Out With The Old, In With The New

Recently, I had a really nice surprise come in the mail.  My stitching friend, Deb, asked me if I would like an adult coloring book featuring Japanese Woodblock Prints.  Yes!  Japanese artwork is so beautiful.  Most of my long time readers know that I have an Okinawan (Japan) heritage so this coloring book was right up my alley.  This isn't just any coloring book, though.  It shows a color print of the actual artwork and the history of the artist as well as a corresponding coloring page.  It's VERY cool!

 

 

Thank you so much, Deb!



STITCHY STUFF
The end of 2016 brought several finishes. 

Handmade Charlotte kit by Buscilla

Wood ornament stitched with cotton threads

Christmas Wishes

Designer: Alita Designs

Fabric: 14ct Cream Gold Lurex Aida

Fibers:  Cotton threads leftover from misc kits

Embellishments: Ricrac, Grosgrain Ribbon, Gold Seed Beads

 

Woolly & Cosy Ornament

Designer: Valentina Sardu 

Fabric: 28ct Antique White Cashel Linen 

Fibers: Cotton threads leftover from misc kits

Embellishments: Ricrac

 

I ended 2016 with a total of ten finishes. Not as many as I'd like, but a stitch is a stitch, right?  My finishes can be seen HERE.

The beginning of 2017 started off with stitching on Japanese Garden.  You heard it right... I pulled out JG.  The last time I worked on it, it looked like this:

 

 

As of today, I finished all the gold brackets and most of the purple Jessica stitches.

 

 

WORK

After having 11 PTO days off work, today was my first day back.  Talk about busy!  Tomorrow will be just as busy.  I don't know if I mentioned it... a few months ago, I took over project billings for the office I work out of.  It has consumed my days at work.  It's challenging and I seem to learn something new every day. I thought it was ironic that the first day back for the new year is Festival of Sleep Day. LOL

 

 

EXERCISE

How many of you made a New Year's resolution to lose weight, exercise more, blah, blah, blah?  I joined a gym a few months ago... a nice perk provided by my employer.  I had been going 3-4 times a week until December hit... holidays and cold weather have thrown my schedule off.  I seem to do better when I go to the gym directly after work. Zumba classes, weight training, swimming, stationary bike, and elliptical are the things I do in rotation.  Tonight was my first night back... weight training, biking, and elliptical.

 

I'm going to leave off by saying that I wish all of my readers the very best 2017. May the new year be everything you wish for.

 

 

Terrific Thursday Update 1/21/10

As you may have noticed, I missed my usual Monday update. Life has been a whirlwind since school has started, and busy season has commenced at work. Also add in my "gear-up" for the annual Get Fit Challenge, and training for tax season at work. *whew* When can I take a breather?

So anywho... Here I am on Thursday!

SCHOOL
I'm pleading temporary insanity when the college counselor talked me into taking two accelerated classes (which is considered full time, btw) while I work full time. This route will have to be re-assessed at the end of the semester.

This is what has been consuming (and I'm not exaggerating) my time outside of work. Intermediate Accounting II and Business Ethics.

IA II is an online class which requires at least 1½ evenings of textbook reading and another 2 evenings of homework. We had our first test this week. It took me two evenings to answer the questions. I was pretty confident when I submitted my answers. I got an 85%! It just irks me when I go back to review the questions I missed only to find out I made "stupid" errors/omissions in which I knew better. Oh well... I'm happy with the 85

For BE, we have to write a paper a week on an current events article. At the end of the semester a compilation of the articles is turned as a portfolio. In class, we have this group project where we have to decide on a controversial issue, then write a little "skit". At the end of the semester, we have to give an oral presentation on one of the case studies in our textbook, then write a paper on it to be turned in. Oh, and there's also a 4-page paper which will be assigned next week. .

I can still hear the college counselor saying, "It's mostly class discussion. It will be a good one to take with another class. Just try it." Ummm..... Yeah. I am already two weeks behind on writing the papers for the articles, and a week behind on the reading. Which, btw, that blue textbook is the WORST book I have ever read. I consider myself pretty intelligent, but when I have to exclude what I call unnecessary "chatter" from sentences just so I can understand what the hell heck they're getting at, it's pretty frustrating. I'm also finding myself re-reading a lot of sentences/paragraphs.

Oh, and the instructor... He has got to be the most boring monotone instructor I've ever had. His lectures? He uses a powerpoint presentation (great!) but goes through them so fast and really doesn't elaborate on what he's talking about. Our first night of class (last week), several students asked him to slow down. It worked for 2-3 slides and then he was back at it again. There will be 2 tests in the class. I have NO idea what they're going to be like. *sigh*




TRIVIA
I just heard on the radio that my county is the second top producer of dairy in the state of Illinois. Who'da thunk it?



WEATHER
The weather really hasn't been too bad (considering it's winter!), until yesterday afternoon. It started raining. Then it froze.

I couldn't even drive my car up my driveway because of the ice. Halfway up the incline, my car started spinning and sliding sideways. So, I stopped and it started sliding backwards down the driveway! Panic set in as I scanned the street for cars (I live on a busy street). It stopped sliding just as I got the end of the driveway. Hey, if ya didn't know... Brakes don't work on ice!!

I parked my car out on the street until after I put some salt down. Yes, I fell on the driveway trying to WALK up it to get to the house/garage. Annoyingly, my neighbors were being nosey neighborhood watchful and stared at my progress. It rained/froze a bit overnight and I ended up putting more salt down in the early morning hours today in order for me to get to work.


GET FIT CHALLENGE
Once again, my office is participating in the Get Fit Challenge offered by the local hospital and fitness centers. Once again, I am participating. It officially doesn't start until January 31st, but I thought I'd get a jump start on a routine.

Week One (last week)
Mon: 30 min ab workout, 50 min cardio/strength
Tue: 30 min ab workout, 25 min cardio/strength
Thu: 15 min ab workout
Sat: 15 min ab workout, 15 min cardio

Week Two (this week)
Mon: 30 min stregth/cardio

As you can see, I'm failing miserably this week. In my defense, I've worked a lot of overtime so far this week. When I get home, I try to study and then go to bed. Thursday night, my class goes from 5:30-9pm (or later). Excuses, excuses! (Hey, 30 minutes is better than none, right?!)



SHOPPING
I did take a couple hours for myself over the past few weeks to visit the two thrift stores in my town. The second one had ALL their ladies sweaters and long sleeve tops for ONE DOLLAR each. I'm not one to browse the clothing racks very often, but I couldn't pass the opporunity up. Especially since I was in dire need of sweaters and casual winter tops. I looked through every-single-rack there was. I came home with a new winter wardrobe of sweaters and shirts for less than $20! Some of the sweaters still had the tags on them! The best part? People say, "Oh that's cute. Is it new?" LOL "Why yes it is!"


STITCHY STUFF
You can't help but smile when a package like this shows up in your mailbox:

Last week, I was the lucky recipient of a RAK (random act of kindness) from the "Cowgirl from Hanna", Christine. You're probably saying saying, "Well, what is it?!"

Q-Snap Huggies
Christine actually makes these. She told me a while back how to make them, and I intended to make some for myself. Christine sent me not one, but 2 huggies... for my 8" and 11" q-snaps. Thank you again, Christine!

Marvelous Monday Update 6/29/09

WEATHER
The heat and humidity has finally broke (amongst other things, but more on that later)! Morning temps were 66F and it's forecasted to be in the upper 70's with little humidity. Woo Hoo!!


DATING

Last Thursday marked the two month anniversary of my first date with JT. Time has gone by so fast! Yet the comfort level is such that we've known each other a long time. He's very considerate, thoughtful, helpful, and affectionate. I can't say enough good things about him! To celebrate the "anniversary", I cooked us a nice stir-fry dinner. JT brought me flowers, candy, and this:

Isn't it beautiful?!
As part of a local festival, a "movie in the park" was shown on a 30ft screen Friday night. JT and I sat amongst many parents with children to see "Surf's Up." It was a cute movie.

I found it kind of amusing that two adults with no kids show up to an annimated movie riding in on a Harley, with JT looking like the quintessential "bad boy", which he is not -- but he pulls the look off really well! I'm still getting used to riding on the back of a motorcycle, since I haven't been on one for close to 20 years.

Since the weather was so nice yesterday, JT and I went on a 14.25 mile bicycle ride on the bike trail outside of town. The last few miles, both of us were two tired pups! I ended up with a slight sunburn. It was a beautiful ride with a nice breeze, though.


INGENUITY
I can't tell you how many times I've had to iron ribbons, either for clothing, or for crafts. It's always a pain to get out the ironing board and iron to iron something like a little piece of ribbon. Isn't it? Yes, it is!

Introduce the flat iron! I use it every morning to flat iron my hair. Over the weekend, I was wearing a shirt that has a ribbon which always needs ironing. It dawned on me... "If I can use this to iron my hair, why wouldn't it work for a piece of ribbon?" So, I tried it! Whaddya know!! It works wonderfully. Just make sure you don't leave the ribbon between the two heating elements too long, otherwise there's a good possibility it will get scorched due to the high temperature.


YUM-YUM's
I haven't shown my culinary skills in a while, so I thought I'd share one of my more recent creations:

Yakitori Noodles
This was a budget-friendly recipe I found on Rachel Ray's website. Instead of using soba noodles, I used noodles I'd bought from an Asian food store. I added sliced carrots and peas. Next time, I'm thinking about adding some broccoli and cutting the chicken pieces smaller. JT said it's a keeper!

Marvelous Monday Update 10/6/08

Stitchy Stuff
Last Monday, I met with D, who is a member of my local Freecycle group, to give her the flatfold "Peace Love and a Cure". She really liked it! D kept saying, "It's so pretty!" I was thrilled to find out she used to stitch. She gave it up during chemo because she said she couldn't concentrate on anything... stitching, reading, not even TV. D and I had a nice chat over smoothies (yum!). We talked about gardening and Freecycle. LOL, we went on and on and on about Freecycle (her experiences and mine as moderator). Before we knew it, the hour was up and she had to get to her eye doctor and I back to work. I had the feeling we could've talked for hours. A couple days after our meeting, D sent me an e-card and she wrote:

"I want to again thank you so very much for the beautiful cross stitch picture you made for me. I am so touched that you would do that for me. The cancer was an experience I would never want to relive but the kindness and wonderful people I've met make it less painful. People like you are why :) Please keep in touch ! I so enjoyed our "tea."

Wasn't that the sweetest thing? She's such a nice lady.

I started working on my UFO called Treasured Memories Afghan Quilt. It comes from The Cross Stitcher magazine. I started this project back in 1997. This will be my next BAP UFO to finish. (Cheer me on, Nancy. LOL Or, prod me in the rear!) Progress as of 12/2005 can be seen HERE. Since that time, I've finished the pinwheel and am 2/3 done with a dresden plate. I'm thinking about changing the center to a poem I found back then, but I need to figure out how to chart something that big onto afghan fabric. Ideas, anyone?


You're probably tired of hearing about my "wonder tool" as Petra puts it, and technically this isn't about the crop-a-dile itself, but about the eyelets. I had several packages laying around taking up more space than I wanted, and I'd been contemplating how to "lose" the packaging and keep all the eyelets in one place. So, I went digging into one of my many boxes yet to be unpacked and found this:

It works out perfectly!

I also spent a little time stitching on Believe. Not a lot of change to show.

One of the groups I'm in coordinated a Blind Ornament Exchange. No, the ornaments aren't blind... well, maybe they are... I don't know! LOL Each person stitched an ornament, sent it to the coordinator along with a postage paid envelope to send back another a stitched ornament from someone else. Mine was from Gabi in Australia. As I recall, it was Gabi's first time doing a triangle ornie and I think it turned out beautifully. Thank you, Gabi!

I started -and- finished my October ornament for the SAL's I'm participating in. Actually, I stitched two of the same one over the weekend. I'll get some pics when I actually make the into ornies.


Getting Fit
Week before last, my routine became a dismal failure, as I spent my free time studying for that darn test. I only worked out one time. But hey, one is better than none, right? This week I didn't do much better:

Monday
• WAYW DVD 3miles (cardio/strength training) 48 minutes
Tuesday
• CS Sexy Abs (ab workout) 15 minutes
• WAYW DVD 3miles (cardio/strength training) 48 minutes


School
What can I say??? The instructor always starts on the other side of the room when he passes back the tests/scores so I get to hear the moans and groans of students as they see how they did. It doesn't do much for my morale, I can say that! Simulatenously, I look at my score and hear the "smart" guy say he got 27 on the MC. My score was 26 and I quickly tried to figure out the percentage as I flipped through the test to get my score for the essay and definition portion. You can't even imagine my reaction when I realized I got a.......

After some discussion about the MC questions, the instructor gave us credit for a couple of them, which bumped my score to a nice solid B! Apparently, my random choices, and scribbled essay answers had some merit... and talk about relief on my part. I *seriously* thought I'd be lucky to get a C and realistically thought I got a D. (Even told one of my nieces I got a D. LOL)


Stocking Up
Thanks to a Freecycle member, I got a heads up on a HUGE 1-day meat sale going on at one of the local grocery stores. People were like piranhas in the meat section! In order to get the deals, meat had to be purchased in bulk. I spent 20 minutes standing in a line to have my bulk beef cut into steaks. Normally $15/lb, I was able to snag NY Strip Steak for $4.99/lb. Chicken was 89c/lb. Pork Loin chops/roast was $1.69/lb. I came home with 50lbs of meat and spent two hours packaging it into normal serving size packages. It all went into the freezer for this winter.

With that preface, here's what I made Saturday night:

I ended up saving half the steak for breakfast the next day... Just couldn't eat it all.