Happy Friday!

The wonderful ladies at CSF decided that I should be the spoilee this month and, believe me, just having them think of me was spoiling and humbling enough. I am so thankful to all of them for being my friends. This lovely surprise package was sent to me by my friend Lisa. She sent me the UK CrossStitcher, which had the pretty calendar included, a bag that I am pretty sure she made herself -- which is beautiful -- and I will keep my special stuff in there. The little frog has a home on the zipper of my work project bag because I like to show up at a deposition as professional as I can and the frog can only help! Thank you so much, Lisa! You sent me so much stuff and I so appreciate it....more than I can say.


Now I have an update on my Betsy!

I am so much enjoying stitching this piece. I am using Vikki Clayton silks for the first time and I am finally getting the hang of them. It was really odd for a long while stitching with one thread and I'm amazed how just one thread actually does the job! I was going to wait to stitch Betsy last, but I really wanted to start her. I love it.

Next up is a finish I did for a RR with the Cross Stitch Obsession Yahoogroup. It's me, Sheila, Colleen, and Jane from France. I don't know why I always have to put in the "from France" when I think about or type out Jane's name, but I do! I have done a few round robins with these fine ladies and I never worry about the chance of seeing my piece again. These ladies rock! This is Sheila's piece.

That's it on the stitching front actually. Now what is happening with me?

Well, by now, you know that my Yankees lost. Yes, I was very sad, but the best team won. Now I'm curious to see what changes are made to my Yankees, but I want changes as I want a winning team! I am sick and tired of no World Series Ring. Sheesh.

Rich started working at Gander Mountain and he really seems to enjoy it. Me? Well, he has night hours so life will be different for me. He will usually work until close so that means 10:00 or 10:30 is when he will start to come home. It's 30 minutes away so he should be home in time for Bill O'Reilly at least. Phew. I am such a whiner though...instead of being happy for him, I turn it around to me. I thought I wasn't going to do that anymore!

Now, my blinkies....yes, I found blinkies. My sister Monica told me that I am ridiculous and my blinkies are annoying because they blink! Well, isn't that the point of a blinkie? She was very fresh today and I promised her that I would tell everybody about it. Don't even ask me about her complete obsession with Star Trek and INXS. Boy, oh, boy....if I had a bar of soap and if she didn't live all the way in Richmond and wasn't old enough to have a son of her own. Hmmmmmmph.

My little sister Teresa and her BF Sam are coming up this weekend to visit. Actually, they have a wedding to go to tomorrow in the Poconos so they will just stay with us. She just called me and they are only leaving now at about 8:00 so they will get here at about midnight. I better put up some coffee!

I am pretty sure that's all I've got right now. I'm going to go have a cup of tea and work a little bit. Rich should be getting home at about 11:00 and Teresa and Sam will be here after that. It's going to be a long night.

b.

Well, I got this fan from my mother a few weeks ago...or maybe it was a few months ago. Seems that my father bought them on clearance for $5 and he picked up a few of them, but no one was interested. Well, I thought it would be useful so I took one.

I set it up tonight and it's cooler than anything else I have come into contact with lately and I am loving life. The blades are nylon so I am having a fun time putting my fingers in the blades and making the sound of baseball cards in the spokes of your bicycle's wheels. By the way, do kids do that? I would imagine they wouldn't want to ruin any cards as they are probably thinking about the cards' future values and eBay!

I guess I can really say that I'm way cool now!

Do you want to be cool too? Here's the link and they come in cool colors other than orange, too!
http://www.amazon.com/Vornado-FA1-0007-22-Zippi-Desk-Orange/dp/B000E5WAV8

b.

Happy Monday Morning!

It's been a while since I have posted, but I guess that's only because I have had really nothing at all new and exciting.

I did manage to finish my "Boo Squared" by L*K this weekend. Yes, you see right. I used green fabric for it. Is it stupid? You can tell me and my feelings won't be hurt. See, what happened is this: I bought the fabric it called for as I figured even a non-linen girl like myself could stitch this small L*K on this small piece of linen. Ha! I couldn't even do the first stitch so I abandoned that and immediately went up to my fabric drawer looking for a purple and, alas, I had no small piece of purple anything....no aida and no small piece of SW evenweave. I grabbed the green and personally don't think it's that stupid, but Rich put his nose up at it.

I will be doing a PIF with this pattern on CSF along with that fabric cut.

My friend Mercy (Hi, Mercy!) asked me to post a WIP pic of my "Betsy" so here it is:

So, it seems my Yankees will make the playoffs. Hmmmmmmph. I would be happier for them to win the division than to sneak in with the wild card, but I guess I should just suck it up and embrace the wild card. I don't know.....Boston was so consistent throughout the year....My Yankees are playing now how they should have played throughout the year. Either way, I will enjoy watching the playoffs! Yesterday, at Yankee Stadium, there was a tribute to Phil Rizzuto and it was just great. It brought many tears to my eyes. Like The Boss said, "Heaven must have needed a shortstop."

Rich has his second interview at Gander Mountain today. He is very excited to get out there and working again and this time it will be a job that he might enjoy. He won't get dirty and he won't be standing under cars and we can start to sell his many, many tools and dopey tool boxes. I hope he gets this job, but I am afraid that it's going to effect my life in the sense that he will probably be working weekends and evenings....and the day after Thanksgiving....I have to remember that it's not all about me though. I think I need to tattoo that to my wrist actually and refer to it often.

Sue, Laura, and I are meeting up at CATS on Friday morning at 9:00! I simply cannot wait to see them. We are just staying for the day as we figure that's enough time to do some damage at the merchandise mart and stitch and gab. Rich is going to go out there, too, and go to some gun stores that are out there. There is also Bass Pro Shops for him to go to and kill some time.

Uh-oh. I have to get ready to head out to Stroudsburg for my job.

~b.

Another 9/11

First, I must acknowledge 9/11 and, with that, I have a heavy heart. I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was on the computer IMing my former friend Laurie when the first tower was hit. She worked in midtown and we both figured it was an FAA mistake or something. Then the second tower was hit and we realized at the same moment what had happened. I remember hearing Katie Couric screaming on the Today Show. I told Laurie what was going on and she said she was going to try to get back to her home in the Poughkeepsie area. She signed off and I worried all day about my BFF. I never heard from her until I called her that night and she said she was home by about two o'clock. I was so hurt that she didn't think to even call me and let me know she was okay. We were best friends since about 1979. That was the end of our friendship. I realized that it was totally one-sided and could never get over that hurt that I was not given one iota of consideration.

Another friend of mine, Teresa a/k/a TAG, worked downtown and she is just so adorable, but I digress. She is one of the smartest people I know. As soon as the first tower was hit, she grabbed her purse, jumped on the subway to Penn Station and jumped on the first Long Island Railroad Train she saw. She ended up out further on Long Island than she lived, but she was safely out of there. She called me from home at about noon. I was so relieved to know she was okay.

A boy I pretty much grew up with -- he was my brother's age -- and who I really considered my brother was a fireman who went into the tower that day and did not survive. He left behind two kids and a beautiful wife, who is still active with the other fireman's wives. The guy that bought my co-op in Garden City also did not survive. He was working on the 87th floor and just couldn't get down. It's very sad. He had just gotten married to his high school sweetheart in May of 2001. Two people that I know personally and that I miss.

God Bless America and God Bless our Troops!



Here is an update of my "Betsy" by Sheepish Designs! I am using VC Silks and 18 ct fiddler's cloth. I don't know why I thought I finished the whole alphabet, but I guess I was mistaken. Tonight I am going to work on finishing the leaves and then do the branch. I am going to leave the lady for absolute last as she looks like she will just be adorable!

This is Brendan showing us his smile. He is such a Virginia Ham. LOL I don't know what possessed Rich to ask him to show us his smile, but he did and this is the result and he does it every single time! It cracked us up every single time, too.


On the home front, Rich has been referred to yet another doctor -- this time for some injections and/or acupuncture. My mother had mentioned acupuncture a few weeks ago and, sure enough, so did the doctor. Now it's just a waiting game to see when the appointment is. I think this situation is finally getting to both of us as it is just the limbo we are living in right now. Is he going to be able to work at any job? We don't know. It has been pretty much decided that he will not be going back to being an auto tech ever again due to work restrictions. He had a great run, I'll tell ya.


Tonight I'm planning on stitching during a two-hour marathon of Family Guy. Oh, how we love that show. Do you watch it? If not, you should. It's a little crass and crude, but that's what makes it so hysterical. Last night was the season finale of "My Boys" and that really left us hanging. Now we are waiting for the next season of that, too.


Time to get this party started.


b.

My rotation...or lack thereof!

Well, I have been stitching on "Betsy" for a few hours and I have decided that I want to stitch on this until it's done as I am enjoying it so much. That being said, forget about my big rotation announcement that I made in my last post! LOL Hey! I'm woman so I can change my mind.

I love these Vikki Clayton silks. Hmmmmmmmph. I didn't realize how nice they were to stitch with until I stitched with WDW and Sampler Threads on my Lil Bits this past weekend and I really had to tug those threads through my 32 ct. Stitching with silks is heaven. You hardly have to even do anything but stitch and enjoy. Don't tell anyone, but I think I am going to join her TOTM.

My Yankees just sucked tonight. They lost 16-0. Well, not all my Yankees sucked -- Mike Mussina did. I was so excited to see him come out of his pitching slump and do the right thing, but, alas, he didn't. I was reading on mlb.com that the Red Sox are not underestimating the Yankees. I think it's high time they do. We have three games against them -- tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday. I will never denounce my Yankees, but I do have to say that I am not holding out too much hope for them either winning the division or the wild card, for Pete's sake. If you tell anyone I said this, I'll deny it, but Boston really truly deserves to win the division. They have been so consistent this whole season not to mention the fact they never lose! Good for their fans to enjoy the season. It sucks to be a Yankee fan this season, but I do love them and the Yankee tradition and there is always next year.

After the game tomorrow night, I will post a WIP pic of "Betsy" as I just love it. I am looking forward to having her framed and hanging on the wall. Angie thinks it's ugly...that has nothing to do with anything, but I thought I'd let you all know. Ha!

Time for Jay Leno. It seems I am back on Rich's schedule again plus we like when Jay does "Headlines."

b.

I've Really Got Nothin'!

Well, I best post something as the more days that go by without a post means that I have a lesser chance of actually keeping this up.

I have decided that I am going to start a rotation, which is something I have never done before in my life:

Monday -- Betsy

Tuesday -- Betsy

Wednesday -- Fall SAL

Thursday -- Sampler Gameboard

Friday -- L*K Lil Bits

Saturday -- L*K Lil Bits until done and CSO RR.

Sunday -- Seasonal Snowmen


That's all I've got on the stitching front.

Rich had his appointment with the neurosurgeon today and it wasn't exactly the news we were hoping for. It turns out that he is not a surgical candidate at this time plus it's too late to try any kind of epidural steroid injections. He was basically told that he can only do light-duty work, of which there is none at Scranton Dodge, so this leaves him out of work and on Workers' Compensation. He is down about it, but I told him, that once this Comp thing gets settled and he starts to get some checks, all will be better. He stopped at his lawyer's office this afternoon and really put pressure on the guy to get the wheels in motion so he can get out of this limbo he is in. I just want him to feel better....Basically, the doctor told him to hang out as he is and, if he feels that he can't deal with it any longer, surgery can be discussed then.

I really don't have anything else new to say. LOL

b.

My Friend Angie!

I finally got down to Mimi's Attic yesterday to pick up my framing order. Angie stitched this for me as a total surprise and I just love it. See, what happened was Angie and KP stitched this piece for each other and I think that Angie knew deep down that I felt left out as I wasn't able to stitch with them and then exchange pieces. It came in the mail and I was so touched that she took time out of her days to do this for me.

Thanks so much, Angie. I really love you.

b.

Meet Bob & Ruth!

So, let me tell you about our good friends Bob and Ruth who live across the lake.....

We used to come up here to Lake Wallenpaupack for weekends...a lot of weekends. We have always loved it up here. It was a nice escape from our co-op on Long Island. I think we used to come up about 12-16 weekends a year. I mean, we really loved coming here.

One weekday we were home at our apartment and there was a knock on the door. It was this guy named Bob and he was running for the Board of Directors. I said hello and he said, "Hey, I saw you in Pennsylvania this past weekend!" I was like, "Hmmmmmph. That's odd." It turns out that Bob and Ruth have a house here on the lake.

From that day forward, we would still come up to the lake, but we would also have these good people to visit with and we would also have these good people on Long Island to visit with. They are our parents' age and they have two sons of their own, but call us their "other set of kids." They tell us how it is, give us advice, ask if we are working enough, make sure that we are doing smart things with our money, and just show us how you can really still be in love after many, many years. They have since retired, sold their co-op on Long Island, and moved up here two years ago full-time, but, alas, they are moving again to some unknown place....they just haven't decided yet where they want to be.

Ruth has had cancer now for, I think, about seven years. She is not quite in remission, but the tumors in her lungs are neither growing or shrinking. Last week they went down to Long Island where she had this CyberKnife procedure.

Fast forward to yesterday -- it was a beautiful day and Rich wasn't have a fun time with his back. I spoke to my mother on the phone for a while in the morning after I had gone out and done all my errands. Rich got up and we had lunch and then I was going to come up to my office to work. The phone rang and it was Bob asking if we wanted to go out for a boat ride. Well, being I was a little down because Rich's back was killing him, I, of course, jumped at the opportunity but then thought of Rich and threw the phone down to him. He opted not to go, but agreed that there was no reason why I shouldn't go. So I did.

We had a great time. It was so nice and warm and sunny and we had a lot of laughs and we had some tears, too, over Rich's and my current situation. They did give some good advice, especially as to stop seeing these dopey panel physicians and get some real doctors involved. I guess we were out on the lake for about an hour or so. We then hung out on the dock for a while with their neighbors and just chatted it up.
They had asked me to stay for dinner, but I knew that I should really get home and have dinner with Rich so I did, but I stopped at the ice cream stand and got a chocolate egg cream because I really did feel as if I was on vacation!

Needless to say, I was in dreamland by about 9:00! All that sun and fresh air did me in!!!!

~b.

"So buddy, ya 'bout done? I gotta get in there..."

Monica emailed me some pics of Brendan today and this one just cracked me up. She captioned it and it made me literally laugh out loud!!!!!

b.

My First Official Post

Well, my friends at CSF really inspired me to make a blog so I'm going to try it out. For now, I am just playing with it so we'll see how it goes. I can only hope to eventually have a blog as nice as the ones I look at now.

I guess I'll start with my WIPs:

• Gameboard Sampler
• L*K Lil Bits
• CSO 4-person RR
• A small Dreams With Angels square, which is my work project
• I am trying to put a thread a day in my Angel of Cross Stitch
  

One would think I would have a scan of all those projects, but, alas, I don't right now. I'll do that tomorrow.

Other than stitching, today was spent working and watching my Yankees game. A-Rod finally got his 500th homerun! Go A-Rod and Go Yankees!

Lisa and Mercy from CSF really truly inspired me to try my hand at a flat fold, which I will try next weekend (time permitting, of course).

That's all I've got. I am anxious to see what this looks like!

b.