Sleep or Stitch? That is the question!

Happy New Year!! 2012!!

2012-01-01T14:54:00.002-05:00

Hello Everybody!

Happy New Year! I hope every one has a wonder new year and that 2012 is better to you than 2011 was!

Today I have been thinking back over 2011, and it was a rough year for alot of us.. I have lost people near & dear to me, some from death and some from other reasons... I miss them all.

I have been thinking about myself today too.... what could I have done different, or better. What do I want to get out of 2012... Where do I want to be, and what do I want to be doing...

I am still continuing on with my exercise. I am planning on doing another Rambling Rose Triathlon in July in Rock Hill, SC, instead of the one in Huntersville,NC in Sept. My training will start to be more involved in March, so get ready, not to hear from me.. LOL.. I am trying, and I stress the word trying, to run... My mind says I can do it, but my body says " What the heck are you doing??" I did do a 5.5k last night in 56 mins. It avereaged out to 16.5 minutes per mile... moving at the speed of slow! LOL I did walk most of it, but I stopped a few times and took pictures. The run was in Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, NC. The park was lit up with Christmas lights, it was beautiful! If you live close and can get the chance to go, I would highly recommend it. I think it's $15 a car load and just to be able to drive through and see everything, it's well worth it..

I want to get back into my cross-stitching. I really haven't stitched since April and I do miss it. I think I am going to sell off alot of my old crafty stash that I am not going to do/ use any more. I just have to be realistic now and know that I am NEVER going to get everything done that I want to and I need to decide which projects are most important to me and do them.

I want to work on my house and in my craft room, because I am tired of everything looking like a tornado has come through! Part of that is just the fact that I am never home, part of it is I am tired and don't feel like doing anything! So if you have any tips about being organized when life is crazy, let me know!

I do hope to post some pictures soon of things I am working on, and I do hope I will be here alittle more often.

I wish you a Happy & Healthy 2012......
see you soon!

Happy Birthday to me...

2011-10-23T21:14:00.002-04:00

WOW, What a Birthday weekend!! Yesterday, Went on a hike at Crowder's Mountain with the ladies from my triathlon group, Got flowers from my BFF Angie Henderson, and taken to the Woodshed in Stanley for Dinner with my hubby last night... Today, got to sleep late, had wings from CC's & Hojo's Wings in Mt.Holly for lunch, met up with the lady Bikers for Breast Cancer, had a Mimosa, THE PANTHER's WON!!, got a free drink from Caribou coffee... and it's not even 8pm yet!! Let's not forget all the wonderful b-day wishes from all my FB friends!

I have had a great day, too bad birthdays are only once a year! LOL

It's been along time since I have been here. I have had alot of things going on this summer.

Since May, most of my free time was put into training for my 1st Triathlon!! Yes, I said Triathlon! Can you believe it? I completed the Rambling Rose all women's triathlon on Sept 25!! 250 yd swim, 9 mile bike ride and 2 mile run/walk.... I did it! Woohooo! I really didn't think I was going to do it, but I did and I am thankful that I did! It took me 1 hr & 27 minutes! Now I have a base for next year!

I am planning on doing a half marathon in Dec. It's the Columbia Half Marathon Dec 17. We shall see.... my legs aren't wanting to cooperate. Luckily its a walk/run and it has a 4 hr time limit. I am hoping my legs will stop hurting! The running shop wants me to buy new shoes.... I have new shoes!! Crap, maybe that's what I get for NOT spending a small fortune to start with?!?! Jeez... I thought running would be cheap?! HAHAHA

SO besides training, I haven't been doing too much besides working... I did pick up my needle & thread and put a few stitches into a Halloween project I want to finish. Get ready to shake your head at me... the project that went missing... remember my last post? Well I finally found it after it had been missing about 2 or 3 months! Where was it? On the floor, beside the night stand that holds my alarm clock!?!?! Now, you can not tell me that I did not look there atleast 500 times!! I think the gremlins finally got tired of hearing me bitch & complain about them taking things! LOL. I completed the stitching on it, but have not put it together yet.....

I am kinda computer frustrated at the moment. Our desktop is at the shop, they called to say it is almost dead and my external hard drive I was using for my laptop was smoking and now is dead and is going to have to be sent off to see if the data can be retrieved!! OMG!! NOW, my laptop is acting wonky!! That's why there is NO pictures with this post! Boy do I have some pics to show y'all!! I can't wait! So please say a prayer to the computer gods that they will stop picking on me! LOL.... Anyone know who the Patron Saint of Computers is?

Well, I have about talked your ear off, and I do appreciate you reading this, but I better go. Have to get ready for work tomorrow... So please leave a comment, I would love to hear from you. What's been going on with you?

Oh Darn...

2011-06-09T23:16:00.002-04:00

Have you ever put something in such a good, safe place, that you can never find it again???

That is what I have done with my kit from Camp Stitchaway. I have looked everywhere for it! I remember having it in my car...and thats it. I have looked everywhere. It was almost done!! I can't believe it! I am so upset, besides the fact that its practically finished, there was about 1/4 yard piece of fabric, a pair of scissors & a fob, Tracy made for my birthday, some really cool buttons...GRRRRR Can you see me banging my head on the desk?!?!

So please say a word for me that the gremlins will bring back my kit...

Have you ever did this? I would love to hear your stories!
Take care everyone...

What a rip-off....

2011-05-21T10:53:00.003-04:00

Ok guys I usually don't post too many rants here, but I need to tell you guys something.

I got a Kindle for Christmas. Love it.
I was looking on Amazon for a new book, ran across some that looked interesting. I got to reading the comments down below the book information....
One book I wanted was for sale, Kindle price of 7.99.. normaly I would just buy it. One of the posters had said it was cheaper to buy the paperback at Walmart...so I go and check it out.

OMG.... it was $4.57 at Walmart. $4.57!!

I don't mind carrying around a book, did it for years anyway... but to save that kind of money, OMG, I'll buy a book!

Freaking nuts! I thought it was suppose to be cheaper for Kindle books because you aren't paying to have it printed!! GRRRRRRRR......

Ok, now that I have that off my chest.. all you guys with e-readers, just be sure you price check before you buy something!
I will get off my soapbox now... Thanks for listening!! LOL

Happy May!!

2011-05-02T21:15:00.003-04:00

Spring has hopefully sprung for the final time this year! It has been so nice the last few days! I Love this time of year, not too hot or muggy... yet! LOL

There's still alot of hissing going on at the house. I can't decide if the older cats don't like the new kitten becuase....

1) she's dark and they are light (sounds racist doesn't it? get your mind out of that box!)

2) she runs every where

3) she wants to play 24/7

4) she purrs louder than an airplane

Why can't we all just get along? She & Momma Kitty seam to have come to an understanding, now it's her & Fuzz..... say a prayer they start liking one another soon or I am afraid Dean's going to tell me that one of them has to go.... and I am not sure it's going to be the kitten! Darn it! LOL.

Well, I got asked about how my trainig was going and well it's not.... not really. I woke up last Tuesday and about fell trying to take a step. Couldn't hardly put any weight down on my rt leg,, but I went to work. I could barely pick my leg up to get out of my car! What in the world is going on? I went to bed fine! Went to the ortho-doc. I have BURSITIS in both my knees and a very tight hamstring on the rt too. Can you say O>U>C>H>???? My Lord I don't think I have ever hurt that bad! Anyway, I tell him what I've been doing, he looks at my shoes (which he approves of), and he says to me..... This may take a while to go away. Take the anti-inflammatory meds, NO RUNNING, NO JOGGING, NO STAIRS, NO DANCING, NO NOTHING WITH ANY IMPACT....BUT you can bicycle and you can swim, and you can weight lift. So I am like ok, I need to work on my swimming anyway, and I can use the stationary bikes at the gym.... HA!

The swimming pool has been out of commission due to chemical problems, not enough Chlorine, but way too much Phosphorus... it might be the end of this week before it gets regulated! BLA... there goes swimming.. so now I am stuck with biking and weights. I did go to the gym tonight. Did some weights, 4 miles on the bike, and 1/2 mile on the eliptical machine(warm up)... want to swim!!!! LOL Can you tell I am a water baby?!?! LOL

Hope everyone has a wonderful week! Hope to be back here soon, and who knows I may have some stitching to show off! I can hope can't I??

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T10:44:00.006-04:00

I want to wish all my friends a Happy Easter and a Happy Spring.

Now for me, Spring has sprung. Usually Easter means no more cold weather, so I was really looking forward to it. The weather here in NC has been crazy. Hi's in the 80's and then one day the HI was 60...hail storms and tornados.... and that's been all with in the last few weeks! I am so ready for things to quiet down.

It's been really hard dealing with Nancy's passing. I lost alot of my desire to do anything. I didn't stitch, didn't really read, didn't want to see anyone. It took alot out of me. There has been many times I have picked up the phone to call her and then realize I can't. It's been an adjustment but I am getting better.
*

I did go to a stitching retreat in March that my LNS, http://stitchandframeshop.com/ puts on every year. The teacher was Meg Thompson Shinall. We were making a pouch. We were given multiples motifs to pick from and stitch on 20 count linen. Thank goodness that it is large count, cause I stayed up way too late during the retreat trying to catch up with life! I am one of those stitchers who can not talk and stitch at the same time... so needless to say, I was talking!! I didn't realize till then how bad I had been secluded and missed everyone. Stitchers, even when you haven't seen seen or talked to them in a year, you get together and it feels like you were never seperated. I LOVE my stitching friends... Here's my pouch so far, no I haven't stitched on it since I came back, but what's new? LOL ..well, I have to go take a picture of it and will post it later! Sorry...

We have a new baby in the family. I have been calling her Baby Kitty, but Dean wants to call her Midnight. She was an outdoor kitten who was born in our back yard late last summer. She really looks like Rug-Rat, whom we had to put to sleep after having her for 15 yrs. She is a loving kitty and would let you pet her all day I think. Anyway, she would come into the house, would walk around and then wanted to go back outside..well she did this for about a week. The other cats would just look at her but would leave her alone. One day, she came in and didn't want to go back outside, she used the litter box just fine, so we kept her. Once the others realized she was in to stay, there was some hissing and swatting but I think it has FINALLY calmed down. We did get her fixed and so now she is trying to get her place in the heirarchy. The only problem is that she is still in kitty attack mode. She just runs and runs thru the house and will attack any stuffed mousie she finds and will attack you too, if you're in the bed moving your feet...just ask Dean! She's 6 lbs of nothing but energy! The first picture isof Rug-Rat, and the 2nd is of Midnight Baby Kitty.... That pic was taken while she was still an outside kitty.. no more snow for her! Inside only...

I went to a scrapbooking retreat in Tennessee, in Pigeon Forge. I have a friend that lives in Sieverville and she went also. I got some scrapping done and some visiting done with Peggy, so it was a great weekend! The only problem, we had a Hail storm up there too! Can't get away from this crazy weather!

My job has changed yet again. I am now a full time Mammographer... for those that don't know, I do mammograms... so be sure to get your's done! 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer ... Thank you, that's all for this public awareness notice!! LOL

Ok here is some really crazy news... I have decided to do a TRIATHLON ... I know, what was I thinking? I work with a PA, named Michelle and she had been after me for a year to do it and she finally broke me down into agreeing! LOL... SO here's the link for the group that I joined... http://triitforlife.com/ so I will be doing the Rambling Rose Triathlon on Charlotte in Sept. Here's the details.... 9 mile bike ride, 2 mile run/walk, 250 yard swim .... ok, lets see, I walked a 5k (3.1 miles) in Oct so I know I can atleast walk that far, now lets try to add in some easy running (HAHA), 250 yd swim, I was able to do that Friday at the gym, granted you don't have to do 1 particular stroke, it can be a combination, so that's good, now the bicycle part may be a probem.. I don't have a bike. Well one of the girls I work with said she had a bike she would sell to me dirt cheap, "It needs some TLC" is what she said, so I have a mountain bike now, that my hubby is trying to see if it is worth saving. Pretty rusty and does need ALOT of TLC but for what I paid, no problem.... So i have been starting to ease myself into doing some exercise, I down loaded a podcast off I-Tunes called "Couch to 5K" and it's a great program to do, I have been doing it for 2 weeks and haven't been sore the next day or anything. All of a sudden I wake up a few mornings ago and my knee is killing me. The's a spot about the size of a nickel, that hurts like crazy when you touch it or anything touches it, doesn't hurt to move my knee, just to touch it.... driving me nuts! So I am taking it easy yesterday and today to see if it will go away... not sure what's up there, no swelling, no bruising, no nothing.. meanness in me trying to come out I guess.. LOL .. Now as alot of you know, I am no small woman, not by any stretch, but the whole purpose is to get moving and let me tell you something, when I went to the kick off meeting, there was some ladies who did the Triathlon last year that meke me look small!! If they can do it, I can do it... and if I can do it, so can you! So be prepared I will start hounding you guys next year to join me!

*
Dean has a new girlfriend that is taking up all his time.. but I don't mind. Her name is "The Car". He's been restoring his car which is an 88 Camaro. He bought it new and has drove the wheels off it. So now she has a Corvette engine LS1, Corvette brakes & wheels and a new paint job. He is so proud of that thing. He should be, he completely rewired it by himself, did the interior (all but the seats), put Cadilac door handles in, put the engine in and reworked the brake system. Here she is.... before and after her plastic surgery! HAHAHA

Did I mention he got Best Of Show at the Food Lion Auto Fair at Charlotte Motor Speedway this month??
He's taking her down to the Maxton Motor Mile down in Laurinburg, NC as often as he can since this is the last year they are letting the ECTA run down the airstrip. It's pretty cool, never know what's going to be running! Here's a link.. http://www.ecta-lsr.com/ or http://www.gryphonsecurity.com/ .. I have encluded a link for the Gryphon Group, so you can see who normally leases the airstrip. This link http://timelesscruizers.smugmug.com/Car-Show/Maxton-Mile-LaurenburgMaxton/16454348_pkyPH is a bunch of pictures so you can see what kind of vehicles are down there, it's pretty funny sometimes! For some reason it's not linking so you may have to copy & paste...

I better go, I have about 14,000 loads of laundry to do.. BLA!! As you can see, I've been pretty busy but I am still hanging in there.. I am a tough old bird! LOL. I thank you for reading this long entry, and know that I wish you a Happy Easter filled with love and family ( or not! LOL).. take care of yourself and feel free to leave me a message, I love hearing from everybody!

Happy Stitching!!

Hello??

2011-04-23T14:55:00.002-04:00

Hi, just a quick note to say I am alive & breathing! Life has been CRAZY for the last 2 months, or should I say almost 3 months!! Wow, time is flying by! I promise, promise, promise, I will do my best to catch you up tomorrow. I just have a minute to say hi and off I have to go!!
Talk to you soon!...
Angel

Mom Nancy

2011-02-06T11:20:00.002-05:00

I just want to send this to you guys and let you know what has happened. Late Thursday night, my step-mom, Nancy, passed away. The cancer she had was too much for her this time. You know she has been fighting one form of cancer or another for the last few years. She was getting chemo for a spot on her intestine that could not be surically removed when a second tumor popped up and was growing, even though she was on chemo so we knew it wasn't going to be good. Dr tried a different chemo, but it still kept growing. This past Monday, she went into renal failure and passed away Thursday night about 1000 pm. Her funeral is today, Sunday.

I didn't want you to worry about me because you haven't heard from me in about a week & a half. I went to work, then would go to the hospital, come home, and go to bed and do it all over the next day. I am ok, I think. I know she is in a lot better place and she isn't hurting any more, but my heart still hurts.

So don't worry if you don't hear from me for a while. ok. I love you all and just ask that you say a prayer for me & my family ok. Thanks so much...

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!!!

2011-01-10T21:35:00.005-05:00

I want y'all to see what my good buddie Charlene, http://needleinhand.blogspot.com/ gave me the other day! I just love Halloween designs and I pestered Charlene about letting me have her when she got her finished.... and she did! She is from the "My Pretties" set by Plum Street Samplers and Charlene finished her on an altoid tin box. The inside is lined with fabric with spider webs. I just love her... oh and Charlene too!! LOL!! THANK YOU CHARLENE!!!

Today is Monday Jan 10 and it has SNOWED all day! It started around 3:00 am and I think it finally stopped about 5:00 pm. I did not have to work today, Thank God! I don't know about driving on the roads, when it's bad like this. There is another front coming through tonight that is going to give up some freezing rain & sleet. Keep your fingers crossed that I won't have to work tomorrow either!
These pics were taken about 7:00 am. Thats why they are kind of dark. You can see how much snow had already fallen in that short time frame.

About Lunch time I took a ruler and went out to Dean's truck to do some measuring. 3 1/2 inches.. not too shabby! I loved sitting in the front room, playing on my laptop, and watching the snow fall.

I wasn't the only one watching it fall. The cats were watching the birds out side. The orange & white cat is Momma Kitty and she was so fixed on those birds, she didn't move even when I shook the treat bag!

This big boy is Fuzz Ball, but I call him Fuzz Bucket. Short for Fuzz Ball and Skuzz Bucket. Watching the birds and the snow was just too much for him, so he took a nap for a while. He's my most spoiled kitty... he's so pretty, it's hard not to! LOL.

I do have a 3rd kitty in the house and her name is Scaredy Cat. As you can tell by her name and the fact that I didn't get a pic of her, she's around here somewhere, probably curled up under the bed.

I did get alittle cross-stitching done. I am working on an ornament from the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue 2008. It's called Holly House from Elizabeth Designs. I took pictures of everything BUT my stitching! LOL.. Anyway, I am using a piece of linen, don't know the name of it, liked the color, but didn't pay attention to the count, so...... This piece is ALOT larger that it was suppose to be and now the beads I have for it won't work. They are too small.. SIGH! LOL

I could finish it tonight, all but the beads, if I wanted to stay up for another hour, but I think I am going to call it a day because I may have to work tomorrow. I hear one of the guys from down the street out on his 4-wheeler. Maybe he'll clear off some of the road?!

Well everyone, Thanks for coming by. I hope you have a good night and stay safe & warm. If you have to get out tomorrow, please be careful.

WOW, It's 2011! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2011-01-01T23:14:00.007-05:00

I want to wish EVERYONE a happy, healthy 2011!

It has been a long time since I have had time to sit and let you guys know what has been going on with me. I can not believe how fast 2010 has went by! It was a year of changes, some good, some bad. It was October since I really posted anything so lets see if I can catch you up to date on some things.....

The first weekend in Nov, I went to a Scrapbooking retreat with a very dear friend of mine named Peggy. We have been friends since 1994! We used to work together and we would go to different NASCAR races together too. She told me about this retreat in Pigeon Forge, TN. It was sponsored by... http://smokymountainscrapbooking.com/

It was ALOT of fun and if you can go, you need to!

On Sat. it was bitterly cold and I got to see my first snow flurries of the season! In one of the pictures, it shows the mountain with snow on the side! I stood on our balcony and watched the snow storm blow across the top of the mountain but unfortunately we only got flurries!

We stayed at the RiverStone Resort & Spa, and it was a BEAUTIFUL place! I wish I could have stayed longer!

The next weekend, I went down to Myrtle Beach for a stitching retreat with the Stitch & Frame Shop out of Rock Hill, SC. One of the benefits of this trip is I can take a side trip to see family while I am down there! I got to see my new nephew, Rain. He was born in October. The first pic is of Rain & Beth, his momma. The next pic is my neice & nephews.. Taven, Stormie, Rain.

Me & Rain, boy is my hair some kind of crazy that day! LOL

I finally took the certification exam for Mammography on Dec 6. I got the results and I PASSED! Woohoo! I am a Certified Mammography Tech! I have went for a job interview and will find out in 2 weeks if I get the full time position. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

On Dec 6, my Sister-in-law, was put into the hospital. Her Dr. decided to try to induce her labor. IT DID NOT WORK! OMG! Anyway, my early Christmas present was delivered on Dec 8 and her name is Carla June. She definately has my brothers face and coloring, but I hope she ends up with Gwen's hair becuase her hair is nice & thick. Here's a pic of the new Daddy, boy that's wierd, and one of me & Carla. These were taken the weekend before Christmas.

I have been sick for the last 2 WEEKS!! 2 WHOLE WEEKS!! I hate being sick and being sick during Christmas is the pits! I finally broke down and went to the doctor Thursday and what does he tell me? "You're doing everything you need to be doing. It will just run its course." BLA! How much longer is this going to last?!?!? I can say I have FINALLY gotten my voice back! Silent Night took on a whole new meaning in my house! LOL
**

Can you believe we actually had a WHITE CHRISTMAS?!?! According to the news, it was 1947 since the Charlotte area has seen snow on Christmas! Dean & I went to his sister's house in Newton, NC and it started snowing about lunch time and kept snowing all day! It was BEAUTIFUL! We left her house heading home and there was about 3 inches of snow on the ground, but when we got home there was hardly any snow on the ground! BUT it was snowing, and it kept snowing! Sunday we still had snow showers and ended up with a few inches on the ground..... the snowman pic, & the trees were taken at Sister-in-laws. The Christmas lights were from downtown Newton, on the way home, and the last pic is the house... with very little snow...

New Years Eve and New Years Day was spent with my Stitching Sisters. It's been a tradition for years now, that we get together on the weekend after to Christmas to have our Christmas Party and New Years Party too! I spent most of Friday with Angie, and I got to see my God-kids alittle. Angie & Chad took me to dinner and then it was on to Kathy's house to ring in New Year's Day. Here's a pic of me & Angie...

At 12:00 it was me, Kiki, and Kathy watching the ball drop and listening to Dick Clark. We stayed up till 2:00, stitching and talking. New Year's Day morning, we woke up to some pretty thick fog and then the rain started about 10:30. I am sure it melted all the snow that was still lingering around. Once Angie got there and we ate lunch, we exchanged our Christmas presents. I haven't taken pictures yet, but will do so and post them tomorrow. We spent the day together just stitching, talking, eating and remembering al the good & bad things of 2010.

I think we are all happy to have a new slate to start over.....

Thank you for reading this lengthy post! I do hope 2011 is a better year for you and your family and I wish you many Blessings over the coming year. Take care of yourself, and I will see you back here soon!

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-24T23:53:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone out there has a wonderful Christmas filled with love & joy.

I promise to be back soon with crazy stories and cool pictures.....

So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, my friends...

GREAT NEWS!!

2010-10-07T21:11:00.004-04:00

Oh my goodness!!

I have a new nephew! His name is Joeseph Rain.. 6 lbs 13oz, 18" long. He is so cute!!
I know with his name, he better be a tough boy! LOL

I walked in the Race for the Cure, all 3.1 miles! Oh my!! It was so much fun! The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold. Let me tell you, I laughed the whole time I was walking. There was a group of male runners and every one of them, all 20 of them, either had on a pink dress or a pink tu-tu, gosh I wish I had a picture! Different groups had on matching shirts and they were SOOO freaking funny! Lets see there was....

Busom Buddies...

Boobbie Buddies...

Ta-Ta Troopers..

Save Second Base...

another group had 2 big shamrocks on the front of the shirt and on the back it had Save Our Shamrocks (SOS)..

Those were the ones that really stuck out but there was ALOT of other shirts.

I did raise $170. So I want to thank each and every one of you who sponsored me.

Thank you Thank you Thank you...

Myra, Marnie, Beth, Nana, Charlene, Elaine, Meg & the Flower Thread Co..

This picture was taken after the walk, so my hair is ALL kinds of wild, but I have proof that I did it!! :-)

Hello, Miss me?

2010-09-23T22:26:00.003-04:00

Hello Everybody!!
Boy, I have been MIA for awhile haven't I?? Well, I AM alive & breathing... Lots of craziness going on, as usual! I swear, if I went 1 week with out drama in my life, I would think the world was coming to an end! :-)

I've been busy. Haven't been stitching, or reading, or blogging much either... just working and dealing with life.

I do have good news... I am going to be an aunie 2 different times this year!! I have a nephew due any day and a neice due around Christmas! I am so in trouble... I will have 15 kids under the age of 15 for Christmas this year! 15!!

I am walking in the Race for the Cure in Charlotte on 10/2/10. If you have a spare dollar or two, please sponsor me. I reached my goal of $150, then raised it and am lacking alittle to meet me new goal... so please give... Here's the link to use http://charlotte.info-komen.org/site/TR/Events?px=7723970&pg=personal&fr_id=1833&s_src=boundlessfundraising&s_subsrc==

I hope that link works. If it doesn't, let me know...

Well, it's late and I am heading off to bed.. Talk to y'all soon, hopefully more this weekend....

Hello Everybody!!

2010-06-13T00:19:00.003-04:00

I don't know why this thing won't let me copy & paste from Microsoft word!! GRRRRR.. can you see me banging my head on the desk???? I guess I'm going to have to retype the letter I have written. Dang it!
WOOOHOOO. I can't cut & paste, but I can highlight & drag!! Ok here's my note for everyone!

Hey Everybody! I am sorry I haven’t been around very much. My life has been crazy! Let me do a quick recap….

I started 2 new jobs about 2 months ago. I was in a wreck with the mobile x-ray company and put my resumes out. I accepted a job at an Urgent Care office and put in my notice. After that I got called by a leading Mammogram company to join the mammogram-training program. I have wanted to learn this for a long time…. Anyway, I worked at the UC for a week, got some training in, then the next week I started at Mamm. So I am working Mon-Thurs at Mamm and 2 days at the UC. I am also still PRN at the x-ray company, but I haven’t been able to work with them yet. Needless to say, there has been NO stitching!! BUT…..No cleaning either!! LOL! I will be in the training program for a few months, so keep your fingers crossed that I can learn everything I need to take the certification.

I am still belly dancing because that is definitely the only exercise I am getting. We have our recital this coming weekend. Why I told my teacher that I would dance with the Level 1 class, I have no idea… So instead of learning 1 dance during this craziness, I am learning 2. I am in the Level 2 class but she’s been trying to get me to move up to Level 3 for a while. I am my own worst judge and don’t feel that I am good enough to move up. We’ll see if life slows down enough for me to decide…..

The only stitching I have done lately is from Just Nan. I made Pinky the Needle birdie… It is soooo cute! A normal stitcher could probably complete this in a weekend, but it took me a month! 1 MONTH!!

I am going to drop out of my online groups and a lot of my BB’s because I can’t keep up with the emails and lets face it, my life is pretty boring at the moment! LOL… work, work, work… no excitement there! So don’t worry if you don’t hear from me for awhile. I am still going to be here……

You know something, I must be popular in Japan becuase I keep getting people linking to my blog with sites that go to Japanese porn sites...I just don't get it...anyway, I hope you read my letter, and don't worry about me. My life is chaos right now, but then again, it usually is.....

take care of yourself and drop me a note when you can. I will still try to post every once in awhile anyway just to let you know I am still alive & breathing....

A new beginning

2010-04-23T21:37:00.002-04:00

My life has really been a whirlwind lately. I have been twisted and turned and spun around! I can say that the storm has passed and the blue sky is finally starting to show.

I am so thankful for all the prayers and good thoughts that have went up for me. They have paid off! Thank God!

I am starting a new internship on Monday and will be learning how to do mammograms! WooHoo! Normal days, normal hours! I am so excited. I am nervous because it's like going back to school and let's face it, I am not the sharpest tack in the drawer! LOL. I can do it, I have to believe I can do it!

While I am doing my internship, I am going to be working at an urgent care and doing xrays in nursing homes too on the weekends. I am going to be busy busy busy! I can handle anything for 6 months....

Please continue to keep me & my family in your prayers because this is going to be a big adjustment for all of us.

Not the way we planned it

2010-04-11T11:45:00.003-04:00

I got this in an email and had to share it. It is so true.

Not The Way You Planned

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods.
They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, 'Someday I hope to be a great treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with an intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty.'
*
Then the second tree said, 'Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take Kings and Queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. People will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull.'
*
Finally the third tree said, 'I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill, look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.'
*
After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, 'This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter, and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest..
*
At the second tree the woodsman said, 'This looks like a strong tree. I will be able to sell it to the shipyard.' The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.
*
When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the men said,'I don't need anything special from my tree, I'll take this one,' and he cut it down.
*
When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay.. This was not at all what he had prayed for.
*
The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying Kings had come to an end.
*
The third tree was cut into large pieces, and left alone in the dark.The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.
*
Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.
*
Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said 'Peace' and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.
*
Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.
*
The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, God will give you great gifts.Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined...We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His Ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

Stitching, Friends, Tornado & Easter

2010-03-28T20:28:00.025-04:00

I had the best weekend ever, March 25-28!! My LNS, http://stitchandframeshop.com/, from Rock Hill, SC had our yearly spring trip to the mountains, Camp StitchAWay and it was fabulous! The project was taught by Meg Thompson Shinall with Ginnie Thompson Flower thread! We stayed at Big Lynn Lodge in Little Switzerland, NC. It's under new ownership & they are just awesome! Here is the website..http://biglynnlodge.com/ . The new owners, Hoyt & Vicky, made us feel right at home and they provided the meals which were amazing! Fresh bread and homemade desserts MMMMMMMMMM!! I definitely gained back the 5lbs I had lost! We were the only ones there so our classroom area was part of the dining room that had a sun porch on it... You talk about a breath taking view! WOW! You could see the "smoke" on the Smokey Mountains early in the mornings and beautiful sunsets at night. There was almost a full moon so the moonlight view is pretty cool too. If you are ever up in the NC mountains, you should check them out! Tell them you heard about them from the cross stitchers!

Here's a collection of some of the pictures I took... Yes I take ALOT of pictures, I can't help it. :)

The view from the Marion, NC rest area. They have a really neat gift shop with items for sale from local craftsmen or women...

The door to imagination.................... Spruce Pine,NC. There was a building here but at some point it burned down and all that's left is this door and the tiled floor! I LOVE it and am thankful the city saw fit to leave it standing! It's located downtown next to the BEST sandwich shop called DT's. They have a kickin chicken sandwich that is AWESOME!

Sunset over the mountains.......

Friday night stitching....... what a view!

Saturday morning view......

This is why the Great Smokey Mountains got their name......

The crew thru the glass....

Here I am, but the more I look at this picture, the more I really don't think it looks me... I shouldn't have pulled my hair around to the side....

Pat with her love bug orts container. It's a small metal red pail with black heart stickers and black pipe cleaner legs.

Peggy, our fearless leader and owner of the Stitch & Frame Shop. She'll kill me when she realizes I posted this picture! She was concentrating so hard on her stitching when I called her and had her look up! Proof she does stitch!

Helen, the super stitcher!

This is Michelle. She was so excited to be away from the kids and actually getting to stitch! She was so funny when she finished her project and then realized she had made a SQUARE pincushion instead of a biscornu! We got ALOT of laughs from that! Poor Michelle! She said she was not going to take it back apart either! LOL.....

Here's the picture of what it's suppose to look like and then mine with the purple changes... Have I told you that I like purple? LOL...

On Sunday, Camp StitchAWay was over but I wasn't ready to come back to reality. I took alittle detour to Linville Caverns up Hwy 221. I wanted to go up to Linville Falls and see the waterfall, but was told that the road was still closed due to rock slides....

Here's more pics inside the caverns. It was a pretty good guided tour through the mountain. The tour takes about 30 minutes and for $7, I didn't think it was too bad. It was pouring rain outside so the caverns were "leaky" and I really wish I would have worn a hat! I hope you decide to go take the tour and see this in person, its pretty amazing....

I wish I could draw on this pic and actually show you "the bride & groom"(green) and the priest (brown) on the platform. Pictures can't always show the wonders of nature.....

The bat... they are tiny! about 3 inches long. I wish I would have put on the really big zoom and gotten a closer pic so you could see it. It's an Eastern Pipistrelle bat.

The alligator that guards "The Ballroom" which is an upper level cavern with a "slick floor you could dance on" as the guide told us. Too bad the "floor" is only about 3" thick so we couldn't actually get up there to see it.

This stream is across the parking lot from the caverns and I couldn't resist taking a picture of it too!

Well now on to the tornado story. Sunday was pouring down rain, all day, all the way down the mountain! RAIN RAIN RAIN and thunder & lightning! Jeez. That evening it got really bad and me & hubby were watching the news. Big lightning flash, BOOM, and the TV dies & so does the light in the living room. We had power in the rest of the house though. Poor Dean thinks he's got to go buy a new TV. About 20 mins later we unplug the tv and plug it back in and low and behold it works! Thank the Lord! During that time, there were sirens going off like crazy. We figured some idiot was out in the storm & had a wreck. After the TV started working, we were again watching the news and they said there was a tornado not too awfully far from us, about 5 miles or so, but headed away from us! Luckily we didn't get any damage, just lots of water! Man what crazy weather we've had! Monday, the weather channel had said it was a F-1 tornado, but it seamed to follow Interstate 85 and at some points it was estimated to be an F-3! WOW!

After such an exciting weekend, I was ready to go back to work on Tuesday! I had to work on Good Friday, but was off for Easter Sunday. We just kinda hung out at home. I rearranged one of the bed rooms, nothing real exciting there....

So now it's back to work and life as usual. I can't wait till the next Camp StitchAWay. I just wish it wasn't so far away! Oh well, there is the stitching retreat at the beach in November! Lets just hope my sanity lasts that long!

Finally got the pictures!

2010-03-14T21:50:00.008-04:00

Here's my finished "Stuck Santa". I took a close up of the antlers so you could see the Very Velvet. I think it turned out pretty well. I am still thinking of turning it into a flat fold.

Here is my newest start. It's on a 14 ct Aida. In the pic you really can't see the marbling of a darker purple.

It's been a week I think, since I started this and I haven't gotten any farther along than this pic. That's pretty sad....

I have had alot of stuff going on. Some good, alot of it bad. So if anyone has a spare moment, say a word or two for me in prayer. I'd appriciate it. Thanks

Happy March Y'all!!

2010-03-08T11:01:00.003-05:00

It seems like everytime I get time to post, it's been atleast 2 weeks! Where does the time go? If anyone has any extra time, please send it to me. I need it!

I can't believe how much snow we've gotten in the lsat few weeks! Most of the time, it would snow like crazy, get a few inches and melt away the next day! It was awesome! I love watching it snow! I hate driving in it, but snow is better than ice any day.

Thank you everyone for saying prayers & sending healing vibes for Nana. She's been at home for almost 3 weeks now and has to go to the Dr on Wed. for a follow up. We had 1 scarey moment when she felt like she couldn't catch her breath. Hopefully she will continue to get better. I have a feeling she will have to stay on oxegen, even though she is "trying to wean herself off it". She is so hardheaded!

On a stitchy note, I did finish the Stuck Santa. I used Caron Water Colours and Very Velvet for the antlers. I think it turned out pretty cute! I have started a Lizzie Kate design called "Housework Never Killed Anyone". I am stitching it on a hand dyed purplely 14 ct aida using Threadworx. I changed the colors around alittle to better suit the fabric. I like the look of variegated threads, but I hate crossing each one as I go, its really slow for me....

**Well, I was going to add some pics but for some reason this dang computer won't recognize my photo card!** GRRRRRR

The last weekend in Feb. I went to Camp Bethelwoods in York, SC to a scrapbooking retreat! It was so much fun. I didn't get alot of scrapping done, but what I did do was take a huge box of pictures and got them seperated and ready to work on. I do have a digital scrapbooking software from Creative Memories on my laptop that I really enjoy playing with. Eventually I will be going all digital,, but not until I get all my printed pictures taken care of. That may be awhile!

The last weekend in March, I will be going to Spruce Pine, NC with my LNS http://stitchandframeshop.com . We are going to Big Lynn Lodge for the 1st time. This is actually out 12th year of Camp Stitchaway! I can not wait! WOO HOOO!

I finally figiured out how to put the "followers" option on my blog, so please follow me! Ha ha I might get you lost, but trust me, traveling with me is always an adventure!

I better go for now, laundry is screaming at me! Take care & Happy Stitchin Y'all!

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T13:16:00.002-05:00

Happy Valentines Day Everyone! Don't forget to tell the people in your life that you love them. It's very important to tell them, not just today but everyday!

I have been spending alot of time at the hospital with my Nana. They admitted her with shortness of breath on Thursday night. They told us today that she might get to come home on Tuesday... might. We'll see. Luckily it's not the flu or congestive heart failure, but they are saying its a flare up of COPD. Don't know what caused it to act up but it was real scarey a few times for her and for me! So please say a prayer for her. Thanks!

For Valentines Day, me & Dean went to the Woodshed last night for dinner. My sister in law was suppose to go with us, but my uncle wasn't at the hospital when he was suppose to be, so she stayed with Nana. I really wish she could have gone with us!

We did get snow Friday evening. We got bout 3-4 inches of snow! It was so pretty coming down! I love snow! The good thing was that on Saturday, the sun came out and melted just about all of it away! It is all gone now. It was nice because it was just snow, most of the time we get sleet/ice mix which makes it worse, but not this time!

On the stitchy front, I am almost finished with "Stuck Santa". All I have left to do is 1 reindeer head and the 3 sets of antlers! Thats it! Its been a fun & fast stitch! I just haven't had alot of time to stitch lately between work & running up to the hospital.

Well I'm going to close for now and maybe watch the Daytona 500 race and stitch alittle before I go back to the hospital... Take care and I'll talk to y'all later!

New Online Shop

2010-02-11T20:29:00.002-05:00

Hey Y'all! If you ever talk to me in person, I do say this.... ALOT! LOL...

I wanted to take a minute and tell you about a new online shop that a friend of mine has opened. The link is http://madstitcher.com .

Kathy is bringing in some cool European designers that have charts that may be hard to get around here. She also has some designers from the US also. There is also some awesome ladies that are providing some wonderful goodies!

Please check her out and book mark her site. I know she's going to be bringing in more items as she can so keep checking back! Thanks for taking the time to check her out!!

Tell her you saw it on my blog!! Thanks Y'all!

2010-02-07T14:30:00.011-05:00

Hello Everybody! Happy February! It is so hard to believe that its February already! Time flies when you're having fun, right?! If I had anymore fun, I just couldn't stand it!

Here's a few pics of the babies. As you can see, they just keep growing. They are spoiled rotten, let me tell you. Fuzz continues to be the lap kitty. He is the only one that really likes to cuddle so I have to cuddle with him! Momma Kitty will jump on the bed when my alarm goes off in the morning and want to get petted, and sometimes she will get on the bed at bedtime. Scaredly Cat is getting to where she will have times that sh wants to be loved on and will follow me around till I pet her as much as she wants! It may be a few days inbetween this happening, but atleast she's starting to come around.

I have gotten some stitching done! WooHoo! I started this, it's from My Big Toe and is called "Lost It". The pic really doesn't show how bright the colors are. I used DMC 3348, which is a lime green, and the purple in the border is NN, Coronation #195. I haven't put the buttons on it because I may restitch it on the same fabric, so I am waiting till I take it to framing to add the buttons. You can see the difference in mine vs the model. This was a fun and fast stitch. If I could stitch and no be interupted (HA HA HA HA) this piece could be finished in a weekend easily.

The weekend of January 30, we got some snow! I love snow! Love to watch it fall. My Nana was with us this weekend, so we stayed in, watched some TV, cooked ALOT, and got some more stitching done!

I got this little Stitcher's Tray finished. It's small, it's only 6x6! This is a design from Meg Thompson Shinall. It was designed for our spring retreat which is called Camp Stitchaway. 2010 will be the 12th year of camp! Boy, that's hard to believe. We will be having camp at a new place this year. It's always been in Spruce Pine, NC but this year the facility is different. No more bunk beds!! Yes, I do mean bunkbeds, you either tried to climb up there or pulled the mattress off the bed and put it on the floor. I am PROUD to say I could still climb up to the top bunk!

As some of y'all know I am a belly dancer! Can you believe it? Sometimes I still can't believe I am doing it. It's alot of fun. These pictures are from a hafla (a dance party). We were invited to come and dance and we did the veil dance we had been learning in class. Veils have a mind of their own and sometimes do everything but what you want them to! Enjoy....

This cute little design is from Cherry Wood Design Studio, and it's called "Stuck Santa". I saw this on New Years Day at my LNS, http://stitchandframeshop.com/ .I saw it and HAD to have it! It made me laugh! I am doing it on a 10 ct blue/gray fabric, I think it's Tulla but could be wrong and I am using 1 strand of Watercolours. I only have the 3 reindeers and the words above them to do and I will be finished! Woo Hoo! It has been a pretty fast stitch! My favorite words, "Quick & Easy"!! I haven't decided how to finish it, but was thinking about a flatfold. I haven't decided what's next, but Lord knows I have some kits & a boatload of WIPs that have been screaming at me to do them... LOL

Well, it's time for the Super Bowl. I may get some more stitching done. I don't really care who wins since my Panthers aren't playing, but I think it would be awesome if New Orleans won, just because they're the underdog. I'll talk to y'all later! Happy stitching!

Happy Anniversary ...

2010-01-09T22:02:00.005-05:00

On Jan 8, my hubby, Dean & I, celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. 16! HOLY COW! There are days it really doesn't seem like its been that long, and then there are the other days! LOL! He's a good guy, tries to spoil me rotten when he can, and in general puts up with alot of crap from me.....

This pic is from Thanksgiving, but trust me, we haven't changed since then. We did go out to eat tonight at "The Woodshed" in Stanley, NC. Good Lord, such good food! We usually go there for our anniversary and for our birthdays. If you're ever in Gaston Co, NC go and check them out! They have the BEST steaks! MMMMMMMMMM

New Year's Get together

2010-01-03T22:49:00.008-05:00

The Stitching Sisters got together for New Years Day and for the weekend. We stayed at Kathy's. We eat, stitch, sleep, open Christmas presents, eat and stitch some more! On 1/1/10, I started a new preoject from My Big Toe. Its called "Lost It".. I almost finished it, but haven't had a chance to get back to it.. This is sooo me. I CAN NOT keep up with my keys, they are always walking off and hiding from me. I am thinking of having it framed with a flat frame and have the shop put hooks on the bottom so I can hang up my keys!

This is Tracy and she is the beading queen. She the prettiest jewelry and fobs. She made the necklace she has on and in the picture of me, she made the purple necklace and earrings. For my birthday she made me a Halloween fob, you can see it in the pictures on my blog. She makes fobs for Tracy's Treasures which she sells to needlework shops. Her stitching ain't too bad either! LOL, she's a model stitcher for a few designers too!

Kiki aka The Sewing Machine Diva! She was making doll clothes for her grand daughters. They were awesome. She is quite talented with the sewing machine and her stitching is awesome too! You should see her cross stitched pieces. WOW.
This is Kathy aka the Mad Stitcher. Most people know her as a model stitcher for Chatelaine, and Ink Circles and Judy Odell and many many others. You should see her stitched pieces, they are amazing.

Angie, she's been my bestest buddy since 1991. Wow that was a long time ago! She cross stitches, does tatting, works and is raising 2 kids! Superwoman is her name! I was playing with my camera and put my BIG zoom lens on it and I told her I put the zoom on so I wouldn't have to get off the couch and take her picture. That's why she's laughing. She wasn't feeling too well but came and got her estrogen boost by being with the girls.

This is me, aka the slowest sticher in the world! LOL. I am an avid book reader, cross sticher, painter, beginner crocheter and beginner knitter, housework hater, and slob.

I wish everyone had a stitching group like I do. I am very thankful for our get togethers and support we give each other. We are all from very different backgrounds but we share the love of needlework.

HAPPY 2010 EVERYBODY!!

2010-01-01T00:03:00.002-05:00

I hope 2010 is a year full of health, wealth, & happiness for everyone!

It is 12:02, and I just watched the countdown on TV from Charlotte. I can't believe another year has come & gone.....

Merry Christmas (late) and Happy New Year!!

2009-12-27T15:25:00.013-05:00

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I was on call for work, but thank God I didn't get called out! WoooHooo!!! Christmas day was a quite day, just me and Dean. It felt really wierd, not going to Juanita's (Dean's moms) for lunch and exchanging presents with his family. I miss her alot and Dean seems to be ok, but I know he's hurting....It's hard to believe she's been gone 8 months...

Christmas Eve we went to my other family. We always get together to eat and exchange gifts. We always have breakfast food so eggs, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, pancakes, bisquits & gravy. I know I am forgetting something! Man was it good!

*
The kids got LOTS of presents! There was so much noise! But thats what makes it fun! I got a gift card to HobbyLobby so I can go shopping! Dean got an atomic clock which has the time, date & temperature. If you want a good present for little boys, I found some of the coolest toys, they are called "My first Craftman's"... Sold at Sears, it's plastic toys they can take apart & put back together. I bought one of the boys a V-twin motorcycle engine! It is so cool! Dean kept playing with it till I got it wrapped up! You gotta check them out!

Santa was good to me this year. I got to open some of my presents early on Christmas Eve before we left to go to the family supper. I got a new camera!! WOOOHOOOO I AM SO EXCITED! It's a Sony digital camera and guess what?! My zoom lens from my Minolta will fit on it! I can use all my extra filters too! I AM SO EXCITED! Can you tell I love it?! My Santa did good!! LOL! Now I can put my new scrapbooking software to use!

The kitties are growing like crazy. They even got presents from Santa! They got new mouseys! No more dead mouseys all over the floor with their stuffings pulled out!*
*

Needless to say, my stitching has been on the back burner. It always is this time of year.

Next weekend, New Years Day, I'm planning on going to the Stitch & Frame Shop in Rock Hill, SC. They are the best shop around here! They are having a big sale and I'm mainly going to browse and see old friends. Lord knows I don't need anything but when has that ever stopped me? LOL. After that I'm headed down to Chesnee, SC to see Kathy aka The Mad Stitcher. It's the stitching groups Christmas get together. We'll eat, stitch, exchange gifts, hang out, sleep & stitch some more. I am hoping to get my stitching mojo back.... if I don't, it's ok. It'll be a weekend of friends and that's all that matters anyway.

I hope everyone had a Christmas filled with Family and Love and I hope 2010 is better to everyone. May you have Peace, Love & Happiness...

Dragons, Turkey Coma & Christmas

2009-12-03T23:38:00.003-05:00

You know, Time is flying by faster and faster and there is no way to slow it down! It's been awhile since I posted but I hve been running at 100 mph, it seems. I just can't seem to get caught up or sometimes I just can't make myself move....Let's see if I can remember all that's been going on here...

On the health front, I have finally stopped coughing! WOOHOO! I have finished 5 sessions of speach therapy and hopefully have stopped holding my breath when I talk. I still have to take the Kapidex and occasionally Tums when I eat if I feel like I am going to cough. I think I still might have to got to a gastroenterologist but we'll see...

The weekend of the 13th. I went on a stitching retreat to Myrtle Beach, SC. This was the 11th year for this. Meg Thompson Shinall is our teacher. we have been doing a series of the moons... the Nov moon is called a hunter's moon so to keep things fun, our class project had a dragon on it. We also had a play that told the story of St. George & the dragon.... your's truely was the dragon! I need to see if anyone got a good picture of me in my dragon costume! We also went to Medieval Times, http://medievaltimes.com , and watched the show & had dinner. It was really fun and the food was pretty darn good too! The knights were soooo good looking, men in chain mail tights, wow! We had a great time and I might actually get this project finished!

Thanksgiving was our first holiday without Dean's mom. It was really wierd because we didn't see any of his family. He did talk to his brother & sister. Thanksgiving day I put a turkey breast in the crock pot for dinner but we went to a good friend of mine's house for lunch. Such good food! Chris & Chandle are real good cooks....... On the Sunday after T-day we went to Nancy & Gordon's for the family get-together. I think there was 15 of us! we had the 4 F's .... Food, Friends, Family & Football! WOW that was 2 days of turkey and the coma that comes from eating too much! LOL

I haven't picked up my needle since we got back from the beach so I can't really show any progress reports. I have been lusting after some digital scrapbooking software and finally broke down and bought it. I was so excited that I was going to get to play with it and my hard drive dies in my laptop! Can you see me banging my head against the wall? I was, I really was & still have the head ache to prove it! I had to replace the hard drive and download all the software and I MIGHT get to play with it tomorrow! Keep your fingers crossed!

I have gotten almost all of my Christmas shopping done. I had plans on finishing it when I had to pay for computer repairs, but I should be done by the 15th.... I hope. You know, it's really hard when family says "Let's just buy for the kids", well that's all and good, but dang we have 15 kids under the age of 15!!!!! YES I said 15 .... and 13 of them are 11 & under.... so do the math if I spend $15-$20 apiece..... OUCH!!

I am sorry this post is pictureless... I promise to post some pics soon. I have some awesome ones from Medieval times I want to show you, but I figured I would actually blog so you would know I am alive & breathing..LOL

I better run, have to work tomorrow and its already 1230 in the morning. Good night everybody, take care...

WOW

2009-11-12T00:02:00.002-05:00

I knew I forgot something!! I wanted to show you the cross stich that Bunny, a friend of mine, just completed! I don't know who this is by, but I love it! WOW!!

Bunny, you go girl! Congratulations on an awesome piece!

pink hair, skeletons, & scrapping

2009-11-11T21:53:00.006-05:00

Well, lets see... I haven't posted in about 2 weeks. That seems to be my standard here lately. I have been working ALOT, but what's new there, huh? I really don't have anything to blog about on the stitching front but...I do have some fun things to tell you about .... lets talk Halloween...

Halloween, I Love Halloween! I kinda dress up, usually put a skeleton on my front door, and when I can, I put out some decorations in the house. 2 out of 3 ain't bad! LOL. I want to show you some pictures of Angie as Marge Simpson. She was making her "wig" in one of my last posts. She is so creative and BRAVE too! LOL

Now I had to work on Halloween. Alot of the facilities that I go to was letting their employees dress up on Friday to. Sooo I had to dress up on Friday too! My hubby had been joking around with me for awhile about dying my hair pink, so I did it! It was a neon pink hairspray! SO my pink hair, my glow in the dark skeleton shirt and some funky makeup and I was ready to go to work! I got some unusual comments, but my 2 favorites were... "Your shirt is perfect!!" after all I do xrays & look at bones all day.... the other one, kinda surprised and it really has me thinking... I had ALOT of people tell me how much they liked that shade of color on my hair and how good it looked! OMG!! I had a good time on Friday......got home from work & had to wash my shirt to wear on Saturday!

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I had to work on Halloween so I was going to dress up again... well I had used up all the pink spray! I did have enought to make my bangs pink... So pink bangs, alittle make up and my shirt and I was ready to go. I really don't think anyone thought I was dressed up!

I ended up having to go to High Point and it was raining, but on my way back down to Charlotte, I took this pic. I wish it could do justice to the beauty but it can't! It was so pretty to see the sunbeams!

I didn't get home till late, so I didn't get to see any trick or treaters, but then again, we haven't had any for years.. All the kids around here have grown up... That's ok I get all the candy!!! LOLOLOL

*Novemeber came in like a whirlwind and it hasn't slowed down any!! Last weekend I got to scrapping!! I sooo want to do scrap books. I have a picture addiction! I have a closet full of pictures that I have taken! Yes I meant to say a closet! I used to do photography on the side so I have lots of those pictures and I always take some where ever we go. So I have a ton!

I used to work with Marnie at MobileX and one day she was telling me about the scrapbooking group she is with... They were having a crop and she invited me, and hasn't been able to get rid of me since! LOL!! So I am a member of the Carolina Scrappers ..
http://www.carolinascrappers.com/index.html

We have been staying at Camp Bethelwoods in York, SC. We rent one of their new cabins and have a cropping weekend! It's usually the only time I get to scrap. It's alot of fun and the company is always great too!

We don't have kids but I have tons of kids in the family to be my subjects. I have been doing alot of pages of my neice who will be 7 in January. Time flies..... Anyway, I am seriously thinking about getting some digital scrapbooking software. Alot of my newer pics are on my computer, and this way I wouldn't have to print them out, but I could still do the tradional scrapping of my older pictures... We'll see.

I do have good news on the medical front. I have almost STOPPED coughing!! WOOOHOOO!!! I went back to the Dr and they put me on Kapidex in the morning and 2 prilosec at night and it seems to be taking care of it. I can still do a few tums if I start coughing right after I eat... They are hoping I won't need anything but the Kapidex in a few more weeks, so keep your fingers crossed!! I have been going to the speech therapist and one of my bad habits is that I hold my breath when I talk so that puts more stress on my vocal cords which in turn, made me cough more... so I am relearning how to talk and I can tell a difference in the way I sound.. It's really been wierd. Hopefully, I won't have but 1 or 2 more sessions with her and I will be done with that!

I have a great weekend planned..... if I can make it 2 more days! I will be going down to Myrtle Beach with a group of cross-stitchers and I can not wait! Meg Thompson Shinall is going to be our teacher. This is the 11th year for this as we have been doing the full moons of the year... This year is the Hunter's Moon... I heard a rumor that the design is going to have a dragon! I will let you know!

Wow, it's late and I do have to work tomorrow, so I will close for now. Take care!

Found another give-away!

2009-10-29T23:27:00.002-04:00

Just check out this blog! She's doing the 13 days of Halloween and her prizes are great! I don't know how Missy Ann gets all her goodies stitched! WOW!

http://www.deepinsidemissy.com/?p=783&cpage=1#comment-12914

WOW! What an adventure!!

2009-10-25T21:32:00.014-04:00

WOW Time really flies, doesn't it? It's been a while since I posted. I kept telling myself that I would do it, and then I'd get side tracked, and now its been 2 weeks! So lets see if I can let you know what's been happening ......

This is my hubby Dean. He got some new glasses and here they are. Kinda retro, if you ask me. Very different from his old style, but they have grown on me and now I like them.

We went to the Cleveland Co Fair in Shelby, NC. We try to go every year. We don't ride the rides, we just walk around looking at the exhibits, eating the food, and watching people... Really pretty fun! I always have to get atleast 1 red candy apple to bring home. I LOVE them!

For some reason, the night we went, the farris wheel wasn't running. This thing is HUGE! It has to be about 80 feet tall or more. The lights on it were pretty cool!

You know I have to include a kitty update. Here they are! The kittens are getting so big! When they jump off the bed, you would swear they weighted about 75 lbs because of all the noise they make! They still turn into Earnhardt in the middle of the night and make laps thru the house! I thought they would grow out of it, but no such luck!

I participated in a HalloFall exchange on the San-Man Originals BB. LaDawn was my partner, so she sent to me, and I sent to her this time.

She sent me 4 napkins that she had made with pumpkin fabric and some needles and a pumpkin spice candle, a Barbara Anna Snowman chart, and a stitched ornament. I think it is a design from the Praire Schooler, but I could be mistaken. I will have to ask her! I love it!!
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I was having a problem with what I wanted to send to her, because I kept changing my mind! Here is the pic of the Lizzy Kate, Welcome Fall. It was my first attempt at making a no sew cube. After I put this thing all together, it would not, WOULD NOT, stand up, it kept falling over! So I had to put legs on it...

I also had originally started an unpublished piece from The Mad Stitcher, Kathy Bonham, http://madstitcher.blogspot.com/ and also http://themadstitchercompany.blogspot.com/ .

I stitched what I thought was going to be a needle book, but I read the directions wrong and it ended up being TINY!! So I put her name in the middle and did the Nun's Stitch around the edge and attached it to a pillow to make a pin cushion. I restitched the needlebook and when I went to stitch the inside motif, I realized I had miscounted and didn't have enough blocks going around it, so I had to modify the motif to make it fit! I took a small piece of material and did the nun's stitch around it for the inside of the needle book. So LaDawn got 3 stitched pieces from me for this exchange along with some super soft orange socks, and 2 potholders and a fall kitchen towel... Hope she likes hers as much as I like mine!

On the health front..... I am STILL coughing! I have upped my Prilosec and its helped some, but not enough to suit me and I go tomorrow for speech therapy. Hopefully they can help me use my voice with out straining my voice box. We'll see, they might not can do anything for me but the ENT wanted me to try it, so.....I go back to the ENT and also the Asthma Dr on Nov 2 so I am counting down. I may end up having to go to a gastroenterologist and have an endoscopy done, but we'll see about that then. No use worrying about it now...

As some of y'all may know, Oct 23, is my Birthday. I am 37 yrs old. Most days I don't feel it, and I sure don't act it either! My good buddy Kathy's birthday is Nov 2. We decided to have a little get together to celebrate our birthdays together at her house. This is the motley crew better known as the Stitching Sisters...

Kathy... in blue from Chesnee, SC

Bunny...in pink from Richmond, VA

Angie.... in green from Spartanburg, SC

Tracy .... in white from Stanley, NC

Kiki ....... in beige from Matthews, NC

and me, who took this pic from Mt.Holly, NC..

Now for this get together, we had a special visitor. You can see her here in the black shirt. Her name is Vilma Becklin and she designs for Examplars From The Heart. She is from Greenville, SC.

She knew it was Kathy's birthday and so she volunteered to bring a cake to our get together! Such a nice thing to do!

Here's a picture of it. It was sooooooooo good! She picked it up at a backery in Greenville & said it was baked that morning! OMG! It was so good and the icing was so creamy! ... Can you tell it was good?! It wasn't too sweet, it was just right! MMMMM

Here is my birthday goodies! As you can tell, I like Halloween and purple! SO all my goodies were just perfect for me! Vilma even brought me a present! She gave me Tracy's Cat Samplar and a pair of black Kemscott scissors! I love cats and I definately have a scissor fetish! LOL, so this was right on target! I also got some designs from Sampler Cove! You should see them! WOW! Now to find time to do them!

This is a towel tree that Angie put together for a bridal shower she was going to on Sunday! It was so cool to watch this thing come together! I think the bride will like it, if she doesn't, I'll take it! You can take it apart and actually use the towels that its made out of...... Neat present in my book!

Angie

Tracy

Kiki

Angie was trying to put her Halloween constume together. She is going as Marge Simpson. So she decided to make a "hat" out of cardboard, and glue cotton balls all over it, then it's going to be painted blue! I really wish I had thought to get a picture with it on her head when she started gluing the cottonballs to it. It was pretty funny!!

Angie for some reason, likes to sit in the floor and spread out! She is a stitcher, but had other projects to work on for this get together.

Bunny... she was working on this cat face, and I wish you could see it. It's awesome!

Here's Vilma.... acting goofy.. I think she'll fit right in with us. She's as crazy as we are! She was so funny!

Here's a few randome shots of us, see I do stitch and here's a picture that can prove it! LOL! Wait, I am feeding my face in the other one! Don't look!

If I disappear, it's becuase I posted these pictures and some one has tied me up with floss and give me to the Halloween monsters! Please try to find me! LOL

These last 2 pictures, Kathy took of me. I really don't have many pictures of myself becuase I am usually on the wrong side of the camera, But I like taking pictures, more than I like being in pictures! Atleast now you know what I look like, right?! LOL

I better go, it's late and I have Dr appts to go to in the morning! YeeeHaw! Take care of yourself!

Found a give-away!!

2009-10-25T15:24:00.000-04:00

This is April's give-away from her blog.....

http://itsjustapril.blogspot.com/2009/10/giveaway.html

This will be for a mystery package which will consist of:
5 Halloween charts
5 Christmas/Snowmen charts
5 Miscellanous charts
Fabric for finishing
Ribbon
package of push pins
Floss (DMC, SSS, etc.)
Something that was stitched and finished by myself.

JUST BECAUSE......

2009-10-14T21:49:00.002-04:00

A man is walking home alone late one foggy Halloween night, when behind him he hears:
BUMP...
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BUMP...
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BUMP...
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Walking faster, he looks back and through the fog he makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the middle of the street toward him.
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BUMP...
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BUMP...
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BUMP...
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Terrified, the man begins to run toward his home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him.
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FASTER...
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FASTER...
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BUMP...
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BUMP...
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BUMP....
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He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, slams and locks the door behind him. However, the casket crashes through his door, with the lid of the casket clapping.
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clappity-BUMP...
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clappity-BUMP..
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clappity-BUMP...
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on his heels, as the terrified man runs. Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, he locks himself in. His heart is pounding; his head is reeling; his breath is coming in sobbing gasps.
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With a loud CRASH the casket breaks down the door. Bumping and clapping toward him. The man screams and reaches for something, anything, but all he can find is a bottle of cough syrup!
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Desperate, he throws the cough syrup at the casket...
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and
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(hopefully you're ready for this!!!)
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The coffin stops.
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* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.... after all the crap I have been thru with my cough, I couldn't pass this up when David sent it to me in an email! Hope you enjoyed the story!

WOW time flies.....

2009-10-08T22:19:00.003-04:00

You know, I always seem to be saying that! I have NO time management skills. I just don't.....
It's been about 2 weeks since my last post so lets see if I can fill you in..

On the stitching front... My class piece from the Tea with the Queen is at the same point. I haven't been able to pick it back up yet. I have a couple of things going with deadlines....

My Hallofall piece has changed yet again... kinda .. maybe.. O look there's a better design.. no wait I like this one...GRRRRR Let's just say this, my partner may get a couple of things. I started out changing my mind about 400 times, then I decided on an unpublished piece from a friend of mine. Stitched it, don't know if it's "fall-y" enough so started on another piece by Lizzie Kate. It says "Welcome Fall", I am about 1/2 way done with it. Luckily its a quick stitch. Good thing since I have to have it in the mail on Monday! YEP, THIS Monday! I don't know why I keep second guessing myself! I guess I shouldn't have posted what it is since its suppose to be a surprise... Oh well, I will post a pic when I get it done!

Well the kitties went to the vet last week and got their last set of shots and a clean bill of health. So I scheduled FuzzBall & Scaredy Cat to get fixed... boy were they mad at me on Monday cause I put them in the cat carrier! Off to the vet they went (again). Picked them up on Tuesday and brought them home to an unhappy Momma Kitty. I called the vet back because she was swatting at them and hissing... Vet said it was normal, they probably just smelled funny and things should be back to normal in a few days... Yep she was right. They act like they are happy kitties again.... I hope they stay that way too! I don't know how many more vet bills I can handle! LOL!

On my medical front.. I had a heck of a day on Monday. I had an appt at 1045 at the Asthma & allergy Dr and an appt at 1:30 at the Ear, Nose, Throat Dr. By gosh, I wanted someone to fix this dang cough!! It is driving me insane! so here's what happened...
1015 arrived at asthma dr office, fill out paperwork, pay them and have a seat. Cough my head off....
Nurse is looking at me funny everytime he comes out to take someone back to be seen. At one point in time, he laughingly says.." You might want to see a dr about that cough." ha ha funny
1045 he calls me up and says " So you decided to get a dr to see you about that cough?" I laugh and say "yep, that's what I am trying to do!" we laugh as he gets my weight, hey I'm down a few pounds! He puts me in a room to wait....

So Dr comes in and says Hey, I am Dr N and I have heard you coughing all the way down the hall. Let's see if we can't get you some relief" Woohoo thats the best news I have heard in a while! So he gets my history, listens to my lungs and checks me over. Said he really thinks it may be an allergy to something and wants to do a quick allergy test on me. Ok never had that done before, if it helps, go for it. SOOOOO one of his nurses comes in & puts me in this paper gown and tells me to lay down on my belly and she comenses to draw a grid on my back. Now she has this tray of things and I start asking questions, what the gist of it is ... she takes these little plastic pointy things and touches my back in certain places, kinda feels like a scratch, but not that deep. anyway there are 56 of these things! 56!! there is an allergin on each one and each one is different, so she does this and we wait 15 mins and the dr comes in to read the results. Totally negative. So he says he's would like to do alittle stronger test, say ok lets do it. Nurse comes back in with another tray of torture devises. This time she writes numbers on my lt shoulder, and beside every number I get a small injection. THERE WAS 11 of them! luckily none of this really hurt, just wierd. So now we wait another 15 mins. Dr comes in to look at it, still totally negative. OK so now we know it IS NOT allergies.

Hmmmm, still coughing.... ok lets do a PFT, pulmonary function test. It tells him how much air I can breath in vs how much I breath out. This will help see if its asthma. So we do the first test, nurse leaves, comes back in with this inhaler stuff to hopefully help open up my lungs. You are suppose to suck this stuff in and hold your breath for 10 seconds.... Sure, yeah right. I do the 1st one, no problem, the 2nd one, can't hold my breath past the count of 2, cough cough cough, try the 3rd time, cough cough cough get to the count of 2 again.. Nurse leaves...Comes back in a few minutes later with a breathing treatment, except its not albuteral, told me the name, can't remember.. anyway, do this breathing treatment for 15 minutes. Why is the floor spinning? Why is my arms feeling twitchy? Nurse comes in and he asks me if it made me high? Told him, "No, not really, but they needed to change the carpet on the floors because it had a swirly pattern in it and they moved on occasion." He just laughs, said the stuff made the walls move when he took it, anyway, had to do another PFT and see if the results changed...NOPE, so no asthma! Woohoo! Hmmm, I am not coughing as much now! WOOOO!

So Dr comes in, says no asthma, no allergies, he thinks my cough is irratating my throat/lungs making me cough more, called bronchospasms, so here's the plan.. Go for a chest xray, then For 1 week I have 2 inhalers to use every morning/night, got a perscription for cough syrup w codeine and to call him back on Monday and let them know if it helped. OK Fine. So I go to leave, and I am thinking its 1230 or so.. I get in my car, its 1:25 OMG, my other appt is at 130!

I call them at the ENT & they say to come on in.. so I am flying going down the interstate. I get there at 1:45. Get to fill out more paperwork, feeling like my heart is beating fast and my arms are still twitchy! Dang breathing treatment, but hey still not coughing as much! I left my insurance card in the car..dang it dang it, tell the girl at the desk, I am sorry will run get it, poor girl, I kept apologizing and she kept saying, its ok.. Its really funny now that I think back on it.
Anyway finally get called back and the assistant puts me in the "treatment room" and as she's getting my history, I look at the tray beside me at all the torture devises and casually ask.."Are those for me?" She looks at me, smiles and says "Yes they are and I need to spray this numbing stuff up your nose." OMG OMG I was not prepared for that!

So Dr comes in, gets my history, tell him about what the Asthma dr said, tell him about this cough, my thyroid problems..etc. cough, cough, cough. He gets this scope thing and tells me he's going to see whats going on and hopefully get me some more answers! Cool.... Your going to put that where?? Up my nose & down my throat? OMG! All in all, it didn't last but a few minutes and it really didn't hurt.. I am sooooo surprised! Ok sinuses look good, throat looks good, no polyps or anything but my voicebox is inflamed...hmmmmm 4 causes for that..
1) smoking... don't smoke
2)allergies.... nope see above paragraph! LOL
3) voice abuse...what?!
Do you yell at your kids?...nope don't have any
Do you yell at hubby?.........nope, not ever
Do you yell at your patients?...... Yes because they can't hear me. I am very soft spoken..DING DING DING
4) Reflux....... nope, don't have heartburn

So this Dr says he wants to treat me for reflux because I may have it & not know it and for me to think about speech therapy. Speech Therapy? Yes so they can give me some tips to strengthen my voice with out hurting my voicebox. I'll think about it... So he wants to see me back in a month to see if its helping.

So now it's Thursday and I think something is working on this cough! WOOOHOOOO! I am still coughing but not near as bad as I was. I am so happy! Hopefully by Monday when I call in, it will be GONE! Lord, I hope so! I don't know what is making it slack up, I don't care what it is as long as it makes it go away!

So Keep your fingers crossed!

Well if you have read this, then your eyes need a rest, so I am going to go now. Y'all take care and have a good rest of the week! Hope to write more soon!

Teas, Queens & Things in pictures

2009-09-26T22:26:00.013-04:00

I am running to the vets, but thought you'd like to see some pics till I get back! Enjoy.....

Well I am back from the vet's office and hope you have enjoyed looking thru the pictures. I think its kinda fun to see pics and try to figure out what they are for. I won't keep you in suspence....

These are from the "Tea with the Queen" retreat that was hosted by The Stitch & Frame shop in Rock Hill, SC. Here's the link..... http://stitchandframeshop.com/

The first picure is of me & June. June was my room-mate, granted we weren't in the room very often... had too much stitching to do!

The next picture is fom Friday night dinner. I borrowed this pic from Charlene!

Now this next picture is 2 of my on-line buddies, Charlene and Carolyn. I have been to Camp Stitch-away with Charlene this past March, and Carolyn & I have been to a few things together, if my memory is correct... Here's a link to Carolyn's blog... http://xstitching5.blogspot.com/ ...... and here is Charlene's blog ....http://needleinhand.blogspot.com/

These 2 ladies are so funny and a laugh a minute!

Here is another borrowed picture from Charlene's blog, this is me & Jeannie at dinner Friday night...... MMMMM my steak was soooo good!

Here we are hard at work! The only time stitchers are quiet is when we are counting and when we are eating! Other than that, we are a noisy group!

Hard at work...... now how many were we suppose to be counting???

This beautiful lady is CLara Blalock of The Stitching Parlor. Here's her site.. http://thestitchingparlorinc.com/default.htm

Clara was our teacher for the weekend and let me tell you, she has the patience of a saint! She is a great instructor so if you ever get a chance to take a class with her, I HIGHLY recommend it!

Saturday night, we had show & tell. Well mine was suppose to be of a completed project from last year, but that didnt happen. You can read in the previous post (8/15/09) about my disaster!

Here is Charlene with her Halloween piece..I so was tempted to try to sneak it out in my stitching bag, but she was keeping an eye out for me!

This is Helen. This piece, I think, was a Dimensions kit. Its all flowers. I wish now that I had gotten a close up view.

This is Carol. Thanks to Carol, I didn't feel like such a goob, after telling everyone about last years project fiasco. In this picture she was telling us that she cut out a stocking to back an ornament, not once but 3 times because she kept turning the template the wrong way!! I am so happy I am not the only one who does goofy things!

This is Clara's show & tell. She was stitching a new design that will hopefully be out pretty soon. I can tell you it is really pretty!

Here's a better picture of "Let's all do the monster march". Charlene outlined the top of the wording with a red metallic, not sure if it was Kreinik or not, but it made the letters pop! Pictures just don't do it justice...

Here's another one of Charlene's finishes. This was an internet freebie.... it just makes me smile.. :-)

Here is the 3 amigos, as we were called.. This was taken Saturday night I believe. You can tell we actually got alot completed!

This is some of Charlene's tatting that she showed us. She is a very talented lady! Tatting is so delicate looking to me, I was in awe!

LOVED the bracelet!

Here is my piece as it looked on Sunday before we left. I hate to say, but it still looks like this! No progress has been made!

This is going to be the outer cover of our needle roll...

This is the inside of the roll....

We learned how to cover rings with the button hole stitch, how to make the needle pages and how to make our velvet bags! That velvet is so soft and such a LOVELY dark blue.... you just want to sit and pet it!

As you can tell, we had a wonderful time and we did not want to go home on Sunday!

Well, let me update you on a few things.....

My kitties are growing like weeds! They went to the vet for their 2nd round of shots. Momma kitty is up to 9lbs, 12 oz, Fuzz is 6lbs 7 oz, Scaredy cat is 4lbs 9 oz... they all have gained atleast 2 lbs since July. Vet says they are doing good, looking good, so all is well.... Fuzz & Scaredy Cat are getting fixed in October so I know they won't be happy with me....

I went back to the doctor about my thyroid. According to my lab work, it has decided that it has gone back to being "normal" so Doc doesn't want to do anything right now. I have to go back in November for more labs & another appt to see what it is doing at that point in time... Its another waiting game... YEEHAW! NOT! I am about ready to tell her to yank it out & be done with it! But I know they won't so I just take each day as it comes...

I still have the cough that started on Sept 10. I finished my antibiotics but haven't noticed a change in it. I am starting to wonder if it is astma or allergies or something in my throat...so if I still have it come the end of the week, I think I will call an Ear, Nose, Throat Dr and see what they say... At least I don't feel bad, I just sound bad when I cough!

I have still been working ALOT!, but the thing that's had me stressing all month has been the fact that it's time for my xray recertification. I am also a Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) and THAT recertification is due also! I got my dates mixed up and was scambling to get everything done by the end of September. I was thinking I had till the end of October...WRONG! hence the panic mode! I can say now, that all my continuing education stuff is done doNE DONE!! WOOHOO!! now I can get back to stitching!

I am in a Hallofall exchange on the San Man Original BB. What is Hallofall? Well, that's where you may have to stitch something for fall or halloween, depending on the preferences of the person you have. My person likes fall things so I have been scrambling for a project. I think I have started 3 different ones and have changed my mind about them so now I have a project that I am working on, and can hopefully make the deadline now that all my recertification stuff is done... I can't tell you or show you what I am working on cause it's a surprise but I will tell you this.... I have a friend who is a designer and it's one of her unpublished designs.... Got your curiosity up?? Can't tell!! not yet anyway....

On that note, I better go, it's late & I have to work tomorrow. I will talk to you later so take care of yourself!

2 week followup?

2009-09-14T16:59:00.006-04:00

Hi y'all! I know I have been slack this past 2 weeks and haven't posted but I have a REALLY good reason! Work! From Monday Aug 31 to today, Sept 14, I have worked 11 days. I am very tired, and to top it off, now I am sick! Thursday, sept 10, that evening I started with a scratchy throat, Friday had a cough, Sat had a worse cough, Sunday I was off work and went to the urgent care, just to get checked out. If one of my patients coughs all over me that's ok, but not ok if we get sick! If we are sick, we could KILL one of our elderly patients so... Dr checked me out, lungs clear, oxygen good, cough sounds horrible, no fevers, said he thinks I might have caught something, probably from a patient, could be viral, could be bacterial so he gives me antibiotics just be safe, not too worried about me spreading it unless I run a fever...OK, so he gives me Biaxin, which is one of the most bitter pills there has ever been created, but hey, to cover the taste, he says to eat chocolate! WOO HOO I have his permission to eat chocolate! Can't get any better than that! Well it's Monday, I am still coughing, sniffling, tired. BLA! I am suppose to go on a Stitching Retreat this weekend and darn it if I am still sick I will be MAD!!

The Stitching retreat is hosted by the Stitch & Frame Shop in Rock Hill, SC. http://stitchandframeshop.com/ I love this shop! Clara Blalock from The Stitching Parlor, Inc. will be our guest instructor again this year. This is a pic of our project...

This is the progress I have made on last years project. Its supose to end up being a biscornu, needle book & tape measure cover. I did the squirrel on the tape measure cover & decided that he looked like a bunny-rabbit with a bushy tail, so on the biscornu I have changed his ears & not made them so long. You can see the difference. Do you think I am going to rip out the 1st squirrel? Heck no.... lol

This is the progress on my San Man Original. Poor thing is feeling neglected!I have been trying to finish the other designs that this one got put on the back burner. I realized the other day that my continuing education is due for my xray, and I was thinking I had till the end of October, WRONG, I have till the end of September to get it done and turned in so this little guy is going to have to keep waiting! I may get to finish him up in October!

Here's a few pics of the kitties... They were sleeping so soundly when I looked down at them and realized she had her little paw wrapped around him..... AWWWWW, had to get a picture of that! You can see how much they have grown!

This is a few of Momma Kitty & Scaredy Cat. Their eyes aren't green, they are a golden yellow color. Momma Kitty is getting thick and her coat is alot softer than when we first brought her in the house.

Scaredy Cat still runs from us, but you can stand in the kitchen and she will rub on your legs if she thinks you have a treat for her! Funny!

This creepy crawler is a writing spider. He's been hanging around for a while and he is HUGE!! His body is about the size of my thumbnail plus the skin on either side... I know, I know, thats no good way to measure, but I didn't want to get toooo close! This picture was taken on Saturday and today the spider is missing from his web. I think he may have died, cause he was old! We'll see if he shows up later today.

I went today to have my bloodwork done for my thyroid. I have an appt next week with the Dr to see whats going on now ... I wish they could fix this!

I am going to get off this thing now, I have dirty dishes and a load of laundry screaming my name! No rest for the weary! LOL

Take care of yourself, and I'll write soon, if not this week, then next week when I can tell you about my stitching weekend & my Dr's appt!

Happy Stitchin Y'all!

Eliza is hosting a give-a-way...

2009-09-12T21:33:00.003-04:00

She is celebrating her 200th post. Here is a picture of the winnings....You need to read her blog! It has some great stitching, some funny stories and wonderful pictures!

http://paperfaerie71.blogspot.com/

I hope you enjoy her site as much as I did..

I will be posting more hopefully tomorrow....

Check this out...

2009-09-05T00:49:00.002-04:00

I have really enjoyed reading this blog, so go check it out!

http://threadgatherer.blogspot.com/

She is having a drawing for a flower frog for her blog-anniversay. I am trying to get the picture to post, but its not working ....so, go check out her blog!

2009-08-30T22:38:00.006-04:00

Well, it's been a fast 11 days since I last blogged. I have been working, ALOT. I did get a little stitching done .

Here's a pic of the kittens. Scaredy Cat is on top, and Fuzz Ball is on the lower shelf. They like chasing each other up & down the cat tower.

They are growing so fast. Fuzz is getting really big.

Scaredy Cat is still very timid and runs from us but I keep hoping she will come around. Fuzz is wanting to be a lap kitty, I think. There's been a few times this weekend that he's come and gotten on my lap to be petted.

Here's a look at my finished San Man Original design. This is a members only SAL on the BB.

I am working on the next design from the Halloween SAL from San Man Originals. I am actually almost finished with it! Can't wait to be done!

I am thinking about making these into "no-sew" cubes but I am not 100% sure yet.

I still have a few weeks before I go back to the doctor. I am still feeling pretty good and for that I am thankful!

I have to work the next 6 days straight. I don't know what I was thinking when I agreed to this! Hey, the overtime is nice...... if I survive to spend it ! HAHAHA

I do have a stitching retreat coming up in Sept, so I do have something fun coming up to give me something to look forward to!

Graves Disease............ NOT! Well, Maybe.....

2009-08-19T21:44:00.004-04:00

Well darn it.

I got the call from my endocrinologist and I may NOT have Graves Disease. She got my blood tests back and instead of my thyroid being hyperactive, like its been being... now its borderline HYPOactive! So it's swinging from one extreme to the other. I am VERY frustrated. So we aren't going to do anything at this point. I have a follow up appt in a month for more bloodwork, and an appt with the Doc a week later.

So I am still in limbo with no answers.... BLA!

Grave's Disease

2009-08-18T00:47:00.004-04:00

Well, I went to the doc on Monday to get the results of my Thyroid uptake & scan and right now, its still not 100%. She thinks I have Grave's Disease BUT the bloodwork that I had today along with the scan results will tell her for sure. So I am back to not knowing, but hopefully will know by Friday.
Here's alittle bit on it....

http://www.thyroid.org/patients/patient_brochures/graves.html

well I was going to post the article here instead of the link, but it won't let me. Sorry about you having to use the link....

Wow, check this out...

2009-08-18T00:18:00.002-04:00

Look at all the goodies you could win from Melissa! She is hosting a give away to celebrate her #8 Blogoversary...

http://www.thedailymel.com/2009/08/16/blog-candy-time/comment-page-2/#comment-2178

Head on over & check out her blog, its really nice!

Been stitchin.....

2009-08-15T23:23:00.005-04:00

Did you check out the meteor shower the other night? It was pretty cool, what I got to see of it! I had to work the next day so couldn't stay out all night, but I wish I could have! My neighbors probably think I am crazy. I will go outside and sit on the side of the road, near my mailbox and stargaze. That was my spot during the comet arrival, the last lunar eclipse and this meteor shower and alot of the prior night time astronomy events. I live on a dead end street, and its fairly dark so you can really see the stars.

I have been geting some stitching sone since my last big post. Here's some pics.....

This is the San Man Original I was working on. It's pretty much finished except giving the cat eyes & whiskers. I really like this series, these Halloween designs are sooo cute! The other one is my current WIP (work in progress). Its from the same series. I am actually almost finished with it too!

Now here is the thorn in my side. I Love this little design by Clara Blalock of The Stitching Parlor. My LNS had a fall retreat last year & she was the guest instructor and this is our project. I decided to try to finish this because she is hosting another fall retreat in Sept and I would like to show her that I can actually finish something! The class project was the biscornu and a bookmark,( which I am changing to a needlebook),and as a thank you design, she created a tape measure cover. I decided I wanted to do my cover alittle differently so I started out and was going to put the saying .." Measure Twice, Cut Once" for the strip that connects the top/ bottom pieces, well ...

problem #1 I decided not to stitch it on the band, but on the top & bottom pieces,

problem #2 I wrote it wrong when I was designing it out

problem #3 I didn't realize it until I had over half of it stitched out, and well darn it, I left it! I kind of like it! ;-)

problem #4 I miss counted the band, but darn it, I am not ripping it out either... do you see the pattern here?? LOL!

The green piece of fabric is actually the bottom piece for the biscornu...

Its going to be a pretty nice set when I finally get it done!

The kitties are doing well. They have FINALLY stopped turning into Dale Earnhart at 3 in the morning and running laps thru the house! Thank the Lord for that!! They are adjusting to being inside kitties. They are so fuuny! Dean LOVES playing with them with this laser light thing I bought. They will chase that dot of light across the floors, and up the walls and round & round for about 30-45 mins and then they go to sleep! Its so nice to wear them out! Here's a pic...

Thats all 3 of them in a bed made for 1! They have gotten so big in the last 2 weeks that I don't think all 3 of them will fit anymore!

Ok Scaredy Cat is the little kitten that is white/orange, FuzzBall is on the right, and Momma Kitty is the big orange/white one. Fuzz was the 1st born of the litter and Scaredy kitty is the runt and she weighed a pound less than Fuzz when they went to the vet. She doesn't let size stop her, she'll still attack him and chase him around. Momma kitty is petty laid back.

Both of the kittens have this thing about chasing their tales! OMG, it is sooo funny!

I have kitty toys everywhere you look!

I think I may have poisoned myself tonight. You know melted plastic gives off bad smelling fumes right ...well. I made this ribbon holder a while back for my scrapbook ribbon. here's a pic of it... anyway, the girls in my scrapbooking group asked me to make them some. Tonight I made 3 of them, you have to take a soldering iron and melt to plastic holes so the ribbons can come thru... I made 3 of them, and have had a headache since! I have 4 more to make I think, but I will probably do them outside! BLA!! I am such a goof ball!

Monday I will be going to the Dr to get the results of my Thyroid uptake & scan. I am kinda nervous about it. My dr has mentioned removing part of my thyroid so that may be the next step.. Yeehaw! All I can say is this, atleast this time when it went wonky I have felt ok. The last time it did this, I thought I was having a heat stoke, hot, sweaty, high heart rate, trouble breathing... lots of fun, NOT! LOL... but we will see what Doc has to say . I'll let you know...

I better go, its getting late and I'm getting sleepy! Take care!

Meteor Shower

2009-08-12T00:17:00.003-04:00

I love astrology/ astronomy. Did you know that? Now I don't mean the belief of astrology, I mean the stars & planets. Tonight is a meteor shower, so i nstead of going to bed, I went & stood in my yard and watched the sky. Here's a link to an article on this shower..
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20090811/sc_space/strongmeteorshowerexpectedtonight;_ylt=Aogx.eLsejIfHIjjOUa6_f.CfNdF

I hope you get a chance to watch the sky. Its very humbling.

Busy Monday....

2009-07-27T22:55:00.004-04:00

Well, its Monday... here was my day!

left house at 830 to go to the hospital. I have to have a Thyroid uptake & scan and its a 2 day test. I went today and the tech had to watch me take a pill with a glass of water. left the hospital at 930.

If you don't know what this test is, here it is in a nutshell.. My thyroid is acting wonky. What this test does is find out why.. It will show if the thyroid is enlarged, if there are growths or nodules and will show this by how much of the medicine it absorbs. Thats why its a 2 day test. It has to have time to absorb the medicine & then you have a scan on the 2nd day. Get the results in a week or so...

Got home @ 950
Left @ 1030 to take the cats to the vets. Getting all of them checked out, flea medicine, vaccines.. the whole 9 yrds...
Left vet @ 1200, vet is keeping kitties, while I flea bomb the house. Doing this as a precaution.
Went to grocery store & got stuff & headed home.
Left the house @ 1250 with the bombs agoing... now what to do with the 2 hrs that you can't be in the house?
130 - Got lunch at Los Arcos, my favorite Mexican place in Gastonis. They have a good, cheap lunch buffet.
230 left & went to Walmart in Gastonia
400 - got home to air out the house, can't be in it for 30 mins, so went to Belmont Walmart to see if they had a contianer I was looking for that Gastonia didn't have..
500 got home, swept & mopped the floors. That stuff will make the floors slippery!!! I had forgotten that , until I went sliding across my dining room floor this afternnon!
535 headed back to the vets to pick up kitties
615 finally leave vets because I didn't want to get soaking wet taking kitties to the car. Had a BRIEF but AWESOME rain, thunder, lightning storm!
630 get home, get kitty food & water containers out, got toys out
700 left to go to dance class in Charlotte
900 left class, on my way home

Thats been my day... People usually are like "Wow, you have Mondays off work, I bet you get to just hang out" ..... I wish! Most of my days are like this...RUN< RUN< RUN

I wouldn't know how to do it differently!

Well now its 1115 and I am getting ready to fold a load of clothes and hopefully go to bed. Hope y'all have enjoyed reading about a day in the life..... of me!

2 wks in review...

2009-07-26T14:35:00.008-04:00

Well Hell, Just shoot me now. LOL.. sorry for the cussing, it's been a roller coaster lately. OK lets see where to start....OK Sunday July 12, let Momma Kitty & "Bug" go outside. I know what a wierd name but thats what Dean started calling her. Doing good.. Had to work, steady day, not too bad...suppose to be off Friday to go to Wilmington.

Monday July 13, messed around the house, had what felt like a million errands to run! Went to dance class Monday night..

Tues, Wed, Thurs... gave Bug her meds, went to work, gave Bugs her meds, went to bed...

Friday took Bugs back to vet to look at neck, healing ok, needs more antibiotics. OK. Well my neighbor was going to watch over the outside kitties for me while we were gone. Couldn't get ahold of him to see if he was comfortable giving meds so... decided to board her over the weekend. Took her back to vet's office, dropped the computer off to be worked on, got some lunch and finally get on the road about 1230. not too bad...

Got to Wilmington about 430. Me & Dean decided to go to the USS North Carolina. Had a wonderful time! It is a self guided tour and you get to go all over the ship! Up & down stairs and up & down some more.... did I mention that you have to climb stairs? LOL..It was soooo windy.

Here is some of the pics we took.....My camera or computer is acting wonky, cause to me my pics look wierd.. oh wait, its cause I am in some of them! LOL. You can see the bow of the ship, the actual Operating Room that's on board, Dean playing in the machine shop, me standing beside one of the shells, I am 5'4" tall, so you can get some perspective, and Dean with the anchor chains.

Here's me with the anchor, the radar system and an author, Danny Bradshaw, we met. We were leaving the ship & standing in the concession area and he was coming in & heard me tell Dean I wanted to go in the gift shop. He told us the gift shop was closing but stood there & talked to us for a little while. Come to find out he wrote the book Ghosts on the Battleship North Carolina. Well, I love ghost stories so he sold us a book and autographed it for me!! He actually stays on the battleship at night, kind of like the caretaker, and the book decribes encounters that he has had. Pretty cool!!

If we look alittle red faced, its because it was HOT and the wind was blowing like crazy. I don't have really short hair, its just pulled up so not to blow worse than it did!

Friday night we went to the best seafood resteraunt I have ever been to! The food was so good and very fresh. It was called Hieronymus Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar ; 5035 Market Street Wilmington, http://www.hieronymusseafood.com/ . I HIGHLY recommend it !! MMMMM

Saturday July 18; We had to be at Cape Fear Community College for my sisters graduation. She graduated with her Associates Degree in Paralegal. I am so proud of her. It was also her 24 th birthday too! Here are a few pictures...

I'm sorry those are sideways, I don't know how to fix them on here. Thats a picture of Beth & her hubby John, Beth, Stormie (redhead), Hailey & Taven, and then a pic of us...Me & Mom on the back, and Nana (grandma), Beth & Billy Jr (brother)... the little blond is Donna who is a foster child my mom has. She saw us getting our pics made & had to jump in too.

After the ceremony, everyone came back to the hotel where me & Dean were staying and went swimming and had a pizza party. There was 15 of us.... 6 kids under 8, a 12 yr old, and 7 adults...

After everyone left, me & Dean chilled out & decided to go back to Hieronymus for dinner.

Sunday we came home, rush rush rush, bla.

Monday 7/20, went to vets & picked up Bug. She was so happy to be back home with her mommy & sisters. Petted all the kitties at 530 & went to class.. got home at 1030. Bugs is missing..

Tuesday 7/21, fed kitties, Bugs still missing, went to work. Came home about 8pm & decided to walk my neighborhood to see if I could find her. She NEVER leaves the yard. stopped a few houses down from us & asked about her, said they saw a little kitten on the side of the road Monday night about 7pm but some guy had pulled up in a truck and picked it up and drove off. It kinda fit her description, and they weren't sure if she's been hit or what. Very upset, went back home crying. Why was she 4 houses away? Did she get chased out of the yard? did someone try to take her home & she got away from them? WHY WHY WHY????? I am assuming the worse, that she had been hit and he was either taking her to the vet or to bury her. I miss her.

I told Dean what had happened and he went outside and got Momma Kitty and the 2 remaining kittens and brought them in the house. They ran all night long through the house.... the kittens are 14 wks old but Momma kitty still will nurse them on occasion, coming into the house was stressful for them.

Wed 7/22 fed the kitties, went to work with about 4 hrs of sleep. We had been calling one of the kittens FuzzBall and the other Scaredy Cat, so I guess that's what we'll call them. The white/orange one is scaredy cat & the runt of the litter and Fuzz was the largest out of the litter. She actually had 5 to start with, 2 the color of Fuzz and 3 with different mixes of white/orange.

Thurs 7/23, I had forgotten that cats turn into Earnhardt in the middle of the night and race the Daytona 500 all night. I hope they start calming down. I need sleep! Went to Walmart for some kitty toys...

Friday 7/24, called the vet for well kitty appts on Monday. Worked.

Sat 7/25. Was Useless... I think I washed a load of clothes.. Went out to eat supper. Dean went to Amos' bar in Charlotte and watched the band Ride the Lightning . They are a tribute band to Metallica, and from what I understand they are pretty awesome, but I didn't want to go. I stayed home & stitched. One of these days I am going to finish this thing! I love it, It's Halloween, it's a San Man Original and its not very big, but I can't seem to be able to sit & concentrate for long periods of time at the moment.

Sunday, today 7/26, been useless again. I have been trying to hook up 2 different scanners to my laptop and neither one of them will work, taken all day long...grrrr.. anyway, taking them into the shop tomorrow to see if they can fix! I will be heading out here shortly to go to CPCC Pease Auditorium for Belly Oasis Mid-East Dance Concert . I have a friend that is dancing with Yasmine & I'm going to go support them.

I better go & get ready. Thanks for reading this long entry. Rest in Peace Kitten, I miss you.

To the vet, to the Vet , to the Vet, Vet, Vet

2009-07-12T19:28:00.004-04:00

Sung to the tune of William Tell Overture.....LOL!!!!!!!

Wow, its been a fast week this week! Let's see...

On Monday July 6, we took Momma Kitty to the vet to be fixed. She is the Momma of the little kittens that are running around outside. She's a stray but stays mainly here so I had her fixed. We picked her up on Tuesday. We had to keep her in the house for 5 days for her stitches to heal up. She did really well, used the litterbox and everything. She wanted to go outside so bad... Today we let her. She's a happy kitty now.

Gross section, not for the squeemish!

Little Kitten, had to be taken to the vet on Thursday. Tuesday night I noticed a hole in her neck. I thought it was a puncture wound from a dog or something so we watched it Tuesday and Wednesday and on Thursday it was worse. It was smelly...yuck! So called the vet & they could see her that morning. Dean took her in and it ended up NOT being a puncture wound but a grub, from something like a bot-fly..Can you say GROSS! Anyway, the vet pulled it out and started her on antibiotics. Had to keep her in the house for a few days and today we let her & Momma Kitty outside. She is acting ALOT better now and running around and playing. I am glad we took her. Here's a pic of her....

Her eyes aren't green, thats from the reflection.

Thank the Lord Dean had the week off! All he did was taxi cats around!! LOL!

I found this cup in the gift shop of the hospital and had to buy it. It was just tooo funny!

Well I better run, Dean wants the computer... I'll see y'all later...

Happy 4th of July!!

2009-07-04T20:25:00.005-04:00

I hope everyone had a fun, safe holiday!

I have had a fun time! Dean & I went to Winston Salem to this car show. It was pretty cool. People were dressed up in 1940-1950 garb. It wasn't hot, it was nice. Enjoy the pics...

Dean really likes looking at the girls all dressed up. Boy, do they have the tattoos! WOW! Here's some of the girls.....

Well the Whitewater Center in Charlotte is having a big fireworks display tonight and luckily we can watch it from the back yard! So y'all take care, I'm going outside!

I'm Sorry

2009-06-30T22:15:00.005-04:00

I seem to be saying that alot here lately. I am sorry it has taken me so long to get back here.

I just want to tell y'all whats been going on with me lately. I have been going thru a slump and have been having some depression.

I am still dealing with the death of my MIL, its been hard and I really miss her.

Gordon, a man who was my 2nd dad growing up, was in the hospital for a month with his heart. At one point they didnt know if he would make it, but he pulled thru and is doing well now.

Nancy, someone who is really important to me, is a uterine cancer survivor and Monday they found a mass in her abdomen. She has surgery scheduled for Monday to remove it.

I have been having a hard time at work. Some of my patients have really been difficult to xray and have really made me doubt myself.

I found out Monday that my thyroid is out of whack again and I am going to have to have a thyroid uptake & scan to see what's up.

Sometimes I feel like I need to take some time off, or be admitted to the hospital or something, but then all I would do is stress about the bills that I need to pay.

Well that's enough of the bad stuff. I believe that God won't give us more than we can handle, I just don't know how much more I can take......

Good news is that my sister is suppose to graduate from Cape Fear College in Wilmington. She's studing to be a paralegal. I hope she passes her finals! We are suppose to drive down to watch her walk.

Just say a prayer for me and my family. Thanks y'all....

Pictures Galore....

2009-05-28T23:04:00.014-04:00

Wow, when did I last post?! Goodness it's been a while. I had said I would post some pictures, so... here they are!

In March, my LNS, The Stitch & Frame Shop (http://stitchandframeshop.com/) in Rock Hill, SC puts on a retreat up in the mountains of NC. It's called Camp Stitch-a-way. We have been going to camp for 11 YEARS now! It's very rustic, we sleep in a bunk house on bunkbeds, and we have a class taught by Meg Thompson Shinall, the daughter of Ginnie & Ken Thompson and she's the owner of Ginnie Thompson Flower threads. Here's a link to her site http://flowerthread.com/ , where you can get a free sample of her threads. It doesn't a have a shine to it, like DMC/anchor, its a matt finish and 1 strand is a thick as 2 strands of DMC!

This is a pic of our project for this year! Isn't it cool? The tray is 6x6 and it's stitched on 20 ct linen! WooHoo I can see it! Anyway, I changed my colors to purple & yellow and it looks like a pansy!

Here's a picture of my knitting..... It's a dishcloth, incase you couldn't tell... LOL.. It took me so long to finish the 1st one that I forgot how to start the 2nd one! Thank goodness for my friends who helped get me going again! I can't decide if knitting is for me or not....

Here is my finished San Man Original design for Halloween.....

Here is my 2nd San Man Original Halloween design.. I am sooo close to finishing it, just need to finish my bat!!

Here's a picture of the 2nd baby blanket I did this year. It is for a co-workers grandson. I REALLY like the yarn I used. It is Red Heart's Baby Clouds series... OMG it is soooo soft! I just made this one as a huge granny square...size N needle I think..

Now these little guys were born on 4/17 (I think), and they are just so cute! Momma Kitty is the neighborhood kitty and I have talked to my vet about getting her fixed so we shall see.... I wish I had gotten a better pic of her eyes, they are gold! I can't wait to see what the kittens eyes are

going to be... I haven't decided which ones we are keeping yet.....all of them?!?!

This last picture is the 3rd blanket I have finished this year. Its for a lady that works at one of the nursing homes that I go to regularly.. She's having a girl in June. I hope she likes it! If she doesn't, I'll gladly take it back! LOL.. It's huge.. 4ft x 4.5 ft!

Well it is storming like crazy again, so I better get off here. I just don't understand this weather! It has rained almost everyday for the past week! I feel like I am at the beach!

Y'all take care & I'll try to get on here more often......

Where does time go?

2009-05-09T21:42:00.004-04:00

Well let me catch you up on some things that's been happening. The last month has been a whirlwind! We will start off with the good stuff...

I finished the granny square baby blanket I was working on for a co-workers new grandchild. I forgot to take a picture, so as soon as she can, she's suppose to get me one!

I have finished another baby blanket. This is is for Holly, she works at one of the nursing homes I go to. She is having a little girl in June. The yarn for this is so soft! I think I am getting batter about keeping my tension the same all the way through, it's not as wonky as the other one I did in rows!

I finally finshed the San Man Original halloween piece I was working on and started another one! I just love this green fabric, it's from R&R called Monster Green! PERFECT for Halloween-y things!

About 2 weeks ago, we had a birthing at the house! 5 tiny kittens! They are sooooo cute! 2 are beige, that's the only color to describe them and 3 are orange/white, like their mommy. Momma Kitty has been a neighborhood cat for about a year now, she is so sweet...

As some of you know, my Mom-in-law was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March. She passed away on 3/29 at the hospital. It was so fast. She was talking to us and giving me a hard time on Monday night and by Wednesday lunch time, she was gone! My heart hurts, cause I miss her. We were close. It's going to be really hard for Dean on Sundays because we always went to her house for Sunday dinner. So when you can, just say a prayer for us.

We had to put our furbaby to sleep on 4/4 because she was so sick and still loosing weight, so we have had to deal with 2 deaths in the family. It's been tough. Right after Rugrat left us, I was able to purchase 2 Build-a-bear black kitties...one for me & one for Dean.I think they helped, atleast they don't show tear stains.

So now you know why I haven't been here, some good, some bad.. Just keep us in your thoughts and prayers. I'd really appriciate that. Take care & I'll write more later...I will post pictures later

Happy Monday!

2009-04-13T19:47:00.010-04:00

Hahahahaha! The last couple of days have been pretty good for me. I have finished the baby blanket I have been crocheting for a co-worker. It turned out pretty good, it's not quite a rectangle but it will cover the baby. My tension was alittle looser when I finished than when I started, so it's alittle wonky.....

I have started on another blanket, this one in a granny square . It's going to be one huge granny square, using a "N" hook and very thick, soft yarn. It's also for a co-worker, her grand son is due any time..

Well I picked my knitting back up, screwed up what I was doing, but kept going anyway. Good thing it's a learning piece!

Easter was fun. I got to hide Easter Eggs with my great neices who are 4 & 2. They had so much fun, we had to hide them 3 different times!

This is my MIL, SIL, neice and 2 great neices. 4 generations.

My MIL hates getting her picture taken, can't you tell?! She has an appt later this week with the oncologist to see what options she has, if any, with the pancreatic cancer they found about 6 weeks ago. It's hard to believe it was that long ago...

I am still working on that same Halloween piece. I just can't seem to get any time to work on it.
I did get some cool stash in the mail this week... like I needed another project! But when did need every fall into that equation?!? hahaha

I am still dealing with the loss of my kitty. It's getting better, but it still hurts.

I hope y'all have a great week and I will get more pics of my new stash & show ya what I got! Happy Stitching Y'all, take care....

heartbroken

2009-04-09T22:52:00.002-04:00

This is RugRat and she crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Sat 4/4/09.

I miss her so much.

It's April Already?? Halloween in April?!

2009-04-03T22:29:00.006-04:00

Boy does time fly! I have been really busy lately.

I have been working & in this economy, I can't complain. I am thankful that I have a job, because I know alot of people who don't. I have had some of the funniest patients lately.

Let me tell you what happened to me. Now swallow what ever you're eating/ drinking cause I don't want to be responsible for you choking... Now y'all have seen the pictures of me and if you haven't, well let's just say that I have a round face with big fat cheeks and for some reason, I get patted or touched on the cheeks alot by my patients. For those that don't know, I do xrays in nursing homes, so I have mainly older patients... Anyway, on this particular day I had done an xray on my patient who was an 80+ yr old black man. Well when we were finished, he stood up and gave me a sideways hug, kinda hugged across my shoulders, and he reaches up like he's going to pat my cheek. So I stand still and he rubs my nose!! He runs his fingers down my nose twice and looks at me all serious and says...." You're just as soft as cotton!" OMG! What do I say to that?! but Thank you and when I get out to my car I am laughing so hard! Soft as cotton?! Me?! HAHAHAHA I had to call my hubby and give him a laugh too! Are you laughing? you should be, cause it's funny!

This is a Christmas present from last year that was just finished for me... My friend Kiki stitched it for me and when I went to the stitcher's retreat, she gave it to me! It's a design from The Water's Edge... http://watersedgecrossstitch.com/catalog.aspx

I have been stitching alittle over the last month or so. This is a WIP from San Man Originals. It is a private chart for members of the BB. It is stitched on 30ct R&R Reproductions linen called Monster Green. I just love it !!

I have been in the Halloween mood for some reason! I really like this one and can't wait to finish it! I did finish Halloween Short Stack that I had been working on for what seemed like FOREVER!! I think that's what got me in the Halloween mood. My hubby just rolls his eyes....

This is Halloween Short Stack by Waxing Moon Designs. I got this as a kit, including the frame waaay back in 2006 for Christmas from Kiki!! Took me Forever to finish it!! I just loooove it! I did make some changes... can't really tell from the chart picture & my piece...

It's stitched on 28ct Jobelan, Denim Blue and I think its pretty dark, darker than the model anyway...

I used Kreinik glow in the dark braid for the magic swirls and the kitty eyes.... I love glow in the dark threads!! Maybe I should go back and add some to the moon & stars?

What am I saying?!? It's going to take me another 2 yrs to finish it if I keep adding stuff! hahaha

Now this purple kitty fob was a present given to me by my buddy Tracy... It has 2 of my most favorite things..... Kitties & Purple!

My MIL seems to be feeling pretty good right now. We have an appt with the oncologist in 2 wks but right now she's doing OK. She's just dealing with her legs swelling, but the dr doesn't seem too worried, put her on a fluid pill, so we'll see.....

My kitty isn't doing as well, we have an appt in the morning to talk to the vet about seeing what else is available cause she's still going down. I am afraid she's going to have to be put to sleep. My heart hurts....

Now I added those 2 paragraphs just as updates and I don't want to bring anyones feelings down, so I'm not dwelling on them.... What do you think of my Halloween in April?! I am either REALLY early or Really late.... what do you think?

I better close, I am getting tired and need to go to bed... I'll write more later. Till then, take care everybody!

2009-03-15T17:21:00.002-04:00

Well, let me give an update.

My last post was a copy of the email that I sent to friends & family on Thursday. Alot has been going on over the last few days, mostly good things.

Thursday, Juanita got sent home from the hospital. She has a follow up with one of the Dr's next week. We still don't know a prognosis, but atleast she's home where she is comfortable. My sister-in-law has been staying with Juanita, and at their insistance, I decided to go to a stitcher's retreat this weekend. I left Friday and got home today, Sunday. I had a very nice time....

When I got to Juanita's just now, she was feeling better & looking ALOT better. I will be with her for the next 2 days. I have my X-stitch, the baby blanket I am crocheting for a co-worker & my new knitting project! If she takes a nap, I have things to do... I could take a nap too!

I am doing ok. It's going to be rough for a while....

Thanks for reading this & I will update when I can. Love you all!

what else??

2009-03-12T23:33:00.003-04:00

hey guys. it's with a heavy heart that I am typing this. On Monday, Juanita(Dean's mom) & I went to her dr's appt and her dr sent us straight to CMC Main. They did bloodwork, an xray, an ultrasound and a cat scan. Well Juanita now has pancreatic cancer and they think its spread to her liver. They told us that if it has spread, then they can't so surgery to remove the tumor.

They did a liver biopsy yesterday and today they are doing an ERCP. They are going to try to put a stint into her liver & gallbladder ducts so they can drain. Juanita is neon yellow.

Cancer in the pancreas is really bad. Most people dont have any problems till its too late to do anything but comfort measures. Everything I read yesterday pretty much said that most people die within 3-6 months after diagnosis.

I am going to the hospital at 5 today and hopefully get some answers from the dr's.

keep us in your thoughts & prayers... thanks y'all, love you all

2009-03-04T23:08:00.002-05:00

I have a feeling these pictures are going to be HUGE!! For some reason, I can't get images from photobucket to load correctly. I guess I will stick with webshots....BLA

OK Here's the week in review! The last week has been CRAZY & STRESSful!! I have had some good and some bad things going on this week. Let's see.............

Thursday, I had to work.

Friday, work again, after work, went to Bunny's house to help her pack up a few things, got in the bed about 2:30 Sat am!

Saturday, Me, Dean (my hubby) & Angie (my BFF) got to Bunny's about 9:30 and started loading a U-Haul! Oh-yeah, it was raining the WHOLE time! Bunny was moving from Charlotte to Virginia... While moving a kyack, Dean hit the back glass in his truck, making it shatter.. YEEEHAW .. Needless to say, I owe Dean & Angie ALOT. ALOT! Dean left about 1:00 and me & Angie left at 1:45..... cold, wet, smelly, and HUNGRY!

Saturday around 2:45, me & Angie arrive at Camp Bethelwoods in Rock Hill for a scrapbooking adventure. I was staying till Sunday, but she was going home that evening. We got there, said hello to everyone (I've known these ladies for a while) and then I went & jumped in the shower & Angie took a nap! We were soooo tired!

Let me tell you about the scrapbook adventure... We rented one of their new cabins, it slept about 20, with a big common area in the middle where we had our scrapping stuff! Here's the link for the camp... http://www.bethelwoods.org/ . Its pretty reasonable. The scrap was sponsored by the Carolina Scrappers, which I am a proud member ... http://www.carolinascrappers.com/ Here's alittle something about us. It was alot of fun because I hadn't seen some of the ladies in a while! I should get a picture of my pages that I made....

Did I mention it was raining when we got there? Well it rained the whole time! Saturday night, Angie went home and we scrappers stayed up till around 1:00 am.. talking, eating, having fun...

Sunday..woke up and it was STILL raining ! It was so cold outside too! According to the weather man, we were suppose to get sleet/ snow Sunday night... Yeah right, they never get it right when it comes to snow! We live in an area where schools shut down if we get a 1/2 inch of snow! We just aren't able to handle it, and forget driving anywhere if it does! People can't drive.. but that's another rant, sorry.. Ok we scrapped Sunday morning and helped each other pack up as one by one people had to return to reality... Whe the last of us left it was around 4:00pm and it had started sleeting. I got home around 5:00pm and we had sleet that was starting to stick on the ground and cold surfaces... OK weather guy is still saying snow.. I'll believe it when I see it! Cooked dinner, and eventually went to bed...

Monday morning... woke up to about 6 INCHES OF SNOW!! HOLY COW!! They got it right this time! Thank the Lord I had the day off! The neighborhood kids got on their 4-wheelers and rode up & down the roads all day, atleast it cleared them off some. The snowman in the picture is in my next door neighbor's yard. That thing stands about 6 feet tall! I should have gotten Dean to take my picture stnding beside it! The picture with the truck and cement building is in my backyard. The building is Dean's project, it's going to be his shop if he ever gets it finished, but you can see the snow! The flowers are in my front yard, they are called Lentin Roses, aka Hellebores, which bloom at Lent. So back to the snow... We were slugs on Monday, stayed home & watched TV all day...

Tuesday.. went to work with a black ice warning. The roads weren't too bad.

Wednesday (today).. went to work. We still have alot of snow on the ground, but it will all probably melt tomorrow. Crazy weather.. snow on Monday, & 70 degrees on Friday?!

As you can see, it's been a crazy week. I'll give you a few updates..

Nana is back at my brother's house. She decided that she didn't have to go to physical therapy and she will do the exercises at home. She's in alot better spirits since they didn't tell her she had to be in a wheelchair. She was really afraid of that. She'll be back at the end of the month to stay with me for awhile. She bounces between my place & his...

Rug-Rat my kitty is still with me. She still gets sick every few days so I guess our best bet is to keep her comfortable and keep cleaning up her messes. She still eats, but she's losing weight again. Sometimes I think she has a hard time chewing hard foods so I have started adding some water to her food to help soften it up, so we'll see. I had a vet on the radio, yes I called a talk show, tell me to try giving her baby food because it's easily digested and when I get paid, that will be the next experiment.. keep your fingers crossed...

I need to post a picture of the fob Tracy made for me. It has a kitty on it! Love it!! Thanks Tracy!

It's late & I have to work in the morning, so I will close. Y'all take care and be safe. Talk to you soon...

It's Almost March!

2009-02-26T22:22:00.009-05:00

Wow times flies, doesn't it! I was going to try to post every week, but that went out the window. I have had lots of stuff going on, lots of crap too! What's new..huh?

This cutie is my nephew Taven. He was in the hospital. He turned 1 yr old at the end of Jan. He looks too happy to be sick! He is home now doing much better, but they kept him for 4 days!

On Feb 8, I went to the Lotus Dance Studio's recital. Yes, it's a bunch of bellydancers. For y'all that don't know, I am a bellydancer too! Surprised? This is a picture of the 2nd level students. I took Nana with me and she was very surprised and said she enjoyed it and wished my great aunt could see them. I just don't think she could be quiet long enough to watch! My aunt is a talker!

This is my God-daughter Emily. She turned 1 yr old in Feb! It's so hard to believe! She had her party, but needed some help putting her face in the cake!

This pretty set was a surprise from Darlene on the San Man Originals BB. She had stitched the cutest bookmark with monkeys on it and she had said I could have the pattern. So in the package was also my surprises! I love them! I don't have alot of items stitched from other people so this is really special AND it came on Feb 13! Just in time for Valentines Day! Thank you so much Darlene!

This doily was a total surprise. It's from Linda on the San Man BB. We have a place where we can "wish" for something and I wished for something stitched. Wow was I surprised! I am SOOOO not worthy! I just LOVE IT! My hubby actually said it was beautiful... and he never notices my stitching! Linda, Thank you soo much!

I have had lots of good things going on, work is work, but atleast I am working! Speaking of work, I have to work tomorrow so I need to close. I will try to post again on Monday and tell you about my weekend adventures! See ya soon!

It's been 2 wks!

2009-01-25T17:48:00.006-05:00

WOW! Time flies when you are having fun!! NOT! hehehe. I really thought my blog was going to be a stitching blog, but it's been more of a Stitchin' & Bitchin' Blog! I haven't gotten to stitch lately. Things have been alittle more hectic than usual. I will try to atleast make an appearance on Mondays since that's suppose to be my day off.

I did recieve the best present in the mail. Sandra Flores sent me an angel! She had a goal for 2008, which was to send 50 people an angel... here's mine! Isn't she pretty?! She is a pinkeep, even though I don't have any pins in her! I was going to put her on my pocketbook, so she could watch out for me, but I am afraid she will get too messed up, so I will find a place at my stitching chair and hopefully she'll keep the frogs away!

I will post a link to her blog...

http://blogdesandramaria.blogspot.com/

This is a picture of my brother, our Nana(grandmother) and me. It was taken about 14 months ago. Nana lives with me, but spends alot of time with my brother too. We live about 3.5 hrs from each other. Nana is the one who made the blankets for Christmas. She turnes 79 this year! Gosh that is hard to believe. She has muscular dystrophy, charco-marie-tooth. It's a muscle wasting disease and she has worn braces on her legs as long as I can remember. She started using a walker about 5-6 yrs ago and I think she is progressing to where she will be in a wheel chair part of the time now. I noticed this weekend that she has started almost dragging her right foot when she walks. Her doctor has requested that she go to physical therapy, and I hope they can help her, but I don't know. It's hard for her cause she has been so independent and hard for us to see her weakening.

If you read my blod for the week of Dec 6, you know how bad it was. Well on Dec 7th, after the last funeral, I went and did something for myself. I got a haircut. She cut about 14 inches off, it was almost down to my waist! The hair was donated to Locks of Love. The first picture is when I got home, after the lady that cut it had blown it straight and the second one is the next day after I washed it that morning and let it air dry. The older I get the curlier it gets. My brother said I had been scalped!

Well I broke down and took my cat to the vet last Monday. She had dropped her weight down to under 5 lbs! She just wasn't keeping alot down. So I have been giving her Flagyl (antibiotic) and Carafate (cat pepto) since Tuesday. I am so happy to say I haven't had to clean up cat puke! I know TMI, but I am happy!!! The vet changed her food to IAMS.. no cheap stuff now, dang it, and the meds. She has a hernia they are starting to watch to see if maybe it's what is causing the problems, but the vet really thinks she has something like IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). I can't stand the thought of losing her, she's 15 and my baby!

My friend has returned from being out of the country and I am happy about that! I was worried something would happen to her but she made it home this past Thursday night. I picked her up at the air port. She said she was glad to be back cause now she could stop sweating! Where she went was in the 90's and we were in the 40's! So that is one thing off my mind.

Work is still work! not alot to say there...

So as one problem gets a resolution, another problem pops up. I live by 2 sayings....

1) That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger

2) We will never be given more than we can handle...... someone thinks I am triplets!

Take care and I'll write soon

More Pictures

2009-01-11T11:25:00.007-05:00

Ok, I can't seem to get my pictures to load from Webshots or Photobucket so I have to save them to my computer and then load them that way.... BLA.... What-ever works right?

I kinda cheated this year with my Christmas presents. I had help! ALOT of help. My stitcihing time, spare time is very limited. My Nana (grand mother) made me a Swedish-weaving Blanket, or huck weaving, which ever you want to call it, anyway, she made me a blanket for my birthday in 07, and I took it with me to one of our stitching get-togethers to show it off! The ladies loved it! I had called Nana and told her I had showed off my blankets and the girls really liked them (tickled her to death). So we got to talking about Christmas 08 and she said she would make the girls one if I would get the materials.... how could I refuse?? So the blankets ended up being the biggest present from me to the girls. I had big plans to make everyone some stitcher's toys for Christmas but that ended up being a joke!

This is a picture of 2 blankets that Nana made for me. "Big Trees" is the blue one and "Little Trees" is the veriagated purple one.

Kathy got a little tree done in red yarn.

Kiki got a big tree in jewel tone yarn.

Tracy got a little tree in veriagated blues.

Angie got a big tree in variegated blues blue

Bunny got a big tree in a color called "Ocean" it's teals, green, blue...She's not got her's yet cause she's out of the country so SHHHHH...

I gave Kiki a floss tag that I stitched. The design is from Brittercup called Raising Hooves. Kiki loves horses and used to ride/ show them till her knees went bad....

The back of the tag has material with horseshoes all over it..

This is the floss tag that I gave Kathy. The design is from Helga Mandl and it came from her newsletter. I did do some modifications like changed the flower color and tweaked the leaves, cause I only used part of her design...

The material has red flowers on it.

This is a biscornu and floss tag that I made for Tracy. The biscornu was for her birthday which is in Dec and the tag was for Christmas. The chart came from a freebie design from...

http://www.battybat.free.fr

Angie got a gift certificate to one of her favorite places to eat. It's called "The Gondola" in Bessemer City, NC. Best Italian food anywhere!! MMMMMMM

I got an I-Pod, and a battery charger from Dean. I know not very romantic but VERY useful!! My work truck's battery is always going down so the charger is going to be great for when I need a jump!

Pictures..... I hope!

2009-01-11T10:58:00.005-05:00

Ok Here are the goodies I got from Christmas from the ladies in the Stitching Sisters.....

This is a tool set stitched by Kathy. It included a pair of purple scissors, needlebook, fob and ruler cover. This is the back view, except on the ruler cover, it is plain, maybe I should have flipped it over? Anyway... this is the back. It's stitched in a veriagated purple & a veriagated green.

Ok here is the front view. I love purple and I love this design. I am not sure where the design came from... will have to ask...

This was made by Kiki. A purple pillow with my name on it!! I love the veriagated threads in this and the angel charms! I think this is a Heinzeit chart.

Kiki also made me a halloween banner, which I forgot to take a picture of.. darn it! It wasn't quite finished so I had to give it back but I can't wait to display it!

This was knitted for me by Tracy. See the purple color theme here? hahaha.. I like it and wore it home! When you wiggle your head you can fell the pompom on the top moving around! I can't wait for the weather to be cool enough to wear it more!

Tracy also made ma a necklace and earring set, it's got purple cats-eye beads and a silver moon oon the necklace. She also made me a beaded book mark. I am an avid reader so this will be used alot!

This is me & Angie. She has 2 little ones under 2 1/2 so we told her not to worry about presents for us just to come and relax. I am so glad she got to come.

IT'S A RECORD!

2009-01-10T16:04:00.005-05:00

2 POSTS IN 1 WEEK! HAHAHAHA

Well today is Saturday and it's kinda cold. You need to wear a jacket when you go out, but it's really windy.

I am going to try to post some pics today. I want to show off shat I got last weekend at the Stitching Sister's Christmas party!! LOVE IT!! LOVE IT!! I got LOTS of neat stuff! My stitching buddies love me! and spoil me rotten!

I am not real sure why my pictures aren't working. Maybe cause they are in Webshots? I don't know....BLA! I am going to have to go figure this out! Darn it!

Work has been hell this week! All kinds of computer problems................ I blame it on the full moon! It was BEAUTIFUL!

Jan 8 was our 15th wedding anniversary! 15 WHOLE YEARS!! Holy cow! I'm not old enough to be married that long! HA HA. We are going out to dinner to the WOODSHED in Stanley, NC. OMG! That place has awesome steaks! MMMMMM can't wait.. speaking of, I need to go get ready!

Time is fleeting............

2009-01-06T23:34:00.002-05:00

Wow, it's already almost a week into January! Time goes so fast! Well it has been raining all day and is suppose to rain all week. I HATE working in the rain! I always get soaking wet and look like a drowned rat! BLA! atleast it's not cold! 65 degrees today I think, so not too bad!

I went to the Stitching Sister's Christmas get-together in Chesnee, SC over the weekend. It was so nice to see my buddies and get the heck out of dodge!! I went down on Saturday and left on Sunday around 5pm. We exchanged Christmas presents on Saturday and I got some wonderful goodies!!! I will get a picture posted, I promise! We had decided to try and make each other presents, and you know how "life happens", so some presents weren't completely finished, but we got to see them and know they are coming! Kiki is making me a Halloween banner and I should have gotten a pic of it before I gave it back to her so she could finish the embellishments. It was cool!

I actually got a few presents finished myself this weekend! I did some stitching on 2 small designs. One's from TGOSM (The Gift of Stitching Magazine) December issue and the other is a San-Man Original. I have big plans for it for next Christmas...SHHHHHH.

Monday was errand day, and class day, which I skipped.... bad girl! I did go to a level 3 class tonight to make up for it.

I am worried about my kitty. She is almost 15. She was gaining weight and doing so good and today she looks bad. She's lost her weight again, but she's not been sick lately so I am not sure what is going on. She just doesn't act right. I broke down and went to the grocery store at 1030pm to get some canned cat food to see if she would eat it. She did, and now she's sick. What am I going to do? I feel like I am losing her. My heart hurts.

Better go, gotta mess to clean up. See y'all soon.

Happy 2009!

2009-01-01T21:15:00.003-05:00

Happy 2009 Everyone! I jope you have a healthy, happy new year!

I stayed up last night, watched the ball drop, and then went outside for a few minutes. It was a clear night, cold.. I stood out in the front yard and just looked up at the stars. I live on a dead-end road so it is pretty dark usually, and you can see the stars real well. I love the stars.... There was suppose to be a meteor shower but being here on the east coast, the majority of meteors would have been seen this morning around 8 am, sun was up, couldn't see them... bla! I think it would have been really cool to be on the west coast, ring in the new year and 4 hrs later have a killer meteor shower... WOW, hate I missed it!

I was actually off work today .. WOOO HOOO!

I took a trip to my favorite LNS, The Stitch & Frame Shop in Rock Hill, SC. They had a sale going today and if you bought something, you got a coupon good for 15% off your next visit! I will take a pic of what I bought. Not much... I have a scissor fetish, so I bought a new pair... 20 ct fabric, I had plans on doing a hardanger piece on this, so we will see if I get it done!

I will be going to a Christmas party for a group of stitchers this weekend. Yes I know Christmas has passed, but this way, we can exchange presents and relax, and stitch & bitch... which is what we normally do anyway!

This week has been kind of crazy, as usual. Late Sunday night/early Monday morning around 1230am, (I KNOW I SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN BED!) I had some clothes going in the washer and I was downloading some stuff onto a flash drive, when the lights flickered and there was this "electrical" noise and smoke started coming from the back of the house! The hot water heater had short circuted and caught the insulation on fire! I am so thankful I hadn't put the clothes on to wash and then went to bed! Me & Dean were up till about 130 trying to clean up the mess & air out the house! Went to work Monday morning, I am usually off on Mondays but this way I wouldn't have to use PTO to cover being off today... Monday night, we replaced the hot water heater and thought.. Woo Hoo hot water for Tuesday morning! NOT!! No hot water and sometime during the night there was a leak soooo no hot water and a BIG OL Mess!! Had to go to Mom-in-Laws to take a shower, late for work.... bla! Dean fixed the leak, we are good to go now! Wednesday was just a normal work day... busy, busy... Today is Thursday..

On a side note, woke up Sat 12/27 with a pretty bad sore throat, I sound like a bull frog!...had that and a runny/ stopped up nose and a cough, ever since. I am allergic to smoke, so the little fire didn't help any... bla.. I am drinking lots of hot tea with honey and right now, I have some "drinking chocolate". It's suppose to be different than hot cocoa because its made only with milk, and when you pour it out of the paskage, it looks like little minature hershey kisses ...MMMM It's really rich & creamy!

I did cook today... I know, what is wrong with me?! I cook about once a week. I like to cook, I just hate to clean up afterwards! HATE IT! Luckily hubby doesn't mind eating out. The crazy hours that both of us work really make things hard to have a home cooked meal. What I usually do is cook a big meal with lots of left overs so we have something for the next day or two.

Well I have clothes that need folding... anyone want to come help? I will post pics later of my new stash...

TIME IS GONE........

2008-12-27T00:23:00.002-05:00

WOW! Merry Christmas and Happy New year's to everyone! Happy Hanukkah, Happy Eid, Solstice Blessings, Happy Kwanzaa... Happy everything!!

It's hard to believe it's been 3 wks since I lsat posted. I have been working....not much else..

I ws trying to make everyone something for Christmas.........stupid idea! I don't have time. I have some items started and they may end up being presents for next year!

I am hoping the 2009 is a better year for me. I hope I am DONE with funerals for a while! Family turmoil seams to be calming down so I am hoping for a little peace and quite!

Christmas was nice! On Christmas Eve, we went to my adopted family for dinner, which is always breakfast food...MMMMM. It was loud and crazy with all the neices & nephews running around but oh so fun! Will have to get some pics up to show the madness! On Christmas day, we went to Dean's mom's for lunch... good food, good fellowship and not too noisey! YEAH!

Santa brought me an Ipod nano, purple of course, some bed room slippers and a portable car-battery jumper. I always seem to need to get my work car jumped off and now I can do it myself!

It's late and I need to go to bed, so I will post more later and include the pics. Good night!

Dang, what a week....

2008-12-06T11:16:00.002-05:00

Well, it's Dec 6, and this has been a week from hell. I might have gotten 20 stitches put into my project this week. My stress level has been to the moon.... lets see..

1) my cousin passed away from cancer this week. His funeral was Thursday.
2) my ex-step grandfather passed away and I was told I wasn't welcome at the funeral/ visitation.... loooooong story
3) my hubby's uncle passed away on Thursday
4)I am my grandmother's POA, and she wanted to give my cousin her property and now it may affect her insurance benefits..
5) I am POA for a friend of mine while she is gone and having to deal with some things that have come up.
6) work is crazy as usual

I need a valium IV, anyone got one?

I better go, things to do...

HOLY COW!

2008-11-30T19:16:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is December 1st! Where has November went to?! Let's do a quick recap.... I had some time off at the first of the month to go to a stitcher's retreat in Myrtle Beach, SC with Meg Thompson Shinall and the Stitch & Frame Shop. This is an annual trip and this year was #10! We have been doing a study of the different moons, this year was the Harvest Moon and the project has alot of fall colors and hardanger. I will have to try to figure out how to post a picture..

I love the beach!!

I worked... no surprise there. I like to eat and stitch, soooo I have to work! LOL! I have been working extra because we were short a weekender, but I have her trained now and on her own so hopefully no more weekends... there goes the overtime! Dang!

Thanksgiving was a blur of wonderful food and great friends & family! I am still too full!

I had to take my kitty, Rug-Rat, to the vet twice in the last week and a half. She had lost about 1.5 lbs in the last 2 months and wasn't eating alot. Vet put her on antibiotics and a stomach soother, like pepto for cats, and she's done lot better. I have to take her back to the vet tomorrow for a weight check so we will see.

Stitching... well I have been trying to work on Christmas presents, but I am afraid I am running way behind! I really didn't want to go buy things, but I may have to. Keep your fingers crossed that the stitching fairies come and visit me!

Better go for now....

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!

2008-10-31T09:35:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween Everyone! Wow has October flew by! I am so happy it has finally started to cool down, even though it's suppose to be 70 degrees this weekend!

I have been stitching away on some Christmas presents. I did a Halloween exchange on the San Man BB and after I mailed it out, I was like "OMG ITS 2 MONTHS TILL CHRISTMAS!!" so all the designs I wanted to stitch for me got put on the back burner. Oh well, January will get here soon enough for that. I can't wait to post pics of what I've been doing, I think its pretty cool.

This weekend I am going to a scrapbooking retreat in Rock Hill, SC. Its sponsored by the Carolina Scrappers. Its a fun bunch of girls! I can't wait! I am going to finish making a book for a Christmas present and then work on some pages for my book with pics of my god-children.

I have been working like crazy. Once flu season hits, I won't be able to do much of anything but work, eat and sleep. Real boring, I know. I love my friends cause this is when they keep me sane!

I better go. Talk to y'all soon!

OK here goes

2008-10-16T11:38:00.000-04:00

Ok guys, I am going to start posting more and playing with my site. Its going to take me a while cause I am a work-a-holic and I have to learn what I am doing.

I am going to use my site for stitching, and some life things and photos.

I really enjoy reading other people's blogs and will link to them so you can enjoy them too.

Will blog more later today. Be back soon!

OK now what?

2008-07-04T13:50:00.000-04:00

WOW! This is my first post; first blog... and I have no clue what I am doing! Lets see if this works....

1st post

2008-07-04T13:33:00.000-04:00

testing.... testing 1.2.3