October Stitch-A-Thon Progress

This would be Love at the beginning of October, before the Stitch-A-Thon started.





This would be the end of October after logging 57 hours 5 minutes. I can't believe the difference I've made in one month. I couldn't be happier with the progress! I feel like I'm so close to getting this finished although I know I still have probably another 50-60 hours, but soon enough this will be gracing my bedroom wall. That will be quite the feeling.


Thanks for looking and, as always, happy stitching to you!

Smokin' Needle

I've been inspired! I'm back with another update. I knew I'd get some stitching time this weekend, but didn't expect to find 10 hours. I must admit I haven't done any reading so that right there will free up a lot of time.

I'm more than half way finished now. Pam, always the motivator, thinks if I keep at it I can get this one finished by the end of November. Now wouldn't that be something. You'll feel the earth move if I do, for all the jumping up and down I'll be doing. I'm not sure if I can do this or not, but it is now my mini goal. Wish me luck.

Happy stitching days to you.

Hot Six - Janet Evanovich Book #36

Low-rent bounty hunter Stephanie Plum reaches depths of personal experience that other women detectives never quite do. In Hot Six, for example, a sequence of new and hideous cars bite the dust; she finds herself lumbered with a policeman's multiply incontinent dog; and she has several bad skin days. All this when she is trying to prove her distinctly more competent colleague and occasional boyfriend Ranger innocent of a mob hit; avoid the heavies trailing her in the hope of finding him; and cope with a wife-abusing bail-defaulter with nasty habits such as setting Stephanie on fire. The peculiar joy of this series is the comic sense of place; Plum's New Jersey is one where everyone you meet, even the most dangerous of criminals, was at school with you, or stole your mother's first boyfriend, or gave your great-aunt a middling good recipe for meatloaf. Evanovich has built up an attractive cast of comic characters with Stephanie's extended family and those of her two boyfriends, the dashing and sinister Ranger and Joe Morelli (the cop whose family are only too keen on his marrying Stephanie). Hot Six will not disappoint either her fans or newcomers.
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There are times when I'm exasperated by the naivete of this character and then in the next paragraph I'm laughing my head off. Go figure. I'll continue reading this series, but more for the relationship between Stephanie and Joe than for anything to do with her other story lines or her bounty hunter prowess.

Oh Lukcy Me

It has been quite some time since I've done a post about me. I'm usually going on about my stitching, my weight or a book I've read. There are other things in my life, if you can believe it. Things that make me so incredibly happy.

I find I'm very much more in tune with my feelings and thoughts over the last couple years. I no longer live on auto remote, but more aware of what goes on around me. I've yet to decide if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Regardless, I'm happy so that is a major improvement and something that I cherish deeply.

My life is still full and busy. I don't know where to find the time to get things accomplished, as well as meeting all the demands and needs of those around me. I struggle daily to find balance between my personal needs to those of what is required of me at home. I'm not home near as much as I should be, but that is slowly changing and I'm home a little more frequently. My time with Todd isn't as much in quantity as it once was, but things are still good. Now that being said, I'm not sure when I'm going to lay eyes on him again, probably somewhere close to a week. It is painful, but such as things are right now!

The juggle of time and schedules that I do to spend time with T is worth it in the end. I'm still very much in awe of how happy I am with him, not to say things are perfect. There will always be an issue of some sort in any relationship. There is this sense of freedom, peace and strength I get from this relationship. I'm not perfect, nor do I expect perfection from him, but this is as close to heavenly as I've ever been, as far as a relationship goes. Being in a long term relationship and to see it end is painful and not something I would wish on anyone, but the pay off for me personally has been huge. I couldn't be happier and it stems from some major personal growth on my part and being able to share in the simple day to day life of him. I find one of my biggest thrills is to see a smile on his face. How is it a smile on his face can bring a quickening of my heart (no lies or exaggeration there)? I'm still in awe of the simplicity and depth of how I feel for him and how I feel when I'm with him. There are times that leaving and coming home (a place I truly love to be) is painful and more difficult than I can understand.

Lily has gotten her first job this past week. That is going to make me crazy busy and really cut into 'me' (translation - Todd) time, but I know that is the gift and burden of a single parent. The alternative is not near as pretty and I'll take being a single parent taxi cab to the alternative any day. I can't believe how much Lily has grown lately. To think my baby girl has her first job is 'WOW' to me! I hope she enjoys her job and learns the true value of a dollar.

Anyway, nothing much else going on in my life at the moment. Just some special feelings for a special someone. I walk around with a sweet smile and a gentleness in my heart that I thought was long exhausted and gone. Oh, lucky me it's not!

Love With a Capital L - 110 hours

I'm back with another update and I couldn't be happier with the progress I made this go around. The left corner piece is the half way mark so as soon as I finish the verse on the right side that is partially started, I'll be officially more than half way complete. WOOHOO

I can't even come close to expressing how much I love this piece (no pun intended). The more I work on it the more I love it. There was a time where I wanted to move to something else and now I couldn't imagine putting this down to work on another piece. It would break my heart.

As always, thanks for looking. I appreciate all your comments and encouragement.

High Five - Janet Evanovich

"Uncle Fred was someone I saw at weddings and funerals and once in a while at Giovichinni's Meat Market, ordering a quarter pound of olive loaf. Eddie Such, the butcher, would have the olive loaf on the scale and Uncle Fred would say: 'You've got the olive loaf on a piece of waxed paper. How much does that piece of waxed paper weigh? You're not gonna charge me for that waxed paper, are you? I want some money off for the waxed paper.' "
The speaker is Stephanie Plum, the glamorous if slightly ditsy bounty hunter from Trenton, New Jersey, and one of the most original creations in recent mystery fiction.

In this fifth entry in Janet Evanovich's increasingly popular series, Stephanie's problems are many and varied. She's not making enough moneypicking up FTAs (Failures to Appear) for her cousin Vinnie, of Vincent PlumBail Bonds; her red-hot love affair with Detective Joe Morelli has cooled off; and her giant extended family is no help at all. For instance, Uncle Fred the cheapskate has disappeared, leaving behind some suspicious photographs of body parts in garbage bags and links to some really dangerous people.

When Stephanie turns to her friend and mentor, Ranger, for financial advice, he gets her involved in a gang of toughs doing instant evictions for landlords. (She complains to Ranger about the job and its dangers, prompting one of the hired thug to say, "Man, you don't like to get shot. You don't like to get arrested. You don't know how to have fun at all.")

Most of Stephanie's charm, of course, comes from her attitude--a combination of the brazen bravado that turns a failed lingerie model into bounty hunter in the first place and the normal fears of a person in over her head.
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Well, what can I say? Another in the hilarious life and times of Stephanie Plum. A fun and entertaining read. Damn it to hell!!! I need to know who was at the door at the end. As if I (we) wouldn't read book #6! Who the heck did she call???? GRRRRR :)

Sad Day In My Yankee Heart

I'm a day late in posting this, but it is still something I felt I must do. I've been debating for the last day if I was going to post this or not. As you can see, I made my decision.

It is a sad day for this Yankee fan! Joe Torre is no longer heading up the Yankees and this is something that is going to take some getting used to for me. I have a great fondness for Joe Torre, not just because of all glory he's brought to the Yankees, but more for the quiet manner in which he did it! He is a class act and wherever he goes, whatever he does, whoever hires him in whatever capacity will lucky to have him.

I know my post and thoughts will not do Joe the justice he deserves. Maybe that is just going to be the kind of week Joe's having because the Yankees sure did a poor job of giving Joe his just. I'm sad to know he's leaving or has left, but the Yankees handled the situation poorly and with little class, that it only makes Joe's departure all the more difficult to accept.

Love Sweet Love - 100 hours

Life has gotten the better of me this week, so I'm a bit long between updates. At 100 hours I have almost all the curlies completed, so much so that I'll no longer be doing a running countdown. I will be extremely happy to put them behind me. I've taken a different approach to them, that I copied from Tami , and since I've done that the results are coming quicker. Thanks, Tami!

I am still wanting to work on another piece, but then I think of missing this piece so in the end stay with this one in hopes of getting it finished soon.

The funny thing about how much I like this piece, I've never been much in the way of liking samplers. That was until this piece captured my heart. I love it and can see it becoming one of my all-time favorite pieces, at least in the top 3 of all my pieces.

Thanks for always being here to watch my pieces come together. As always, I very much appreciate your comments and compliments.

Vanish - Tess Gerritsen

A blessed event becomes a nightmare for pregnant homicide detective Jane Rizzoli when she finds herself on the wrong side of a hostage crisis in this timely and relentless new thriller from the New Your Times bestselling author of Body Double.

A nameless, beautiful woman appears to be just another corpse in the morgue. An apparent suicide, she lies on a gurney awaiting the dissecting scalpel of medical examiner Maura Isles. But when Maura unzips the body bag and looks down as the body, she gets the fright of her life. The corpse opens it eyes.

Very much alive, the woman is rushed to the hospital, where, with shockingly cool precision, she murders a security guard and seizes hostages…one of them a pregnant patient, Jane Rizzoli.

Who is this violent, desperate soul, and what does she want? As the tense hours tick by, Maura joins forces with Jane’s husband, FBI agent Gabriel Dean, to track down the mysterious killer’s identity. When federal agents suddenly appear on the scene, Maura and Gabriel realize that they are dealing with a case that goes far deeper than just an ordinary hostage crisis.

Only Jane, trapped with the armed madwoman, holds the key to the mystery. And only she can solve it-if she survives the night.
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This was a great book; number 5 of the Jane Rizzoli series. As much as I enjoyed the book, the subject matter was extremely disturbing. I find Tess Gerritsen really has a way of verbally painting such a vivid picture it can feel as though you are living right along side the drama of the moment.

If I've enticed one on my blog readers to pick up this book, beware!

Seriously, Slippers

Is that what I think it is? Another needle craft? Seriously? (Said in full Grey's Anatomy tone).

Pam and I went to Kathy's last night so I could learn how to stitch. I know how to stitch, but that is all I know how to do and calling what I do knitting is stretch by any stretch of the imagination. If I get into trouble I don't know how to salvage my mistakes. I would have to keep plugging away with my mistakes and all. I'm a very tight stitcher, which I knew from my previous endeavours with yarn. I have graduated to tight stitches and not squeaking yarn against needle. It was painful to watch. You wonder how I would know how it is painful to watch. Hmmmm. Could it be the bang on impressions done by Pam, at my expensive. She thinks she's a funny girl. I have to agree, but don't tell her I said so!

I'm hoping to turn the above supplies and instructions into Aunt Maggie's Slippers I keep calling them socks, but I am honestly hoping to have myself some slippers at some point in my life. I'll try to be optimistic about this and say, 'I'd like to have them in the next couple months or so, before the spring anyway!'

Stay tuned for future updates and to witness the nightmare or the triumph. I'm not sure what the end result will be, but it promises to be fun, if not a little frustrating too.

Love Is In the Air - 90 hours

I'm making some really good progress this week and couldn't be happier with how this piece is coming together.

Curly count : 27/45 These things just drive me crazy, as much as I like the way they look.

I'm really happy with my decision to focus on this piece for a bit. I do have to give credit to those that pushed me in this direction. You know who you are, so thanks again. I must admit though I'm hearing the faint calling of some other pieces. It is just an echo of a call right now though and hopefully it stay that way. I'll do my best to ignore and see if it goes away. If I can continue with kind of progress I might be successful, lets hope so! I would really like to have another finish this year and this piece is my best bet, I think. Wouldn't that be something, me finishing something?!

Thanks for taking the time to look and to post your comments. They are great to read!

Happy Stitching days to you!

Love with a Capital L - 80 hours

Here in all it's splendor.
















The section I focused on this last rotation. I must have moved when I was taking the photo and I'm too lazy to go upstairs and redo it.





I'm currently working on my 4th skein of floss right now. The last week alone I used one full skein, something that really shocked me. I've been stitching alot this week and hope to continue that trend throughout the month because of the stitchathon on the Cross Stitch Crazy Board For those of you that are keeping count along with me, I've 25/45 curly cues finished. I've devised a plan that each time I pick this piece up, I stitch one strand length of the curly cues. Aren't I so clever???

Happy stitching days to you.

It's Okay!

I really want to get out of the 130's, but I can live with this number for one more week. The only person that can make this change is me. I can talk and talk all I like, but without the walk walk nothing is going to change! Walk Walk! Who the heck am I kidding I want to get back to running! How do I do that if I don't do anything to move????

My goals this week

• Eat more vegetables
• Get in my 8 glasses of water daily
• Do something physical, even 2o minutes 3 x this week

I will not let this define me. I will make an effort to incorporate a new attitude into how I do things from here on out. I love my life I want to be at a place where I can say I love my body!

What Was I Thinking?

I'm the queen of ideas, all kinds of ideas and sometimes they are just nuts!

I walked today for the first time since I've decided to log my distance to Yankee Stadium which is 662 KM.

Now get ready for this because it is huge! I logged 1.2KM today! How great is that?

October
2 - 1.2 KM
3 - 1.2 KM
5 - 5.4 KM (bike)
15 - 2KM (walked to Richardson)
16 - 2KM (walked to Richardson)
30 - 8KM (walked/run with Krista)
October Totals - 19.8

November
3 - 2KM (walked with Todd)
5 - 3.5KM - treadmill 15 laps
5 - 5KM - treadmill 12 laps
7- 1KM - treadmill
8 - 6.4KM - treadmill
9 - 5.2KM - treadmill
13 - 5KM
13 - 13.3KM bike
14 - 2.4 KM - treadmill
21 - 2KM - run on the street. Sorry KP :(
23 - 4KM - treadmill
26 - 3KM - treadmill
30 - 1.2KM - treadmill
November Totals - 54KM

Total Distance Travelled:
Distance To Go: 588.2

I know I'm very sarcastic about how little I've done, but it is a start and I will build on this because it will eventually happen! I must have faith in myself that I can meet the challenge I've set for myself, with the help of my friends. I'm not happy with my body shape right now, but I don't have the drive to push myself to change. That really is the issue! How important is it to me to lose these newly gained 10lbs?

Drop Dead Beautiful - Jackie Collins

Get ready for the scandalously scintillating read only Jackie Collins can deliver! Lucky Santangelo is back with a vengeance--still every bit as strong, sexy, and seductive as ever! But Lucky is older and wiser, and hot to reclaim her power position in Las Vegas. However, a deadly enemy from her past has resurfaced--a person determined to take everything from her, including the family she holds so dear: two sons and an out-of-control teenage daughter who is just as outrageous as Lucky herself. Like mother, like daughter.

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In true Jackie Collins fashion this one was awesome! It has been way too long since I've read a Jackie Collins novel. What could be better than widdling a day away with a little smut and a lot of action!

Love with a Capital L - 70 hours

I'm back with another update. Oh, how I love stitchy days. I knew I would be able to find some time to stitch today, but I didn't expect to hit the 70 hour mark. WOOHOO!!!! My stitch-a-thon is off to a great start. Curly cue status: Still 21/45. I was supposed to make some progress on them this go around, but the visit from the frog threw me off track.

Again, happy stitchy days to you.

You Do Know We Live In The Suburbs?

I've made an effort to 'countrify' my front step this year. I'm very much in the way of wanting to be in the country and since that isn't happening at the moment I thought I could bring a bit of the country to me.

I have a funny about the front step from Lily. She is such a quick witted kid and makes me laugh quite often. I'm arranging things on the step and think it's coming along okay. There is also a wooden picket fence in the front of the yard that you can't see in this pic. Lily comes outside to check on my progress and the conversation goes something like this:

Lily- You do know we live in the suburbs, right?
Me- Yes
Lily- Well, it looks very much like the country with this display and the wooden fence along with your front door.
Me- That is the point
Lily-Well, it looks kinda funny this country look and a Camry sitting in the driveway
Me- Ya think? (Insert as much sarcasm as you'd like)
Lily- Maybe you should go all the way and buy yourself an old beater truck and it would be even more country!

The little snot-box although I was laughing my rear off, she has a point. Oh, how I would love to have a little truck. Wouldn't that just about send her around the bend! She probably would like it and not to mention girls and truck = hot!

I need to get myself a little pumpkin and then I think I'll be finished. I just love Autumn and all the colours on display.

September and October Stitching Thoughts

I made some progress on this piece as much as you can't really tell. I played host to that damn frog most of this rotation. The very bottom part, I miscounted 3 times. I ask myself, 'If I can't count past 4 properly, how in the hell did I graduate Kindergarten?' Anyone?

I am going to keep Love as my focus piece for now. I really want to have this one completed sooner rather than later, so I'm going to keep working on it rather than moving all around my rotation pieces. Wish me luck!

This is a new piece I started in September. It is a gift for a friend. What you see here is about 5 hours of work, not a lot, but with all the colour changes, not too bad.


My contribution on the Finish It 3 piece from the CSC board I worked on the red part around the edge and some of the browns, doing fill in work. The fabric that has been used for this piece is amazing, a little difficult to see at times, but absolutely gorgeous. It is now off to Velda. I think she's going to love it and will probably make a lot more progress than I.

September Accomplishments
I was able to stitch a total of 29 hours. I shoot for an hour per day, but fell just a wee bit short this month. I love my life, but sometimes I'm so busy that getting time for 'me' is just not in the cards. Thankfully I have a job that allows me to stitch while I work!

October Goals
There is a month long stitch-a-thon on Cross Stitch Crazy board which is always an inspiration to put needle to thread. It is such fun. I've set my personal goal at between 5000-8000 stitches. I can do this!

Will work on:

• Love With A Capital L
• Finish It 3 piece - Enchanted Alphabet
• Maybe another rotation piece, maybe not.

Happy stitching days to you all.