Contrary to public opinion.....

I am still alive. I don't know why I make commitments like "I will be blogging" daily, weekly, etc. when I know that my crazy schedule WON'T allow it to happen. When it's not the schedule, it's something else.

Woooooo Hooooooo! I finished the blasted obligation piece finally!!! I really don't dislike it, I dislike that it took time from things I really wanted to stitch. This will be my first try at putting in a picture - guess I will see how that goes!!!

Guess I have no complaints. Looks like it worked. It will be given as a gift next week so I am relatively safe in posting the picture now.

To take its place, I have started two new projects to be added to my existing WIPs. The new ones are the Hummingbird Trellis afghan from Stoney Creek and Ruth Sanderson's Angel (charted by Heaven and Earth Designs). The WIPs are a Wedding Fractal, Angel Proclamation, an Indian Angel, and a Kinkade - so far. I am definitely going to have to work on a rotation as I need to add a baby announcement for my 11 month old great nephew plus the HAED charts that I have been drooling over for almost a year. Need. More. Time.

Well, I refuse to say I will blog every **fill in the blank**; however, I will make a commitment to blog as often as possible. And now that I can do pictures and have figured out the macro focus on the digital camera, I can following the pictoral progress of my WIPS!!

Happy New Year

Well, 2006 is here and I certainly hope it is better than 2005. In 2005, I lost my father to pancreatic cancer and DH's father had colon surgery. Hopefully they will be able to reverse his colostomy this year. On a positive note, in 2005, my great-nephew was born and my sister celebrated her first anniversary.

Stitchingwise, I did not get all I wanted to get done in 2005. I am still working on the Disney Filmstrip, but I am closer to finishing it. For Christmas, I received a HAED chart and then I purchased 4 additional HAED charts at the Inventory Reduction Sale. Wanted more, but DH would have had apoplexy. My gift was Cabin in the Woods and my purchases were Two Crowns, Santa Claus at the North Pole, St. Nick in his Study and Merlin and Arthur. I think I will be busy with all those for a few years!!

My goals for 2006 - scary to put in writing - are as follows:

1. Move to Tennessee (get job there!)
2. Finish Disney Filmstrip (to framer by 6/1/06)
3. Create a stitching rotation with WIPs and HAEDs
4. Keep my husband happy
5. Keep my CLA certification

Hmmmmm, seems doable for now.

This Week's SBQ

This week’s SBQ was suggested by Dawn and is:

When comparing large projects versus small projects, which do you get more excited about finishing?

Interesting question for me because I have done only one small project in my 25 years of stitching. I just seem to gravitate to the larger projects and I almost always give them away. I don't know that I get extremely excited when I am finished, but I have a deep feeling of awe when I see the piece in someone's home. A little voice inside me says - wow, I did that.

The "small" one was my first project. It is a man standing in a boat with a rainbow trout jumping out of the water. I did it when I was 17 for my Dad. Of course at the time I did not think it was small but now that I look at it hanging in my home (my Dad passed away May 2005), it looks really small. I can still recall the pride I felt when I finished it.

What Will Today Bring?

Well, yesterday was a wash as far as stitching went. I got home and had to deal with a hyper puppy (Tiffany) because she was temporarily banished from my office by the boss' witchy wife. Then as my DH and I were sitting down to dinner, our best friend's wife came stomping in and announced that she was spending the night with us as she and her hubby had a huge fight because she spent $120 on a toothbrush!!! Once we had sorted through her ranting, we decided to work on our computers as DH needed me to set up a spreadsheet for him. When that was done, I set up this blog site and, guess what, it was time for bed!!

Tonight may not be a total wash, but I will not get much done on the Disney Filmstrip as I would like. The friend who spent the night last night wants me to teach her how to cross stitch and, of course she could not pick a simple project to begin. She has picked a Disney Princess project that she would like to finish by Christmas for her daughter. This should really be fun!

With regard to my stitching - I am currently working on one project - Disney Filmstrip - which is a gift that must be finished and to the framer's by the end of May 2006. The really sad part is that I have been working on this piece for over a year and really don't like it much. However, I have committed to stitching 100 stitches per day and have set up a spreadsheet to monitor my progress. I only count a row complete when it is fully stitched - if there is one stitch not done, the row is not done. I currently have 50 out of 190 rows done so I am feeling better about my efforts.

First Posting

Wow! I am amazed at how easy this was to set up. I guess the trick will be seeing if I can maintain this journal. A little about me - I am a 42 year old paralegal working in Boca Raton and living in Margate (North Broward County). My husband and I have been married for 18 years and have no children. We do have two spoiled rotten pets - Yoda (cat) and Tiffany (dog).

I have started this blog as one of many ways to keep myself focused on my cross stitch projects which seem to fall by the wayside if I am not pushed, prodded, shamed into keeping them going. I have been reading a lot of other blogs and am interested in communicating through blogging and bulletin boards.

As soon as I figure out how, I will be posting work in progress pictures.