Monday, February 27, 2006
Carless Weekend
We had a quiet weekend, I spent most of the weekend doing some long overdue tidying. My craft room is back to normal!! The desk could still use some cleaning but the rest is all sorted and put away properly, even the fabrics are folded and in the baskets again. Mom is down this week driving my sorry butt to work (and DS to school) until a car is straightened out so we wanted the place to be in tip top shape ;)
I also finally finished Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Friday as well, not that it was a long or difficult read, it's finding the quiet time with an active 5 year old ;) I was so excited to start the Davinici Code, I'm even on track to finish it by the time the movie comes out, yay!!
In stitching news I finished the Klosters on the wedding unity candle wrap, I forgot the pattern at home so I won't get to work on it until tonight. I also heard that we're losing our Lewiscraft, not that it was the best place to shop but after losing our little semi servicable LNS (the better ones are in Moncton) it still hurt a little. Although the announcement came with the fueled gossip that we're finally getting a Michael's like Saint John and Moncton. Not that it's the best place for stitching stuff, but LC wasn't either, floss and beads...at least now the floss will be cheaper and the beads in stock.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Highs, Lows and Threes
Left work and picked up the boy, did groceries at lunch so it was looking to be a nice early peaceful night, NOT!! After talking with Tracy for a bit (Alex's caretaker and my friend, babysitter sounds so impersonal), well half an hour, Alex mentioned that his sneakers were in his book bag and that he needed new ones. Thanks for the notice, I can just imagine if I got home and found out I had more running around to do on a thursday, the day Matt gets home late so anywhere I go I have a monkey in tow, let alone the extra gas...so this involved a trip to the mall. Sears prices on the sneakers that fit the school criteria were insanely expensive (no lace ups until grade 2 and from those slim pickings most velcro shoes have too much plastic crap on them). Then we went all the way through the mall to the walmart/payless corner, and Payless had their BOGO event so Alex got some new indoor shoes and some outdoor sneakers for the spring from their Smart Fit line (decent arch supports, real leather and a decent price to boot). So after shelling out for those we headed back to the car, where I noticed he'd ripped his good columbia ski pants >:( The lack of snow but occasional freezing temps have made it hard to dress him and they don't seem to use any judgement and put him in his lined splash pants when it's warmer. 2 things down.... We then drove home. I went to back into the driveway, no REVERSE!! Darn it! I had to drive down to the cul-de-sac, turn the car around and drive in. I got half way in and though well...I should park it so if we have to push it it won't be to far, then I remember Matt wasn't in yet so I'd have to drive it up at least to the point where the driveway was officially doubled. I then sent the kid in because I was upset and was likely to be a bit snappy, brought in the groceries, put some transmission fluid in and called home.
That was helpful, I think. I felt a bit better, it's one thing knowing that you need repairs but when it's a possibly big job if it's not just a simple leak issue and you're in the works of buying a new to me vehicle it's really hard to know how much to give the garage the ok for. After supper Matt and I pushed the car out of the driveway which was a workout in itself (anyone that's seen my driveway, although straight would no why, it easily fits 4 full sized cars in lengthwise if not five). We also learned that the driveway isn't completely level! I then called dad as I'd calmed down some (knowing that at least I didn't have to spend the 80$ to tow it to find out what was wrong) and he was very helpful. The forward gears work like a charm so I drove it over to the garage this morning.
Now although I got my three breaks done I wasn't about to chance screwing up my hardanger candle wrap (Wedding Glow by Nordic Needle) so I called Cathey and then read more Harry Potter, less than 100 pages to go!! Today I'm waiting on hearing what the garage has to say and then hopefully having some stress reducing stitching tonight as I should be able to make an even bigger dent in Harry over the noon hour and finish it up quickly at home. Here's hoping things get better!
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Twenty Three!
Last night I didn't get a single stitch in, although I did get quite a bit in over breaks during the day. Newbody was awesome, and there's been a new release so it wasn't boring (which after weeks++ of doing the same routine was getting a bit monotonous). I logged into MSN just as Smallville was coming on and there was mom and Eleni so I set the VCR to tape ;) I had fun watching mom's new webcam, even with it's hiccups in sound and inverted horizontal display. I guess we won't be going home this weekend, our slots in the car have been usurped by the dog ;)/:( Oh well, I tried...I can't wait until the day I have a 'highway worthy' automatic vehicle again.
For supper last night we had Salmon in a white wine shrimp sauce out of the weight watchers cook book with some spinach, yum! We kind of od'ed on it last year until I pulled my other healthy cookbooks back out, the night before we had the Teriyaki Chicken Toss in Spaghettini out of Life's on Fires which was amazing, I even sub'd in some low sodium soya sauce and some whole wheat noodles, yum! Tonight's the curried chicken again, I can't get enough of it, and its quick to prepare on grocery night. Grocery night shouldn't be too bad, I still have stuff in the freezer from the last time I was actually shopping but didn't end up cooking that entire week due to the funeral and other family related activities. Yay!!
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
It's a Tough Job....
In stitching news I think I have stitcher's ADD! Last night I started the unity candle wrap from Nordic Needle...must have been motiviated by my wedding nightmare....thankfully I find hardanger goes pretty quickly.
Nothing on the agenda for today with the exception of my Newbody class, I can't wait :)
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
PJ Day!
Last night I got some stitching in on ITAOAA, the blueish purple section is really coming along. I'll have to post a pic tonight. I got to stitch and get caught up on Battlestar Gallactica as well, good night in all. Although last night I had another wedding nightmare (showing up unprepared) so maybe I'll start on my unity candle wrap tonight! I have my side of the guest list done and I just need to dwindle Matt's down some, yay! After that the invitations can go out :) And one less worry off the plate!
Monday, February 20, 2006
A Date With a Monkey
Friday we were without power for about 9 hours, the lighting (candle & LED flashlight) wasn't good enough for stitching but I did get some reading in ;) Saturday, the monkey (ie: DS) and I packed ourselves into our fridgid car and headed to the theatre only to find that even showing up an hour early was too late to get tickets to Curious George, so I bought tickets to the 4 o'clock show and took him to toys r us to use part of his gift certificate. I really enjoyed the movie, it's a great first movie for little ones. I was kind of concerned walking in as there were alot of 2 and 3 year olds but they all seemed entranced with it, even Alex was. I'll pay the 13.75 anyday just to have him cuddle on my lap uninterrupted for an hour and a half though ;) Saturday night we introduced Matt to Wallace and Grommit as we picked up the Curse of the Were Rabbit, I'm kind of kicking myself as I didn't even think to look for widescreen, oh well.
Sunday morning the boys were up early and didn't shut the door nor attempt to be quiet so I was up when Matt's mom called. His father has a bad habit of calling WAY to early in the morning but not his mother and she sounded upset so I knew something was wrong. Apparently Matt's cousins husband (they live in the same subdivision as us) was in a really bad ski doo accident, but as of last night was stable. I was looking out the window when Matt told me and thought to myself, where on earth did he find any snow! (only half of our back yard has snow). I cracked a rib once and can only imagine how painful having 16 broken ribs is.
I did get some stitching in this weekend, In The Arms of an Angel is coming along nicely. I like that it has all the divisions in colour so you can work on a block, get sick of it and work on a completely different block of colour. Tonight I don't have any plans besides maybe spending my 15 flylady minutes in the craft room attempting to tidy it up, the house cleaning kind of went to the wayside last week and things are kind of everywhere, yay! Oh well, plenty of time to clean up...and leave some stitching time ;)
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Friends That Count
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Happy Birthday Mom
Last night mom informed me that they were doing a collage (sigh...most of the pics are on the miramichi) and when I went through the scrapbook I found my Grammie's Crab Apple Jelly day spread and started crying. It's also how I managed to tell Alex this morning without being 'cold' or distraught...eventhough no one intends on coming off that way as most people are in shock, I just wanted to give him a really happy day to look back on when I told him, instead of my mascara streaked face. Much better than how I found out, although that's primarily my own efficient self's fault. Mom e-mailed me to tell me she had headed for te hospital as there had been a call saying she'd taken a turn for the worse and that she'd call if there was a change. I was in training at a different building so instead of going over and checking my messages I walked to the government lot, picked up the car and headed up. I ran in to the minister coming off the elevator and he looked grave so I thought we'd gotten the bad diagonosis that I was expecting...when I walked into the room mom and my uncle were off in the corner crying and gram was asleep, I thought they just didn't want to wake her. It was only after walking back there that I found out she'd passed away :(
Today's a sort of day of rest. I need to find some clothes and we're doing a big family dinner with mom's brothers and their families (topped off with a Bailey cake ;)) Then it's the long haul, two wakes tomorrow, 2-4, 7-9 with an additional hour for family at 1 and the funeral Monday at 2. I'm off work until Friday and probably actually need it that way. Haven't stitched too much but that's to be expected.
Thanks again for all of your prayers
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Speaking of Power...
Yesterday was quiet otherwise, I didn't get a single stitch in :( I did sort the threads for a Mill Hill kit and that was it. We had a new dish from healthy family, curried salmon and egg noodle bake with peas which we really liked. I won't eat peas as a side dish so I measured out half the amount and mixed it in with the casserole, very good. After Alex got to bed and I tidied up some stuff I took a shower, logged online for a little bit and got ticked after I read my power bill, called mom to see how Gram was doing and headed to bed after a little cooking reading ;)
Today should be pretty quiet, I remembered my lunch so I should be able to get some stitching in at lunch instead of waisting time picking lunch up. After work I'll be getting groceries and then having a pizza/leftovers night before we head to the Math night at Alex's school. Stitching to ensue ;)
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Change of Power
Nothing too much to report besides the previously noted happy dance last night. I did get caught up on battlestar gallactica last night while stitching but that's about it. This morning after making some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (sigh...forgot my chicken curry that was supposed to be for lunch at home) I grabbed one of my mill hill kits (I'm on course this week so I'd rather pull one of those out while I'm on break) and headed out. It's been so hard to figure out what to dress Alex in, snowpants or splash pants. It's so cold in the morning but it's usually warm and muddy by lunch, meaning many extra loads of laundry to keep his snowsuit presentable...
Today doesn't have anything on the roster, yay!! I love Tuesdays. Monday I try to head to the gym after work, Wednesday Newbody, Thursday groceries, friday body pump...except for this week where there's a math night at the school and I can't show up all sweaty ;) I may get groceries though and give myself a free night (well not so free, doing some pilates at home) on thursday ;) Mi Vida Loca!
Monday, February 06, 2006
What a Day
Although amoungst the sad news there was actually some good news filtering out of our house, a) Alex's Christmas concert clothes finally made their way home (brand new size 6 Children's Place Khaki's and polo oxford shirt, had just cut the tags off and sent as back up clothes for that concert)
b) Booked a DJ for the wedding
c) Stitching Happy Dance on Heart In Hand's Christmas Medley
Sunday, February 05, 2006
I've Been Tagged For Five
What were you doing 10 years ago?
10 years ago I would have just transferred to UNB from Acadia (I was homesick and the boyfriend was up at UNB). Because I was a poor student I wasn't up to anything overly interesting though ;)
What were you doing 1 year ago?
Still unpacking the house and getting my craft room in order and was very dedicated to Flylady. I really need to get back to that. We (I) did alot of outdoor work this summer restoring some of the wood fixtures and flower beds so the indoor work kind of fell to the wayside.
Five snacks you enjoy
Theatre Popcorn with real butter (not that artificial flavored oil crap that Empire has now)
Rippled Chips (large ripples, not small)
Jalapeno poppers
Potato Skins
Cinnamon pretzels with caramel sauce
Five songs to which you KNOW all the lyrics
Welcome To The Blue House (theme song from Bear In The Big Blue House)
Hollaback Girl-Gwen
Oh Canada
My Happy Ending-Avril
And 99% of the english songs Celine Dion has recorded (about 50% of the french ;))
Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
Pay off the house
Grace my city with an LNS
Put some money away for Alex's education
Buy myself a reliable puddle jumper
Buy a house on my street for my parents to have as a retirement home ;)
Five bad habits:
Leg shaking
Leaving the laundry in the dryer
Stash buying (I have enough in my craft room to live 5 lifetimes as a millionaire)
Leaving my stitching stuff in the computer room
Misplacing my purse
Five things you like doing:
Cuddling at the movies with DS
Stitching
Scrapbooking
Soaking in the Tub
Checking out online stitching specials
Five things you would never wear, buy, or get again:
Skin tight ikeda's
Perms
Jumper
slouch socks
ear muffs
Five favorite toys:
Digital camera
Cheer Bear
Strawberry Shortcake
Sizzix Machine
The entire room of stitching, stamping, scrapping and sewing ;)
Another Finish
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Does Fur Count As A Specialty Thread?
Before I go to the dogs...I thought I'd share my progress on Summer's Magic.
Today was a quite day, not alot on the wedding front, some training at work, an awesome lunch with mom and dad at the Snooty Fox and then tonight after groceries and homework I got to meet the newest edition to the family, a 3 year old Nova Scotia Duck Toller who's going to live with mom and dad.
I'm a big dog person and immediately fell in love with this guy. Alex wanted to make sure he knew his commands and tested him on 'sit' multiple times. After he got used to the fact that Jazz is about 4 times the size of Tanner, Tracy's Pug he was ready to hug and pat him. While mom was playing with Alex and Matt was showing dad some partitioning stuff on the PC I went out to play with the dog (who currently isn't allowed on carpet where he was kennelized at the breeders), 7th heaven!
I think it's the most relaxed I've been in a long time.
Now to avoid weaving in some dog fur while I stitch ;)
Stitching Bloggers Question of the Week
hehe, why yes I do ;) Although I must say, I was surprised to find an online stitcher just across the main road from our place who's now one of my best stitching buds ;) We have a local 'guild', non affiliated with any official guild, just a really fun group of girls that get together once a month (and sometimes when we're on the ball arrange workshops or most recently a baby shower), and since I've started going I've found a whole new set of friends. We also head up to a retreat twice a year in Bouctouche, NB which is soo much fun, simple but just what this mom needs. Also two of my very good friends at my old job were stitchers as well. And to put it all in prospective 2 out of 3 of my bridesmaids are stitchers :) It also amazes me how many techie girls stitch, alot of the girls I know through Computer Science are also stitchers...I thought we'd all be in the Arts faculty ;)
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Turn On A Dime Tuesday
At dinner I told DFH that the church was indeed available and how grateful I was for my family helping me, then after DS went to bed and I asked for a flat out yes/no about switching then everything stalled and enter the first mention of 'I want our own church' reared it's ugly head, I don't swear much, if any in the last 6 years but after all the stress I've been under and the fact that I or members of my family have been doing all the leg and $$ work, I was probably a little less composed than Bree's famous meltdown and Rex's second graveside ceremony on Desperate Housewives.
But today's a new and hopefully better day, with hopefully some visitors arriving from the North ;)