We had terrible storms around here early Sunday morning. I don't mind thunder and lightning but I hate wind. There were wind sheers all around us and a possible tornado just south of us so we had some scary moments. Living on a old farm with lots of huge trees makes for some terrible possibilities. Poor Evansville, Indiana got hit so hard. Last time I heard, there were 21 confirmed deaths and they were still looking.

Other than that, it was pretty much a typical weekend. My guys were all gone to a taekwondo tournament on Saturday in New Albany, Indiana and came home Saturday evening with a bunch of third place trophies but no injuries so that's a plus. It was the first time my oldest son competed as a second degree black belt and the first time for my youngest to compete as a black belt so 3rd places are nothing to be ashamed of. I had Saturday all to myself and consequently managed to waste most of it. I had several things I really wanted to do and couldn't make up my mind which I wanted to do first! Just before noon I picked up my girlfriend and her granddaughter and we went to a local craft fair which was ok. After that I took them home and came home and played around on the computer for a bit and then went back to stitching on Christmas House. The top part is nearly complete now as I am on the last color on the last side of the border. That leaves the beads on the garland and wreath and the cutting and wrapping of the big window. The bottom piece won't take long at all since it is flat out XS and not much of that!

I substituted the new opal DMC Light Effects thread for the floss and BF combination in the rice stitches in the border and I really like it. I think it is really luminous. Tonight I think I will go and pick it up in some colors to use on the tree ornaments. It is easier to do that than use floss and filament.

Sunday was laundry and grocery shopping and then I came home and stitched a bit and finished reading Wicked. I really enjoyed it. It is great to see an old story from a new perspective. Makes you think about life in general!

I just started a biography about John F. Kennedy called An Unfinished Life and so far it is very interesting. I love learning more about people...not gossipy stuff but what made them tick if you will. I was only 2 when Kennedy was assasinated but he has fascinated me all my life (I even read the Warren Report in HS!! I really did!)

Today so far I went to the gym, walked a mile or so and went to the laundromat and washed my favorite quilt that my boys managed to spill something on. Still no job but the days get filled anyway!

It seems like the days are not long enough for everything to get done. I spent Friday in Lexington at a SACS CASI meeting. After that, I headed to the Stitch Niche on Moore Drive to pick up fabric for my Phoenix. I ended up with a lovely Lambswool Jobelon that makes the colors really glow. On Saturday I was in Frankfort for the KY PTA State Board meeting as I am now a member of the state board. It was interesting but tiring since I was still recovering from my bout with whatever it was on Thursday and I'd been gone all day Friday.

I have been making good progress on my Christmas House in spite of some stupid mistakes and hope to have that completely finished this month. I'll post an update soon.

Yesterday, I purchased Wicked while I was at Media Play and spent the evening engrosed in the book. It looks like it wiill be very good and I think I may try and get tickets to see the play when it comes to Cincinnati this spring. Tomorrow night is girls night out and we are going to see Grease at the CovedaleCenter for the Performing Arts.

Other than that I finished one of my MAT essays and am still hashing the second one that I am really stuck on. I must knock it out today though!

OK, off to the gym! Ciao!

I got my application for the MAT program in the mail and I have filled out most of it, sent off my 2 reference forms and ordered my transcripts from TCNJ. Now if I knew how I was paying for this I would be happy.

Check out Thomas More

Well I guess I am not all that dedicated to this blog since it has been 8 days since I last posted. The good news I guess is that I have been busy doing other things. Still no job but I have made some progress.

I got my MAT application in the mail on Wednesday and have it mostly filled out. I am working on the essays which aren't difficult except for trying to say what I want in 300 words or less! For me that's a problem. :-) I still need to get a job though or I can't afford $450/credit hour. Who am I kidding? I still can't afford it. Tom is pitching a fit. Oh well, that's what financial aid is for.


OK, more progress is on the stitching front. I finished M designs's Dragonflies, Ladybugs and Bees Oh My! It is really cute and I have yet to decide on a finishing option although I have thought about it quite a bit. All the samplers that are going into my "who knows if it will ever be finished" dining room are garden or bee related so this will fit right in. I guess then the debate becomes whether I should frame it or make a wall hanging. That decision will come when I find either the perfect frame or the perfect fabric. It would be cute to do a quilted wall hanging. It's pretty good sized to at 10 1/2" square.

I am currently working on Patricia Andrele's Christmas House and was making great progress yesterday until I discovered I was one row off where the roof met the top of the house. It took me half an hour to find where I had made the mistake and then I was so disgusted with how much I thought I had to rip out that I put it down fulling trying to decide whether to trash it and start all over or not since this is a two layer piece with an intricate border. There was no way I could manage leaving a mistake like that. Walking away was a good idea though because about an hour later it dawned on me that I just had to remove the roof and realign it. While that was time consuming, it was nothing compared to ripping out the house itself! I almost have the roof back on as of this morning.

Our weather is changing over to nasty, damp fall stuff with a lot of rain last night and much cooler temperatures coming up this weekend. As a result, my arthritis is realy kicking up and I was forced to go and replace my worn out splint and I need to go buy another one. Generally in the past it has been my left hand that was the problem, this year my right is chiming in as well and I think I am going to have to start wearing splints on both hands at night. I also need to break out the lavendar oil and my paraffin bath. What a miserable problem for a stitcher!

OK, back to stitching and my essays...ok, essays first!

I got a call on Monday for a job that I had applied for last May. The guy interviewed me over the phone for an hour and then asked me to come in for an interview today. I got there and they guy threw personnel things at me and expected answers about people I didn't know, had never met. I don't believe in unilateral decisions without explanation. In short, I floundered. I didn't know what he was looking for and while I SAID what he wanted, I said it with enough "wiggle room" that I boxed myself out of the "FIRM" answer.

I am clearly not qualifed for portions of this job but in other areas am more than qualifed. We will see I guess but I am not hanging my hat on it for sure. I came home, more depressed and with a run in my new hose. To top it off, I wore a suit and forgot that it was a jacket that I didn't need to wear a blouse under and I didn't...but then was distracted in the parking lot and unbuttoned it without thinking. I was glad I wore a camisole! The guy parked next to me got an eyeful though I am sure! Nice huh? At least I didn't do it in the interview...well, maybe I should have!

On the stitching front, I had to go get more of the thread to finish the border of Dragonflies and Ladybugs. I suspect that my cat has the rest of my other skein stashed somewhere for his own amusement. He could have waited until I was finished first though! I haven't been in much of a stitching mood. Actually, I haven't been much in the mood for anything but the days are filled anyway.

Well After a few rough spots this past week and some intense examination of what I want in my life and what I need in my life and running my "brainstorms" past my ever so wise SIL... I have made some decisions.

1. I am going to go back to substitute teaching and applying to grad school to go get my MAT. I guess I am either in the..."there is a reason everything keeps falling through and you come back to this plan" or the "if you can't beat them, join them" modes of thinking but in either case I am going to start looking forward rather than back. One thing about it, there will never be a shortage of science teachers!

2. I am NOT going to even try to go the conference I was supposed to go to in Houston in December. I am through stressing about it. I am not putting my money into it when there are things that are far more important to me.

3. I am going home to see my family in December. My brother will be coming home from Germany on the 16th on leave. I miss my brother and the rest of my family and I don't see why I can't spend a couple of days there when I spend every single other holiday with my in laws. I will be back before Christmas. So there are fewer cookies and decorations. Everyone will live. This is for me. (something very telling here when I refer to my childhood home as home and not where I have lived for more than 20 years as home.)

I have a friend who is constantly berating me for giving, giving, giving to everyone to the point that I compromise things for myself. He is just as bad so he shouldn't be throwing stones but I love him so I will allow it. The fact remains that he is right. My own family has gotten so spoiled that 9 days out of 10 I find myself wishing that I am anyplace else but here. Like as not someday I will be too. The sad fact is when you give too much you lose yourself. I went from my parent's home to living with my husband, having 1 son and then a second. Then I landed a wonderful job that allowed me to grow, and learn and stretch beyond my small corner of the world. I thought I had the world by the tail. I lost my job 6 months ago and I am just now seeing that while I loved what I did, it became a part of my identity, just like being my father's daughter, my husband's wife, my sons' mother. When I thought I had found Maria, I realize now that once again I lost her in the maze of overtime, road trips and long distance phone calls.

Beginning today, I am starting on a new journey. Who am I? Who do I want to be? Where do I want to be? I am going to find out.

Well the emotional roller coaster continued through the week. Still dealing with my sister's problems and trying to make things right for my niece which I may have finally been able to get a stuck wheel moving. Let's hope. Trying to make anything happen via phone from 1500 miles away is an ordeal for sure. On the plus side, I am brushing up on my tact and patience. *grin* another ordeal!

Update on the job...well who knows. After interviewing 4 people and sending their recommendatons down to the powers that be in Frankfort, the powers decided that they really don't want what they originally advertised for so they are going to re-write the job description and re-post the position. It'll be a couple of weeks before that happens and THEN we have to re-apply and re-interview if we are interested. I don't know what I want to do. If it turns into a purely administrative position NOT working with kids and schools I don't have any interest. I guess therefore that I am in a holding pattern. Next week I head out to look for something temporary I guess.

Last night number 2 son tested for his black belt in Taekwondo and finally got it. That makes 3 black belts in my house now. Number 1 son goes for his second degree in 2 months.

Today is rainy and almost 30* cooler than yesterday. I guess I will go to the gym and come home and put a pot of soup on. Then it is on to Part 3 of 4 of a consulting job. I wish I could get more of them and then I wouldn't have to worry so much about the other. With unemployment gone, the consulting work will cover another month and maybe part of a second one. Which puts us into the holiday season with no income. There's a dreary thought!

Weekend will be dreary and cool as well so I am planning on sepnding most of that sewing I hope. I think I have decided NOT to do the craft show. No ambition or maybe I am not dedicated enough to spend every last minute at the sewing machine. either way...NOT.

Last week was a total blur. It was a week of emotional ups and downs as I dealt with problems my sister is causing, an interview for a job that I desperately want, and the death of my friend's brother. I tried to unwind a bit over the weekend but that never really happened and today I was back in the rat race with some consulting work that I thought was completed and today I had to do another 6 hours of work on making changes. I normally don't mind that but I don't like to rush and because someone else didn't do their job, I am now down to the wire on time with this.

Not much stitching going on. I am up to the beading on the 2005 JCS ornament issues design by Patricia Ann. All the letters and numbers are beaded and they are BIG so it's going to take a while. It's pretty though all in golds and white. I would love to stitch it again in silvers and blues like her Silver Frost sampler. That is one of my favorite pieces and I adore the colors in it.

I just finished reading Dorothea Benton Frank's Isle of Palms and I doing something light now by reading Monica Ferris' latest. Poor Goddy!

Enough, I am heading to the shower, pj's, a cold drink and the rest of my book. The heat is here for a couple of days and then Fall comes rushing back in. I am not a lover of cold weather but right now I am so sick of the mosquitoes that I will take the cooler weather to get rid of them! Ciao!

Well I spent most of the day yesterday finishing up a series of PowerPoint presentations I had been commissioned to do so I didn't actually get to try and start stitching until almost 2:00. It was a stunningly beautiful day here so I moved my sewing machine outside and finished up the 2 bowls that I had cut out on Sunday. By that time the boys were home from school and I was in homework/dinner mode and was back and forth to the computer dealing with comments from the PP's and trying to find missing pieces to complete them.

When things finally settled down, I pulled out fabric and started stitching the Britty Christmas Kitty in the JCS 2005 issue. I had a good part of it stitched before I realized it was supposed to be over one thread so I ripped it all out and started over. It is really cute. I finished up the cat this morning and have started on the tree. It wasn't the one I had planned on doing first but I loved the simple graceful lines of the cat and since my black thread was sitting right there, I didn't have to pull out the thread boxes and look for colors for something else. Pretty lazy huh?

I did get some pictures taken and sme scans made and I can get them up on my web page this afternoon. There will be new fabric bowls and boxes and a page with my Christmas things. This piece is one that I made for an exchange partner. It will be made into a pillow so the fabric you see on the side is what it will be set together with. I love the colors and can't wait to make another one of them. It's something different for sure.

OK, off to the gym for me and then several errands that can't wait!

Well since I last wrote, I have finished my Christmas Exchange project for the Counting Our Blessings board, made 3 fabric boxes and 2 fabric bowls with 2 more cut out. I think I am doing a craft show in November so I need to get busy. I am having fun though.

Today I finally found my JCS Ornament issue today so I can't wait to get started on that. There are some really cute ideas there. Some great designs but also some really neat finishing ideas. I am always up for something new!

Well hopefully tomorrow I can get some of the ornaments I have stitched scanned and on my page. I have really been stitching up a storm. The only one of my September goals I haven't reached is finishing Dragonflies and Ladybugs I am on the 3rd side of the border and really should work some more on it. Maybe I will get to it tomorrow. I think I will stay put all day tomorrow and just sew.

We had a busy weekend that just rolled right on into Monday and Tuesday so I am just now getting a chance to write here.

On Sunday afternoon my youngest son decided to "explore" the crawl space over the ceiling in our dining room. We recently discovered that under the nasty, painted paneling in our bed room is tongue and groove pine. I have been pulling the paneling off in an effort to start refinishing the pine. In doing so we discovered that someone along the line had cut a hole in the wall (through the lovely tongue and groove) that gave access to the crawl space in the dining room. We would loved to have known this earlier when we were refinishing the dining room and kitchen and struggled mightily to run new wiring but that's another story. I should say that least a portion of this house (we were told) was built before the Civil War so it is old. The crawl space if full of blown in insulation and he started digging around and came up with some real treasure (at least to us history buffs). We now have a rubbermaid tub full of old text and reading books, homework assignments, WMU tracts, pictures, postcards and other various turn of the century memorabilia.

Some of the books had peoples' names in them so on Monday I went to the court house and started tracing the property deeds. I was able to locate them back to 1860 so I have a complete line of who has owned this property for over 140 years. Pretty neat huh? Handling those old hand written deeds gave me a thrill for sure. I think I may have missed my calling and should have majored in history. No laughing D.C.!

Today I headed to the main county library in Covington and dug into the genealogy section. Unfortunately, it was pretty much for naught since most of the information I need is in the 1940 census which hasn't been released yet. I also tried tracking tax records to see if I could tell which parcel of land (of 2 that were split) our house is actually built on and if I could find out when it was actually built. Most of that stuff is on microfilm and poor quality MF at that so I really couldn't find the information I needed in spite of an hour or so of squinting at the grainy screen, a growing migraine and a bunch of dimes sacrificed to try and print something legible.

Our library actually has a great section on Kenton County history and I learned a lot. I am going to try and see if I can talk to one of the women whose name I found in one of the books. She lives about 3 miles from me and I have met her several times. Maybe she can give me more information on the family.

Well that's my adventure for this week so far. Tomorrow it is back to putting together PowerPoint presentations and attending another regional planning meeting.

OK, off to make dinner.

I am planning on stitching away the rest of the weekend. I am working on a Teresa Wentzler freebie dragon named Stretch. He is full of beautiful colors but I need to have him stitching and made into a bolster pillow by next Saturday evening as he will be a gift for my guys' Taekwondo instructor. Her 80th (yup I did say she will be 80) birthday party is next Saturday and I just found out about it yesterday. Believe me she is one of the FEW people I would even consider doing this for. I will be taking daily progress pictures and will post them on my website if not here.

I spent this morning doing a 5 K walk. I was a guest of honor (as 14th District PTA President) at the Mustang Stampede at Erpenbeck Elementary in Florence. They had over 800 registered participants. It was great fun. Kids from 4-70+ participated. Entire families with kids in strollers and grandparents walked and ran. I really enjoyed myself but since I haven't been doing the walking I was doing, I am wishing for some Motrin right now. They did a wonderful job of organizing things and my hat is off to Robin the PTA President and her troop of volunteers.

Well I was notified this morning that I am being considered for a much desired position. Now I have been out of work for nearly 6 months and I have been applying for anything and everything that might remotely be in my field and recently things that don't even come close since in KY you get 6 months of unemployment period.

I really want this job. A lot. I would be able to stay in my field, work with schools I already know and for people I know and respect greatly. I am at that stage in my life when that is important.

So today I will spend the day chilling. Make a nice dinner for my family, finish some work that's on my desk, maybe get a little stitching in and try to NOT think about possibilities. OK, I will try to not think too much about possibilities.

Today marks my 21st anniversary. I find that hard to believe.

It also marks the birthday of a good friend. I won't say his age but I will say I find that hard to believe too. We met in HS and since we haven't seen each other in years, he still looks the same in my mind. I guess that's a nice thing. Happy Birthday Rusty!

No news here at all since the last entry other than my MIL had a chest ultrasound and they didn't find a clot there either so either it never existed at all and the leg swelled up for some other reason or the clot was so small that the medicine they gave her dissolved it. In any case we can breathe a sigh of relief.

Well I am off to Lexington today and I am hoping that the weather doesn't turn too nasty. Right now the sun is shining but it is really overcast. I think I will leave earlier than I need to and see if I can beat the rain at least in one direction! It'll also give me a chance to visit Joseph Beth Booksellers if I can get out of here early enough.

I think I am hooked. I was on MSN games and downloaded a trial version of Sudoku. I had never seen it before and I am NOT a math puzzle person. I was so bad at it that I didn't even complete the first puzzle before the trial version ran out. It intrigued me though! I went and picked up an easy Sudoku book at our local Barnes and Noble and I have spent the afternoon learning more about it. I just solved my first puzzle completely on my own! Now I know they are easy puzzles so I am not too excited but I don't like to be bested by something and now I know I can do it I will be able to move on to harder puzzles. They are really fun to do.

Here is a neat website that you can check Sudoku if you want to learn more.

I guess rain is moving in here and tomorrow is looking like it might be torrential at times. That doesn't make me too happy since I have to be in Lexington tomorrow afternoon and it will be late when I head home. I really hate driving in the rain in the dark! Can't be helped I guess. It makes it worse that the deer are all over right now too, even in the daytime which is unusual.

While I am listing websites you need to check out Making Strides Against Breast Cancer I do this walk every year in honor of my grandmother,mother, sister in law, cousins, friends and co-workers who have sent this terrible disease on it's way. If you feel you can lend a hand please do. You never know who you might be helping!

I spent today in Frankfort working with a great group of educators putting together a training module for the Kentucky Leadership Academy on engaging parents in schools. It was a lot of work but also a lot of fun since I had the chance to work with people who all are dedicated to the children of Kentucky! I brought home some things to flesh out and there is another meeting in October to finalize things. I am glad I got to be a part of it.

Today is DH's birthday so after dinner we all went out for ice cream. A nice way to end a LONG day.

No sewing today. I am reading another Dorothea Benton Frank book Plantation and after 7 hours work working on the module and 3 hours of driving, that's about all I have the energy for.

I looked for the new Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue today but it still isn't on the stands here yet. I can't wait to get it there are a number of nice ornaments this year that I am anxious to stitch. Maybe tomorrow I will spend my time putting together the ones I already have stitched so I am ready to jump into the new ones when I finally locate a copy of the magazine!

It's been one of those days. I didn't get much sleep last night for whatever reason, and I don't feel like doing much today although I have.

I managed to get to the gym and complete the workout which is a plus since I am about having to force myself to go anymore. I know I can't go tomorrow though since I have to go to Frankfort for a meeting so I at least got there today. I picked up the dog's medication and then shot over to my mother in law's to check on her. Last week she was sent to the ER for what they thought was a deep vein thrombosis in her leg. She has had to have 2 shots a day since then to try and dissolve the clot. Lo and behold, the doctor's office called today and there isn't (wasn't) any clot so tomorrow she has to go for an ultrasound of her chest as she is having trouble breathing and her leg is still terribly swollen. Not good.

I came home and tried to do some work on a commission that I have and discovered I could only do the first basic part of it since my son saved his school work to MY flash key and took it to school with him and all the files I needed to work with were on the flash key! Oh well I did get the skeleton down and all the templates in place so the rest will go a little quicker.



I tried sewing a bit but I am not really in the mood I guess. Here is my progress yesterday and a bit today on Dragonflies, Ladybugs and Bees. If I could concentrate on it it probably wouldn't take long. Maybe I can get some more done after I drop the boys off at taekwondo. Maybe not :-)


The other thing that I have managed to do today is create 2 teams for the Making Strides against Breast Cancer walk that will be held in Cincinnati. I am a team leader for the Curves gym in Independence but the owner wanted a team from her Florence gym as well so I created it for her. I guess in spite of being so draggy today I managed to get some things done.

Well here is Christmas house as of last night when I finished stitching for the day. The door is finally on! Cripes, I thought I would never get it. Why does the simple stuff take the longest? Maybe I was too complacent while I was stitching it. In any case it is there now.




I put Christmas house aside today to work on
M Designs' Dragonflies, Ladybugs and Bees Oh my! I am working on the border and since the lettering is all done over one, it takes a long time. It is lovely though.


I just dropped my oldest son off at a "Support our Troops" Rally in Independence. They are having it in honor of the 4th anniversary of the September 11th bombings. I cannot believe that it has been 4 years. I can still see those images behind my eyes and I know that I will never forget the pain of that day. Four years later my brother has had to leave his family to serve in Germany and my oldest son gets community service hours for school by helping implement a rally to support our military. Like we don't do that every single day! God bless America!

That brings us to another, more recent tragedy Hurricane Katrina. For those of you who are stitchers, M Designs has created a Pray ornament and is giving the pattern away for free. They would like you to make a donation to the Red Cross or Salvation Army or some other group assisting with the tragedy but it isn't required. There are also links to groups that are working on donations and things so you might find something else that inspires you if the RC and SA do not.

OK, That's it for today. I am heading back to my stitching and then we are going to dinner to night at Famous Dave's compliments of a friend. If you are a BBQ fan or have ever eaten at Dave's you know we are LUCKY to have this friend! Thanks Denny! YUMMMM!

Well yesterday I was ranting about the fact that there was no clear line up between the pages of the chart I am working on and today I can rant about frogging the whole top portion of my door since sure enough, I missed a row and everything was off. The lucky thing was I was getting bored with all the white work so I decided I would put the wreath on the door and low and behold, it didn't line up. At least I didn't have the lintel and posts sewn yet! :-) So away I ripped last night and this morning I started the door again. This is really going quite quickly (when I am sewing and not ripping) and I can't wait to get to the hardanger cutting and wrapping. I have been frustrated that I haven't been able to find the 36 count linen that I need for the second layer. I don't have any LNS's around here and have to either order on line or drive to Louisville (200 miles round trip) or Lexington (140 miles round trip). Then last night I was looking at the chart and I realized that there are no partial or specialty stitches so I can do the bottom layer on 18 count aida. I hate spendng a fortune on fabrics especially when so little of it will actually be seen.

Today I am going to Old Fashioned Day in Walton. Read about it. It is a street fair with food, crafts and music. It should be a lot of fun. There is also a book sale at the library. Books are without a doubt my second vice. I am now reading the Dorothea Benton Frank low country tales. I just finished my first,Sullivan's Island last night. I loved it. I have also been reading the Kathy Reich's "Tempe Brennan" series which will be a TV show this fall called Bones and I just finished all but the last of Earlene Fowler's Benni Harper mysteries all of which center around quilts. My reading choices like my music choices are quite eclectic.

I still haven't scanned where I am now on Christmas House but today's picture is my last scan from February. Until this week I hadn't worked on it much.

I was working on Patricia Andrle's Christmas House this morning (CS&CC S/O '94) and I have a frustration with this chart that seems to come up over and over with charts that are too big to fit on one page (which is most everything I do anymore). I wonder if there is a really good way to make a chart "cross a page".

This particular chart is in the centerfold of the book and cuts off with one line at the bottom of one page and starts with the next line at the top of the next page with a good 1 1/2" of white space between the lines. There are no "shaded"over lap lines to show alignment with the lines above (or below) either. It is very difficult to count and keep things lined up. I made a copy on my color copier and taped the pages together but since there are no overlap lines, that didn't work to well either. I am getting it but I have ripped a lot!

I love doing big projects and absolutely adore this piece but I tend to move on to something else if my frustration level gets too high and with this one, I have already put is aside once. Fortunately, I am about through all the places where this is an issue on this chart but I am sure this problem will rear it's ugly head again at sometime!

If I get a chance today, I will scan my work and add it here.

I have thought about blogging for a while as a way for me to keep track of when I am doing things. My stitching time seems to get so jumbled and I don't keep records like I should so hopefully this will help. We will see!!