Scissor Fobs for Fun

I was feeling a little crafty this afternoon and this is what I made. I'm not sure how many more I will make, but so far I've had some fun.

This one is made of pink beads spaced with silver metallic-like shimmery beads. I really love the soft look this has, and the heart is the perfect touch.

Here is my second attempt and a fob. This one uses a turquoise stone spaced with chrome coloured beads. I love this more subdued look and still the adorable little heart dangly.


I never really consider myself crafty, but this has really got me thinking now. What to do next...

UFO Sunday

I've really been so busy with holiday travel and work to dedicate much time to my stitching. I miss it and hopefully with life supposedly slowing down in the next couple days I should be able to get back to somewhat of a routine with my pieces. That is unlikely to the point it is probably laughable. A girl has a right to dream!

I'm always tooling with my approach to work pieces and trying to get closer to finishing things up, so here is another new one from me. Since I'm trying to work 1 hour per week on my UFO's, chosen piece Halloween Fairy I've decided since I work most weekends, I will use Sunday as my day to work 1 hour on my UFO. I am going to work 1 hour on Halloween Fairy every Sunday and then the remainder of my shift on Enchanted Fairy so I can still make some progress on her. She's much too early in the process of being worked to be neglected just yet.

Any stitching time I find throughout the week will be dedicated to Love with A Capital. I'm getting close to the finish line with this one, so I'm hoping another 40 hours will see this one complete. Can you imagine that, a finish within the first quarter of the new year? WOOHOO!!

Off to put needle to fabric with a wonderful cup of Chai tea at my side. The small wonders of life surround and astound me.

Halloween Fairy 10 hours

Here is what she looked like at 5 hours, prior to 1 hour per week as a UFO focus piece. I'm amazed at the difference of only 5 hours.

After the 5 hours. She's really starting to look like something now. WOOHOO


I'm loving this new way of working on UFO pieces. Thanks so much Chris for the idea.

Enchanted Fairy - 10 hours

Here is my colourful blob of nothing, really. My goal for starting this piece was to get 10 hours done and then go back to my other pieces. Well, here is my first installment. Doesn't look like much of anything yet, but I think for 10 hours it's a pretty good amount of stitching. This piece is going to be a lot of fun, at least that's the way I feel right now. There are blocks of colour that move quickly and enough other colours to keep my interest.

My next goal with this piece is to work on it on Sundays. Sunday is usually the day of the week I choose to work on my 1 hr per week UFO commitment piece. Since most of that will done at work, I will work 1 hour on my UFO and the remainder of my shift I'll work on Enchanted Fairy.

Thanks so much for any and all compliments. You're awesome support!

Dear Santa Dennis

Here is the first of two stitched Christmas presents I'm giving this year. The first time I saw this piece I fell in love with it and I must say, the feelings haven't changed.

I'm giving this to a friend of mine that works as a security guard here in 'my' hospital. Dennis started popping in to our office to check on us and from there started popping in to visit and friendships ensued.

I started this piece quite some time ago and originally it was going to be my piece. As the piece came together Dennis would see the progress I was making, and would kindly comment. He would joke around that I stitch him one too. Well, I'm not restitching this piece for him, I'm giving him mine.

I'll tell you a little bit about Dennis. He is an honest to goodness, true salt of the earth man. He has seen me through many ups and downs in my personal life, offered hugs when needed and a strong supportive shoulder when that was the answer.

Dennis is one of the most giving and generous people I've even known. There are many positive things that can be said about Dennis, but one of the things that most touches my heart, is his thoughtfulness at Christmas time. You see, Dennis plays Santa here at the hospital. He comes in on the weekends during the month of December to have pictures taken with the staff's children as well as our younger patients. Dennis is a wonderful Santa! You should hear his 'Ho! Ho! Ho!", and his beard which he starts growing in around September so it's good and full come Christmas time. Christmas day you'll find Dennis down in Paediatrics giving the little ones a break from the sickness and heartache they are saddled to be replaced with a giggle and a vision of Santa himself. It is in this spirit that I part with my beloved Dear Santa, as there is no one more fitting than Dennis to receive it.

I know for certain, the world would be a better place if there were more people like Dennis walking the streets. I love you, Dennis. Merry Christmas.

The Insanity Returns

I know not too long ago I posted my plans for what I wanted to do to get some pieces finished. Well, (yes, I know Velda) I'm thinking again, but not really changing things just adding pieces to the 'want to start this year' list.

FOCUS PIECES
Love With A Capital L
Hydrangea Harvest
Job's Tears
Summer Breeze
Wildflower Rhapsody
Enchanted Fairy

UFO PIECES
Halloween Fairy
Treetop Sampler
My Stocking
Giggles Girl
Middy
Angel Proclamation
Be Warm Be Welcome
Bubbles
The Bride

My goal was to have one of the top listed pieces as my focus piece and finish it while working 1 hour per week on my UFO pieces and move pieces up in to the focus spot as I finish things. The key to that is actually finishing things. LOL

Now, if the wonderful women on the Cross Stitch Crazy board would stop posting all these new and lovely patterns, I would be not so tempted to start so many pieces. You see how I'm not taking responsibility here? Sneaky me.

I reserve the right to add to this list as I feel the need and will probably do so a half dozen times over the coming year. So, without further adieu, my list for this year:

Want To Start (in no specific order)
Stocking for Alyssa (may have found one)
Mirabilia Valentine's Fairy
Mirabilia New Year's Fairy
Victoria Sampler's Heirloom Christmas Sampler (scares the hell out of me)
Princess Piece for Lily (have to find it)

I do these posts so often, I must drive you nuts. I do this and then it inspires me to get to my stitching and make some progress. That will not be the case today since I'm at work right now and won't find a minute to stitch until I'm at work on Saturday. Oh, how I love this hobby errr...passion of mine.

The Mephisto Club - Tess Gerritsen

Evil exists. Evil walks the streets. And evil has spawned a diabolical new disciple in this white-knuckle thriller from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen.

PECCAVI

The Latin is scrawled in blood at the scene of a young woman's brutal murder: I HAVE SINNED. It's a chilling Christmas greeting for Boston medical examiner Maura Isles and Detective Jane Rizzoli, who swiftly link the victim to controversial celebrity psychiatrist Joyce O'Donnell - Jane's professional nemesis and member of a sinister cabal called the Mephisto Club.

On tony Beacon Hill, the club's acolytes devote themselves to the analysis of evil: Can it be explained by science? Does it have a physical presence? Do demons walk the earth? Drawing on a wealth of dark historical data and mysterious religious symbolism, the Mephisto scholars aim to prove a startling theory: that Satan himself exists among us. With the grisly appearance of a corpse on their doorstep, it's clear that someone - or something - is indeed prowling the city. Soon, the members of the club begin to fear the very subject of their study. Could this maniacal killer be one of their own - or have they inadvertently summoned an evil entity from the darkness?

Delving deep into the most baffling and unusual case of their careers, Maura and Jane embark on a terrifying journey to the very heart of evil, where they encounter a malevolent foe more dangerous than any they have ever faced . . . one whose work is only just beginning.
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Holy wow! Gross, just a little bit. I really enjoy this series. There was an OMG moment and when you get there, I think you'll know what I mean. It blew me away, with my upbringing and my history. I'm sure it happens, probably more than I would expect, but it blew my mind.

Book # 39 ~ I'll be lucky to make it to 40 books read this year and I was hoping for 100. Funny

A Day of Dreams

If I've ever lived a day of dreams, this would be it. Yesterday was my Christmas present from Lily; concert tickets to see Keith Urban.

Lily and I planned to spend the entire day together hanging out and it was everything I'd hoped for and more. We left home about 9am and hit the road, but not before hitting the local Starbucks. Armed with Todd's GPS we were Ottawa bound.

The drive up was uneventful until we hit the heart of Ottawa traffic. It was snowing like crazy, not Raining on Sunday, but snowing on Friday. We drove to the Place D'Orleans mall where I bought a necklace and earrings to match my Christmas dinner outfit and another little present for Todd's oldest daughter. Now, to find something for little daughter. We then hit another mall. In this mall I found a present for Todd, and the best shopping find of the day. Lily and I each got a new coat. It is a mid-calf length black dressy coat. The store was having a sale and these coats were regularly $100.00 each and we bought both coats for $102, with taxes. They are gorgeous and I can't wait to wear mine. Not that I'm dressing up today, let me tell ya. My feet are killing me. I just want to wear my running shoes all day, not that my running shoes are comfortable, but that is for another day.

Our efforts to find other malls went awry since we didn't know the names nor did we have addresses which is always helpful when using a GPS. Onward to Ikea we head at this point, which is right near where we're going to dinner with Todd's niece. Ikea was somewhat of a success. I bought a couple clear glass bowls, a 12 day present for next year for Velda (now I have 3 of a total of 12 presents). I also bought Lily a shoe rack for her room and my vanilla scented tea lights I buy every time I'm there.

Dinner bound we are. This is were I have to tell you, I love Todd's niece. She works for Montana's restaurant, so we meet with her there every chance we get. She is one of the most adorable, genuine people I've ever met. She just adores Lily and Lily in turn, looks up to her. It is really sweet. We sit and chat with Tash for about an hour and half, but departure time approaches much quicker than expected. With hugs and kisses and promises to see each other over the holidays, off Lily and I head to our date with ever gorgeous Keith Urban!

We got to the Scotialbank Place about an hour before the concert is due to start. I was wrong on the start time. The time I thought the concert was to start was really the time the doors opened, so needless to say we were a bit early. It made it much easier to find parking though, so all in all things worked out okay. They always seem to anyway.

If I told Lily 'Thank you' once yesterday, I must have told her 20 times. I think she was about ready to strangle me by the end of the night. The gates finally open and we head to our seats. Our seats were for section 302 Row E Seat # (I forget). We go around the concourse and get to section 302 and there is a sign that says that section is closed because of lighting and sound equipment being hung in our seat area. The woman working this section sends us on to another section, this time 308. There were are told they are giving us new tickets in place of our originals because of the situation with the equipment. The 3 women there pick through their tickets for the best of what is available and we end up in Section 308 Row M seat # ( I forget). There beside us is 2 men and then on the other side is a young guy, and who I would think is his girlfriend. They man beside me introduces himself as Gary. He is there with a friend of his, while their wives are down BACKSTAGE meeting KEITH URBAN! OMG moment. So, we chatter for a little bit and then Gary notices there is a Scotiabank Place employee up behind us talking to some other seat transplants, and he is exchanging tickets with them. The employee is called over to us and Gary talks to him and the employee asks if we're all together, we say yes, him, his friend, Lily, myself and the young couple beside Lily. We are all give ticket upgrades to Section 105 , Section J Seat #15 & 16. These seat numbers I know because I have the tickets in my hands. You wanna talk about an OMG moment!!! We were all just stunned. We were so close it wasn't to be believed. I went to the concession stand and bought the two men a beer to say, 'Thanks'

Not soon enough the concert starts. I'm a fan of Gary Allen, have always liked his music, but I never really followed his career or seen any of his live shows. After last night, I'm a huge fan, not just a fan. Man, can he sing. His stage presence is incredible. He moves well, sings even better and just seems like an all around great performer. He talked a bit about dark times in his personal life and how, Best I Ever Had, helped him through those times, brought tears to my eyes. Knowing the story behind his struggles and to hear him speak of them even vaguely and in such brief terms, was difficult. I had a blast his Alright Guy. It was just a fun tune to hear him perform live. Watching Airplanes was incredible. You'd have thought you were listening to his CD, he sounded so good. He would come out on the extended portion of the stage with this little twinkle in his eye and big grin on his face. He, much like Keith Urban, looks as though he is having a great time with life and his music.

How do I put to words the kind of performance Keith put on? No matter what I say, or how I say it, I will not come close to doing it or him justice. The show starts off with the screen black and then on the screen comes up 59 seconds, and the countdown begins to zero, at which point Keith is standing the middle of the stage with fading light shining only on him while he signs the opening verse of Once In a Lifetime. Where the tempo picks up, the lights come on with a bright flash and there is the rest of his band and we are underway to a show of a lifetime.

There are so many highlights. There was the girl with a sign that read "I'm Rural, but I'll go Urban". This girl and her sign were in our section near the bottom and Keith brought her up on stage. She latched on to him for dear life and who could blame her. She got herself a hug and stole a couple kisses and for a time refused to let go. Keith took it all in stride joking that he had to get back to work, 'okay, honey you gotta let me go now'. What an absolute doll.

The stage was set up in a t-fashion with a round area at the end. Keith and the entire band
came out there to perform a couple songs. One of them, Making Memories of Us. The lighting was dim and the camera was just one Keith with shadows playing on his face. Oh so sexy!

I have to say my favorite song performance of the evening would have to be Raining on Sunday. I've always liked this song and always struggle when asked to choose a favorite song, but no longer. My favorite Keith Urban song is now Raining on Sunday, and that is as much as a result of his live performance as much as from the fact that I would love to live out the song. Oh, to dream....

I'm not a professional concert goer by any means, but I've done enough to know good showmanship and Keith Urban, even the second time around does not fail to impress. I've never seen a show where the performer smiles as much as he does, and it is a genuine smile. This is a man that loves what he does and it shows. He is down on his knees, playing the hell out of that guitar and as much as it is just him and his guitar, you feel a part of it. There is this most adorable grin on his face when the crowd sings back to him, and how he interacts with the fans is awesome. There was a time when he was down on his knee playing, and a guy moved in with a camera and they did a cheek to cheek head shot and Keith just smiles the whole time.

There was a time when Keith came out for an encore and down he sits at the piano and plays White Christmas. OMG it was awesome. Still at the piano, he thanks the crowd for remaining fans and giving him a reason for getting his ass back on the road. As expected, the place goes crazy with screaming and clapping fans. Keith just sits there, again with a smile, but this time with teary eyes. Oh, to be the Kleenex that wipes away those tears. He then says that he is dedicating this next song to his wife, who couldn't be here since she is working, and he plays Got It Right This Time. WOW To have someone love me that way, and sing to me that way. Phew, someone turn down the heat in here.

I made an amazing discovery while at this concert and it's a big one. If I were only able to one performer for the rest of my life, it would be without a doubt Keith Urban! That is saying a lot, and those that have known me awhile will remember my Garth Brooks obsession, so this is huge.

Lily, from the bottom of my heart, I can not tell you enough how much your thoughtfulness and generosity mean to me. I've tried so hard to not show that Christmas is about family and friends more than gifts, but you have to know this is the most thoughtful gift I could have ever received. Thank you, sweetie.

I just want my tea

I've been trying to cut back on my beverage purchases at places such as Tim Horton's, but namely Starbucks. Over the summer Starbucks became a major addiction for me and one that was making quite the dent in my pocketbook! My bad. So, here is my saga of the day. Really, if all I have to worry about (ya right) is this I should consider myself very lucky, which I do and I am! It is all the more painful because I am trying to cut back on such spending excursions because they do all add up!

I've played around with various ways to curb the habit, cut back whatever I could do that would save me some money and still get me my 'fix'. So, I've tried to only go to Tim Horton's when I'm working. I don't work every day and I still don't go every day I work, except tonight I broke down and went to Timmy's. Darn it, it is 1:30 in the morning. I just crawled out of the warmth of my bed and hit the cold hard pavement in a very cold car to come to work. That qualifies as a treat moment if I've ever had one. A trip to the Tim Horton's Drive Thru was in the works. I even broke a $20 to do so, something I hate doing. I'm in a 'Peppermint Tea' phase at the moment. I'm very much a phase eater and drinker in case you weren't aware. I get my tea through the little Timmy's window and I'm so happy. All is right in my world again. I have the warmth of the tea within reach, but it is such a treat I'll wait until I get to my office before I drink it. I will savour it before I start slugging away at the menial job task of preparing the call schedules for the morning shift. It will be just me and my tea for a few moments of blessed peace. Oh no it wont! My peppermint tea is plain old tea BLEH. I'm so sad. It's just not the same as my sweet minty tea. This is like a mini let down in my night. Oh poor me! Do you feel my pain?

I know in the long and short of it this isn't a big deal, but I love those moments of peace and quiet with a warm cup of tea in hand. I still have all those wants, but the taste is all wrong. I'm off now to my menial job task with the wrong tea. Maybe another day I will be blessed with my tea of the moment and actually have that warm fuzzy feeling again.

Double Cross - James Patterson

Just when Alex thought his life was calming down into a routine of patients and therapy sessions, he finds himself back in the game--this time to catch a criminal mastermind like no other. A spate of elaborate murders in Washington D.C. have the whole East Coast on edge. They are like nothing Alex Cross and his new girlfriend, Detective Brianna Stone, have ever seen. With each murder, the case becomes increasingly complex. There's only one thing Alex knows: the killer adores an audience. As victims are made into gruesome spectacles citywide, inducing a media hysteria, it becomes clear to Alex that the man he's after is a genius of terror--and he's after fame. The killer has the whole city by its strings--and he'll stop at nothing to become the most terrifying star that Washington D.C. has ever seen.

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I had some difficulty getting in to this book, but once I did I couldn't put it down. There were things that happened that annoyed me. I wont get into those annoyances, I'll leave them for you to discover on your own.

Fight of Flight

Why is it that sometimes life's just like that? I'm soooo damn tired it's not even funny. I don't think that I'm so much physically tired, but emotionally exhausted. Is it that I'm too much of a pushover and people 'abuse' that or just expect that I will continue to be pushed and prodded. One minute I'm travelling along in my happy old way and BAM here it comes again!

I sometimes feel as though I'm surrounded by negativity and then I in turn become negative. How to stop the cycle? I'm living one life that is pretty much divided into 15 different sections. Let me list them and see if you feel as dizzy as I do just thinking about it. I have on my plate on any given day the following things to contend with:

• The craziness of my job and the shifts involved
• Lillian and trying to balance my time with her (her thinking she's a burden)
• Worrying about Alyssa doing her thing on her own (way too young)
• Finding time for the gym
• The everyday running of my house and all that it involves
• Trying to find time for Todd....
• Worrying about my finances and the mess I've made of them
• The added burden I've placed upon myself with my finances and thinking I need to get another part time job
• Dealing with ex-husband and the havoc he is dishing up right now
• Balancing the old life with the new and the emotional turmoil that always presents

For the most part I very much love life. This feeling I have right now is one I deal with from time to time, but not no matter how many times I've felt this way, it gets no easier. It's as though when life is good, it's really good and when it's not....look out.

I wonder what is more difficult, living in a verbally abusive relationship; one that was predominately run by emotional blackmail and heartache in the last years? Or, what I do now, running from place to place in a state of never being able to do enough for others. I love helping out, I love being able to be depended upon to help out, but sometimes I just want the same in return. I don't ask for much, but when I do it would be the most amazing feeling in the world for an instantaneous 'yes'. As I said, I don't ask for much.

On another front, but one from the list above. I applied for 2 part time jobs yesterday. One is with a temporary agency. I don't expect to hear back from it, but you never know. Right? The second job I applied for, which I'm hopeful about is at a local pharmacy here in town. It is only 12 hours per week, which would be a good amount of hours to bring in a little extra money and not so much to completely undo me physically and emotionally. My plan is to get this part time job and use half of the money to pay down my debt (on top of my regular payments) and the other half will go into a savings account for new boobs. I know! I know! Frivolous dreams of a girl that should be thinking of other things. :)

I will conclude this whining session. I don't really like the idea of two posts back to back that are rather heavy and filled with negativity, but I more than needed to get these things out of my head. You may now return to your regularly scheduled blog reading.

Love ya's bunches and bunches.

ETA: I just did a very smart thing. I'm not always doing smart things, but this one is good. I know my ex-husband is gearing up to take me to Family Court, so in the event I have to pay him back any money I've taken a lump sum of $1000 and put it into a GIC. It doesn't pay a lot of interest, but the additional $30.00 per month might just be enough to help out. I know one thing, it's better than the money sitting in my savings account where I can get to it easier than in the GIC. In the event I have to pay him back (GRRRRR) a lump sum I'll be able access this money within 24 hours. Doing that withdrawl is going to be uber painful!

Funny how a little thing like this can change one's outlook. I'm still very much in a contemplative 'why bother' state of mind, but I do feel somewhat better than I did when I started this post. Push on or give up? Push on is my choice.

Emptying My Head

My head is all over the place this morning, so I'm not sure how much sense I'll be able to make of this post.

Things in life are a combination of good bad and everything between right now. My personal life is in an awesome place, my finances are atrocious. The situation with my husband (should be ex husband by now) are, oh just soooo awesome-not! He is trying to financially sink me and if I don't play my cards smart or at least smarter than I've been he will surely succeed. I'm worried to death about my oldest daughter that is out there in the world trying to make it on her own, but is struggling mightily! I don't know what to do about it or her. Short of hog tying her and dragging her home, there really isn't much I can do. Sit back and watch is what I have to do at this point.

Lily, my youngest (14 y.o.) seems to be in a great place and for that I'm happy. She has done some amazing things lately for which I'm very proud. She bought me my Keith Urban tickets for which I'm very pleased and so excited to do with her. I'm thankful for the gift, but it is the bigger picture that really touches me. Her generosity is second to none and I say this in complete acceptance of the fact that this little girl is a princess through and through. She loves things and wants things, but she is putting her wants and needs aside to give to others. I can't even begin to tell you the pride I feel when thinking of her and her actions.

Alyssa, my oldest (16 y.o.) is a different story. I am very proud of her, but for completely different reasons. She isn't in a place where I would like her to be, nor probably a place she wants to be either, but she is rising to the challenge she's created for herself and doing the best she can with what she has in front of her. I couldn't ask for more. These last few months have been difficult for her and for me, but she is showing such personal growth. It is a proud moment to know, I may have had a hand in some of the troubles facing my daughter, but I raised a very strong, independent thinking young woman.

Now on to my own issues; my weight. I've gained a wee bit this week, but I'm good with it. I ate as if every day were my last day on earth this past week. I had an epiphany moment yesterday and it wasn't a pretty happening if I do say so myself. I use to be very much a stickler for numbers, still am to a certain extent, but as far as clothing I've moved on from that but not completely which was apparent by my episode yesterday. I went shopping for new dress pants to wear to Christmas dinner at Todd's sister's house in a couple weeks. I took in sizes ranging from 3 to 7 since I've never bought pants in this particular store before. Well, lo and behold, I fit best in the 7's. I could have managed with a 5, but if I gained anything more than a pound I'd be in trouble, so what is the point of that. You must be wondering now what is the point of this little story. My point to this and my epiphany moment is that I have to be more diligent in my weight loss efforts. Not because of my clothing number, but because I'm carrying a lot of flab in my midsection and up towards my breasts. It was upsetting to see this, when at one time I'm was 'cutting in' at my abs and now it seems all I'm 'cutting' is cake! I know I can do this I just have to find the will power and the drive, okay maybe a bit extra time wouldn't hurt too. In all seriousness I'm worth the effort and that is the bottom line!

Angels Among Us

The photo doesn't do this justice. It truly is prettier in real life.

This is my first Lizzie Kate that I've stitched in what seems like forever. I'd forgotten how fun it can be to do smaller pieces. Hmmmmm

I really hope my special friend enjoys her little gift. Now to figure out how I'm going to finish it. I'm thinking a little door hanger.

November Stitching Ramblings

November didn't see me with as much stitching time as I would have liked. The reasons for this is many; the gym, work, Christmas shopping and decorating.

I was able to get in a measly total of 20 hours 10 minutes.

I logged time on 3 pieces and finished nothing! LOL I did have a little setback though, I started something new, a piece for a girl at work. It is a little piece and one that won't take me very long to finish up.

I'm really pleased with a new development in my stitching life. I've started working on a UFO piece for 1 hour per week. I've said it already, but I'm amazed at how much you can accomplish on a piece in only one hour. Maybe this new approach will help me get some things finished and stave off the desire to always be starting something new. Ya right! LOL

December Goals
Finish the Lizzie Kate piece for my co-worker (friend) - done
Finish Love with a Capital L
Add another 5 hours on Halloween Fairy - 1 hour completed

Doable??? Sure it is!

Happy stitching days to you.

You've Been Warned - James Patterson

For Karen Burns, a talented young photographer, it was only natural to go to New York to chase her dreams. And it was only normal--just to pay the rent while she waited for her big chance--to work as a nanny for a young power couple, an attorney and his socialite wife, watching their two children. But for all the promise, the thrills, and the glitter, there are temptations and there are deadly dangers that come with life among the rich and powerful. Get ready for the Nanny Diaries from Hell.

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I don't even know where to begin with this one. I'm not sure if I liked it or didn't. It was a very strange book. I've passed this on to Pam with the "You've Been Warned" warning, and the promise to let me know what she thinks of it when she's finished. Hmmmm.......