Aftermath and Stitching Catchup

Things have been quiet this week. The town is still in COVID mode, so everything is empty (but we are still at work), but at least the roads around me are open. I've been careful to avoid the tornado damaged areas, just out of helpfulness of the cleanup crews and out of considerations of the homeowners, but I did circle around the backside of the trailer park Tuesday morning as I went to drop off my lot rent. I was surprised to see a lot of the trailers in the back had tarps on their roofs, so there was some damage, but I was even more surprised to see the field behind the trailer park.

I knew the airport behind us was destroyed, as was the subdivisions all around. As I sat in the tub, basically waiting to die, I distinctly remember hearing the roaring & sounds of destruction it made as it approached, the sound of a train (and I told my Sister "it does sound like a train!" because that's the way they always describe it on TV...it was an actual train I heard, because the train itself got flipped, half on one side of the tracks, half on the other). Then all got quiet for about a minute before the sounds of destruction of roaring started again. I just figured that "quiet" sound was the field behind the trailer park. It was actually the airfield. What I heard the second time was this...the field directly behind the trailer park:

And a zoomed in view of the destruction in that area, although they had been cleaning it up, you can still see some of one house is still in the yard of the other house, but the pile of tree limbs was removed from the train tracks:

That, my friends, is how close it got to us! I knew it was close, but not THAT close! I'm not so sure I will be the "steady" one the next time a storm comes rolling through. But, just for fun, here are some shots of my house with the power out. Typically, I've always been a candle queen, but since the invention of Scentsy's (and the fact that Yankee Candle has significantly gone downhill in quality), I couldn't find but two candles in my house and two oil lamps! I did eventually find a gallon-sized ziplock bag of tealights though, so my obsession with Moroccan lights finally served a purpose! So for several hours, this is the view I saw:






Creepy, but cool, right? One thing about oil lamps though, for asthmatics, they put off a horrible smell! It may have been because they are old, but UGH! I couldn't open the windows or front door because the factory that burned down was putting off toxic chemical smells (ironically, they made air purifiers and green products, so I'm not sure why the air was so toxic), so it got pretty hot...up to 85 degrees! Eventually though, it started raining and dissipated the toxicity of the outside air and I was able to open what few windows I can open and it eventually got better (I have huge furniture in front of most all my windows due to a break-in attempt about 20 years ago), until after they put us on a city-wide curfew and then everyone seemed to come out of their houses for some reason and was standing on the street! Curfew means off the streets and stay in your houses, not stand in the streets, congregating and drinking! Social distancing people! If there wasn't so much alcohol involved, I probably would have yelled out the door "SOCIAL DISTANCING!". Eventually, I just got too freaked out and was afraid everyone would get too riled up and start looting or something and closed the door for the night.

But, by Sunday, everything had calmed down, so the door and window got opened again (and it was a much cooler day anyway). I made a HUGE pot of chili and froze it. I baked a ham, made a red velvet cake (although I should have cleaned up the stand before taking a picture apparently...it looks sloppy!):


I was stitching the day of the tornado and stitched a bit the day after. I switched from Alice and the B's to Happy Haunts (which I haven't stitched on since April 29, 2019) on March 22nd, but have only stitched on it the 3 days since. My heart hasn't been in it lately. But I left off here back last year:

And didn't make it very far in the three days I did stitch on it thanks to all the "action":

Now, since I have to start cataloging my collection (Disney and otherwise), I'm not sure how much stitching I'll be doing at all, unless I keep weekends for stitching (since, at least for now, I'm not working on the weekends) and do the cataloging during the weeknights. We'll see. Or maybe I'll stitch at night and catalog on the weekends? Again, I'll have to see how it goes. I've ordered a photography light box to help take pictures of everything, so I have to wait for that to come in first.

As extra precautions, I've ordered a little lamp that is supposed to last pretty long during a power outage (instead of the oil lamps) and I got it in today...it's pretty bright at it's highest setting! I'm going to get a couple more. I also ordered a phone case that has a built-in battery (so I don't have to go to the car to charge my phone...or in case next time my car gets crushed like most of the ones at the mall). I need to get more candles too, but that's for the next time I can get up the courage to go to the store (if the stores stay open...Target is in the mall, so it is definitely closed!).

But I'm also going to start focusing on getting my credit cards paid off so I can get a "real" house (not that having a "real" house helped some of these people, but still). Granted, I just spent a crap-ton of money to prepare for the next storm and to have stuff to catalog my current stuff with, but does that count? I've settled on a house plan and I will no longer fight my Sister and Brother-in-Law with whatever financial assistance they want to give. It was mentioned once that my Brother-in-Law was just going to give me the lot and I got very upset about that because I wanted to pay for it all myself...now? I'll take it bro! Anything to get me out the trailer park quicker! Unfortunately, the town I'm moving to isn't any safer, tornado-wise, than the one I live in now, and neither can have basements because the water-table is too high (we live in the Mississippi River flood plain), but I will either have a safe room or a storm cellar, that's for sure! Wonder how much it would cost to get the ENTIRE duck room turned into a safe room? Probably more than the entire house cost! Might be cheaper than a lifetime of insurance on the collection though, right?

Thanks for everyone's well wishes, and keep up the wishes because storm season has just begun!

Weekly Stitching (still trying!)

Well, I won't spoil anything, but I am happy with the ending I got with Avengers Endgame. It is the absolute best movie I've ever seen in my entire life and totally worth the 11 years investment! So much happened in that 3 hours and 3 minutes and it was amazing how every previous 21 movies played into this epic saga, even the most minute detail you didn't even think was important in some of the lesser movies. I laughed, I bawled (a lot), I yelled, I did cuss out loud, and I cheered, but like I guessed, I certainly was not alone! There was a big guy sitting next to me that pretty much cried every single time I did! I just need the Blu-Ray to come out soon so I can analyze every second of the movie frame by frame and then watch them all in chronological order!

But enough about that for now. I went back to working on a smaller stitch project, but I also didn't even stitch anything until Saturday night, so I'm going to start my two weeks rotation this week. I left off on Happy Haunts at the row finish back in December of 2017 (seriously, 2018 must have REALLY sucked for me stitch-wise!):

and I barely did anything Saturday and some Sunday, so there isn't much to show, but here you go:

When I wound it up, it was amazing to me how dirty the scroll row was! I guess that's what happens when a project sits around for over a year!

One more Avengers comment, I did buy another pattern last week, one for Endgame, I just couldn't help myself:

At first, I really was debating hard about buying this pattern because, although Cap is in the foreground, he's kind of overpowered by several other characters, but knowing what I do now (and that's not a spoiler, just an observation about how my opinions about other characters have changed now for various reasons), I'm really glad I got it! But, before I start on the Endgame one, I want to do this one for Cap first (unless I find a better one between now and then):

And I plan to start it soon, but I think the Endgame one will be right afterwards (again, unless I find a better one for that one too).

I'm a bad, bad duck!

Yep, only days ago I said I wasn't going to do any new starts. I had valid reasons...I already have too many projects going as it is, I may never finish the ones I have going now, especially since they are all so big, etc. Well, Aspers are good at logic, but following through with it is another story because we are often led more by our hearts than our heads, despite the strong argument that logic may give. We want what we want, when we want it and how we want it, consequences be damned sometimes.

A thought occurred to me on the way to work one day this week...I have all these great projects in my stash, charts that I have whole collections of from a small number of designers, but I tend to only work on HAEDs or Neni's and I decided that it's just not fair to those other designers! So I chose some patterns from my favorite online designers and decided it was time to branch out...in more ways than one (but more on that in a moment).

I know I'm overdue on a FanGirl Stitches and I think the Supernatural Alphabet is calling to me (probably because I'm binge watching it yet again after finishing The X Files, again), but that's another really short project (less than a month if I force it), so they may pop up too at some point. But here's a question...would you do a Supernatural-themed alphabet on opalescent fabric? I absolutely ADORE my Once Alphabet on it, but are "sparkles" appropriate for a man-dominant show? Every time I talk myself out of it, I always think of the imaginary friend episode when Sparkle gets murdered and he bleeds blood and glitter. That episode was hilarious! It could be my own little inside joke, but what do you think? Here's the pattern:

As of now though, that one is on hold, but lets get on to the ones I chose.

I have all the DoNa Fairy Tale series and have been envious of Linda's work on Sleeping Beauty. Considering that Aurora is my favorite princess, normally I would do her first. But for some reason, Rapunzel call is louder (probably all the purple), so I decided to start with her:

I'm going to do her on 18ct opalescent white Aida, which I have already ordered and I have enough thread in my stash for the entire project. I just have to buy scroll rods (and that's the catch with all of these...I am completely out of scroll rods, I didn't even think that was possible!). Luckily, I already have a Rapunzel needle minder.

Next up I decided on Tilton Craft's Once Upon A Time's Daniel Kordek's Captain Hook (although I'm still miffed he never did a Charming...having Charming and Hook framed next to one another would literally be the highlight of my entire stitching career, oh well, I'll have to make due with Hook, The Huntsman, and The Mad Hatter - unless I break down and get Pinocchio too or maybe the one with Emma and Regina, guess it depends how horrible stitching sepia is):

I'm going to do him on 28ct Tea Monaco simply because there is SOOO much white in this (and yes, ALL that background is stitched), I can't deal with stitching white on white fabric, especially this much of it. I had almost all the thread other than the two colors that have multiples each (I prefer to buy those in the same dye lots). But I have to have scroll rods for him too. I have at least ordered a needle minder for him although I don't know when it will be in. Since I still have to get the rest of the thread and scroll rods, I have time.

The next choice was harder. I absolutely adore Addict To Cross Stitch charts and I have several in my stash, but picking that first project was a lot more difficult. In the end, I went with Everest:

I'm not a fan of the horizontal project, but I think I'm having Disney World withdrawals and this might help. I'm going to do it on 28ct Monaco as well, but probably just plain white. I had most of the thread, but I'm missing several colors and, broken record here, I need scroll rods. I have also ordered a needle minder for it as well, but I'm not sure it's the right one for the project, so I may keep searching.

Last, but certainly not least, I decided on my "small" project...it's a HAED (obviously not a new design choice), but it's my first Faces, Jasmine Becket-Griffith's Faces of Faery 167:

The exciting part here? I'm going to do her on 32ct Silver Moon Lugana...my first foray with that small a thread count which means she will only be 7x7 when finished! It's going to be a good test because, if it works out well, it will SOOO make a difference on a supersized HAED if I could use 32ct instead of 28. I'm also going to buy all new thread for her because I will be doing it 1x1 and I want new "clean" thread for her. Again, needle minder ordered as well as fabric, but I might have a scroll rod for this, especially because of the next paragraph...

So, I also decided it's time to start a "bin of shame". I don't have one, at least not a real one. Anything that gets put in a drawer is usually because it needs framing and it's never in there long (except for my Design Works mice and those are being held until they are all finished and can be framed together). Can anyone guess the first occupants of the bin? Yep, A Summer Ball and 35th Anniversary Celebration. They are getting removed from their scroll rods, bagged up, and binned until maybe one day the urge will strike again. They have literally been sitting out since 2015 without being touched and frankly I'm getting tired of dusting them. At least for now, it's the best choice (and it frees up at least one scroll rod, 35th's rods are too big).

I'm also thinking, depending how all these new ones work into the rotation (which I still haven't worked out yet), that Suteki might also end up in the bin of shame because I have another project that would be much better suited for my Sister that will be easier and that she will probably like better anyway, she's probably just as much a Scooby fan as a Disney fan...I like other cartoons, but I don't really "cheat" on the house of mouse...just flirt a bit with the other guys...but I am digressing:

After doing Lilo and Stitch Otherwise and working on Happy Haunts, I prefer Neni Designs on 28ct as well, so I will need thread and a needle minder for this one too (and yes, ANOTHER stupid scroll rod as well as a bobbin box...thanks to these four new ones, I'm now out of bobbin boxes too), but I'm thinking it might go a lot faster than Suteki. If I ever decide to finish her in the future, I will figure out something else to do with her (although heaven knows what).

Am I crazy (wait...should't ask that question because we already know the answer), am I stretching myself too thin? At least Rapunzel and Faces 167 have a chance to be finished easily within the year, so it can't be all bad, right? Oh well, won't know until I try, so as soon as I get paid, off to Hobby Lobby I go to buy thread and scroll rods (and then probably to 123 Stitch to order all the thread that Hobby Lobby was out of) and by then all my needle minders, fabrics, and various other knickknacks like new gridding pens and storage folders for the patterns should all have arrived by then. Maybe I'll start one (although I don't know which yet) about the time I finish this current row of Maleficent!

Weekly Stitching

It took me exactly two days to finish up the row on Happy Haunts...the two days I missed last week due to missing bolts. I left off here:

And shined it off easy-peasy:

I immediately started back on Sleepy Hollow Mural, but then I ended up with a massive headache that lasted...wait for it...two days. So I ended up yet another week with two missing stitching days. I left off on the Hollow back in May about in the middle of page 3:

And stopped Saturday night here, wandering loose in about page 6:

I didn't stop because I got bored and I'm obviously no where near finishing the row...the end of the grid row is just the halfway point. I have eleven pages to go on this row. This project is really hard to work on because of the stand. I have to keep my arms held up really unnaturally high and they hurt after a while so I end up taking more breaks than I want to. But the real reason I stopped is because I realized that I haven't finished a single project this year and had no hope of doing so on my current path.

I had been binge-watching X-Files for the Dec 3rd premiere of the new season, but I was blowing through it too fast, so since I also picked up Season 12 of Supernatural the other day, I decided to take an X-Files break. I started on Season 1 of Supernatural Friday night and I'm already in Season 3 (when I say binge-watching, like everything else I do, I do it on steroids). That reminded me of a cool chart I bought off of Etsy. I had found it a long time ago and it stayed in my wish list for a while, but when I got ready to buy it, it had disappeared. It took me forever to find it again, and once I did, I snapped it right up. I haven't seen it again since, so I'm glad I got it when I did.

I started it Saturday night and despite a few hiccups with thread choices and whether or not I was going to do the Impala, I give you Supernatural Exorcism:

The white thread wasn't called for, but it was supposed to be stitched on white and, since I used 18ct Shale (I was going for that earthy, down-home boy quality...or graveyard dirt...choose your poison), the whitish areas looked weird in shale, so I stitched them. I just left the windows blank because, well they're windows. I also ended up outlining more than called for because it looked weird. I used Aida for the white, but I used 12 Cotton Pearle for the black and I really like how it worked for the letters (not so much for the car). I also flipped the car (it was originally pointed the other way and it just looked weird to me).

I wanted to check the wording for the exorcism and thank goodness for wiki fandom! I discovered they've done numerous worded exorcisms throughout the seasons, but they have used this one at least twice so I was OK with it.

I need to find a really cool gothic frame to put it in, but I think I'll take it to work. I like to keep my co-workers on their toes (or scare them, again, pick your poison). But hey, now I can say that I've had at least one finish for the year! I'm gonna start back on Sleepy Hollow again tomorrow and continue on it through the rest of the year (unless I manage to finish the row and I'll move on).

Hope everyone else had a good stitchy week, or just a good week in general!

Weekly Stitching

I know it seems like my posts are a bit mundane lately, but I am soooo grateful for mundane it's not even funny! I'm still in hiding from the world, barely leaving the safety of my nest, but I feel so much better on the inside that I don't really care much about the outside world. When I can't get out of doing something social, I've been shutting myself completely off to get through it, but every time I do this, it gets harder and harder to turn back on. I had to go out of town twice last week for work and by the second time it took me a day and a half to straighten back out. I have to work on that. But for now, I'm stitching like crazy, trying not to deal...which is how I deal, if that makes sense.

I tried to work on Suteki, but she's driving me nuts. I left off on her here last week:

And after one day of stitching, I decided I needed a break and left off here:

But there was another glitch I wasn't counting on...this past week, the bolts that tighten the clamps to my lap stand got stripped and wouldn't tighten. I've stitched with scroll rods since my teens and most all my projects are kitted up that way. I have a floor stand, but I've gotten so used to the lap stand, I'm almost useless without it now. I couldn't get to the hardware store fast enough...so much so that I ended up stopping at one on one of my work trips to get replacement bolts. I wouldn't stop at a strange place in a strange town on a normal day, let alone right now, but I needed to get back to stitching and with my new-found talent of shutting off like a light bulb, it makes it easier to do things like that, even with the consequences. I just have to master turning back on like a light bulb.

Once all was back to normal, at least stand-wise, I decided to hop back to Happy Haunts. It was supposed to be my A New Stitchy Start project for the year and I should have it finished by now, but I've had trouble with it too. It's not a HAED, but it was another project I could finish the row for before the end of the year. I left off on it back in June:

And despite my two day respite, I made it here tonight:

Oh, if I had those two days I lost, I could have finished the row this week. Oh well, at least I have next week! I'm not sure if I'll go back to Suteki or Sleepy Hollow. There is NO WAY I could finish the row to Sleepy Hollow either...since it's horizontal, a row is like 30 pages, but at least it's not dithered confetti, it's just normal confetti and I could use some of that right now. And who knows, since I'm off the week after Christmas, maybe if I stitch the entire week straight, I could finish the row to whichever one I choose after Happy Haunts (and I could go back to the Bride Dollmaker too, although since I barely got started on that, that's a ton of work for a row finish). We'll see where the stitching takes me I guess.

I had to stop binge-watching Charmed. I decided that since the new season of X-Files starts January 3rd, I'd better start binge-watching X-Files to get myself ready. Those Charmed DVDs are looking at me though, waiting for their turn again. Since I'm behind on Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, and Heartland, it might be a while before I get back to those particular witches. But that's the joy of DVDs...binge-watching whatever and whenever you want.

Here's hoping for another quiet week.

Weekly Stitching

One week I'm blazing through stitching, and the next week I barely had any time. But first, A better picture of Lilo and Stitch Otherwise:


Between work and other things, I barely managed a day's worth of stitching all week. I started on Sleepy Hollow Mural and didn't make it much further than a start...not even a fifth of a page.

It's my first time working with a q-snap and it would only fit in my worst lap stand. The stand is too short for me and I have to sit it up on my leg instead of the desired underneath. That puts it too high and I'm stretching in weird ways to reach the upper corners and it makes my arms sore, so I can't stitch for very long anyway. Until I can figure out a way to extend the leg of this monster, my stitching will be limited on it. Funny thing is, it's the most expensive stand I've ever bought. My cheapo lap stand works a thousand times better. But I'm so into Sleepy Hollow Mural right now, I'm not ready to stop, so I'm going to give it another week.

Besides, next week could possibly bring a very exciting "change" to our family and I've got some extra time off next week (if they leave me alone), so I'll have some extra stitching time. I don't want to jinx things right now, but there will hopefully be a good news post come Wednesday or Thursday!

I did it!!

Today was supposed to be the first day of a week long vacation from work, but the phone calls started before I even woke up and I was in the lab by 2:30p. Typical. The ONLY good thing about being on salary is at least I did waste a vacation day with the three hours worth of work I ended up doing, but it's still not officially a vacation (and I'm sure tomorrow will suck just as much).

Despite everything though, a very late night last night and tonight, I finished Lilo and Stitch Otherwise, and under my goal of 300 hours...although just barely at 292.73 hrs. Anyhoo, on with the pics! I left off here last weekend:

Finished the row just a little after 11p:

For a total finish:

I got it ironed and ready for mounting (and then off to Hobby Lobby for framing). I am having trouble deciding on how though. I'm not quite sure it's the kind of piece that should be matted. I may wait a few days before I decided for sure (and if anyone has any thoughts, just let me know). I'm not sure how I'm going to spend the rest of the year stitching yet (my gut is leading me to Alice and the B's), but I'll do a regular weekly stitching post as well as my final year's totals (which are SOOO gonna suck).

Oh, and in case anybody didn't notice it, the hidden surprise in the picture did actually turn out in the stitching (although it still creeps me out a bit):

A hidden Nemo...lying on the ground...a fish...lying on the ground...ugh. I wonder about the intentions of the artist.

Weekly Stitching

For the first time in a very long time, I spent almost all Christmas weekend living in headache-land and it totally sucked. Unfortunately, I know exactly why...the joy that is my job and some very particular co-workers. Thank goodness I get to go back to work tomorrow and start it all over again (insert sarcastic smirk here).

We've also spent most of the weekend without water (except at night). Apparently, the jerks next door were illegal digging and broke a water main. Sick headaches and lack of water do not mix well, so I tried to stay as drugged up and knocked out as possible (which is why I haven't been online all weekend).

And what happens when I do get online? I find out that George Michael is gone too. 2016 is the worst year ever. If I knew of a New Year's party, I would actually go just to kick this horrible year out the door!

I did get some stitching done, most of which was today, but still. I left off last week here:

And at least made it to here tonight:

Thank goodness I spent a lot of time stitching before the weekend and there wasn't a lot of confetti in this section. Unfortunately, I can't say that about the last page.

It's still up in the air whether or not I'll finish before the end of the year, but I am hopeful. At least I've got some time off around New Years. I initially took vacation days for the new pup, but since he's still sick, it will be a while before he's ready. Again, I'm pretty hopeful that all will be well on that front too. Why do I even bother with hope?

Bam got a red ball replacement from both his Mommy and his Auntie Am. He's having a hard time deciding which one will be the official new red ball (even though one is actually purple - believe it or not, that was Auntie Am's gift). I will say that squeaky balls and headaches don't go well together though, so it hasn't been pleasant.

Guess we'll know for sure whether or not I finished Lilo and Stitch by next weekend. Keep your fingers crossed.

I also got RAK'ed again this week...meet Bringer of Light by Jasmine Becket-Griffith:

And the really cool thing is that it's an oldie which means NO DITHERING! At least I have plenty of new stash for 2017...that is if I manage to finish my already started projects that I've been ignoring since Lilo and Stitch. I am looking forward to getting back to a normal rotation again.

Weekly Stitching

Considering that I had a VERY long work week, I still managed to get a chunk of stitching done. I left off here last week:

And, although I finished the first page and got a chunk of the second page done, I'm still too far behind to finish by the end of the year:

I'm still holding out hope that the extra days around the holidays will give me adequate time to hit my deadline though, even with the extra work time that I'll also be putting in next week.

I did go back to therapy this week. I'm trying to be better at recognizing when things are going south and I'm making the effort to head them off first. The therapy itself doesn't help a bit, but I think that talking it out with someone who has no interest in me whatsoever makes it easier to say things out loud that I need to hear so that I can process it better internally. The joys of being an Asper!

I'm going to try to get caught up on reading blogs next week. I know I've been horrible about it lately and I've missed seeing everyone's progress. I've also managed to get way behind in emails yet again. I've really got to try to do better all the way around.

Weekly Stitching

I didn't get to stitch the entire week, but I tried as much as I could. I left off here:

and on Monday night I finished the row (finally):

And I started the final row on Tuesday although I didn't pick it back up again until Friday. After a bit of work on Saturday night and a half day today, I got a chunk of the first page done, although not nearly as much as I needed done.

For me to finish by the end of the year, I've got to be finishing more than a page a week. With having to work double shifts for over a week, I don't think that even the extra time over the holidays is going to get this finished by the end of the year. Ugh. I'm still hanging on to hope though. Even if I don't get it finished, I'm still going back to a full rotation again come January. I'm ready to go back to HAED stitching again.

Bam's new brother will hopefully be well and ready to be adopted within the next couple of weeks. I'm not sure Bam knows what's coming yet, but I hope they love each other at first sight! I mean, who wouldn't love this face?

He seriously needs a haircut, but with it being 20 degrees outside, I don't think it's a good idea right now...he'll just have to meet his new brother in hippie mode.

Weekly Stitching

Another week down and still I've barely stitched, but I'm still trying. I left off here last week:

And I STILL haven't finished the row yet:

I really wanted to spend the entire weekend stitching, but I had my work Christmas Party Saturday night. Friday night I wasted trying to find an outfit and most all day Saturday was spent getting ready for the wasted time at the party. I did, however, get up and sing karaoke without being completely drunk (although I did wait until barely anybody was left so not too many people can attest to it). I'm just glad it's over with. Now if I can make it through a week of covering for a co-worker mid-December, then maybe I can finish this project before the end of the year!

Thanks to some amazing friends, I got RAK'ed some new HAED patterns this week, Frost Dragonling Max Colors by Jasmine Becket-Griffith:

and Mini Clockwork Dragonling by Jasmine Becket-Griffith:

Overall, despite the heavy work week, it was the first one in a very long time that didn't suck because I had other things (and friends) to distract me! Thanks guys!

Weekly Stitching

The broken record is still playing because this past week still sucked. I do have to admit that I'm always surprised at how worse things continue to get and how I just put up with it all, day after day. Thank goodness for the Gilmore Girls this weekend. Escapism always works for me. It gives my OCD an outlet to go bat-shit crazy and, for the briefest of moments, I can obsess over Luke and Lorelai instead of my sucky life.

When I'm not rewatching the Netflix specials, I'm watching YouTube fan videos (and we all know how much I LOVE fan videos!). Luke and Lorelai videos lead to Veronica and Logan videos, which leads to Austin and Ally, Snow and Charming/Hook and Emma, Joe and Helen, which leads to the cream of the crop, Miranda and Gary videos. Oh how I love them all. Generation after generation of TV show romances that give me the power to get through another sucky week. I wish I understood why I find joy in made-up TV characters having happy lives while mine continues to steadily decline. But alas, down to what we're here for.

I only got to stitch on Thursday and this weekend due to double-time at work. I left off here:

And as much as I wanted to finish the row, I didn't quite make it (blame the "Fall" episode at about 40 minutes in):


And just because, how about if I post my favorite fan video right now (well, actually my second favorite, but just in case someone hasn't seen "Fall" yet, I don't want to spoil it with my first favorite):


I ordered the 11th Season of Supernatural and I usually rewatch them all in a row before watching the new season, but I'm still in such a Gilmore Girls mood, maybe I'll run through all Seven Series of that again followed by the Netflix specials. Granted, I'm not anywhere near Veronica Mars views with Gilmore Girls (probably at like 8 or 9), but I could easily get there. Then again, it's too late in the night to start a Miranda marathon, but maybe I'll call in sick and stay home all day tomorrow and do that (doubt it, but it's a nice thought). At least, when suckiness starts to appear, I can close my office door, turn the volume down low, and at least watch a couple of bookmarked fan videos. Maybe things aren't so bad after all.