Putting It Away

I recieved the next part of Citrine! It was in my inbox when I woke up this morning! I just printed it up, and figured while I had that computer on, I'd scan Dragonfly QS while I was there. This is as far as I got. Only about 6% more than when I put it away to do the first part. But even a little progress is progress.
The next part of Citrine doesn't look as confetti-ish as I had expected. So maybe it will only take me three months instead of four. But I've got Dragonfly put away, and Citrine on the Q-Snaps.
School didn't take long this morning. The teachers only needed three sheets copied, so I was finished with that before school had even started for the day. And the librarian was out today, so he had shelved all the books yesterday. Usually, he'll save them for me since he knows I'm coming. But subs don't usually put the books in the right spot. Some books, like popular series, have special spots, instead of just mixed in with the others. So I was home again by eight!
So now I'm going to have some lunch, and then work on Citrine! I can't wait to get to all the oranges. I think bright orange is a highly underused color in cross stitch.

So Much For Every Week

The weekend before last was the monthly theme SAL on the HAED board. The theme this month was "maidens," meaning girls without wings and/or tails. So no mermaids, fairies, or angels. So I picked up Dorothy And Toto. The picture on the left is how it looked when I picked it up. The last time I worked on it was February 2008.
The picture on the right is how it looked after the SAL. I got a good bit done. I'm satisfied with it. I met my goal for this one for the year. I wanted to put at least 200 stitches in, and I put in more like 400.
Last weekend was the UFO/SWIP SAL. So I pulled out Angel Of Capricorn. The picture on the right is the before picture. The one on the left is the after. I got all the way across the first row of the first page! I managed to get most of the second row done, too.

For some reason, I got very irritated with this one right after I started it in September 2007. This was the first time I'd worked on it since then. Now, I can't for the life of me remember why it bugged me so much. I really enjoyed working on it this weekend. I was thinking it had alot of confetti, but that wasn't it. It went pretty smoothly. It's also small for an HAED; only eighteen pages. My goal for this one was 200 hundred stitches, too, but I got at least 500 in.

I get the next part of Citrine QS tomorrow for the freebie SAL. I've been so excited all week!

I finished the first part in early February. It's the first full page of any HAED that I've ever finished. It was kinda weird. But it was also a very easy page. There were maybe 200 confetti stitches in the thumb. The rest, though, was big blobs of pink and purple.

The next page is going to be the hardest. This one has the butterfly, which I'm sure will be alot of confetti. It's also got a few more fingertips, too. The next page will probably take until the next page comes out in May, or later. Then that page will have the most of the hand and the arm. That will take a while. But the fourth page will be mostly background again, which will go quick. And the last two are two stitches tall. So I'll probably use that time to catch up. Because it will probably take all summer for me to get through the next two pages.

Not that I'll get to work on it much this weekend. Thursday, when it comes out, I'll be at school. Thursday is my usual day to make copies for the first grade, and then help out in the library.

Friday is spring picture day. I found out the people who helped with fall pictures got theirs for free. I'm hoping they do that again this time. Those pictures are expensive, and even more so when you have to get two sets. If they give us the full sets, that's $80 or more that we save. Heck, I'd be happy with a sheet of wallets and an 8x10 or two 5x7s or something. Last time we bought one sheet of wallets each, because that was all we could afford. So we had to limit who we could give them to. I'll be at school all day that day. We also go down the street to play with friends Friday afternoons, since they don't have homework. So we'll get home in time to have dinner, and then I'll put the boys to bed. Jymi's got drill this weekend, so I'll have to help him get all his stuff together Friday night. We also promised Darin if he could get smiley faces for two weeks (ten days) in a row, we would buy him the Word World Dog toy he's been wanting. The way he's going, he'll have earned it Friday, so I'll have to go get that for him. Friday is going to be very busy, but I hadn't realized how busy until I listed it all. Crap.

Saturday is AR Saturday at the school. Tobi's teacher enrolled him in AR early in the year, because he was such a good reader. So when the librarian has AR Saturdays, we usually go. Then Tobi can read a book, take the test, read another book, take the test, etc.

They also have themes, and if they read and pass the test on a book that fits within the theme, they earn book fair dollars for their class. One dollar for every test passed. The librarian has a graph up to show how much each class has earned. Tobi's class has $1. The last one we went to had a theme of nutrition, and most of the books were over Tobi's level. But he read one, and earned that one dollar. This time the theme is fitness. I think most of the books will be over Tobi's level again, but he can read some picture books.

The pictures are from the last one. The librarian always takes lots of pictures. A few weeks ago, he told me he was going to use one of Tobi in a Power Point presentation he was making for the district. I asked if him would email them to me, since a class was about to come in. So he sent me that one, and the others of us he had take. The one on the right is the one he's using. He's so cute and so into his book. I forwarded them to my family, and my mom said, "He looks like a red-headed Harry Potter!"

Last Sunday, he read me a whole Magic Treehouse book in one night. Darin went to bed, so he didn't have anyone to play with. And there were no cartoons on. So Tobi asked if he could read. An hour and a half later, we were taking the quiz on the Magic Treehouse website. Tobi got his stamp for his passport.

He's read alot the last couple days. He's been home sick, and when they stay home from school, they don't get to watch tv or play games. So Tobi laid in bed and read almost every picture we have. He probably would've read them even if he had been allowed to watch tv. It's not unusual for him to turn on the tv, then sit in front of it and read. I've been trying to teach him to turn the tv off if he's not watching it, though.

He brought home a book order form last week. I ordered some for them. They had a Ready Freddy Easter book for $1, and Tobi's been bringing them home from school. His teacher lets each child pick two books a week to take home and read. At first, Tobi brought home one chapter book and one picture book. About a month ago, she told Tobi he couldn't get picture books anymore. He has to get two chapter books. He usually gets a Ready Freddy and a Magic Treehouse. So I thought it might be nice if the Easter Bunny brought him one.

I also ordered a new Big Chickens book they'd like, one about a duck, and one called Charlie Cook's Favorite Book. At the last book fair, that was on every teacher's wish list, from the kindergarten teachers up to fifth grade. I bought it for Tobi's class, and flipped through it while I was working there. It's about a little boy who reads a book, about a book, about a book, about a book, and so on. When I go in tomorrow, I'm gonna have to remember to ask Tobi's teacher if, instead of sending them home with Tobi, she'd hold them until the next time I came in, so they could be surprised when the Easter Bunny.

I have almost caught up with the bills. Next week, I'll pay the cable bill, and that's the last one for the month! That will be a big deal for us. Jymi's also got the outage at work, so that will be some extra money to help. It means instead of four ten-hour days, he works six twelve-hour days. It's hard on him though. It's hard on me and the boys, too.

The first outage after Darin was born, Darin was about six months old, and Tobi was two. Darin was just getting big enough to start getting into things. And suddenly Jymi wasn't there to help me. One day he came home, and I was in the kitchen making dinner. He made a joke, and I turned to say something smart-assed back, and my mind was blank. And I started bawling! Not being able to think of anything was the straw that broke the camel's back. With the boys being so little, it was really hard. It's not so bad now. They are much better at playing by themselves or together without getting into trouble or hurting themselves or each other. And they're at school all day. That helps too.

Pictures!

I finished Sweetheart Fence! It came out pretty cute! And only one week after Valentine's Day. It's stitched on PTP 28 ct. Crystal Whimsey Cashel linen.
I also realized I never put Snow Fence in my Webshots, so I scanned it, too. I finished it in early October of last year, right after we moved. This one is on PTP 28 ct. Crystal Dwarf Cashel linen. I like PTP's sparkly Cashels.
I finished another row on QS Dragonfly. I hate it when I start a row and there's so much confetti. But towards the end, there is usually some bigger blobs of color. I'm almost to the halfway point! I'm going to finish this one before the end of the year.
This weekend is a Maidens SAL on the HAED BB. Angels, mermaids, and fairies don't count. Otherwise I'd pull out Angel Of Capricorn. But I'm going to work on Dorothy And Toto instead. My goal for this one is 200 stitches this year. I think I can get there this weekend. I want to work a little on every project I've got started this year.
Our tax money is completely gone now. I've got my new computer! It's wonderful, but I can help feeling I've betrayed my old one. There's nothing major wrong with it. But we've still used it a little. My new one's cool. I've had to get used to it though. It's set up differently.
I also got my glasses, and a spare pair! It's so cool to be able to see again. I've had to get used to them, too. It's been almost a year since I gave up on my old ones. At first everything was all wavy. Then I had to get used to them sitting on my nose all the time. My eyes hurt when I take them off and forget to put them back on. My eyes don't like adjusting back to not seeing. I can't believe how much better I can see.
And we finally got a bookshelf for all the DVDs. The only one we could find that held more that 100, held 500. I knew we probably had at least 200, so we bought the 500 one. I didn't think we'd fill it . But we came pretty close, when you add in the video games. There are 24 cubes, and 7 1/2 on the top are filled with the "grown-up" movies. The eight on the bottom are filled with the boys' movies. And there's a different box for the games for each system. And some are filled with CD cases. There was only one empty block, so I put Tobi's last school picture in there. I put several others on the shelves that weren't completely full.
Some of Jymi's friends from work are going midnight bowling tonight. So the boys are spending the night at Grandma's. We went there after school. And when I got home, Jymi had to go to work. So I've got a few hours to myself, without anyone asking for anything! I'm gonna get what I need for Dorothy And Toto, and then have dinner. Then I'm going to work out without thinking about time. And then when I get home. I'm gonna shower and use all the hot water.
I'm not sure if I'll bowl, if we go. I didn't get the impression Jymi really wanted to go bowling. We'll both bowl on the Wii, but we both suck in real life. The last time I went bowling, I was in 5th grade. I got a 38. I think I can get away with just watching though. I don't think the other guys will let Jymi get away with that. Get a few beers in him and he won't care if he sucks. But I can't drink with my medication, so I'll still be self conscious. I guess we'll see how it goes.

Get This Party Started!

We live in an upstairs apartment. The people underneath are generally nice people. There are fours kids close to my boys' ages. The mom gives my boys a ride to school in the morning, and I walk home with the six kids in the afternoon.

Yesterday, the oldest little boy knocked on our door around noon to invite the boys to his birthday party. The invitation he gave said 1:00 that day, but he told us it was at two. An hour later, he comes up again to tell us it's at three now.

So, at three, we go outside. We see the younger boy across the street with some of the other kids in the neighborhood. The party's at 3:30 now, and the kids are all playing on the playground until their mom tells them it's time.

There's a little boy across the street who's in Darin's class. He and his brother and sister were invited, and also on the playground. Above them lives another little boy in Darin's class. He saw everyone out on the playground, and came out to play, too. They're all friends. But he was heartbroken to find out everyone had been invited to the party but him and his sister. The birthday boy had just forgotten about, though, and ran home to ask his mom if it was okay to invite them now. She was fine with it, of course. She already had eleven kids coming over. What's two more?

At four, she finally called the kids in because the hot dogs were ready. All the kids ran in, and she told me they were just have hot dogs and cake, sing Happy Birthday, and watch him open his presents. It wouldn't be more than an hour. So I left my boys at a birthday party for the first time. I've always stayed with them before. But they were just downstairs. I could hear them all playing. They went outside for a little bit, and I could see them from my porch. But I was still sitting on my hands, watching the clock. I'm not used to leaving them like that. An hour later, though, I heard them stomping upstairs, with two extra pieces of cake she gave them for later. They had a blast.

I have been working on Sweetheart Fence the past couple days. I enjoy it alot when I get past my procrastinating. This morning I found Raise The Roof released a new fence at Nashville. So I will have to get that soon. What's funny about it though, was this morning, while I was working on a Valentine fence two days after Valentine's Day, I thought, "St. Patrick's Day is next. They should do a St. Patrick fence!" And what do I find when I get online this morning? I'm hoping to find a floss list later, so I can see what I've got, what I need, and which of the green fabrics I have on hand they go best with. I've got a whole rainbow of PTP fabric, most of it, 28 ct. and sparkly.

I also have to figure out how to convince my hubby to let me buy it. When we moved, and he had to help me move my cross stitch storage carts because it was too heavy for me, he realized how much I already have. Since then, he's been very against me getting anything more than thread. But in my defense, I haven't bought anything except a couple skeins of DMC in almost a year. Maybe I'll go one day and just not tell him. He just knows I have alot. He doesn't know what I already have. He'd probably like that one though. Hmm. Must continue to ponder that one some more. I just need to get the chart. I have fabric, and he's okay with me buying threads/buttons/beads for what I've already got. And I should have at least a few of those colors already.

Last night I realized Tobi will be reading War And Peace by fourth grade. Last year, a friend who's son was in Tobi's class asked if her son was doing okay, because his journal wasn't at the same level as Tobi's. She told her her son was fine; don't compare to Tobi. Tobi was in kindergarten, reading on a second grade level.

I asked his teacher at the beginning of this year if she thought Tobi would be ready for some easy chapter books. Honestly, I was surprised when she told me yes, and suggested the Magic Tree house series. At the parent teacher conference, halfway through the first grading period (where they tell you how to read the report card), she told me about the reading levels. They range from A to Z. They are supposed to be at at least a C level when they start first grade. At the end of first grade, they're supposed to be at a level I. She said Tobi started the year at a level L, and had progressed to M by then. First grade teachers are not supposed to teach above N, and she said Tobi would be there by Christmas. She had to get my permission to let him continue to advance. And he's still advancing quickly. He'll be reading better than me soon, and I was an advanced reader, too!

So when they sent home the next book catalog from school, I ordered him the set of the first eight. We were reading the first one, when my mom told me she wanted to get him some books for his birthday and Christmas, and wanted to know what he'd like. So I told her told her to get him some more Magic Tree house books. He got two for his birthday, then four more for Christmas. So we have the first fourteen!

I went to the website to see it there were any that he would especially like. I found a printable passport there. You print it up and put it together. Then when you finish a book, you answer a couple questions on it, and if you get them all right, you get a "stamp" for that book to put in your passport. Tobi loves cutting out his stamps and gluing them in. And they name the place were Jack and Annie went in that book, Ancient Egypt, Wild West, etc. I thought, "That kinda reinforces the idea that books can take you to far away places." Then I realized, that's the whole premise of the books! Two kids find a tree house full of books, and if they look at one and say, "I wish we could go there," the tree house takes them there!

These books are on a mid to high third grade level. The first one took us awhile to get through, but now he's zipping through them. Last week, he read me one in less than a week! The last one we read took him four days. And it only took that long because I made him go to bed the third night. He wanted to finish the last two chapters! I've decided the next one we're going to read is going to be the one where they go to the moon and the future. After one on ancient Egypt, and then one on ancient Greece, I'm tired of correcting "ancient." "Pyramid," and "anonymous," no problem, but he has a problem with "ancient."

Jymi has his new computer. He's thrilled, and once he gets this program he ordered, I won't see him until he's hungry and comes out for food. My new computer is on it's way. They don't carry the one I want in the store, so it's being shipped here. It left today, and I should have it Wednesday or Thursday!

He bought me my new iPod and a case, too. It's very pretty! It's hard to find clear cases for the new Nanos, which doesn't make sense to me. Why would you get one in a pretty color, then cover it up? Mine's a gorgeous bright blue! I need new headphones for it though. Jymi wanted my new ones, because apparently he didn't want to wear my pink ones at work. They went with my old MP3 player, and I hadn't needed a new set since I'd stolen his iPod. But I don't like pink. And they don't match my iPod, so I need to go get some blue ones now. I like the pink ones because they block out the outside sounds really well. And I don't hear so good, so that helps alot. But they make the same ones in blue.

We're going to get my new glasses tonight. So now I just get to sit on my hands until Jymi gets home. Then sit on my hands and wait for my new computer. I'm not very patient.

Reset Button

I kinda abandoned my last blog, so here's my new one. It will be devoted to whatever pops into my head, in all honesty. But I have the intention of using it mostly to show my cross stitch and weight loss. I will babble about my family, pets, volunteer work, books, video games, movies, ect. Like I said; whatever pops into my head. I will try to remember to post at least once a week.
As far as my stitching goes, I will post pics as I get to projects. I've got too many started to show them all in one post. This is what I'm currently working on. It's Raise The Roof's Sweetheart Fence. That is the picture from the last time I worked on it, in 2007. Yeah, it's been awhile.
I am currently trying to whittle down my WIPs. I got up to nineteen. I started this year with seventeen, and I've had two new smallish starts. And I also finished my first HAED, Lee-Anne Seed's Oriental Courage SK. I cheated and stitched it on red fabric instead of stitching all that red background. So I've got eighteen WIPs/UFOs now, I think. I'd have to actually go through and count them to know for sure. I can't remember what all I started, what I kitted up, or even what I bought!
As for weight loss, at my highest, I weighed 185 lbs. After a year and a half of working out and changing my eating habits (mostly, I still love Bojangles), I'm down to 139. I have also learned that a number on the scale is not a big deal. No number will ever make me as happy as being the cool mom at the park because I play tag with the kids.
My husband is very sweet, too. We got our tax return today, and he bought me a new laptop and a new iPod. He's also getting himself a new computer, which is why I get my stuff. The disk drive on this one is broken, and I had asked him to fix it. After he explained that he couldn't, he started looking at a new one for me. He knew I would be pissed if he got a new computer and he wouldn't even fix mine.
My old iPod had actually been his, but since he didn't use it much, we agreed it would be mine until he wanted it back. To me that translated to I could have that one, and when he wanted one again, he'd just go buy himself a new one. About a week ago, he came up to me and said, "How attatched are you to that iPod?" I told him, "I don't know. Are you gonna buy me a new one?" I was so suprised when he asked what kind I wanted. So today we went to Best Buy and bought my new, pretty, blue Nano. And my new computer is ordered, and will be here next week! It will be blue, too.
The rest of our tax money will go to bills, getting the car fixed, and getting me some new glasses. My current pair is older than my children. I got those when I was fifteen! My youngest, Darin, broke them when he was 18 months old. He's in kindergarten now. I am so looking forward to being able to see well again!