Crazy January Challenge

Hi Crazy Cross Stitchers Everywhere!

I decided to join in the challenge!! For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about you can find it at this link. Just click on the link and it should take you there!!

http://minnanharrastukset.blogspot.com/2010/11/ristipistohassutus2011.html

Here is a list, hopefully I won't be making any changes.

Lucy Pryor's Pocketwatch Sampler from The Samplar Works
Cloisonne Pincushion
Mending from Erica Michaels
Lighthouse Sampler from By The Bay Needleart
Circue des Carreaux from Ink Circles
Buff-bellied Hummingbird from Crossed Wing Collection
Specialty Stitchers SAL
Mahelia January SAL
Heart of America from Little House Needleworks
Under the Tree from Little House Needleworks
Pear Tree from from Little House Needleworks
All is Calm from Little House Needleworks
Peppermint Twist from Little House Needleworks
Winter Band Sampler from Little House Needleworks
Snowflake Serenade from Country Cottage Needleworks

Whew!! I know I threw some small ones in there, I have other bigger ones that I can work on should I finish these before the year is out, but I wanted a LITTLE wiggle room as I know I'll be having more surgeries next year. If this works out well, I'm going to try it again next year! You should see how my stash pile is winding down! (Although I probably have 15 more kitted up and ready to go!)

Well, my stitching pals, it's there in black and white! No turning back now...wish me luck!

*Hugs*

The Mad, Mad Dash...

Here I am again friends!

Yes, I made a mad, mad dash to my LNS today. Why? Why, they were having a sale of course! I can't resist a good sale!! Can you? But...when I got there, I realized my mad, mad dash was a day too early. Yes, they were having a sale today, but the BIG sale is TOMORROW!! How could I have missed the BIG SALE?? Oh well, my fingers were itching, my list was made, and I wasn't going to drive 30 minutes back home, only to drive 60 minutes there and back tomorrow. Besides, everything I wanted might not be there tomorrow. So..... wanna see what I got?

Well, first let me explain. I belong to a yahoo group that is having a SAL beginning in January. So....I needed thread AND fabric...so why not get them on sale? I waited patiently for Christmas to be over, and then I made my move!! I looked over all the threads and finally picked one that I really LOVED the colors of (Thread Gatherer Silk N Colors Autumn Leaves)...and then asked my friend Sonya to give me a hand. Between the two of us we picked this 32 ct. cream linen. Now I can't wait to get started!!

I've been looking at sites that are having sales...and I fell in love with Snowflake Serenade by Country Cottage Needleworks. They suggested 28 Ct. Lambswool Linen and I liked the way the colors looked on it...however, I like mine small..so I got 32 Ct. and I'll work the stitches over one linen thread. I think it's going to be adorable!!

I also fell in love with the Winter Band Sampler by Little House Needleworks. They were out of the suggested fabric, but I laid the colors out on 32 ct Summer Khaki Belfast and thought it would work up nicely. I'll also work that over one thread. *grinning* I can't wait to get started on these too!!

I've been watching the ladies in the Little House / Country Cottage Needleworks yahoo group talking about starting 15 projects in the first 15 days of the year and hoping to finish them by the end of the year. Such pressure! They must be nuts!! But it must be rubbing off, because I've been thinking about it...and in the next few days (I had better hurry!!) I think I'll be sorting out 15 projects to see if I can finish them in the new year. I already have these three kitted up, and I'm sure I have at least 12 more sitting around here somewhere. I think I need my head examined...LOL Wish me luck folks! If nothing else, you'll find me sitting in the middle of a pile of stash, plucking my lower lip, babbling like a lunatic...I'm sure there are other stitchers out there in the same state! LOL

And now a bit of sad news....you may be wondering what happened to the mouse I was in a panic about a few posts ago. Well, I'm afraid to say that Thomas, the mighty hunter, finally quit playing with his little friend. The morning after that post was made I heard a few bass toned shrieks coming from the living room while the guys were getting ready to leave for the day. Thomas was now trying to lay his treasure at DS's feet, and he would run toward DS with the mouse in his mouth, then drop it and it would skitter away. I thought DS would have a heart attack! Again the wee little mousie got away. Later that morning I came downstairs to find Thomas staring under the microwave cart, tail flicking. I was on my way out to meet a "sista warrior" (another lady I know battling breast cancer) and I was glad for the excuse to run for the door before Thomas had a chance to proudly introduce his little playmate! When I returned a few hours later, though, the remains of Thomas' playmate was lying just inside the front door. Thomas sat grinning like the "cat that ate the canary" so I patted him and made cooing noises over him so that he would continue to save us from the little beasties that try to make OUR home theirs! All the while I was dying inside knowing I would have to dispose of the little carcass myself because my guys weren't due home for hours. UGH!! Thankfully though, I don't have to share my seat with my feet anymore! LOL

Off to do a quick search of my stash and see what I would like to finish this year. Oh, the decisions that will have to be made ... but what relief that I'll actually be whittling down my stash...that should make DH happy! 2011 stitchy year...here I come!

Joy to the World

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke 2: 10 -11

Merry Christmas!

I love Christmas! Not just for the carols, or the good food, or the presents. It's the story behind all the traditions. It's the story of the birth of our King, our Savior, our Counselor, and our friend, Jesus! It's a story of hope, peace, joy and love! It's a story full of miracles, intrigue, passion, forgiveness and love. I read the story each year and each year I "hear" something different that makes my relationship with my Lord even more special. This year I learned that there were a lot of "bad apples" in Jesus bloodline that tells me that no matter what we've done there is still hope for us to be "adopted" into the family. David was one of the bad apples, but look!! Not only was he in the bloodline, but the Angel mentioned him specifically that Jesus would be born in they city named after him!! I also learned that Jesus dwelt among us so that we may dwell with Him in heaven! What a sweet promise that is and what great joy I received when I heard it! So I'm wishing Jesus a very Happy Birthday this year, and hoping that His birth will bring you peace, hope, joy and love this year.

The picture posted here is from one of my nativities. DH promised me that if we were ever stationed in Germany (and we were toward the end of his military career) that he would find a hand carved nativity for me, and these are a few of the pieces in that nativity. We traveled to a city called Oberammergau where a Passion Play is performed every 10 years since 1638. We visited a few shops that sold hand carved pieces and found this particular set. Oberammergau is really a lovely little German town, with beautiful paintings on the sides of a lot of the buildings portraying the life of Christ. When the bubonic plague was raging in Europe, it came to the town of Oberammergau. The citizens of the town came together and vowed to perform the Passion Play every ten years if the Lord would prevent another death from the plague. The Lord kept his promise, and so have the people of Oberammergau. I keep this nativity out all year to remind me of the love of our Lord who came to Earth to live among us, and to die for our sins, but also of the miracle He performed in Oberammergau all those years ago and how the faith of His people still exist in that beautiful town in Germany today.

May you have a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year! *Hugs*

Uh oh...

Twas the week before Christmas

When all through the house

The Powers were stirring

And so was a MOUSE!!

The Powers were headed

Out the door for points south

When Thomas arrived

With a mouse in his mouth!!

He presented his treasure

At Mike’s feet with a purr

And it hit the floor running

Under the couch in a blur.

Not a moment was lost

As Thomas lurched for the beast

Disappearing under the couch

Hoping for a nice feast.

Quite a commotion was heard

As if both were crazed

And Thomas emerged

Looking lost in a daze.

Where’s the Mouse? Mike exclaimed

As Thom dove out of sight.

Don’t worry, said Ben,

We’ll find it tonight.

And as Mom slept upstairs

Her clan crept out for the day

Never leaving a note

Or a warning to say…

There’s a mouse in the house,

Better watch where you tread.

We’ll tell her tonight

So all day she won’t dread.

So here DJ sits,

With her feet in her chair.

Hoping that mouse

Won’t creep out of it’s lair.

I just found out my lovely family didn't tell me there was a mouse in the house until I called DH at work to let him know that school is getting out an hour early. Nice, eh? And the weird thing is that I THOUGHT I saw something out of the corner of my eye this morning...but I thought I was just seeing things. GULP!! Well, I've been keeping track of Thomas ever since, he'll be my champion if that little beast comes back again!! Anyone know of a humane way to get rid of little beasties? *shudder* I mean they have to live too I suppose. Just NOT in MY house!!! LOL

Blowin' in the wind...

Hi there folks! I'm back among the land of the living...at least today I am! LOL

The wind has been a force to reckon with the past few days. I've woken up with snow on the ground for a couple of days now, but it has all melted by noon, much to my son's dismay. He would love to have a few snow days (already?) so he can sit by my bed and keep his old Mom company (or wait until she's sleeping and snoop for pressies). Oddly enough the past couple of days I've been trying my darnedest to get out of the house at least for a couple of hours and "blow the stink off" as my mother would say. Well, let's just say that I did more than "blow the stink off" yesterday. Yes.... the wind she blew, and the wig she flew! Fortunately I was able to corral the naughty animal before it got too far away. I was commenting to Mouse yesterday when she mentioned how odd the "wanted posters" would sound... Searching for brown, shoulder length wig, last seen blowing across the Waugh Chapel shopping center parking lot at 30 MPH in a westerly direction. If found, please return to very chilly former chemo patient. LOL!!!

I'm headed out for another doctor's appointment today, but I thought I would update you on what I've been doing as of late. I know there are other things I should be working on, but sometimes when under pressure, I tend to shut down. Instead I'll find other ways to be "productive" and yet still procrastinate (my middle name...LOL). For some reason stitching on the Little House Needleworks set of ornaments has become a priority for me. I've stitched more than half now, and am hoping to finish up the rest before Christmas. Why? I don't know, but I'm having fun working on them non-the-less. So here they are. A few I've posted before, but I thought I would give you a complete rundown on all that I've finished in the order I've finished them.

Fa-la-la


He's a flake


Snowy Pines


Red House in Winter


Frosty Flakes


Merry Skater


Winter sheep

And there you have it. On a good day I can actually finish one, but as the holidays approach and I'm feeling better, that may change. I'm hoping to post one more time before Christmas, but if I don't, I'm wishing each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and may you enjoy many blessings in the coming New Year! *Hugs*

Checking in

Hi there!

I decided I had better update just in case you visit and see I haven't posted in a while. I'm still here, though things have taken a different twist. This last round of chemo sure is taking it's time passing!! I can't wait for food to taste good again!! Because this time when it does, it should stay tasting good, or at least I hope so!

Yesterday I ventured out for the first time since last Thurs. My good friend, Sonya, was having a birthday and I needed to give her a birthday hug. So I climbed out of my bed and went to visit her at her job...which happens to be my LNS! LOL I stopped to talk to folks up there, did a little shopping, came home and went back to bed. Who knew that little trip would wipe me out? We made plans to have a stitch day tomorrow but unfortunately or fortunately...depending on how you look at it, that has been canceled. I wanted to see everybody, but that little trip yesterday wiped me out! I spent the entire day in bed today, except for now when I'm here typing to you. Lots of things are going on and this is the time (7 - 10 days after treatment) when my white blood cell count is at it's lowest. I'm not sure if I caught a bug (which can be bad when your immune system is compromised), or just tired myself out, but UGH!! I just want to feel human again! *whine*

I'm going to confess, at my last doctor's appointment I was told that indeed something is going on at the site of my gallbladder surgery. The ultrasound showed that my liver is enlarged. The pain I've been experiencing is neither imagined nor exaggerated! Thank heavens, I thought I was losing my mind! They tell me there is nothing to be alarmed about, that it could be effects of chemo, or just inflammation from the surgery, but they will recheck it in 6 months. Hm...I'm not sure how I feel about that. Let's just say, that my Dad passed away 18 months ago from a liver disease that they never found the cause of, so I understand how important a liver is and I want to keep mine healthy!! They also discovered another little infection and I've been on antibiotics since last Friday. Let's just say if you shook me I would rattle (from all the pills) and I'm sure the reason it's taking me so long to recover this time is all the little "issues" I have floating around in my body. Well my one wish for Christmas this year is a healthy body next year!! LOL

I've not answered any e-mails from my yahoo groups in ages. For that I apologize. I was going to try and answer a few tonight, but I'm already thinking about my nice comfy bed upstairs...and will probably end this and head up there. Writing this, I hope, if anyone from the groups read this they will understand my silence.

Lastly, I just wanted to mention Elizabeth Edwards. I don't know if you've heard of her, if you live in the US you can't get away from the news stories about her. She recently lost her battle with cancer. It began in her breast several years ago. She fought it and thought she had won, then it returned, attacking other areas of her body. Elizabeth was a class act. She overcame so many tragedies in her lifetime, the loss of her teenage son, battling cancer not only once, but twice, supporting her husband through his political campaign only to be betrayed and lied to by him. She handled everything with grace and dignity and I admire her beyond description. Her friends and family are in my prayers tonight and will be for some time, I hope you'll join me in supporting them with your prayers. Until I began this journey, I never truly understood this fight. I'm truly saddened by her passing, but I hope she is at peace now and getting the rest she deserves.

Hug someone you love tonight...you never know what tomorrow brings. *Hugs*

Happy Dancing!!!

Hello fellow bloggers and friends out there in cyber land! You may wonder why I'm happy dancing today. I'm feeling like I've accomplished a lot today!! I've been stitching up a storm the past couple of days and I will show you those finishes...but the ONE BIG FINISH of the day has to do with....*drum roll* Chemo!!! Yes, today was my final Chemo treatment and so I put another notch on the proverbial gun that is eradicating the cancer!! YAY!!

Last night was our support group meeting where I met another traveler on this road to wellness. She happened to be an oncology nurse!! When I told her last night that today was my last chemo treatment, she looked for me today and switched with the nurse I was supposed to have! We discussed so many things, things that she had learned, things that I had learned, and I left there feeling like I have a new found friend for life! When I was almost finished, she came to me and in a loud voice, proclaimed to the clinic that today was my last treatment and presented me with this certificate! Being the framer that I am, I told her I was going to frame it and hang it in pride of place somewhere among my cross stitch pieces, because of all the projects I've worked on in my lifetime, this is probably the most challenging! Here's a picture, she had taken the certificate around to some of the nurses that had given me treatment in the past and had them sign. I thought that was a sweet gesture.

I've also been finishing a lot of stitching, so here are a few. The first is a needlepoint piece that was a challenge for me. I didn't realize that using the needle to pull through that tough canvas would hurt my fingers. I learned today that that was another side effect of chemo! I was surprised that my fingers hurt when I was done as they hadn't done that in the past when I worked on needlepoint. Surprise surprise. I passed a lot of my "issues" off as me being me but I learned today that my sore fingers were probably from the chemo and so are a lot of other things happening in my body. Can I just say, I'm so glad this is over and I'm on the path to wellness now and I'm looking forward to feeling "normal" again, whatever that means! LOL

I've been trying to work on the Little House Needlework Christmas ornaments that were released throughout the year. I finished Fa La La (Mouse seems to think that the two ladies in the piece are her and me....and we'll just let her think that for now....LOL) and framed it, but here are two others...one in the WIP stage. The first is "He's a Flake" and the second is "Snowy Pines".


I tried to work on this today, but every time I bent my arm, the alarm bells on my IV went off and it stopped flowing. So...I looked at it longingly and didn't get any stitching done...maybe later. LOL Sad thing is, that when I tried to eat (I was there over lunch) and the same thing happened! I finally gave up, took my glove off my left hand and ate left handed. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

I've also been working on a few things for some fellow "sisters". I'm not sure I'll finish these before the holidays, but I'll keep plugging when I can and see how far I get. So here's the first completed one....

The last piece here is a Blackbird Designs piece. I finished this on 32 count over one so it is pretty small. I think people have made them into pin pillows, but this one is so small, I'm not sure what I'll do with it yet. It's even almost too small to frame. Hm...maybe a scissors fob? If you have an idea, please comment, I'm at a loss what to do with it.

Ok, I feel the chemo brain fog descending. Usually I have a lot of energy, but I haven't slept well in the past few days. I did have a steroid with my treatment today so I feel jittery and in the past couldn't sleep. We'll see what the next few days hold. DS is having a spaghetti dinner tomorrow at church to raise funds for some trips the teens have planned this summer and I really wanted to go. Saturday night is church and the past few sermons have been really good...I really want to go. Wish me luck, because I really really want to get back to normal as soon as possible. We'll see how things go.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing in my good news! It's onward and upward from this point forward. I appreciate all your kinds words, thoughts and prayers. You guys keep me going! Thank you! *Hugs*