Riding the Snooze Train

Riding the Snooze Train, originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

This morning was a rare morning in that Annabeth was not awake by the time i came into her room, in fact she was so asleep I was able to take a few photos with a flash!...How often does that opportunity come along?

Pirates creed

Pirates creed, originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

Hey folks, sorry for the messed up photo but i took it in a hurry the other day to post for you my progress...I am actually down to the word morale as of yesterday evening.

In other totally random news. I heard that a classmate of Annabeth's was potty trained already...and she is one month younger (19 months) than my baby. My gut reponse...after i stopped sputtering (cause I know the realistic average age for girls is like 30 months)...Let's get the walking down first. UPDATE: we started walking holding on to one hand this week...but not with confidence

Potty training is so far from priority for us it is closer to graduate high school on the lifetime goal list. I guess it just took me by surprise.

Punkin Patches

Pumpkin Patches
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

All DONE! So this is my 2nd finish of 2009. and I really like it. I would love to frame it in the same frame as the cover model. (Hmm I never noticed it was spelled punkin not pumpkin on the pattern!) I have started a quick Sue Hillis item, but Annabeths birth sampler is calling me from a drawer (I started it and messed up on the placement...so I need to wake it up from its nap and rippit.)

The Black Hole..... no not my stitching closet, the actual "The Black Hole"

Tie that binds
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

Hello everyone. I am so close to finishing Pumpkin Patches I can smell it ...and then I run out of Maple Syrup (the Gast color not the pankake topping).Oh well...soon maybe.

Here is my finished secret project for my sisters wedding that i had done in the final months of 08 that I could not tell you about. It is the Tie that Binds By La Di Da. I did it in the called for DMC in evenweave. I did it by Christmas so my mom could get it framed for my sister ...but due to unforseen issues it didnot make it back from the framers till a couple of weeks ago. So there you go. the colors look more intense in the photo then they are in real life. it is much more muted.

I stitched last night to an old movie "The Black Hole" Yeah... see...I was like 5 when that came out and remember the posters but never saw it. I am trying to catch up on all the old movies you were supposed to see but never did (like Tron...saw that a couple of months ago for the first time). Hmmm is 1979 considered old? It is in special effects certianly an antique. I had higher hopes for this movie. But the music...the music was horrible. I HATE it when the music doesn't go with the emotional tone of the scene. If you notice the music it is the wrong music for the scene...and the acting was a bit on the lazy side too. and Ernest Borgnine...what is it with him? why is he always the guy who screws it all up...in every movie he is in!

Oh well it was cool to see Arthur Petrelli (from Heroes) in his young self

Ornament finish and economy update/opinion

DSCN2195[1]
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

Hey there loyal followers. (I say loyal cause well at least you are checking on me once in a while). I finished up a 2 sided ornament last week and wanted to show it off. Here is Jeanette Douglas' purple Christmas ball ornament for the 2008 JCS ornament issue, on the back is the one from the preview issue that was put out in november. I kinda like the blue one better it seems better defined.

DSCN2194[1]
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

Currently I am working on Pumpkin Patches and Miss Mary Mack... On patches I have the Border almost done and have the 2nd pumpkin and backstitching yet to do. On Miss I have finished the wording and have to do the border...no need to check the pattern type of border that goes on forever!

In other news...I don't usually get very personal on this blog and I do not speak about politics... But the economy has finally hit us. Back in October when all the fiancial institutions were crashing, I listened but noted that we were not involved in any of them so we were ok. We have some retirement funds but they were not affected....until the stock market started to plumet..then we listened to the stock market experts and did not pull our money..we kept our contributions the same and are still contributing today even into our daughters high risk/high yield (supposedly) 529 account. We have just stopped opening the statements that arrive by mail or email...we would just get depressed at the negative numbers. But I still trust that what Money magazine has to say...that it will turn around, and that our money is currently purchasing cheap stocks that will someday rise.

Ian and I are young and we have no debt other than our house, which we bought well within our means and refinanced a year ago for a fixed rate. And we know we have some time to make up for those neg numbers that arrive in our mailbox. But I think we continued on as usual spending as we would until About 1 month ago. Ian started to come home from work early...or told not to come in at all...some week he gets in a full 40 hours, others barely 10. So we slowed our spending, we cut back our grocery budget, and stopped talking about new furniture for the living room. Yesterday he comes home saying they are officially fuloughing the entire hanger half time..What? It works like this: Ian works 1 week then is off 1 week....they are trying this for 1 month...but i think it will be for much longer. So he is unemployed every other week. We think he can file for unemployment...but it seems kinda wierd to do so.

And since it took us 5 months to feel the effect of the recession I think it will take at least 10 months for us to feel the recovery (whenever that might be) .

I listen to the debates over what caused all of this and how to fix it and I have no idea ...BUT I do know how to keep it from happening agian: Fiscal responsibility is not taught and it needs to be. Seriously. My generation (X) was not engaged about how to save, or spend wisely, or not to use credit cards, and encouraged to purchase houses beyond our means (mainly cause we don't understand credit) Ian and I qualified for a home loan that was out of our reach...and we only bought a home that we could afford. People are yelling we shouldn't help those who bought houses that were too big...but I find more fault with the educational system that did not teach them to say no to the offer and fault with the offers in the first place. THIS will fix the system. NJ is on the right track...this is the stimulus the country needs. is it immediate, no, but seriously I do not think anything in the actual stimulus package now is or could be anyway. So until my generation trains the younger about how to properly use and respect money ....this will happen again.

Hangin out

{For some reason Flickr is not wanting to post my picture, click on the link to see it}


So here is my progress on Pumpkin Patches by Full Circle Designs. I loved this design because it was so colorful. I am still liking it cause of that. I am able to get a couple of blocks done a night, so it is going quickly.
Tomorrow I get to have another stitching day with my Tarheel stitchers. It costs me a small fortune in babysitter fees, but well I would really miss it if i didn't go.
Annabeth is starting to communicate better, we now say "Bye bye" well, and are signing "more","ball", "help" and "dog". aong with saying the first couple of letters mo, ba, he, do etc they all sound the same...it's all in the context. She is walking if you hold both hands, her balance just needs to catch up. (I HOPE!) I am getting tired of the not walking thing, I don't think anyone is meant to carry 25 pounds of almost 2 year old very far . If she isn't walking by her second birthday I may sell her to the highest bidder (before you get to excited I think her grandparents are first in that line.)

Valentine exchange

DSCN2188[1]
Originally uploaded by Stitching scientist.

April said she got it but hasn't posted a photo yet,so I think it is ok if I do. I stitched this Valentine Heart by Dragonfly Stitches on some nice white linen with overdyed DMC, and finished it as a pinkeep. First time I tried that...I am pretty happy with it.

I have more stitching for you this week...I might post tomorrow!