Update and a new start!

Good Morning!!

It is so cold outside the hair inside your nose freezes with the first breath you take outside!! That's not the worst news though. No siree bob! I listened to the weather man and he said it isn't going to warm up any time soon! More snow is expected tomorrow into Thursday. I gotta tell ya, Arizona is looking mighty good right now!

I want to say a quick thank you to all my regular and brand spanking new followers. I appreciate you all taking the time out of your busy day to read my blog. I will try to keep it as interesting as possible. And those that asked if the give away was open to international stitchers......yes it is!

I was hoping that once the holidays were over, life would slow down a bit. So far that hasn't happened. The car that just last week had a new alternator put in is back in the shop. Apparently, that wasn't the problem. I'm still waiting to find out what the real problem is. In the meantime, I am carless. I hate that feeling!

Abby started a new rotation this semester and is now having to drive to Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs. It's not that far away but you pretty much have to drive on the interstate to get there. For most people this is not a huge problem. Unfortunately, there are some people in this world that, for the safety of the rest of the world, should never ever ever drive on the interstate. I am one of those people. I am an awesome driver. I don't like to do it but I am good at it until you put me on an interstate with a million other people doing a million things all at the same time and then all hell breaks loose! Abby is worse than I am. I fear for her life and the lives of everyone else on the same road as her. I will be living proof in the next 3 months that artificially colored hair can turn grey. She called when she got there this morning so everyone is safe until this afternoon. Only 89 more trips to get through!

Also on the Abby front, she and her boyfriend of 2 years have split. Not sure if this is a temporary or permanent split but she is hurting and stressed right now and it makes my heart hurt for her.

I have stitched some more on the princesses. More black but at least I am closing in on finishing the 2nd page. That's 2 pages in slightly over a year. At this rate, I'll be finished in 29.5 years!


I started a new project at Last Saturday Stitching. Quaker Diamonds by Rosewood Manor. Didn't get too far on it as I was waiting on customers most of the day but I am loving what I did get to do. The Valdani threads are beautiful!


We had a freebie exchange on Saturday also. Everyone was to kit up a freebie from their stash and we drew numbers to see who would pick a package first. It was fun and interesting to see what people chose to give. Here's what I received :


That's about it for now. Best get to work stretching cross stitch. Don't forget to leave a comment on the January 1st post if you want to be entered in the giveaway! Thanks for stopping in! See ya next time!

Give Away for the New Year!!

Happy New Year To Everyone!!

I hope all of you had a wonderful evening last night, whether you spent it quietly at home or out partying the night away! Me? I spent it quietly at home watching some NCIS with Dan and Amy.

Amy has been sick the last few days. We finally had Christmas with Dan's parents yesterday and today we are supposed to go to my parents but they would just as soon we not come in case we might be shedding virus. I understand, they are old and don't need to get sick. The girls are very sad though.

In honor of the new year and because I promised when I had fifty followers I would have one to celebrate, I am announcing my very first give away! Here's what you need to do to be entered:

1. You must be a follower of my blog.
2. You must leave a comment on this post only with your email address saying you wish to be entered.
3. You must tell someone you love that you love them. I'm gonna have to trust you on this one so don't let me down!

Feel free to spread the word about the giveaway and post a link to it if you would like but you don't get a second entry for doing so. Sorry but only one entry per person, I want to keep it nice and simple for my first giveaway.
I will draw a winner on Sunday, January 10th and I will draw it the old fashioned way. Out of a hat!! Now I supposed you would like to know what I will be giving away.


I'm giving the chart, floss and fabric to stitch it, a cute little pair of scissors, 5 fat quarters of coordinating cotton fabric and a cute dancing frog ornament!

After finishing up The Signs of Fall, I pulled the 12 dancing princesses back out of the bag and stitched on it for a couple of hours. Then I frogged it for a couple of hours and finally I stitched on it again for a couple of hours. Here's where it was when last I showed it....


and here it is as of this morning....


That black is just too exciting for words, I tell ya.

Well, Dan has decided to take Amy to the emergicare place to find out if she has a virus or a sinus infection so I better start cooking just in case we do end up going to moms. UPDATE: They are back and she has bronchitis. they put her on a z-pack and said she is fine to go to Grams. Good thing I started cooking!

Enjoy your day!

Thanks for the Village comments and a finish!

Hello!

Thanks for all the lovely comments on the village. I'm glad you enjoyed looking at it. We are already talking about modifications for next year. Have to find someplace for the new buildings to go!

Well, it's over. The presents are unwrapped, the gifts have been oohed and ahhed over, the food has been eaten and my hips have enlarged. All this dispite the fact that Rudolph couldn't make it through the blizzard! It was an interesting holiday this year. The predicted storm set people into panic mode, including the weather forcasters. First the storm was going to hit on Wednesday and there would be a half inch of ice followed by a foot of snow. This resulted in a phone call from the in-laws on Monday night. They were concerned we would be unable to make it up there on Christmas Eve. On top of that, G'ma Jo figured out that with us coming up there, she would have to cook a meal that someone with gout could eat, someone with diabetes could eat and someone with a wheat allergy could eat. Maybe it would be better if they came to us instead. Now this is a very big deal for them. They feel we don't come up there often enough, so an offer from them to come here instead of us going there was earth shattering. I was fine with that. It's easier for me to cook in my own kitchen than in someone elses' anyway and it looked as though I would be cooking. Tuesday arrived and now the storm was going to hit on Thursday and last until Saturday. This again resulted in another phone call. Things weren't sounding so good for Christmas Eve. We were now in lets wait and see and call you tomorrow mode. Wednesday arrived, Adam was released from work at 1:00 so everyone could make it home before the storm hit. He decided that riding it out over here would be better than being stuck all alone in his apartment. Besides he said, the food would be better at home. He arrived that evening and still no real storm. Some sleet, some freezing rain off and on but nothing too bad. The promised phone call arrived from the in-laws. We Think we will come in the morning. We're pretty sure, but we'll call you again in the morning to see what is happening. Now by this time, the forcasters have said the storm, commonly referred to as Snowmageddon in these parts, will arrive Thursday afternoon. The in-laws plan was to get here by 10:30 and leave by 1:00 to beat the worst of it. At this point I am starting to get a bit irritable. I've been shut up in the house for 2 days now with Abby and Amy, they don't play well together for long periods of time. Abby requires a social life to maintain her sunny attitude and there was no social life to be found. So my nerves were fraying and now we can't make a frigging decision to save our soul. We THINK we might come might as well be we ARE coming as I have to start cooking at sometime in order to have it ready for their fly by visit. However, if I start the cooking and they don't come, we are going to be eating a lot of leftovers! I had decided to make brunch. A double batch of 3 cheese ham puff, pumpkin muffins, Brandy bread (both with and without wheat), bacon, sausages, toast, plus grape and orange juice. I made all the breads that night, chopped up what I could for the ham puffs and went to bed. Thursday morning arrived and there was very little happening outside. The 1/2 inch of ice never happened. The snow was no where to be seen. Dan was making fun of the weather guys and going on about the Snowmageddon that wasn't while they kept saying it was coming.... soon. I kept telling him to be quiet, you are tempting fate. The in-laws called and said they were not going to make it. They had 5 inches of snow and it just wasn't a good idea. I agreed but thought that decision could have been made the night before. And then it hit. No ice but a foot of blowing and drifting snow. At times we thought the roof was going to blow right off the house. Amy said she thought about crawling into my bed Christmas Eve night. Church services were canceled all over the city. Christmas Morning arrived and still the snow was coming down. Who's laughing now Dan, huh?? Guess who will be shoveling for the next 3 days? That's right buddy, YOU!! Our normal routine on Christmas Morning is to eat breakfast and then open gifts. In the afternoon, we head over to my parents house. Not this year. This year we had Brunch. Followed by an hour and a half of waiting for Abby's boyfriend to arrive through the blizzard. I thought he should have stayed home but apparently my daughter, princess Abby told him she would TRY not to be mad at him if he couldn't make it. In laymans terms that pretty much means show up or pay through the nose for the next week or two. I didn't know she had done that or I would have said something to her. Well, I said something to her anyway but it was too late by then, he'd managed to make it here and the storm by that time was starting to lessen in intensity. Without 4 wheel drive though, we weren't going to go anywhere and that included my folks' house. So for the first time in my life, I did not have Christmas at my parents. This was somewhat strange for me and surprisingly enough, it really bothered the girls. A taste of things to come. We took our time opening our packages and then the "kids" headed downstairs to play Wii. I sat in my chair and stitched and Dan snored on the sofa. He was storing up the energy he was going to need to dig out, not only us but the 2 widow ladies across the street. So, here it is Sunday night. We have had brunch everyday now for 4 days and still we have more to eat! I'm so sick of pumpkin muffins and brandy bread I could scream. I did freeze some of it but apparently I should have frozen more! Christmas with the in-laws is still somewhat iffy. Abby might have to work New Years Eve and day. Dan's sister has to work the weekend. They are not pleased. We are going to my folks on New years afternoon. But 2 of the cousins will not be attending as they left on a bus yesterday afternoon for Florida to march in the band at the Gator Bowl. The bus was supposed to leave at 4:00am Saturday Morning. The last I heard from my niece it was 1:00p.m., pizza had been ordered and the buses were still 3 hours out. Glad I didn't have to deal with that whole mess!
Dan is moving very slowly today. Digging out is hard work even when you have help. Bet he doesn't mock the weather guys again any time soon! I was unable to make any of the early bird sales at the stores. The plow didn't come by until afternoon by which time everything was pretty picked over. And can you believe they wouldn't honor the early bird prices even though I explained I was unable to get out of the driveway! The nerve of some people. LOL!! Here are a couple pics of the snow for you. Snow just doesn't photograph well, have you noticed that?

Here is our mailbox across the street. The plow went by right when Dan and Adam were done with Margaret's driveway and the snow is now even with the top of the mailboxes!


Here is Adam working over at Theresa's house. The sidewalk was drifted about 3 ft. deep he said.


Our back yard

The drift in front of the basement doors:


And finally our grill. Won't be using that any time soon will we.


All this snow has pretty much obliterated any sign of Fall that was left. We won't be seeing any grass or dried leaves for quite some time to come so I guess it is fitting that I finished my Signs of Fall project. I modified the chart just a bit. Here is a pic with the original chart with my finished piece.



Once again I rambled on and I could continue for days I think but I better call it quits. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and were able to enjoy it with friends and family. Till next time, thanks for stopping by and I love reading the comments so keep them coming!

Happy Saturday and a link to the village

Good afternoon blog buddies!

I can finally come up for air! All the Christmas orders are done at the shop, I just have orders that aren't for Christmas left with the exception of one for my Father-in- Law! That is a huge relief for me. I am finally feeling back in the framing groove and am adjusting to the smaller work space. I have to actually clean up after myself as I go instead of leaving a trail of mess behind me like Pigpen from Charlie Brown. That is a ginormous adjustment. I cook the same way. Make a huge mess during the process and clean up afterwards. Not anymore though, I am turning over a new leaf!

I still have some shopping to do but all the presents that are bought are wrapped. This is something I usually leave till the 24th, after 10:00p.m. See another new leaf turned!

Amy had her wisdom teeth removed yesterday. She is doing well. She's actually following orders and staying quiet for a couple of days and so far the pain is minimal.

Yesterday she found out she received a Regents Scholarship to UNL. It's not her first choice but she says she is going where they give her the most money. She does not want to graduate with debt.

Abby dyed her hair a light golden brown this week and as a result, her boyfriend is not a happy camper. He wanted to know why she would do something that she knew he wouldn't like. He likes blondes. She says it's her hair and she'll do what she wants with it. You go Abby! ON the school side of things, she's been in the operating room the last 10 days or so and surprisingly enough did not pass out or get sick from the sight of blood and gore. She finds it interesting. This is a very good thing!!

The open house was a success! We had about 40 people show and a lot would like to come back to show family members. The food all turned out fine and the only thing I ran short on was my peppermint egg nog punch! That surprised me!

Well, I need to get going on making a list of things I still need to get so I will leave you with a link to my album, click on the slideshow option in the upper left corner, it makes it easier for viewing and you can pause it to stop and look at something closer if you like. So without further ado, get yourself a cup of coffee or tea, a mug of cocoa and a cookie and sit back and watch the show. I hope you enjoy it!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/JulieM2360/ChristmasVillage2009#

A Sneak Peek, an update, and an apology!

Whew! Where is the time going? I need and extra day in the week I think to get everything done that needs doing!

I am so sorry to have disappeared into the ether but it just couldn't be helped. Between getting the shop set up, broken cars, decorating the house and setting up the village, there has been no time to do much of anything. Thank God the Huskers decided to win against whoever it was ( can you tell I'm not really a football fan?) which meant they would be playing the night I was planning the open house. I had to re-schedule the open house to the 12th which gave me another week that I desperately needed. I'm still somewhat panicked but I think I will make it by Saturday!

A brief rundown of what has occurred:

I did not host Thanksgiving. No way was I going to be ready for that. We celebrated Adams birthday just the 5 of us plus Abby's boyfriend. It was nice, the house was a wreck but the food was excellent if I do say so myself and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

Abby's car broke down right after Thanksgiving and given that it is 15 yrs. old with 165,000. miles on it and needed over a thousand dollars worth of work done to it, we decided to retire it and get Dan a new used car and let Abby drive "little red" as we call the elantra. Took a while to find the right car and get the best financing but finally we found what was acceptable to Dan, and he is now the proud driver of an Altima. Or at least he was until yesterday when he was backed into in the parking lot Michaels. He's okay but the car took a good hit.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving was of course the last Saturday of the month so we needed to have the shop put together for last Saturday Stitching. I think it went well but you would have to ask the stitcher's to know for sure. The shop is still a work in progress but it's getting better and I can at least frame things now.

Here's a couple of pics from Last Saturday:


Stacy finished her project while she was there. She doesn't get to stitch very often as she is a mom to 3, a wife, a student and she has a job outside of the home as well! We'll just call her Wonder Woman from now on!


We've had quite a few framing jobs come in so I am working hard to get everything done by Christmas. It's amazing how rusty I am in only 2 months. I'm getting used to the smaller work space but it is a challenge I gotta say. The first job through the door was a football jersey! Really, a football jersey. Nothing like jumping in with both feet! They aren't hard, just time consuming and large!!

Not much stitching is getting done right now but here is a shot of what is done as of last saturday stitching.

I'm working on the back stitching and it's slow going on the flowers. The charts in color but the backstitching on the chart is in black and it's really hard to see.

And finally, the other reason for my absence is the village. It's sucking up huge amounts of time but is finally shaping up. So as a reward for your patience, here is a tiny sneak peek to tide you over till it's completely finished and I have time to take all the pictures.


That's it! All my excuses for being an absent blog owner. I hope you can hang in there another week or so and let me get through this open house. We so enjoy sharing the village with everyone but man it's been a long road setting it up this time. Dan has been adding all kinds of new stuff which is part of the problem. Anyway, that's it for now. I hope you stop in and leave a comment so I know you haven't disappeared into the ether too! Good Night and God Bless!

What a week!

Quick post.

I am slowly getting the shop set up and looking like something more than a jumbled disorganized mess.

I wasn't having Thanksgiving but now my sister's entire family is sick and they will not be better by Thursday which means I either have it here or it gets canceled. Only problem with canceling is Dan's parents will still want to come down and Abby invited her boyfriend plus it is Adams Birthday with Abby's on Friday. To top that off I had the guys bring all the Christmas boxes up before I got the call from my sister. They won't be gone by Thursday. What a mess!! I could handle having just my little family of 5 here and cooking for them. They wouldn't expect a clean house given all that is going on but the in-laws are a different story all together.

To top that off, the Huskers won on Saturday which means they will play in the division 12 championship game scheduled for Sat. the 5th at 7p.m. That is when I had the open house for the village scheduled. I now have to pick a new date for that and unfortunately, there isn't a good option. Poor Dan, he has gone to so much work to make the village a wonderful place to visit and now it might not be visited by many. Oh well, it'll all work out I'm sure.

Adam and Amy both got home from their trips in one piece although Amy was sick again on the plane and I did end up taking her to the Dr. She had a sinus infection. She is better now though. They did not win a pacemaker award but they did get 8th place in the best of show catagory and 6 of them, Amy included, earned personal awards also. Adam thought Vegas was a wonderful place where time has no meaning and the girls are all beautiful. I'm glad he had a good time, he deserves it. Beyond that....I don't want to know.

I am making some progress on my stitching but I need to get some things done this morning before heading to the shop so no picture. Today I tackle the work area. I have about 6 framing orders already that need doing but right now there is no doing them till I make it workable.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday and I hope to do a better post next weekend. I also see I have reached that 50 followers number so I need to work on the giveaway too. I haven't forgotten.

Happy Thanksgiving and thanks so much for stopping by!

A very sad day.....

Hello!

It's a very sad day for me. I was planning to show you a scissor fob that my friend Merrilyn made for me. It was a beautiful beaded fob in shades of green. I even went out and bought a pair of scissors just to go with it. And then, at some point between bedtime last night and breakfast this morning, that no good, very bad Morkie, who attracted to sparkly things, got a hold of it and ate it! Not all of it, I caught her before she did too much damage but the fact remains, it can't be used any more. I'm going to hope that if I throw myself at Merrilyn's feet and promise to pay her for her time, she'll take pity on me and my darn dog and re-do it for me. And if she does re-do it, I'm going to make sure it's put up higher and not on the magnet that is on my Ott light. Apparently, it's not a Morkie proof place! Bad dog! Very bad dog!! I feel awful about the whole thing. I'm sorry Merrilyn! Here's a couple pics of the damage.


In other news.....Amy left for DC and the fall journalism convention on Wednesday. Her schools news broadcast was nominated for a Pacemaker Award. Only 10 schools across the US get nominated so it's a big honor. If you are at all interested, this is the show that was nominated. Anyway, the plane made it there in one piece but Amy is a little worse for wear. As they were descending into DC, the ride got bumpy and she was struck by sudden nausea and a horrible headache. She spent the rest of the day (DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS SENTENCE IF YOU ARE AT ALL SQUEAMISH) vomiting and having the dry heaves. Can air sickness do that to you? That's what I am hoping it is. The report I got today from her was that she is very sore from being sick but feeling better.

Adam is leaving for Las Vegas tomorrow night. He and some buddies are going for the weekend. This means I get to worry about 2 of my kids flying this weekend. I'm a terrible worrier. I won't rest easy until they are both home safely Sunday night.

The schnauzer's gave Kallie their cold. She's having a terrible time with the sneezing. About half the time she does the reverse sneeze thing where it sounds like she can't breath or is having an asthma attack. Totally freaks Gracie out which stresses the reverse sneezer even more. What possessed me to have 3 dogs? I must have been out of my mind!

In village news, the layout is finally decided on and now construction will begin on the landscaping. this will be a long process. My group of friends that I write the racy village stories about are chomping at the bit for a new chapter. I'm not sure if I should give in or make them wait till the village is done. It's kind of like Brigadoon, the village goes to sleep after the holidays and doesn't wake up for 9 months. Therefore, there wouldn't be any new stories to tell till the village is all done right? So I'm thinking they are just going to have to be patient!

I finished Give Thanks. Have yet to decide what I want to do with it though. It measures approx. 2 x 2 3/4 inches. Is that too big for a floss tag? Again, I haven't ever seen one so I am not sure how large they are supposed to be.


That's about all I have for today, I probably won't blog again till next week as Adam is taking my camera with him to Vegas. Plus, we have to have the shop all ready to open up for business on Monday which means I am going to be very busy this weekend! So have a great weekend everyone! Thanks for stopping in!