Life Update

DS#2's basketball team went undefeated this season. Go them! DS#2's basketball skills have greatly improved since the summer and he made quite a few buckets this time around. It's been nice to see this introverted child, walk on to a basketball court with a gym full of people he did not know and attempt to participate in a game he only knew a little about before having to try out for a team. He's grown so much as young man this past year. He's come out of his shell a lot, sometimes I think too much, but I am in awe of him.

Stitching Update

This weekend has been spent working on Lizzie Kate's Welcome All Seasons. It's a cross stitch piece I've had tucked away for quite a while and I decided a few days ago that it would look nice in the kitchen and since it's a somewhat fast stitch, I picked it up again but unfortunately I won't be able to finish it this weekend because my family is making me nuts. DH is sitting in my stitching spot, the kids, for some reason, can't think for themselves and are asking me hundreds of questions. I've given up. Hopefully I can shove the DH off the couch and claim my spot in a little while. I had hoped to not only get it finished this weekend but also frame it. I'm planning to frame it with two little eyebolts hanging from the bottom of the frame and every month I will switch out L*K's monthly Flip-Its. The Flip-It frame will have two hooks on the top so that all I will have to do is change out the Flip-It in the frame for the one of the current month. I plan to be very organized and store my mounted Flip-Its in a plastic shoe box in the hutch in the kitchen. They will always be easily accessible and I shouldn't have to go looking for them. Since I don't really consider them heirlooms I'm just going to mount them on good old sticky board so I can mount them quickly and popping them in and out of the frame should be easy and fast.

I'm also now obsessing over stitching all of L*K's 2004 Block-It Flip It series on one piece of fabric. I wasn't too impressed with these on their own but then I saw this:

http://www.lizziekate.com/debbieboothflipitfinish400.jpg

Now I must stitch this. It would look so nice in the kitchen. If you haven't noticed, I obviously don't have too much hanging in the kitchen right now. Actually the only piece I have in the kitchen at the moment is Bent Creek's Rise & Shine. It's a favorite of mine but it's lonely. Time to stitch a few things to hang in there and brighten up the already bright zesty lime kitchen walls.

Two stitching friends and I are embarking on the mother of all projects in the not too distant future. What do I mean by the mother of all projects you might ask? Well how about a cross stitch piece 2ft(h) x 5ft(w)? Is that big enough for you? Yes we're nuts but so enjoying planning this out and all the personal things we plan to add to it to make this truly our own. It's the first stitching project I've been excited about in a while. Probably won't be able to start for at least a month but that should give me time to get the first three of the 24 charts, the accessory packs and the fabric, oh and grid the fabric for the 24 sections. More info when I get started.

Crochet

I've made a little progress on my granny square afghan and it feels good to make those squares and they all come out correctly after my frustration with the flower block. I'll give that block another try one day down the road.

Today at BooksAMillion I picked up the March issue of Crochet magazine. Some nice projects in there. I love the Irish Hearts afghan. I also like the After Five jacket and wonder if I could work it up in a less bulky summer weight cotton? Maybe Lionbrand Cotton Ease? I think it'd be a fun jacket to wear when it's just a little chilly out. I also can't wait to read the article on stained glass crochet but I'm thinking if I could find a mirror with a skinny frame, I could maybe pop the mirror out, crochet some fun fur around the frame, place the mirror back in the frame and viola a fun funky fur framed mirror. Now this is all speculation from just glancing at the article while in the bookstore. I may not have a clue about what I'm talking about.

Books

Saturday I stopped by the used book store and found three books by Jodi Picoult. Plain Truth, Salem Falls and Second Glance. At BooksAMillion today I picked up Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. Lots of good reading in my future. Now to just find the time to read, stitch, and crochet.

Another Monday

Went to work, busy, busy, busy. It's tourist season down this way already. It's February, it's 70 degrees and tourists are invading in record numbers. Heaven help me.

On to Happier Subjects

My neighbor gave me an old Annie's Crochet Newsletter from July-August 1986. Inside is a Mermaid pillow. I'll scan the pic and hopefully post it tomorrow. I'm normally not a cutesy kind of chick but I like this mermaid pillow and am trying to figure out how I can work the front side of the pillow into a ripple afghan. You know start crocheting a ripple then somehow add in a square of the mermaid pillow top, of course this means I'll have to actually square off the mermaid pillow since she's shaped like a mermaid right now, and then restart the ripple where the mermaid block ends. Not sure if this is anything that can actually be done, but I think if I can make it work it might be a pretty cool afghan. The pattern has the tail crocheted in dark green but I'm hoping to track down some glittery green, not Christmas green, but something in the green family that has some sparklie thread running through it. Or maybe I can combine a green worsted with a sparklie gold or silver yarn? Ideas, anyone? Or maybe do her a striped tail. Lots of ideas rolling around my brain at the moment. It would definitely be more of an "art" afghan than one that you'd snuggle under. I mean the memaid has pigtails, but I was thinking I could maybe use Red Heart Ocean for the water part of the quilt and scatter several mermaids throughout the top with different colored hair and tails, maybe crochet some seashells, if I can figure out how to make those up, and sew them onto to the top. Could be fun to play around with anyway. At least I'm inspired. My neighbor has a huge stack of old Annie's Crochet Newsletters and Easy Crochet or something like that. I would have loved to curl up in a corner with that stack of magazines for a few hours. Lots of neat ideas in that pile of magazines.

Movies

Our local video store has a sale on right now, used DVDs for $7.95. Today I popped in to see what they had and walked out with I, Robot and Win a Date with Tad Hamilton.

Reading

Right now I'm reading "You Slay Me" by Katie MacAlister. I'm so loving this book. No, it's not going to make me a better person, no, it's not going to enlighten me, it's not going to make me smarter but it is so making me happy. Just a good, fun read. Sometimes we need that. Blatant escapism.

JoAnn's Stash

Walked out of JoAnn's Saturday with 7, count 'em 7, patterns for tote bags. I was in and out in about 15 mins. Not bad. I also bought some lime green fabric to use as lining for my first tote bag.

Organizing

After losing my quilting pins I've decided that I need to seriously consider getting organized. Maybe I would be able to find something when I need it. I have all my knitting things stored together and most of my cross stitch accessories stored together and all my crochet hooks stored together, but my sewing stuff is kind of all over the place and not where I thought it was. I think if I took an accurate accessment of all my crafty supplies and made a serious attempt to get all organized I might actually get more things not only started but maybe finished. What a concept!

I'm also thinking about making a concentrated effort to buy 2 yards of quilting fabric every week. Just to start building a fabric stash. Like I need another stash. But most of the fabric in my stash is 1980s calico with a few newer prints here and there. Not a lot of new stuff. Most of the new stuff I bought with a quilt in mind. I really want to get back into quilting. It's just a lot of work. A LOT OF WORK. I don't enjoy cutting out all the pieces but I do enjoy sewing them together. I like handpiecing. It's like cross stitch and crochet, it's portable and has a quiet rythmn to it. I want to learn to use my machine to piece because you can really crank out some quilts when piecing on the machine but at the same time you are a slave to the machine. With handpiecing you can piece anywhere, anytime.

Anyway, I need to sit down and evaluate the cross stitch stash, WIPs and things I want to kit up to start in the near future. There are a few things calling to me but I keep shoving them to the bottom of the pile. I really need to finish Fairy Grandmother. My grandmother was in the hospital this weekend, they are trying to determine whether or not she had a heart attack. It's time to make Fairy Grandmother my focus and get her finished.

At the same time, I want to start TW's Mermaid. I'm kicking myself for not buying all the DMC for her this weekend while JoAnn's had DMC 5/$1. But fortunately DMC is not expensive and I just need to remember to put the list in my purse and buy a few skeins every time I go to the "store who shall not be named" and JoAnn's. I'm in no way ready to start her but I'm kind of anal and want fresh floss for all my projects. At least for big ones like a TW. So what if I have tons left over, it will all eventually get used. I do use from the stash for smaller projects.

I also have a couple of crochet projects I want to start. One is the Crazy Quilt coverlet from the BH&G's Simply Creative Crochet. It's all kitted and ready to go. I also want to work on my 63 Squares CAL afghan. I've let it sit neglected for far too long. I think I'm going to go on and finish it in the colors I already selected. And of course I want to play around with mermaid idea. I think I may try to do a prototype mermaid block this weekend. I need to pick up a few colors. I may try to see if I can make her tail longer and go down instead of just doing the one that curls up sort of in a U shape. I'm really talking like I have some kind of a clue about what I want to do aren't I?

Public Service Announcement #1

Did you know that when you, dear Driver, are in a turn lane and the turn arrow lights up, and the car in front of you turns, that you, Dear Dear Driver, can turn immediately after the first car? Did you know that? You didn't have to wait for the red light to go through it's whole long, long cycle again. You could have turned right behind that first car, I could have turned too and the car behind me, cars could have kept on turning left until the signal became a red arrow. Just thought you might want to know.

Public Service Announcement #2

Did you know that when the bathroom floods, the closet placed on the wall in the adjoining room floods too? Did you know that if the bathroom floods and someone doesn't bother to check the carpeting in the closet next to the bathroom, for say a couple of weeks, what you will find is a mildewing molding mess? Yes, yes you will. Go check those closets.

Weekend-I'm Feelin' the Joy

Well I was until I found my red cowboy boots molding under a pile of wet clothes in the aforementioned closet. I *heart* those boots and I'm not sure I can save them. I've had these boots 18 yrs.

Who knew that the flippin' closet would flood too? Probably anyone with a half a braincell, that would not include moi.

No big weekend plans on the agenda. Hope to get some stitching in and maybe hit JoAnn's to snag a few McCall's patterns for tote bags that are on sale for 99¢ this weekend. There was also one for making a knitting needle and crochet hook holder/roll type thingie. Can ya tell I haven't had my coffee yet?

I think I'm going to pull on some clothes and go to Waffle House. A waffle, some hashbrowns scattered and smothered, cheese eggs, maybe some bacon. YUM. I skipped dinner last night and this is sounding pretty good to me right about now. By the time I'm finished stuffing my face, JoAnn's should be open and I can run right in and grab the patterns I want and be in and out in no time at all. Yes, I've been to JoAnn's during a huge sale before. Can you please let me hold on to my dreams if only for a moment?

Mean While Back At The Ranch

There ain't a whole lot going on. I may be out of a job by February 28th. That's a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. It's good in that I get a little bit more of my life back, like all of it, and a bad thing in that I will be a little poorer. I can deal with poor. I'm hoping to stash a little over the next few weeks. Ok, maybe a lot if possible. Probably won't happen as this week I have to break down and purchase a new washer. When your washer won't agitate, the clothes may smell clean, that whole soap thing, but in the end they aren't what one could call *clean*. Kind of like deodorant for the 'pits. You can put it on all the time but you have to take a bath eventually, rub, scrub, loofah, just sitting in a tub, rolling on some Dry Idea just isn't going to cut it in the long run. I finally had to accept this fact. I so absolutely hate having to spend money on this stuff. Yeah I can be thankful that it is possible for me to go and maybe purhcase a new one-I'm hoping for a used one, $50 outta pocket would be good, really good, but if I have to buy new chances are it's doable this week. Since the current washer was purchased at a yard sale last summer for, you guessed it, $50, DH and I decided that new might be the route to go. The only problem with new is I'm very hard on appliances. I'm like the washer/dryer graveyard. They come here to die. I don't think new is really a good thing for me because I'm trying to teach the boys to do their own laundry and between me and them not getting things balanced the mortality rate for a new washer isn't looking good. I refuse to be like my mother and not let anyone touch my washer because something might happen to it and I might have to buy another one. Things happen and if worse comes to worse I can go to the laundry mat. I don't enjoy that but hey I can deal with it and if in a few weeks I'm going to be out of work I'll have plenty of time to venture off to the laundry mat. No big deal. Anyone remember the Northern Exposure episode when Maggie got her own washer and dryer and missed going to the laundry mat and the social interaction? See the glass is always half full here at the Ranch.

Creativity Update

Or lack thereof. A few friends have started a Stocking Saturday SAL for cross stitch stockings. It is mostly for the new Carriage House Samplings - News primitive stocking series, but I'm going to start working on the boys' Christmas stockings. DS#1's is already picked out, just need to purchase the fabric. I also need to do DS#2 & 3's Birthday Stockings along with their Christmas stockings. See I'm really much too busy to try to work too right? That whole working thing just gets in the way of more important stuff like stitching, crochet, knitting. You know the stuff that makes life good. Not to mention going to the beach, reading good books. The list goes on and on.

Speaking of lists, I think it's time reevaluate all my WIPs. I have so many that I need to take a look in the workbasket and see what's going on. I'm actually clueless about everything I have started these days. The posts in December were barely scratching the surface of that WIP pile.
I had such good intentions early last year. Created my own Stitcher's Organizer, added to it to include books I wanted to read or buy, crochet projects, knitting projects, quilting projects. Then just kind of let it go.

Happy Anniversary to Moi!

One year ago today I created this little blog. Go me!

Music

OK, so no one tagged me for the music meme going around, I'm going to play anyway because I don't have anything interesting to say on my own right now.

Total of music files on your computer: zero. My computer crashed last week and I haven't had time to start uploading my music again.

Last CD you bought: Garden State Soundtrack and Damien Rice "B" Sides. They were purchased at the same time. Other recent CD purchases include The Killers-Hot Fuss, *Shins-Chutes too Narrow, and Scissor Sisters. DH picked up the Very Best of Prince recently too.

*edited to change Chins to Shins...somedays I have no clue where my mind is.....

Last song you heard before reading this message: Mosh, Eminem or Red Dirt Road, Brooks and Dunn.

Name 5 songs you listen to often or mean something to you:

1. If Heaven-Andy Griggs, written by Gretchen Peters. This song breaks my heart. It reminds me of people I love who have passed away and how I'm not ready to die. The line, "If Heaven were a town it would be my town on a summer day in 1985. When everything I wanted was out there waiting on me and everyone I love was still alive". Those words are just so powerful for me.

2. Your Bright Baby Blues, Jackson Browne. This song is track 2 on the The Pretender record. It never ceases to stir some emotion in me. The lines, "It's so hard to come by that feeling of peace, this friend of mine said, "Close your eyes and try a few of these," I thought I was flying like a bird so far above my sorrow but when I looked down I was standing on my knees, now I need someone to help me someone to help me please" kept me from doing drugs in my younger days just because of the imagery. Drugs can only take away the pain for a little while and when you come down from that high the hurt, the pain is still there.

3. Before the Deluge, Jackson Browne. This song made me the environmentalist I am today.

4. He Walked on Water, Randy Travis-not sure who wrote the song. This song reminds me of my grandfather-he passed away in March of 1980 and everytime this song comes on the radio it makes me cry.

5. I Am a Patriot, Little Steven. "I ain't no democrat and I ain't no republican, I only know one party and it is Freedom."

and because I can:

6. The Highwayman, Stevie Nicks. It's the last track on the Belladonna Record.

7. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road-the whole CD- Lucinda Williams. Favorite songs: The Way You Move and Still I Long For Your Kiss.

HTML Frustration

So today I'm sitting around trying to spruce up the ol' blog. I decide to add some buttons. I haven't done this in a while but Yarngirl and Yarn Harlot's buttons had been stored in my Photobucket album and they were just so darn easy to add to the blog I got just a tad bit cocky. So then I went around looking for other buttons of blogs I read almost on a daily basis, saved them to my computer to then upload to Photobucket, my computer for whatever reason can't read the files so there is no picture there when I try to open the file. Now how in the heck did I manage to save Yarngirl's and the YarnHarlot's buttons when at the time I knew absolutely nothing about HTML and now that I have a little more knowledge, actually understand the language, I can't do anything? I had to run a system restore a few weeks ago and lost all the graphics I had stored on the computer and I wonder if I might have installed a program on here that could read the button files and it's no longer on the computer? It never ceases to amaze me that something that is so simple to the rest of the world is this major complication for me.

Crochet News

Not riveting stuff but I may rethink the colors I picked out for my 63 Squares CAL. Just think if I could have mastered the stupid button thing, there might be a cute little button in the line above. I've never been completely happy with the colors I picked out for the 63 Squares Afghan. I'm thinking about going with a more tropical color scheme. Right now my colors are blues, plum, variegated blueberry, kind of dark. I don't want neon colors but something in the soothing colors of the Gulf of Mexico, something bright and cheery. I don't know. Anyway I'm pretty sure the color choices I made at the beginning are what's keeping me from wanting to work on this project. I'm never comfortable choosing colors on my own. I have no confidence what so ever in my skill at choosing colors that work well together. Then again maybe I need to pull out all the supplies for this afghan, look at them with a fresh eye and see if I can just change a color or two to make it more pleasing to me. Yes, I'm rambling again. If you came here looking for a complete thought, you dear reader, are probably disappointed.

Uninspired

Anyone else feeling a little uninspired these days? I pick up my cross stitch it doesn't thrill me, my crochet projects, same old same old, sewing, just not really what I want to do right now. As hard as I try I don't think I'll ever be able to embrace sewing as much as other creative endeavors. It is so intimidating to me.

I've been reading magazines, going through older magazines, rootaling through the stash, I feel nothing. There's nothing just screaming, "Pick me up, work on me, kit me!" They just lay there in their buckets, in their bins, screaming, "Put the top back on, we're asleep in here!"

What inspires you?

T.G.I.F.

Friday is here! WAHOOOOO! I am off today, how great is that? The girl that is working for me has never opened before so I'm going in long enough to get the tea brewed and make sure things are set up for her so that every thing goes smoothly at lunch. I really need this day. I've been on the edge for a couple of weeks and I just need a little down time. The DH has the day off too, so we have plans to go window shopping. No extra money to really shop but I want wander around Bed, Bath and Beyond, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy and the new Micheals. I'm looking forward to hanging out with him and not having to listening to whiney kids go on and on about why we have to come to this store or that store and why are we eating here instead of here? I love my kids but I prefer to shop or window shop rather when they aren't around. Believe it or not I'm not big on shopping. I usually know exactly what I want when I point my truck in the direction of a particular store but sometimes, rarely, but sometimes I truly enjoy wandering around looking at things, making a mental wish list of things I want for the house. Right now I'm window shopping for a coffee press. Every once in a while I want a cup of coffee at night but don't want to brew a whole pot and well, I'm not sure about you but whenever I try to brew half a pot the coffee never taste right? It's a whole pot or nothing with me. Anyway I thought a coffee press might be a nice solution, especially since I hate instant coffee. I have some Hill's Instant French Vanilla Cappucino and it's not bad, tastes like McD's French Vanilla Cappucino but I'd prefer a real cup of coffee. I also saw Ina Garten use a stove top espresso maker on her show the Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network. I thought that was a pretty nifty thing. Especially since I can't afford the $500 commercial espresso maker that I'd love(and really who has the counter space for that?)and my lame cheapie brandname espresso/cappucino maker from the store who shall not be named never really functioned, what do I expect for $25? So I'm going to see how much damage one of those stainless stove top espresso makers will do to the old wallet. That is if I can find one anywhere around here.

Yesterday I met the DH for lunch and ended up spending the money I had set aside to place an order with Adagio Teas. So much for super secret money. Oh well, we enjoyed lunch and got to hang out for a little while. So I guess it was money well spent. Maybe I can place that order next week.

No Whining Today

Bet you're breathing a sigh of relief over that title. How much whining can one person do?

I finished the flipflops I had been crocheting. Three pair total, the first pair took me almost four days, the last two pair only about an hour each. Felt really good to get them out of the house and to their new home.

Other than that not much crafty stuff going on around here. I did pick up book at BooksAMillion today, Sew Fast, Sew Easy by Elissa Meyrich. I read the reviews on Amazon a few days ago and it seemed like most of the people were disappointed that it spent a lot of time get the new sewer comfortable with their sewing machine. I decided that's exactly what I needed. Something that talked down to me in regards to the sewing machine. I also picked up three tote bag patterns from a company called New Look at JoAnn's. I would have bought a couple of McCalls Patterns but those things are something like $15 a piece! Made me really appreciate the value of investing in a $20 knitting or crochet book. I realize that you can use patterns many, many times but I'm just starting and this is pretty much an experiment. The New Look patterns were only $3.49 each so I bought three different pattern sets. The lady at JoAnn's did tell me that the McCall's patterns were going on sale on Sunday for 99cents each. I found a McCalls Crochet/Knitting needle case pattern that I liked a lot and may try to score one of those on the cheap on Sunday.

I also picked up the new Vogue Knitting Knit.1. I was hoping to find the premiere issue but the few places I tried already had this new one on the magazine rack. I bought the first issue twice and gave them to two friends thinking I had plenty of time to get another one. No, not happening, but I'll survive. I did lick my wounds by picking up a copy of the new Interweave Knits. No time to browse through either one but they should make nice weekend reading while I become friends with my sewing machine.

Weather

Well the weather is taunting me. I was all prepared to have an unexpected day off due to thundershowers, but no, the flippin' sun is shining-so much for the 80% chance of rain. I really, really, really needed this extra day off. I can't take it any more. I've been up since 1 am with DS#1 & 2 who are both sick. DS#2 has a nagging cough, no fever and he wanted to go to school this morning. He's not contagious, just a little drainage going on there. DS#1 stayed home for the second day in a row. He's running a lowgrade fever and has a pretty nasty cough going on. Since I was already up I tried to do a couple of loads of laundry, you know use the time wisely, my dryer door broke, I tried to fix it, made it worse. I couldn't wake the DH up at 2am to fix the door so I sobbed for a whole hour, before I fell asleep on the couch. I hate having to go to the laundry mat. I have to do laundry every day or we run out of clothes or socks or underwear, something always needs to be washed. Anyway I just can't face going into work. I don't want to be there. I know everyone feels that way sometimes but I'm having horrible coping issues right now and the least little things sets me off, makes me want to cry. There's still about 45 minutes before I have to leave so I'm hoping buckets of rain start falling from the sky so they decide not to open. I really, really, don't want to leave the house today.

Crafty Update

Nothing for me, I've been crocheting some fluffy flipflops for the mom of one of the kids I work with. I have one pair finished and two more to go. Would some one please tell me why anyone else in the world could crochet three pair of flipflops in say an hour or two and it's taking me days? Must be that whole coping issue again. Had hoped to get them finished today since I was going to be home due to torrential downpours but that apparently ain't going to happen. So I'll be another day trying to get them finished.

Guilty Pleasure

Is there a better guilty pleasure than McGyver? I was channel surfing a while ago and found McGyver on the Spike channel. I remember when DS#1 was little he wanted to be McGyver because McGyver managed to save everyone, every episode and never killed anyone.

Mardi Gras Booty



Want beads? Yeah we got your beads baby!

Mardi Gras on the Redneck Riviera













Normally our little Mardi Gras Parade is held on the beach but due to Hurricane Ivan and some commissioners who seem to believe that newspapers continuing to show up and take pictures of the damage does more for the community than say actually cleaning up the parks and the beach parking lot we couldn't have our parade with the gorgeous Gulf of Mexico as our back drop. We went the hillbilly route and had the parade along backroads. Somehow it lost something in the translation. In all honesty it was fun. The kids enjoyed it and that's what's important. Right?

Here's hoping the pics showed up as thumbnails. Somehow I'm betting they don't.

New Framed Cross Stitch Piece



This is my framed Drawn Thread Easter Egg Sampler. I believe I finished it in 2001, but it might have been 2002. Excuse the poor photo. No matter where I put the picture it had that glare.

What Have We Here?



Could it be a completely threaded sewing machine? No way! Way!

What you don't see is a finished quilt. Why? You dear reader really aren't going to believe this, seriously, you are not going to believe it. I can't find my quilting pins. You know the ones with the big white ball on top that you use to pin the top to the sashings before you sew it together, you know to like stabilize it so one can sew in a straight line? I can't even find the flippin' pin cushion that's pretty full of pins. I can't believe it. So I give up. Tonight while the DH is at a Superbowl party I plan to cross stitch. The boys and I are going to hang out here, eat pizza, they'll either watch the Superbowl or something else. I'm planning on watching the pilot episode of Stargate SG-1 and the other two episodes on the DVD. I'm planning on stitching BOAF's Peace and maybe tomorrow I'll actually have a piece that looks like something so I can take a progress pic.

Where Oh Where Did My Little Blog Go?

Yesterday I wrote a very long blog post, somehow it never made it here. Hmmmm......very frustrating.

Crafty Endeavors

After a long, tiring search I found my instruction book to my sewing machine. I'm hoping to get that thing threaded sometime today and actually make an attempt at finishing DS#3's quilt. Of course the book and the accessory pack were in the very first place I looked three days ago, but somehow I just didn't see them. The book was tucked in between pictures of the boys, and the accessory pack was wrapped up in some folds of fabric. But they were in the very first Rubbermaid bucket I looked in.

I've been pondering the old Granny's Flowers flower block and I think I'm going to give it one more try and then go back to good ol' granny squares and ripple afghans. I think my crochet life can be very fulfilling with just two things in my repertoire. That last word doesn't look right but spell check approved it. Anyway, I'll give it a whirl sometime this weekend.

In cross stitch news I've been working on BOAF's Peace. I'd show a progress pic but honestly there's just not a lot to show. I've accepted the fact that I'm a slow stitcher and will always be a slow stitcher. The finished project is a lovely thing but I'm all about the process. I can't help it, I love crossing those little Xs. It never ceases to amaze me how a bunch of little thread Xs allow me to create such beautiful pieces of art.

Weekend

This weekend is my little hick town's Mardi Gras Parade. They haven't cleaned up the beach so the parade route will run along backroads. Come on guys, just skip the parade this year, we all understand. Ivan was a mean bastard and messed up our lovely little beach community. Do we really have to declare to the world that we are such hillbillies?

Speaking of the Weekend

It's the first of the month and we are broke. Somehow the extra money we set aside for bills so that we would't be broke this weekend got spent disappeared. I really hate the first of the month. I guess more responsible people don't mind the first of the month rolling around.

Wednesday was a snow rain day for me. It would have been perfect had the computer not crashed. Of course even with the computer crash it was pretty good. I miss SAHM World. I know that in this economy I should be very thankful for my job and the meager amount of money it brings in and I am. What I make covers groceries around the first of the month and the rest of the month it's our "eating out going to the movies" fund. But all that being said I miss being with my kids. My oldest will be 17 in a few weeks and I missed almost all of last summer with him and most of the school vacations. So I'd be kind of happy if they sold the business and I didn't have to be there any more. We can go back to being a one income family and starting to budget again. I dn't need a lot. Although I've told DH as soon as we get this weekend I'm planning on making a few big purchases before I may be unemployed.

Material Girl

My recent venture into the land of materialism has shocked even me. I'm usually pretty happy with my life, everyone has little times of sadness but for the most part I love my life. Right now though I'm on this mission to acquire things! I think it's due to the lack of S.E.X. over the last couple of years. I've been good about using stuff in the stash and while I haven't been on the Abstinence Wagon, I haven't been having major S.E.X.capades. My stash aquisition has been limited to charts and fabric or thread for charts already in the stash. It wasn't necessarily intentional just my stash is full of designs I *heart*. The new stuff just hasn't screamed out at me, "take me home!" Which is a good thing.

I've managed to keep my yarn and wool purchases to projects I am working on or plan to start in the very near future, my recent LionBrand woolease order is a perfect example. It's for the Crazy Quilt afghan out of the BH&G Crochet magazine the exact title escapes me at the moment. Not enough coffee in the system. Now the stashing of Red Heart yarn from the store who shall not be named does not count. Those purchases are limited to $20 at any given time and that's stash building. I have it here when I want to start a new project. I know a lot of folks like to snub their noses at RH acrylic but have any of you taken a moment to feel the 100% acrylic ponchos in the stores these days? Let me tell ya the RH acrylic is far superior and no where near as scratchy as the stuff I felt while browsing through TJ Maxx the other day. My respect for RH acrylic has gone up quite a few notches. I have developed a deep love for Noro's Kureyon though. I would love to buy as much of that as I can afford if only to look at it. The colors are absolutely beautiful. I want it all.

Anyway back to the whole materialism thing. We are getting another family computer. 5 people + 1 computer = a very unhappy family. So I told DH just count on getting a new computer in the next few weeks. I'm going to get the dresser out of our bedroom, I can just keep my clothes in a laundry basket in my closet, that whole dresser thing is way overrated. This new computer will be only for me and the DH. The kids can fight all they want over this one. It's only a year old, practically new. I'm getting an iPod. It's a complete and utter luxury item but I want it and it will be mine. Now I'm really wanting my own personal private laptop but while I like to dream I am a realist and that is about as big a dream as I've ever had.

I'm hoping to order my floor stand from Nordic Needle next week. I can barely stitch without my hand going numb in about 5 minutes so I think it's going to be money well spent. I've been cringing over the $129 price tag but when you think that the $30 cheapie stand I purchased at the store who shall not be named ended it's existence in this world as a catapult for DS#2 school project, that's $30 that could have been spent on the Gripit Legend. Also on the Nordic Needle list is Easy Grapher software for designing my own cross stitch charts, mostly to graph out favorite quotes for some throw pillows. Then there's the Electric Quilt software I'm planning on ordering from the Keepsakes Quilt catalog. Not to mention lots of nice quilting fabric, also want to place an order with Patternworks. See is my materialistic nature shocking you? I'm great about making wishlists, sorta my dream list of things I want but I never really think about actually buying the stuff on there unless the opportunity presents itself, right now I know one way or the other I'm getting everything on my list. I feel really selfish right now. Sort of ashamed, but I can't help it. I go to bed at night dreaming about fabric, yarn, cross stitch stuff, my new computer, my iPod, I'm awful.

Blogger must have hiccuped this morning my post posted twice. Very funny since the first line was "I can count". I reckon Blogger can't count. I really don't need help making myself look foolish. I do very well on my own thank you very much.

It's dreary and rainy around these parts tonight so I plan to curl up with some tasty Brunswick stew from my work(my crockpot chicken is inedible--please don't ask). The kids had some Church's chicken and fries as per their request. I'm now trying to figure out how to salvage the crockpot chicken and turn it into something delicious for tomorrow night. Just don't have the energy to be too creative tonight. Anyway this Brunswick stew is awesome.

Maybe I'll get some stitching in tonight. I can hope. Keeping my fingers crossed that this only posts once.

I Can Count, Really I Can

But you wouldn't know that if you saw my crocheted flower block. Some how on Round 6 I'm supposed to end up with 16 chain 6 spaces. 16! Go on ask me how many I ended up with, go on, I'll tell the truth.

"How many chain 6 spaces did you end up with on Round 6 of your flower block?"

"UH, 8, 8 chain 6 spaces, there I admitted it. Somehow following the pattern I'm supposed to have 16 chain 6 spaces I have half that."

Could someone tell me how this happened? I followed the pattern to the letter. I can count, I know a TC from a DC, yet there is no way I have any where close to 16 chain six spaces. Maybe it would work out better if had a drink or two before starting the block, everything might then be viewed in double vision and I'll at least believe for a little while that I'm close to the required number of chain 6 spaces.

Other News

I've been adding CDs to the old media library on the computer in a prePOD frenzy. I'm getting an iPod and that's all there is to it. I've been checking them out for the last year. It's a true luxury item. I can justify the computer because of the kids, homework, you know. Not that I ever see anything close to homework being done on this thing. But the iPod, it serves no purpose other than bringing complete and utter musical joy to the owner(it also helps that the owner no longer has to lug around a heavy CD case, change CDs periodically, etc).

We've also been looking at buying another desktop as the kids keep this computer busy with The Sims schoolwork. I want my own personal private laptop(another complete and utter luxury item-but Daphne_Blue now has me jonesing for one big time) but right now another desktop would be a good thing. The DH and I could set it up in our room, I don't need a dresser right? We could use it at our whim with no one whining, "You've had your turn already!" I won't have to respond with, "I'm the mom and it's my computer, I work all day and my turn is as long as I say it is!" It would be good for storing pics, music, maybe quilt designing. Not that I ever finish a quilt but that Electric Quilt 5 software looks cool. I'd also like to add some cross stitch designing software to the computer so that I could chart out some favorite quotes to make into pillows and I'm just too darn lazy to do it on graph paper. I'm thinking maybe the Easy Grapher Home version.

Great mail day yesterday as the new NordicNeedle catalog arrived in all it's glory along with the new Welcome to KeepsakeQuilting.com catalog. I also called Patternworks to request a new catalog from them. My LYS never has any stock. They carry Cascade 220 but only in about 4 colors. I swear every time I've been in there they've had approximately 5 colors of Cascade 220 and 2 of the Koigu. Very frustrating. I want to give them my business but since their hours tend to be "We're open the first Tuesday after a full moon between the hours of Noon and 2 p.m." It makes it kinda hard for a working chick to get by there, and then when the aforementioned working girl finally gets there, they don't have what she's looking for and the clerk looks very nervous when asked if something could be held for the working girl when it arrives in the shop, well it doesn't endear the LYS to the working chick. I mean is the act of buying stuff supposed to be difficult? Am I missing something here? No wonder so many people turn to online sources and catalogs.

Do I even need to attempt to list my wish lists for all these catalogs? I'm planning to go slowly, I'm saving for the Pod, the new desktop, the new digicam, and the personal private laptop you know, but I dream big. I'm thinking DH will fork over the bucks for the new desktop quite willingly. So a few bills get paid a little late, happiness in the home is what's important, right? We're both sick of having to argue for our little bit of computer time. I know you all are thinking I'm mother to some demon seed but they aren't, well 95% of the time they aren't. 5 people + 1 computer = family discord. There's just no other way around it. I'm thinking with a little creative bookkeeping we may be able to splurge on the new desktop sometime in April. February is too short a month for creativity with the budget, March is DS#1's birthday month so any extra $$$ go towards the celebration of his birth which he thinks should be a national holiday, so April looks like my first realistic window in which to juggle the books, misplace a few bills, forget to sign a couple of checks, and splurge on family peace.

As far as the catalogs go, I have a few major purchases lined up, first major purchase is the Gripit Legend floor stand from Nordic Needle. My carpal tunnel is giving me fits these days. Almost to the point that I don't enjoy cross stitch any more. My hand keeps going numb, fingers feel like they are on fire, very frustrating. A few people have told me that a floor stand might help where that is concerned so I'm looking at the Gripit as a medicinal purchase. Cross stitch keeps me sane and not being able to makes me nuts, so in the name of mental stability I will purchase the Legend Floor Model Frame Holder: Nordic Needle from Nordic Needle. I've got some supersecret money set aside and as soon as I have what I need to order it the Gripit will be mine. I mentioned the design software for quilting and cross stitch. I don't need it but they both look like fun. I'm not going into all the yarn and wool I want to order from Patternworks. I feel this need right now to stock up on some stuff. Nothing I need but I go through phases where I want to stock up, hoard if you will, all kinds of things. Never know when the money won't be there for luxury items like stitching supplies, crochet and knitting needs, fabric. I know I'm a whack job but I like knowing I have this stuff so when I can't buy new stuff it's there for me. My own little "shop". Some people have a blizzard pantry or a hurricane pantry. I have a creativity pantry because when it is all said and done my stitching and extracurricular activities are the first to go when hard times hit as they should be. So my stash is my survival kit.