also continuing to look for work. No real response since the last interview I went on, but I have applied to several more places this weekend that looked promising. I've sent off my resumes/applications, so now I'm just crossing my fingers that somebody calls and wants me to interview. I'm also broading my search to include any general office type work rather than just technical writing jobs, since there just aren't that many tech writing jobs out there right now.

Guess that is about it for now - Katie is refusing to nap and is upstairs screaming her head off from her room, so I guess I need to go see if I can't get her to sleep a little so she won't be a holy terror later today.

Cottage Garden Fairy HD!

Put the last bead on her this afternoon! Thank you so much Jill for sending me the Delica beads and conversion - I think she turned out great using the Delicas, they really did fit so well. :)

Thanksgiving went really well too, the whole family came and there was no drama, though I could feel my mother pouting a bit and trying to start something. Luckily no one took the bait!

Hope everyone else had a nice holiday and enjoys the rest of the holiday weekend. :)

Thanksgiving readiness

I'm probably between 1/2 and 2/3 of the way finished with the beading on Cottage Garden Fairy. If today wasn't the day before Thanksgiving, I'd probably finish today. I have lots of cleaning to do and I need to run Alex to the music store to fix a broken string on his viola. Also I need to finish making the deserts for tomorrow. I will probably still get in a bit of stitching time today - but I'm not counting on it being enough to finish. So my happy dance will have to wait til Thursday after all the guests leave or Friday in between putting up the Christmas tree.

Just so I have a list for myself for next year I'm going to list everything we're making for Thanksgiving this year.

Adults: 8 Teens: 2 Kids: 5

Turkey - 12lbs
Stuffing - out of the box on the stovetop
Potatos - boiled then mashed
Gravy - out of a jar, but may try to fix the gravy packet that came with the turkey too
Squash - 2 large acorn squash baked and removed from shells
Corn - just a bag of frozen corn heated in the microwave
Banana bread - homemade one loaf
Rolls - Brown and serve - 2 pkgs of 12
Cranberry Jello Salad - brought by sis
Green Jello Salad - brought by mom
Black Olives - one can whole olives placed in center of green jello mold
Pumpkin Cheesecake - made from scratch for the very first time!
Apple Crisp - also made from scratch, but looks very easy
Ice cream and whipped topping for with deserts
4 12pks soda
2 10 pks Hi-C for kids
1 gallon milk
1/2 gallon egg nog

I think that is everything. I made the Banana bread, cheesecake, and the squash yesterday since those things need to be baked and the oven will be busy baking turkey on Thanksgiving morning. I will also bake the apple crisp today. I *think* I'm all set, but I usually forget something.

I've already had my one baking mishap, so hopefully everything else will go smoothly. While baking the banana bread, Katie at some point turned the oven dial all the way up - so I had burnt top on my banana bread before I checked it and realized the temp was turned up too high. :( I sliced off the top where it was burnt and I think the rest is fine, so at least I have a funny story to tell when everyone asks why the bread is missing its top.

Good Weekend

I had a really productive weekend. Sean and I finally got around to cleaning the gutters on the house. It really needed to be done. I should say that Sean cleaned the gutters - I just held the ladder steady and said words of encouragement as he climbed onto the roof. I'm too chicken to climb up there myself, and Sean is to chicken to do it without me standing there encouraging him - so we do it as a team every year even though I don't really do any of the work.

I also cleaned the carpet in the living room - which was also sorely needed. We are having everyone from my family over to the house on Thursday for Thanksgiving so I wanted to get that job out of the way this weekend. The carpet still doesn't look brand new or anything, but I got up all the stains and it looks much improved.

Stitching wise I had been stitching on my grandmother's Christmas present from Wed - Fri. I had intended to just work on that until it was finished - sort of a break from my rotation. I am stitching a design called "Peonies" by Marie Barber that appears in one of the JCS issues. It just seemed to be going so slowly and Autumn's Round Robin for the Band Sampler RR showed up at my house on Friday. I couldn't resist starting it and just ended up stitching on that all weekend. I did finish my section on her round robin, so that is one more stitching goal done. :) Below is a pic of what I added to her RR - it is beach themed piece. :)

Yellow Knockered Fairy

As some of you know, Dinky Dyes is having a competition to use some neon colored yellow thread that came in their Ooopps packs. This is my contest entry. The prize is 20 skeins of Dinky Dyes silk - so how could I not enter.

The fairy is from "Delight in the Little Things" designed by Diane Arthurs and published in the July/Aug 2000 issue of Cross Stitch and Needlework. I changed all the threads though to something more interesting. The dress and part of the stockings are stitched with the famous "Yellow Knockered Fairy" thread. The wand and the letters are also stitched with the contest thread along with 091 blending filament. In real life the design sparkles a bit better. The bottom of the dress is done with a Glissen Gloss thread, the stripes in the stockings are a random varigated silk I had in my stash. The wings have rainbow confetti blending filament stitched in, but you can't see that as well in the pic. The shoes are done with 071 #8 braid. Her hair is Rainbow Gallery whisper. I changed the flower she was holding in the original design to a wand, and changed the facial expression a bit to make her look more "knockered".

It was a lot of fun to do this. I had a lot of fun picking the threads and stitching the design.

Yay!

I finished all the cross-stitching on CGF! Yippee! Jill has been so kind as to offer to send my some Delica beads which will fit better than the Mill Hills I already have - so I'm going to wait to do the beading til they get here. In the meantime I think I'll start the Christmas gifts I have planned this year. An eyeglass case for my grandmother and a boxtop for my mother. :)

Tulips

I finished ths small design on Katie's blanket this morning. It is called "Tulips" and is part of a small series called Pockets full of Love published in Cross Stitch Quick & Easy, March/April 1991. It was designed by Bette Ashley.

Not much else going on around here. I applied for another position at the company I interviewed with last spring. I had a second interview there and they seemed to indicate I was close to getting that position and were encouraging that I should apply again should another position open. So we'll see.

Thanks to all of you who were supportive about my family's weekend drama. I've heard from my mom that apologies have been made all around, so hopefully we'll get through the holidays okay. Of course mom was really calling to tell me sis apologized but to also complain some more about the whole incident and try to get me to be on 'her' side which I tried hard not to do without ofending her. Like walking a minefield, which is really part of the original problem in the first place. She can be really easy to offend, and I often wonder if she isn't trying to start things just to get attention. Ah, but I digress. I ended up agreeing with her more than I really wanted to - just to keep the peace.

In some good news - I'm going to be finishing up Cottage Garden Fairy! :) I just have a bit of blue on the bottom left to cross stitch and then all the beading. It'll probably take more than the three days I ususally spend on each project in my rotation, but I'll definitely be into the beading by day 3, and once I start the beading, I just keep going til it is done. So watch this space for a happy dance. :)

Family Drama

Today was my niece's baptism. A day that should have been joyous and fun. The entire family should have been glad to be there together celebrating this new person brought into our family and her being dedicated to the Lord. Instead a lot of drama happened, and I just feel really sad for my family right now.

The details of the argument are not really so important as the feelings behind the argument. Basically my mother feels left out and ostricized by my sister and her husband and the husband's family. Quite honestly after the behavior I witnessed today I cannot say I blame her. On the other hand, my mother is a drama queen, and totally over-reacted and created a scene in front of our entire family and sis's husband's entire family.

Unfortunately it ruined the day for me - not that it is about me - I just felt so bad/sad/mad at both sis and mom. And there is nothing I can do about it. And Thanksgiving, which is supposed to be held at my house, is in less than 2 weeks, and this is likely to boil over into that holiday. Christmas is to be held at this sis's house and will also likely be colored by today's events. Drama always has a long life in my family. :( :(

I finished the wings!

I finally got in a solid rotation on this piece. :) And I finished her wings! I added blending filament to all the white and that got really tedious, but of course once you start, you can't stop. Unfortunately you can't really tell in this photo, but the wings are pretty sparkly. She did seem to go much more easily once I finished the wings. I did a bit on the bodice and it was just starting to be fun when the night was over and it was time for bed. Ah well, at least when she comes up again I won't be dreading her!

Paa dee, Mama!

Just now I was futzing away on the wings for my Angel of Summer when I noticed Katie was being sort of fussy. She had a full sippy cup and a few goldfish that I had given her as a snack to hold her off til dinner, so I knew she wasn't hungry. She was acting like she wanted me to come with her though, like she usually does when she wants me to go into the kitchen and fill her cup or something. Since I knew she was taken care of in that area I kept asking her what's wrong and giving her a book or toy to play with. Finally she goes.... "paa dee Mama". I got up immediately wondering if I'd heard her right, and sure enough she headed straight for the bathroom. Once we got in there I discovered that she had already done a #2 in her diaper (not sure if she was trying to prevent that or not). I put her on the potty anyway, where she finished her #2 and also went pee.

Now, I don't know if she just is getting to the point where she wants to be changed right away when she does a #2 and wasn't really telling me she had to go - but that she wanted to be changed? I always change her in the bathroom now and have her sit on the potty after I take off the old diaper. But even that is progress! At least she can say it now. I'm so excited. My luck though it'll be 6 months or a year before she does it again - but I made sure to give her lots of praise so she knows she made Mama happy anyway. :)

DH isn't home from work yet, and DS is at an after-school religion program so I needed to tell someone.

Draggie HD

Last night I finished stitching this dragon on Kari's RR. It is "Majesty" from Legends of the Dragons and is designed by Karen Weaver of Black Swan. I changed the tail a bit and the back part of the larger wing so that it wouldn't look so 'cut off' as the orignial design fits into a backstitched square. Since the next RR piece has not arrived yet, and really isn't scheduled to until next week guess I have to work on Angel of Summer today. :( I will, will, will make some good progress on her - after all that is probably the only thing that is going to get me feeling good about her again.

In other news, my phone interview went pretty well yesterday, but it was just a standard set of questions that the HR person asks you and then forwards your answers to the hiring manager. So I'm not really getting my hopes up there. If the hiring manager likes what I had to say I'll get another call for a face-to-face interview. I also talked to a friend who previously worked at the company where I had the in-person interview two weeks ago, and she said not to give up on them yet. They always take a really long time to get back to people and hire them. It took a month from her interview til she had the job there. I guess that is encouraging, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, cause I really felt depressed when they didn't call within a week. I don't want to do that all over again if they still don't call. I think I will send them a Thank-you card for the interview though. Want to keep a favorable impression fresh in their minds for when they do make a decision.

Otherwise, not too much going on around here. I've been raking and raking leaves lately instead of my morning walks for exercise. I must be using different muscles or something or not really getting exercise raking leaves cause when I went for my regular walk this morning - boy did I feel it. The same 30 min walk I usually take that is about 50 percent uphill felt like I was trying to kill myself. I guess the last week or so raking leaves instead of walking put me out of shape for the walk. At least I haven't gained back any weight though. Big victory for me considering how much Halloween candy there was in the house between the two kids. It was really hard not to sneak into their baskets while Alex was at school. I managed to only eat a few pieces and now it is all gone! Yay! Now I just need to get through Thanksgiving and Christmas and the New Year, and Valentines... and... well back to spring when I can be more active.

Stitcher's Lane RR

Just finished another house for my Stitcher's Lane RR. This is from a design called "Words to Live By" by Jorja Hernandez in one of my older magazines. It's one of those designs I always thought was sorta cute, but probably never would have otherwise done. That's one of the reasons I like Round Robins. I finished this up last night and today I've been working on Kari's piece for the open RR. Her theme is dragons and I'm stitching "Majesty" by Karen Weaver from the leaflet "Legends of the Dragons". So far it is coming out well, but it will probably be a few more days before I post a happy dance for that one.

I put Angel of Summer aside to do these RRs, and I have to admit hoping that the next RR (the any designer sampler RR) comes in the mail before I finish on Kari's. Then I won't have to go back to it just yet! I think once I finish the wings on her I'll have more fun working on her, but with those hanging over my head - UGH. I will, will, will knock out three days on her once all my RRs are done. I promise myself. That will likely take care of the wings, so then maybe the pain will be over!

Another Interview

Still haven't heard from the company I interviewed with more than a week ago now, but I did get a call yesterday about doing a phone interview with a different company. I had a phone interview with this same company a few years back when I was contemplating leaving my old job, but never got past the phone interview. If I do well on the phone interview, I guess there will be a face-to-face interview too. I'm less optomistic about this company than the last because I know they want someone who has experience working with several different Adobe software packages. One of which I know well, two that I've had minimal experience with, and one that I haven't used at all. If I remember correctly that is why I didn't really make it beyond the phone interview last time. The thing is though, they ask you all that on the form you have to fill out online to send in your resume, and I answered honestly, so they should already know that. Why call me if they already know I don't have all the experience they want? I also applied to another strong possibility on Thursday. It isn't a Tech Writer position, it is a Business Analyst position, but the job duties are primarily writing and revising customer specifications and they want someone with a writing background that knows the securities industry (My last company was a securities company.).

WIP Kill Mode

I've decided to stay strong and not start anything new for now. I started looking through the projects I have going now and thinking about what all I HAVE to stitch and started feeling a little stressed. No need to add more to the mix I guess, especially since I'm trying to go back to work. They sure are tempting though! The next piece in my stitcher's lane RR arrived yesterday, so I started that. I have another RR piece that will arrive shortly for the open-themed RR too, so then I'll have another start there. Sort of the best of both worlds, getting to start something and work on something I need to finish at the same time. I also need to stitch a small piece for my Grandma before Christmas. I do it for her every year and I know she really looks forward to it. This year I think I'm going to do a case for her glasses.

Right now I have sort of a four project rotation. First slot is CGF, second slot is for my RRs, third slot is for Katie's blanket, and the fourth slot I rotate my remaining WIPs. When I finish CGF, that slot will go to either Alhambra Garden or the Table runner. I just can't get excited about Angel of Summer, so stitching on her a few days a month is probably all she is gonna see for awhile (at least until those wings are done).

On a different note, I haven't heard anything back from the company that I interviewed for last week. I guess that doesn't necessarily mean anything, they could just be taking thier time making a decision. I guess I sort of feel in my gut that they would have called by now if they wanted me. I'm feeling pretty depressed about not getting it because it was pretty much the identical job to what I did before and I can't think of anything for which I'm more qualifed. If I can't get that job, what job can I get? Also I'd been feeling sort of depressed for awhile about our financial situation and having to go back to work, but I thought getting the job would help lift that because it would solve the financial worry and give me something new to focus on. Now, I feel like I can't even get a job if I want to. I know it is only one company, but I've applied to lots of others and haven't even gotten a response from anyone else. I'm just worrying now that what I thought was the answer isn't going to work either. :(

Cottage Garden Fairy

She is getting very close to being done. :) Just one more section of blue stitching and then the beading. This one was pretty fast in comparison to "The Kiss" or "Fairy Idyll". The ironic thing is that she still took 2+ years to do! So now I have to decide on whether to start something new when I finish her, or continue on in my WIP kill mode? And if I do start something new, what?

I really shouldn't start something new as I have Alhambra Garden, Angel of Summer, and my Hardanger Table Runner already on the go. I want to finish both Alhambra Garden and the runner before next summer so that I can enter them in the fair. I also have 3 Round Robins in progress and another that will start in January (so I'm really already stitching for it.) I'm also going to be stitching the Chatelaine Sampler Mystery when the group starts in January.

I think I just talked myself out of starting something new, but I'll go ahead and list the things I'm thinking of starting anyway.

• "Silkwood Manor" by Just Nan. The chart was just to big a purchase not to do it! Plus I really do love the piece. Kari is working on this one and has some really inspiring pics of it in her blog.
• "Emma's Garden" by MLI. This would make a great 1yr birthday present for my niece who was just born at the end of Sept. It is a small piece too, so I could probably finish it in one year.
• "St. Basil's Cathedral" by Dimples. I've been meaning to start this forever and I have a great piece of opalescent fabric to stitch it on. It is also on the smaller side which would be nice.
• "Stone Roses" Mirabilia. A piece I've loved for ages and wanted to start since about 1999 and it just keeps getting pushed back for one reason or another. I even hoarded a bunch of the old 451,452,453 DMC threads so the shading will be more like Nora intened.
• "Mother's Tree" MLI. I did "My Son" for Alex and would really like to do a nice heirloom-type piece for Katie too. I got into geneology a few years back and was able to trace about 7 generations back on this line.

Okay, now I've talked myself back into starting something cause there are so many!! So now which one will it be? Maybe if I start it after one of my Round Robins ends? ARGH, I'm so indecisive.