Is It March Yet?

Well, another 12 days has passed between posts. It's been a very long couple of months. I've been stitching and knitting a little, but I'm incredibly distracted by life and work. I have quite a plateful right now. You know about Nikki and her son's birth within the next few weeks, and you know about my mom. I've pretty much stopped telling you about my job. It goes back to what my mom said: If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

My job will change in a huge way next year. In my former teaching life, I spent 13 years as a classroom teacher in third through sixth grades, with one very interesting year in middle school. Bekah was born in 1991, and I figured out some at-home jobs (data entry and charting needlework for designers) in order to stay home with the kiddos. In 1996, Bekah died and I got divorced, so I returned to teaching in 1997. During that time, I've worked with small groups of kids who need help learning to read, but I haven't had my own classroom.

Because of our district's enormous budget shortfall, all of that's gonna change. My job has been eliminated and I must be "absorbed" into the school I was unhappily assigned to last year. That means that my only option was to accept the offer that my principal made to me. So, after 19 years out of the classroom, I'll be returning next year as a teacher in first grade (gasp!). I know! How scary! How fun!

I love first-graders, so that's not a problem. I'll be able to catch up with all of the math stuff, so that's not a problem. My teammates are very nice, and I've known them for years, so that's not a problem. My only problem is that I work for an ass. A boob. He's an immature, bird-brained, former high school administrator with negligible leadership skills who knows absolutely nothing about literacy and has no intention of learning. In fact, he never passes up an opportunity to display his ignorance or his lack of integrity. He's the only issue I have with the daunting prospect of enormous change. Unfortunately, it's a very large issue.

So now I'm gonna shop around the district to see if I can find a better spot. Because of the budget, there's not much movement in and out of positions, but there are bound to be one or two. We'll see if anyone is silly enough to hire an old lady who hasn't been in a classroom position for 19 years. It can't hurt to try, and I've heard from several former coworkers (displaced by our school's closure last spring) who want to help me get into their schools. I'm updating and polishing up my 13-year-old resume, and thinking about interviews This could be interesting, huh? Things to remember: it's not life or death, only my job; it's good to be employed.

Thank you for allowing me to whine a little bit. OK, a lot. The stress knot under my shoulder blade feels better already. I wanted to explain my distractibility, because my stitching and knitting progress has been so lame lately. Sarah Esh has been occupying my lap (along with Merlin) while in the purple chair. I love, love the Olympics (another distraction), and Sarah's been watching with me. Once in a while I actually put a stitch in. I'm not completely satisfied with my choice of natural linen, but it's growing on me.

My house is largely back to its former self, minus the ugly beige carpet. At home, life is very good. I'm still allowing myself to engage in some slide therapy after school. Whatever helps, right? So here are some pics for you. The teeny tiny kitchen (note the Cedar Hill kitty on the wall and the bag o' magnets on the counter) ...

The living area (sorry about the glaring sun, and the speaker will move to a less conspicuous spot later on) ...

The small dining area with my piano, my parents' dining set from the 50's (I love it), and the crocheted tablecloth I found in a Rhode Island antique store for $35 (I know!) ...

Home is a happy place to be! Too bad I can't retire and spend more time here, huh? Next, after some recovery time, will be the removal of ugly beige carpet and cheap-ass vinyl in the upstairs bathrooms. Ah, something to look forward to.

I leave you today with a very late look at my TUSAL jar. I took the picture on time a few weeks ago but couldn't remember to post it (duh). I like the look of yarn in there.

Make some fun!

A New Man

It's been a while since I had a new man in my life (not that I'm dissatisfied). This guy is one of those quiet men. In fact, he never says anything, which is a relief. I get to hold him and work on him when I want to, and he has no say in what I do. He dresses a little funny, but he's pretty cute.

The picture makes him look like he has an earring, but it's just one of the spots. He's covered with them. So here's a look at this year's stand-up-Santa I'm working on. I wanted to wait until he had a cute face before I showed him off. I'll be dragging him around with me in my stitching bag during the holidays (hmmm ... gives me ideas for my son and the man I hang around with), and I'll show you more of him as I make some more progress.

Again I'm late in showing my TUSAL jar. I took the picture on the appointed day, but I haven't worked up the energy to do a post until now. It's looking kind of crowded in there.

I've also been working on Shores Block Four, and I was enthralled with the words and black silk. Hmmm ... I wonder what that means. Here's a little picture of how I put that black silk to use.

I thought that if I made a plan, I'd stick to it a little. I have. A little. I worked on this when I was conscious in my purple chair a few evenings last week. There were three evenings during which I didn't complete a single stitch! I've been cleaning and shopping like the rest of you. 'Tis the season, after all. My entire family is gonna be here this week, and a couple of them could possibly decide to stay here instead of being crowded into Mom and Dad's house. I wanted to be ready with clean bathrooms and fresh linens.

We're gonna have a big and very fun Thanksgiving. My brother, sister and I will all be at the folks' with our kids. There will also be a couple of significant others to bring the dinner total to 17. That's a pretty large crowd for us. Since Mom isn't feeling like cooking, she'll be supervising my sister, our sister-in-law and me from her post on the couch. We've helped for uncountable holiday meals, but the cornbread dressing and mmmm-mmmm-good gravy will still need Mom's sensitive taste-testing. My chocolate pies won't be nearly as pretty as Mom's, but I'm going for it anyway. They're the family favorites, even at Thanksgiving, but they'll be joined by a pumpkin and a pecan. We laugh a lot, so the three of us (joined at times by our eight kids who are unfortunate enough to think they're funny ... just like us) will be enjoying each other and the occasional (OK, more than occasional. I'm a bad influence.) kitchen cocktail while we handle the pre- and post-dinner chores.

Mom had a scan yesterday and will be meeting with the doc tomorrow. We're all worried because she's been feeling so poorly. Keep your fingers crossed and I'll keep you posted. Have a truly fabulous Turkey Day and, above all, make lots of fun.

Try, Try Again

Thanks to all of your comments, I now know that I'm not alone in my frustration with Blogger f***ing up my last post. That thought is somewhat comforting, even if it doesn't fix anything. Maybe it's a sign that I spend too much time on one post. I'll stop analyzing and just move on.

First, here's how I spent some of my free Friday hours.

I know! I resurrected something from the WIP drawer (ok, ok, one of my WIP drawers) and finished it. Yay me! Exercising extreme self-control, I chose Small Sampler, 3rd in a Series, by Ewe & Eye & Friends. I can remember charting this one way back in the olden days, so it's kind of an old friend. I stitched all but the lazy daisy leaves and sheep wool way back in 2004! So why did I wait five years to finish it? Sadly, that's probably a question for a trained mental health professional, and there's no use discussing it here.

Anyway, 3rd Small Sampler is stitched as kitted with Anchor floss on 40-count Sandstone, but I changed the stitches for the sheep wool from Kam's coils (pains in the ass, IMHO) to large, loose French knots. Because of Murphy's Law of Changing Kitted Stitches, I ran out of floss, and it was one of the few colors not in my stash. That issue caused two things to happen: 1) blog reading/commenting sucked up some of my morning, and 2) I had to go to the LNS and buy other things along with the floss. So it turned out rather well!

For those of you keeping score, I returned to Shores Block 3 on Saturday. I'm making rather slow progress, and I'll have a pic for you next time. I'm gonna have to hold the Broncos partially responsible for my lack of progress. Their games have been so unexpectedly exciting that I find myself sitting in my chair with my needle in the air. Sometimes I even have to jump out of the chair and holler. All of that fan action tends to distract me from my stitching! That's my story, anyway, and I'm sticking to it.

My TUSAL picture for the month was technically on time, because it was in the post lost in internet space. I was so proud of myself for doing something on time! Take a look at all those perle cotton orts from Reed's Stocking. They take up a little space. huh?

I was at Mom and Dad's a couple of times over the weekend, and look who's been hanging around over there!

These turkeys have absolutely no idea how determined my dad (alias, Mr Gun) is to remove them from the premises. The abundance of droppings they've left on Dad's wooden deck and paved surfaces could eventually motivate him to use extreme measures. So far, he's only used the leaf blower and pellet gun, but he owns quite an arsenal. I'm a little worried that one of these birds is gonna end up on my Thanksgiving plate. Before I shooed them out of harm's way, I pulled out my phone camera to get a shot (so to speak).

A few of you have been kind enough to ask (via comments and emails) about Mom. I decided back in June that I was going to try to give only good news, especially since Mom reads here from time to time. Sadly, there hasn't been much good news to report. Mom's been pretty sick (dizzy, weak, feeling generally shitty) for more than a month. After her last scan received less-than-shining reviews from the docs, they decided that they'd gotten all the good they could from the first chemo recipe, and they gave her a month off. She's on a new chemo recipe now, and it's much harder on her. Dad's taking care of Mom, and the rest of us are trying to help, and we're all hoping that this new recipe does some good work. If you have any prayers/good words/positive thoughts left in your hearts, we'd very much appreciate you sending them Mom's way. I know for certain that she'd welcome the help.

Hope you're all having a good week. Tomorrow it'll be half over! Make some fun.

Yahoo for Shores Block 2

Yep, I finished Shores Block 2 on Saturday morning. I got up, made some tea, and sat on my ass watching a movie until I finished it. Boy, that felt good! I'll start Block 3 in October.

Later that day, the man I hang around with asked me to go on a little ride in the mountains on the Harley. We looked at the pretty aspen trees turning pink and gold, and then all of a sudden, there was a bear (squeal)! I know! It was so exciting. The man I hang around with was a bear-sighting virgin before I spotted that cub, but this was my second bear in the wild. We made a U-turn to get another look, but he saw us seeing him and ran off to find his mama. There would be absolutely no good reason for us to meet up with his mama, who would not approve of her cub being anywhere near us, so we watched him run up the hill and went on our way. Now for the question you're probably thinking. Doris, where's the picture? Good question. Neither of us had a camera, and I didn't take my cell phone! We're dopes, but we've learned our lesson. No more rides without something for picture-taking!


Now for my TUSAL pic for this month. I really thought I'd be on time, but I came home on Friday and had a drink (ok, two drinks) and sat down to stitch instead of doing a post. And then I had to stitch Saturday morning. Don't I sound like the kids at school? This picture of my jar was taken on the actual day it should've been pictured. I pushed down the stuff so I can fit some more in there soon.

On Sunday I watched the Broncos and worked on Reed's Stocking for the son-in-law (that's still a shock to say), but it looks like so little that I'll wait to show you a pic. It's such a change to be stitching with perle cotton after all of these months of 40-count. The whole time I was working on it, I thought about how chunky it feels. So thick in my hands. I kinda like it ... for a while. My big hope is that I'll have the stocking finished by the time I'm ready to start up on Shores again. I know, I know, but I can dream, can't I?

On Monday (yes, that's today) I wished I was at home stitching on this cool and rainy day. Instead, I was at work (repeat after me: it's good to be employed). And while I'd love to slap a couple of adults upside the head, the kids are wonderful. My new kindergarten buddy, Joseph, calls me Miss Brownie (tee hee). I know! Isn't that so cute? He says it quite loudly when I see him in the cafeteria. The other kids keep correcting him, but he likes that name. I told him it's ok. I love brownies.


Thank you, thank you, all of you positive and sweet commentors out there. Your happy wishes for Nikki and Grady and their babe are very much appreciated. I know I've been a real smartass about it (someone has to do it), but I do hope they'll have the best life ever. In fact, just the thought of it working out any other way is unthinkable.


Hey, I have stitching to do! Make some fun.

Better Late Than ...

My new work schedule is really getting in the way of my fun. It'll take some time to adjust, but it'd be nice if it happened soon. All of my work tasks are getting done, but my other endeavors are suffering.

Take, for instance, TUSAL. I should've posted a picture more than a week ago, but it didn't happen. So here you are ... One thing I could do on the way home from work is to pick up a newly framed item. Here's a picture of Twined Heart, a little Shepherd's Bush band sampler that I finished a while back.

I think the frame is so pretty that I had to try a close-up picture of it, even though my photographic skills are right up there with any seven-year-old's. Why did I let this project sit unfinished in a drawer for so many years? What was I thinking?

How about a little visit to Eden? Here's my progress on Evil Serpent. I kept thinking that I'd have this finished by now. It's getting close, so maybe on my next post ...
On 40-count, this is a tiny sampler ... only four by six inches ... or so. When I brag about finishing it, I'll show you some of the things I did differently than charted. I'll have to go close-up again, so get ready for some more amateur photos. Maybe I'll finish this weekend!

As soon as Evil Serpent is finished, I'm going back to Shores for Block 2. I've been watching FayeRaye's progress, and I'm gonna try to keep up with her. Debbie asked me if I'm gonna rest between Shores blocks or keep on keepin' on. I think I'll continue to work on a couple of things between blocks. Each block is such a good little project that it just makes sense to have a little different scenery in between.

Happy weekend ... make some fun.

Good News!

There is good news for our family today! Mom had a scan on Monday showing that chemo is shrinking her tumors and lymph nodes. Isn't that the best news? Mom is a champion at having a positive attitude, and she's extremely encouraged by the new info. I'm pretty certain that she has a record number of prayers/chants/good thoughts from all over the world working for her, so thank you again to all of you who are helping. We could never express how grateful we are for your kindness. My only request is that you keep Mom (Estelle) on your list and continue to do whatever you're doing. Relief is a great feeling. I'm heading over to hang out and stitch for a while during her chemo today.

OK, on to regular stuff. Here's my TUSAL jar for the month, pictured with some friends. You'll notice that I've moved up to a quart-sized jar. I have a feeling that it's the stitchy trash, not orts, that made the move necessary. Do we care about that? Nah.

I've been a busy, busy organizer. Slow, but busy. After my closet got a makeover, I started working on my stash. I've sorted through all of my fabric, identified counts, and put everything into new Elfa drawers (gasp). I know! New drawers in my closet! The Container Store is a lovely place. Sorry ... I've ADD'd my way off the subject. There are now special places for kitted projects (way more than I thought) and WIPs (yes, I found more :O).

I had forgotten about many UFOs that I have absolutely no intention of finishing. You know how that is, right? My tastes and desires have changed in the decades since they were started. So, I hope I'm not veering off into the tacky side of blogland, but I don't know all of the rules. Would anyone like to finish the following UFOs?

First up is Window Sill Shells. My start is on 32-count white linen, two-over-two, and includes chart and start.
Next is a project that someone else started and gave to me, thinking I'd be thrilled to finish it. No, I'm not. It's on linen band and includes floss, beads, dowel for hanging, and instructions.

Last on today's list is a log cabin quilt square with specialty stitches. It could be framed or made into a pillow, and it's almost finished. Most of the diamond shapes on the right need to be unstitched and restitched, and that's the border to the project. Only the border has to be stitched. I think it's on 28-count natural linen, and it comes with floss, directions, chart and start.
If you're interested in any of these UFOs, just leave a comment about which one you'd like to have. If more than one person is interested, I'll draw names in a very unscientific way. If no one is interested, they'll go off into the UFO cosmos ... or something.

Since I haven't finished going through my cedar chest and files (I know ... I've been a hog and this is years overdue), there will be some more destashing to come. I've promised a friend first chance at kits and charts, but she'll want only a fraction of what's leaving the premises. So stay tuned for some stash giveaways.

When not reorganizing, I've been stitching away on my new starts, Shores and Mayflower Women. Next time I'll show you what I've been up to. Believe it or not, there are only three weeks left of summer vacation for me (oh no!), which makes me almost apoplectic. Ya'll know what a brat I am about time off. I've had Zack as a houseguest, because his person has been working nights (poor man ... it's done him in). He's been helping me get my miles walked and my errands done. Merlin (yes, the old man cat is still hanging in there) is not amused, but we've had only one confrontation all week.

'Til next time ... make some fun.

Still Catching Up

Maybe I'm just slow, but the after-vacation catch-up is taking a while. First, I forgot to post my TUSAL pic, and I'm now three days late (oops). I'm pretty sure I lost some orts during my travels, but oh well!

I've been working my way back into blogland by reading backwards until I get caught up at each blog I visit. It takes a while to read and click on the interesting stuff, so hours pass and not much progress is made. Ya'll have been busy! I love seeing what's been happening.

On my stitchy front, here's where I stand in Eden. The end is definitely close!

During my little changes here and there, I think I've left too many spaces between the lines of writing. I'm gonna stitch the half-stars on the bottom and make a decision about unstitching the second row. I'm even gonna shorten the motifs by one stitch to help things along. I really don't wanna unstitch and restitch at this point, but I'm not sure just ignoring it is gonna work for me. I just realized that I'm gritting my teeth while I type! Deep breathing may help. Unstitching is part of stitching, right?

This is my short little post for today. There are things to do and places to go this afternoon, so I'm off. Make some fun.

All Better, Etc.

Well, thanks so much for everyone's concern for the little pink-bottomed sheep. I fixed him up by unstitching and then restitching the offending area, and here he is ... all better.

The fabric underneath was also stained pink, but you can't see it now that it's covered up with new floss. Poor little sheep. Merlin and I have made a pact to conduct future medicinal wrestling out of range of any needlework and upholstery. I'm thinking a plastic, claw-proof, zip-up kitty suit would be a perfect idea, but I've never seen one of those. Oh, my first million-dollar idea? A prototype could be in the making. Maybe velcro instead of a zipper, though, since I hate to put in zippers.

Here's this month's Totally Useless SAL picture.

My ort and stitchy trash jar has seen some traffic this week. I trimmed some edges off of a piece or two of fabric. I love holding linen with straight-cut edges. I know what you're thinking, and yes, it's probably my old friend, OCD, rearing its ugly head again. As long as I'm not nagging anyone or forcing perfection on those around me, I suppose it's ok if I obsess about things like fabric edges. I also have quite a few orts from this week's project, the BBD contest sampler that everyone is stitching. I've neglected Eden horribly this week in favor of working on that little sampler, and it's finally finished. I'll wait until later to show it to you.

How about a Sisterhood of the Rose update? We've added two new sisters to the list: Kathleen from El Paso, Texas, and Wanda from Regina, Saskatchewan, both of whom are not bloggers. Jennifer in Canada will be keeping us updated on her progress.

Following what's become my usual Saturday pattern, I'm posting while looking an absolute wreck. I got out of bed and immediately went to work finishing this week's project, then took some pictures and read blogs and emails, so many things have been neglected. I'm off to rectify that situation and prepare for some fun later. The number this week is 4! There's so much to be done at school and only four weeks in which to get it all accomplished. Happy weekend ... make some fun.

Silly SAL and Eden's Happy Couple

Happy Monday. Have you figured out yet that I love silly stuff? I do. In fact, I'm constantly entertaining myself with a running dialogue of one-liners, smart-ass remarks and ridiculous commentary. It's always happening. Anyway, as I was wandering around in blogland, I found a silly SAL and decided to join up. It's called the Totally Useless SAL, and Yoyo came up with the idea, and it's probably better if you go to her blog and take a look on the left side to see all about it for yourself.

In order to get started, I first wanna show you a picture of how I usually collect orts. Here is a pile of them on the corner of my purple (the crappy pic has bad, bad colors) chair cushion.


When the ort pile becomes annoying, I stuff it into this little cushion ...

Because I'm now a proud member of the Totally Useless SAL, I will now be putting my orts and stitchy "trash" (fabric scraps, fiber labels, etc.) into this lovely pint jar ...

I put yesterday's orts and stitchy trash into it already. After a while, I'll probably start a different jar for the stitchy trash and give the orts their own jar. We'll see. This SAL suits me just perfectly. The next post of my ort jar will be April 25th. Lovely, isn't it?

I know there are many of you out there who are fascinated with Adam and Eve. I'm completely taken with them. Well, my stitchy friends, you may wanna have a look at someone else's idea of the happy couple. If you go to Missy's blog and scroll down a bit, you'll see her ATS in progress, complete with an anatomically correct representation of Eden's couple (gasp). I know! It's funny and quite creative. She's talented and her blog is very entertaining and highly irreverent (my favorite kind of humor). Go check it out, if you dare.

The uncovered A & E are especially funny to my family because of a kindergarten experience that my son Dylan had. He was given a bear picture on which he was directed to draw clothing. Instead of clothing, Dylan drew the missing parts on the bear (that's my boy). Of course, I received a call from a rather disturbed Mrs. Luna. She had kept him in during recess to redo the bear picture in a more acceptable (to her) manner, and I was summoned to her classroom to discuss the matter. As I recall, she was disappointed that I wasn't upset. I laughed more than once while we were talking, but I was pretty mad that she'd made such a big deal about it. Call me crazy, but it seemed a better idea to say, "That's very nice, Dylan, but let's put some clothing on the bear now." Kindergarteners are five and six, and most males of any age (in my experience) have their equipment on their minds most of their lives. My whole family still laughs about it today, 22 years after the incident.

Hope your week is off to a great start. Make some fun!