Another finish

This one came as a bit of a surprise, but I finished up my Summer squares for the Fair and Square round last night. I wasn't necessarily looking to finish them, but it worked out that way. I'm happy with how they turned out and I hope Paula likes them as well! No pictures yet, of course...but they'll follow soon. I hope to get these out in the mail sometime this week.

~~~~~~~~~~

Something I forgot to include in my entry yesterday...a map showing which US states I've visited:



http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/map.php


I saw this on Chiloe's blog earlier this week and thought it looked like fun. I used the states where I've spent some time - lived, spent the night, stopped and eaten a meal, visited someone, etc - as opposed to ones that I've just driven through on the way to somewhere else. If I included those, I could add a few more.

~~~~~~~~~~

Way off topic here...

Sometimes I stumble across a new-to-me blog by following a link from a link from a link. Many times I find a blog that's interesting. Today I found one that really bothered me. I won't list the blog, because I don't know if that's good 'Netiquette, but I will have my say on what I read.

The blogger is apparently an uber-green blogger. A recent post was about people who choose not to have children to save the environment. There were some quotes from people that really disturbed me...things along the lines of "people who have children are selfish and irresponsible" and "children are no better than SUV's" and the like. Others said that having biological children is unethical and immoral and that if you MUST have a child in your life, you should adopt. And others said that if you MUST have a biological child, have only 1...2 or more biological children in a family is plain wrong. One commenter favored mandating birth control - her idea was to insert IUD's in every girl at the age of 12 or 13 and the girls would have to have a strongly compelling reason to have them removed at some point if they decided to have children. And one even mentioned that she was doing her part by having abortions when she accidentally became pregnant (pro-choice or pro-life aside, I find her mindset extremely sad).

?!?!?!?

What the heck kind of alternate universe did I stumble upon? I would love to think that this was a joke, that it was an April Fool's Day kind of entry...but it wasn't. There are people who honestly think this way...and that's quite scary. I'm all for doing what I can to conserve - we recycle just about everything possible (and since we don't have curbside here, I have to drive it to the recycling center...but I still do it), we use flourescent bulbs in just about every light source in the house, we use common sense when setting the thermostat, I limit my driving trips, we grow some of our own food, etc. But in some people's eyes, because I've had 2 biological children, I'm playing a huge role in the decline of the environment? What the heck?

I really hope this is a far, far fringe mindset regarding children and the environment, that there aren't many people who really and truly would compare a child to an SUV. But to know that it does exist, that a few people think like this...yikes. Last I checked, folks were just as free to have children as they were to not have children.

OK, better move away from that topic now. And a note to myself...when I come across stuff like this in the future, just keep moving.

~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as I finish here, I'm off to get Chicken installed in the Q-Snap and hopefully get to work. The Little Tot should be ready for her afternoon nap, The Tot is watching the Gymnastics Olympic Trials on TV, The Hubby is getting ready to go to church...so the chances are good for me to actually get some stitching done during daylight hours! Rare, I know...

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

Catch-up Friday

I've got a few things to mention, so in my usual style, this catch-all entry will catch all...

~~~~~~~~~~

First up is my latest finish, the L block from my Alphabet Sampler book (sorry about the washed-out look of the picture...not sure why it turned out like that). Before I started it last night, I had several L's to do, plus the stitch label. I didn't know if I would have enough time to finish it, but I figured I'd just stitch and see where I ended up. I zipped through the L's and thought I'd go for the finish. So I stayed up stitching a bit later than I usually do...I wasn't going to get that close to a finish and then have to do only a handful of letters next week! So I now have a free night next week. :-)

With the completion of the L, I've now finished 6 pages (minus the backstitching border that will be used for the page assembly)...I'm halfway done! I still have to do the cover, and then assemble it all, but this time next year, I'll be working on that. Hard to believe I started this almost a year ago...I began with the A block last July.

~~~~~~~~~~

I've been plugging along on my other stitching as well. Saturday night I spent some time with Chicken (Coq au Pins) and got quite a bit done on it. A couple more nights on it and I'll have it finished. I'm so tempted to go ahead and assemble Chicken before working on the accessories, but we'll see.

Then Sunday I got a few blocks done on Checkerboard Mystery. I think I have 3 more to do and then Part 6 will be finished. Pending some something-or-another, I should get those last 3 blocks done Sunday night. Another one finished a week ahead of schedule!

I also finished up the design square for the Fair and Square Summer exchange....I think. I keep looking at it and trying to decide if it needs a little bit more here and there. I'm wavering. Still need to do the signature square, but that should go pretty quick. I'm still well ahead of the mailing deadline, so there's not huge rush...but I like getting things done before the deadline so I don't have to crunch it.

And then Wednesday night I worked a little bit on The Hubby's ornament. Not much time on it because I got a late start, but it got a few stitches. I ended up making a working copy of the pattern so I could mark off stitches on a section of greenery with many color changes. I was going nuts trying to find my place and I'd only used 1 color at that point!

~~~~~~~~~~

I'm bad...but in my defense I've been enabled...so it's not even my fault, really. I've been so good about staying on the stash wagon - with the exception of goodies I've been picking up for exchanges. But when I was at my nearest LNS the other day, I caved and signed up for the Lizzie Kate Christmas Double Flips. *sigh* I tried to resist the urge, but I'm such a sucker for Christmas designs.

And Chiloe...I got the picture from The Silver Needle site (picture and description here). I went to the LK site and didn't see it there, so I did a Google search and found it. I think Amy at Down Sunshine Lane also has a picture on her site.

~~~~~~~~~~

And finally a meme that I owe Chiloe...she tagged me sometime last week and I'm just now getting around to it. This is about beauty and make-up, neither of which are my strong suits...LOL

Foundation - used to, but I go for the natural look now

Mascara - one bit of make-up that I use frequently...my eyelashes are blond and invisible unless I add some color to them

Day Cream - nope

Favorite Make-up Product - don't really have a favorite...make-up isn't one of those things that I collect just because

Perfume - I'm currently using one of Ashley Judd's fragrances from Kohl's...I know it's from her American Beauty line but I can't remember the exact name. It's in the pink and flowery box. :-)

Nails - a month ago they were the longest they'd been in a long time, so I kept them polished. They've since broken off and aren't so pretty anymore. *sigh*

Hands - 2

Feet -2

3 Products to bring on a deserted island - mp3 player loaded with all my favorite songs, a book, my stitching bag

Women I admire for their beauty - I have to go back a few years...Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Cyd Charisse, Judy Garland (although not considered a classic beauty back in her day), Audrey Hepburn, Ann Miller...

Women with the best sense of style - See above

My ultimate dream - To be happy, healthy, and live a long life surrounded by friends and family

How do I define womanhood - ??? I guess dealing with all the things that come with being a woman...???

Favourite fashion publication - Don't read fashion magazines

~~~~~~~~~~

Well, it's approaching naptime for The Little Tot, and I need to hit the treadmill (it rained just enough to keep me from going outside...bummer), so I better get going here.

Thanks for your visits and comments lately...all are appreciated! Have a Happy Friday and a good weekend!

Seems I'm becoming a once-a-week blogger...

...not intentionally, it's just kind of worked out that way lately. I blame summer break and my severe lack of routine. :-)

~~~~~~~~~~

I have been keeping up with my stitching, though! Checkerboard Mystery SAL and Alphabet Sampler L saw some attention on their respective nights this past week, plus I started The Hubby's Christmas ornament and have been working on my summer square for Fair and Square. No progress pictures this time...I'll have to take some next week.

Somewhat stitching-related...I'm getting the last few goodies together for my SBBC partner, because it's getting close to the time where I have to pack things up and send them on their merry - but very LONG - way.

~~~~~~~~~~

I've found something else to add to my Wish List...the new Lizzie Kate Christmas Double Flips. I'm such a sucker for Christmas designs, and even though I have probably a million Christmas things already in my stash, I want these, too. I have a piece of 32-ct white opalescent Jazlyn (at least I think it's Jazlyn...) that would be *perfect* for this...

I'll have to check at the nearest LNS (which isn't really that "L" for me...but it's close to where my parents live) and see if she'll be carrying them. If not, then I guess I'll have to check with my favorite ONS's to see if they'll have them. I'm supposed to be on the wagon and have been really good about sticking to it (plus we're trying to reduce our household "fun" spending), so I'm a bit torn on these...do I buy them as they're released or do I stay on the wagon and hope that someone will gift me with them sometime...decisions, decisions...

~~~~~~~~~~

I came across this meme and thought it looked like fun...

Where were you 10 years ago? June 1998...I'd just graduated from Purdue (the first time around). I spent that summer mentally preparing for graduate school in the fall and working at the Boys and Girls Club as a "receptionist"/10-12 year old room co-supervisor. It was a fun job, even though I went home dead tired everyday.

Five things on your to do list for today - 1. trim shrubs 2. do the push-mowing to help The Hubby out a bit (got most of it done before I called it quits...considering we have a LARGE yard, I did a fair amount of mowing) 3. get caught up on laundry 4. keep track of a Vera Bradley eBay auction (I WON!!) 5. stitch on Chicken (AKA Coq au Pins)

Snack foods I like - sweets and salty foods...although I'm trying to be not so much of a snacker

If I were a billionaire - pay off debt, invest for kiddos' college and our retirement, give to church and charity, gift family, buy some acreage and build a modest but nice house, get some livestock

Places I’ve lived - I'm not very well-traveled when it comes to where I've lived... West Lafayette, IN (birth to 1), Newburgh, IN (1-college), West Lafayette, IN (college), Columbia City, IN (first post-college job), Bremen, IN* (first home after getting married), Utica, KY** (present)

* we actually lived closer to LaPaz, but LaPaz addresses were limited to a few blocks in the "town" of LaPaz
** we actually live near Masonville, but Masonville doesn't have its own Post Office

~~~~~~~~~~

I was also tagged by Chiloe with a meme that I've seen making the rounds lately, but I'll have to get that one in my next entry. 3+ hours of yardwork and mowing this morning has left me completely worn out, brain included. :-)

~~~~~~~~~~

Nothing else too exciting going on around here...just more of the same ol' same ol'. But sometimes non-exciting same ol' same ol' can be good. :-)

Thanks for recent visits and comments! And to all the fathers out there (although they're probably not reading any of this)...Happy Father's Day!

A meme

I've seen this a few times recently and decided to join in on the fun. :-)

What is in the back of your car? Backseat - 2 car seats and several toys to keep the kiddies happy. Cargo area - packing quilt, battery jumpstarter, jumper cables, cloth shopping bags

What color is your toothbrush? Purple

Name one person that made you smile today? The Little Tot...when she gets nutty, it's hard not to smile (and laugh)

What were you doing at 8 am this morning? Sleeping (lazy bum that I am)

What were you doing 45 minutes ago? Laundry

What is your favorite candy bar? When I can sneak in a bit of chocolate - Reese's Fast Break, or anything made by Reese's

Have you ever been to a strip club? Nope

What is the last thing you said aloud? NO, (The Little Tot's name)!

What is the best ice cream flavor? I can't pick just one

What was the last thing you had to drink? Water

What are you wearing right now? Grey shorts, navy blue Butler Bulldogs t-shirt

What was the last thing you ate? Half a peanut square...a *wonderful* bakery concoction from Wal-Mart

Have you bought any new clothing items this week? No

When was the last time you ran? This morning, on the treadmill (1.75 miles total)

The last sporting event you watched? The end of a hockey game the other night while waiting for our local news to come on. No, I'm NOT a hockey fan...it was just on.

What is your favorite flavor of popcorn? Super mega butter with lots of salt

Who is the last person you sent a comment/message on Myspace? No MySpace here

Ever go camping? With Girl Scouts many moons ago...

Do you take vitamins daily? No, since many vitamins contain calcium, and excess calcium gives me kidney stones

Do you go to church every Sunday? That's the goal...

Do you have a tan? Sorta...running outside lately has given me a bit of color, but I wouldn't call it a full-out TAN

Do you like Chinese food over pizza? Depends on what I crave more

Do you drink your soda with a straw? Don't drink soft drinks (in theory...)

What did your last text message say? Don't do text messages...wouldn't even know how to create one and send it

Are you some-one's best friend? I don't know that I am anymore (not from a falling out...just due to friends being spread out and losing close contact)

What are you doing tomorrow? Weekly grocery shopping

Look to your left, what do you see? The Tot's assortment of Littlest Pet Shop stuff, all arranged in a town-like fashion (AKA a mess).

What color is your watch? Silver face, brown leather band with silver plates (similar to this one: Montana Silversmith Watch)

What do you think of when you think of Australia? The Outback

Do you use chap stick? All the time

What is your birthstone? Aquamarine

What is your favorite number? 11

Do you have a dog? Yes

Last person you talked to on the phone? The Hubby before he came home from work

Have you met anyone famous? Don't know that this will count, but I met Walter McCarty when he was playing basketball for UK

Any plans today? Start working on my partner's summer square for Fair and Square exchange

How many states have you lived in? 2 - Indiana and Kentucky (woo, I get around a lot...)

Ever go to college? Yes

Do you dye your hair? Not anymore

Biggest annoyance in your life right now? Rude, selfish people who behave like jerks

Last song listened to? "You're Sensational" by Frank Sinatra...from the movie High Society

Can you say the alphabet backwards? I think so

Do you have a maid service clean your house? Not unless I count myself as the maid...

Are you jealous of anyone? No...jealousy is an unhealthy thing

Is anyone jealous of you? I seriously doubt it

Do you love anyone? Yes

Do any of your friends have children? Yes

Do you eat healthy? I try to, but I do allow myself to indulge in the BAD stuff from time to time

What do you usually do during the day? Corral kids, feed people, some cleaning/laundry, some Internettin', some stitching

Do you hate anyone that you know right now? Hate is an unhealthy thing...but I do dislike some people

Do you use the word 'hello' daily? Yes

What color is your car? Navy blue

Do you like cats? They're OK, but I'm a dog person

Have you ever been to Six Flags? I think so...

How did you get your worst scar? I don't have any really bad scars...they're all small and blend in

~~~~~~~~~~

In stitching news (real quick)...I finished up the beading on my Christmas biscornu, plus I also finished up The Little Tot's ornament. YAY! I'll share pictures in an entry later this weekend. I'll also update what I've been working on and answer a couple questions I've gotten.

Have a great weekend! Thanks for visiting!

Blogging Meme

I wasn't going to blog today, but I found this meme at The Floss Box and thought it looked cool...so I swiped it.

Why did you start your blog?

I started my stitching blog as an online journal of my cross stitching. Basically, to keep track of my stitching habit and just talk about stitching and stitching-related stuff.

How did you come up with your blog name?

(I just answered this a couple entries ago...LOL) Being silly, when I would get my stitching supplies out for the night, I would tell The Hubby that it was "the stitching hour" (instead of "the witching hour"). When I was getting this blog set up, I wanted a title that was clever and stitching-related, and that was the first thing that popped in my mind.

Do your friends and family know about your blog and if so, what do they think of it?

I've directed my mom and Granma (both needleworkers) to certain blog posts to show off my pictures, but neither of them reads on a regular basis. No one else - The Hubby, other family, or my real-life friends - are in to either blogging or needleworking...so no, friends and family don't come by often (ever).

How do you write posts?

I move my fingers over the right keys on the keyboard. This (usually) makes words, and words strung together make sentences. :-)

A less smart-a$$ answer is that I usually let topics/pictures build up for a couple days, then I come by and unload said topics and pictures into an entry. I try not to get off on major tangents or tread into controversial topics here, since this is technically my STITCHING blog. But I do toss in some non-stitching topics frequently.

Have you ever had a troll or had someone leave unkind comments?

Fortunately, I've not had any trolls or nasty-grams. :-)

Do you check your stats?

Occasionally...mostly to see where people are coming from, and what they search for that leads them to my blog.

Do you care how many people read your blog?

I'm not concerned with having a large number of readers, although I do like the fact that folks read and leave comments. I like "meeting" people who share my stitching interests, especially since I have yet to come across anyone around here who stitches.

What kind of blogs/posts interest you?

I like reading about stitching stuff, of course, but I also like reading about the regular day-to-day kind of stuff. I tend to enjoy topics that relate to me and my life...topics such as kiddos, critters, wacky neighbors, what you did over the weekend, etc. And I also enjoy topics that don't necessarily have to do with me...customs in different countries/religions, other hobbies, other crafts, etc. Basically, I'll read just about anything!

What do you like and dislike about blogging?

Like: I'm a stay-at-home mom with 2 small kids and no real close friends...so I tend to get deprived of adult conversation. Granted, blogging isn't the same as having a conversation with someone face-to-face, but I'm able to sit here and empty some of the thoughts out of my mind. It's nice to "talk" about things I like. I've enjoyed getting to "know" a lot of people around the world and enjoy reading what they've been up to, stitching-wise and non-stitching-wise.

Dislike: I don't know that there is anything I really dislike about blogging. I can't complain about frequency of entries, since I decide when I want to write or not write. I can't complain about having to write about boring topics, since I decide what to write.


~~~~~~~~~~

Since I'm here, I can mention a couple other things...

First, I've just about finished up the stitchy gift for my partner in the Stitching Bloggers Birthday Exchange. I have a tiny bit more of finish-finishing, then it's completely done. I still need to pick up a few more extra goodies, but I'm hoping to get that done this weekend...we're heading to my parents' town to pick up a shower gift for The Hubby's cousin*, and while we're there, I'm going to swing by a little LNS and see if I can find some goodies there.

I also need to grab a couple more goodies for the Fair and Square Independence Day round, then I can get it mailed off next week. I've also signed up for the Summer seasonal round, so I'll need to start getting some ideas put together for it.

~~~~~~~~~~

It's time to head off to dance class yet again, so I need to git.

Thanks for reading! Have a Happy Tuesday! Hope it's as nice where you are as it is here...it's a just plain gorgeous day.





*WARNING! Upcoming rant....you've been warned!! Cousin is getting married in October. Cousin has been living on his own for over 10 years, said Cousin's fiancee is about the same age and has been married before...these are self-sufficient people who have said they don't need anything...but yet managed to register for the most expensive stuff I have seen since another one of The Hubby's cousins got married 2 years ago (the one who registered for a $60 salt shaker...the pepper shaker was another $60). I do not understand this "trend" within The Hubby's family of registering for very, very high-dollar items - read: $80 for a dust ruffle...who even SEES the flippin' dust ruffle?!?! - and expecting to receive said high-dollar items. Sorry, Cousin and Cousin's fiancee, we're not made of money. We'll get you something nice and non-tacky, but don't expect the $300+comforter or the 4 dozen towels from us. Ugh.

One more meme....5 W's of stitching

I saw this on Barbara's blog a few days ago...

Who taught you to stitch, and were there any special circumstances or memories surrounding this? My mom and Granma were big into cross stitching in the 1980's when I was growing up. I remember watching them stitch and I wanted to do what they were doing. I don't remember who first showed me how to make the x's, but I know I got my start making simple x's on fabric scraps. Once I was proficient with the x's on scraps, I graduated on to simple little framed/ornament kits. I know one of my first ones still hangs in my parents' house...it's dated 1986 (the year I turned 10).

What’s your favorite thing to stitch? (A project, a kind of stitching, etc.) I don't know that I have a real favorite...I love everything, from BAP's to smalls. After I've been stitching BAP's it's nice to switch gears and work on a small and get a quick finish...but I also enjoy watching how a BAP comes together over time.

Why do you stitch? I enjoy it. It's a creative outlet for me. I love taking a blank piece of cloth and a handful of colored string and creating a picture or design on it.

When is your special stitching time? My stitching hour(s) are in the evenings after the girls are in bed, usually starting around 8:00 PM. I don't worry about housework or laundry or anything else during that time...it's my daily me time. I usually stitch until around 11:00 PM or midnight...depends on how tired I am. Sometimes I'm able to sneak in some stitching during the day - especially on weekends - but it's definitely not a consistent event.

Where is your special stitching place? (An accompanying picture would be great!)

Here is my stitching nook (please ignore the cardboard in front of the chair and the pillow in front of the table...temporary babyproofing measures...). I park my person in the glider rocker and set up my stuff on both tables...my chart stand sits on the table to the right of the chair (with the lamp on it) and my scissors, ort container, and other necessities sit on the table to the left (with the picture on it). You can also see my daylight floor lamp...I just swivel it around to shine on my lap as I'm stitching.

~~~~~~~~~~

It's turning out to be a *gorgeous* afternoon after a rather chilly morning - one in which I was able to get only 1.6 miles of my regular 3-mile walk/jog in - so I've decided to get the girls out and finish my mileage for the day. The Little Tot will be in the jogger and The Tot will be walking/jogging with me until she runs out of steam...then she'll go in the jogger as well (the joys of having a double jogger!)

Thanks for stopping by and for your comments on my recent posts! Enjoy your Wednesday!

And the other stuff...

...starting with a meme that was passed along to me by Ruth:

A) List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself.
B) Tag seven people to do the same.
C) Do not tag the person who tagged you or tag "whoever wants to do it."

1. If I don't like a food, I will. not. try it, no matter who made it or how much time they put into it or whatever. Not just a bite, not just a little taste. I figure I'm old enough to not be forced to eat something if I don't want to!

2. Within the past year, I discovered the joy that is pecan pie. I had never eaten so much as a bite of pecan pie until last summer, and now it's one of my favorite pies. (no, the not eating pecan pie has nothing to do with my first quirk...)

3. I can't dangle any appendage over the side of my bed. I know there is nothing that would grab it, but I guess I've seen too many movies where there is something under a bed that would grab a dangling arm or leg. My silly brain will just not allow a dangling appendage.

4. I can't really enjoy a meal unless my kitchen is somewhat cleaned up from preparing that meal. I have to clean up some of the mess before I can sit down and eat (soaking pots or pans are an exception, but even those bug me a little).

5. I still have my childhood Lovey...a thermal baby blanket. When I'm upset or worrying about something, I snuggle up with that blanket. And during allergy season, I use it to prop up my head a bit so I can breathe better. So I guess I can say that I still sleep with my security blanket. :-)

6. I have to have my toenails polished at all times. Even in the dead of winter when no one sees my feet. I just can't have bare toenails...it bugs me.

7. I can't stand being in sock feet. Either I'm barefoot or have slippers over my socks. I can't walk around with just socks on. Doesn't matter if the floor is clean enough to eat off of, I have to either take my socks off or put slippers on.


As for tagging...I'm going to break one of the rules above and say that anyone who sees this and feels like answering it, consider yourself tagged. I know this has made the rounds lately and I can't remember who's been tagged and who's not been tagged.

~~~~~~~~~~

And a couple SBQ's...

April 10: Suggested byJennifer:

What is the most complicated piece you've ever completed?

The permalink to this post is:http://blog.blondelibrarian.net/archives/2008/04/sbq-complications/

Hmm...I don't know that anything has been super complicated. The wedding piece I did a couple years ago required my close attention, with frequent color changes in a good portion of the design, but it wasn't really complicated. And I've done a couple BAP's that were large, but not complicated. So I guess my formal answer is that I've not tackled anything that can be deemed "complicated".


April 23: Suggested by Christine:

How do you handle blended threads? Do you kit the blends up before youstart a piece, or do you grab what colors you need and blend when the need arises? If you kit up the blends beforehand, how do you store them? Do you have another option for blends to share?

The permalink to this post is:http://blog.blondelibrarian.net/archives/2008/04/sbq-blends/

I pull the blended threads as I need them. I'll cut the 2 (or more) different floss colors to the same length, pull however many strands I need, then stitch the blended section. If I have any blended lengths left over, I'll keep them separate and label them (if possible) for future use in the project.

~~~~~~~~~~

And last week's Topic of the Week: What's your favorite guilty pleasure?

I guess I'm going to say my stitching. Every night after the girls are in bed, I stitch. I don't do laundry or housework or anything else...I stitch. That is my time to unwind from the day and relax and do something for ME without someone else saying they need this or need that or want this or want that.

Now of course if someone is sick, or if I'm trying to get laundry/cleaning done for a special occasion (company coming, someone going out of town, etc.) I will suspend my stitching...but I usually try to get that kind of thing done during the day so I can have my evenings for me.

~~~~~~~~~~

And that concludes the list of items I needed to blog about. Took me 3 entries to get through it all, but it's done. Now I shall go into hiding for awhile, seeing as how I'm sure everyone's tired of my blathering. :-)

Water, water, everywhere...

They said we'd be getting some serious rain...well, they weren't kidding! We had 4.8 inches in our gauge when I checked it Friday afternoon. When I went to bed Thursday night, it had only about an inch in it, and it didn't really rain much on Friday. So we got the bulk of the rain overnight Thursday.

This is the view if we go about a quarter mile down our road. Thankfully, it is in no way impeding our travel between our house and civilization. But this is where I do my walking/jogging during the warmer months...guess I won't be headed down there anytime soon! You can see how high the water is on the arrow sign posts...it's *deep* water. Normally, there is no water here, with the exception of a small creek that runs along the road after it turns to the right. We've lived here for 3 years and have *never* seen water over the road like this.

And here is a view from up on the hill behind our house, looking in the same general direction as the above picture. If you click on the picture, it gets a bit larger...the woods on the right side of the top photo are on the right side of this photo, (you can also see the yellow right turn sign). Anyway...all that water in this picture? Not supposed to be there. These are normally crop fields. Sure they can get a bit muddy, but they're not commonly underwater. You can see that the water has even surrounded the radio tower and the little building next to it (at the foot of the tower). Sure hope there was no equipment in there that got flooded!

Where is all this water coming from? A creek that is a good mile or so from here. Flooding is common along this creek when there are heavy rains, but not usually a mile out. This creek happens to flow across the length of our whole county and it's equally flooded along its path, so a good portion of the county roads here are flooded over and impassable. What a mess...

~~~~~~~~~~

I came across this little stitching meme recently, and I can't remember where I read it. Ooops. But it's fun, so I thought I'd participate...

1.) How do you hold your fabric? I'm a Q-Snap gal.
2) Floss licker? yes
3) How do you thread your needle? By hand...no needle threaders here.
4) What needle do you like best? No preference
5) Are you a needle loser? No...I'm a needle dropper, but thankfully I always find them.
6) What fabric do you prefer to stitch on? My current "favorite" seems to be 28-ct evenweave. I'm OK with linen too. Not a huge fan of aida anymore, but I still use it from time to time.
7) Bobbins or floss bags? Both...bobbins in floss bags.
8) Are you a scissors collector? No...although if I could afford them, I'd have all those pretty designer Ginghers!
9) Do you do your own framing, and if so, do you lace or pin? Yes. And I use the lacing method.
10) Are you a floss floozy? Guessing that "floss floozy" means one who is loose with her floss?? Then yes, sort of.
11) Silk? Using it for the first time in one of my current WIP's...I like it
12) Railroader? No...takes too much time, and I could never really get the hang of it.
13) Are you a pattern or designer snob? No, but I do have my favorites.
14) Do you get antsy when you give someone a stitched gift? Depends on who the recipient is.
15) Have you reached S.A.B.L.E.? Oh yes...I'm probably approaching double or even triple S.A.B.L.E. by now...
16) Do you wash your projects? Sometimes...depends on the project.

~~~~~~~~~~

Here is the latest view of The Bee Charmer biscornu, as of Friday night. I really enjoy working on this one and I'm moving right along on it.

I got some work done on it during the day Friday as well as Friday night. I finished up the over-1 verse, started and completed the 8 sections of long arm cross stitch (the varigated pink sections on the outside of the verse), the 4 Rhodes hearts (which gave me fits!) and got started on the blue border. I still need to finish the blue border in the other 3 corners, plus add 4 red/pink Rhodes squares in the open square parts of the blue border.

This is proving to be a quick stitch, and seeing as how I have 3 BAP's in my rotation, a quick stitch is refreshing! As much as I enjoy stitching on it, I'm looking forward to the finishing, partly because I like finishing off biscornus, and partly because this will be my first biscornu for ME!

~~~~~~~~~~

A couple of comments regarding recent comments...

The Hubby noticed my new hair cut Thursday afternoon. It took him awhile to really "get" what was different. He said he knew something looked different but couldn't pinpoint it...until I was leaning over and he noticed my hair wasn't hanging down as long. *sigh* It's a good thing our lives don't depend on him noticing that kind of detail, or else we'd be in BIG trouble...LOL

Nic (couldn't find her blog, as her profile is private) mentioned that she'd love to pay only 39¢ a skein for DMC, saying that their equivalent is over $1.00 a skein. YIKES! I do honestly appreciate the relatively cheap price of DMC we have here in the States...my comment was more about how Ben Franklin had a rather elevated price, compared to what we can find at Hobby Lobby, Michael's, and JoAnn's. I hope you - and other foreign readers - don't think I'm whining about it like that! :-)

And finally, thank you for all the comments about my Santa Sampler. I absolutely love the design, even if it will take me forever to do. I just love Santas and knew that I had to make this one when I saw it as a finished piece on eBay a few years ago. It's got over 20 Santas on it, of all different shapes and colors. I can picture it as part of my Christmas decorations...but I think I'm still a LONG time away from that!

~~~~~~~~~~

My clock is showing that it's late, and my eyes are agreeing, so it's off to bed I go. Thanks so much for visiting and for leaving a comment. I see a couple new commenters...if I haven't already done so, I'll be sure to visit your blog soon! Enjoy your Sunday - don't know about your neck of the woods, but it's supposed to be darn-near *perfect* here tomorrow, so I'm hoping we can get some much-needed outdoor time, not to mention open the windows and air out the winter stuffiness!

Christmas Meme

This one's making the rounds again, so why not. :-)

Wrapping paper or gift bags? Depends on the size/shape of the gift. Mostly wrapping paper, but sometimes something fits better in a gift bag.

Real tree or artificial? Artificial...real trees send my allergies into orbit.

When do you put up the tree? Right after Thanksgiving...or by the 1st of December at the latest.

When do you take the tree down? Around January 1st or so.

Do you like egg nog? Never had it, but it doesn't sound appealing in the slightest.

Favorite gift received as a child? Probably my first Cabbage Patch Kid...my sister and I each got one the year they went nuts over them (1985?? sometime around then).

Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. I actually have a couple, but the one that's out this year is a primitive one made by my Granma and Granpa. Granpa make the stable and the manger out of sticks and twigs, and my Granma made Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus, out of cloth, plus 2 little sheep out of cotton fluff.

Hardest person to buy for? FIL...all his wants are large, expensive things for his woodworking hobby.

Easiest person to buy for? My mom...as a fellow stitcher, she's super easy to shop for.

Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Mail...gotta get those out tomorrow!

Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I don't know that I've ever gotten anything truly bad, but my MIL has a bad habit of getting things that are cheap/tacky or things I don't want and/or have no use for. She also tends to overbuy for The Tot and then give the excess gifts to me, usually Disney movies. So The Tot ends up with extra stuff while I get shafted. Puh.

Favorite Christmas movie? A Christmas Story

When do you start shopping for Christmas? Christmas shopping is a year-round thing.

Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so...

Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Anything my Granma cooks. Cookies. Fudge.

Clear lights or colored on the tree? Colored lights on the inside tree, white lights on our outdoor live tree (although we ran out of good, dry weather to get them up this year).

Favorite Christmas song? Almost any...I love Christmas music!

Travel at Christmas or stay home? Ha Ha Ha...that's funny. Seeing as how the IL's are 4 hours away, and my mom's side of the family is 2½ hours away...we travel. I don't see that changing for a LONG time. Although we are home on the 24th and the 25th...Santa comes to OUR house.

Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes...Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolph.

Angel on the tree top or a star? Star...the top branch isn't strong enough to hold up anything too heavy.

Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning...Santa's gifts, gifts from/to the 4 of us, and then my parents and sister come over Christmas afternoon and we open gifts from/to them.

Most annoying thing about this time of year? Lack of snow. The sense of entitlement some people have (that's not exclusive to this time of year, though). Excess traffic EVERYWHERE.

Favorite ornament theme or color? Looking at our tree, it's a mish-mash of kid-made ornaments, Hallmark ornaments, stitched ornaments. And I like it that way.

Favorite thing for Christmas dinner? My Granma's chicken and dressing, potato casserole, coleslaw, and pecan pie...although we won't have that until the day after Christmas. It's still my favorite Christmas dinner.

What do you want for Christmas this year? I have some old movies on my list - "Cover Girl", "An American in Paris", a box set of MGM musicals, plus a large 6 CD box set of various music from MGM musicals...see a theme here? :-)

Black Hole is still alive and well

...the Black Hole that appears to exist in Hazelwood, Missouri, that is. Still no GPS unit...tracking still shows it as being in Missouri. OK, we ordered this over 2 weeks ago, it's been in Missouri a week and a half...what gives?!?!

I called Circuit City to try and find out why we haven't gotten our package and why the tracking information has stopped as of the 27th and spoke with someone who told me everything I already knew - the package was shipped on 11-24 and the last tracking update was from 11-27 and it's in Hazelwood....Moe?? (I think she was not from this country and didn't know that MO = Missouri...LOL). Yes, CSR, I knew that...what I want to know is WHY it's been sitting in Hazelwood Moe for over a week, especially when a pacakge we ordered a week after we ordered the GPS was delivered to us on Friday. She said that she had no way of finding out anything else (in her defense, that this is true...Circuit City did their job by getting it sent out, now it's up to FedEx/USPS/mailing gnomes/God) and that she would transfer me to FedEx.

FedEx - I was told that it entered our Post Office on the 27th and that we should have received it by now....*banging head on wall* Why do I seem to be more knowledgeable regarding tracking status than the people I'm trying to get answers from? No, it did not enter our Post Office on the 27th...the tracking info said it entered the US Postal System on the 27th...big difference there, especially since our local Post Office is in Kentucky and Hazelwood Moe is in Missouri! As an aside...why is something that is supposed to be shipped via FedEx entering the Postal System? I explained it all AGAIN and she said something blah blah blah...it went to this sorting facility because we have a smaller post office...blah blah blah...the Postal Service is running behind and hasn't sorted/shipped/something a few hundred parcels and ours is in that batch...blah blah blah...and that she would contact that sorting facility and get back to me with what she found out. I'm still waiting for that call-back. Grr.

I guess I'll be calling FedEx and/or USPS on Monday to find out where our package is. This is ridiculous! It shouldn't take 2 weeks for something to get from Missouri to Kentucky...I could have WALKED there and gotten it quicker.

*grumble*

~~~~~~~~~~

Here is the latest picture of Floral Trellis...

Other than the personalization (you can see I started the 2007), all the x's are finished. I still have *lots* of backstitching to do, plus the long stitching (the vertical white stick-looking thing on the left side...there will be another one on the right side, plus some at the top and bottom). I've given myself until next weekend to get all the stitching done...that will give me half a week to do the finishing work. I've really been busting my butt on this, and if I continue at the same pace, I should meet the stitching deadline. It's a very pretty piece, but I will be more than happy to see it leave my house!

And in other stitching news...I didn't get started on F Block this past week because I decided to go ahead and work on Floral Trellis. I figure that since it has a very much looming deadline, and F Block doesn't so much, then I'd work on it. After it's done, though, I'll focus on F Block to make sure it's finished by the end of the month. With Christmas travel coming up, I think I'll have plenty of time for it.

I've done a small bit of stash expansion lately. I was wandering through Wal-Mart recently and thought I'd check out the stitching section to see if they had anything left. I came across a few tubes of fiddler's cloth aida, but not in just the oatmeal...they had blue and green as well. I'm trying to get away from aida, but these colors were really pretty, so I grabbed one of each. I'm thinking the blue would look great with a patriotic design, and the green would be perfect for a Christmas design. I also picked up a Bucilla kit of a brass bookmark....perfect for my bookworm-ness. :-)

~~~~~~~~~~

Carolyn has asked another question:

How do you store your floss? Are you organize, somewhat organized, or not organized at all? What types of floss do you have, such as DMC, Kreinik, hand-dyed, etc.? Share a photo and tell about it.

I keep my floss in these 3 storage containers. The top one is an actual craft container and the other 2 are fishing tackle boxes. The large tackle box has 2 levels and both are full...hence the smaller tackle box to catch the overflow. The craft box was a Freecyle find.

I would say my floss storage is pretty organized. 99.999% of my floss is DMC - regular floss, variegated, Color Variations, and a half dozen or so Light Effects. The other 0.001% is made up of 3 skeins of Weeks Dye Works and 3 skeins of Kreinik. The regular DMC is in the tackle boxes...the large one contains the numbers from the 100's to the 3700's, and the smaller one has the 3800's and my extra skeins. The small craft box contains my Light Effects, variegated, and Color Variations. All my floss is wound onto bobbins - the tackle boxes have my homemade cardboard bobbins, while the craft box has the smaller store-bought plastic and cardboard bobbins.

Unless a bobbin is pulled for a project, it lives in one of these containers. I'm pretty good about putting bobbins away as soon as I'm finished with them, too...with 2 sets of small hands around here, loose bobbins might get picked up and hidden away...or unwound and strung around the house. :-)

~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks again for the well-wishes for those in the House of Sick. Fortunately, no one seems to be getting what I had, at least not as bad, but we're all still suffering from one thing or another. Just call us the Sinus Family.

The Hubby broke down and went to the doctor on Friday - like me, he also ended up going to the quick care place because our GFP had no appointments until next year. !!! Gee, it's not like he's had heart surgery and his heart valve is *extremely* susceptible to any kind of bacterial infection in his body...and it just so happens that I had a terrible sinus infection...no, he can wait for 3+ weeks to be seen. NOT! We've got to figure out something better than this....

I'm more than ready for the Sickies to go away. No more room at the inn!

~~~~~~~~~~

On that note, and the fact that it's approaching 1 AM...time for bed! Thanks for visiting and leaving comments! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a great start to the week!

NaBloPoMo Day 30: LAST DAY!

Friday's Fun Factoid:

Today is the official end of the hurricane season.

~~~~~~~~~~

This is the LAST DAY of NaBloPoMo. I'm glad I challenged myself to do it, but I'm glad it's over. No more having to come up with something to post about everyday...I'll resort back to my usual MO of saving up nuggets and posting every few days. Less stress for me, less boredom for my readers. :-)

Now the icing on the cake would be if I won a prize. Not counting on it, since I never win anything like that, but I still have a bit of hope that I might-could win something.

~~~~~~~~~~

I finished up the E Block of my Alphabet Sampler Book last night. I initially thought it would be no problem, as I had only a few of the brown E's and the stitch name to finish up. Then I realized I needed to do the actual English Stitches (the tree trunk). Ooops. Fortunately they were pretty easy to stitch up, so I got the 8 of them done without too much trouble. The only "problem" I had was trying to figure out the logistics of making the stitch. There was an explanation on the pattern, but it didn't really say where to start and how to move from one stitch to another. I improvised, and I think they turned out OK.

Next week: F Block.

~~~~~~~~~~

In other stitching news, I got started on assembling the biscornu ornaments for The Tot's teachers this afternoon. One of them is all stitched up and just waiting to be stuffed, the other isn't quite that far. I had a bit of a hoo-ha with the 2nd one, though...I was looking at the 2 pieces and noticed that they're taller than they are wide. !!! It's not by much, but it's a difference. I think I was able to fix it by manually stretching the fabric horizontally a bit, and as I've been stitching them together, they appear to be going together normally. Fingers crossed that it's not a lopsided biscornu when it's all said and done!

I measured and counted stitches and holes in the fabric, and I just can't find out what's different. I've stitched stuff on this fabric before and never had that problem, so I dunno. *shrug*

I'll share pictures when they're both stitched and stuffed.

~~~~~~~~~~

I've been tagged by Missy to do a "7 Things You Don't Know About Me" Meme (don't worry Missy, I love being tagged too!). I already did one of these a few months back (that one was 6, this one is 7), but I've come up with some more for today:

1. Before I taste a new food, I have to smell it. Don't know why. My family makes fun of me for sniffing my food.
2. I have only 2 wisdom teeth, the upper ones. One has come in and doesn't give me any problems, the other is still hiding, also not giving me any problems. Until they do give me problems, they can just stay where they are.
3. I always have nail polish on my toenails. I just can't feel comfortable unless there is some color on my toes. Yes, even in the winter when no one sees my feet.
4. One of my favorite courses in college was an Animal Science course with a hands-on lab. We milked cows, branded beef cattle, sheared sheep (which is a *heck* of a lot harder than it looks!), processed baby pigs (gave shots, clipped teeth, notched ears, etc.), and played matchmaker with chickens - we collected "stuff" from roosters and "gave" it to the hens. I loved that class!
5. I cannot walk around in sock feet. I have to be either barefoot or have slippers on over my socks.
6. I used to have white-blond hair when I was younger...it's now darkened to a honey-brown-blond with a slight red tinge (in the right light, anyway) (and no, it's not as pretty as it sounds). I miss my white-blond hair.
7. I still have my lovey from my baby days - a waffle-weave thermal receiving blanket. When my allergies are killing me in the fall, I use my lovey to prop my head up so I can breathe better when I sleep. So yes, I'm nearing 32 and I still sleep with my security blanket. :-)

Who to tag, who to tag. Well, I'll take the easy way - if you're reading and wanna answer, consider yourself tagged. :-)

~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting today, and thanks also to everyone who has put up with me this month as I've blogged everyday for NaBloPoMo. It's been rough at times, I'm sure, but I made it through. Congrats to the other NaBloPoMo'ers out there for reaching the end! I'll be taking a few-day break to decompose decompress from the month, but I'll be back sometime next week.

Have a great Friday and enjoy your weekend!

NaBloPoMo Day 13:

Fact:

Today is the first year that International Phone Dictionary Day is observed. The day celebrates the T9 Dictionary that exists on a majority of cell phones. Texters, have some fun today!

~~~~~~~~~~

I've been tagged by Heather for a fun, craft-related meme:

The rules are: Answer the following on your blog and then let five other bloggers know that you have tagged them to complete the meme.

1. When did you start to create and make craft? When I was younger, both my mom and my Granma were into cross stitching and other crafts (including ceramics, 2D painting, embroidery, etc.) and being around the two of them, of course I wanted to do what they were doing. I dabbled in a bit of everything they did, but the cross stitching is the only one that stuck and that I still keep up with.

2. Why did you start creating? I wanted to do what my mom and Granma were doing, and I enjoyed it.

3. Why do you create? It's my me time. As a SAHM to 2 young girls, I don't often get to do things just for myself. But every night after the girls have gone to bed, my stitching time is a small chunk of the day that I can just relax and do what I want.

4. What do you create? Cross stitched items - framed pieces, ornaments, smalls, and small quilted wallhangings. One of these days I'll get the hang of knitting, I may try to learn crocheting, and I'll probably venture into quilting.

5. Has this changed since you began crafting? The more I've been at it, the more interested I become in other crafts. I've gotten an interest in quilting from finishing off some of my smaller stitched pieces into wallhangings. I've gotten an interest in knitting because I just love seeing people's knitted socks, hats, scarves, and other items.

For my tags...I'm not good at tagging people, because I don't want to annoy someone by tagging them if they don't want to be tagged. So I'll open this to anyone...if you're reading this and want to answer, then consider yourself tagged. :-)

~~~~~~~~~~

As my American readers know, writers out in Hollywood are striking and the late night talk shows are among the early "victims", so they've been running re-runs. The re-runs have been from earlier this year, but last night, The Tonight Show ran a show from sometime in 2003 (from what I can guess, judging by the topics he was discussing...more in a minute). I normally don't watch The Tonight Show, but what piqued my curiosity last night was Leno's little "on tonight's show" blurb at the end of the news...Britney Spears was announced as a guest...and she looked...normal??...still. As the show came on, I noticed Edd Hall was the announcer still (instead of the guy who does it now, and I'm blaking on his name at the moment. DUH.) Then as Jay was doing his opening monologue, he mentioned that California got a new governor and did his Ah-nold impersonation, talked about THE Paris Hilton sex tape, and even mentioned something about the slim chance that Hillary Clinton would run for president in 2008. Talk about an interesting flashback! I hope they run some older shows like this, because it's fun to time warp back a few years and remember what the big headlines were.

~~~~~~~~~~

Only 2½ more days until we can ditch our dial-up! I've gotten a few comments about how much we'll love broadband...anything's gotta be better that this dial-up! What made us take the leap is that we got a letter from AT&T saying that as of December 8th, they're increasing the dial-up rates to $23. We've already been seriously considering switching to the wireless broadband that's being offered in our county, but AT&T's rate increase sealed the deal. We'll be paying only a smidge more per month, but will have broadband. If I'm going to be paying $20+ for Internet, why not go with the faster (and better) option!

And once we get some of the logistics figured out, we'll probably even drop our land line and go with an Internet phone option. The TiVo will hook up to the broadband, and we don't really use the phone connection for DirecTV, plus we don't even carry long distance service...so why keep the land line when we may not really need it?

~~~~~~~~~~

For today's picture I thought I'd share one of The Tot's "masterpieces" from her Doodle Pro. May I present her rendition of Purdue's mascot train, The Boilermaker Special, complete with the PURDUE label on the side.

She knows The Hubby and I are major Purdue fans, and she's also quite familiar with the various Purdue symbols, like Purdue Pete and The Boilermaker Special (well, when you have Purdue pillows, blankets, pictures, window stickers, decorative license plates, license plate frames, clothes, and books all over the house, who wouldn't pay attention...LOL!). She loves to spot Purdue Pete when we're watching a ballgame on TV and when we see something Purdue out and about - not real often here in Kentucky, but it does happen sometimes! - she gets as excited as The Hubby and I do. So the other day she took it upon herself to draw a Boilermaker Special. She told us that we *had* to take a picture of it...and she wanted to print it out and frame it and hang it in our bedroom. :-)

~~~~~~~~~~

I ended up not getting any stitching done last night...dozing off in the chair kind of prevents stitching. :-) I don't have that option tonight, since I *HAVE* to work on SIL's piece. I may sneak in Spring Peepers before, though, and finish off the last of the beads, just so I can say it's finished. So that's what's awaiting me tonight.

Thanks for visiting and leaving comments...I enjoy reading what people have to say about what I've had to say. :-) Have a happy Tuesday!

"I want to see your picture..."

I belong to a Yahoo group of stitching bloggers - oddly enough, called Stitching Bloggers - and in order to generate some more activity in the group, a member suggested doing a monthly picture request. Someone comes up with a topic and we share our answer in the form of a picture. This month's topic is "Your Favorite Stitching Spot".

I've included a picture of my relatively new stitching spot. I used to sit in the overstuffed chair on the other side of that end table (you can part of the arm...the dark green in the bottom right corner), but a couple of months ago, I moved things around on a whim one night, and it's been that way since. Anyway...I spend my stitching time in the glider rocker. You can see my decorative daylight lamp, and I also use both end tables on either side of the glider. I keep my floss stash under the end table to the right (your right...my left when I'm stitching), and my various WIP's are stored by the other table (your left...my right when I'm stitching). It's not much, but it's my stitching nook and I can get the job done there.

**PLEASE excuse the cardboard in front of the glider - it's part of our babyproofing, as The Baby thinks she needs to climb through the underpinnings of the glider and escape from the safe quarters in "her" part of the great room.**

If you'd like to take part, visit Carolyn to find her picture request. You don't have to be a member of the Yahoo group - but feel free to join if you want! - and the more, the merrier. Show us YOUR favorite stitching spot!

~~~~~~~~~~

If this is not the first time reading here, you've noticed that things look different. I've been fiddling around with my template and right now, it's a work in progress around here. My blog had several different looks Tuesday afternoon as I was changing templates and figuring out what I liked. I'm not 100% sure I'm really ga-ga over what I've got at the moment...I'll leave it for a few days to really get a feel for it. It may stay the same groovy flowers, or I might change it to something else. We shall see. So if you come by and things look off, or different, or very bare...bear with me, things will be normal (whatever that might be) soon. :-)

On a related note, I'm pretty proud of myself. I played around with my template and was actually working with the html coding. I'm in no way ready to start writing programs or designing blog templates, but I know enough to change some simple settings. I did get stumped a bit with some things - a couple templates I wanted to use were apparently coded wrong, and I didn't know enough about the code to rectify the mistake, and with the current template, I wanted to make it a tad bit wider, but I can't figure out how to stretch the flower image above. I'll keep working at it...but in the mean time, any html gurus out there that would be willing to try and help, I'd very muchly appreciate it.

~~~~~~~~~~

On the stitching front...I got one of The Tot's teacher gifts started Sunday night and got quite a bit done on it. Thankfully it's a small design - called "Spring Peepers" and should go fast. The other gift, while a different design, is the same size and I'm thinking it will also go fast. I skipped Monday night...I got too involved playing around online (ooops). Tuesday night I put some more stitches in SIL's wedding/Christmas piece. Wednesday night is CTM night, and I'm hoping I'll be able to buckle down and get some good work on it.

Thanks for stopping by and being patient with all the remodeling. Have a great week!

Boy howdy, I've actually been tagged for something!

I can't tell you the last time I was tagged to do a blog-thing! :-)

Anyhoo...

The rules:You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name.
If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.
Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My middle name is Edwina (named after my paternal grandfather, Edwin)

E: exercise...not so much now, thanks to still "recovering" after last year's arrival of The Baby, but I'm one of those rare people who truly enjoys getting in a good round of exercise. My favorite is running...I get a good runner's high and often do my best thinking when I'm out for a jog. I'm slowly getting back to a routine (if the weather would EVER cool down so I can actually breathe outside!) and hope to keep up with it from now on. Since I got hooked on walking/jogging a few years ago, the only times I've really taken breaks was when I was pregnant and then post-baby when I was trying to return to normal.

D: dancing...it all started when I was in 1st grade or so, when my mom enrolled me in some introductory dance classes at a local dance studio. I continued on with classes - tap, ballet, jazz, toe - until sometime in late elementary school, at which point I moved on to the drill team in 6th grade. I continued on with drill team in junior high and my freshman year in high school, before marching band got in the way of pretty much everything else. But instead of marching with my instrument, I was in the Color Guard, which used a lot of dancing mechanics. Alas, my dancing days ended for the most part after high school, but I still "dance" around the house from time to time, especially after watching an old MGM musical...Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire are my on-screen inspiration. :-)

W: water...most people grow up drinking milk or juice with their meals, yes? Not I...I'm a water person. I hate milk and don't really like juice, so my mom started me on water at an early age, and it's just stuck with me. I'm constantly carrying around a bottle or glass of water and sipping on it. And recently, both The Hubby and I gave up soft drinks permanently (with a rare exception or two), so for the past couple of weeks, the only thing I've had to drink was water. No soft drinks, no lemonade, no tea...just water.

I: ice cream...one summer when I was home from college, I got a job at a local ice cream and sandwich shop. I'd always enjoyed ice cream, but working there only made my ice cream cravings worse. I can't remember how many flavors we had "on tap", but I do know that I'd sampled every single flavor over the course of the summer. Even now, 11 years later, I still love me some ice cream. I don't know that I even have a favorite...I love everything from McDonald's cheap cones to DQ's Blizzards, on up to the REAL, heavily-leaded stuff from Culver's or Cold Stone Creamery. Yum.

N: needle arts (OK, I'm stretching on this one a bit, I know)...I've been cross stitching since I was 10 or so, and have been feeling the urge to learn how to knit or crochet...or both...so I can say that needle arts are a definite part of my life. Stitching (needling??) is my therapy, it's my ME time, my time to relax at the end of the day.

A: animals...my family got our first dog when I was about 5 or 6 years old, and save for my freshman year in college, I've shared my living space with at least 1 animal ever since. Taking a look back at various school papers and projects, a vast majority of them have something to do with some kind of animal. If money and physical space allowed, I'd have a house and yard full of critters. I'm one of those crazy people who will stop the car and get out to help turtles cross the road.


Good gosh, I have no idea who to tag if I go by the above-mentioned rules. And even though I "know" several bloggers, I'm never sure who wants to be tagged or who just really despises that kind of thing. I'm copping out...if you're reading this and want to do this...TAG...have at it! :-)