Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Halloween Happy Dance!


It's finished! DD got the thread I needed, and I finished it last night. I loved doing this! I'm working on another Halloween piece that I found at Cyberstitchers. I'll show a picture when it's finished.

Not much going on around here. I haven't gotten any sub jobs so far this week. I've got to go to the grocery store - I'm going to try to get there today! I don't have any candy for the trick-or-treaters, and we have a lot of trick-or-treaters every year!

Better go and get busy stitching and shopping! Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!

Monday, October 29, 2007

Halloween Stitching


This is almost finished. I decided to wait and go to Michael's to get the color called for on the pattern. The colors are so pretty on this that I want to use what the designer used! Anyway, Micheal's has their DMC threads for 4/$1.00. I did this on 32 count natural linen - 2 over 2. I haven't stitched on linen in quite a while and it took me a while to get used to it again! But when I did, I really enjoyed stitching this!!

This is the tuck pillow I'm going to put it in. I made this for something I did last year, but I wasn't happy with how that stitched piece looked in it. This piece is perfect for it. This is not a very good picture - all I have is my scanner, but you can see what the fabby looks like. I really enjoyed stitching this piece! I'm going to start another Halloween piece! I love stitching Halloween things! It's one of my favorite holidays - right behind Christmas! Not much else happening around here. My head is finally back to normal - or rather what is normal for me! lol I probably won't sub much this week. I don't sub on Halloween Day or the day after; the kids are just too wound up!! Better go and start my next Halloween piece! Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Finally - Halloween Stitching


This is the Halloweeny piece I started yesterday. I am feeling better; my head is only bothering me a little today. I really appreciate the sweet comments from everyone! Thank you everyone! I really appreciate my internet friends! I got the freebie above here. It's called Haughted Tea Party. I love anything by Brooke! I haven't got all the threads I need. I went over to Wilson's to get what I need, but they were out of one that I needed! I'm just going to look through my threads and pick out another color. It's a lighter orange than the 2 already used.

I was afraid to weigh today, because with the migraine marathon, I haven't really been as good as usual. However, when I weighed this morning, I'd lost 3 more pounds for a total of 46!! Guess I have changed my eating habits so much that I could still do my diet even eating delivery and take-out!

DD has broken up with the latest deadbeat boyfriend! Yah! Yah! Don't tell her I said that! lol I really wish she could meet some nice guys! I keep encouraging her to make friends in her classes!

Well, need to go and finish my Halloweeny piece! Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!

Friday, October 26, 2007

Back in the Land of the Living! - Barely!!


Finally today (after 4 days) my head isn't hurting! Hooray! Hooray! I'm afraid to move my head too much for fear it will start hurting again! Night before last it had eased up enough that I could stitch a little. I am almost finished with this charity square. It is definitely too late to go in Fletcher's quilt. I'm going to finish this today and send it in for an any child's quilt. Next I'm going to do something for Halloween, even though it's almost too late. I'm going to take a break from the charity squares. I need to do my Christmas stitching next! I've got to get back to frogging that deer's head! My brother kept hinting that he wanted me to do something for his house. Finally, one day last week he just came right out and asked me when was I going to do something for him! I told him he ruined the surprise, but that I AM working on something for him! I've also got to get started on the ornaments for my teaching friends. I won't be showing pics of them this year, because several of my teaching friends read my blog!
Even with the marathon migraine, I've tried to stick to my diet. We'll see if I was successful tomorrow! I weigh on Saturdays.
Better go and start stitching! Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

No Stitching Withdrawal!

I still have the TERRIBLE migraine. I haven't stitched in 2 days! That's the longest I have gone in ages!

I know why this headache is so bad! DD got mad at me Mon., because I didn't have any cash to give her to eat out. Jerry was fixing hot dogs, because I was in too bad a shape to fix them! I haven't seen him cooking in ages!lol Anyway - DD didn't want her dad's hot dogs. I had gone to my room and was in bed. She came in my room, begging for money. When I told her I didn't have any cash, she pitched a fit and SLAMMED the door on her way out! Anyone who has migraines knows that sounds really bother you!! It felt like I had been shot in the head! I screamed and screamed for quite a while and had a terrible panic attack and I have been hurting ever since!! After posting yesterday, my head got worse and I spent the rest of the day in bed! Looks like that's where I'm going to be today!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Bad Migraine!


I wasn't able to stitch much yesterday! I had a terrible migraine! It's much better today! I didn't get this sports square finished like I wanted to do. I guess Joan at Love Quilts will have to use it in an any child quilt! I hate it when I can't get the squares I've committed to finished on time! When I have one of these migraines, my whole life comes to a halt! It's like losing days from your life! I'm not the type that likes to be sitting around doing nothing. I like sitting around, but I have to be stitching or reading or something. And when you have a migraine, you can't stitch or read or do anything!
I did get to feeling well enough to watch that Johnny Depp movie - The Secret Window. That was the last movie my DS and I watched together before he died! He had rented it and wanted me to watch it with him. He knew I like psychological thrillers. It was very rare for him to sit down long enough to watch a whole movie, and that was the only one he ever wanted us to watch together. He had already seen it and wanted to see if I could figure it out before the end of the movie, but I didn't. I really enjoyed watching it again. I thought it would make me sad, but it made me feel like DS was here watching it with me! But the movie wasn't over until 2:00 am; so I really shouldn't have watched it, but the weird thing is that my head stopped hurting while I was watching it!
Well, enough rambling! I've got to go and finish that sports square! Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Wackiness!!


Here's my progress on this latest charity square. I'm trying to finish it by Mon. I'm having fun with this one! Next I'm going to stitch a Halloweeny piece and then start my square for the Charleston Firemen Quilt. I'm looking forward to doing that one! I have stitched 25 squares for charity in the last year. And it's been almost a year since I started this blog! I have really grown emotionally and shrunk physically!! lol I finally broke down and weighed yesterday, and I have lost -----DRUM ROLL ------- 43 pounds!! (since May) I'm really HAPPY, but I still have a long way to go!! But back to the charity squares - I'm going to take a break for a while, and stitch squares for any child instead of signing up for a particular child. The any child squares don't have a deadline. You just send them in when you're finished with them. I can't resist signing up for EVERY child and I sign up for too many and then don't have time to stitch anything else! I'm about to get burned out on the charity squares, and I don't want that to happen! I do them in memory of my son!

Now - some really great news - I won a drawing for a cs pressie on Pattern Nut's site. I don't know what it is - it's a surprise! That's so sweet of you, Pattern Nut, to have drawings for cs stuff! Thank you! Thank you!!! I have entered 3 drawings and won 2 of them! Maybe I ought to go to Vegas and try my luck!! lol I don't order things on the net, because I don't have a charge card. So it's really exciting to get something cross stitchy in the mail!!

After my horrible experience at that school last Mon., I was afraid to sub again. However, I took a job Thurs. and had a great day!! I even felt like going from the school to my mom's and spent the rest of the day (until 2:00 am) with her. We had our usual reminiscing fest and went out to Denny's for a Grand Slam. But when we got there, we realized we only had $13.00 between us. I know everyone thought we were nuts - trying to figure out if we had enough money to get coffee with our GSs. We didn't - so we drank water! lol We were laughing and cutting up trying to get the money figured out to pay the check and leave the waiter a tip! I'm sure everyone there thought we were mentally challenged!! lol But we're both very wacky (I got it from her) and we couldn't figure it out! When I was young, my mom would always embarrass us by doing wacky things like talking to mannequins! And I did the same to my children! Those memories of my mom's wackiness are my favorite memories now!! Lots of people take themselves too seriously!! DD and DS (when he was alive) loved to tell all their friends about their mom's wackiness! Like the time I was going through the drive-through at a Burger King and there was a trash can before you got to the ordering screen, and I told the trash can our order. I don't know what I was thinking! DS said, in a monotone. "You're talking to the trash can, Mom." It was so funny - I didn't mean to do that little wackiness, but it's a favorite family story to tell! Life's too short - be as wacky as you can!! And you'll spend most of your time laughing!!

Well, better go! I'm fixing French onion soup (a Weight Watchers' recipe) for lunch! Got to get it started!! Have a day full of happy (and wacky) moments, and may God bless you!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Play Ball!


This is the newest square I'm working on. It will go to Fletcher at Love Quilts. I'm enjoying this, but I want to stitch Halloweeny things so bad!! I have found several neat things at Cyberstitchers. Also Brooke's Books has a new Halloween pattern = Haunted Tea Party - that I really want to do! But I went to Love Quilts' site and read the thank yous from the parents of the kids who got a quilt with one of my squares in it, and I got inspired again! I want to finish this square quickly.


I substituted at a school Monday that I consider a good school. but the classes were awful!! It started even before school started. They were very rude, insulting, disruptive, etc! I sent for an administrator several times, but it took over 30 minutes for anyone to come! By then, I had already taken 2 anxiety pills and was almost in tears! I gave them the names of the worst ones, and they took 10 kids to In-school Suspension for the rest of the day. I got myself together enough to finish the day (I told them I wanted to go home, but they couldn't get anyone to cover the classes), but I had problems with the rest of the classes all day - but not as severe as those first classes! The administrator dropped by several times during the day! The teacher across the hall said that the teacher was very "relaxed" with the students. That always spells TROUBLE for a substitute. If a teacher doesn't have good discipline when she or he is there, the kids will be horrible with a sub! So I haven't subbed since Mon. I had to get over that experience. I have a job at another good school tomorrow. I hope those classes are better!


That's about all that's been going on around here - just stitching the last few days! Better go and get started on that square again! Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

How True!

Your Inner Color is Blue
Your Personality: Your natural warmth and intuition nurtures those around you. You are accepting and always follow your heart.
You in Love: Relationships are your top priority, and this includes love. You are most happy when you are serious with someone.
Your Career: You need to help others in your job to feel satistifed. You would be a great nurse, psychologist, or counselor.

This is so true about me! It always amazes me how close these things are to the real me!! I started the baseball square and have finished the ball, but it's all white and gray so a pic wouldn't show up. I don't think it will take me long to do it. Then I have to do the fireman square for the quilt in memory of the firefighters who died in Charleston. THEN I will finally be able to stitch something just for me!!
I tried a new recipe last night! Broccoli and Cheddar Pizza! It was really good - believe it or not!
I got it from one of my Weight Watcher Cookbooks. The rest of the family liked it, too.
I didn't get my floor mopped yesterday. No big shock! I got sidetracked and polished my den furniture instead!! I also washed several loads of clothes! It's amazing what I will do to keep from mopping the floor. I HATE to mop! I tried to bribe DD into doing it, but she hates it, too!
Well, I finally got around to reading all my internet friends' blogs! I got up early - 6:30 - just so I could! (Not really - just couldn't sleep! lol) I really enjoyed seeing what everybody is doing! I am so inspired now!!
Going to go and get started stitching!! Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Fire Truck Happy Dance!


I got it finished!! Although there's a lot of mistakes in it, I'm very proud of how it turned out! And I don't think the mistakes are obvious. There was a lot of backstitching! But I really enjoyed doing it - I know, I'm weird! By the way, this pattern was in the July 1995 issue of Cross-stitch Plus. Next, I've got to start another charity square. It's a sports square for Fletcher at Love Quilts.

I actually did some housework yesterday! lol I'm a bad "stacker"! And it had been years since we had seen the tops of my kitchen counters! So I spent half the day yesterday cleaning off my kitchen counters. Now my kitchen looks so clean! Except for the floor, which I'm mopping today!

An update on DD - We haven't seen or heard anything from her old boyfriend - the CRAZY one! Thank goodness! But she has hooked back up with an old boyfriend that I'm not too crazy about. He's better than the CRAZY one, but he's also a deadbeat! Doesn't work, has piercings everywhere, and talked DD into getting a tatto! Thankfully, it's a medium-sized star on the back of her neck. My family is NOT a tattoo family! And I really didn't want her to get one, but she's 18 and after it's done, what could I say or do? I think she will be satisfied with just one. Her dad hasn't noticed it yet! And heaven help us if my mom ever sees it! I tried to talk to her about this guy, but it only made her more determined to see him. (which I knew it would do!) So I'm just praying she'll eventually get past this "deadbeat" stage and find someone who at least has a job! Otherwise, she's doing great - hasn't missed a day of work (actually, she LOVES her job!) and is doing great in her classes! Since her dad had the talk with her about her temper, she's been trying to keep it under control!

Things have finally settled down with my brother, Mom and me! Although DB hasn't gotten a car yet and has to borrow Mom's a lot, they have finally adjusted to being so near each other. DB hasn't lived in our town since his early 20s - 30 years ago!! He wants to be a part of the family and be "involved" and he was really getting on Mom's nerves. He was calling her everyday. Although she'll let you know exactly how long it has been since you last called her, she doesn't want us to call her everyday. When my dad died, she began living by herself for the first time in her life! And, shocking to us, she really likes it! I know she misses my dad horribly, but if he can't be with her, she really enjoys being alone sometimes! If we call her everyday, she thinks we are expecting her to die and waiting for her to die! And actually, DB didn't want to call her everyday, but once he started it, he couldn't figure out how to stop without hurting her feelings. You may have noticed, our family is not the best at communicating! We are very close and love each other to death, but we have problems talking about our real feelings! To anyone - not just family members! We grew up in such a happy family and Mom insisted on "happiness" all the time, so we never learned to tell how we really feel. Mother's feelings are hurt very easily - it has something to do with her own childhood! She has this fear that her family will stop loving her. I've told her many times that she can't do anything that will cause us to stop loving her, but she still worries. We were talking the other day and she said, "What has happened to our family? Why have all these awful things happened to us?" I told her, "Mom, this is life! It can't always be sunny skies and happiness! We have to realize that there will be unhappy times and just go on!" She's trying! Boy! This has turned into a real "baring of the soul"! If you skipped over this last paragraph, that's okay! lol

Oh! I didn't tell you how the calling everyday thing got settled. God certainly works in mysterious ways! DB gave Mom a cell phone to keep in her purse in case she is out and gets lost or needs us! She really doesn't know how to use it though. Well, DB and I were talking on the phone and his cell phone rang. He answered it and it was our mom. But she wasn't talking to DB. She was talking to her sister. She was at our aunt's house. She had gotten something out of her purse and had accidently turned on the cell phone and had pressed DB's number on the speed dial! DB could hear everything she was saying, but she couldn't hear him! She was telling her sister about my brother calling her everyday and that it was driving her crazy! DB and I were dying laughing!! I had tried to hint to DB that she really didn't want us calling her everyday and he had admitted that he really didn't want to. I told him, "I guess this will cure you of calling everyday," and between laughing hysterically, he said, "It sure will!" He called my aunt and told Mom the phone was on so she wouldn't use up all her minutes! He told Mom what he had heard and how he felt about calling her everyday and we all had a good laugh! And we said we would try harder to tell each other how we really feel! lol

Well, this has been a LONG post, but it's been good for me! I've got to go mop the floor and get the sports square kitted up! Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!!

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Firetruck Update


All I have to do now is the backstitching, and this will be on its way to Love's Quilt for Elijah's quilt. I haven't stitched much the last few days - too tired after substituting! I've been at a very good school, and the classes were great! I'm planning on staying home tomorrow and catching up on my stitching!


I was able to do a little shopping after school yesterday! I used 50% off coupons and got the stash above from Michael's and AC Moore. I've barely started the Autumn Sampler, but I want to get all 4 of the samplers. I really wanted the Summer Sampler next, but they didn't have it. So I got the Spring Sampler. At half price, it was only $12.50. I really liked the Christmas book - like I don't have a million Christmas patterns already! lol It was only $3.50.

I have a sports square to do for Fletcher at Love Quilts. I'm going to do it next, and then I'm going to stitch for MYSELF!!

Everything's going okay at home. Jerry finally sold the house at Hilton Head, but he is losing money on it! At least, we'll have it off our minds now! Katie is doing great at college. The dogs are all fine, except they get very upset when I get up early to sub!

Better go! I'm going to get started on that backstitching! Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Firetrucks Everywhere!



It's very appropriate that I am stitching an antique firetruck. I subbed at a middle school last Fri. and they had a fire drill - of course. Every school I have gone to so far this year has had a fire drill while I am there! Someone pulled the fire alarm at this one, and the firetrucks came out and all! It was a false alarm, thank goodness!! I hope no one notices that I'm always there when they have these false alarms and thinks that I am doing them!! This one was at 12:oo and the students eating lunch had to leave their plates and go outside! They said it was the 2nd time someone had pulled the alarm that week! Anyway, this square is for Elijah at Love Quilts. He wanted anything with an engine. This is going very quickly and I am really enjoying it! I have another one I must do very quickly. It's for Elijah's brother, Fletcher. It's a sports-themed quilt. That's so sad to have 2 children so sick in one family!!



I had another migraine yesterday. DD has a terrible temper that she got from her dad! Jerry took her keys to her car before she got up yesterday and went to have another key made, because that was the only one she had! He had already taken it to Walmart to have one made, but the key wouldn't work. You have to have one made at the dealership or it won't work. When she got up and her key was not here, she went balistic!! She started screaming and throwing things. I was doing something on the computer and didn't notice anything. When she screamed, a sharp pain shot through my head and the migraine started! I was in bed all day!

Today I've felt better, but a little sick to my stomach. That happens sometimes when I have migraines! I've already got a job for Wed. and Thurs. It's a good school!

Well, better go. The computer is acting like it is going to go out! Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Puppy Love Happy Dance


"Puppy Love" is finished!! I really enjoyed stitching this. It will go to Love Quilts for Karissa's quilt.
I haven't subbed any this week. I've had a migraine for several days. I did visit my mom yesterday - even with the headache. It was tolerable yesterday, but today I had to go to bed! Bebe, the puppy, was really puzzled when she saw a washcloth on my forehead. This was the first time she has seen me with one on my head. She got in my lap and looked closely at the washcloth and smelled it. Then she looked me right in the eyes like she was saying, "What the heck have you got on your head!!?" It was so funny! I told Jerry I bet she's thinking, "These humans really do weird things!" I'd better go - the computer is about to go down! That's about all I wanted to say! Have a day full of happy moments and may God bless you!