One Word

Ok, so I realize I’m woefully behind in updating my blog. I keep meaning to update my blog, but it’s just been such a major adjustment in my life being back at work. I make no promises other than to TRY and update more frequently.

To get me started, here is a fun thing I saw on Terri and Susan’s blogs. I thought I would play along, too. There is no tagging, so if you want to play along, feel free to jump in and post it on your own blog. Please leave me a comment so I can check out your responses.

You get to answer with one word.

1. Where is your Cellphone? - purse
2. Relationship? - frustrating
3. Your Hair? - thin
4. Work? - necessity
5. Your sister? - quiet
6. Your favorite thing? - stitching
7. Your dream last night? - none
8. Your favorite drink? - tea
9. Your dream car? - BMW
10. The room you’re in? - living
11. Your shoes? - Birki’s
12. Your fears? - innumerable
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? - healthy
14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? - myself
15. What are you not good at? - patience
16. Muffin? - carrot
17. One of your wish list items? - home
18. Where you grew up? - Tennessee
19. Last thing you did? - laundry
20. What are you wearing? - sweats
21. What aren’t you wearing? - socks
22. Your pet? - none
23. Your computer? - laptop
24. Your life? - unfulfilled
25. Your mood? - pensive
26. Missing? - joy
27. What are you thinking about right now? - housework
28. Your car? - Corolla
29. Your kitchen? - clean
30. Your summer? - long
31. Your favorite color? - none
32. Last time you laughed? - yesterday
33. Last time you cried? - yesterday
34. School? - unfinished
35. Love? - overrated

I do have a couple of stitching related pictures. I’ll save those for another day though.

Happy stitching!

8 Random Things

I’ve been tagged by Dana. First, the rules:

1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I have lost over 100 pounds and actually kept 75 of it off.
2. I sponsor 2 girls in India through Children International.
3. I worry too much about what others think of me.
4. I once appeared in a TV commecial with Richard Petty & Johnny Cash.
5. I came in 2nd place in a state typing contest in high school. (107wpm/1 error).
6. Someone very special to me gives me lots of cute bunnies — last count: 12
7. I have finished well over a dozen 5k races.
8. My favorite flowers are carnations, especially pink ones.

I am tagging Christine, Sara, Patti, Michele, Darla, Laura, Susan, and Chelle.

Quaker RR/Another Meme

I thought I should get around to a stitching update. I have finished a couple of things recently. The first was French Country Pear by JBW Designs. It’s in the current issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine. I opted to leave the word “pear” off when I stitched it. I think I’m going to finish it into a pinkeep. I stitched it using white DMC on a Silkweaver Solo piece of fabric. Here’s a pic:

My next finish was my portion on Terri’s piece for the Quaker RR I’m coordinating/participating in on the Legacy BB. I stitched a bunny motif taken from the freebie chart Le Quaker a 6 Mains, a wheat medallion from the Ackworth pattern book, and a small vase motif taken from Quaker Samplings I. Her fibers are Vikki Clayton’s conversion for Blairgowrie and her fabric is Vintage Light Examplar from Lakeside Linens. Here are a couple of pics:

Now, for something not related to stitching, here’s another cool meme I found on the site of the Blissful Loser:

Copy, bold the things you’ve done, and post.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink - no, but I was at a bar when someone did
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain - does the top of Multnomah Fall in Oregon count?
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris - not, but I will be in May 2007
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game - Saw the Anaheim Angels in the 2005 ALCS
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon - no, but I’ve been in a chase vehicle
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states - nope, I’ve been to 45 of them though
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign it was when I was in college
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip - drove from Tennessee to California
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie - no, but I was in a commercial
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days - the longest I’ve ever fasted was 3 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo - I have 3 of them actually (photos here)
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried “one”/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror - I’m assuming you mean at the midnight movie?
96. Raised children - sadly, no
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds - gained a little back, but I’ve kept 96 lbs off
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears - my nose
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours - I was sick at the time though
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi - Pre-vegetarian days obviously
128. Had your picture in the newspaper - several times
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach - but not on purpose - eewwwwwww
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - again, clearly pre-veg day
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language - used ASL
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair - shared it with 3 other crafters
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

That’s it for now. Happy stitching!

Christmas Meme/Knowledge Quiz

I saw these on Susan’s blog and decided to steal them both for mine.

Christmas Meme:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Some of both. It depends on the gift.

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial. I like having my tree up from the weekend after Thanksgiving until the weekend after New Year, so it just seems safer to have an artificial tree.

3. When do you put up the tree? The weekend after Thanksgiving usually.

4. When do you take the tree down? The weekend after New Year.

5. Do you like eggnog? Nope, not a fan. I grew up in the south where boiled custard was more common than eggnog and I didn’t like it either.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? A Cinderella watch from my maternal grandparents when I was about 5.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? No, I don’t. Christmas is a winter holiday to me, not a religious holiday. All of my decorations are non-religious.

8. Hardest person to buy for? Hmmm…I can’t think of anyone that I really consider being hard to buy for in my life.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Probably my dear friend Terri, our tastes in stash are so similar that I know anything that I would want for myself is probably a good choice for her.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Nothing … yep, that’s right. I’ve been married twice and neither of my ex-husbands ever got me a Christmas gift. The first one always used the excuse about how commercialized Christmas had become and he refused to give into it. Then again, he never bought me a birthday present either. hmmmmm In our 9 years together I only got a Christmas gift from him once and that was only because my best friend shamed him into it. My second husband always just said, “I don’t know what you’d like so just take some money from our account and go out and buy yourself something from me.”

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? I mail cards, for the most part. I do have a few online friends that I don’t have a mailing address for, so I send them email cards.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It’s a toss up between “It’s a Wonderful Life” and the original “Miracle on 34th Street”, but I’ve not watched either of them in several years.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually sometime around September or October, although if I find something I think will be “perfect” for someone at any point in the year, I’ll go on and buy it when I see it.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No, but I have recycled lots of gift bags.

15. Favorite thing to eat and drink at Christmas? I can’t think of anything specifically that is a favorite. In my pre-Weight Watchers days, I would definitely go crazy on chocolate covered cherries this time of year. They’re still a major temptation, but I try to avoid them.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Definitely clear lights for me. I do like to use the multi-colored lights outside, but my tree always has clear.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Hard to say, for a traditional song, it would either be “The Christmas Song” or “Carol of the Bells”. As for a kitchy song, it would probably be “Santa, Baby”.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I’ll be spending Christmas day locally with my former in-laws.

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeers? Yes: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen. I do recall, the most famous reindeer of all … Rudolf (yes, I can only remember them by singing the song in my head.)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I have an angel for my tree topper.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? When I was growing up, we did both. We went to my grandparents for Christmas Eve and had dinner and our family gift exchange. Once my family went back to our house, my parents would give each of us one gift to open that night. The rest of the gifts from my parents were opened Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The crowds in all of the stores.

23. Favorite thing about the Christmas Holidays? That, generally speaking, people are nicer to one another. Unless, of course, you’re caught in one of the aforementioned store crowds where sometimes people can be horrendously rude as they become more frantic in the quest for that “perfect” gift.

24. Most Memorable gift? My dear friend Anna gifting her airmiles to me so I could get an airline ticket to spend Valentine’s Day and my birthday (same weekend) with the guy I was romantically involved with at the time.

25. What’s the one thing you seem to never get done at Christmas time? I can’t really think of anything. I guess it would be mailing out my cards early. I always hope to mail them the first week of December, but it’s usually closer to the middle of the month before I get them out.

General Knowledge Quiz:

I can’t for the life of me figure out what question I missed either.

General Knowledge Quiz
Take More Quizzes

What American Accent?

Nothing much of substance, per se, in this entry today. I’m still plugging away at Home of a Needleworker which I’m loving! I could potentially finish it this week!

I ran across this quiz on another (non-stitching) blog I read and thought it was interesting. Given that I’m from rural middle Tennessee originally, I kind of giggled at the results. Although, it does rate me highest in the southern category.

Happy stitching!

Happy Dance Weekend

Yep, I had a Happy Dance this weekend. I finished the stitching for one of my Pay It Forward projects. Obviously, I can’t post a pic of it since I’ve not completed the finishing or mailed it. I had so much fun stitching this project, so I can’t wait until I’ll be able to post a pic.

I also got in more stitching on Home of a Needleworker by Little House Needleworks. I’m basically at 25 hours of stitching time on this piece, 24.5 to be exact. It’s really been a fun project and I think I’m going to focus on it for now to try and get it finished since I’ve already stitched 2006 on it. Here’s my latest progress pic as of yesterday for it:

Lastly, I thought of some more C words for my Alphabet Soup (previous entry). I keep finding myself thinking about it even though I already made my post.

Cooking - another favorite hobby of mine
Comments - I love them!
Cherry Pepsi - Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi specifically - my favorite soda
College football - one of my favorite sports to watch, especially Tennessee

I hope everyone had a great weekend and has a good week. Happy stitching!

Alphabet Soup

Happy Veteren’s Day! I just want to start this entry by saying thanks to all of the men and women who have served our country in the armed forces to help perserve our freedoms!

Annette started an Alphabet Soup on her blog, so I requested a letter. The concept works that one requests a letter. Upon receiving the letter, blog a list of 10 words … ok, so I did 12 … that begin with the letter and what they mean to you.

My Letter - C

Cross-Stitch - my favorite hobby - you KNEW I had to start there!
Cervical - as in the herniated disc injury I’m dealing with lately
Computer Geek - how I make my living
Commuter - Yes, and I hate it! I drive ~30 miles each way to and from work.
Corolla - the high mpg car I purchased last year for said commute
Country - where I grew up in rural middle Tennessee
California - the place I currently call home
Caribbean Cruise - the place my best friend is right now. I wish I were there, too!
Children International - the charity through which I sponsor 2 little girls in India
Chocolate - preferably dark, something the world should not be without
Coffee - ahhh, the morning nectar of the Gods!
Candles - preferably Fresh Georgia Peach from Soup of Success

If you’d like to have your own Alphabet soup, here is the link to Annette’s blog with the info.

Happy stitching!

101 Things, Stitching, & SBQ

I finally got around to updating my 101 Things list. October 15 marked the 6 month point of my goals, and I’ve already completed 28 of my 101 tasks. Some of them won’t be completed until the very end, so I’m pleased thus far with my overall progress.

I had hoped to start the finishing on my Red Desert Scissor Pocket this week for the SAL. Unfortunately, I had missed in the directions that I would need some interfacing and I didn’t have any. So, finishing will have to wait until next week now. I think I should still finish on time with the rest of the group though.

In other stitching, I’ve mostly been working on Nancy’s piece for the Quaker RR I coordinate on the Legacy board. This is round 4 for us, so we’re at the halfway point of the RR. From the photos I’ve seen, everyone’s pieces are looking great! I can’t wait to get mine back at the end to get it framed and hung in my home.

The only other piece I’ve worked on this week is my Home of a Needleworker by Little House Needleworks. I’ll try and get an updated progress pic posted in the next few days. I’m still really please with how quickly this piece is stitching up. It’s another one that I definitely hope to get framed soon after completion to hang in my home.

On to this week’s SBQ:

If you were to come across a sampler chart that caught your eye and appealed to you, would you or would you not stitch it if it had a morbid or “creepy” saying on it? If not, why?

While I’m not a big fan of the tombstone pithies and such, I don’t really think having a “creepy” saying on a sampler I really liked would deter me from stitching it. I don’t really think I would stitch something specifically “creepy” though like a tombstone sampler.

Happy stitching!

Seven Songs

I’ve seen this floating around in several blogs and even got tagged a time or two, but I’m just now getting around to answering it. I’m not going to tag anyone specifically because I’m not sure who all has, and who has not, done this already. If you haven’t done it and want to play along, consider yourself tagged.

The rules:
List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether or not they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

1. Choux Pastry Heart by Corrine Bailey Rae
2. Daydreamin’ by Lupe Fiasco and Jill Scott
3. I am Not My Hair by India Arie
4. In My Mind by Heather Headley
5. What’s Come Over Me by Amel Larrieux feat. Glen Lewis
6. Let Me In by Floetry
7. Simply Beautiful by Queen Latifah

Hmmm…from looking at my list, I’ve clearly been in a more mellow mood than normal for my musical tastes. Maybe I’ll throw in some Jay-Z or Eminem later for something a bit edgier.

I’m off to stitch on the latest piece I have for my Quaker RR. It needs to go into the mail on Monday and I’ve still got a little more stitching I want to do on it. The fiber being used in this piece is Wenge from Vikki Clayton and I’ve fallen in love with it! I’m definitely going to have to pick some up for a project to keep for me.

Well, that’s it for now from me. Happy stitching!

Red Desert SAL - Week 2

I finally got a pic taken and downloaded from my Week 2 progress on the Red Desert Scissor Pocket SAL. I have all of my stitching done, so I’ll be starting the finishing this week when the SAL time rolls around. Here’s the pic:

This has been a really fun project. It’s stitched up very quickly and look great! I wish the colors of the fabric and fibers showed up better in the pic, but hopefully it’s enough that you get the idea.

Here’s a cool thing I found on Trish’s blog.

Happy stitching!