Happy birthday to me

I turned 38 today.... Matt's in the bedroom setting up my birthday present, a new flatscreen TV. I can finally retire the TV my dad gave me when I was a teenager. I remember he bought it at Sams on a whim, and he was so proud of it. I definitely got our money's worth out of it!

Yearly goals

It's that time of year again. Here's how I did, stitching-wise, in 2007 and what I hope to accomplish in 2008.

Pieces I finished in 2007:
Castle Sampler
Angel Procession
The Awakening
HAED round robin
Barnabee's Quest
Just Nan round robin (12 Days of Christmas Whimzi)
Daffodil Run
Porcelain Nosegay
Poor Jack
Horrified
My Stitching Treasures
Winter Stitches
Military Hummer
Princess and the Pea
Spring in the Garden
Thoughts of Mom
Baby's Birth Sampler
Boo Pumpkin
Spooky Time
Spooky Time!
Autumn Blessings
Celtic Knotwork Heart
The Earth (fob)

Stitching goals for 2007:
The Awakening--I did finish this piece.
Maggie the Messmaker--I didn't finish this piece, but I finished another UFO, so I consider this goal done.
Frame pieces--I only got a few pieces framed. It's too expensive to do them all.

Stitching goals for 2008:
Chatelaine's Rose and Butterfly Quilt
Maggie the Messmaker (one of two UFOs)
TrickORTreat (finishing)
MIL's piece (she almost finished it before she passed away)
At least 10 pages of any HAED


Here are my life goals, which are always more difficult to achieve.

Life goals for 2007:
Lose weight--Nope, but at least I didn't gain from my pregnancy.
Get pregnant--Yep! I have a beautiful boy to show for it, though the whole process was very long and painful. We're considering doing it again, but I would definitely need to lose weight. It was very rough on my body.
Move into a new house--No, because I got pregnant. This has been put on hold indefinitely
Work--Not resolved to my satisfaction. I need to do better at my job.

Life goals for 2008:
Lose weight--I'd like to lose at least 50 pounds. I need to lose more than that, but I'd be satisfied for now to lose 50 and keep it off. I've been trying to do this my entire life it seems.
Work--Try to do a better job and be happier with it. Working at home is great for being near Logan.

Block 4 HD, Rose Quilt

I finished block 4 of the Chatelaine Rose and Butterfly Quilt. I had a lot of frogging on this one, strangely. The series has ended, so now I need to catch up. There are 12 more blocks to go. This piece is going to be huge when I'm done. I'll probably need to turn it into a wall hanging, rather than frame it. As much as this kit cost, I'd like something "safer." Hmm.

I got the sad news that the Stitching Bloggers Exchange Board (SBEBB) is shutting down. We'll finish up the Valentine exchange I signed up for and that's it. Oh well, I can understand how Becky has real-life issues to deal with. It's probably best for me not to do exchanges right now anyway, but I have such trouble turning them down.

Baby: Logan did catch my cold or whatever it is. We took him to the doctor today (much crying), and he will be getting his first antibiotics for a red ear. Yet again, Matt has two of us to take care of, and during his Christmas vacation too. Have I mentioned I have the best husband ever?

Wii: Matt and I have been playing with the Wii. It's a lot of fun (even when I'm sick). Tennis and bowling are our favorites.

Merry Christmas!

Logan gave us his first laugh today, so we had a very good Christmas at home. He also rolled over onto his face, which he didn't care for very much, but it's progress. We're all doing well, other than me with a cold, but Logan hasn't caught it yet, thank goodness.

For Christmas, among other things, I got a V press in order to make my own frames. We always had trouble getting the corners just right, so this should help a lot. Matt makes the wooden frames with all his fancy power tools, and now I can put them together and lacquer them.

I'm still stitching on the next block of Chatelaine's Rose and Butterfly Quilt. I'll post a pic when I get done with it.

Castle Sampler HD

I'm done!!! Wow, I finished this one faster than I thought I would. I had to change the date from 2008 to 2007.

I stitched the kit and ran out of 11 colors, out of a total 57 colors (not much for a Teresa Wentzler). I had lots extra of two of the main colors. Whoever figured this kit out did a lousy job.

So now I guess I'll work on Chatelaine's Rose and Butterfly Quilt since I'm way behind. I'm also getting my materials together for the Valentine exchange on the SBEBB. I think I know what I want to stitch.

I go back to work tomorrow--a day and a half and then the Christmas break until January 2. Woohoo! That means I don't have to take care of Logan alone. He's a sweet baby, but the screaming really gets to me.

Birthday club exchange received

Sherry let me know that she received the items I sent her as part of the birthday club exchange (we did Christmas presents this year).

I stitched a Celtic Heart and a turtle scissor fob. I discovered how difficult it is to make a pillow ornament in an odd shape. I don't think I'll be doing that again. Sherry likes sea turtles, thus the little turtle on the fob.

I also included a Christmas chart, a bunch of the fibers it uses, and the charms and beads called for. Also, a candle, Christmas tree pin, and some Gingher scissors.

My birthday is December 31, so I haven't gotten my stuff yet. Can't wait!

This exchange has been fun, but I've bowed out for next year. I just don't think I'll have the time, and I hate the idea that I would forget someone's birthday (I'm really bad about dates).

SF and fantasy: We rented two discs of the TV series Firefly and really like it. I ordered it on DVD, along with the movie. I've also been reading Mercedes Lackey's Aerie, the fourth and last book in her Jousters series. (She is my favorite author.) I also discovered Carol Berg, so I'm having fun reading her books.

Castle Sampler update

I finished half the castle--the easier half. The center image is spread over four pages, so I still have two pages to go. Hopefully by the time you see another picture, it will be done! I may have to change the date from 2008 to 2007 on the piece, but that should be easy.

I'm trying to figure out what piece to do for the SBEBB Valentine exchange. I'm looking for just the right one.

One of those days

Ever have one of those days where everything goes wrong? First it's a bad day for Logan. He refuses to sleep and screams nonstop. That's enough to drive me up the wall, and right now we've averaging a bad day every other day.

I discovered that one of Matt's DVDs for Christmas might be scratched.

Anubis decides to puke, and where does he do it? On the felt tree skirt that can't be washed. Not to mention he's been playing with the balls on the Christmas tree all day.

Then we order pizza and they forget the sauce. Half an hour later the Pizzone is cold and no sauce. Finally at 7:30 p.m. we have new pizzas and sauce.

Before bed, I go into City of Heroes (a computer game) and somehow it sells a recipe I paid a million in game money for. That just does it! I think I'm going to bed before something else goes wrong.

Castle Sampler update

And again... I finished the inner border and started working on the sky of the castle scene.

I really should have decorated the Christmas tree today instead. Maybe tomorrow.

We survived the shots

Logan screamed his head off when he got his two-month shots and whined a little afterward, but he was OK otherwise. He was fussy that day, so I gave him some Baby Tylenol, which helped. I think I was more traumatized than he was.

We have an au pere coming in during the day while I work at home. That will start January 2. I'll go back to work two days before Christmas while Matt's home so I can start ramping up again. It will have been four and a half months off for me--before labor I was in constant pain, and after labor the kid had (has) me running around, so it's been no vacation.

Stats: 12 pounds 15 ounces, 75th percentile; 24.5 inches, 95th percentile; head size 90th percentile. He's a tall boy!

Castle Sampler update

I finished the final figure at the bottom, so that's a second border done. I'll work on the innermost border next. It looks pretty straight-forward, so it shouldn't take too long. The castle will, I'm sure.

I've uploaded a pic of Angel of Summer, which is a gift for my mom. She can choose whether she wants to see it now or not.

I bought some clay cat ornaments from Lori (see pics below). They are: Anubis, Hathor, Horus (our kitty who died last year), Fancy (my mom's), and a calico for my boss. Let me know if you need Lori's contact information. She's selling them on the Wagon BB. See a bigger pic.

Baby: Logan gets his two months' shots tomorrow. I'm so not looking forward to that. I hope they don't make him feel too bad afterwards.

Castle Sampler update and framed pics

Here's the latest on Castle Sampler. I finished up the trio of musicians in the middle. Now onto the lady. I think I've enjoyed the border on this piece the most. I can take it anywhere since it's on my small Qsnaps and work on it whenever I get a minute. I'm looking forward to working on the inner border. Not so much the castle because I know that will be mostly grays.

Also, they seriously underestimated the floss needed for this kit. I've run out of several colors. While I don't scrimp with floss, I'm also not wasteful with it either.

Matt picked up some framed pieces from the sort-of-LNS yesterday. Below are pictures of three petit point cats I stitched last year (40 count). I haven't figured out where to put them yet. Since Blogger's acting up again, here's a link to the big pic.

I also got the L&L Angel of Summer I finished last year framed for my mom for Christmas. I won't see her until January, so she'll get it then.

Remember that the Chatelaine Advent Calendar has begun! Go to the Support Group and join to get free patterns or other goodies Martina posts.

Christmas: I've gotten most of my Christmas shopping done online. There are just a few things I still need, so I'm venturing out this morning while Matt watches Logan.

Baby: We met the prospective au pere Wednesday. I'm still waiting on references from her before we offer her the job. She told me some things about one of the daycare places she worked for in town. The babies spend most of their time in bouncers and have one person for four children. Logan would be so unhappy and scream all day. I really hope I can avoid that.

Neopets: It's the Month of Celebrating, so that means the advent calendar is open.