Long Time, No Post

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I have been SO busy. I can't believe it's been so long since I posted anything! I was almost constantly stitching! Week before last I subbed all week in that special ed. class I had subbed in before! I had a great week! The kids were very sweet. The aide even gave me a gift certificate to AC Moore on the last day. I haven't used it yet! I got the deer pictures framed and my DB and DBIL loved them!! I got all the ornaments done. These are the 4 I did. I did 5 of the above and 3 of the Santas and 2 of the reindeer and birdhouses.



My teacher friends really liked them, and I gave one of the angels to my sister and one of the Santas to my niece. We really had a great Christmas!

Better go! DD got a "Scene It" game from my niece and we're going to play it. We always play a game on Christmas Day! Have a day full of happy moments and may God bless you!

The Piece from Hell!

I've been so busy this week! I took Mom to the dr. 2 times; I went shopping twice; and I spent the day with my sister yesterday. We went shopping, too. We don't see each other very often, even though we only live 1 hr. apart. We are very different and have different kinds of lives. But we love each other and have a great time when we get together!

I'm working on the piece above for DD for Christmas. I wanted to show a pic of the finished piece from the book, but I guess I hid the book so that DD wouldn't see the pic, and now I can't remember where I hid it! lol This is a purse and it says "A purse diva lives here." This has been the most frustrating piece I've ever done! I had done the dark red all the way down the left side and when I started the other side I realized something was wrong on the left side. It took me forever to figure out what was wrong! When I did, it was a mistake in the second row! I had to take all of it out because I had made the same mistake in the next 5 rows!! Then I started it again and got to the end of the right side and it didn't end at the same place that the left side did. It took me forever again to figure out what was wrong! So I had to take out half of the left side and stitch it for the 3rd time! I guess I'm tired and not really paying close enough attention. I'll be so glad when I get this finished. I'm doing it for DD because she loves pocketbooks! Every time we go shopping, she has to buy a new one!! She has more purses than I have owned in my whole life!! I'm going to make this into a pillow like I did for her last year, if I ever get it finished! The ornies are coming along very nicely. I really can't wait to show pics of them!

I'm almost finished with my Christmas shopping. I get a couple of decorating and home magazines along with my xstitch mags, and I usually pass them on to my mom. She told me how much she and my sis loved looking at and reading them. I always forget to take the old mags to Mom. SO I've gotten a magazine subscription for each of them for part of their Christmas presents. When I went shopping with my sis yesterday, she was looking at mags while we were in the checkout line, and she said she wished she had a subscription to a mag. So I think I've done the right thing for them. My mom also wanted some new towels, so I got those for her. I'm doing a small pillow for my sis. I'll show that when I'm finished with it. Now if I could just find something for my niece. Do any of you have any suggestions! She's 30-years-old and has one daughter. I thought about giving her a mag subscription, too, but I can't decide what mag she would like!

Well, I need to start working on that pillow for DD while she's at work. I'm trying to keep it a secret! Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!

Books, Books, Books!

I am so excited!! I found a bargain book site and found a bunch of cross stitch books very cheap!! You know me! I have to buy things on sale or cheap!! lol I ordered 13! It only took a week for them to get to me!

These are the books I got:

1. Jayne Netley's Cross Stitch Animal Collection (has deer patterns in it!)
2. The Best Designs from Donna Kooler
3. Cross Stitch Collection: 101 Original Designs by Claire Crompton
4. 201 Cross Stitch Christmas Designs by Kooler Design Studio
5. Cross Stitch Angels from David & Charles Books
6. Helen Philipps' Cross Stitch Garden Notebook
7. Sue Cook's Wonderful Cross Stitch Collection
8. Cross Stitch Celebrations Month by Month by Sue Cook
9. A Christmas to Remember from Leisure Arts, Inc.
10. Donna Kooler's 555 Christmas Cross-Stitch Designs
11. 555 Little Sayings in Cross-Stitch by Marie Barber
12. Cross Stitch Alphabets from David and Charles Books
13. Donna Kooler's Cross Stitch Inspirations

I LOVE every one of them!! I now have a mile long list of things to stitch!! I figured it up and this is $287.75 worth of books!! I paid $48.80 + $3.50 for shipping for a total of $52.30!! And they were all brand new books! Can you believe it!? This was my Christmas present to me!! I spent over 5 hours last night looking at them, and I can't wait to look at them again! Even if I never stitch anything out of them, they are beautiful books and fun to look at! There is at least a dozen things I want to stitch in each book. So - do you want to know where I got them from? The site is here. There were several that I didn't get. After Christmas I'm going to order the rest of them!! The shipping and handling charge is $3.50 no matter how much you order! I recommend that you check them out!

I have decided to buy gifts for my mom, sister, and niece instead of stitching something for them this year. I'm going to start stitching the tops for the baskets right after Christmas so they will be ready long before Christmas next year!! I would have to stitch constantly to get them finished in time. I always wait too late to start my Christmas stitching! I did that last year and really didn't feel like it was Christmas until Christmas Eve. I'm going to stitch my ornaments and maybe some small things for the ladies in my family, but hold off on the big ones until next year. So I only have to frame the pictures for DB and DBIL and finish the ornaments. Plus I'll have more time to look at my new books! lol

Yesterday was a very busy day! I went with DD to the eye doctor at 9:15. She won't take her contacts out every day, and she was afraid he might fuss at her. She just can't get it through her head that she can destroy her eyes by not taking them out. She's already had an infection in her eyes once because of leaving them in too long! She left them out a week before going to him yesterday. He said they looked fine. Then DD and I ate a late breakfast out. We really enjoyed it! I took her home and went straight to my mom's to take her to the dr. She is still not doing so good! The dr. said the CAT scan didn't show anything wrong with her brain except normal aging. He now wants her to have an MRI. So I will be going with her on Wed. to have that done. Then she and I ate out for lunch at a hamburger joint. Then we stopped at the grocery store. She hasn't been able to drive, and she needed a lot of groceries. She went around in an electric buggy and pointed out what she wanted for me to get. I also picked up a few things for myself! This took us forever! She was really tired when we finished! Then I took her home and took in all of her groceries and she got a LOT!! I also helped her put up the groceries! Luckily when I got home, Jerry was there and got out the groceries I had bought! I picked up fried chicken on the way home for us to eat. I didn't get home until 7:00 pm! I was exhausted!! It was so wonderful to see the box of books waiting for me. So I spent the rest of the time until 12:00 looking at my new treasures! What a day!!

I got so tickled at my furbabies a few days ago. Sugar, the black poodle, got up in my lap. I was cross stitching. She just stood on my lap, staring at me. She does that when she wants something. I couldn't imagine what she wanted! I had already let them go outside, and they had food and water. Then Bebe, the puppy, came over with the dog brush in her mouth and laid it at my feet. I couldn't believe it!! I brushed Sugar and she got down, satisfied! It was probably just a coincidence that Bebe brought the brush, but it really was strange and funny! They do amaze me! Bebe is potty-trained. She either goes outside or goes on the paper I put down. She really just learned it on her own by watching the other 2 dogs. She is so funny when she goes! She knows she has done something wonderful and will jump in my lap, going crazy - jumping around and licking my face to death. I really brag on her and give her a treat! She is a very smart puppy, and does the cutest things! And Jerry just adores her and plays with her all the time! He's an animal person anyway, but I've never seen him make such a do over a dog before! It's really cute! Pets enrich your life so much!

Well, that's about all my news for today. Need to go work on those ornies and rest. I'm going to sub all next week in the same class and in another class the last day the kids go before getting out for Christmas. I'm not going to sub any this week, so I can rest and stitch! Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!