A Gift Becomes a Present to Me!

Still without a computer of my own! I really miss posting! Things have been pretty quiet around here. My family got together again last week at a seafood place to celebrate my daughter's, my sister's, and my great-niece's birthdays! We had so much fun! I made a little hanging pillow for my sis. She turned 50. It had a very curvy lady in a gold evening dress holding a champagne glass. It said, "Golden oldie? Not me!" It also had the number 50 done in gold braid. I wish I could post a pic of it! I really can't figure out my mom. We all had such a great time, and then the next day, she said it made her too tired and she didn't think we should do it again! I'm wondering if it bothers her because my dad's not there and she misses him so much. I've also wondered if she feels guilty having a good time without him! I told her we were going to do it if it's only the 3 siblings and our kids. I really hate it that the only memories DD has of my family are trips to the hospital! I told my sis that I get the feeling that Mom doesn't want us to get together, and she said she got that same feeling! Mom's very bad to talk about other family members negatively, and we think she's afraid we'll tell each other what she says. You can't stop her. She is a wonderful person, but the last few years she has gotten very negative about everything! But we're going to get together, even if we have to do it without telling her!

I've been pretty busy stitching! I did a neat window scene looking out over a beach with a boat in the distance and a pitcher and glass of orange juice on a table. It was supposed to go on a retirement card for a former colleague, but I got sick and didn't make it to her party and decided I would keep it myself. I'm going to make it into a flatfold. It reminds me of beach trips my family took when I was little! I also did a quick little bird house that I'm going to make into a scissor fob. So after my little foray into quick stitches, I am now working on the big piece for my mom for Christmas. It is a very country piece. I really like stitching with the deep, rich colors! The only problem is I made a working copy of the chart and put the mag away in my HUMONGOUS pile of mags. The pattern has leaves and the chart says to stitch the outline of the leaves in green and the center of the leaves in blue! I can't decide if it's a mistake. I guess I'm going to have to go through those mags and find the original with the picture and see what they did on it. I've got to get my mags better organized.

I'm also going to start a new piece (that will make a hundred and one things I have started and not finished yet! lol). It's a fairly simple piece in memory of my dad. It says, "Thank God for fathers who not only gave us life, but also taught us how to live!

I'm in pretty bad shape today. The last few months have been pretty bad. As most of you know, my 18-year-old son was killed in 2005 in a car accident. Some people might think that it gets easier with time, but it doesn't. It gets worse!! My son's death was so sudden! I think my brain instantly went numb as a way of keeping me from going insane! For a long time I went around feeling like I was in a dream and wasn't part of this world anymore. Nothing seemed real. Now it's like it's becoming too horribly real to me and it's so hard to keep on going. I have flashbacks to the day they came and told me. I can't help it - I start screaming and my throat closes up. I have to take anxiety pills and I'm on a lot of depression meds. Right after he died, we found a stack of letters that we and he had written while he was at different camps through the years. I didn't read them - I just put them in my drawer with the last shirt he wore. Last night I decided to read them. I could HEAR his voice in the letters he had written. He and I were so close! In one of the letters, he wrote, "There's nothing better than writing a letter to your momma." I really cried and cried. I didn't get to bed until 5:00 this morning. I got up at noon and feel like I've been backed over by a truck! The only way I keep going is by constantly praying. I have witnessed so many miracles since my son's passing! I know I couldn't go on if I didn't have the Lord walking with me and holding me up!! Well, that's my little sermon for today!

I'm going to have some lunch and start stitching. I really want to make a hugh dent in the pile of Christmas gifts I have to do! Have a day full of happy moments;and may God bless you!

Long Time, No Post

It's been a long time since my last post! I think my computer screen is gone for good this time!! I can't afford a new one right now, so I'll have to use DD's laptop for a while. But that means I can't show any pictures, and it's very rare that her laptop is free for me to use.



Anyway, I have been doing a lot of cross stitching! I've finished the Birds and Birdhouse. Happy Dance!! It is really pretty. Maybe someday I can show it to everybody! I also made a Mother's Day card for my mom. It was a flower wreath with "Happy Mother's Day" inside it. She really loved it and now wants it framed, after she told me she doesn't want anything else cross stitched to hang!

I've also finished a small freebie called "Summer House." It was in a newsletter I got from somewhere. The name of the site was not on the page with the pattern and that's all I saved. I am so proud of myself. It called for Crescent Color threads, which I don't have; so I choose my own colors. It's the first time I've chosen my own colors for a piece!! I used a couple of WDW threads that I had and DMC threads. I love the result!! I really wish I could show a pic! I'm planning to make it into a tuck pillow. I have so many things that I need to "finish"finish!

I'm working on a couple of new things. DD's birthday is this week and I'm doing a birthday piece for her. It's a freebie I got from Rainbow Gallery. It's a birthday cake. My LNS doesn't carry the Rainbow threads, so I also chose my own threads for this piece. DD's favorite color is purple; so I'm making it with purple, white, and brown colors - some WDW and some DMC. It's really fun to choose your own colors! I'm also working on a card for my sis. Her birthday is 2 days after DD's. I have a sister piece that I'm going to frame for her, also. I also have been invited to a retirement party for a dear teacher friend later in the month, and I'm going to do a card for her, also. I don't have time to stitch something big for her, so I'll buy her a gift.

Last month my family started a new family tradition. Well, really I started it! We don't get together often. I finally figured out why we don't. When my dad was alive, either he or Mom was in the hospital every few months! Of course the whole family would gather at the hospital and be there the whole time - so those hospital stays became our get-togethers! We really saw a lot of each other!! Anyway- back to our new tradition. We are getting together on each family member's birthday! Last month was the first one - my brother's birthday. We met at a restaurant. We had a great time! However, my brother wasn't there! He has been very sick, but we decided we would get together whether the birthday person could be there or not! lol
So we're getting together for DD's, my sister's, and my great-niece's birthday next week. Dear great niece's bday is in the first of June.

I just got a big box in the mail while I was sitting here writing this! I ordered several cross stitch books from that Bargain Books site. I won't let myself open it until I finish this! lol Guess I'd better close because I just can't wait to see my new books (which are my Mother's Day present to myself!!) I'm going to read some of your blogs as soon as I can! Please forgive me for being so lax about that, but DD doesn't let me use her laptop often. I think about my cyberfriends very often, though, and hope all of you are doing great!! Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!!

Lots of Work

It has really been a while since my last post. Our computer died. I had to wipe out everything on the hard drive and reload everything! I'm so glad we learned how to do that! The picture above is my progress on the birds and birdhouse piece. I really love this piece and can't wait to finish it. I've been working on it exclusively the last few days. I want to get it finished! I had someone else to ask about the designer. It is from an old mag and they didn't tell the designer's name!

The next 3 pictures are my last 3 finishes! Happy dances!!!

The picture above is my latest charity square. I'm going to get it in the mail very soon! This piece just called to me! I love the different styles in it - the flowers are kind of abstract and the leaves are very realistic. The different textures are neat, too. Plus I love anything that has some checkerboard in it! I really enjoyed doing this!

I finished the 4th part of the Rose Sampler (above). I just printed out the 5th part, so I'll start on it soon! I really like this and it is going to be huge!

The piece above is a freebie and my first time using WDW threads. I'm looking for a little cross charm to put on the heart. I'm not sure how I'm going to finish it yet! The colors in this really spoke to me! There's usually something about a piece that really touches me and makes me want to stitch it! When I choose a piece because it "spoke" to me, I usually really enjoy doing it.

Well, I want to go watch "Criminal Minds" on television and work some more on the birds. Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!

Happy Dance

This is my latest charity square for Love Quilts. I got a little bogged down in the blues of the gown; so I am very glad to finish it! I really like it, though.

The start above is my next charity square. This is "Mayfair Basket" from the June 2007 issue of The Cross Stitcher (US). I'm doing this one for a particular child - Kayla. I am going to do it again for a little girl named Emmie. And it looks like I'll be doing it again for my DD. She saw it and wants one, too. lol I'm missing some threads. This is all I can do until I get the threads. You do the rest of the flowers with pink variegated threads. I was excited when I saw it, because I really enjoyed stitching with the variegated thread on the piece in memory of my son. I did this much in 2 days. I can really get a lot done when it's something that I'm enjoying doing!

I subbed on Wed. at a great school and had a great day. The classes were extra help for students who had failed the state achievement test; so they were small. Plus half of the grade had gone on an all day field trip. The largest class I had all day had 8 kids in it. She left a lot of sudoku puzzles for them to work on. I just sat at a table and cross stitched all day. It was in a portable so I knew no one would come out to bother me! And I made $145.00 for just sitting there and cross stitching - my kind of job!!! But that's not the way it usually is! Usually I just get to stitch during the planning periods.

Margaret wanted to know who the designer of Birds and Birdhouse was. They did not tell the designer's name, but it was in the June/July 1991 issue of Cross Stitch Quick and Easy, although this piece is definitely not quick!! But I'm really enjoying it!

That's about all that's going on around here. Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!

Resurrected Computer

Well, the computer decided to work again. But it still goes blank quite often! The piece above is my latest start and finish. I did it in about 3 days. It is the freebie I found at Cyberstitchers. I really enjoyed using the variegated thread. My mom really likes this and wants me to do one for her for Mother's Day. She wants hers to be red and blue. I want to get 2 heart charms to put on each side of "a treasure." It will fit perfectly in a 5"x7" frame.

Above is my progress on the Birds and Birdhouse. I finished the bird and part of the left side border and vines. I really enjoy working on this, but I have so many I have to finish that I only work on this a little each week. My mom also saw this one and said she wants one, too. She wants one of everything I do!! Yet she keeps telling me she has enough cross stitch hanging in her new apartment. And, by the way, she is finally all settled in and really loves her new apartment! I think she has finally realized that we are not going to move her again and that she'd better be content where she is!

I'm doing the piece above for my DB for his birthday, which is on Apr. 28th. It's on 22 count cream hardanger. It will fit perfectly in an 8"x10" frame. It's called "Brothers" and was in the Jan/Feb 1993 issue of Simply Cross Stitch Magazine.

This piece is my latest square for charity. I actually finished this since I started this post. I'll show a pic of the finished piece later. I'm still trying to do about 1 square a month for charity.

I haven't subbed in ages, but I've got to do some. If I just didn't need money!! lol! I really love staying at home and stitching!

DD's best friend is living with us again. She stayed with us about 4 months the first of last year. This time, she is paying a little rent! She is going to college part time and working part time. But I really can't afford to let her stay for nothing. Jerry is going to move out. He has a mobile home and now that he is back on his feet, we both agreed that it was time. I really look forward to the time that I am the only one living here!! I LOVE my DD with all my heart, but I love her enough to want her to some day have her own place and life.

Well, the computer is warning me that it is about to cut out! So I'd better post this! Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!

Computer Death

My computer has died!! I can't afford to get another computer right now. I can post some on my daughter's laptop, but I can't post pictures! Boo! I've been doing a good bit of stitching the last few days. I finished a new piece that is a freebie on Cyberstitchers. It says, "When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure." And it has a border around it. I did it in memory of my son. I've never stitched with DMC variegated threads, so I did the words with a white, purple, and light blue variegated thread. I did the border with a purple and blue that matched the v. threads. I really liked using the v. thread.

I have done a good bit more on the birds piece. I'm also trying to finish up my next charity square. It's an angel. I really wish I could show pictures of my progress.

My stitching club meets tonight, but I've got a migraine and can't go! I tried to get to feeling better, but to no avail! I really enjoy the club!

DD's best friend has moved in with us again. She and DD are sharing a bedroom. But I told her she has to give me some rent each month. She was practically living with us anyway, but I really can't afford to feed her and pay for the water she uses, etc. I really don't want to sub. With this little bit coming in from her, I won't have to sub much!

Well, I'm having trouble typing this post with my headache; so I'd better go and put the cold cloth back on my head. Have a day full of happy moments; and may God bless you!

New Oldest UFO

I'm working on the 4th part of the Rose Sampler above. I took this over to my mom's and worked on it, and she really liked it. It's a good piece to work on when I visit her. We talk and talk; so this piece doesn't take a lot of thought and I don't make as many mistakes.

Since I finished my oldest UFO, the piece above is now my oldest UFO. I've been working on it, too. I did the bird - a house finch. I'm really enjoying this piece. I plan to hang it in my bedroom. I did start the Jesus Loves Me piece with the WDW threads, but I've put it someplace and can't find it. I am missing one of the threads - the LNS was out of it - so I've done all I can do on it! I love stitching with the WDW threads!! I'll show a pic later.

Mon. I didn't feel like going to my teacher friends' get together; I ended up in bed all day. That afternoon, my DB called to tell me that my mom and sister had been in a wreck. They were on their way to my mom's eye dr. Mother was driving and she was turning left and pulled in front of an oncoming car. She thought she had time to get across, but she didn't. The other car was going very fast. She hit mom's car on the passenger side right behind the front door. Luckily they both had their seat belts on! The car was spun around and ended up pointed in the opposite direction from which they were driving. My sister's face hit the door window. She has a black eye and loose teeth and bruises down the side of her face. She also has bad bruises on both her knees. My mom was mostly injured by the airbag. She's very short and has to sit very close to the steering wheel. Her whole chest is black and she bruised some ribs and her left arm very badly! They were so lucky!!! Mother's car was totaled. The back axle was broken in half! Luckily, the driver of the other car was not injured! A third car was damaged by flying debris. We are so thankful to the Lord for protecting them! The paramedics said they were extremely lucky that they survived! So I have spent the last 3 days at my mom's. I almost collapsed yesterday, so I stayed home today.

Every time I feel like life may settle down and let me recover from all the stress I have been through, some new tragedy occurs!! Take care when you're out driving!! Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!!