July 30, 2009 - We have a houseguest

Today was Barnes & Noble stitching group and I finished those blasted dia-monds! I didn't get alot of stitching done, but started filling in the two remaining squares. Once they're done, all that's left is the border! We had a really nice time and stayed until after 4:00.

On the way home, I stopped by the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions and an antibacterial/ antimicrobial wash the doctor wants me to use. She said they don't want me becoming a carrier of MRSA, so to use it once a day, head to toe, and wash my hands more than ever.

Well, here they are! All three of 'em. Chet has successfully convinced Daisy that he's the meanest cat in the world. She gives him a wide berth and doesn't try to poke him with her nose anymore. The funny thing is that he's declawed and loves Kasey.

I pulled out some of the toys Kasey doesn't play with so that Daisy could chew them. She's much more rough with toys than Kasey. She's already pulled out two squeakers and taken the "tails" off a fur-covered ball. She's been a very good girl and doesn't try to chew on anything that isn't hers. I did have to hide Stinky Ol' Raccoon because Daisy pulled out some of his stuffing. She is not allowed to play with Kasey's favorite toys!

After taking the girls to the playground so that they could run, we came home to relax for the evening. Here's Daisy on Kasey's couch, fast asleep. Kasey prefers to sleep on the tile in the bathroom so she has happily relinquished the couch to Daisy.

Since Daisy is convinced of Chet's viciousness, she waited for him to finish eating her food before going to her bowl to eat dinner. I was very surprised to see this!




Here are the girls, peacefully sharing Kasey's couch. Kasey doesn't like having to share my attention and she barks at Wes when he is petting Daisy, but she likes having someone to play with. Daisy is also taking her cues from Kasey, so when Kasey's napping so is Daisy. It makes things much easier for me!

We took Daisy back to her house for the night but brought her back here because she was standing in the dining room windowsill, howling when she saw Kasey and I come outside. I felt bad about her being alone so much. We'll see how she does spending the night tonight.

If it works out, it will be much easier taking care of her while she's here instead of running back and forth between the houses. I still have to let the cat out in the morning and bring him in around 5:30pm, but that's not as bad as going over five times a day.

July 23, 2009 - Spoiled Kasey

Here is today's pro-gress on Ocean Star. I'm still working on filling in the dia-monds, but they're coming along. I seem to be having brain farts, though, because I keep skipping parts. I made mistakes in every single diamond when I stitched the lavender parts and had to go back to fill in the stitches I missed. I didn't have to frog, but having to go back to add two stitches here and two stitches there was quite frustrating! I did the same with this diamond on the left, not stitching the purple square that is supposed to be in the center!

As I suspected, today was a very long day! We left for Barnes & Noble stitching group around 12:30 and arrived shortly before 1pm. I worked on Ocean Star but did not accomplish as much as I had hoped to.

I decided to let people pet Kasey today (as long as they asked first) since it was her special day. She basked in the extra attention. Here is her birthday bow. I made it for her last night.




Belly rubs! Kasey loves belly rubs!

My DoRS appointment went well. I signed the exchange of information releases for my DoRS counselor to send and receive information to the college. I'm still waiting to hear from them about my financial aid. Sue and I discussed ways to go about buying my books and other needed supplies. Basically, I'm supposed to get whatever I need through the school's bookstore, unless I receive grant or scholarship money. When I told her the cost of my books for the two classes she was flabbergasted. The DoRS limit for books is $250 per semester. She said there was an "Other" category she can use for computer and other necessities, so she could put one or more of the books in that category, too. If I receive any financial aid, I will buy the books myself and only have DoRS pay for what that doesn't cover.

We had two hours between the end of my appointment and the start of Borders stitching group so we went home to relax for a little while. I decided to leave early for the mall so that I could get dinner in the food court and have time to eat it before everyone else arrived. Chick-Fil-A wouldn't make me a wrap with no tomatoes. I wasn't thrilled with Wrap It Up because they don't have the CFA balsamic dressing I like to put on wraps, and Arby's didn't appeal at all. After looking around the food court and reaching into my purse for my tea and not finding it, I decided to go to Wawa and buy and sub and a tea. It was closer than going home to pick up the tea I left on the counter.

Needless to say, we were about half an hour later than I wanted to be. We had a great time stitching, chatting, and taking pictures because Jette is going back to Belgium. She and her family have been in the US for two years but her husband's work is completed and they must go home.

Kasey received a new toy bone from Aunt Carol and obliged by holding it in her mouth for about five minutes after it was given to her. Carol also graciously took this picture and some others of me and Kasey. I only have one other picture of us together and that's the one Mom took on the Ocean City boardwalk in May.

When we got back to the house I gave Kasey her cup of cheeseburger icecream. It had little bits of ground beef and cheese in it! As you can see, she thoroughly enjoyed it!

July 16-17, 2009

Thursday

Today was the day Kasey and I headed home. I had an extra hour before Barnes & Noble stitching group so we stopped at Grandma's to spend some time with her. I cleaned off her storm door window while I was there. She had put some gel letters on it so the birds wouldn't fly into it and the sun melted them over the past several months. Talk about goo! UGH!

We made it back to Annap-olis just before 1pm and went straight to B & N to stitch. Several of us stayed late so I had three hours of stitching time. I was working on the borders of Ocean Star because I didn't feel like doing all the small areas inside the diamonds and squares yet. I'll get back to them, I promise!

When we finally arrived home I went straight to bed. I was completely exhausted and wound up sleeping until 7:30pm. Man, did I need that rest!

Friday

Another early day for me! I had to go to the college to meet with an academic advisor before the lobby filled up. Lucky for us, no one was waiting so Lisa ushered Kasey and I to her office. We talked about my goal for school, majoring in English. Because AACC doesn't have an English course of study, my major is Transfer Studies with a concentration in English. I have to take an additional twelve credits in English to meet the concentration requirements.

My first semester is going to be the two classes determined by the placement tests I took on Monday, Math 012-Intermediate Algebra, and English 121-Composition & Literature. The math class is four credits, but they don't count towards my degree.

I went to the Records & Registration desk next so that I could register for my classes. Unfortunately, the MWF math class I wanted was already full, all of them were. So then I asked about internet classes. The girl behind the counter shook her head "no." I got stuck with a four-day-a-week class that meets from noon to 12:50pm. M/Tu/Th/F. I thought to myself, "If that's all they have, what can I do?" I can't take any science or labs until I am elegible for the college math.

Next, we were sent to the Cashier which was just the next bank of windows in the Student Services Building lobby. The cashier, Jackie, was very nice. When I told her I was working with DoRS, she put a one-week hold on my classes to give DoRS time to send my paperwork over.

I headed back to Annapolis after getting the bill for my two classes. Any guess as to how much tuition and fees were? Try $692 for seven credits! I called my DoRS counselor from the truck to let her know what I was told. I didn't want to show up at my appointment on Thursday and say, "Oh! By the way, AACC needs my paperwork tomorrow!" That would go over like a lead balloon! I told Sue that I would drop off the bill because I was only about five minutes away.

When I arrived, she asked me if I filled out the form for a tuition waiver since I'm on SSDI. I just looked at her blankly. I'd forgotten all about that! She called Jackie at the Cashier office and Jackie extended the hold on my classes by another week, giving DoRS enough time to get my paperwork sent over. She also asked about the tuition waiver form. Jackie informed her it was on the school's website, so Sue printed it and gave it to me.

The waiver had to be signed and stamped by the Social Security Administration, so that is where our travels next took us. My ticket said that I had approximately 63 minutes to wait. Thank goodness I took my stitching bag! Kasey spread herself out on the nice slate-tiled floor and prompt-ly went to sleep. She's had a rough few days, remember? I pulled Ocean Star out and went to work to pass the time. This is my progress from today.

Warning: Rant Ahead

An hour and a half later (the wait is not what I'm ranting about) I handed the lady at the window my Medicare card, my driver's license, and the form. The Medicare ID number is my Social Security Number. Guess what she asks me for? So I tell her my SSN. Then she wants to know what I need. It's on the form. I tell her I need a signature stating that I get SSDI because of my own work record, which I do. She asks me if they need to know how much I get. There are four lines on the form to be filled out: Name, Title, Signature, Date. Does she bother even perusing the form? Hell no!

So I tell her, no, it's for college; they don't need to know how much my monthly benefit is. She fills in the four lines of the form and starts handing it back to me. I tell her they require a stamp with the office's address. She does that. Finally, I'm out of that place and back on the road to return to the college to give them the tuition waiver.

WHY can't people read things?! Anything, it seems! And if they do read it, they don't think about the meaning. I see this all the time: someone is going on vacation and they send an email to their Yahoo group saying they're going "no mail." That means they won't receive any group messages until they return and change their email settings. Do you know how many "have a great time!" "we'll miss you!" and other messages get sent to the group?! The person who went no mail can't see them, so why weren't they sent to their direct email address?! I get sooo frustrated with things like that, as they just add to the inundation of messages I receive each day.

So, please, Mr Joe Public, read and comprehend signs, correspondence, and any forms before you!

End of rant. Thank you for staying with me if you've made it this far.

I turned in the tuition waiver and Jackie was surprised to see me back so soon. She told me that she spoke with Sue at DoRS and my classes are now on a two-week hold. At least that's all settled!

Then I stopped by the Financial Aid counter which is also in the lobby. The lady there was very nice and explained that AACC determines all financial need for grants and institutional scholarships through the FASFA (Federal financial aid form). I already knew it was online so I told her I'd get it submitted tonight. She let me know, too, that it takes one to five weeks to fully process the form once it is submitted, but I would receive notice of any financial aid for which I qualify.

By that time Kasey and I were both wiped out and just wanted to get home and rest. I still had to go to dialysis, so my period of rest wasn't as long as hers. I spent my time in my recliner perusing the class schedule and started thinking about having to drive all the way to the college four days a week.

The more I contemplated the matter, the more I worried. That's sixteen trips back and forth to Arnold that I don't already make each month. Several things bothered me about it. First, gas money. I don't have enough to cover that. Second, that's almost every day. That's going to tire me out even worse than I already am and what if I'm sick for a few days? Third, the Fall Schedule indicates there are several one-day-a-week classes and some 13-week classes that meet fewer days at the campus. I knew I'd probably get more accomplished in person, so I'll be getting up early tomorrow to go back to AACC to see if I can get into a different section of the math class. Wish me luck!

Dialysis went off without a hitch and I returned home to chat with Debi online and look through the college's website. It's insulting, the number of typos, grammatical errors, and misused words I found in the study tips section! I will be notifying someone at the college!

I'm talking about things like "take a bread between study sessions." Quotes left "hanging. Outline topics marked A, B, D. Is C on vacation? Using "of" instead of "for." "There" instead of "their." OMG, I almost went through the roof when I saw that one! These are all things that should have been noticed; I saw them my first time reading it! I hope an English professor isn't the one who created the documents! If so, I'm either going to be a royal pain in the ass or the star student. I certainly hope it's the latter.

Yes, I know! Further proof of my compulsion for perfect grammar and spelling in everything I read! Why, oh why won't everyone cooperate?!

And yes, I did fill out my FASFA online. It is all submitted and being sent to the school. I laughed when I saw the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). ZERO! Unlike when Social Services determines your need for help, the FASFA does not include untaxed SSDI benefits. Therefore, my income was zero. I'll hear whether or not I receive any financial aid to use towards books and other necessities hopefully in the next couple weeks.

Books! I don't have to tell you parents of college-age students, but for everyone else: books are expensive! I have a math book and an online kit and four books and an e-book for English. Guess how much? $407.30 new and $258.30 used! I found four of my books on Amazon, new. I won't buy used books online because I can't see the markings, if any. The used books in the bookstore are markings-free.

I will be asking Sue at DoRS exactly how to go about getting my books and other needed supplies (graphing calculator, notebooks, pens, etc) before school starts. Unfortunately, neither of my professors lists any supplies. I have no idea about how they want notebooks organized, or if they don't care. I know some professors are huge fans of notebook tests/quizzes. I just like having everything ready and not waiting until the last minute. But the syllabuses (not misspelled-I checked!) aren't given to students until a week before classes start. That is aggravating!

June 25, 2009

Last night was Borders' stitching group and this afternoon was Barnes & Noble! I love stitching with a group of needleworkers! Not only do they motivate me to stitch, but it also gets me out of the house.

I couldn't resist! I started stitching the background on the purple suede bag Myrl sent me. I know I'm probably supposed to do this entirely in tent/basketweave stitch, but that's just so boring to me! I thought an alternating Scotch stitch would add some texture to the background. I think I made a mistake, however, because I couldn't get the curve of the flower petals to look correct.

All you needlepointers who read this, what would you do? I have never even contemplated doing a painted canvas before and there's no stitch guide for this. What stitches are typically used for flower leaves and petals? How can I show the curve of the leaves and flower petals? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

So I frogged everything I'd done. I hate negative progress!

I didn't get anywhere on re-stitching because Anna and I had our weekly Library date this afternoon, too.

We went to the main branch instead of the Eastport/Annapolis Neck branch today. Big mistake! Anna wanted to do puzzles and there aren't any at West Street. Bad Aunt Beth!

She finally chose three books to take home and I signed her up for the Summer Reading Club. We have to write in a little SRC journal all the books Anna reads this summer and she will receive a stamp each week. She will also get a prize at the end of the summer. All she wanted, though, was the sticker!

When I told Sarah about the journal said said, " But that's like 20 a week!"

I told her, "Write small!"

As I promised, Anna finished watching Lady and the Tramp. She chose to see Cinderella again, too. After the movies were over we walked down to the end of the driveway and back so that Kasey could go outside. Of course, the mosquitoes swarmed us!

When we got back, Anna started playing with her stickers. These were actually the stickers that Amy sent me in the Valentine's Day package, but I knew Anna would love them. I found a little pink spiral notebook for her to put them in. There are also three on my laptop (they were originally on my forehead, arm, and leg, respectively).

Uncle Wes found a little step stool he made in high school when he was cleaning part of the carport. He cleaned it up and gave it to Anna as her new "table." It's been sticker-fied, too!

Sarah and Ty arrived around 8:00pm to pick up Anna. Tyler also helped Uncle Wes take the old A/C unit out of the livingroom window and replace it with Sarah's newer unit that was in her house in Elkton. It's amazing how much light can actually come through that window now that the behemoth A/C unit isn't there, even though it's inside the carport!

Anna got very playful (she wouldn't take a nap for either Sarah or me today)and started using her Uncle as a play-gym. She thought it was hilarious to put her hand over Wes's mouth while he was talking.

While Anna was playing with her stickers, I started browsing the 100+ emails in my Yahoo inbox. Once again, I was stunned by the generosity of my fellow stitchers. Lisa has graciously offered to send some movies that her boys have outgrown, including Anna's favorite, The Little Mermaid. Or, as she says "Ar'el."

Your timing couldn't have been better, Lisa! Anna brought me the insert from Lady and the Tramp, opened to a page in the middle. She pointed at the picture of TLM and said "You need buy DAT ONE, Aunt Beppy!"

Later, she walked up to Uncle Wes, poked him in the belly, and said "You need to buy Ar'el movie!"

When I told her that a very nice lady will be sending movies for her to keep and watch here, she smiled and her eyes lit up. I'm going to TRY not to open the box myself and let her do it. I will also attempt to get some pictures. Anna and I are very thankful to you!

June 14-19, 2009

First off, I would like to apologize for taking so long to post an update. Apparently Blogger and Internet Explorer weren't getting along this week, as I was repeatedly told that IE couldn't open Crossed Purposes; hence, no updates. But it's working now, so here goes...

Sunday
I still didn't feel well so no stitching was done. I finally made myself eat real food but unfortunately it didn't help the situation any. This usually only lasts 3-4 days, so Monday night I should be okay. I spent the day watching movies on Turner Classics and reading emails.

Monday
Shortly after midnight I picked up LCKQ and continued with the fill-in of the Celtic band. I usually get bored with so much repetitive stitching but am not having any trouble with this project.

Tuesday
I went to Provinces library for the Heirloom Stitchers' meeting but Kathy Y and I were the only ones there. While Kathy did a little stitching, I did none at all. We had a nice chat for an hour and a half and then decided to head on home.

Sarah called me while I was driving and we decided to meet up at the Super WalMart. I bought Anna a pair of D-D-Dora (that's how she says it) tennis shoes for her to play in. She always wears Crocs whenever I see her and they just make me nervous on one so young as she.

Do you mind if I ask why the uncouth morons seem to congregate in WalMart stores? I had Kasey on one side of me, Anna holding my hand on the other as we walked into the pet supply aisle. Four adult women were in the aisle, squirting each other with dog shampoo bottles. Two of them came running right at us. I had to pull Kasey out of their way. Meanwhile, I shot a dagger-filled look at all of them. They had shampoo all over the floor, and of course Kasey couldn't help stepping in some of it. I was very worried that she'd slip.

I found a store employee and told him "four blonde women" squirted shampoo all over the floor so that someone could come clean it up. I was completely disgusted and I think that will be my last foray into Super WalMart. I guess manners aren't taught or adhered to in public anymore?

Wednesday
I woke up with a sore throat so I called my clinic and told them I'd be staying home. I felt better a couple hours later, but I still didn't feel like going to dialysis. Instead, I went to the post office to mail some trades and RAKs. I came home and the sight of the livingroom just depressed me. I couldn't handle the mess anymore. This is what it looked like as I got started cleaning the hearth in front of the fireplace. Here is the view from the hallway. I apologize for the spots on the one picture; I'm not sure what happened.



I'm embarrassed to show you but I'm also very proud of how much I accomplished in just one day. Of course I had to take breaks to rest and that weak muscle in my lower back gave out before I even finished moving things off the hearth, but I persevered!

By midnight I'd cleaned the majority of the room. All I had left was the area between the couch and my stitching chair in front of the door. I'm still working on that, and vacuuming the rest of the carpet. I'm hoping to cover the stains that my Saluki left with an area rug. I'll have to look around for a sale when I get paid next month, if I can fit that into my budget.

Thursday
I was awakened by a bad thunderstorm and a deluge of rain before 8:00am. I tried getting back to sleep for an hour and just couldn't so I came out and stitched for an hour and a half. By 10:30 I was exhausted again and went back to bed to sleep until my alarm woke me at 12:30.

As usual, it was the AnnapolisKnits stitch-in at Barnes & Noble in the afternoon. Kasey and I arrived shortly after 1:00pm and stayed with Judy and Linda until after 5:00. I completed the fill-in of the Celtic band on LCKQ this morning, as well as one side of the last purple border, so I went to work on completing the last two borders. Before I left I'd done the entire purple border and one side of the Abelone border.

I was determined to finish LCKQ that night and went home to keep stitching away. At 9:00pm, the wall of exhaustion slammed into me once again and I could not keep my eyes open. I told Debi, who I was IM'ing with, that I was going to take a nap and would be back "in a couple hours."

Friday
HA! That "couple hour" nap turned into five hours! I woke at 2am. Luckily Debi was still online. We resumed our chat and I started reading emails instead of stitching, but did finally pick it up around 3:30am. And then the frogs attacked LCKQ! There was an error in the Abelone border all the way at the first corner. I had to frog two of the three sides and then started re-stitching them.

I finally went back to sleep at 9:00am and woke up in time for dialysis. I still can't stitch during my treatments, so I read a book for an hour and then slept for the last two hours. Gloria woke me up shortly before 6pm to tell me that I was done and needed to hold my needle sites.

Carol B-C, Carol B (Knitter Carol), and I had arranged to meet at Border's tonight, so I went home to pick up Kasey and headed straight for the mall. Knitter Carol was already there, as she'd been doing some shopping earlier, but Carol B-C came in just after I sat down.

We stitched until around 8:30 and then went to the food court to get dinner. Since it was so loud that Kasey was nervous, we returned to the Borders cafe with our meals and ate in a much quieter environment. We picked up our stitching after all the food was gone and I put the last stitch into LCKQ five minutes before the store closed! Lavenderblue Celtic Knot Quilt is my 14th finish of 2009, the Year of the Sampler! I'm sure you could hear Carol B-C's "Wooo Hoo" where ever you were!

I took LCKQ off the stretcher bars and put a new canvas on them at home. I want to start Desert Star by From Nancy's Needle next.

April 7-8, 2009

I won't bore you with the lack of details, so just suffice it to say I've done no stitching in the last two days. I also haven't beaten my Mah Jong high score, either. I've tried really hard, though!

Dialysis has been going good lately, so no news there. What can I say? It's been pretty boring around here.

Kasey made Uncle Wes take her for three walks today since it was his day off and she didn't feel like going for a walk on Monday or Tuesday. It is so funny because she will just get up from where ever she was sleeping and stumble (and I mean that literally) down the basement steps. She walks into his den and starts doing her dance. If he ignores her, she starts barking at him. And if he takes too long, she starts moaning, which is more like a yawn and a moan combined; it's loud! That's her I'm-ready-to-go-and-you're-holding-me-up moan. She does the same thing to me when I tell her "let's go." That's her que that she's going to work.

As for her stumbling down the steps, I really don't know what to tell you. She also stumbles going UP steps. I think it has to do with our basement steps being painted, because she isn't that graceless when we're at Mom's. She doesn't fall down the entire staircase, but she does slip and slide down the last few. We've learned not to interrupt her on her way up or down. I love my girl, but it's almost as if she can't think about anything else when she's on a staircase. If she tries to, that's when she gets in trouble. Yanno, she was blonde when she was a baby! lol

I guess it's apparent who runs this house, huh? She's so cute about it, though! She doesn't ask for much and she is an absolute delight to be around. She's happy as long as she is around people, preferably me. Everyone that has watched her for me (Mom & Uncle Wes included) tells me that she is much calmer when she has me close by. That goes both ways, though, so I don't mind at all!

I will have a stitching update tomorrow! It's Thursday, so Kasey and I will be going to Barnes & Noble for the afternoon stitching group. I also have a stitching group on Friday night at Borders. Everyone wanted to have an extra day and I never pass up an opportunity to get out and stitch.

I will be missing Monday night's stitching group at Border's because I'm heading to Mom's with Kasey right after dialysis. We're staying up there with her and her new dog, Ricco, and Jake. Dad will be in Texas on business and Mom likes having company when he's away.

This is a pic of Mom's new boy, Ricco. He is a 13-year-old Spitz/Golden Retriever mix. His owners could no longer keep him because they are busy with work and a new baby. They contacted the local Golden Retriever rescue group about giving Ricco to them, but he didn't have enough Golden in him to qualify. The intake coordinator did, however, get them in touch with Mom and they brought Ricco to her over the weekend. Since he wasn't actually IN rescue, she didn't have to pay the adoption fee. Luckily Ricco and Mom's old guy, Jake, are getting along, so it looks like Ricco is there to stay. I love happy endings!

I just wanted to pop in and post a quick update so no one worries about me. I'm doing good, but just haven't been in a stitching mood. Nothing monumental has happened, so I didn't think I had much to write about. I guess that's what I get for thinking!

April 2, 2009

After getting three hours of sleep my alarm woke me up in time for Kasey and I to get to her grooming appointment. I decided to take her to an actual groomer instead of just getting her a bath this month because the cottony "fuzzies," as I call them, have grown down the sides of her legs and have cropped up behind her ears. She looks like she has a lion's mane. Because of her delight in and addiction of rolling in leaves, she comes inside with a veritable forest still clinging to her! It's gotta stop!

I went to the library on my way home to pick up two books I had on hold and then returned to the house. After reading email and watching television for a couple hours, it was finally time to go pick up my Punky.

We will NOT be going back! This is the same groomer who did a wonderful job on Kasey 2 1/2 years ago, but this time she did too much. I wanted her to take the "cottony fuzzies" that have appeared on her legs and behind her ears. You can clearly see and feel them; they're on the outside of her legs and behind her ears and they're almost stark white.

Instead, she trimmed Kasey ALL OVER! She even cut her tail, which was about 9-12" long, to about 3-4". She cut all the curls from around Kasey's neck, cut the feathering on the back of her legs, and cut the hair on her sides and belly! None of her hair, besides her tail, is more than 2 inches long! Plus, she didn't get rid of the fuzzies on the sides of Kasey's legs! They've just been clipped to about 3/4". I think the fact that they clipped her ears is the most visible; I hate it! Her ears used to flow into the hair on her neck and now they're delineated.

I almost screamed when I saw my poor girl! I wasn't going to let Kasey know she wasn't the prettiest girl in all the world, but I am T-TOTALLY TICKED OFF! It's going to take months for her hair to grow back out, and even longer for her tail to get back to its normal length. I've included "before" and "after" pictures for you.

I know alot of people won't see a big difference, but having worked professionally with dogs for half my life, I see every little nuance. She's still a gorgeous girl, but her cut detracts from her looks. To me, it's sacrelige to cut a dog's tail short when it's grown out long and flowing. The same goes for ears.

Okay, enough. I'll just get worked up all over again.

So, stitching...Yes, I did some today. I finished the first leaf and did the second one today. I did a total of 10 1/4 stitches today! *groan*

We went to our usual Thursday afternoon stitching group at the Barnes & Noble cafe' and had a very nice time. Yarn workers in this area are getting ready for the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival, which is the same weekend as the Ocean City retreat, so it was a popular topic for conversation around the table. I really enjoy all the chatter because I learn alot. I've heard of a few different yarn shops in the region that also sell needlepoint or cross stitch items. As you can see, I did more talking and listening today than actual stitching.

I have to tell you, too, that I think I've figured out the problem with the floss in my Sweetheart Tree kits: I think it's dried out. It's getting more supple and softer as it's handled, so I think I'm going to hang it in the bathroom and run the humidifier for a little while this weekend. It's been sitting in the bag in my stash cabinet for over a year. I bought all my Sweetheart Tree kits at the same time, so maybe that's why all of the cotton floss has the same feel.

I received an email from Sandie Vanosdall of The Sweetheart Tree in response to yesterday's post. I apologized to Sandie in case I offended her and let her know that I do alot of "thinking out loud" here on Crossed Purposes. This is what she had to say about the WDW and DMC she uses to kit up her designs:

I 100% guarantee that we do not do a thing to the floss used in our kits to change the feel of them - this is exactly the way they come to us from DMC and from Weeks. We use those 2 fibers for certain reasons.....DMC is the #1 most available fiber(worldwide) and it is available to us on a "cone" which contains 1000's of yards of floss. Weeks has a great color range and is also available on a cone - plus I've come to know the owner of Weeks quite well and want to support her when I have a design that works well with one of her colors. I do use other fiber companies as well...Caron Collection, ThreadworX, DinkyDyes, Crescent Colors, etc....whatever works best with the design is what we will specify and use. Since we kit SO many patterns it's obviously easiest and most time efficient for us to pull the floss off of the cones rather than try to unwind and separate the floss from skeins.

OMG, CONES! Thousands of YARDS of floss! How cool is that?! Can you imagine? You'd NEVER have to buy floss again! I want my own collection of cones!

But seriously, I very much appreciate Sandie's email. I was thinking further about the drying issue and I think I could have stated things a little better in my post. I didn't mean to insinuate that TST was doing anything to the floss; what was in my head was "what is happening to it that it feels this way? I know how DMC and WDW feel when I buy them, so there has to be a reason this is occurring." I sincerely apologize for any offense I caused.

Sandie also said:

I wish you could see how this is done and perhaps I'll photograph our gals in the process of making kits someday and post it on our website so you and other stitchers can see how kits are made

I told her I'd love to see that; it'd be really neat. What do you think? I'm still thinking of all those cones y'all and I am SO jealous! I think I'm gonna go to bed and dream about a room of 'em.

February 19, 2009

I know I skipped the post for yesterday but nothing really happened. I didn't stitch at all, either. I watched my "Space Buddies" DVD during my dialysis treatment. It was definitely a cute movie! I had a very nice email chat with Marc Davis of Needlemania. I look forward to meeting him when I go visit Mom sometime. Marc lives about ten minutes from her and knows all the local and not-so-local LNS's. Can you say "field trip!"?

Carol is lobbying for me to go to a Stitcher's Weekend at Salty Yarns in Ocean City, MD from May 1 to 3. If I can stay with Millicent in Berlin, it's doable finance-wise for me. If not, I don't see myself being able to attend. This may be my birthday present to myself, in lieu of the cancelled day trip to Salty Yarns that I was trying to arrange.

Today was the first day I spent headache free! I was okay for most of Tuesday but it starting coming back last night with a vengeance. I took two Aleve and crawled into bed at 6:00 this morning.

I had a biopsy done on a mole today. I noticed a pink mole on my forearm a couple weeks ago and was concerned because I don't have any pink moles. In addition, it was also itching so I called the doctor for an appointment to have it checked. I'm not sure of the time frame for results but I'm guessing it'll be about a week. In the meantime, there's a hole in my arm the size of a pencil eraser. I've also scheduled my yearly checkup for March, where we will go over all my bloodwork and make sure there are no other supplements I'm missing. I plan to discuss my eczema and seborrhea because the flaking is bad this year. I'll let you know how all that turns out.

I only did a little stitching at Barnes & Noble today. I made sure I had Lasseter's Reef in my stitching bag! I continued working on the border and will try to do alot more this weekend. Since Saturday is my birthday, I'm hoping I get an uninterrupted day of stitching! I don't plan on turning on the laptop for most of the day, so be warned!

I received a box from Wawanna in today's mail. I have been expecting a sourdough bread starter, so I eagerly opened the box. Inside was tissue paper, but the weight felt right to be a dried piece of bread dough. I took out the red package and found one of Wawanna's newest Dazzling Creations, a scarf she knitted for me! Tears came to my eyes! She's just begun knitting and this is gorgeous. I wore it around the house with my pj's, Wawanna. You told me it was going to be a while before you got around to knitting something for me, though, you sneaky lady! Thank you!


Next, the lavender piece of tissue paper came out with a card. I read the card and then opened the tissue paper to find a chart from M Designs called 'Maw Maw's Quilt.' You were paying attention when I mentioned my mini quilt square addiction, weren't you, Wawanna? I will work on kitting this up soon, I promise!




I was still in sourdough starter mindset and expected to find it wrapped in the last piece of tissue paper. So I was stunned to find this cute little wrist bag. Look at all the goodies she packed inside! From the top center are two needleminders Wawanna made for me, 5 yards of 2.5mm white pearl strand, packs of size 24 and 26 needles, fun heart-shaped rhinestones in shades of purple, 23 paper floss tags, a froggie thread picker (I think), some 6-strand cotton in bright colors, and the wrist bag itself.

I took this picture of the froggie to show you in better detail. Wawanna, he's sticking his tongue out at me! What is up with that?! It's bad enough that he attacks my stitching on a semi-regular basis, but does he have to flaunt it? This is too cute, though! I love everything! Once again you caught me unawares and I am floored by your generosity!

Because I didn't sleep enough last night I took a nap when I got home. I woke at 9:00 this evening and then made dinner and chatted with Debi and Frishawn online. I meant to get to my stitching but I just felt tired and think it'll be another early night despite the nap.

February 5, 2009

Wow did Kasey and I have a busy day! We headed out this morning to stop by the bank and the post office. I had to mail trades to Maggie, Peg, and Lynn. I also mailed a loaner chart to Wawanna. While there, I was able to pick up my trade from Judith. I received 'Dogs Collection 4' by Pegasus Originals and 'Raspberry Homecoming' by Told in a Garden.

Kathy Y said I need to switch out the Scottish Terriers in the sampler on the cover of the Dog leaflet with "Kaseys." She told me it's too cute a sentiment not to stitch it with little Kaseys on it. It says "A dog is the only true love money can buy." How right is that?!

I also adore the mini quilts in RH, which is why I asked for it in the first place. I'm adding it to my "quilt" pile. I'm pretty sure I have enough now to stitch for an entire year without finishing all the quilt charts I own.

The mailman has been very nice to me this week and has brought me Silkweaver fabbies from Patti G. She sent me Turquoise and Karma Sparkle opalescents from Silkweaver in exchange for a piece of dirty linen she needed. Now I have to find designs to stitch on all these opalescents I've collected! I don't think that'll be a problem, however!

Maggie D purchased some stash from my trade blog and graciously included a paperback copy of Sandra Brown's novel, 'The Switch.' She's also the lady who suggested I read SB's 'Envy,' so I'm anxious to finish my current book in order to start one of them. SB is so great at keeping you guessing! I've thoroughly enjoyed her books that I've listened to on CD, but this will be the first time I'll have actually read one.


Here are two different deliveries. On the left is the DMC from Lisa S. This was the last part of our trade for my old digital camera. Sweetheart that she is, she included an Amazon gift certificate to reimburse me for postage. Lisa, thank you for all three of the gift certificates! I can't wait to go shopping on Amazon next month! On the right is the remainder of the floss I ordered from Wasatch. The bright aqua is the Perle for Blue Bayou, the next chart I'm going to do in the Ebb Tide series by Northern Pine Designs. The rest of the WDW is for a Britty Kitty chart I'd like to stitch for Grandma. It has a cat and a bluebird in it, very appropriate for her!

I took Kasey to Muddy Paw Wash for her monthly bath this morning. As soon as we got through the door she started dancing around. Se was so excited to be there. The employees fawned all over her, as usual. Mike took her right back and bathed her. We stayed for a little while after she was done because we had some time to kill before the Barnes and Noble stitching group at 1pm. Kasey loved all the attention from her admirers. Today's new toy was a stuffed hippo with a squeaker in it. She was so intent on getting human attention that she ignored it until we returned home this evening.

Since she was so excited at MPW, I put Peace & Calming oil on her front feet before we left for my stitching group. By the time we arrived there, Kasey was her usual mellow, working persona. Kathy Y was able to join us this week and it was nice having another stitcher in the group. The cafe staff kindly prepared a cup of ice water for Kasey so that she could have a drink while we were there. I think she really enjoyed the cold water because the store was quite warm. I ordered a Chai as a treat for myself.

Everyone left by 3pm and it was only Kathy and I. I started counting down the stitches! Six...four...three...two...one and a half...one...half a stitch...DONE!

NOT!!

I still had to backstitch the oval! UGH! I thought I had completed that darn cover at last! Kathy had to get home so I packed up my things to leave as well.

My "Maintenance Reqd" light was lit on the dashboard, so I took the truck to the station where I always get my oil changed. You could have knocked me over with a feather when the mechanic came back in and told me my brakes were down to 10% and it was going to be more than $300 to put new ones on and resurface the rotors. My truck only has 35,000 miles on it!

There goes my birthday S.E.X. at Salty Yarns! BTW: S.E.X. is NOT the same as sex! It means Stash Enhancement eXperience, in case you thought I was getting into the TMI range. I've been planning a trip to Ocean City with Carol and Kathy Y to check out the LNS on the Boardwalk. Now I can't do it! WAAAAHH!! I have to get the truck fixed first!

Kasey and I finally got home around 4pm and Uncle Wes pulled up the drive shortly afterwards. I'd already called Mom and told her about the truck and that I wouldn't be able to stay with her from Sunday to Thursday next week. I'm going to have to limit how much driving I do.

Then I told Wessy what I was told and he immediately thought something was fishy. First, my brakes don't squeak, so it's hard to believe they're at 10%. Second, if my rotors don't need to be replaced, he doubts the $300 price tag. So I have to get a second opinion. I'm going to call the shop tomorrow, if I get up in time, to see if they can do a brake inspection. Several people, including the guy who runs the small service station close to home, have recommended this other shop to Uncle Wes for vehicle repairs. I'll let you know the final verdict as soon as I find out.

Oh! Stitching! Yep, did that today!! Here is 'Stitches Stars & Stripes' by Blue Ribbon Designs. I worked on it for a little while as I was waiting for the truck's oil change to be completed. I'm doing this both as part of The Year of the Sampler and to join in on the Blue Ribbon Designs SAL in Stitch_it_Quick. I didn't get much done, but each stitch is one closer to a finish, right? I've been concentrating on getting the borders done because they're straight lines and that's hard to mess up.

At home tonight I back-stitched the oval and put the charm on. My Stitching Album's cover is FINALLY done!! And I was good! I never found out if it would make a good Frisbee, although Chris W assures me that QSnaps *do* fly! This is my 4th finish in the YotS! I put the last stitch in at 11:45pm.

Now to decide what to stitch next...stay tuned!

January 22, 2009

I still haven't gotten back on my usual nocturnal schedule. Being at my mother's for a week and then getting sick right after I got home just threw me off. Because of that, I was up at 10:00 this morning and went out to run errands. Since I was in Severna Park anyway, I stopped by Partners In Care to say hello to Linda and drop off some books to the Boutique. They were taking up room and I knew I wouldn't read them a second time.

From the PIC office I went straight to Barnes & Noble for the afternoon stitching group. I was the only stitcher, with everyone else knitting, but I enjoyed the camaraderie. It was nice to sit and stitch with others around who enjoy similar pasttimes. Slowly everyone left except me and one other lady, another Linda. She was having some trouble with her knitting project and went to find a reference book to help her. I worked on "Love, Laugh, Survive & Thrive" from The Cat's Whiskers Design Studio and Dinky Dyes. This is the second time I've stitched it and it is coming right along. I was able to almost complete the entire front panel by 4:20pm.


That's when I looked at my phone and saw how late it was! I was planning on leaving at 4pm because I needed to get home to let Kasey out. Linda also had things she needed to do an didn't realize how late it had gotten. The time just seemed to fly by. Lucky for me, Uncle Wes was already home and he'd taken Kasey for a walk. I would have felt bad that she'd been in so long because she didn't have to go out before I left the house this morning.

This evening I continued to work on LLS&T, completing the front panel and doing the ribbon and heart on the back.

December 18, 2008

I had another horrible night of sleep last night, but I was able to get up and go to the stitching group that meets at the local Barnes & Noble store. I arrived an hour late and yet there were still ladies there! I was the only stitcher; everyone else was knitting. I admired one of the scarves I saw, as well as some of the work being done. I might have to find out from Carol if she can make the handwarmers I saw!
Are you ready for this? I stitched again! I put four whole stitches in Live Laugh Survive & Thrive at the meeting. Over an hour...four stitches...I suck!

Here's this month's total stitches:
16 eyelets
6 Rhodes squares (4 were over-two, meaning tiny)
4 cross stitches

How pathetic is that? I'm thankful I can stitch, but this is just... *Primal Scream* Frustrating!

This is how much I want to stitch:
I arrive at the meeting, sit down and introduce myself. Get out my kit and sewing bag. Listen to the conversation for a while. Put the fabric in QSnaps. Decide to cut off the extra length, so take the fabby out of the snaps. Cut slowly not crossing threads, so it stays square. Listen to more conversation and join in here and there. Put the fabby back in the QSnaps. Opps, take it out to measure the center, mark with marking pin. Put the fabby back in the snaps. Read the directions. Sit and listen to conversation while taking the fabby out of the snaps to mark the center of the left side with another marking pin. Now put in four stitches, s-l-o-w-l-y. Time to go!

Can you get any better at procrastinating? The thing that frustrates me is that my mind keeps telling me "stitch, stitch, stitch." Maybe when that voice is silenced and isn't nagging me I'll actually get back to it! LoL!

While chatting about my slump, Frishawn had this to say:

"well...at least we mere stitching mortals can get a few stitches in while the goddess is down for the count."

I laughed my head off!! Thank you, Frishawn. You made my day! Goddess I am NOT, but thank you for the compliment!

Yet again, my search for knitting needle tip-protectors (for the tips of my embroidery scissors) came up fruitless. I went to the Yarn Garden and purchased stretcher bars for my Purple Passion Butterfly. The QSnap just wasn't working. Unfortunately both sets of my stretcher bars are 9" and PPB is 8". I was amazed YG had them, although I almost missed them because of all the clutter in the store. They REALLY need a bigger space so they can spread out. ADA compliant, they are NOT! No way can a person in a wheelchair get around in there!

So I asked about the tip protectors and they didn't have them, just the plastic thing I bought last time that I really don't like. I went to Michaels and saw them, but they're packaged and I wasn't sure what size to get. I need to try them on my embroidery scissors before I buy them. Once they're opened, I can't return them if they don't work.

I also went to West Annapolis to the quilt shop there as the lady at YG suggested. They looked at me like I was crazy and said they don't even sell embroidery scissors, but the ladies were very nice. I guess they were thinking "why would she come here looking for those?"

And folks, I can NOT go back there! The purple-y-ness kept jumping out at me! I WANT! I WANT! Purple quilts hanging all around! I was in heaven! I want those fabbies! They would finish my stitching beautifully!

You may even hear of me taking a quilting class in the future sometime. I need to get better with my sewing skills, and quilting would teach me how to make fabric borders around my stitching for wall hangings and even ornaments. As I was talking to Debi tonight it hit me: the perfect finish for my Dinky Dyes quilt squares! Making them into a quilt and hanging it! It's the only way I'll have enough room to display them all at once. I'm sure I can find a fabric that uses my colors and will look good around the stitched pieces.

After arriving home from the quilt shop I decided I wanted something for dinner that would provide leftovers for a couple days. So I took the corned beef brisket from the fridge and set it to boil on the stove. I called Mom and got her Orange Sauce recipe and drained a large can of sweet potatoes. I added a can of mandarin oranges to the colander. I prepared the orange sauce and poured it over the sweet potatoes and orange sections in the baking dish. I even steamed peas and pearl onions to have along with the Bob Evans mashed potatoes I had in the fridge.

Ohhhh! Did I eat too much! I was more stuffed tonight than I was at Thanks-giving dinner. I just looooove corned beef brisket, though! How easy can something be? Buy a seasoned brisket, freeze it til you're ready to use it. Thaw it in the fridge. Boil with pickling spice (included) for a couple hours (about 1 hr per pound) til fork tender. Voila!

Make your sides and you have a very filling dinner for the family! Just beware: approximately 1/3 the weight is fat. Make sure you get enough. Uncle Wes and I can almost eat an entire 2lb brisket in one meal.

I sat and read email while chatting with Debi and Frishawn this evening until I decided to soak in the bathtub. Aahh! I felt soo much better when I got out! An hour and a half with just me, the hot water, and my book...Heaven.

Once again Amy has gone above and beyond the call of duty in the CSE Advent Exchange. Today's package included both the Winter Quilt chart from Imaginating and Love's Unending Legacy DVD, the fifth in the Love Comes Softly series. I'm just flabbergasted by your generosity, Lady! Thank you!!

I think this chart was on my wishlist at some point. I remember seeing it and saying to myself that the colors are perfect for me.

I also adore mini quilt squares and would like to find a quilt with enough simple squares to make one of the 15-sided biscornus. If you need it translated, look for the Google Translator (Russian? to English) link in previous posts, but I thought she did an excellent job with the pictures. If you know how to make a biscornu, the method is the same. You just need more panels and you connect five of themfor the top and bottom.

These tutorials are on Cameo Roze's site. She shows you how to make bellpulls, tote bags, easels, needlerolls, and several different types of ornament finishes. I think you can get lost in all her pages, so I definitely wanted to point these out to you:
http://www.cameoroze.com/completions/index.htm

I thought this one was great! Talk about easy and fun: make a t-shirt into a tote bag!
http://www.joann.com/static/project/0807/P229646.pdf

Here are some cute tags from Moonlight Inspirations:
http://www.moonlightinspirations.com/free-cross-stitch-patterns.htm

Is there a bird lover in your family? If so, check out X-Stitch Birds' freebies:
http://www.xstitchbirds.com/Free%20Charts.htm

Here's another site of bird freebies. If you like, you can join her Yahoo group to find out when new free charts are added:
http://www.birdcrossstitch.com/

Did you like Ebb Tide? Would you enjoy stitching a similar design by Northern Pine Designs? Look here:
http://www.northernpinedesigns.com/freedesign.html