Mom's moving in!

My mom got a job in Ausin, so she's moving in! Yay! It's going to be so nice to have her here. She can play with Logan (and babysit!), and I'll have a shopping buddy again. Not to mention a diet and exercise buddy. I mean, Matt's my diet and exercise buddy now, but he's as bad as I am! Mom's managed to keep her weight off for many years, so I'm hoping she can help me. I need to lose a lot, but my goal for this year is 50 pounds. And we're already two months in! Ack!

She starts in two weeks, so she'll have to hightail it over here the weekend between jobs. She has vacation the week after she starts, so she'll go home to Louisiana and keep working on getting the house ready to sell. She has a lifetime's worth of stuff that she needs to sort through, and an old house that needs to be fixed up. She's been working on it for months, but I guess it's crunch time now.

I also need to rent a storage area. Her bedroom's closet is my holiday storage, so I need to get everything out of there. Not to mention all of Matt's spare computer parts. She'll eventually buy her own house, but things need to be livable in the meantime.

So...exciting but also very busy. We knew it would happen fast, but eep!

Stitching: I'm still working on the neverending page of Eternal Promise. I also started stitching on the Lady Scarlet box, and I should have that finished soon. The next part of Damier has been released, so I guess I need to put that in the queue too!

Movies: We saw The Brave One recently--much better than I thought it would be. I thought the attack scene would be very painful. It was, but it was not overdone. They left some to the imagination and let you draw your own conclusions. We also saw the animated Dragonlance movie since Matt and I love the books. Blech. The art was so poor, and they mixed in some bad CGI work with the cartoon (which looked like an old Transformer cartoon). We've also been watching the last few seasons of Buffy and Angel. Apparently I missed an entire season when it aired.

Old English Needleroll HD

I finished off my second Sweetheart Tree needleroll today (a little here and a little there, between chores). Yes, I'm still addicted to these things, but unfortunately this is the last one I have kitted up. I hope to get some more charts in the mail soon.

I got this one from Haze when she was getting rid of a few things. I am very grateful, of course! If anyone wants the chart, let me know (gone!). It does have a stain on one corner, but this doesn't affect the legibility.

I also got some ribbon off eBay, and now I have brown and rust ribbon for Bountiful Acorns. I really like the effect. Now I'm collecting 1/8" ribbon too!

Sickos: I'm getting over my sinus infection, just a few sniffles left (it's been two weeks since I got it). Logan took his last antibiotics today, and I'm so glad. It's been giving him red diarrhea (ew), one of the side effects. I'm glad I read the information sheet and knew to expect it; that would have been a shocker! The antibiotics also messed up his sleep patterns. He's sleeping through the night again but getting up at 5--too early for Mommy! Matt is still battling this flu-like thing he's got.

Baby: I've been trying to feed Logan rice cereal now that he's about five months old. I shovel it into his mouth, and he cries. He doesn't really have the skill yet to spit it out, so he does eat it. I'm just going to keep trying a little at a time. I also bought some rice cereal with apples, so we'll see if he likes the taste better. The doctor did say he could dislike the texture, too.

TrickORTreat finally finished

I can't really call this one a happy dance. I hated doing the finishing on it. Nothing was just right, and I fought with the thing the whole time. If I hadn't paid so much for it, it would have gone in the trash long ago. Today while Logan was sleeping in his swing, I bit the bullet and finished the finishing. The corners started fraying, and the top is sort of buckled when the lid is closed. I really have to stretch the fastener to get it closed, too. I don't even want to look at the thing because it's not finished the way I want it to be. I guess I'll stick it in a box somewhere. How annoying. More pics on my website.

I think that's why I like cross stitching. There's nothing subjective about it, unlike sewing and other crafts. It's either right or it's not, period.

And I will not buy another one of these Just Nan kits. I need to keep repeating that....

Baby: Oh, and Logan slept all night last night. He's still having some ear pain, but the medicine works.

Rough weekend

Matt took Logan to the doctor Friday. Yep, another ear infection. Today Logan started shrieking and wouldn't eat. Matt went to the store and got some ear drops his cousin said we could use for the pain. That seemed to help. Baby Tylenol wasn't doing it. We finally convinced the poor boy to eat after squirting some formula in his mouth with a dropper. We had tried rice cereal earlier today, but that didn't go over well. We'll try again when he's feeling better.

It should be an interesting night. Logan's been sleeping through the night 6:30 p.m. till about 6:00 a.m., but last night he woke up at 1:00 because he's sick. I wonder how many times he'll wake up tonight.

Anyway...not much time for stitching, but I managed to screw up a block on Eternal Promise, and now I need to figure out what I did and frog; that's not easy on a HAED. Also, I received my partner's name for the Feathered Friends exchange on the SBEBB. I've already ordered the chart I want to stitch. Should be fun!

Bountiful Acorns HD

I wanted to get some rust ribbon to go with the brown, but I'm having to order it. So here it is with just the brown ribbon so far (edit: replaced the pic). I really like this piece, and I want to do the other Sweetheart Tree needlerolls too eventually.

I acquired this chart from Andrea after she finished hers. I blame her for getting me hooked. ;-) I saw the one she did in her blog and just fell in love.

I still have the Olde English needleroll all kitted up and waiting to be stitched. I'm going to savor it because these go pretty fast. I'm still plugging away on HAED's Eternal Promise; I haven't even finish the first row yet.

The sick: I'm getting over my sinus infection, but I still feel pretty rotten. Matt's feeling a little sick, and Logan's been giving a few little coughs. We might take him to the doctor tomorrow; he doesn't seem that bad yet, but you know what happens on the weekends.

Valentine exchange received

Look what I got from Outi! She designed it herself. I never connected her to Periphaeria Designs, but that's her! Her stitches are so nicely railroaded, and the biscornu is stuffed so firmly. Excellent work on her part.

I love the reds of the floss and ribbon. I need to figure out what to stitch with them. She also sent two terra cotta hearts, but the post office crushed them to shards. Typical.

I finished my Bountiful Acorns needleroll, and I'll post pics as soon as I get the ribbon my mom is sending me. I wound up ordering the other Sweetheart Tree needlerolls I could find. I'm addicted to needlerolls at the moment. I also took out HAED's Eternal Promise and put a few stitched into it.

The crud: I've come down with a sinus infection, so I'm in bed for the most part. At least I had Robin Hobb's book Forest Mage to read. I have a few other books to read, fortunately. Poor Matt. I of course got sick on double-xp weekend on City of Heroes (a computer game we play). I know he really wanted to play this weekend, but he didn't complain when he had to take care of both me and the boy. At least I found out it isn't strepp. So far Logan doesn't have it. I'm thinking I caught it at the doctor's office when I brought him for shots last week. Argh. I haven't really gone anywhere else. Just when I was trying to build up some sick leave...

Package from Becky

As you may remember, my partner for the birthday club exchange flaked out on me. Becky was so nice as to send me a package to make up for it. She absolutely did not have to do that. It's not her job to cover all those people who reneg on their promise.

That said, I was so happy to receive the package. I had tons of goodies. She sent me the most beautiful box with a stitched top and fabric inside (with some handmade pins included). She had asked me what I wanted, so I mentioned I can always use trim (it's hard for me to find any around here). She sent me tons of ribbon and cording. I love it! I'm going to get some more ribbon holders so I can organize my growing stash.

You can see the other generous items she sent. I love the kit for the pocket she sent. That will be a fun challenge to put together. I can't imagine a better exchange package to receive, so she more than made up for what I missed out on. Thanks, Becky!

Amigurumi

Monique discussed amigurumi in her blog, coincidental to my posting my two little Cthulhus. (Amigurami is the art of crocheting or knitting cute creatures or anthropomorphic items.) So that had me thinking back. I used to crochet a lot when I was a kid. I taught myself and was an expert at it. Really. I could crochet an afghan without looking at it. I could follow any pattern and do any stitch without looking at a chart. I could even create my own pieces. I still have two of them. Since I was also a fantasy nut, I created a hippocampus and a dragon. The dragon uses pipe cleaners in his neck.

I also remember crocheting Doctor Who dolls (Tom Baker, Romana, and Adric), but I didn't keep those. I crocheted tons of baby mobiles (little clowns) that I sold to my mom's coworkers. I guess even then I was nuts about my crafts. My mom had a subscription to Annie's Attic magazine; now I'm sorry I threw them all away a few years ago.

I think I got out of crochet when it wasn't in style anymore. Too many old ladies crocheting toilet paper covers, I guess. But now it's back in style! Imagine that. I may need to get crocheting again.

But back to cross stitching...I've been working on Bountiful Acorns needleroll. I got to use the replacement threads for Needle Necessities, who went out of business. The new company is called ThreadWorx. I think I like it better. The floss is not as matte as NN and has a better feel.

Blogs: Laura commented that I'm the "cross stitching equivalent of a fearless knitter." I'm so flattered. I think the reason some people can't do complicated projects is they don't believe they can. It's all just X's! Also, Kim commented on my speedy stitching, especially with a baby in the house. Matt has to take some credit for that. He's always there to do his fair share (and sometimes more). We get the baby to bed and supper finished by 7. Then I can stitch! Oh yes, and I'm very compulsive about my stitching. That helps too.

Stargate: Argh! I found out that Woolsey is going to be taking Sam Carter's place next season as the leader of Atlantis. No, no, no! I do not want to battle politics in my escapism. We have too much of that annoying, boring stuff in real life.

They're not dolls...

Matt informs me that men don't have dolls. They have figures. So, I finished Matt's Cthulhu figures. He'll take one to work and put one on his desk at home.

Baby: Logan goes for his four-month doctor's visit today and gets more shots. Eep. The good news is that he's had five nights of sleeping all the way through. We're hoping this is a permanent thing. He's always been good about sleeping at night, but now we get an uninterrupted night of sleep, at least til 6:00.

Valentine's exchange revealed!

Cindy received my Valentine exchange, so now I can show some pics! This is Love Blooms by the Victoria Sampler. (More pics on my website.) It's a freebie from their website. This was my first needleroll, and I found that taking a piece of batting and rolling it up worked best for the stuffing. That way it wasn't lumpy with fiberfill. It also entailed hardanger, which I'm not fond of doing. But it came out so well. I really had a hard time parting with this one.

I also did a fob out of a Damier heart. I always have so much fun with exchanges. I've signed up for the Feathered Friends exchange too.

Birthday: Matt's birthday was Sunday, and I asked the grocery store to make a cake to resemble a companion cube, which is a character out of a video game. Eh...they didn't do so well. So at some point I need to try making one myself. The cake was delicious and moist, but it turned our lips grey!

Exotic Butterflies HD

My mother-in-law started this in 2002. I received her crafting stuff after her death, and this was the only piece she had done any significant stitching on. She had finished all the cross stitching, and I did the backstitching on it. It took longer than I thought, and those bullion stitches for the butterflies' bodies were a pain! But I'm glad I could finish something of hers. I felt I owed it to her as a stitcher. I'll get this framed for Matt since it's only the second piece of hers he has (the first also being unframed at this point). I'm thinking of sending them to Jill Rensel since the first one (Precious Moments) has some staining from acid paper and will need some creativity.

The piece is Exotic Butterflies and is a Dimensions Gold Collection Petites kit. It's done on navy aida (argh!). This was one of my yearly goals, too.

Next will be putting the wings on Matt's Chthulhu dolls, I think.

HAED RR piece finished

I finally filled in the last square of my HAED RR. These are Selina Fenech's angels and mermaids. I think the piece came out very nice, and I'm so grateful to my round robin partners. I won't be participating in this year's RR because my stitching time is so unpredictable right now.

Next I'll be trying to finish up a piece my mother-in-law almost finished before she passed away. I just need to backstitch some butterflies. I might even manage to finish it this weekend.

I received my mini stash haul (for my needlerolls) in the mail today. I got speedy service from Threadneedle Street and 1-2-3 Stitch!, and they charged me very close to actual postage. Love it!

I've had some people say some very nice things about my blog in their own blogs, and I'll get to that very soon. I'm behind right now, on everything, it feels like. Work has me running around like crazy.

Sunday is Matt's birthday. I'm getting a special cake made for him. Pics to come if it turns out well.

To brighten your day, here's a photo of my darling boy. He is quite the morning person. He's four months old already.