Closing a Door

Woo hoo!! There's a new stove in the house, well new to us that is. It looks so much better, cleaner and brighter than the one that came with the house which was white at one time but lived for years with smokers before we moved in and no matter how much I scrub it shows it, and there were 'non digital dials' *gasp* and fake wood on the handles *double gasp*. Mom and dad were trading theirs for Gram's self cleaning ceramic top so we did a three way switch, now mine is up for sale/free...

It was really hard going over to the house last night knowing it would be one of the last, if not the last time I ever got to go in and have free reign over the house my grandfather built. There's a large delluded part of me that hope to turn around the corner of the dining room and find the living room still set up with the pictures in the corner and my grandparents talking away in their chairs, CBC on the tv but no body watching. There's no longer a box of cookies waiting in the cupboard by the sink, no more stockpile of chips in the first floor bedroom closet. All the easter egg hiding places are gone (and with all the nooks and cranny's in that house it made for at least 15 good easter egg hunts). My brother's and I are no longer attempting to scale the entry to the living room or sneak from the granny suite's basement apartment all the way to the second floor guest room past our parents and grandparents in the living room when they thought we were tucked in bed. Even the apartment I stayed in in university seems bare. It was hard going through Alex's birthday this year with the memories of being 'trapped' in that apartment's bathroom with no phone to call Matt when my water broke and bringing Alex there for his first night's sleep out of the hospital before we moved up to Grand Falls (briefly). It just seemed so empty without all of their love and laughter there :( I know it's only a 'house', but saying good bye doesn't get any easier. :(

Before mom and dad arrived I went on a frantic stash hunt as Alex had soccer and I didn't have a new 'easy' project to take with me (I wish Mirabilia's had a 'book' option instead of the great big charts...). Found the fabric for the Calico Cross Roads Mitten ornaments...couldn't find the perle cotton ring...found my Holly ornament from the 05 JCS...couldn't find the JCS...Found the fabric for a Sekas and Company stocking from one of the JCS, Watercolours ring was missing...and 15 minutes before practice I finally came across my summer dragon's that I've been wanting to finish, woo hoo!! Now...after all that racket and a kid complaining that we weren't walking over (the weather looked foreboding) we arrive to the field and it had been cancelled. Somewhere between 4:30 and 7 they'd added potential thundershowers to the forecast and the soccer association takes this very seriously after we had a girl killed by lightening (in a freak sunshower'ish storm) during a soccer game a couple of years ago. So... I took this as a sign I should start cleaning my craft room! It's looking much better. The fine details of organizing stash have yet to be dealt with but at least there's a space to layout and sort stuff now ;) So here's hoping I can do some of that this long weekend now I have some monkey help now that Matt's going to be in town and on call instead of over in Europe. Then maybe I'll be able to get a 'Christmas in July' finishing day for a whack of ornaments one of these weekends...my craft room would appreciate that immensely ;)

Happy Dance Pics and Post 300

Wow, 300 posts already!! My how time flies. Last night was pretty low key. I had the acrylic nails removed :( Then Alex and I went to the summer reading club kick off at the library and he enjoyed the puppet show immensely. On our way home we noticed the Irving in city limits had upped their gas 5 cents a litre (probably before taxes drop and regulation comes in Saturday) but the one out in our community hadn't so I topped off and sent Matt to do the same with the Corolla. After getting Alex bathed and put to bed I finished off my ornament, what a quick stitch (especially considering the 1152 stitches ;)), and helped Matt do up his resume for a posting with the department of education *fingers crossed*. Thankfully it's a bilingual position and I know when I applied for my competition I was the only one with any french, no matter how rusty. So here's hoping!!!

Now onto the recent happy dances...

St. Nicholas Needle Roll- Shepherd's Bush I Love Stitching-Hobb Nobb Designs
Holly- My Heart's Garden

Math and Stitching Don't Mix

Phew...Alex's cold is completely gone. What a weird experience. Last night I got home to a muggy house and had Starvin Guy Chicken Pot Pie on the menu (it was supposed to rain according to the weather network when I made the menu) and the chicken was already cooked in the slow cooker so I had to proceed. I was so hot and sweaty by the time it was in the oven you'd have thought I'd been to the gym, and after all that work my appetite was completely killed. And working through a 'crabby kid who'd been sick and lacks sleep' episode just made me want to shower and lay down.

So, there was no progress in the craft room last night, sigh...The kitchen was clean though after Matt neglected to do so the night before due to his muffler fixing & support call tying up the evening. I really should page him when he gets behind on his end of the housework ;)

After Alex was in bed, a new batch of hummingbird food cooling in the fridge and the living room tidied up some more, Epicure order placed, Matt persuaded me to sit down and compute for awhile. I was multitasking at the console, playing and starting the pinwheel stitch border around my current ornament, what sadist puts that in??? ;) It's a good thing I love stitching as when you get down to it, to do the 36 pinwheel stitches it actually means 1152 individual stitches...for an ornament border and that's not including the alternating round leviathan stitch in the corners ;) It's a good thing us stitchers don't think of these things often!! The only reason I even got close to calculating that was I was stitching in bed and Matt went to shut off the light....1/4 of the way into a pinwheel.. Well I said just let me finish it and after seeing the needle move and move and move he thought I was going on and stitching more...so I then gave him the number of stitches per pinwheel, math in hobbies is scary ;)

Bring on the Caffeine!

Oh my, my head hurts and I'm sooo sleepy. Last night ws finally a decent stitching night (although I was mucho disorganized). Eleni and Angela joined me in a little stitching and bitching which was fun, Matt even had to go fix the bolt on the exhaust system on the Corolla so it was an 'uncensored' conversation ;) I really needed it! I was on a hemstitching fix and finished what needed to be done on my SB needleroll and then moved on to my Guardian Angel after locating her. I REALLY need to 'dewedding' my craft room, I think that's what I'll be dedicating my Flylady 15 minutes to tonight...Ready set Timer!

I had really good intentions of posting pics and blogging last night, but Alex started coughing a bit when the girls were over, which he hadn't done all day. And then the second the door closed after the girls left and Matt was on a very loud cell phone support call I could hear him coughing and gasping over the conversation so I rushed into see what was wrong. I've never had to deal with croup when I couldn't just walk out into the cold air and have it clear everything up.

Needing a shower I put on my swimsuit (oh the modesty ;)) and thankfully I'd just brought up a clean bathmat so Alex layed on that where I could keep an eye on him and inhaled some steam which helped. Matt's call was still loud and I wanted to keep an eye/ear on Alex so we went downstairs and camped out. He fell asleep as we were flipping through JCS ornament issues and he was picking out his fave ornaments ;) Too cute ;)

This morning I felt like my legs were in tar and my head was throbbing from lack of sleep, I was up like a shot every time he had a hard cough, and do you think I could find my started Summer's Magic?? Heck no. So I grabbed a kitted up ornament and off I went to work. It's going to be a LONG day!!

Rule of Four

There, I got an e-mail from Lisa doing this and I figured I'd just put it up in the blog ;)

A) Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Tim Horton's Girl
2. Software Developer - Andersen Consulting
3. Software Developer - Human Resources Development Canada
4. Software Developer - Caris

B) Four movies I would watch over and over
1. Star Wars
2. Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
3. The Notebook
4. Ever After

C) Four places I have lived
1. Miramichi
2. Moncton
3. Wolfville
4. Fredericton

D) Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Smallville
2. Lost
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Battlestar Gallactica
~and plugging away at my collection of Buffy The Vampire Slayer disks~

E ) Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Ottawa, Ontario
2. Charlottetown, PEI
3. North Conway, NH
4. Kingston, Ontario
~Yeah...definitely looking forward to the Dominican this winter...~

F) Websites visited daily:
1. All the Stitching Blogs
2. My fave stitching bulletin boards
3. msnbc.com
4. people.com

G.) Four of my favorite foods:
1. Chips
2. Fish and Chips (Estey's or Williams)
3. Ribs
4. Popcorn

H) Four places I would rather be right now:
1. On the Miramichi
2. On a Stitching Stash buying weekend with Cathey
3. Hanging out with my boys at home
4. BodyPump @ The Gym

I) Four people likely to respond
Well anyone that would like to do it ;)

Just Another Manic Monday

Yay, what a productive weekend!!! After coming home on a mini high from getting Alex's school situation straightened out (minus the paper work) and a rockin body pump class, doing some end of school celebrating and getting the monkey to bed I sat down on the couch, popped in some Indiana Jones and finished I love Stitching (Pic to follow this evening hopefully). Yay!!

Then on Saturday I got up and finished (with the exception of ornamentifying) my SB St. Nicholas needleroll. It was overcast and cool out so I started up the mower and did the front and back yard. After that we combined some errands that I needed to do (pick up some floss and pick up my fabric for the LK First Christmas ornament from Tracy) and had supper at Quiznos. Saturday is Matt's 'cooking night' and if that's his idea of cooking that's fine by me ;)

Sunday morning, after helping Alex get a couple words that he didn't know in Dr Seuss' I Can Read With My Eyes Shut (omigosh the boy can read) I finished reading A Murderous Yarn which to date was one of the most interesting of the needlecraft mysteries are read but the who dunnit was pretty easy to figure out unfortunately. I did pump after lunch, forgot to drop by Shurgain :( and headed straight for Groceries, d'uh. We then packed up for a picnic supper at O'dell Park, which was interesting. We got there and I'd forgotten the bbq flipper and lighter, and accidentally brought breakfast sausages instead of weiners for Alex. He actually liked the sausage hotdogs (we didn't tell him the difference) better than any he's had before ;) We then headed to Wilmot park to go to the wading pool, Alex met up with some of his friends there so by the time we got them all out of the pool they were all pretty blue ;)

Yesterday was just one of those days, we got one of 'those' phone calls about going 'up north', probably why I was in a preoccupied/forgetful mood. You know, those phone calls where you're bothered about travelling to places where the people think 6 hours of their time is a visit but you should be there 48-72 hours??? Arghh...

I can't wait to get back to stitching Guardian Angel tonight, I did squeeze some time in yesterday but tonight will be fully dedicated to stitching her ;) Especially after the Monday morning I've had. Not to name names but a recently married male someone ;) put a torn bag back in the bags to reuse pile and in the rush I grabbed it and put my needleroll in it to ornamentize over lunch...well didn't I get to the parking lot at the office (free parking is a block+ away) and realize that it fell out somewhere on the trip., thankfully it wasn't windy today and I found both it and the pattern, phew....

WOOOOHOOOOO

Could you hear me at 4:15, I finally got ahold of school board and Alex is now back in his normal school. I never thought I'd be excited about early immersion but woo hoo!

Is the Month Almost Over???

TGIF it's Friday. What have I been up to?? Well, I'm going on day three of waiting for the school board to get back to me on early immersion. What?? Early Immersion, something we've been completely against due to the lack of English instruction time but lets digress... Wednesday I'm happily working away at my desk when I get this dead serious call, 'your son Alex goes to ***** school', at this point I panic thinking there's been an accident, then I get this complete BS about English being full and he'd have to go to our zoned school. Our school district looks like someone took a hatchet to figure out zoning and guess who's on the line (on the road to our house the zone flip flops between the two schools four times). I immediately panic, I'm the only parent in town during the day (not by choice), the daycare's in the other zone either do not fit our needs or the references I've checked have not gone well, plus we love Alex's childcare provider, I a)can't leave the office every day at 2, b) can't put off all car maintenance until the summer (need car back by 2) so we're waiting to see if we can register him in early immersion as there are supposed to be a number of slots open. I don't understand this zoning crap, there is NO ONE at our house from day to day, we arrive there at supper and leave there early, why they need THAT house number in an emergency I don't know. They obviously don't think that women are capable of working real jobs either. I HATE compromising our education strategy but our hands are truly tied, and with a red hot housing market we can't just pick up and move and afford the inflated asking prices (besides the fact we love our home).

I was so stressed out I didn't even notice the big bag Faith Ann was taking out of the van when we went stitching that night, when the girls yelled surprise I kept looking around as to who they were surprising...it turned out to be a bridal shower for me!! WOW, I feel truly blessed!! The last stitching night fell so close to the wedding that they thought I wouldn't make it so it was scheduled for this month, cool :) It was so nice to be able to sit back and enjoy without thinking of all the wedding stuff I needed to do, it provided the same pick me up that Eleni's surprise shower had back in march (before wedding panic kicked in). Needless to say I didn't get much stitching in that night, I was just in shock!

Last night Alex had soccer, he was so excited to wear his new shin guards. We broke with tradition and drove over, it was getting overcast and I didn't want to end up walking home in a thunder shower. I got a little stitching in and caught up with Nancy on how the Spring retreat went. I tried really hard to finish my Monica Ferris book, but two days of extreme stress took it's tole and I was out like a light at 10.

This weekend I'm really hoping to be done I Love Stitching at least. We're going over to watch Matt's ball tourament weather permitting tomorrow. I'd like to go over and have a lunch date with Alex...also possibly at McDonalds or maybe even at the Diner, for some milkshakes. I really don't know what he'll decide ;) Then Sunday there's NOTHING on the schedule, woo hoo. Just some Guardian Angel Stitching!!! :)

Hungry As A Horse

Oh my, lately at Alex's school they've been learning 'where does my food come from?' and this topic fascinates him. We've been very careful around the meat subject because I fear if he analyzes it too much he might go vegan! Case in point I was making a dish with ground beef the other day and he told me that maybe I should only use ground beef in his friday tacos so we didn't kill too many cows as there might not be any left to make milk for the growing boy! this then lead to the discussion on the types of cows, good grief. Then this weekend I went to put out the garbage and noticed a bunch of apple cores, odd, they'd been there un touched for a week... I walked into the living room to find Alex eating an apple (I was so happy that having healthy snacks out and ready was finally getting noticed), then he asked me if horses liked seeds...so I take it he learned Friday that horses like apples at school ;)

In other Alex'isms we were informed that he wanted what sounded like 'kiss a donut" with the windows open as we drove in the van to Cars. It was only half way down the road that Matt figured out he wanted a Kia Sedona! (I hope our Chrysler and Toyota's feelings weren't hurt too much). Apparently a couple weeks ago Matt woke up to a very concerned Alex who informed him we could not buy a Kia Sedona. Matt caught completely off guard in a saturday morning haze asked why...Alex had just seen the commercial that showed the side impact curtain airbags deploying and he's been told on multiple occasions that he DOES NOT ride in ANYONE's front seat because airbags are not made for little kids and can kill them. He later asked me a question about side airbags in the back and I explained how they were different than front ones and safe for kids....now he thinks that's great and wants a Kia Sedona...most little boys dream of a high price foreign sports car, mine dreams of a budget minivan!! ;)

Last night I didn't get much stitching in at all, I did some pricing of china as I have some teacups to sell that won't fit in my china cabinet and called Tracy to find out the specifics about today's school picnic. There was a message that said don't take them to the creek during or after the picnic...well I was like where on earth is the picnic and is this a half day as the school is commonly referred to as the creek, I needed to be set straight that the note meant the ACTUAL creek ;) I stitched for a little...up until the hurricane's scored goal two and then headed for bed.

Tonight Matt and I have a date, woo hoo! It's hard to believe it's been a MONTH since our big day!!

The Weekend Report

Sigh...Friday I had great stitching goals for this weekend...I had two small projects that were really close to completion but that was before 'the e-mail'. Around 8:30, am I get the 'when's Alex's birthday party??' e-mail, followed by the 'my parents are coming to town' e-mail. Great...the lawn hadn't been mowed (and they were spraying so it had to be done), everything else was behind around the house after some much needed R&R. So I skipped pump after work and went straight to mowing....and then into cleaning mode. I get soo uncomfortable with the state of my house when I have company that I know make comments about other people's housecleaning, I find it very stressful.

Then...Saturday I woke up to seeing the blasted bunny run passed the bathroom window so when I went to look out the front window at the latest damage to my hosta I noticed the solar lights at the end of our driveway had been stolen....which coincidentally happened yet another night when the neighbor's son had friends over til 3 am, and the neighbors across the road were also hit....but really, it couldn't have been her bong chucking son or his friends right?? Why doesn't Darwin enforce his theory ??? ;) So we had another nice LONG chat with the RCMP Saturday morning. After lunch I took Alex to his birthday party (sigh...still no stitching) and it was so nice to meet even more of his classmates. Saturday was so long and drawn out (and I couldn't take advantage of the sunny day due to the spraying) that I was pooped when I went to bed.

Father's day cut into my Guardian Angel progress, we did the big breakfast for Matt, followed by a Kahlua Fudge cake, presents and a trip to see Cars which rocked! We stopped at the Esso for some fried chicken for Matt (I wasn't hungry) and presented him with a bouquet of 'man-flowers' (ie: a pack of Alpine beer). While we were at the Esso we rented Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, it was quirky but Matt and I really enjoyed it (snuck stitching in here). I don't know how to even describe it, there was some mystery involved along with some situational dark funny moments (I kind of liken the quirkiness to the pace of Go!). It wasn't the same type of funny as say Wedding Crashers but I did see Matt balled up on the couch laughing quite a few times.

So...I did get some stitching in finally, not nearly what I thought. Guess I overestimated my productivity on a weekend that just wasn't for me!! My two projects...well they're still in need more stitching mode. I have a date this week with Hugh Jackman...oh...just Matt and tickets to see XMen. One can dream right?? So no stitching that night but there is stitching night Wednesday so that should make up for it ;)

When You Think You've Had a Bad Day...

There's always someone who's having one that's worse :( I arrived to pick Alex up at Tracy's and he had on an orange bracelet with the name of the little boy (his classmate's brother) on it. I assumed it was more fundraising for the grade 4 student who's been in the IWK for the last month with a form of cancer, who's treatments were garnering some positive results. Instead I found out he passed away at aroun 7:30 last evening while the school was putting on a benefit concert for him :( Rest in peace Ryan.

Riddle Me This....Some Other Day!

Did you ever have one of those days where innocent (slightly prying) questions just upset you more than usual?? Well that happened yesterday. I was still digesting the Matt being sole commuter issue and the impact on the family finances and worrying that the van's tires would not pass an inspection, in what has to be the most expensive month of the year for us without any unexpected disasters...when along came the first question "are you changing your name?" , well yeah, did that a couple days after the wedding. Then came the "so when's the next baby?", which probably seemed like an innocent question, well that first made me mad then literally in tears. I REALLY would like for Alex to have a sibling and with Alex getting so tall so fast I REALLY miss not having a little one in the house but on the day after another 'more money going out' announcement it was just too much...besides the fact that it isn't solely my decision either. It does bother me that Alex doesn't have a close sibling and yes I know I'm getting older....but 28 isn't old!!! and neither is the 29 I'll be turning in a relatively short period of time!! I don't mind the "we could go on maternity leave together" or the "you're sick and it's morning", that comes with the 28 and settled down territory. The older I get the larger mental note I make to dull any baby comments and definitely try not to make them out of the blue. There's a time and a place for questions that are more direct, but usually you've actually been having a conversation on the issue, especially where you never quite know what someone's going through family planning wise! The older I get the more I realize how aweful my foot tastes ;) Thankfully I was able to calm down in some sort of semblance and thankfully it wasn't someone who's asking didn't make it a very loaded question. Now to quit venting....

Back to stitching...well I could stitch in some sort of peace last night, the tires passed the inspection with the 'fatherly' comment "they passed, but I'd feel a whole lot better if you had new tires on before the winter" (yep, check dad's been telling me that for the last 2 months, saving now...). I diddled around online for a bit and then got back to stitching I Love Stitching. What a quick stitch. What on earth is with WDW not cutting their floss, argh...I HATE cutting hand dyed threads. I always feel like I'm going to screw up the variation in the colour. I also stitched in a Santa on my SB needleroll, if I get an ounce of stitching time this weekend I should have at least one if not both of those projects finished by stitching night Wednesday, woo hoo!!

Today's Alex's first soccer practice of the season, which means I'll have an hour to stitch while I swat flies on the field. He's really looking forward to our wagon ride over to the field. I'm hoping it'll be nice at lunch so I can get out walking, but if not my stitching is ready and waiting!!

Knocking The Wind Out of One's Sails

Sigh...last night was just one of those nights. Matt didn't tell me that he wasn't driving and the driver didn't drop him off first so I couldn't get to pump. Then I found out that his replacement commuter was only temporary (double :() , it's been really frustrating as he has been actively looking for work here. Which during the month of car inspection, registration, two birthdays, father's day and the dry cleaning bill from the wedding was just down right depressing.

After having a good wallow in self pity moment I emerged from the bedroom, tidied up, convinced Matt to go to basic cable and then played a little computer. I started my Hob Nobb design, resolving to be a stash only stitcher for awhile, and finished the first block, then read another chapter of A Murderous Yarn. Today the van went in the shop for it's MVI *fingers crossed*. Thankfully I can atleast wait until the 29th to renew the registration ;)

There's nothing on the agenda tonight thankfully, just some stitching, reading and computing. I'm hoping that maybe we'll be able to get the new table put together and maybe get around to reading the instructions on how to reglue the chairs without making a complete mess of them ;)

In Alex news, he's gone bananas...for Curious George that is. The easter bunny found a Treasury of Curious George at Costco and he now insists on reading at least one story out of that book a night. I'm hoping after school ends he'll be back into his 'chapter book' phase and be wanting to go back to the Lemony Snicket books...I really need to find out what's going on in the Reptile Room ;)

Happy Dance!!

Hooray, here's my The Most Patterns all stitched up by Waxing Moon.  Now just one more craft room piece to go for this year, Hob Nobb's I Love Stitching :)

Party Time

First of all a big welcome and thanks to all those who've found there way over here in the last couple months, I really appreciate the comments ;)

Besides Alex's birthday party we had a fairly quiet weekend. Friday it rained (an ongoing NB theme), so I plugged away at The Most Patterns, realizing that I was missing a DMC, arghhh... This made stitching in the hill not that fun as I had to count around the swirlies (normally I'd have done those first). We did head out Saturday to the mall as Alex was in desperate need of a hair cut, Matt was in desperate need of a shave (out of blades) and I was in desperate need to get out of the house considering it was yet again raining! I headed to walmart while the boys were at the barber's, and finally found Alex pj's that had shorts and weren't 16$ or covered with monster trucks. We then headed to fabricville to pick up some DMC and then it was off to
Quizno's for supper and icecream. I found a new favorite flavor Praline Pumpkin Passion, yum!

Sunday was the big birthday party Phew...5-6 year olds have a TONNE of energy!! The confirmed arrivals met up perfectly with the number I was aiming for (6, one for each year). The kids all seemed to have a good time and it's a good thing I'd made up little extra loot bags to go with the normal ones McDonald's gives out as they were out, grr... but the refills on drinks definitely cost more and we got those for free ;) After the party we headed to one of Alex's little friends houses for a visit, needless to say someone was definitely in need of a bath when we got home!!

Due to our late lun-pper we had some scrambled eggs and bacon. I tried out my sundried tomate dip mix from Epicure in the eggs and they were very yummy! Alex ate his in warp speed and Matt commented on how much he liked it (which is huge in itself as I don't think he was raised much with spices for flavoring in his food). I finally got to pull out my Guardian Angel for the SAL at 8 and plugged away at the wings. Tonight hopefully I'll be able to actually SEE progress ;)

So stitching wise it wasn't as good a weekend as I'd forseen, but it was fun none the less (besides all of the rain). Hopefully though The Most Patterns should be wrapped up this week and then I can move onto the last of this years 'stitching room' projects and then find other smalls/mediums to do out of my DD stash ;)

Thursday's Post

Don't you hate blogger issues?? Here's my Thursday post a day late ;)

Sigh…the rain is back. Well at least I got the lawn mowed last night, just so it can grow all over again!! Be careful what you wish for, our lawn has very few weeds and my goodness healthy ones need to be mowed ALOT more often. Now for a little lawn that wouldn’t be so bad but when ½-¾ or so of your 1.2 acre lot is grass…

As for stitching the last couple of days I’ve had one of those…I’m almost finished but just can’t keep stitching on it things going on with The Most Patterns, I’ve been a good girl and gone to bed early the last couple of nights and that’s meant my stitching time has gone into my SB St Nicholas needleroll! I did however finish reading Unraveled Sleeve though so that’s a finish right??

Last night was a bit hectic at the house too, wouldn’t you know that the door we don’t use and temporarily have the table top set up against until we take the teak table down had people come to it last night. When Matt came in one of the neighbors teens came looking to borrow jumper cables, but Matt informed her that he wasn’t boosting off of our cars (both could probably stand to have new batteries put in before the winter) so she went to find someone to boost from and then came back to the front door to ask for them….so the table top had to move. You’d think she’d have gotten the hint when Matt said he had to get the shed key and came out the other door so I put the top back, WRONG! Back to the front door she came to return them…I must say, she had enough makeup on that if she’d skipped buying for a month she could have bought BOTH of our vehicles new batteries ;) Then Angela brought my Epicure order as soon as she left so our front door was super busy.

After Alex went to bed, I went to check out a message board thread I’d started. I really had felt bad when Hoffman turned Tracy (www.fiddlestitchcottage.com ) down citing, not enough requests. I don’t just love her designs because she’s a friend, they’re just like a breath of fresh air to my stash!! Any time I post a finish on the boards there are always a number of "Where do I find?" replies so I’ve forwarded them on directly to the source ;) (not go to your shop, have them email Hoffman and if you aren’t completely frustrated then I’ll help you). If Hoffman could see how many of those I get of a single post here and there I think they’d see just what they were missing. Now, I’m getting off track…..so I pc vented how I felt my good intentions had kind of backfired but then received a tonne of useful information and support for Tracy on alternate distribution sources and more designer’s to support her. I think because our favorite stitching shop Because You Count’s (which is probably the biggest shop this side of Montreal) primary distribution source is Hoffman and where the other NB talent Dragon Dreams (ok…that’s MEGA talent ;)) and Stitchable Expressions are both distributed by Hoffman there was some tunnel vision on distribution sources. I realize stitching is in a temporary lull so please don’t think that I think of Hoffman as some evil corporate giant…June just also happens to be the ‘patriotic’ release month…which to a Canadian doesn’t mean to much ;)

So after forwarding on the info to Tracy and checking on my WoW priest LizzieKate, I was ready to prep Alex’s lunch (thanks to a screw up at the school where they didn’t take his hot lunch order) and made a little snack with my epicure buys I was ready for bed J
Tonight I’m hoping to at least finish the daisies and maybe the swirls on the hillside of TMP, aiming for a finish this weekend but we’ll see. Alex’s kid friendly party is Sunday so I imagine Saturday I’ll hit some sort of panic mode that I hadn’t planned enough or something ;)

Progress Pics

Here's my progress pics of the Guardian Angel and The Most Patterns (and a little birthday boy snuck in there too ;)) Some minor frogging is required in some spots but otherwise I'm pretty impressed with the progress

A Weekend In Review

Phew...we avoided a flood ;) My goodness we were in for some hard rain this weekend. I got a bit worried when I went to do laundry and walked over the storm drain and didn't hear an echo so I measured the level of water in there on the hour, until it dropped 2 inches :) Matt checked his trench and it was raging and our pipe which froze this year was flowing as well, there was just so much water coming down it was pooling in just about every low point in the lawn. Surprisingly enough our first hummingbird (ever) decided to brave the storm and show up at our feeder :) It was so nice to sit back, stitch and catch a glimpse of our little visitor.

Sunday I was good and stuck to the 'still not finished' SAL, I even picked up some threads I was missing on my way back from Body Pump. Oh my I was stiff after not being there for a week, and that was trip had been another 'hadn't been there for awhile' due to the wedding trip. Now at least our schedule is pretty much back to normal so I can get there my 2-3 times a week :) I was really happy with my progress throughout the day on my Mirabilia Guardian Angel, I have a little frogging to do tonight but after that at least one colour from the bottom of the wing should match up with the top section, making for alot less counting :) The batteries should be recharged for the camera this evening so I'll take a progress pic.

Saturday I got quite a bit of stitching in on Waxing Moon's The Most Patterns. I have the angel stitched in minus her halo and back stitching, and the curly 95% finished on the side. I'm hoping to finish the daisies and swirly grass this week. Mom, dad and Jazz visited late Saturday afternoon and brought over Alex's birthday presents. His reaction to his new spiderman umbrella is just as imagined *dead serious tone* "I've wanted an umbrella my whole life", gee six years is a lot of waiting ;) He was also thrilled with his set of super soaker pistols. After mom and dad did a little shopping for a new vacuum we all met for a birthday supper for dad and Alex at Boston Pizza, the food was excellent, the server sucked! After we said our good byes they headed home (with a quick pitstop to drop off my brother) and I headed home to do some more stitching, after Alex was in bed of course ;) I finally got to watch Along Came Polly and then watch HP and the Goblet of Fire, my goodness I find the end gut wrenching, no matter how many times I watch it.

Friday Alex's birthday went smoothly. Lots of tacos and cake :) We went to see Over The Hedge which was hilarious, even Matt (who's not really into the kid flicks) enjoyed it. We then arrived home to open Al's presents, he was thrilled to bits with his bag of marbles (hooray for the dollar store). I then blind folded him and was about to carry him down the stairs to where his bike was hiding when Matt suggested we go outside and he'd bring it out. Note to self NEVER PRESENT A GIFT OUTDOORS AT 8 PM IN THE SPRING!!! Matt stepped out and asked if we were ready to which he heard a big 'Hurry up!!!!!", we were being eaten alive! After a few adjustments to the bike Alex was ready to drive. He's still getting used to the fact that he can only pedal in one direction (his other toddler bike didn't have a brake) but he's getting there ;)

It's raining again today so we won't be heading to the ball field tonight, maybe just relaxing and doing some stitching after the clothes are put away :)

Happy Birthday Alex!!

Well, we had one little excited boy in the house today...and he hasn't even received his new bike yet ;) I went in his room and woke him up with a soft happy birthday song, and then he got to open one present (as chosen by me...a ninja turtle shirt and khaki shorts for school). He even got to have a taco along with his breakfast (his favorite food). We then hopped in the van and headed to Tracy's so he could catch the bus with the girls. As we were pulling into her subdivision his name was announced on the birthday parade on the radio and you should have seen the grin on his face!! When he openned the door at Tracy's the girls serenaded him with a round of Happy Birthday. More grins ensued ;)

Tonight I'll be picking him up, having some tacos and birthday cake and taking him to Over The Hedge @7. His birthday works out really well with the summer releases ;) Considering that the tacos are ready, as is the cake it should be a fairly quiet night with the boys. I don't know who's looking forward to the movie more, Alex or his mom ;)

Last night was also fairly quiet, after the groceries were brought in and the recycling taken out. I did something I haven't done in years, played the piano! I did get some stitching in as well, working a little bit more on my needleroll and reading another chapter of my Monica Ferris book ;) We got some pictures from Dad's birthday party... the dog managed to steal every shot ;)

This weekend should be fairly quiet. Mom and dad will be down for a day...although welcome to stay more, Matt's dad might spray our lawn (hopefully just dandilion and ant killer, I can't take whatever fertilizer made it grow so much I had to mow three times a week at one point...an acre lot is alot of mowing with a push mower...even with the small stretch of trees in the back). So...no work for me!! Hooray!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Alex is sooo excited it's Pappy's birthday, that means just one more day until he turns the big six. Sigh...where did the time go. Six years ago today I'd be a day overdue, not happy about it at all, looking up on the internet how to induce labor, running out to the brookside mall to buy the rasberry zinger tea (as recommended on the internet) and walk around the mall, drinking it and then heading to Shanghai Noon only to be in labor a couple hours later ;)

Yesterday rocked, the wedding photos came back and I was very pleased with them :) I was confident in our decision however there was that nagging little voice in the back of my head that was like "you didn't go with a big studio, how will they turn out??" Thankfully that notion was squashed, there are very few that I'm not in love with and even those ones are pretty good ;)

I got an e-mail from Matt requesting I be home at 5, obviously he's never walked at least 1.5 city blocks to get his car, driven downtown traffic, picked up a kid who's been playing all afternoon with his friends and doesn't want to leave (Wednesday are half days for primary schools here) and then drive through possible construction and all the parents making a left into Kingswood to take their kids to gymnastics/bowling/golfing (thank goodness they're expanding the road). But I donned my super cape, moved the car to a free parking zone that would cut out a couple traffic bottle necks on break and made it at 5:00 sharp without breaking any speed limits. I arrived home to take out a row of seats in the van, pick up the hubby, grab some stitching and head to Honda to pick up the mower before it closed...then headed to the ball park to watch Matt's first game of the year. **oh forgot to mention I got stitchy stash in the mail yesterday too...now I have my WDW's to work on Down Sunshine Lane's I Love Stitching, my next 'arghh Matt's reading with the light on and keeping me up project'!!**

We had a really good time. There were alot of kids Alex's age there and the fenced in skate park was free of skaters so the kids played there and I got some stitching in on Guardian Angel, thankfully I was at a part in the wing that involved very little counting, just filling ;) I almost got hit once by a foul ball and when I went to retrieve it I had another zoom past my shoulder from the other field, sheesh! We did 2 out of 3 pages of homework which went way passed the rule of thumb 10 minutes per grade level a night and I sent a note explaining where the other page was. I didn't mind as much in the winter when they continually went over the limit, but 40+ minutes in kindergarten when it's actually nice enough to play outside crosses a line.

Matt rented Aeon Flux (which wasn't as bad as people were saying, maybe our expectations were lowered by all the bad reviews enough that we actually liked it) so I got some more stitching in on the angel. I finished another tree on my SB needleroll while Matt did his bedtime reading. This morning I arrived to work early and ready to stitch on TMP until work started...but alas my needle must have been borrowed for the angel last night, sigh... Guess I'll be making a run over to singer at break time ;)

SBQ

Q : Do you collect charts by one particular designer, yet have never stitched anything by that designer? If so, which designer and why do you collect the charts but have not yet stitched any of them?

A : I collect ALOT of charts, Dragon Dreams, Lizzie Kate, Marbek, Fiddlestitch Cottage, Mirabilia, Lavender and Lace, Just Nan...enough to require a craft room to say the least! But the one I guess I've collected and never finished a project by was Stoney Creek. I did start Noah's Sub....life long project and The Witches of Booville but the amount of colour changes in some of the others is such a turn off. I practically need a caddy to lug my current project around if I did one. I also collected most of them BEFORE I got hooked on the other designs and it's kind of hard justifying lugging around a tonne of floss in the big floss box for a 5*7 when you can do a 8*10+ DD or LL and only carry around a little box and have it turn out even prettier. Just Nan would come in a close second, I have the angels as Matt's mother collects angels so they're on standby for Christmas's and other occasions, love the others but just never get around to them, but I have stitched ONE angel so I guess it doesn't count ;)

Maybe The Girls Caught a Glimpse Of This Pic ;)