Carrie’s Threads Are In!

Just a note to say that we just finished loading 211 colors of Carrie’s Threads to One Star’s Light Needlework Supplies. A few don’t have pictures, so I will have to scan them and load them separately, but the vast majority are good to go.

Enjoy! 😀

Posted in Shop Talk | 3 Comments

For Outi

Ask and ye shall receive…

I was home today with a migraine, so what did I do to relax? Why, stitched on black fabric, of course! I’m twisted, I know. 😉

So, here it is, dear Outi. Alegria by Periphaeria Designs stitched on 27 ct. black Linda fabric with Simply Shaker floss by The Gentle Art in Geranium:





Which now has me curious to do it one more time on black. Wait and see… 😉

Posted in Stitching | 6 Comments

Two Down

Well, I knocked two items off of my yardwork list last night. I cut back my clematis and the decorative grasses surrounding the cover for our septic system. The clematis had actually started to sprout already, so I unhappily cut off green bits as well as old dead bits. They tend to take off like a rocket. Apparently, they really like their current location. Anyway, I had promised myself that I was going to cut them down to within a foot or so of the ground this year and I made myself do it, like it or not. Ths means that my blooms this year will not overflow onto the back side of the trellis that’s against the house and no one sees. 😆 It also means that I can replace the trellis this year, which was plastic and has now warped and cracked mercilessly. I think I might go with wood this time.

Cutting back the grasses was the hardest part. Using the hedge shears (manual, not electric) exercised muscles that I didn’t even realize I had. I’m a little sore today as a result, but it’s a good kind of sore. I was just glad to be outside for a while. I worked up quite a sweat, even though I didn’t go out until after 6 PM.

Today is a bit cooler (highs in the low 60’s) and overcast, plus we have a work celebration tonight, so we won’t be home until later than normal. I’m actually glad to be back in at work, for some wierd reason. 😉 I got a lot of work done yesterday afternoon and night, so I’m quite pleased with what I accomplished. I completely redesigned the back-end of a Notes database that I originally wrote many years ago and was ugly as sin. I’ve been putting it off forever, but took the time while in Utah to get started and last night I put all of the pieces together and got it working. Now I have to verify and debug. Woohoo. 😉

I was supposed to have a meeting first thing this morning, so I was agitating about it, dropped Terry off and drove over. Had to park way off in Timbuktu, walked the whole way around the building, into reception and then found out that the meeting was canceled. So I had to walk the whole way back around to the car, drive back to my building, park in Timbuktu and walk the whole way to the building and up the unforgiving metal stairs. I was actually tired by the time I reached my cubicle. Does that count as my exercise for the day?

Speaking of exercise, I am being a good girl. I finally ordered a new PlayStation 2 to go upstairs in the master bedroom so that I can DDR without bumping into things (since the living room is too cramped for the dance pad, really). It should hopefully arrive early next week. I need to work off all of that restaurant food from last week.

No stitching last night, but I did cut a chunk of black fabric for the Seasonal Dragons RR and I made sure I had the fibers pulled for it. I also started the tedious work of entering all 200+ colors of Carrie’s Threads into Excel. I entered all of the colors, but need to tweak the entries. From there, it will get imported into my accounting software and then into the storefront. I’ll try to finish the spreadsheet and do the import into MS Accounting tonight. If not, I’ll stitch on Computer Wizard, since I have been such a horrible SAL partner to date.

We will see what the day brings. Have a happy one!

Posted in Life in General, Shop Talk, Stitching | 6 Comments

Pinch Me

… I must be dreaming. It’s still March and we’re in the 70’s today. It’s actually HOT outside! As in, keep the doors and windows closed because it’s cooler inside than out. As in, I ran out to the post office and then did a survey of the “grounds” when I got home and when I went inside, I was (and still am) sweating. My goodness!

It makes me want to take a vacation day, so I think I will take a few hours off today. It also makes me want to do (gasp!) yardwork. Can you believe it? Actually, it seems to be an ideal time to do a lot of things, like clear out areas before the weeds take over so that I can keep on top of things this year. I actually want to spread mulch, cut back decorative grasses, pull weeds, cut back my clematis and plant things. This is nuts. 😉

It is a gorgeous day!

Posted in Life in General | 8 Comments

Stitching to Share!

The first of what I expect to be at least a couple of photo-loaded posts this week, this one contains last week’s stitching finishes that I can share. There are two more that I can’t and one that isn’t yet finished.

First off were the two parts of Tor Rhuann Designs‘ Celtic Mission to Assisi:





Part 1 is a daffodil symbolizing St. David, the patron saint of Wales.
Stitched on white 28 ct. evenweave with GAST in Willow.
Part 2 is a shamrock symbolizing St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.
Stitched on white 28 ct. evenweave with WDW in Hunter.

And then there are my two reproductions of Periphaeria Designs‘ Alegria (a freebie available only from One Star’s Light Needlework Designs). I made a mistake on the one and the colors didn’t sequence as nicely, so I will make the two parts into a biscornu and hide the defective one on the bottom. 😉





Stitched on 28 ct. white Annabelle with Dragon Floss in Rudolf Red. Stitched on 28 ct. white Annabelle with Carrie’s Creation Thread in Wildberry Breeze.

And that’s all there is to share, for now!

Posted in Stitching | 12 Comments

Friday Adventures

I’m currently freezing cold in my hotel room, but outside of my window, it looks like yet another beautiful, sunny day in Salt Lake City! It’s our last day here and, to be honest, I could not be more relieved. While staying in a hotel can be fun, being in here nearly 24 hours a day for a week has just turned out to be a little much for me.

Actually, I think that the thing I like the least is eating out every night. Every once in a while is a nice treat, but every night has me feeling like I’m going to need to start walking when I get home to drop some extra weight. More than anything, though, I miss my sweet, fuzzy companion and bed-buddy, Phoebe. We saw a Pomeranian yesterday on the way to dinner. She was the same color as Phoebe, though about half the size, and being walked downtown. I just wanted to snatch her up and give her kisses galore!

We’re going to get out and about for a little bit today, which should be a nice way to end our stay here. Terry rented a car for the day and when he gets back from the conference around 2 PM, we’re going to take off for Ogden and the Shepherd’s Bush store! I’m going to try to refrain from buying too much, but I will try to remember to bring my camera with me so that I can take pictures to share with all of you. Can you believe he actually kept asking me if I wanted to go to Ogden? I think he just wanted an excuse to get out of the city, as well. Or he’s delirious. 😉

I may not post again until Sunday or so. Our flight leaves at 9 AM tomorrow, so we’ll have to be up outrageously early to catch a shuttle to the airport. We’ll get home after 4 PM, where Terry’s dad will pick us up from the airport, we’ll go back to his house to pack up Phoebe and then we’ll head home. I can’t wait to be home, even I’ll just be working on laundry and stitching on Barnabee’s Quest. It will just be nice to be back in the peace, quiet and comfort of my own home.

On the stitching front, I was unable to complete the one PIF gift that is nearly done because I didn’t bring any beading needles with me. Might see if I can pick one or two up at Shepherd’s Bush. I also started two new pieces with a third ready to start today. I started two copies of Alegria from Periphaeria Designs yesterday, finishing one last night and another one today. I think I’m going to start Kokopelli by Periphaeria Designs sometime today, as well. I was going to work on more PIF projects, but decided to have some fun just for me instead. I’ll share pictures when I get home, so watch out for some loaded posts in the near future! Oh, and please note that Alegria is a freebie that is now available with every purchase from One Star’s Light Needlework Supplies! This is an exclusive freebie available only at OSL. 😉

Posted in Life in General | 8 Comments

Happy Thursday!

I definitely pulled out of my slump yesterday. Terry is fighting some sinus issue, so he came back to the hotel a little bit early, so we cuddled for a bit while watching TV, then went for dinner, came back, dozed off for a while, got up again, cuddled some more, then went to sleep. I guess I needed some extra sleep to get me through.

I did go down to the lobby and get some productive work done yesterday. And I’ve been productive so far today, as well, from the moment we got up. The data center was upgrading one of my production servers today at noon EDT, so I was able to jump into work sooner than I have been this week. I’ve pretty much been online since. Right now, I’m trying to decide what to do about having the room serviced. I can’t go offline yet because there was a blip with the server upgrade and it’s not completely up and running yet. I can’t disappear until that’s fixed. I was giving them until 3:00 PM home time, but the two people who can fix the problem have fallen off of the map and they are out of time. I told my users that it would only take 2 hours to upgrade and we’re on hour 3, so I’m mildly peeved. I don’t like having to rely on unreliable people. But there’s nothing that I can do about it, so there’s no point in stressing. Thank goodness for reliable friends who will kick in when I need them! 😀

I even managed to get in some good stitching the past two days. I started two new PIF gifts on Tuesday, finished one last night and just have to add beads to the other today for a finish. Ironically, I completed the over one project faster. I was just able to zone out last night while Terry took a nap and I was watching TV. I then stayed up until it was done, knowing that I was so close. I think that I will need to spend Sunday doing finishing work, if I can.

And that’s my update for now. Another bright and sunny day in Salt Lake City! I cannot believe the amount of sunshine I get through the windows here in the hotel room. It’s better than sitting in the lobby. Terry is going to finish up around 1 PM tomorrow, so we’ll have time to do some exploring. I’m still contemplating renting a car and driving out to Ogden to go to the Shepherd’s Bush store. I just haven’t made up my mind yet. I know that I will end up adding more projects to my 50/65 Project challenge because I won’t be able to hold back. Could be dangerous!

Back to work for me now, though. I hope things wrap up soon because I’m really hungry for a nice chef’s salad for lunch. Mmmmm…

Posted in Life in General, Stitching | 6 Comments

I Have the Power

I had a rough day today. Just one of those down days where I didn’t manage to get out of bed until noon. I think part of it has to do with the heavy drapes in the hotel room that block out the sunlight. Good if you need to sleep during the day, but I rely on the sun to help me wake up, especially when I am depressed, so I think I may have Terry open the curtains before he leaves tomorrow morning, just in case.

It’s fascinating to me how things can quickly and easily snowball when your emotional and mental state is already somewhat fragile. I think part of it is hormonal, as well, as I am about a week away from cycling and I seem to get cranky, grumpy, weepy or whatever the week before. Add to that the fact that I did not get the 4 hours of work in yesterday that I wanted to and a message left on our answering machine at home about the electric bill that didn’t get paid before we left and I went to bed last night not feeling so great about myself. That led to being very tired in the morning and not wanting to get out of bed. Which led to full body aches, a headache and more general glumness.

But I was also able to pull myself out of it. I took a nice, hot shower, I sent a text message to Terry to have him call me on his next break so that I could attain some comfort from hearing his voice, I plotted out a course of work for myself so that I could feel like I was accomplishing something and I got a bite to eat. Now the sun is out, my aches are receding and I feel much more normal.

I am so grateful for such a caring husband and work to occupy my mind.

Posted in Journey to Self-Discovery, Life in General | 7 Comments

One Piece

Well, I made it in one piece. A little worse for wear, but it was a long day on Saturday. Our flight was delayed by two hours, most of which we spent sitting on the plane at the gate. First, they couldn’t find a pilot for the flight and then there was a problem with the left landing gear strut. We pretty much took it in stride, though, with just a few grumbles between us, but nothing like a woman two rows ahead of us who was dropping f-bombs and using all sorts of hideous language.

By the time we landed, most people had missed their connecting flights. I felt pretty bad for them, as it meant that they would be staying overnight in Salt Lake City. We finally arrived at our hotel at 11:00 PM local time (which felt like 1:00 AM to us). Terry waited in line to get us checked in, only to find that they were unable to find our reservation in their system. At this point, I was going to pass out in their lobby, whether they like it or not. 😉 They were able to get things straightened out, though, and we finally made it up to our room.

Of course, because the flight was so delayed (and they was no meal served on the flight, just snacks), we were ravenously hungry by the time we checked in. But the kitchenwas already closed for the night. So we went to bed with no dinner. Isn’t that a form of punishment? 😆

All is well now, though. I didn’t perforate either eardrum on the flight, though portions were mildly uncomfortable. I’m still chugging antibiotics, antihistamines and Sudafed, though I’m going to try to back off on the Sudafed. I think today is the last day of antibiotics, so maybe things will go back to normal soon. The sooner I can get my energy back, the happier I will be. I was winded yesterday evening just walking a few blocks, so I would dearly love to get back to normal. My body is still on Eastern time. I have a feeling that will change just in time to leave again. 😉

So, here I am, on a bright and beautiful Monday morning, with a high speed Internet connection that really isn’t that bad and I’m going to actually do some work. Unfortunately, the wireless access doesn’t work correctly – it keeps dumping me off and is as slow as dial-up, so I’m tethered to the desk, but I am so happy just to have access, I don’t care where I get it from!

They are experiencing an unusual heat wave here, so it is sunny, gorgeous and in the 70-80 degree range. I need to make sure that I get outside for a little bit each day and soak up the sunshine. I also want to try out their fitness area, too. So, I have a feeling that I will end up taking a few vacation days while I’m here, but I’ll just track my hours. After all, I’m all setup for work, so there is no excuse, except the wonderful world waiting right outside of my window. 😀

I hope that everyone has (had) a happy Monday!

Posted in Life in General | 11 Comments

Almost Gone

Me, not my sinus infection. At Terry’s urging, I went to the doctor yesterday to get checked out. I told her that I had to get on a plane tomorrow afternoon. She then took stats and looked in both of my ears. Her response was, “How long do we have to get you better?” So, I went to the pharmacy and came home loaded up with things to swallow, things to snort, more things to swallow and a strong desire not to perforate an eardrum on the way to Utah. The doctor said that inside my left ear looks like a big, yellow balloon. Woohoo! Terry’s comment was that from what he’s heard, at least it feels better once the eardrum bursts. Gee, thanks honey! 😆

I’ve been taking it easy the past few days, staying home from work, trying to get lots of rest. Oh yeah, I was supposed to be drinking lots of water. Shucks. I had better get on that. I woke up with a sinus headache this morning. Everything shifted to the left side a day or so ago, so that pretty much supports the doctor’s conclusion that the right side is clearing out. I took some Sudafed (you know, the good stuff that you actually have to ask the pharmacist for now *much rolling of the eyes and a few grumbles about the majority having to pay for the stupidity of a few*), some Excedrin and laid with my face on a heating pad for a little while and the pain went away. I was sorely tempted to call the doctor’s office this morning and ask for her to phone in some knock-out pills so that I could just be passed out through the whole flight. Somehow, I didn’t think that would go over well. 😉

I am resigned to my fate, whatever it may be, but I would certainly appreciate some healing thoughts, if you have any to spare. I never used to have sinus problems before a year ago. Phooey!

On the weather front, ice has been spitting out of the sky all day, with no end in sight. Airlines have already cancelled flights, so we’ll be keeping a wary eye on Delta’s website for the next 24 hours before we leave for the airport. I probably won’t check in again until sometime Monday. We’ll be packing up and leaving for Terry’s dad’s tonight, provided the roads are passable, then going to the airport about this time tomorrow and skiing all day on Sunday (hopefully).

I wish I could take Phoebe with me. It would be so comforting to have her in the hotel with me during the day while Terry’s gone. 🙂 But I’m taking work, a couple of books, some drawing materials, a Gameboy and lots of stitching with me, so if I end up bored, it will be my own fault. Heehee!

Well, the dryer just stopped and I’m still thinking of things to be packed, so I should go. Besides, now might be a good time for a nap!

Posted in Life in General | 8 Comments