Dear Secret Santa

I got the most unusual surprise the other day. Mary Kathryn emailed me to say that a Secret Santa had purchased a gift certificate for me from her store! I was completely speechless and even more speechless because I have no idea who this person is. Apparently she is someone who reads my Blog but Mary Kathryn wouldn't say any more than that. Boy, she can keep a secret ;o) LOL!

So Secret Santa, whoever you are, I want to thank you SO MUCH for such a generous gift! Why you chose to send it to me, I have no idea. I wish I knew who you were so I could thank you properly. When my order arrives, I will post a picture so you can see what I bought :o) It was like having Christmas all over again!

I do apologize that it has taken me this long to send out a thank you but I only found out two days ago. Apparently Mary Kathryn had emailed me awhile back but I did not respond. I was having email problems for a few days in December and lost a number of emails so it may have been part of that disaster >:o( I am truly blessed to have such a generous friend out there :o)

I see that I have been given an award as well -

Thank you Erynne :o) I'm very honoured.

So here are the threads attached to receiving this award:

- list five addictions
- name five other Bloggers that are fabulous

Okay, so what am I addicted to... LOL! Well, most of you know ECEs for one ;o) Along with that would be the mail, cross stitch, cleanliness and spending money.

Now this is the part that I hate so please don't feel bad if your Blog is not mentioned because all the Blogs that I have on my Google Reader are fabulous :o) So I send this award, in no particular order, out to -

Nancy
Lili
Suzanne
Olga
Annie

What Kind Of Rubbers Do You Prefer?

For years I've avoided using them, just ask DH ;o) I never liked them to begin with anyway. I always hated the feel and the smell that they left on your hands. At some point they'd develop a hole so what was the sense in using them to begin with? There's no protection at that point! So they were thrown away, never to be used again.

Then my life changed... I was at the drug store the other day and decided to take a look at what they had available on the market now. I was amazed! I just stood there staring at the different kinds and reading the pro and cons of each brand. I imagine people were walking by me wondering why I was putting so much thought into my decision ;o)

I hummed and hawed, wondering if I was going to be crazy enough to spend $4.99 when I could easily find them at the dollar store. Of course the quality would be a lot different and I'd probably be in the same boat as before. Then I thought..."Hey, this is my life and I should get something that feels good to me!"

When I got home, I took them out of their package. There was no smell! I touched them and they didn't even feel like anything I was used to. They provided such a wonderful feel and were so soft to the touch. I was excited! I even told my dad about them :o) I can't wait to tell DH now because he will be pleasantly surprised.

I 'highly' recommend these and trust me; it will never be the same again once you try them. You'll be amazed! Go crazy! Try something new :o) So if you're out one day and want to pick up this product, here's what you look for -

ROFLOL!!!! GOTCHA! Enjoy washing those dishes ;o)

Stash Acquisition

This post is long overdue, although I don't have 'a lot' to show you but hey, stash is stash right? LOL!

For my shopping treat during our USA trip, I opted to stop at the Yankee Cross Stitch shop in New Hampshire. Now, I have been there once before and was not happy with the service but I thought I would give them a second chance. I shouldn't have wasted my time :o( I was the only person in the shop and I wasn't even greeted, acknowledged or asked if I needed help. They didn't have any-thing on my list either but I did manage to pick up two things -

If you ever get the chance, it is definitely worth it to go and look at all their display models. There's a lot of enabling there but it doesn't really work if you don't have those items in stock :oS

I also got DH to do a detour just so that I could visit Where Victoria's Angels Stitch. It's a shop in New Jersey and I had never been there. Talk about disappointment when I saw the closed sign on the door :o( They had taken a few days off 'before' Christmas instead of after.

I was browsing on ABC Stitch one day and came across a few charts that I couldn't resist since they were on sale for really good prices -

Do you realize that the Family Reunion pattern is actually a 46 page book? I'm really looking forward to personalizing this one :o)

Christmas did not disappoint either, as far as stash goes. My parents bought me the rest of the silks I needed for The Shores Of Hawk Run Hollow! Yipee :o)

I also tracked down the latest issue of the Cross Country Stitching magazine because I wanted to continue my collection of their snowman pieces. Lori from Enchanted Fabrics sent me some more gorgeous fabric and the Mirabilia you see, My Lady's Garden, was found at a used book store the other day :o)

Oh, and if you haven't realized already, my Stash Diet went out the window long ago ;o) LOL!

Unscheduled Post

I was going to post about my new stash today but something more appropriate came up ;o) I apologize if this offends anyone. I wonder if my doctor would write me a prescription for these -

Sorry, I just couldn't resist. LOL! I'll post pictures of stash tomorrow, I promise :o)

What Are My Goals For 2009?

I'm a little behind with this as well although I did post them in the Graveyard back on January 12 :o)

I can't tell you how pleased I am with the system that I used last year. It was structured but it did allow a lot of room to choose what I wanted to stitch. Out of 13 projects, I managed to stitch 12! That is a 92% success rate :o) Woohoo! Because I found it so successful, I've decided to use the same method again this year. The only thing I'm going to change will be the number of projects because I know that this will be a busy year for us and my stitching time will be cut short.

This is what I would like to accomplish in 2009 -

• one large project (I have this narrowed down to a Lanarte or a L&L design) ~ 0/1 done
• one medium project (I've already started on one so hopefully I'll finish it) ~ 0/1 done
• two small projects (this would include patterns by Bent Creek, HIH, LK, etc.) ~ 0/2 done
• five ornament size projects (this would include anything in the JCS ornament issues and patterns of similar size) ~ 1/5 done!

As you can see, I've narrowed it down to nine projects so we'll see how well I do. Maybe I can reach a 100% success rate this year :o)

Eleventh Finish For 2008

I know, I know, I'm a little late with this one :oS I think I've teased you long enough so here is La-D-Da's Alphabet With Hare sampler -

I believe it was Debbie who had the first correct answer :o)

To be honest, this finish has been giving me fits for over a month. My original idea was to stitch the rabbit a different colour, namely brown, and I did. But the only brown silk I had that would go was too close to the colour of the fabric so I had to rip it out :o( So, I started stitching him with the Poison Apple silk and didn't Mr. Frog come to visit. Grrrr! I have come to the conclusion that when the frog comes a knockin', that's an indication that I put my stitching down and come back to it at a later time. Maybe I'm getting smarter in my older age ;o)

We {Heart} New York & Walgreens

The Holiday Saga continues...

Someone must have figured that I needed a break because by Sunday, December 21, I was feeling pretty close to human again so just after lunch DH and I decided to pack up and head out on our trip. It was a good thing we did too because just as we neared Bangor, Maine, we ran into a bad snow storm that was coming up the coast. We debated about trying to get to Portland but with so many whiteouts on the I-95, we wisely decided against it.

The next morning we woke up to...snow. I wish I had been quicker with my camera because there were at least half a dozen transports off the road. We drove as far as Freeport, Maine, and took a quick shopping break :o) DH did very well in the clothing department, so well that I now call him a Clothes Horse. LOL! It was serious driving after that and we made it as far as Danbury, Connecticut.

DH wanted to call his sister to let her know we'd be in the next day. Do you know how frustrating it is not to have a cell phone (that works in the US) or a calling card???? Don't even get me started on those pre-paid phone cards or trying to locate a pay phone! Then I spotted Walgreens. Surely they would have one. I asked the clerk behind the counter and he said no but that I could go back to the photo counter and make my call there. I told him it was a long distance call and he said it was okay. Huh? Just to make sure I heard him right, I explained it to him again. His response..."It's within the country right?" O-kay... How nice was that! We Heart Walgreens :o)

On December 23, DH and I finally reached our destination in Summit, New Jersey! What a beautiful spot. My DSIL and DBIL have a lovely home and they made us feel more than welcome there. We were able to spend a bit of time with our nephew before he was scheduled to fly to England for the Christmas holidays and we were really happy about that :o) Brie was reintroduced to her cousins Casey and Stella and by the end of the trip, she was having a grand time.

For Christmas Eve, DSIL cooked a turkey dinner and was it ever delicious! Even Stella thought so :oS I can't tell you how nice it was to have a home cooked meal again :o) DH and I were greeted with a Baked French Toast Casserole for breakfast the next morning, made by DBIL. Seriously, check the recipe out! Christmas day was pretty quiet so we decided to take the dogs for a walk in Liberty State Park. The park is located just on the other side of the river from New York City so we were able to see the skyline -

The magnificent woman herself (although we could only see the back of her) -

And Ellis Island with its wonderful history -

The next day, December 26, we ventured into "The City" by train and arrived in Penn Station. Can you guess the first thing I spotted? A KRISPY KREME! The only one that was even remotely close so I just had to stop ;o) When we emerged above ground, it was everything I remembered and more. Poor DH was completely dazed though. The day before when he saw New York from across the river, it looked so peaceful to him. ROFL! I just told him to go with the flow.

We pretty much did a walking tour where we got to see the New York Library with its awesome and inspiring sculptures -

At Bryant Park we watched the skaters, we saw the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building (from a distance), Macy's, and Saks was all decked out for Christmas -

There were actual line ups in order to see the window displays!

Rockefeller Center was packed so I took the best picture that I could -

We went by the NBC Studios Rainbow Room, Radio City Music Hall and Cartier's -

On the way to Tiffany's we passed by The Disney Store and Trump Tower. Unfortunately we didn't have much time to shop so it was no little blue box for me :o(

On our way to the show, the Big Apple Circus, we saw the carriage rides -

that go through Central Park -

One of the many street performers -

By the time the show was done, and I finally got rid of "the devil child", it was dark outside and for the first time, I got to see New York City at night. My love for this place re-surfaced and it bit DH as well :o) Don't get me wrong, we don't want to live there! But there is just SO much to see and DO. We made our way towards Times Square and there people e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-re -

Even though we weren't there for New Year's Eve, at least we got to see the ball that would have been dropped -

Luckily I was notified ahead of time, so when we came upon the M&M Store, I just had to check it out :o) It was THREE floors stuffed with M&M candy, clothes, ornaments, you name it -

The store was so crowded that they had people directing traffic. The salesperson that rang up our order told us it was like that e-v-e-r-y day. Oye!

New York City truly IS the city that never sleeps. Unfortunately, after a day like that, Pumpkin slept for 14 hours straight ;o) LOL! We can't thank our DSIL and DBIL enough for such a fun filled day.

And So It Begins...Again :o)

Oh Karen! Lori-Ann! Lookie what I found today -

WOOHOOOOO!!!!

Just in case some of you didn't know, I'm OBSESSED with Cadbury Easter Cream Eggs :o) I just LOVE them! Love, love, love them! One of my favourite gifts last year was a basket full of a dozen pink flowers, each with its own Easter Cream Egg inside. Drooool :oP'''''

I know two years ago my record was 40 eggs but for the life of me, I can't seem to find my total for last year :o( I think it was 50. I know it was more than 40, let me put it that way ;o)

So...from now until they're gone, you'll see my total eggs consumed being tracked on my side bar. Anyone else up for the challenge or are you too chicken???? ;o)

Tenth Finish For 2008

A little late I know but I couldn't post any pictures until the recipient received it :o) This is Peppermint Paul by Helga Mandl from the November 2008 issue of The Gift Of Stitching magazine -

So who did I stitch this Christmas ornament for? My DH, since it was so conveniently named after him :o) Every year we get each other a Christmas ornament but this year was a little different. A sign of change and new traditions I think. Anyway, he loved it and I'm so pleased. I even stitched the name Peppermint Paul into the border -

This was such a fun pattern to stitch. I changed almost everything. The fabric is 28 count Dusty Green Jobelan. It's such a gorgeous color and it really shows off the red and white threads. All the fibers were DMC except his scarf and for that I used Christmas Time by Threadworx.

I knew he was going to be made into a pin keep but I didn't realize just how hard it was to find fabric with peppermints on it! I checked all over town and finally had to search the internet. The funny thing is, I got the wrong material but in the end it turned out to be the perfect match!

I know some of you are still waiting to hear about our trip to New York and I'm working on that post so never fear, it will be posted here eventually! I told you I had a lot of things to catch you up on :o) LOL!

Look Who's Sleeping In My Bed

Where Has The Time Gone?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Nope, that's definitely not right...

MERRY CHRISTMAS! No, that's pretty much history now so what's the point.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Holy crap, is it 2009 already???? By the looks of the calendar, it seems that I'm seven days late. WHERE has the time gone? More importantly, WHERE have I been? LOL!

I know a lot of you have been wondering and to be honest, I never expected to stay away from my Blog for this long. I knew that I was going to take a break while DH was home but two weeks turned into one hell of a month. At least I have A LOT to update you on so be prepared ;o)

When I last left you, I had moved into my new bachelorette pad and I was counting down the days until DH's arrival. On December 15, I went to lunch with Katie and Faith Ann and I finally found out who had my name for our Christmas ornament exchange :o) Faith Ann got very creative and put together this lovely stocking for me -

Notice the bunnies ;o) It was also filled with Lindt chocolates. Does she know what I like or what? Thank you my friend!

The following day is when things started to fall apart... I woke up shortly before midnight with a strange feeling washing over me. It didn't take me long to figure out what it was. Luckily I get plenty of notice when I'm going to throw up. Yup, I threw up every hour for almost twelve hours straight. Then it was diarrhea :o( Things were clearing up by Wednesday night so I still had hope of picking up DH on Friday.

It seems that my body had other ideas though... Because my immune system was completely shot and I was tired and weak, vertigo decided to set in and even walking the few feet to the kitchen was a major feat. I was sleeping about 22 hours a day but I still had hope for Friday. You know what they say, the power of positive thinking right? Yeah...that doesn't work.

Even though I still did not feel anywhere near human, I peeled myself out of bed and into the shower the morning of the 19th. I cannot describe how much I wanted to see DH and I was prepared to do just about anything to make that happen. Apparently, again, my body had other ideas. During my shower I started having trouble breathing. I knew I was weak so I figured I'd just take my time and rest when I needed to. But when I got out of the shower, my breathing just got worse :o( I called Mom and Dad for something, I can't remember what, but I remember Dad telling me to call 911 for an ambulance.

Now I've made really good use of our Medicare system over the years but I had yet to ride in an ambulance. My memory is sketchy about the first bit but I seem to recall people asking me questions and hovering over me. I thought at one point I saw a hunky looking fireman but then again, I "was" hallucinating ;o)

What I "do" remember is that my arms and legs started going numb and it got to a point where I was unable to move them. The more I realized this, the worse my breathing became. Apparently, I was having a panic attack and all the energy I was putting into my breathing was taking away from my extremities. The doctor came and explained that I was dehydrated and that my body was 'eating' itself from the inside out. Sounds appealing doesn't it?

So, I was pricked, stabbed and speared with needles. They pumped a bag of solution into me within one hour and let me tell you, that is NO picnic. For one thing, it HURTS and for another, it's like running ice water through your veins. Brrrrr! I was SO thankful for some apple juice and toast. Honestly, toast never tasted SO good :o)

Thankfully my parents came and took charge ;o) Dad drove to Moncton and picked up DH while Mom stayed with me. By the time the guys arrived back, my sense of humour was returning and they discharged me from the hospital...

WELCOME HOME SWEETIE!!!! I took great care in dressing for your return. I know how you love the baggy fleece look. You know the pink ones that are five times too big on me. I thought that I would try something new with my hair and do the wet look. It works especially well in this -15C weather. Those dark circles under my eyes and the gray hue to my skin is a new look this year. I believe they call it Death Warmed Over.

Definitely NOT the reunion I had kept playing around in my head but I was happy to see him no matter what state I was in ;o)

Stay tuned for our New Jersey/New York trip!

Where Have I Been?

Don't worry, I wasn't abducted by aliens! Although maybe that would have been less painful than the process of packing and moving ;o) LOL!

Yesterday was THE day. The movers arrived shortly after 9 am. I couldn't have picked a worse day to move too :oS It rained, or should I say 'poured', ALL day. It went rather quickly and smoothly although there were a few issues and I have no idea what our stuff will look like when it comes out of storage. That's the problem with doing something like this on your own; you can only be in one place at one time.

Mom and Dad were a huge help and I thank them SO much! I think I was either too worn out or too overwhelmed and it was nice to have someone else there to make some of the decisions for me. There are still a few things that I need to pick up but after that, the place will be completely empty! I have to do a quick clean up but that won't take very long. I wish the closing date was now instead of the 30th because at this point, I just want that break.

I'm now settled into my bachelorette apartment :o) Brie is starting to get used to the new digs but I think the poor thing is quite confused. Here are a few pictures of my little space -

Yes, that's Stitch! LOL! Around the corner just off to the right is the bathroom but I don't think you want to see a picture of that ;o)

This is my new stitching area, not that I have done any stitching there yet. Thankfully I decided to keep my big Ott-Lite with me.

No need to wonder where I'm Blogging from anymore. I have a pool right outside my room although it might be just a 'tad' bit too cold for a swim right now ;o) LOL!

Finally my little kitchen area. Cute isn't it? I don't know how much 'cooking' I'll be doing but it does serve a function.

So what do you think? I told you it was small ;o) Notice how much stash I have around the room though? I'll need something to get me through the cold winter months. LOL!

Anyway, it's good to be back. I'm still catching up on my reading and hopefully my next post will be about stitching ;o)

My Early Christmas Present

When I woke up yesterday morning, I expected it to be just like any other day. I'd had a rough night sleep wise and my stress level definitely wasn't on the downward slope but I was going to Moncton with my parents to visit my Gram and hey, that's always a good thing :o)

Gram has been in the hospital for about a month now and things aren't looking good :o( Based on her physical and mental capabilities, the doctors have assessed her as a Level 2 and that means she should be in a special care home. Having been completely independent for the last 28 years of her life, she is 'not' happy with this and therefore, has not been the easiest patient. Seeing that she is my favourite grandmother (let me put it this way, I'm 'her' favourite too) and someone very special to me, I've been very upset and worried about her. My idea was to have a little talk with her and see exactly how she was feeling.

We arrived at the hospital shortly after 11 am and as I turned the corner into Gram's room, my heart and my feet stopped. Sitting beside her was a male visitor and the last person I expected to see...my incredibly handsome DH!!!! If the situation had been more appropriate, I would have run and jumped right into his arms :o) But even though I couldn't, it was still THE BEST present! We've been away from each other for six weeks now and let me tell you, it was SO good to see him He had driven five hours. Five hours! I wasn't just pleasantly surprised, I was extremely grateful for having the most amazing husband/best friend :o) He has never failed to be there when I need him the most. Never :o)

Thankfully we have less than two weeks left but hopefully they will go by quickly. I get the keys to my bachelorette pad on Tuesday and the movers are coming on Friday. The sale of the house doesn't close until December 30, but in a week I'll be out of here. Done. Prepared to move forward :o) I'm so tired of organizing, sorting and packing. When this is all done, I want to sleep for a week. I know that's not going to happen but at least maybe I can dream about it ;o)

Speaking of dreaming, I'll be having sweet dreams about DH until I pick him up on the 19th :o) Thank you so much for such an amazing Christmas gift Sweetie! So much so that you're off the hook with the little blue box. LOL!

Another Hint

My goodness girls! So far, no one has even guessed! To ease the suspense, I'm going to give you a few hints ;o)

Yes, it is a sampler, although a small one. It's actually a freebie that came out about a month ago and contains one of my favourite animals :o)

Here's another progress picture with a little 'tiny' clue -

This picture is much better than the one yesterday although it's been hard to recreate the true rich colors of the silk and linen. I'm actually stitching this project with what the designer recommends and I'm very pleased with the results. The silk is Poison Apple Belle Soie by Crescent Colours and the linen is Straw by Weeks Dye Works. It's very difficult to capture in a picture but there is a touch of the silk color in the fabric. It's just sooooo pretty :o)

Who thinks they can figure it out now?

New WIP

As I said in my last post, I know the two projects that I want to work on next so I've already started the smaller one. This design calls for Belle Soie by Crescent Colours and OMG...it's heavenly to use!!!! I've used Caron's silks before but this stuff is yummy :o) The color is pretty accurate in the picture but the color of the fabric is a bit off. It's only been a couple of days but I'm really pleased with my progress -

Can you guess the pattern and the designer? I'm going to leave it at that and see how good you guys really are ;o) How's that for a big tease? LOL!