Spring Faerie update

She's coming along pretty well. I ran out of a color, but my mom's supposed to pick it up today.

Rather annoying news: I found a fradulent charge on my credit card this weekend, so I had to go through the hassle of canceling my card. Argh!

Cookies and cream cheesecake cupcakes

We have a winner! These cupcakes from the Martha Stewart book came out really well. Matt loves cheesecake, but I rarely have any luck with them. These mini cheesecakes have Oreos in the bottom and were really easy to make.

Also, I'm very tardy with my ort jar picture for the Totally Useless SAL. I've been pretty busy stitching on Spring Faerie. New pic tomorrow!

Spring Faerie update

I didn't manage to stitch much this past week because I was pretty sick with bronchitis. Logan's almost completely better, and I'm on the mend finally. I'm really tired of being sick every other month.

To answer those who asked, no, Hobby Lobby did not give me a refund. I didn't ask because the person who told me they used acid-free materials (some student) was long gone, and I had no proof. Believe me, I was so sick when I realized they had framed all my stuff that way. I still have four or five pieces I need to get redone. And umpteen million that aren't framed at all.

Spring Faerie update

Not much progress this week. Still working on that wing.

This weekend I disassembled Dragon Alphabet because Hobby Lobby had not framed it with acid-free materials (after telling me they did). The mat and foam core hadn't burned the fabric, but the frame had! The edges were dark yellow. I washed the piece in Orvus, and it didn't come out at all, as I expected. I brought it to the LNS in Austin to have it redone. The framer is going to use tape or something on the frame to protect the fabric from further damage. I have a few other pieces I need to get redone when money permits.

While at the LNS, I picked up Witch's Hat Scissors Case by Historic Stitches. I just couldn't resist!

I also started TW's Lady of Shalott at long last. I've just put a few stitches in, but I feel good about it.

Kid's sick again: Logan apparently picked up a bug at the hospital. He has a runny nose, cough, and fever, and the doctor said it's in his chest now. Poor kid. Oh, and yes, Mommy did get it too.

Mint-filled brownie cupcakes

This week I tried another of Martha Stewart's cupcakes. I was again underwhelmed. This one has a peppermint patty inside a hard brownie. The peppermint puffed up and split most of the cupcakes. Then it shrank as it cooled and became a hard piece of candy, rather than the soft center they show in the picture. They tasted OK, but I wasn't overly impressed. My mom's coworkers seem to like them, though. :-)

Spring Faerie update

Here she is again. Lots of color changes in that wing, so it doesn't look like much progress.

Kid update: I thought codeine was supposed to make kids sleepy, but it's just revved up Logan. We switched to regular acetaminophen, hoping that it would calm him down. He's had a little fever, but the meds help that. He's been talking more than he ever did before the surgery. Several people told me this would happen, but I really didn't expect such a drastic change so quickly. He was reluctant to even try words before, but now he's dropping them left and right. He's also going stir crazy from being in the house for so long. He'll probably go back to daycare Wednesday, so one more day of enforced inactivity and soft foods. Here's a cute pic from a few weeks ago. He's 20 months old now (yes, Gio noticed my booboo).

Snickerdoodle cupcake

My mom bought Martha Stewart's cupcake book, so of course I had to try one out. I made the snickerdoodle cupcake earlier in the week. It's a cinnamon cake with meringue frosting and a sprinkle of cinnamon on top.

So I have discovered that snickerdoodles have nothing to do with Snickers and that the cookies by the same name must be rather lackluster. These cupcakes were OK but nothing to write home about.

And the best part about my experiments is that my mom takes all but a handful to work with her so we don't have to add on the pounds (we do just fine with that on our own)!

Next week I hope to try the mint-filled brownie cupcake. These things aren't quick to whip up either--I usually spend an entire evening on these, just like making a cake. Sheesh.

Everything went well

Logan made it through just fine. He got the tubes in his ears, and since his adenoids were huge, the doctor took those out while he was at it. Logan's on codeine, so he's pretty wobbly but otherwise happy. He can only eat soft foods, so that's giving us a bit of hassle since he wants his normal foods. And we somehow have to keep a toddler from being active. Yeah, right.

Logan's surgery

Logan gets tubes in his ears tomorrow. I'm scared and trying not to think about it. My poor baby!

Spring Faerie update

I started this May 16 and worked on it here and there. I'm enjoying working on the faerie so far.

Organizing: I've been working on organizing my bedroom. It's amazing how much dust accumulates! I hate giving up books, but I just have so many of them that I've been purging the ones I don't like much. I saw this website on Carol's blog: paperbackswap.com. It's pretty handy, especially since the books I'm generally looking for are hard to find.

My Just Nan exchange

Gaby in Germany received my Just Nan exchange, so here it is! I did Royal Blossoms as a mattress pincushion, my first. I don't think I'd use ribbon again. The sides tended to shred right off if I wasn't careful. I had to substitute some of the beads, so those dark pink beads should have been light pink, but I like it as is. :-)

You can see more pics of the stitched piece on my website.

L&L's Angel of Summer

I stitched L&L's Angel of Summer for my mom a while back, and I know I won't stitch it again. Does anyone want the chart? Just leave me your email please. [Taken, thanks!]

Just Nan exchange received

I received this wonderful Just Nan exchange from Erin yesterday. The butterfly is just gorgeous, with the roses stitched over one. I don't think I've seen this piece before. Her blog says it's from the 2000 JCS Christmas issue (I don't have that one since I started stitching in 2001). She did a really lovely job on it.

I haven't received word that my piece has been received yet, but it's only been a week and it had a ways to go.

I should have a pic of TW's Spring Faerie to show soon. It's coming along nicely.

Ort update

I've been stitching a little but don't have anything to show, other than my ort jar for the Totally Useless SAL. I did wind up starting TW's Spring Faerie, but there's not much to show right now.

Sick again: So now that Logan's better, Matt and I got sick. It's rather mild--sore throat, phlegm, etc. However, I did have fever, which prompted a doctor's visit. Logan gets his tubes in his ears in two weeks.

Diet: I've managed to stick to 2000 calories a day pretty well. The illness has interrupted the exercise, though. As Jo pointed out, your calories depend on your current weight. A normal person's maintenance calories are probably 2000, but since I weigh so much, mine are higher. My doctor has a program that will tell you your maintenance calories; he then cuts them by 500 calories for weight loss.

Reading: To review, I've been rereading Mercedes Lackey's books. She's my favorite author, and I've read her stuff consistently since she started writing. I finished rereading the Valdemar, Elemental Masters, and Fairy Tales series, which I thoroughly enjoyed; I couldn't really remember what was going to happen. I just finished the Free Bards series. The one book that she collaborated with Josepha Sherman on is truly wretched--very sappy and overdone. I'm going to skip the Dragon Jousters and Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms books since I read them a few years ago. So next I will probably have to venture into her collaboration novels, some of which I haven't read at all. We'll see how I like them.

Maggie the Messmaker update

No update in a while because I've been working on my Just Nan exchange piece. I finished it last night, so I may try to mail it today. I had a few frustrations with it, but I think it turned out pretty well. I'd be happy to keep it. ;-)

Maggie worries me that it's a little skewed, probably because of the half stitches. I had to pull them fairly tight because with three strands they don't sit that well. I just hope that the framer can correct it. I'm getting very close to the three-thirds done mark. Another week may do it. I'm going to work on this one until my patience wears out. I saved the backstitching for last because the chart is so complicated that I wanted to be able to concentrate on just that. I usually backstitch TWs as I go because they're always straightforward--no nasty surprises.

Logan and his illnesses: A few days after the Sea World trip, daycare called me yet again. Logan had a low-grade fever, but I took him to the doctor because he just kept crying and seemed to be in pain. Sure enough, it was an ear infection. He gets tubes next month, which is just not soon enough. He's all better for now. Today is his end-of-the-year event at daycare. We'll see if they can pry him off us. Matt has his last exams for the semester today (yes, on a Saturday), so he won't be coming with us. I think he didn't really want to go anyway.

Diet and exercise again: Of course, I regained the weight I lost due to the virus. I'm starting the exercise again. The doctor set 2000 calories per day as my goal.

Maggie update and trip to Sea World

I managed to stitch a little this week, even with the trip to Sea World. I can stitch almost anywhere, but I was so sweaty and exhausted that I didn't stitch very much in the hotel room.

I'm probably going to need to switch to my Just Nan exchange piece this coming week. Once I figure out what I want to stitch....

ENT visit: Matt took Logan to the doctor last week, and the verdict is that Logan needs tubes in his ears. It may be the reason he's not speaking much yet. They're also going to take blood for an allergy test and check his adenoids. The child's been coughing and having a runny nose for a long time, despite medication. While I'm unhappy he has to have surgery, I'm hoping this will make him better. I know he really needs it, but I'm going to be a nervous wreck until my baby's all better.

Mini-vacation: We had fun at Sea World this weekend. We left early Saturday morning and came home Sunday morning. I think Logan was too young to enjoy it really. He wasn't impressed by much. We first saw the orca show, and it was a battle to get him to sit still. His face really lit up when the orcas jumped and then people clapped; he had fun clapping with everyone. We weren't brave enough to try another show, though. We also tried feeding the sea lions, looking at the aquarium, jumping in a sponge pit, and looking at the Clydesdales, which all got a lukewarm response. We tried the kiddie wading pool. That he didn't like at all. I tried to get him to walk around in the water; I guess he didn't like that the water was rather cool and that the place was so big. I managed to get him to go down the slide a few times, but he wasn't happy. I was pretty disappointed because I love the water. He also wasn't feeling great because his allergies were really bothering him. The mucus rattled around at every breath, and it was a never-ending battle to wipe his nose all day. Sometimes he rode in his stroller, but he really liked pushing the heavy thing around where we led him. We also got one of those kid leashes -- convenient but not very comfortable for him. So, maybe next year we'll have better results. There just wasn't enough for him to do at 19 months old. We might have better luck at the children's museum in Austin, so we're going to try that in a few weeks. We also need to get him used to playing in the water outside so he can see how much fun it is.

TW's Tracery Dragons released

Teresa Wentzler just announced that Tracery Dragons has been released. It won't be on Patterns Online until this Friday. Since I prefer that to a printed chart, I'll have to hold my clicky finger until then. This one will be high on my to-do list.

Maggie the Messmaker update

I made fairly good progress this week. I estimate I have about two months of stitching left, if I work on this piece exclusively, and then I can start on the extensive backstitching. I believe I can finally see an end to this piece! This is my oldest WIP and has taken me the longest to finish. I think I started it before I met DH, around 2002.

I came across the Totally Useless SAL on someone's blog and decided to join. I usually have a large pile of orts, so we'll see exactly how huge it gets.

Reading: While I was sick, I finished up Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Mages series. It's my favorite, next to the Valdemar series, which I finished before that. The next in line is the Fairy Tale series, which is made up of two books. I'm so glad I'm rereading her books. I'm enjoying them as much as the first time around.

Vacation?: We're going to try to get to Sea World in San Antonio this coming weekend, just spending Saturday night at a hotel. This will be Logan's first trip to an amusement park of any kind, and we don't know what his interest level will be. If he doesn't get into the shows or animals, we can always head to the water park section. I'm sure he'll like that.

Maggie the Messmaker update

I finally started stitching a little. Here's an update on Maggie. I have officially finished the right half of the piece. The fabric's a little off square, as I noticed when I took my photo. I really hope that's not a problem when I go to frame it. I'll have to be extra careful when I put it in my Qsnaps from now on. You wouldn't think aida would be a problem.

So we survived that nasty virus and are more or less back on our feet. I still have a bad cough, as does Logan. I lost about 10 pounds while I was sick and am fighting to keep it off. Weight like that just seems to come back so easy. But now I do understand why Logan didn't want to eat anything for so long. The virus gave us pustules inside the throat that were very painful and it took away the appetite completely. I had trouble even swallowing, and it felt like my throat was going to close up completely. The joys of having a kid in daycare...they catch everything and bring it home.

Ugh

Of course, it had to happen. People were almost better and then--

I got very sick, Matt got sicker, and my mom got very sick. Logan, fortunately, is in high spirits and not sick, other than the cough and snot, which the doctor attributes to allergies. I have a horrible sore throat, headache, fever, etc., which the doctor says is a virus. That would be why the antibiotics I got during the first doctor visit didn't work. She says Matt's sore throat doesn't look like mine, so he's got stronger antibiotics. My mom goes to a different doctor, and he said she has the flu. So it's hard for any of us to get up the energy to do the day-to-day things you have to do when there's a kid in the house. I don't even have the energy to stitch, so you know it's bad.

Did I mention I'm running out of leave time at work too? No vacation for me until Logan stops bringing crud home from daycare.

If you're waiting on an email from me, give me a little more time please. :-)

Oh, PatternsOnline has their fantasy stuff on sale in case you're interested.