I am a Stitching Machine!

Posted on November 21, 2004 by Jenna Magee

I’m da bomb! 😀 I started and finished a Christmas gift for an online friend, L.C., this weekend. That’s pretty much a record for me, though the design wasn’t tough. That includes having to rip and restitch several paw prints in the border. I’ve scanned and posted the results of my work. If she’s reading this, hopefully she won’t ruin the surprise by clicking on the link, but she is a notorious brat…

If I’m able to continue at this rate, I’ll have all of my Christmas gifts done with time to spare! At least, I hope so. I’ve even added another one back in that I had given up on being able to stitch in time. That one will probably go to Phoenix with me this week, along with a couple of other small pieces to kill time on the plane.

All of this stitching, plus I expect to finish all of the laundry tonight and I got the dishes cleaned up (except the new stuff we just dirtied) and I even groomed the dog! Woohoo! That’s a pretty productive weekend for waking up with a cold yesterday morning. 😉

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Getting Ready to Scrapbook

Posted on November 18, 2004 by Jenna Magee

Okay, so I’m making up a special scrapbook for Christmas gift, but I won’t elaborate in case the recipient reads my blog. Tonight, I decided to tackle the job of sorting photos and choosing which ones to print for the scrapbook. That was NOT an easy task. I started out with a couple hundred scans and ended up narrowing them down to 43. It took several iterations of choosing and winnowing the selections, but I managed to do it somehow.

The next step will be to crop, retouch and print the photos and start scrapbooking! It’s been added to my to-do list. 🙂

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Forget It, I’m Finished

Posted on November 17, 2004 by Jenna Magee

The winter freebie exchange ornament is officially finished – cut out and all. I’m going to go scan it and post the photo. I’ll link to it in tomorrow’s entry. 🙂

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Still Steaming Along

Posted on November 17, 2004 by Jenna Magee

Yes, the stitching train is still going! I’m nearly done with the Chartswappers freebie exchange gift I’m stitching. That will definitely be done by the weekend. Woohoo! Another one bites the dust. Plus, I mounted a graduation / Christmas gift for my little sister onto Q-snaps and started stitching the border. Plus, I did some stitching on the model I’m working on right now. Plus… nah, just kidding.

And there’s much more to do. Two Christmas gifts arrived today, so I’m feeling good about that. I only have two more people to buy for and it’s just a matter of placing orders, really. I should be done by Thanksgiving, per tradition. Yes, that’s right, done with Christmas shopping by Thanksgiving. You can curse me; it’s okay. 🙂

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It’s Monday… Nothing New

Posted on November 15, 2004 by Jenna Magee

Nope, nothing new to report. We’re about to leave work and maybe stop at Home Depot for plumbing stuff and trim, but we’ll see. I’m tired and have no idea how Terry’s feeling.

I sent out a Chartswappers trade package to a woman in Australia today. Too bad air mail cost more than I had intended; I should have built it into the trade. Whatever. It’s stuff I wasn’t going to stitch, so if someone will use it and I get something I need out of it, that’s what counts.

I’m feeling brave and turned back on the comments capability. We’ll see if it’s abused. If so, off it goes!

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Fruitful Sunday

Posted on November 15, 2004 by Jenna Magee

Okay, so now I have a headache from straining my eyes all day, but I knocked another several to dos off of my list. Replaced by even more, of course. I finished stitching version 2 of the November ornament for the Chartswappers SAL. I then completed the stitching and backstitching on a fingertip towel for a housewarming gift. After that, I pulled a WIP that’s currently on hold off of Q-snaps so that I’ll be able to reuse them and hopefully mount the fabric for my little sister’s Christmas / very belated graduation gift. And then I stitched on the model I’m currently working on. Sorry, can’t show you the scan of that one. 😉

I also scanned in a bunch of photos from my childhood, to be printed and used for a special Christmas surprise for a family member (who I’m not going to name, in case they read this).

Terry did a lot of work this weekend, as well. He did the plumbing rework for the bathtub and shower fixtures yesterday, then mounted the porcelain shelf, mirror and toilet paper holder today. Just need some extra parts for the plumbing and then he’ll be able to install the new bath and shower fixtures. It’s looking good! Once that’s all done, I’ll touch up the paint in a few areas, then we’ll purchase and paint the trim and clearcoat the decorative paint, since it’s susceptible to moisture.

Lots more to do on the stitching front, as well. Need to work on my gift for the Chartswappers winter freebie exchange. And so many other things that it’s too depressing to list. I’ll cross those bridges when I come to them. 🙂

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Ack! Bad Saturday…

Posted on November 13, 2004 by Jenna Magee

Went to bed with a headache last night, woke up with a headache this morning. Had trouble getting rid of it and once I finally did, my stomach decided to revolt.

Somehow, in the midst of all of this, I managed to stitch on the model I’m working on and my second iteration of this month’s Christmas ornament for the Chartswappers SAL. And sleep… a lot. Oh, and I finished the work I needed to do this weekend and am printing the results for a meeting first thing Monday morning.

My goal for the weekend is to finish stitching that Christmas ornament so that I can cross it off of my list and work on some of the other tons of projects waiting. Oh, and to either help or have Terry make a new lap stand for me since the one I bought the other day really isn’t working. That will help me work on my model. And, of course, my other goal is to feel better!

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Yay, It’s Friday!

Posted on November 12, 2004 by Jenna Magee

And a pretty busy one, at that. To the point where I still need to do even more work this weekend. Ugh!

In the meantime, though, we managed to cross a handful or so of things off of my “master list.” Of course, I’ll add more to replace those, but still… Left early this afternoon and went to finally get the tires replaced on the truck. Whew! I feel much better now. Then we stopped at Dick’s Sporting Goods for me to check for my Dad’s Christmas present. Couldn’t find it, so I had to order it online when we got home. Stopped at Bed, Bath and Beyond to look at air purifiers. Didn’t find that, either, but I did buy a set of springform pans for my friend Mary. Long story, but her 10″ springform pan recently became bottomless, so she needed a replacement. 🙂 Then, we stopped at Michael’s for a couple of items. Didn’t find most of what I needed there, either. Finally, we went to Lowe’s for another whole list, of which we managed to get nearly half. All in all, not bad, but not great, either. I’m just relieved to have new tires on the truck. Not cheap, but a load off of my mind. And we stopped squealing around every corner. Which is good because it made us sound like a bunch of speeding jerks.

Oh, and I gave Terry one of his birthday presents a few weeks early. It’s been bugging me since I found it. I knew he would love it, so I was totally itching to give it to him. So I did. 😀 And we’ll play it this weekend (The Simpsons Road Rage for Playstation 2). Now I’m outta here.

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Not a Bad Wednesday

Posted on November 10, 2004 by Jenna Magee

Today was not too bad for a Wednesday, surprising as that may seem. The hip pain seems to have eased, probably thanks to me studiously using proper posture, both feet on the floor when sitting, centering my weight evenly when standing, trying not to cross my legs, etc. last night for hours on end. Of course, Terry played XIII for hours last night, as well, which eventually gave me a headache and motion sickness – DOH! I took a bonine tonight just after he started playing. 🙂

So, total stitching geek that I am, I stitched last night while Terry was playing. I’m working some of the last motifs on a housewarming fingertip towel for a friend (a much-belated gift since she moved into her new place several months ago, but I haven’t seen the house yet so does that count?). I also started stitching the kloster blocks on the second installment for my half of the winter freebie exchange on Chartswappers.

I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I need to do between now and Christmas, so in typical list maven fashion, I made a task list for myself. Not of everything that needs to be done in the next month and a half, of course, that would be insanely long and incredibly self-defeating. I’m really not entirely sure why making lists seems to help me deal with stressful situations, but it does so I guess I shouldn’t analyze it. 😛

Well, back to work so I can cross some more items off of my list. I’ve already hit three today, but considering that I started with 30, that’s only 1/10th. And, of course, the list will continue to grow over the next couple of weeks. ARGH!

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Ouch!

Posted on November 9, 2004 by Jenna Magee

I tell you, if it’s not one thing with me, it’s the other! 🙂 I’m finally feeling better today, if tired, and am hoping that this feeling holds through the week. However, in the place of whatever I’ve been fighting with for a while, I’m dealing with hip pain today. It started yesterday where every time I got up off of the sofa, my right hip would tweak and hurt like the dickens. Of course, I’m sure that the hour I spent working out to Dance Dance Revolution probably didn’t help the situation, but that seems to bother my knees more than my hips.

Anyway, here I am with pain radiating from my hip. Sheesh! And I have so much stuff to do at home before Christmas, it is not even funny! I thought that the amount of stuff I accomplished this past weekend was impressive, but it’s nothing compared to what’s coming … or so I hope. 😉

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