Weekend Recap

Friday nights are usually my night to be at home with the kids, while James does his thing. It's been that way for years and I look forward to being able to catch up with what I want to watch and I usually stay up late stitching. I was sorely disappointed to find that my NF movies hadn't shown up. Then I had nothing on the DVR. How does that happen?? I had to actually watch television with commercials.

Saturday Eva and I did the grocery shopping. Fun! We had a party to go to in the afternoon so I picked up new outfits for the girls. At the party everyone kept talking about how tall Kate was and I'm sitting there thinking hello? Eva's only two weeks older than her and she's a head taller. In fact, this one lady overheard me saying she was four and she told me that she thought she was like a second grader. There was this other little girl there and she and Eva were the same size so I asked her how old she was and she was seven. I have a giant 4 year old LOL That's ok, she's healthy, cute, smart and well behaved. Lauren and Maria couldn't have been any better at the party. They had no qualms with all the people there and they played well. Everyone just gushed over them, so that made me happy. I was the one that did something stupid. I backed in to a buffet (like a china cabinet thingy) and it had a REALLY sharp corner. I was standing there in the food line trying not to cry it hurt SOOOOO bad. I have this really nice huge bruise on my butt. I still can't get over how much that hurt. I got a nap when we came home and then stayed up after everyone went to sleep and watch The Fog (it was ok) and Mind Hunters (pretty good) and stitched.

Sunday, not much, I got another nap (yay! It had been a long week). We just hung out. Did laundry and some stitching. I'm nearly done with my TWRR beginning, just some more backstitching and a few more evil Lazy Daisies. Here's a pic.

Chocolate City

January Goals Revisited

From December :

My official January Goals are:
Complete and mail out my Mirabilia RR (this will be done by Jan. 3)
Complete and mail out Jen's OT RR (I have pattern picked out, I just need to pull threads)
Complete and mail out Kathy's OT RR (I need to look over the available patterns)
Complete and mail out Sandy's SL RR (I think I'm changing my mind on the pattern I picked out)
Start next Mirabilia RR
Work on any other RR pieces that come up
Finish Dimensions Kit

So the Dimensions kit is going to be pushed to next month's goals. I started and finished the next Mira RR. I started and finished and mailed out the Band Sampler RR for this month. I sort of forgot about that one. I've started the TWRR and I suspect I may finish it before the end of the month.

Is that me actually losing weight?

Since Lauren and Maria were born I could not lose weight. I would try and try and try and I'd only gain more. I was getting beyond frustrated. My primary care doctor diagnosed an underactive thyroid and we finally got that going in the right direction. In December we upped my dosage again and I finally managed to stop gaining weight and lost about 2-3 lbs. However, I was still feeling like that just wasn't the problem and my dad had suggested that I see an endocrinologist. I finally had that appointment a few weeks ago. I had to wait 6 months for that appointment! Anyway, he said I was right and he suspects something else is going on, maybe Cushing's Syndrome. I'm waiting for some lab work to rule that in or out (after reading about it, it's kind of scary!). But he said that he wasn't even going to wait for my lab work to come back to start treating me for some aspects of the the problem. I started on some medicine for insulin resistance, which I thought was odd because I've been tested for diabetes repeatedly and it always comes back negative. Anyway, this morning I got on the scale and that reading was lower than it's been in a really long time. Hopefully the downward trend will continue!

Gift of Stitching

A Long Lazy Weekend

We didn't do much of anything this weekend. It was overcast and drizzly all day Saturday and Sunday it rained nearly all day. Lauren, Maria and I stayed home all weekend. James and Eva only went out for a little while to go to church and grocery shopping. I did a fair amount of stitching. I'd guess I'm about 2/3 done with my Mira RR section. Other than that we just cleaned...and cleaned...and cleaned. It frustrates me to no end how much I have to clean just to keep up. And I do make the kids pitch in!

Just a Few Pictures

I finished the Stitcher's Lane RR piece



And Kathy's RR (I stitched the paintbrushes)



This is the funny Hurricane thing they had at the zoo. Note the rescue worker's markings, the blue roof, and the taped up refrigerator...let me clarify that this is a picture of a houseboat in the Louisiana Swamp exhibit.



This really isn't funny, but I thought it was interesting. This was on all the plywood that covered up various exhibits. I guess they mark it for each hurricane they have to board up for. This one was in the Albino Alligator exhibit.

I went to the Audubon Zoo

And they all asked for you! (that's a song btw). So yeah, we went down to the zoo Saturday. Gorgeous day, but it was pretty cold and windy.

Upon entering New Orleans the first thing I noticed was that general maintenance seems to have gone by the wayside. There was just a ton of trash along the interstate and the grass hadn't been cut. At first glance it doesn't really seem like there's too terribly much damage, but there are a lot of blue roofs and a lot of buildings that have damage when you look closer. This far out and there are still a lot of businesses that seem like they haven't made any effort to repair anything.

We got, not lost, but not going the right direction when we got off the interstate. Again, it didn't appear as though there was much damage, but we kept traveling in a direction towards the Superdome. As we got in that area you could tell that the buildings in that area had probably chest deep water in them. They were all abandoned and it looked like they were tearing a lot of them down. We kept having to stop because big machines were filling up dump trucks with debris. Also, in this area there was no electricity. No stop lights, no street signs (which isn't good when you can't get where you're going!). Anyway, we eventually got on Clairborne and things seemed better. There was sporadic electricity and it looked like the houses didn't suffer much flood damage, but they did seem to have a lot of storm damage. There were lots of people out in that area doing community clean up. The one thing that I thought was interesting is that no one looked like they had painted over those markings that the search crews put on the doors. I guess it's one of the reminder things that will probably stay around for awhile.

Finally, we managed to make it to the zoo area. Tulane starts Tuesday so that area was pretty crazy. The zoo didn't seem to have any lingering damage. Nearly all the exhibits were open. They had some hurricane humor going on there. I'll have to post pictures later.

We got lost going home too. We passed through Kenner and Metarie and things looked ok. Traffic was horrible. The main thing is that there isn't much open. Not too many restaraunts and the ones that are open have strange hours. McDonalds was open from 9-3 and Burger King was 9-5. I didn't notice any gas stations that were open. I guess that's why neighborhoods that seems to be not affected don't have too many people living in them. Although, there were a lot of street vendor type things going on.

Anyway, that's my report.

Stitching I had a good weekend. I'm almost done with my house for the Stitcher's Lane RR. Just have the back stitching to do!

Autumn needs a Cow Quilt

A few weeks ago my friend Misty contacted me about a quilt project she was doing with her online friends. Everyone would stitch a square for her and she'd make it into a quilt. I love the idea and I must confess I was a little jealous :)

Then I saw a post with one of these French Cows. I just thought they were so hilarious. I started thinking that since they're all the same size they would be great for a quilt. Then the light went on and I realized I could ask all my online stitchy friends if they would be so kind as to stitch a square for me. Everyone could pick a cow that reflected their personality and I could wrap myself up in a quilt made of love from my friends.

So, dear stitchers, if you'd like to make a cow for me, I'd be so appreciative.

The particulars are:
-It has to be stitched on 14/28 ct. white fabric, you can use your own or I can send some to you.
-The fabric has to be at least 7" square (I'm making 6" blocks)
-You can sign your name (and location) anyway you like just as long as it stays within the 6" block)
-Let me know which one you'd like to stitch so I can make sure there aren't too many duplicates. Several are ok, because I was thinking depending how many I get I might make a coordinating pillow. Or I can just make sure they aren't close together on the quilt.
-You can also design your own cow if you can't find one that you like.
-My deadline is September 1, 2006 (that's so my mom can get the quilt done by my birthday, hopefully lol)

For informational purposes, the ones that are already being stitched are: Geisha, Strawberry, Giraffe, Pumpkin, and the Plain Ole Cow

My email address is autumn.crochet at gmail dot com

Autumn Needs

Summer posted a fun google exercise. Search for "(your name) needs" and pick your best 10

1. Autumn needs a home where people will be with her - she has severe separation anxiety.
2. Autumn needs a 4 hour blood transfusion daily just to save her life
3. Autumn needs no muse
4. Autumn needs a warm conservatory
5. Autumn needs a bass player badly (male or female)
6. Autumn needs your help
7. Autumn needs some slow conditioning work since she's been in the pasture for a while.
8. Autumn needs to come defend herself and whoop some butt
9. Autumn needs a new slogan, any suggestions?
10. Autumn, needs to focus and dowhat he does best, run past people with ball in hand

Ah, that was fun. I particularly like 7 and 8. Apparently, someone else named Autumn did the same exercise, I saw the link to the post in my search.

Think I need a new slogan? I don't have an old one....

Video Games

When I was young, I used to really like to play video games. We're talking some of the original games like Frogger on Commodore 64 and the original Super Mario Brothers on plain ole Nintendo. Then there was a period of time when I didn't play them. When I tried to start again, everything had gone super graphics and 3-D and beyond having trouble figuring out how to actually play the games, they made me really sick just to look at the screen. So that was pretty much then end of my video game experience.

For Christmas we got Eva one of those joysticks things with the games in it so you didn't need some sort of game console. We played with it for the first time last night and it was fun! Easy to use, easy games (sort of, some I thought were hard for little kid level), and graphics that didn't make me want to hurl. There's a slot in the joystick for other game cartridges so I'll have to check that out, or maybe buy another one for the living room TV with other type games.

Hmmm....thinking about it, I don't need anymore distractions! LOL

Vindication

Tracy sent me some terrible news this morning. However, I can't say I was really surprised to read it. This man was our advisor for the student radio/tv station. At the time he was all into the boys. Took them on little special trips, bought them all kinds of crap, etc. So eventually Kristen and I wrote him a letter and said that we thought his behaviour was inappropriate. Now, everyone thought we did it because we were jealous and wanted to join in. For my part, that definately wasn't the case. I felt like he shouldn't be doing that sort of stuff, outside of school, with students. Anyway, he got all defensive, showed it to the prinicipal, then resigned. We got in trouble with the principal and of course, Kristen and I were like pariahs because we made the wonderful Mr. Magno quit. Well, of course he came back, obviously he couldn't stay away. Now it makes me really sad because all of that didn't make him stop treating the certain groups of kids that he picked any differently and it bothers me that even with all that happened then the administration of the school didn't make him stop. Not only didn't make him stop, but let him come back for what? The third time? I just wonder how many other kids might come forward. In my heart of hearts I really feel like it was going on when I was there, with people that I know.

Dancing with the Stars

Well, I watched it last night. I missed the first two couples, but that's alright. I thought the wrestler chick was pretty good, very graceful. I also like that journalist, I can't remember her either. The sports announcer was a fool, but he might get better. Ok, now, I have to say that Master P doesn't dance for me. LOL I realize he only had a week to prepare so I can cut him a lot of slack. But hello? Can the man not afford a tailor? The pants were way too long. The clothes he wears makes him look bigger than he is. And those shoes looked like Scuba flippers. He didn't look like he was even trying, like he was too cool or something. Jerry Rice cracked me up, he did a fairly good job and I think once he gets more comfortable he'll be better. He's got really long arms. When he'd do his arm extensions it was like they wouldn't even fit in the camera shot. Speaking of camera shots, was the shooting terrible or was that just me? It was like they didn't know where they were going or what camera they were supposed to be on. I realize it's a live show, but so are things like the Superbowl and they pull off that without a problem.

I also watched 4 Kings, and I thought it was fairly cute. And I managed to get in CSI. They seem to be really reaching lately. I realize there are only so many crime drama plots to go around, but it's all been the same. I think for that show they need to get a little more into the character's personal lives. Like why did Nick grow a mustache and then shave it off? Is Warrick still happy with his marriage? Is Sarah still screwed up?

Well I finished Jen's butterfly (mine is the bottom left). I'm working on Sandi's house for the Stitcher's Lane RR. I didn't feel like pulling the threads for Kathy's piece last night. The house is a big ole house that was originally blue, but I felt like I needed to convert it to another color since her fabric is blue. I decided to make it purple. I think it's going to end up looking like Anne Rice's house.

Sucker!!

I have no willpower. Seriously, none. There was this round robin that was full and I said to put me on the alternates list in case someone dropped out. Lately I had been hoping that no one would drop out, because I don't need to be in anymore round robins. So Ruth emails me to see if I would fill in because a couple of people dropped out. Do I say no? Of course not!! I'm such a loser. Oh well, the Open Theme RR will be done for me in a couple of days. I'll finish Jen's today and then I'll work on Kathy's that I received early. The Stitcher's Lane RR should be done in the next couple of months. Then I'll just be down to the Mirabilia RR and the Band Sampler RR. The new one will be a Teresa Wentzler theme. I was initially thinking corner motifs, but in looking at some other round robins using her border sections, I decided to do that. They're just gorgeous. I already have fabric picked out and a pattern in mind. So, currently I'm way ahead of the game LOL

This morning was so bad. I needed to be to work early today. So I woke up really early, did the dishes, started the laundry, got Eva up and dressed and we were almost out the door and I brilliantly decided to start the car and get it warmed up. I locked my keys in my running car. It took about and hour and fifteen minutes for the locksmith to show up. GRrrrrr! Fortunately, it turned out to be no big deal.

I have to tell this little story about Eva. I keep laughing about this. They keep playing commercials for Chocolate Lucky Charms (Tracy!) and she keeps wanting them. I've given her every reason in the book as to why she can't have them. Finally, I just told her they were only for bad little kids. That finally kind of cured her of wanting them. So the other day she was being really bad. I sent her to her room and after a few minutes I went in there and explained to her that she was being bad and the first thing she asked was if she could have Chocolate Lucky Charms now. LOL Talk about backfiring!!

Rose Bowl

HOOK 'EM HORNS!!!!

I'm not a Texas fan in particular, but I just sooooo wanted USC to lose. Ever since their denial that LSU won the 2003 BCS Championship and did everything they could to take it away from them, I wanted them to go DOWN!! Ahhh, I feel better now LOL

Mirabilia Round Robin

Today is the first mailing for the Mirabilia Round Robin. I'm really excited about this one. Unfortunately, we spent Monday cleaning the garage. Between that and my allergies, I didn't finish my section. I used the pattern Forest Goddess for my section. The picture on the cover of the pattern is probably the worst I've ever seen. The colors are unbelievably washed out. In real life she's very vibrant. Here's what I did get done. Oh, and it's stitched on 25 ct. stitchband with 3 threads. Click on the thumbnail for a larger picture.