Spirit Sampler

Here's my first update to the Spirit Sampler. We're supposed to be working 42x20 sections. So, as you can see I did more than I was supposed to, but that's because I need to start a secret something, something for a dear friend of mine. Once I start working on it, I'm not going to put it down. I need to get it finished and to my framer ASAP. And those that know me know that I always wait to the last damn minute to start things! LOL

Inauguration Day

Yesterday's happenings were such a joy to watch. I don't remember ever being interested in watching them before. Maybe it has something to do with my age now or the new commander in chief or maybe it's a combination of both. Thankfully my place of employment allowed me a huge leeway to watch most of it on my computer here at work. I understand other places weren't as generous.

I was watching NBC Nightly News last night and Brian Williams was interviewing Doris Kearn, a presidential historian. And what stood for me in BOLD, CAPITAL letters was when she said something to the effect that "we all feel a connection to Obama. OMG!!! A so simple word.....CONNECTION...light bulb went off.....CONNECTION. Ms. Kearn hit the nail on the head. That's exactly what I feel when I see our newly sworn 44th president. He is US....all of us. He doesn't talk over our heads. He talks to US.

Barack Hussein Obama has given me the much needed faith and hope that has been so desperately needed in this wonderful, unique country of ours. He's giving us the neccessary "parental" push to make ourselves, family and people around us be who we are meant to be for our own sakes and this country's. It's OUR time make this country what it was founded to be, to make the world proud of us again. We CAN make a difference and we WILL.

We are all "connected" in one shape, form or fashion. We have to get past the "color" of our skins. We ALL bleed red. I can almost bet that not a one of us is a "pure bred" whatever the hell that means. The color of our skin doesn't mean a DAMN thing. It's how we treat and respect ourselves and each other that matters......BOTTOM LINE!

Let us take a page from our new president and step forward into what will be a new future for us and for many generations to come. This can only work if we all work together towards the same common goals.

Got a present!!!!!

I got this beautifully stitched and finished present from a friend in my Yahoo cross stitch group. The pictures I took do not do it justice. It was the best I could do with a pounding headache though.....LOL Now I just need to find the perfect spot for it :)

Amanda, I can't thank you enough for such a gorgeous present. It was well worth the wait, honey.

Weekend Wrap Up

My weekend was pretty low key. Saturday I went grocery shopping and that afternoon I went to my friend's house and hung out on her porch. The temps were in the 70s with a nice breeze blowing. I had a couple of beers while reading Michele Bardsley's "I'm the Vampire, That's Why". What a funny, funny, HOT vamp book! I highly recommend it. It is part of a trilogy (I think). Each book will stand alone though.

Yesterday, I conquered Mt Washmore! Doing laundry is so not one of my favorite chores, but then again what is :) I also went through a big box of books a friend of mine sent me. There must've been about 40 books in there and none that I have read....YAY! I kept most of them and the rest I'm going to give away. Dont'cha just love freebies?? So, I spent sometime rearranging my bookcases. Yes, that's bookcases in plural. You can never have enough of those, right??

I dedicated the rest of the afternoon to stitching. I put in 2 strings in my BoINK MSAL on the first square. TDee made me! LOL Then I spent the rest of the day stitching on The Quiltmaker. At first I couldn't wait to get to her skirt. Now I can't wait till I'm done with it. Yes, I know. I've got tons to go on it....sigh..... All those blues are driving me batty though....LOL

WIP Updates.....

Quiltmaker by Lavender & Lace




MSAL by Ink Circles


As promised, here are my updates on the two projects I've been working on lately. Now that I've made it to the dress on The Quiltmaker I'm finding it very hard to stop working on it :) I think I'll finish working on it this week and maybe start "Q is for Quilt" by Prairie Schooler. I started the alphabet series from Prairie Schooler year before last and I'd love to finish it this year. I think it's been hanging over my head long enough :)

I finished 12 projects last year, not as quite as many as in 2007. But that's OK, I think I got lots accomplished on the big projects I've been working on. I'm not going to make any stitching "resolutions", because those go on the wayside for me REALLY fast!! And then when I don't reach my goals, I get pissy! LOL I will say that I will hopefully stitch on the PS alphabet and the Angel series from last year's 2008 Pattern a Day Calendar. And we'll see whatever else pops up:)

As far as staying on the "wagon", I honestly don't think that will be a huge problem considering the economic situation these days. Besides I've got tons of patterns at home that are begging to get done without adding more to the pile. So, I'm still securely tied to that wagon :)

Happy New Year!!!!!!

Well, I've been having the cold crud since New Year's Eve night. I felt it coming on before I left the house that evening, but I ignored it because I had plans with my friend, Mari. We weren't doing anything special or outlandish. Just hanging out at her house, drinking and reading on her porch. Well, we did the hanging out part and she did most of the drinking part. I tried but I just wasn't feeling it. Somehow I made it till midnight, watched some neighborhood fireworks and I crashed! Woke up the next morning with a full fledged cold and I've been fighting it ever since. Kinda sucks when you have an extra long weekend and you spend it fighting a stupid cold! LOL I hope it's not a sign of how my year is going to be.

My Christmas was very low key. My aunt was allowed to come home for 8 hours. So, I fried some chicken and made macaroni and cheese. I wasn't expecting to cook at all and that's pretty much all we had in the fridge. It was either that or turkey sandwiches....LOL

My aunt is now home. She's still in pain but she's walking a little better, but still very slow. The staples have come out. She's got a nurse and a therapist coming a few times a week. So, it'll be a slow recovery for her but everyday she'll get a little better and a little stronger. We just have to make sure she moves around and doesn't just sit on her butt all day....LOL

I did get the most beautiful Christmas present from an unexpected source for the holidays. Mari's uncle had this gorgeous rosary made for me by a friend of his. In the box with the rosary, he wrote a little note that said he had these african beads for over 10 years and didn't know what to do with them until he had an epiphany to get them made into a rosary for me. I can't tell you how touched and stunned I was to open up that small box and see what was in it. I think it was the best present I've ever gotten from anybody.

Since, I've been pretty much laid up these past few days, I've gotten quite a bit of stitching done on The Quiltmaker and the MSAL by Ink Circles. I'll post pics of my progress tomorrow in a separate blog.

I've also watched quite a bit of movies. I've seen How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer, Rendition, The Women, Untraceable and The Golden Compass. I enjoyed these movies for the most part. The Women was a bit cliched, but was interesting was the fact that you didn't see a single man in the movie! Not as an extra, not as a voice, nowhere! Untraceable was great! Hated the ending though. I seem to have issues with endings these days :)

Oh, and counted up my book reads for 2008. I read 48 books. I know that may be a mere pittance to some of you, but that's damn good for me! LOL If you want to see the list of books I read, go here... http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/202476 and go to "My Books". Let me know if you've read any of them and what you thought of them.