Reading and Stitching

Rude Awaking, Castle and phone issues

2012-05-07T23:58:00.000-05:00

Sunday morning I was sleeping soundly when I was awakened by all 5 of our smoke alarms going off!!! Brigen started howling, Tusk and Gibbs started barking it was a mad house. Mark and I searched and searched for fire, smoke anything that was making them go off! We couldn't find anything. After 30 minutes, I called Mr. Sparky since they were the ones who installed them last month. They promised to send a technician in an hour! UGH!!! Mark went downstairs to check on the 6th smoke alarm to find it beeping like the battery needed changing. Of course we didn't have a 9-volt, so off to the store I went and bought 6 of them!!!! He changed the battery and the others finally stopped beeping. Mr. Sparky showed up and explained that the smoke alarms were talking to one another and if a battery goes dead, we don't change it the others will beep and beep until it is changed. All is well on the home front!

I posted that I hadn't worked much on Castle. I was able to put in 1,000 stitches...it is coming along slowly.

If you look closely, you will notice my cell phone is being changed by my Orts jar. According to the AT&T guy my charger section is corroded and they don't fix phones, they just upgrade for a small fee. I have an I-pad, and I love my little phone so I thanked him and walked out of the building. I promptly called AT&T where I knew we had phone insurance. They did charge me $50 but no addition to my contract which is up in 3 weeks. I also get an upgraded phone since mine is now discontinued and a one year warranty. So I am happy. I just have to wiggle the charger to a certain position, sit something heavy on it and my phone will charge. The new one will be here at the end of the week!!!!!

AWH Page Finish and Whining.....

2012-05-05T20:49:00.001-05:00

Happy Dance! Happy Dance!!! I finished page 2 of A Wintery Heriloom!!! Talk about being excited, now I only have 22 pages left.

As most of you can see that I haven't been posting much. I really have just wanted to go into hiding. Have you ever felt this way? I thought when I got out of the behavior room, my school year would be so much better. However, these past 2 weeks have been so stressful that I have gained all 7 lbs I lost plus 3 more. I come home from work and just sit and stare. I play on pinterst and read. That is it. I don't feel like doing much. I have a couple of parents that in the education world are known as "That Parent" These parents are very demanding and expecting me to cater to their every whim and if I don't do what they think I should do then they go directly to my supervisor and it becomes a circus. I have a parent who is demanding an apology from me because I told her daughter she was rude. She was assured it would hurt her self-esteem. My question is, "How do you know you are being rude if someone doesn't tell you?"

I had a student tell me this week that his dad told him he couldn't do my project that I assigned at the end of spring break in March, because it was too hard. REALLY??? Here is the project: Each student is to create 3 one page posters (normal printer paper) about 3 jobs they would like to have after High School. Realistic jobs, not superstars etc. They have to include: name of job, salary, education needed, skills needed, room for advancement and a picture of the job. This is too hard??? REALLY??????

Done Whining...today I spent in my sewing room making 12 personalized pillowcases for my seniors!!!! I hope they will like them!

New Disney Design

2012-04-26T22:36:00.000-05:00

I started a new piece!!!! It is a Disney design from the movie Fantasia. I am stitching it on 32 white opalescent fabric. This is going to my Round Robin piece for my Ozark Sampler group. The finished design is below. It is just going to be darling!!!

I am going back to my rotation next...I plan on working on my HAED - A Wintery Heirloom. I am excited because I started this design with my friend Kim R back in 2010 and we both let it go by the wayside. I have picked it up again and I convinced Kim that when it was back up in my rotation, she needed to work on hers. It would only be for four days so she agreed. She dug it out and well...the stitching gods were mad because it sat untouched for so long....Somehow all her q-snap clamps were cracked! She had to get four new ones!!!! So let this be a warning....The Stitching Gods will play funny tricks on you when you ignore your UFOs!!!!!!!

Mystic Stitch and Mary Poppins

2012-04-23T00:01:00.003-05:00

Life has been NUTS!!! It was another State Test week at our school. This week it was the End of Course Geometry test. Of course, I was one of the lucky teachers to give the test. I don't mind the testing part, except that it is so boring. I have to stand in one room for 3-4 hours with no talking, computers, books or anything to pass the time. I just walk around and make sure the kids are all on track.

This week I started offering homebound services to a student at the local library. I have to tutor this student for 4 hours each week. Homebound is for students who are extremely ill, or behavior so bad they can't come to school so a teacher has to meet with them. The pay is good and I like spending time at the library. However, I miss my stitching time!!! HEE HEE!!!

Stitching:

This week my rotation consisted of my next RR project and my mystic stitch. I didn't really get much stitched on my RR project. I was just too tired!!! My Mystic stitch was a lot of confetti stitching. I was able to put in 660 stitches this week.

After working on my Mystic Stitch, I was able to finish the rotation of all my projects!!! So I going to work on my RR project for the next 4 days and then start again on my rotation.

My birthday present finally arrived, and after sitting in the box for a 2 weeks, Mark finally put it together!!! I LOVE my sewing table!!! It is just so awesome!!!

My mom and I went to see Mary Poppins this weekend. I just LOVED it!!! If you get a chance to see it, go! It is just amazing!

Classroom Funny for the Day:

A student was laying her head down on her desk. I called her name and asked, "What are you doing?" I thought she was asleep....

Student replied, "I am just getting a closer look at my homework!"

Had to give her that one!!!

UFO Finish and 2 other projects

2012-04-15T01:19:00.001-05:00

The other night I had been stitching on my Victorian Village (see below) and a commercial for Chocolate milk came on and it just looked good!!! So I texted my DH, who was on the golf course, and he stopped on the way home to get me some chocolate milk. I enjoyed every bit of it!!!

Friday through Monday was spent on my Victorian Village. I am following my 4 day rotation and it is going GREAT!!!! I started the barber shop and was able to finish the top of it. Next rotation, I hope to finish this shop!

On Tuesday, I started my Summer Ball piece. I was able to add more wallpaper and columns. This is the start of page 2.

I FINISHED my summer nine patch design!!! LOVE how it turned out. I think I am going to finish it as a throw pillow for the couch. Unless someone else has another idea or suggestion for finishing the design!

Funny Student Moment this week:

Written on Student paper: I hate Mrs. Hartwell with a Postion.

My written response: I think you meant passion!

Gotta love teenagers!!!!

HAED Faery Tales and New BED!!!!

2012-04-08T22:13:00.000-05:00

I was able to work on my Faery Tales from Haed. This design is 49 pages and I am on page 3. It was a pretty rough week for stitching. I had parent teacher conferences on Tuesday. I have fifty plus students in my room and only three parents showed up! That is about 6%...how sad is that????

1-1-12

Progress as of 4-5-12

Mark and my new bed finally came in and it is heavenly!!! A new bed means more money spent. At school, we have compared it to the book "If you give a Mouse a Cookie".

New bed with the new comforter!!!!

When we bought the bed, Mark was sweet and ordered me a king size wool padding that goes under the sheets.....It is so soft you just sink into it!

When you buy a new bed that is a different size, you have to buy new sheets:

You also have to buy new King Size Pillow Cases....

We also had to buy a new area rug because we forgot that Brigen ate two holes in the carpet!

After all that shopping, we finally called an electrician because when we tried to turn on the light switch or the ceiling fan, the switch would pop and crackle!!! This had been going on for a while and I finally got tired of it!! It seems that our house was not up to code!!!!!! To make things worse...our House inspector missed it seven years ago. The box had been wired wrong so after some rewiring, new smoke defenders, and surge protectors throughout the whole house we can now use our fan and light in the bedroom!!!! We do not even want to talk about that bill!!! The electrician said if we had a house fire, insurance wouldn't have covered it since the house wasn't up to code. So it is a good thing I called!!!!!

Cinderella's Castle and Yahoo Groups Question

2012-04-01T22:19:00.002-05:00

I am continuing with my rotation and for the past 4 days I have been working on my Disney Cinderella's Castle. Since I can't be at Disney World...this is just going to have to do for now!!!! I have 62% of the castle finished!

January 8

April 1st

Yahoo Groups question:

I belong to four different Yahoo groups: ILCS, Heaven and Earth Stitchers, Intricate Stitchers and Ozark Samplers. I was just wondering how many stitching groups you belong to and if you have a favorite???

A Winterly Heirloom UFO

2012-03-29T00:09:00.000-05:00

My A Winterly Heirloom HAED was calling my name this week so I pulled it out to stitch on it. Here is what it looked like before I stitched on it....

This is what it looks like now. As you can you see, the tree is filled in more and more of the sky is filled in also. I only have 149,980 stitches left to go on this project!!!!

Betty Crocker Moment!!!

Mark was wanting Lasagna this week so I pulled out my Betty Crocker Cookbook and found a recipe. It was really simple to make and it turned out YUMMY!!!!

Smiles from Heaven and Winners!!!

2012-03-27T23:21:00.001-05:00

I got the best surprise today!!! My Lilac bloomed for the first time!! My granny, who passed away 3 years ago, gave me a cutting from her lilac bush 6 years ago. Mark and I had just bought our house and she decided I needed a cutting. She and I decided to plant it in front of my house where I could smell the lilacs when the windows were open. I have been waiting and waiting for this to bloom. Mark just thought it was a GREAT big bush!!! I told him to wait,...be patiently because it would bloom. Today, my granny is smiling down at me because her lilac bush finally bloomed!!! I am just so happy. I told Mark that if we ever move, the bush is coming with me!!!!

Winners of the Patchwork Sampler and Ozark Sampler Mystery SAL....Plus my houses..

Karen from my Stitchers UFO Challenge - she is getting the Patchwork Sampler SAL

Paula from Paula's WIPapocalypse - She is getting the Ozark Sampler Mystery SAL

Sue...you won my Disney houses chart..I need you to email me your address!!!

Winter 9-patch and spring break wrap up!!!

2012-03-25T03:19:00.000-05:00

Who-HOOOOO!!! I have another finish to show off! I worked on my seasonal 9 patch and I finished the Winter Section!!! As you can see, I just have 2 more boxes to stitch in the Summer section and it will be completely finished!!!!

So this project is being put away, because a HAED is calling my name. I am going to work on my Wintery Heirloom project. I loved all the responses I received about my stitchers guilt. I am going to put my 7 UFO"s in a 4 day rotation until School is out at the end of May. Then I will start adding a new project here and there.

Spring Break is over and I have to go back to work on Monday. I set out some goals...lets see how I did:

~~1. Go get my taxes done~~

Got the notice from the state Dept. about our refund!

~~2. Finish 2 houses in my Victorian Village~~

Finished Ice Cream Parlor and Mercantile

~~3. Take all the recycling to the recycling center~~

You saw the garage photos!!!

~~4. enter 2 binders of charts into my excel program~~

Actually entered all my charts that I know of...still gotta look in the nooks and crannies.

~~5. Go in my Classroom and finish my Annual Review Conference paperwork~~

~~(each conference takes about 2 hours to plan and I have 13 of them!!!!)~~

I went in and worked for about 5 hours, finished my conferences, failure notices, graded all papers and I can now see the top of my desk!!

Because I worked really hard this week.... I went and had new nails put on my fingers! I love them!!!! The only problem? I have to learn to type and text with them....this is going to a learning experience!

2 UFO's needing new homes and my stash.

2012-03-23T22:38:00.001-05:00

Today I spent the afternoon entering the rest of my charts onto Excel. As of right now, I have entered all my charts and all my kits into an excel spreadsheet. I haven't checked the nooks and crannies though. You know how us stitchers are, we have things EVERY where!!! As of right now, I have over 500 charts and 300 kits to be stitched!!! I think that is enough to last a life time!!
I still need to go through my magazines and write down the charts from them I want to stitch. Who knows how many that will be when I get finished.

New homes: I decided to give away 2 of my UFO"s to people who may actually want them.

This is an Ozark Sampler Mystery Stitch Along. It has all the patterns, and specialty threads needed to complete this project. This was designed by Debbie Draper. It is a sampler and I am not a sampler person. It does turn out really cute. I won't tell what it is since it is supposed to be a mystery....

The second one is my Patchwork Sampler. You can see the finished design here at Catiacrafts. This was a freebie SAL design a few years ago. I started it over one with Ozark Sampler threads. I will include everything needed to finish it.

If anyone would like to have one of these projects...just leave your name. I will rehome them on Monday. Hopefully, there will be someone who would like them!!!

Victorian Village - Mercantile Finished

2012-03-23T03:06:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I was talking about my Stitcher's Guilt and if anyone else suffered from it. I was amazed that I am not the only one who does suffer from it. I got some good ideas on how to handle my guilt. I realized I left off a UFO. How I could forget my Disney castle design, I will never know!!!! I do have this one left to finish. I have 2 more pages of it and it will be completed. This is a retired chart that is very hard to find.

The Victorian Village is coming along great. I have two more buildings left to stitch and it will be finished!!!

The Mercantile was actually fun to stitch up. It wasn't that hard either. If I could have stayed off Pininterst then I would have finished it sooner.

At the end of the school year last year, one of my parents bought me an hour massage for helping her son graduate. I cashed it in today and I am SORE!!! I carry all my stress in my shoulders and neck. She spent most of the hour there and I can't believe how sore I am from her breaking down all the knots in my body. Note to self---Get more Massages!!!!

Stitchers Guilt- Real condition???

2012-03-21T21:39:00.000-05:00

I am not sure if I am the only one who suffers from Stitchers Guilt but I do!!!! Stitcher's Guilt is where you have started several Big Projects and you really want to finish them but there are other Big projects calling your name!!! So, do you start a new BIG project or do you finish the ones you have started before starting something new????

I have some stitching friends who have 10 to 20 Big projects in their rotation and do not think twice about it. I am not sure I can do that. I think it is the teacher in me. I see a project, I start it, and then I finish it.

I have other friends who suffer from Startitus - They have no problem starting new projects and do not care if they ever finish them!!!!!

So, My question is ...Do you suffer from Stitchers Guilt or do you just don't worry about it??

Should I just go ahead and start some of these projects before finishing the UFO"s below????? Just curious...which is your favorite????

Below are some BAP charts that I REALLY REALLY want to start.... (we'll get to the smaller ones later)

First: My Thomas Kinkade Disney kits (the only one that isn't a chart is the center one) The other 8 are in my stash begging to be started:

Thomas Kinkade Disney Kits

My Love of Pride and Prejudice just wants me to stitch Pemberely

Darcy's Pemberley 540 x 349

Then again...there is my new chart that I just received....

A gathering 331 x 212

This is my DREAM chart...Just love it!!!!

An Afternoon Embroidering 250 x 160

Once again, my love of Disney is begging me to stitch my Haunted Mansion portraits...

Haunted Mansion Portraits 242 x 704 Each Portrait!!!

Here is my love of Jane Austen again...I just love this house....It just needs to be stitched

Mystic Stitch - stitch count uncertain. (too lazy to get up and look)

This chart I fell in love with it the first time I saw it....Not sure why....

Musical Fete -HEAD 625 x 501

Then I have my UFO's!!!! In my UFO pile of BAP we have:

A golf Pattern for my husband.....

Augusta #13 Mystic Stitch 325 x 216

My Victorian Ball scene....

Summer Ball by Sandy Little John 478 x 129

This is the SAL I started with my friend Kim...we have both stopped working on it. I think she got bored and I was iritated because of the trees at the top. They are a pain to stitch!!

A wintery Heirloom HAED 450 x 360

My love of Faery Tales made me buy this one.... but for some reason I don't enjoy working on it...probably because I am only in the top left corner which is very dark threads.......

Faery Tales HAED 575 x 453

So there you have it my guilty confession. I have tons of HUGE projects to start...others to finish. Am I the only one that suffers from this condition????

Yiotas Cross stitch Patterns and Kits Review

2012-03-20T15:42:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Yiotas Cross-Stitch Patterns and Kits to see if I would like to review one of their items. Of course I said I would LOVE to review one of their products. I had seen her name appear of other bloggers sites about her products and the rave reviews she had been getting. My friend, Shari, over at Shari's Sharings reviewed a beautiful kit called Winter Sunset Cottage.

Yiota offered to let me order a kit or pattern my choice. If I chose a kit, then I would get to chose between aida or evenweave fabric. The pattern would be printed on regular chart size or 11 x 17 size which means less pages. Well...since I love Victorian style pattern I fell in LOVE with four different designs:

A Gathering

Reading by the Lamplight

The Letter

Gossip

It was like being a kid in a candy store. So many choices. So I let Yiota pick for me and she chose my top pick...A Gathering (top photo). The designs I LOVED only came in pattern format. Which is fine with me....I got my pattern in the mail yesterday and this is how it came:

Sturdy envelope with cardboard in the back so it wouldn't bend

The pattern came wrapped in a plastic covering. The front of the design has a beautiful picture, the stitch count (a whopping 331 x 212), the size once finished along with her email, website and telephone number. Which is nice because it shows she wants us to contact her if there is a problem.

A gathering

I chose the larger paper for this project. It came on very sturdy paper. The symbols are very easy to read.

pattern

The symbols page is very easy to read and lists the number of DMC and the color beside it. It also include the layout instructions, number of threads and how many skeins of each color needed to finish the design.

Symbols Page

I am VERY please with this company. Her cross stitch patterns are easy to follow which is great for a BAP!!! I will be ordering from them again. They have wonderful intricate designs and I can't wait to see how this stitches up!!!!

Ice Cream Shoppe and to do list

2012-03-18T20:44:00.003-05:00

I finished my Ice Cream Parlor tonight. It turned out really cute. I just have three more buildings to go on this design and it will be finished. I have the Mercantile, Barber Shop and Sweet Shop left to finish.

To Do list!!!

I mentioned earlier that I needed to take things to the recycling center in town. We don't have a service that picks up our recycling we have to take it to the center. So We don't always make it there when we should. My garage was so full that I felt like everytime I got out of my car...a box would fall on my head and crush me!!!!

As you can see below the before and after pictures!

Flat Belly Diet
Today was the first day on this diet. I have to say this is the worst thing I have ever done to myself!!!!! The salad water is gross and I felt all day that I was hungry!!! I am not sure if I am going to finish this....

Blog Award!!!!

2012-03-18T00:25:00.001-05:00

My good friend, Berly, over at New Year! Blog has awarded me the

Liebster is a German word, meaning favorite, dearest or beloved, and the Liebster is awarded by bloggers to other, newer bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers, to spread the word and help the new(er)bies gain wider recognition. The award comes with four conditions that each recipient must satisfy when accepting:

1. Choose five up-and-coming blogs (with fewer than 200 followers) to award the Liebster to.

2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

3. Post the award on your blog. List the bloggers you are giving the award to with links to their sites. Leave comments on their blogs so they know about the award.

4. Share five random facts about yourself that people don't know about you.

Ok, the bloggers that I am giving this award to are:

1) My friend Kim, over at Kims Northwoods Discoveries. Kim is an amazing stitcher and quilter!!! She is the mom to two cute furbabies - Stewie and Rodger. I love chatting with Kim almost daily via Yahoo Messenger!

2) My friend, Shari, over at Shari's Sharings. I met Shari through one of my Yahoo groups. We have been to one retreat together and she is a lot of fun. She is an amazing stitcher and a wonderful grandmother to triplets!!!!

3) My Disney friend, Keebles, over at Keebles World. I actually met her at the disboards where many Disney lovers go to chat about disney things!! We were on the Disney cross stitch section and became great online friends!

4) My Idol, Cindy in MA, over at HAED and other Cross stitch. Cindy has numerous Haed projects going and doesn't feel the least bit of stitchers guilt. When I get to be an adult stitcher I want to be just like her!!!

5) My final award goes to Julie and Yes and Dear over at Julie and Yes Dear's Ravings. Julie always has interesting projects going on and I love hearing about Yes Dear!

Ok, now for the hard part. 5 random facts about me that people don't know

1) I grew up on farm in Oklahoma with all sorts of animals. However, I am SCARED to death of riding horses!!! I love to brush them, feed them, walk them but everytime I ride them, I get bucked off! EVERYTIME!!!! It is a running family joke.

2) I learned to drive by plowing the garden with the tractor.

3) Even though I have 3 Labs, I used to be very scared of big dogs.

4) I still have to sleep with a nightlight. I never got over my fear of the dark.

5) I would love to travel back in time and attend a Ball during Victorian times.

Ok...Hopefully you will stop by and visit my friends blogs!!!

Spring Break - Day 1

2012-03-17T23:50:00.003-05:00

Today was the first day of spring break. I actually accomplished something off my list:

~~1. Go get my taxes done~~

2. Finish 2 houses in my Victorian Village

3. Take all the recycling to the recycling center

4. enter 2 binders of charts into my excel program

5. Go in my Classroom and finish my Annual Review Conference paperwork

(each conference takes about 2 hours to plan and I have 13 of them!!!!)

Taxes are finished!!!!! We get a small refund from federal and state!! At least it is a refund and we do not owe!!!

This is my salad water I get to drink all day tomorrow. It has cucumbers, freshly grated ginger and lemons. Looks tasty!!!

This is it from the side view. As you can see my Sonic Sweet tea cup right behind it. I don't get that this week!!!! I will be very cranky as I go through withdrawals!!!!!

I worked on my Ice Cream Parlor today. I am moving right along. Hopefully, I will finish it either late tonight or tomorrow. Several people have asked where I found these patterns.

The Victorian Village is an Afghan Series that was designed by Lois Winston. It was published in the US Cross Stitcher Magazine in the months of:

December 93 - Flower Shop/Ice Cream parlor

Feb. 94 - Cross Stitch Shop and barber shop

April 94 - Antiques and Mercantile

June 94 - Quilt shop and Apothecary

August 94 - Dress shop and Book Shop

Oct. 94 - Sweet Shop and Millinary

Spring Break Week - To do List

2012-03-16T23:25:00.001-05:00

Spring Break has started this week and I have a small to do list. Mark is going out of town on Sunday so I will be home by myself until Wednesday Night. So, I have some random things I want to get finished this week while he is gone. My list looks like this:

1. Go get my taxes done

2. Finish 2 houses in my Victorian Village

3. Take all the recycling to the recycling center

4. enter 2 binders of charts into my excel program

5. Go in my Classroom and finish my Annual Review Conference paperwork

(each conference takes about 2 hours to plan and I have 13 of them!!!!)

Here is what I have stitched on the Ice Cream Shoppe so far:

My Diet:

I have gone off my diet for a while. I got totally frustrated about exercising and Not losing weight. I am sure you know what I am talking about! It is just hard when I try so hard and nothing happens. So after eating like crap and enjoying myself. I am going to try the diet from the book I bought a few weeks ago.

This is a good time since the first 4 days is like a body detox to get the bad things out of your system. You get to eat 1200 calories these first 4 days and then you get to eat 1600 calories for the next 28 days. You have to drink this special water for the first 4 days. It has cucumbers, grated ginger and lemon in it. You have to make it fresh the night before and then drink it all day the next day. It says you are supposed to lose up to 7 pounds in the first four days, and lose at least 5 inches. I am not sure if this is going to happen... I am going to start this on Sunday, since that is the day Mark is going out of town. I will keep you informed on how this works out!!!!!!

February Books Read- Little late

2012-03-11T21:48:00.001-05:00

I know this is a little late but I wanted to share the books I read in February. My goal was 10 books but I was only able to finish 7. I LOVE to read series and I have started 2 new series this month!!!

Young Adult Novels

Flawless by Sara Shepard. This is Book 2 in the Pretty Little Liars series. Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna have been very bad girls. Spencer got back at her sister by stealing her boyfriend. Hanna is still trying to stay the perfect young lady, Aria is devastated by the loss of the guy she can never have, and Emily is starting to fall in love with her best friend Maya. Ali's body has been found on Maya's property and somehow Ali is sending threatening texts to the girls from the grave!!!

Perfect by Sara Shepard - Book 3 of the Pretty Little Liars series. Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna are still receiving texts from Ali, even though she has been dead since 7th grade. Straight A Spencer has won the Golden Orchard award with her essay. However, what everyone doesn't know is that this essay was stolen from her sister!! Aria is still playing with fire with her English teacher. They are both attracted to each other however, there is NO WAY they can act on their feelings. Emily is reeling from her kiss with her girlfriend. She has decided to quit the swim team which is not making her family happy! Hanna is fighting with her friend Mona and her dad's new family is reeking havic in her life.

Unbelievable by Sara Shepard - Book 4 of the Pretty Little Liar series. The girls at Rosewood High are spinning in circles with the chaos surrounding their lives. Poor Spencer thinks she murdered Ali. She has a blank space in her memory. Emily's family has shipped her off to her Aunts and Uncles house in Iowa due the fact she prefers girls to guys. Aria is going nuts because her boyfriend is in jail and there is nothing she can do about. Poor Hanna is in the hospital fighting to stay alive after been run over in the park.

Magicians Muse by Linda Joy Singleton - Book 6 in The Seer Series. Sabrines life is going great!! Her grandmother is better, her boyfriend is wonderful and her friends are great!!! Then she gets a call from her ex-boyfriends mom asking if she has seen Josh. It seems Josh has been missing for a couple of weeks and they haven't heard from him. Sabines new half-sister Jade is involved with her mortal enemy. This books brings a dramatic close to the ending of the series. I am sorry to say I will miss being in these characters lives.....

Cozy Mysteries:

City of Masks by Daniel Hecht- Cree Black series book 1. Cree Black is a paranormal investigator who specializes in removing the spirits. She goes to New Orleans to help socialite Lila Beauforte. Lila believes her family home is so haunted that she cannot even go in the front door. She is on the verge of having a nervous breakdown.

This book is AWESOME!!!! I wasn't sure about the ghost part but I was hooked!!! I love how they brought in some southern customs, beliefs and voodoo!!! This one kept me on my toes and I was a little shocked at the ending!!

There is nothing like falling off a ladder and walking up with the ability to see and talk to ghosts. Not only that, to find out there are ghosts living in your house and they want you to find out who killed them!!!!

Alison Kirby has been trying renovating the new guest house she bought on the Jersey Shore, Maxie and Paul, the resident ghosts have her running around town trying to solve their murder. Her daughter, Melissa, thinks it's great the house is haunted and has been telling all her friends.

I loved this book so much that I put it away in a safe place and now I can't find it! I was telling a friend about it and promised she could borrow it. I have no idea where I put it!! Time to tear the house up and find it!!

Historical Fiction

Marcus has promised his friend, Daniel, that he will watch out for his little sister while Daniel is on the run for his life! Honoria is Daniels 21 year old sister who is on the shelf and is determined that she will get married this season, come hell or high water! She has even come up with a groom and a plan to get the groom. Marcus, however, is not happy with this plan is trying to nix it. Honoria gets a message that Marcus is extremely ill and rushes from London to be with him. Her mom comes with her to Marcus's house to that there will be no scandal......Lots of adventure and romance in this book.

I love Julia Quinn....her romance books are always great!!

Stitching and Life's adventures

2012-03-10T23:40:00.001-06:00

It never fails that in the month of March I ALWAYS get sick!!! This week was the End of Course Literacy test for the 11th graders. I had to proctor the test which means I get to stand in a room from 8:55 Am until 1: 15 pm. I can't read, no computer, I just get to walk around the room and make sure everyone stays on task. We do get to take breaks but it is a VERY VERY boring!!!! You have to follow all guidelines or you can lose your teaching certificate. During the test on Wednesday, I developed a fever. So there I was giving a test, running a fever and feeling like doggie doo. I decided to take 2 sick days on Thursday and Friday to get better. I stayed home, slept, ate, read and stitched. I am feeling wonderful!!! Going to go in my class tomorrow to grade! Lucky me!!!

While out sick, I pulled out my Victorian Village. I started and finished on Saturday night the Apothecary shop. I love the shop but I realized something, I HATE stitching bricks!!!! That was the hardest thing in the world. My next shop is the Ice Cream Parlor! YUM

I LOVED this show!!! I NEVER missed an episode. My friends and I would get together and watch it every week!!! When the 2 hour movie came out (2008) I asked Mark if he would get me the movie for Christmas. Instead, knowing how much I LOVED the series, bought me the box set. I watched season 1 over Christmas break. My sister asked if she could borrow it and I said ok...she kept it 6 months. I finally got it back in June, just in time for summer break. We had a cookout on July 4th, 2009 and my friend asked if she could borrow and watch them. I said sure, no problem. She brought them back on Friday of this week. Yep,,...she had them from 2009 - 2012. I had email and ask her for them. Mark told me that was kinda rude of me to email her and ask for them back. There has been some history and we haven't hung out with them for over a year and half....so was I wrong to ask for my DVD's back when I haven't even watched them myself???? I really DO NOT mind loaning my dvd's or books...but I think that people should give them back in a timely manner.

Thread Boxes!

2012-03-05T00:20:00.002-06:00

Stash shopping!!!

I did not feel like stitching this week! Have you ever felt that way? I was so tired each night because I worked late 4 nights and I just wanted to sit. Today, I went to Jo-Ann's because they had Coupon Mania going on this week! Mark had a $25 visa GC he got for his birthday that was just sitting there begging to be spent. So I spent it! He know BTW...I did tell him.

After all my coupons and Marks GC, I spent a total of $7.00 on 10 floss boxes!!! I was pretty proud of myself!

Just because I didn't feel like stitching, I did do some stitching things. As you can see, I would floss onto bobbins! This is DMC 470 to DMC 563. I am proud of that.

I was able to do this because I blocked my facebook game!! I don't miss it! I actually feel like a weight has been lifted off me! I am no longer focused on having to complete a quest!!!

I was in Barnes and Noble on Saturday. I found this book about having a Flat Belly. Since I don't have a flat belly, I thought this book was calling my name! I found that I lost weight when I did keep my food journal, so I bought this really pretty journal to write my food down.

Another thing, I planned my menu for the next 2 weeks. This list is on the fridge, all the groceries are bought, and I don't have to go to the store this week!!!! YEA me!!!!

More Birthday gifts!!!!

2012-03-01T22:31:00.001-06:00

My sister, Beth, who lives in Hong Kong sent me the best gift for my birthday!!! An Amazon Gift card, the place where you can find almost anything!!!! You know how it goes, if you don't have money you can ALWAYS find something to buy...if you do have money the decision is a little harder. After many carts full of items and then being deleted, I finally made my decision. I bought myself a couple new movies and a new digital scale for my kitchen.

Dang Facebook game, sucked me right back in again.

However, this time I am refraining from playing until Sunday. I have a feeling that if I can make it until then, I will know I can beat this addiction that I have for playing. I think about all the time I have wasted on playing this silly game and I cringe. That is serious stitching and reading time that I have lost!!! So if all goes well, I will be hitting the delete button and blocking this app on facebook Sunday morning!!!!! Wish me luck!!!

Winter 9 patch and AWESOME Ebay find!!!

2012-02-29T23:59:00.001-06:00

This has been the longest week and it is only Wednesday!!!! I had to tutor afterschool on Monday and didn't get home until after 6:00. Tuesday-Thursday this week I am in class afterschool from 4 to 7 each night. This is for learning holds to control an out of control student. Tonight I learned how to break a hold when a student grabs my wrist, tries to choke me, decide to kick me or grab a handful of hair!!! Believe it or not, this does happen in some classrooms.

I haven't been able to stitch as much as I would like. This is the Winter 9 patch that I am working on this week. As you can see, I only have 3 squares to complete on this one. I do hope I can finish it soon!

I found an Awesome deal on Ebay the other day!!!! I have been looking for a great deal on 18 count fabric by the yard because I have several HUGE charts I would like to kit up and start. Since most of my BAPS require the entire space to be filled, then the color of the aida didn't matter. I found 36' x 60' beige aida for $6.95 a yard!!!!! I bought 5 yards of it and now I am set with aida for a few big projects!!! Actually, the seller was selling one yard in an auction format so I emailed her to find out if she would just sell me 5 yards and she agreed!!!

The plan is that I will work on my UFO stack until I get out of school for summer in May. Then I am going to start new projects and a new rotation system! Hopefully, I can make myself not freak out about not finishing my HUGE projects before I start a new one. So I am going to rotate, new BAP, new small chart, UFO, etc....I am going to join my friends who have 10 to 20 projects in a rotation!!! This just means more UFO's for me!!! HEE HEE

Finish and Birthday Celebration

2012-02-27T21:50:00.000-06:00

Mark bought me a birthday cake!!! It was YUMMY!!! Both layers were Chocolate, with the top layer having carmel layer and the bottom had raspberry!!! For my birthday, the boys are going to order a sewing table for my sewing room!!!

I have a finish this week!!! I finished Fall of my seasonal nine patch design. I now have winter and spring left. I have had several people ask me where I got these designs. They are from the JCS magazine. Spring - March April 2008, Fall -October 2007, Winter - December 2008, Summer - August 2008. I hope this helps you locate them, those of you who are on the search!

I got birthday cards!!!! My ILCS yahoo group has a birthday card exchange. I received some beautiful cards and a stack of floss!!! Berly stitched me a really cute Mickey Mouse card.

Winter exchange! I was involved in a winter exchange in my ILCS group. Bridgette sent me: Cozy blue socks, 3 fat quarters of blue fabrics, hot cocoa, threads and a LK chart, fabric, lotion, stoney creek magazine, pink highlighter, YoYo snowman, a book of winter poem and finally a winnie the pooh birthday figurine!!!

What a great birthday!!!

Stitching and Pre-Brithday Gifts

2012-02-19T14:56:00.000-06:00

It has been a very busy week!!! First, I want to update my stitching and then at the bottom are some awesome cross stitch/not cross gifts I have received for my birthday. These are pre-birthday gifts since the big day isn't until tomorrow (Monday). I turn the big 40!!!!

I finished 1 page on my seasonal 9-patch design. Spring turned out really cute....this week I will be focusing on fall as you can see below.

Seasonal UFO - Spring Complete

Fall 9-patch...working on this week

Mark invited some friends over on Friday night for a cookout and pre-birthday dinner. He bought me an AWESOME birthday cake but I will post this tomorrow. My friends came and Mark grilled ribs and chicken. We had salsa, guacamole and cheese dip from the local Mexican restaurant. My gifts were a GC to HL and a GC to Disney. Do my friends know me or what? I couldn't get a picture of the Hobby Lobby GC because I already used it!!

Disney GC Gift and 3 b-day cards from friends

I bought myself the Bambi Thomas Kinkade Disney Cross stitch kit with one of my HL GC. This has been on my wishlist for awhile!

TK Disney Bambi kit-Gift from my friend Jammi

Mom and I went to lunch with my Aunt on Saturday. She also gave me a HL GC. I found the newest Thomas Kinkade kit - THE LION KING!!!! Isn't it awesome?????

TK Lion King Kit - Gift from Aunt

Last Sunday, we had a stitching party at my house. I got some wonderful gifts from my stitching friends. I was so happy to get all my gifts!! I loved my new school post-its and a bag of markers and pens. I am such a nerd...I love office supplies. Not sure why but I do!!!! My friends are such wonderful and generous people and I just want to say Thank you!!!

Pin Cushion and Posts it from Janeth.

Disney Jammies, Cards with stamps and a Bag of markers and pens from Janice.

Soap and candle from Sarah

Teacher kit from Mary

snazzy shoes and lotion from Carol