For anyone who might be interested, I’m having a cookbook giveaway on my other blog. It’s for an autographed copy of Rocco DiSpirito’s “Now Eat This” cookbook. You can find all the details on how to enter in the cookbook giveaway post.

Until next time …

Yes, I know I have already have the Mary Wigham 1790 sampler as a WIP, but I just started her again anyway. I actually do hope to finish them both one day, but then again, I hope a lot of things. Here’s a pic of my latest version:

Fabric: 40-count Antique White Newcastle Linen
Fiber: Blue Bunny floss from Hand Made by Nina
Stitched 1 over 2
Progress as of 1 August 10

The main reason I decided to start her again was because of the fiber. I saw it on Nina’s personal blog and absolutely fell in love with it.

Here’s my progress on my other over 1 version of Mary:


Fabric: 36-count Maritime White linen from Lakeside Linens
Fibers: Variety of GAST, CC, and WDW
Stitched 1-over-1 using tent stitch

In other news, I got a promotion! Yep, I’m now officially part of “the man” since I’ve been promoted into management. The down side right now is that it’s meant a lot of long hours as I’m getting up to speed with my new role and responsibilities. Hopefully things will settle down soon. The up side is that I now have a private office with walls and a door and everything! YAY for no more cubicle land!

That photo was taken before I was completely settled into my new digs. It doesn’t look exactly like that now, but it’s pretty darn close.

On the move front, it looks like I’ll be moving into my bigger place over Labor Day. I definitely have a lot of work to do in the next four and half weeks to get ready! I just keep reminding myself that it will all be worth it once I’m in my new place and have all the extra space.

Ok, that’s all I have time for right now. Until next time …

Amazingly enough, I’m still sick, but think I may finally be rounding the corner to good health again. I’ve literally been sick since July 1. It initially started as just a summer cold. It then progressed into a sinus infection, so I went to the doctor and was put on antibiotics.

As of Friday (July 9) I still wasn’t feeling well, so I went back to the doctor. After another exam and a chest x-ray, I learned that it had developed into an upper respiratory infection. The doctor was concerned it might turn into pneumonia, so I was put on a stronger antibiotic with a steroid pack booster. I actually felt a LOT worse on Saturday, but I think it was my body finally just trying to get all the crap out of my lungs. Each subsequent day has been a bit better, so I’m hoping by mid-week that I’ll be back to my normal self again free of the hacking cough.

So, what’s the good side to all this illness? I’ve gotten in quite a bit of stitching time. I participated in the July Weekend Stitch-A-Long on Facebook. I decided to pull out my Plum Blossom Kimono to work on it. This was a class I took last summer at my LNS from local designer/teacher, Margaret Bendig. I haven’t worked on it in quite some time, so I thought this SAL would be a good time to give it some attention. Here are my before & after pics showing the progress I made this weekend:

Before (as of Saturday morning):

After (as of Sunday night):

I’m so excited to have all of the outlining done! Doing that much pearl cotton outlining on Congress Cloth is pretty boring, but I made it through. Now I’m really for the fun part which is filling in all those little boxes with lots of pretty silks.

Of course, the whole weekend wasn’t spent just stitching. There was a lot of studying that happened as well. My college classes started on July 1, so I’m back into the world of having to study. It hasn’t been very fun given I’ve been sick, but I’m doing OK since it’s mostly been a lot of reading so far. I might not have felt the same way if I had been sick and was trying to write papers, too.

I’m currently in the process of studying for the CompTIA A+ certification exams. I have to obtain this certification for my job per a DoD requirement by the end of the year. The nice thing is I can kill two birds with one stone because I can use the A+ certification to knock out two of my college courses as well (IT Fundamentals II & III). It’s basically an entry-level IT certification, but it’s been long enough since I’ve done basic hardware/software troubleshooting that I’m definitely having to study to brush up on all the various beep codes, printer error codes, etc.

In other personal news, as if I didn’t have enough going on already, I’ve decided to move. I’ve been living in a one-bedroom apartment since my divorce six years ago. I finally decided I’ve had enough of being so cramped and will be moving into a two-bedroom apartment. Not only will I have a larger living room/dining room area, but I’ll finally have a craft room again, too!

Until next time …

I want to pose a question to those of you who blog and are also active on social media sites. Do you find you blog less often now? I have definitely noticed that about myself. I know that many of my regular readers (based on those who frequently comment) are also friends with me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter. I tend to post photos and quick updates of what’s going on in my life in those places. Accordingly, I don’t feel as much “pressure” (for the lack of a better word) to update my blog as often. I’m just wondering if others have found the same to be true. Please leave me a comment with your thoughts.

In stitching news, amazingly enough, I actually have been doing a little bit. I stitched a summer pinkeep for Kim as part of a seasonal exchange. After that was away in the mail, I’ve been working a bit on “Snow Garden” from Blackbird Designs as well as another secret project. Here are some pictures of the exchange:

The pinkeep design was taking from the “Friends for All Seasons” chart by Lizzie Kate. I also included the “Small Sampler 1” chart from Ewe & Eye & Friends, a couple of skeins of Dragon Floss from Polstitches, a couple of skeins of Soy Luster floss (one solid & one shadow) from The Pure Palette, and a pack of strawberry blank notecards.

Here are some close-up shots of the pinkeep by itself:

My Dovos were for demo purposes only and weren’t part of the exchange. Sorry Kim!

This was my first attempt at doing a scissor pocket on the back. I thought it turned out ok, but I definitely learned some things that I will do differently next time. For example, I didn’t leave a bit of slack in the pocket when I assembled it. As I was sewing, the pocket kept getting tighter and tighter to the point that it pulls slightly downward. If I had given it a little leeway at the beginning, I think it would have come out much nicer in the end.

Here are my before & after progress pics on Snow Garden:

Previous Progress

Current Progress

I know it’s not much progress, but at least it is noticeable. I try very hard not to compare myself to the speedy needles of some of my other stitching friends whose speed is simply astounding! I just seem to be in a bit of a stitching slump this year, and I’m not sure why. Normally by the mid-point of the year, I would have at least 10-15 finishes, but this year I only have three. The sad part is that I know my time available for stitching is about to get drastically reduced, too.

That leads me directly into my last bit of news. I’ve officially gone back to college to finish my degree. I dropped out of college at the start of my senior year back when I was 21 years old. I said I was just going to take a couple of quarters off, but somehow that mushroomed into taking 25 years off. One of my biggest regrets in life has always been not finishing my degree, so now I’m going to remedy that. In fact, my plan is to finish my Bachelors as quickly as possible and then go immediately into a Masters program.

I have chosen an online competency-based program through Western Governor’s University. It’s basically an independent study program where each student goes at their own pace. They will also allow students with extensive real world experience to test out of some classes. I decided this particular model sounded perfect for me, so let’s hope that it is! I guess I’ll find out soon enough given that I start classes today.

One of the best parts is that since the university if fully accredited, they qualify for tuition reimbursement through my employer. w00t! By the time I get my reimbursement checks each year, I should hopefully only spend around $1000-$1200 out of pocket annually. That means no student loans!

I suppose that’s the last of my news & updates for now. I will try my best to update as often as possible, but please understand that I’m likely just uber busy between work and school should I disappear for extended periods of time. If you want to keep track of me more frequently, I would recommend Facebook.

Until next time …

Ok, ok, so I know it’s been a week and a half since the half marathon down in San Diego. I had all sorts of good intentions of getting my race report posted as soon as I was back from San Diego, but it just didn’t happen. Better late than never, right …. RIGHT?

First and foremost, I was to thank each of you who so generously supported my fundraising efforts for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). For those who weren’t able to help financially, I still want to say thank you for your moral support and tremendous encouragement during my training. I just simply can’t thank you all enough!

Now, on to the report … My race training plan didn’t go exactly as planned. I battled a couple of minor injuries early on in the training, but the real kicker came when I developed a pinched nerve in my back about a month ago which dramatically affected my ability to train. Despite the injury, I decided I still wanted to go ahead and attempt the race since I’d put in all the months of training and fundraising.

Things started off pretty well. I was feeling strong and was maintaining a decent pace. Unfortunately, I started having back spasms about 2.25 miles into the course. I finally had to call Uncle and stop at the medical tent at mile 3.5, but said they weren’t really equipped to do much at that point in the race. It seemed like they were pretty much handling smaller things like people who forget sunscreen or were having allergy issues, etc.

The next stop for me was at the medical tent at mile 7 where I was checked over by the sports medicine guy there. At that point, he told me I was pretty done for the day and put me on a shuttle that took me to the main medical facility at the finish line area. Once there, I was given some Tylenol and hooked up with a massage therapist who gave me a sports massage to loosen up my back which helped tremendously. Even though I didn’t “officially” finish the race, I still got a medal which was really nice. (Thank you, and you know who you are. )

Even though I wasn’t able to finish the full 13.1 miles, I was still pleased that I got out there and gave it a try despite my back issues. The Team in Training experience was absolutely amazing, and I’m so thankful that I did this. I really can’t say enough wonderful things about this organization. If you have ever thought about participating, just do it!!! It’s worth every bit of training and fundraising effort.

Speaking of fundraising, between the 13 of us on Team Shrinking Jeans, we raised $43,695 for LLS. Overall, the approximate 4000 Team in Training participants at the San Diego race raised over $12 million for LLS!

Here are a few of my favorite pics from race day that I thought you might enjoy seeing:

At the Inspiration Dinner with Coach Joe

At the starting line yelling “Goooooooo TEAM!”

Starting line madness – it was over an hour before my corral started

A sea of purple Team in Training shirts

My motivation – my dad & coach John, one of the local TNT coaches

Everyone’s motivation – the Mission Mile of honor boards

At the finish line showing off our bling

Thanks again so much for your support! Until next time …

I am participating this year in a seasonal exchange with a few other stitching friends. It’s time for our summer exchange, and I received my package from Joan today. There are so many beautiful things that I hardly know where to begin, so I’ll just start with a photo.

For the stitched piece, she made me one of the gorgeous Blackbird Designs stockings. I love these little stockings so much, but the finishing on them completely intimidates me. Joan’s finishing is absolutely impeccable though! It’s stunning.

She also sent along several goodies for me, including another gorgeous project bag she made. The fabric strip is a country style sewing theme and is absolutely adorable. I love it! Given how many WIPs I have, new project bags are always a welcome sight.

She also included a beaded scissor fob kit. I’ve only attempted to make one fob in the past, so having a kit is great since I don’t have a lot of necessary supplies for fob making. It’s great having some written instructions, too! I can’t wait to give it a try.

Next was a beautiful little pincushion chart called “Ole Pincushion” from Theresa at Shakespeare’s Peddler. It’s designed to fit into an old zinc Ball jar lid, which Joan also included! I was over the moon when I saw the lid. It immediately took me back to wonderful childhood memories of my Gran doing her summer canning using old Ball jars.

Speaking of antiques, she also sent me some beautiful little mother of pearl buttons that she said she picked up in her antiquing adventures. Given how many biscornus I stitch, one can never have enough buttons, and antique ones are just that much more special.

As you can see, she spoiled me quite nicely with this exchange. Thanks again so very much for everything, Joan!

I want to close this post by thanking several of my readers who have donated to my fundraising efforts for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Way back in January, I signed up with Team in Training to do a half marathon. More importantly than the race though, I signed up to raise money for LLS as a way to honor my dad who is now a 20+ year lymphoma survivor. With your help, I’ve managed to raise over $2500 for blood cancer research & support. I can’t thank you all enough!!

The half marathon will be taking place this weekend on Sunday, June 6. As I’m out on the course, I’ll definitely be thinking of my supporters, my dad, and all those still living with cancer. Hopefully the day will come soon that no one has to go through the battle of fighting these cancers.

The importance of this battle was brought home in such a personal way to those of us in the OCIE training group. During the course of this training process, one of our coaches, who was also a lymphoma survivor of several years, was diagnosed with a recurrence of his cancer. He immediately started the whole chemo process, and we hope he will be cancer-free again as quickly as possible! Coach John won’t be out there with us on the course this weekend, but he will definitely be in all of our hearts & thoughts.

Until next time …

For those who may not know, my sister is living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Without getting too technical, MS is a neurological disorder which affects the ability for the nerves in the brain to communicate with the spinal cord and optic nerves. It is caused by one’s own immune system attacks the myelin in the brain. Once the myelin is damaged, it can no longer carry the electrical signals from the brain down to the spinal cord and optic nerves.

My sister was diagnosed about 10 years ago after a visit to her eye doctor where she complained that she was having a lot of “floaters” in her vision. He referred her to an MS specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who ran tests and confirmed that she had MS. In addition to the vision issues, my sister also has balance & coordination issues, dizziness, weakness in her limbs, and chronic pain & fatigue as a result of the MS. Given she was recently widowed and is trying to raise two children, you can well imagine how those symptoms could affect one’s life.

In the past, it has also been extremely difficult for her to get medical insurance due to the extremely high cost of treatment medications. I’m hopeful that will get easier now that health care reform has passed which includes the pre-existing condition clause.

In addition to being very expensive, some of the medications are also very hard on the body. (The medication a patient receives varies based upon which variation of MS with which the patient has been diagnosed – relapsing or progressive.) My sister takes interferon injections which were successfully keeping her symptoms at bay in the early years after her diagnosis. Unfortunately, interferon is VERY hard on the liver of patients taking it. She eventually began having elevated liver panels and was forced to make the decision of continuing her current dosage and possibly facing a liver transplant in the future, or reducing her dosage which could mean more symptoms, but potentially saving her liver. She opted for the latter and has subsequently had to deal with being more symptomatic.

Why am I bringing all this up now you may be asking? Well, that’s because today, May 26, is World MS Day. More than two million people across the world, and more than 400,000 in the United States, are living with MS. Join with 100 MS organizations around the globe for the 2nd Annual World MS Day to raise awareness about multiple sclerosis. If you can, please wear orange today either in an article of clothing, an orange ribbon, an awareness bracelet, etc. to show your support for MS awareness.

If you also want to help in a more tangible way, my friend Nick will be riding 150 miles in the West Michigan Bike MS Ride in a couple of weeks. By donating some money toward his fundraising efforts, you will not only be showing your support for World MS Day, but will also be helping raise money to find a cure. Nick has been doing this event for several years, and I’m so very appreciative of that fact since this disease has touched my life personally. Here’s a photo of Nick and his two training/ride partners taken during the 2007 Bike MS Tour:

Thanks, Nick! Until next time …

I grabbed this from Annette.

The only rule is:

You.
Can.
Only.
Type.
One.
Word.
No.
Explanations.

Not as easy as you might think…

1. Yourself: evolving
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband: nonexistent
3. Your hair: red
4. Your mother/stepmother: estranged
5. Your dog: none
6. Your favorite item: computer
7. Your dream last night: forgotten
8. Your favorite drink: tea
9. Your dream car: Beemer
10. The room you are in: living
12. Your fear: loneliness
13. What you want to be in 10 years: happy
14. Who you hung out with last night: nobody
15. What you’re not: thin
16. Muffin: caloric
17. One of your wish list items: books
18. Time: 23:04
19. The last thing you did: read
20. What you are wearing: nightie
21. Your favorite weather: cool
22. Your favorite book: LoTR
23. The last thing you ate: almonds
24. Your life: transitioning
25. Your mood: contemplative
26. Your best friend(S): amazing!
27. What are you thinking about right now? change
28. Your car: Toyota
29. What are you doing at the moment?: blogging
30. Your summer: busy
31. Your relationship status: unclear
32. What is on your TV?: nothing
33. What is the weather like?: chilly
34. When is the last time you laughed?: earlier

So, if you wanna play, you can either copy and paste this to your blog or you can answer in the comments at Calli’s place, where this meme originated. Either way, make sure you stop by and tell her you played.

I was a very happy stitcher yesterday when I opened my mailbox and found a pretty pink package from Joan. We are both participating in a Friends Stitching Through the Seasons exchange group and she has my name for the year. Since Spring was our first exchange, we have all been very eagerly awaiting our first mailing date to see who had our name.

Here is what I received:

Joan definitely spoiled me with a beautiful tuffet (Hearts & Roses by Dinky Dyes Designs) and lots of stitching goodies. Joan’s stitching on the tuffet is perfection! She did such a beautiful job on all of those Rhodes hearts! It doesn’t really show up in the photo, but in addition to each of the four hearts on the top & bottom of the tuffet, there are also five alternating Rhodes hearts on each side, too! Since this was a Spring exchange, she stitched it using DMC Variations 4060, 4180, and 4190 because she felt they looked like “spring” colors and I couldn’t agree more.

As for the stitching goodies, she sent some really fun flower shaped buttons, a hank of Crescent Color’s Belle Soie silk in their new color Boysenbeauty (I *LOVE* Belle Soie silks!), a beautiful Blackbird Designs chart from my wish list, and a pack of size 28 needles. As if all that weren’t enough, she also sent me a gorgeous project bag that she made herself!

Thank you so much for all the wonderful goodies, Joan! Oh, and to answer your question in the card, yes, the tuffet will fit beautifully in my collection of smalls.

I dropped off my outgoing exchange package at the Post Office before going to work. I sent it via Priority Mail, so it should arrive at its new home in a couple of days, hopefully. Once it has been received by my exchange partner, I’ll post pics of what I sent.

In closing, as an Irish lass, it would be remiss of me not to wish you all a very Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Go out and enjoy the one day of the year that you all get to pretend to be one of us.

Until next time … Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!

If you’ve been following my blog, you know I’m training to walk a half marathon for cancer research. Well now there’s a new way you can help me out, and maybe win something for yourself!

For the next two weeks over at the Sisterhood, we are having a Team Shrinking Jeans Bash! What is this Bash I speak of, you might be asking? It’s a HUGE party with door prizes worth hundreds of dollars and an awesome Grand Prize of $400 cash! Yes, cash!

What is Team Shrinking Jeans anyway? Well, a group of 16 Sisters and one Brother are training to either run or walk the San Diego Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon through the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team in Training (TNT) program. Through TNT, Team Shrinking Jeans will be training for the race AND raising nearly $50,000(!) for LLS. Isn’t that incredible?!!

You can read more about our fantabulous team here. You can also find out why each of us is doing this here.

How can you join the Bash? Simple! Donate to Team Shrinking Jeans through our secure online team fundraising page. For every $5 you donate, you’ll be entered to win one of over 30 fabulous door prizes. If you donate $25 or more, not only will you get 5 chances to win door prizes, but you’ll also be entered to win the granddaddy of all prizes: CASH!

Did you know?

• Every four minutes one person is diagnosed with a blood cancer.
• An estimated 139,860 people in the United States will be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma in 2009. New cases of leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma account for 9.5 percent of the 1,479,350 new cancer cases diagnosed in the United States this year*.
• Overall incidence rates per 100,000 population for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are almost identical for data reported in 2008 and 2009 [{leukemia 12.2, 2009 vs.12.3, 2008}; (NHL, 19.5, each year); (Hodgkin lymphoma, 2.8, each year); (myeloma, 5.6, each year)].
• Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma will cause the deaths of an estimated 53,240 people in the United States this year. These blood cancers will account for nearly 9.5 percent of the deaths from cancer in 2009 based on the 562,340 total cancer-related deaths.
• Every 10 minutes, someone dies from a blood cancer. This statistic represents nearly 146 people each day, or more than six people every hour.
• Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under the age of 20. In general, the likelihood of dying from most types of leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma decreased from 1996 to 2005 (the most recent data available).
• In addition to their amazing work with blood cancers, LLS also does research in the areas of breast cancer, prostate cancer, and AIDS.

  *Facts and statistics from Leukemia, Lymphoma, Myeloma Facts 2009-2010, June 2009.

Those are some pretty eye-opening statistics, huh?

So head on over and join in the Bash! Check out the fabulous prizes, make a donation, and be sure to check in every day during our two-week bash for Happy Hour!

Until next time …