She's done!

Just a quick post with my completed Winter Queen:



Happy Thanksgiving to all and I promise more interesting blog entries later this weekend! LOL

As promised...

Here's the latest pic of Mirabilia's Winter Queen

**removed due to completed pic above!

I'm guessing another 25-30 hours to finish the blob of regular stitching on the left there and finish the wisper and few beads in her ermine (already finished all the beading on her arms and bodice....).

Yes, I read!

I've added info (at least I hope I've added info...) over to the right about the books I'm reading.

I have a "Home" Book which usually gets time before bed or occasionally on a weekend afternoon and a "Bus" Book that I carry back and forth to work. I'm not going to spend 1.5 hours each day on the bus and not have a book!

Nooooo!!!!

Note for any Oz readers - huge Survivor spoiler!

My daughter and I are fans of Survivor.

The current Survivor series has a pirate theme - making it even more fun to watch each Thursday evening.

Except tonight.

Our favorite Survivor...was voted OFF!

They voted off Rupert! The man single-handedly supplying the tribe with fish for the last 27 days! The single most interesting character on the whole show!

We are hoping he returns for the next Survivor series - which will be made up of Survivors from previous series....we are hoping....

Otherwise all is well :) A lovely package of Delica beads from Fire Mountain Gems arrived today and I have promised myself some beading once Winter Queen is complete....soon....soon....

Finished my eBusiness class last night (I'll have an "A") and next week starts the countdown...30 weeks left. I'll be finishing in JUNE!

Such a small world....

About a week ago I received an email from a lovely lady in France.

Seems she was searching online for information on Victoria Sampler's Heirloom Wedding Sampler and stumbled across my website! She was ever-so-complimentary about my version (you can see it here) and asked if I would be willing to trade the chart as she was having a hard time locating it.

Trade? For something direct from France? Heck ya!

So we've been emailing back and forth about family and stitching and we've found a few common interests ;) Stitching, quilting, family - amazing but yet not surprising at all :)

When I went to pull my copy of HWS out of my stash on Sunday, it was not to be found. No matter! I headed to a local shop to pick up a fresh copy to send off. Her bold request will be rewarded not only with a brand new chart, but also the accompanying accessory pack found in the clearance basket for about $20 :) (The rest of my purchases to come in a minute...I had a GOOD day!). She's quite happy and on the prowl for some French stitching magazines for me. No, I don't read French.....do I need to? LOL

As for the rest of my purchases today:

Lavendar Wings "All Hallows Eve" - $2.75
TW's The Minstrel - $6 (I know I have it, but I couldn't abandon it for that price! I've already traded it on the TWBB ;))
JustNan's Witch Way (with charms!) - $8
VS Sweet Pea Gazebo (with Accessory pack) $20
JN Icy Hill (with charm) - $5
Val's Stuff Fright Night - $3
Cricket Collection - A House in the Wood - $1

Also picked up 2 skeins of Silk 'n Colors for a wedding sampler (Midnight Cobalt and Stormy Skies) and 2 metallics for the sampler (Coworker is getting married next May - I like to start early LOL). The sampler is by Laura at Enchanting Lair and I can't find a pic online anywhere!

So after all the turmoil of the last week, today went a loooong way to restoring my good humor and good thoughts :) A bit of shopping, a new friend overseas...what more can one ask from the world, large or small?

The whirlwind winds down...

I can honestly say I never want to repeat the last 3 weeks of my life ever again. Way too much going on compounded with too much stress and tension and worry.

Vegas trip was a nice diversion and as expected, I managed a half-dozen afghan squares (I'm up to 19 total! Might finish all 63 in my lifetime....). No other stitching to speak of and not even a hint of shopping for books or stash!

I did receive 2 ordered books in the mail when I got home: Jacqueline Carrey's Kushiel's Avatar (love this series) and Paolini's Eragon. I finished JD Robb's Ceremony in Death over the weekend....what to start next...hmmm....

So, now that we're headed into the holiday season, I'm looking forward to long holiday weekends, Christmas shopping and baking and crisp cool mornings. I'm still on track to finish Mirabilia's Winter Queen before year end (I know, I owe you all a new pic....later today!) and start "pruning" my WIPs next year. It's time to finish some of these projects!

Oh...one more thing...I also moved my website over to my new domain Annette's Acre. There will be a full redesign in the next weeks, but for now I've just done a bit of updating and added new designer pages. Take a peek and let me know what you think!

I'm off for a few days....

Bright and early tomorrow morning I'm off to Las Vegas! Husband, kids and in-laws and I are all piling into a rented minivan for the drive up to Sin City. We'll be staying at Excalibur for 3 nights and just taking it easy...

The last trip was work-related, so this time I'm looking to have some fun and see some sights and shop, shop, shop.

I did finish one ornament last night for the TWBB Ornament Exchange, but won't post a picture until the recipient sees it first ;) I'll have another one done tonight and my measly pair is all I could manage this year (ok, so 2 is my usual number).

I probably won't be stitching much (hate stitching in the car), but will be working on my afghan (made up of 60+ squares of different stitches) instead. *SO* much easier to handle....

Until Wednesday!

I'm such a geek!

As of this afternoon, I'm the proud owner of an online domain!

Soon, you'll see the debut of my new home page at www.annettesacre.com (no, there's nothing there right now....let me at least get rid of my company! LOL)

I'm so excited! I'm so freakin' geeky! LOLOL!

Ah, the sweet satisfaction of success....

Given the last few days, it's nice to do something right on the first try!

I apologize for the delay in posting - life has just been so hectic that I'm just treading water on a day-to-day basis.

I have company and we had a busy weekend running around Saturday and spending Sunday at the Nascar race. That was a 10 hour adventure and it took at least that long for my hearing to return to normal. Note to self: Next time: earplugs. I did buy a cool straw hat while I was there to keep the glare out of my eyes, but I never did buy the earrings that I'd hoped to find....ah well.

This week is still busy as I try to get as much accomplished before my short vacation this weekend to Las Vegas! This is my second trip to Vegas this year....heck, this is my second trip in my entire lifetime! This time we're staying at Excalibur and I hope to see far more than last time, when the family had fun and I was working most of the time....not this time!

Cross your fingers..

I'm trying to add comments to my little online world here...let's hope I've managed to do it correctly!

Happy Halloween :)

Nothing like following a dreadfully depressing day with a holiday, eh?

My children love Halloween, like most children. Daughter is 13 and I don't see any time in the future where she won't want to dress up and go out for Halloween. This year, her father supplied her with a pirate costume as she was headed over there for the weekend.

My son, however, was determined to dress up as a ghost (he's 5). I'm the kind of parent that prefers homemade costumes rather than something "off the rack" and the more creative the better! For Z's costume we used one of my long-sleeved white t-shirts and I used white and black makeup for his face. I also "spiked" his blonde hair and he was looking pretty ghost-like!

Yes, I have pictures, unfortunately my ISP is having some issues uploading them tonight....

I will probably be short on entries for the next couple of weeks with my in-laws coming in tomorrow. Might sneak a few in during the day, just to keep a few updates in! I'd hate to lose you all because I'm not updating :)

Happy Halloween, Samhain, All Hallows, whatever you celebrate...I'm off to clean a bit more for company!

Surviving...

Today was layoff day.

I have to say it was far worse than I expected. Sitting dutifully in my cube attempting to focus on work-related tasks and hearing names whispered in the hallway as those chosen were able to communicate *very* briefly to their coworkers their name as they were led out the door...

My group was hit with a 15% reduction, 3 people total. One name we all knew (and so did she as she elected to call in "sick" today rather than face the music...arrgh). The other two were a bit of a surprise - they will be missed.

Outside my group the losses were far deeper. My favorite project manager and former boss - gone. My favorite server support person - gone. The co-worker I was planning an outing with tomorrow - gone. Another former co-worker with two young children - gone. So many gone and the list we managed to put together is less than half the numbers we were hearing. I'm sure a trip thru the employee phonebook tomorrow will find more holes.

How appropriate that "Survivor" is on television tonight...

Just a tad late...

I know, it's been a few days....life just gets in the way sometimes.

As you may have gathered, I'm kind of a busy person. I have lots going on in my life (work, family, school, hobbies) and while 90% of the time I can juggle madly and keep everything on a fairly even keel, there are times when it just starts to feel overwhelming.....

This is one of those times.

The class change a couple weeks ago has worked out far better than I could have dreamed. Having a less-demanding instructor and the opportunity to pick a project that we, as a group, can have some fun with has made a *tremendous* difference. I can honestly say that school is not part of the stress right now.

Work is on a downhill slide - I know we'll hit bottom on Thursday and Friday but that certainly isn't making things easier on the way down! The looming threat of layoff has permeated across all IS groups and even a casual mention of "what might be" results in a wasted hour of speculation.....it's getting more difficult to avoid those conversations....

Friday, we'll be in "aftermath" mode trying to figure out exactly who's been given the heave ho without benefit of turnover. To celebrate our continuing employment, a co-worker and I have planned a road trip to a Phoenix LNS that's closing. Hey, it's payday and we can celebrate having money to spend!

The other big stressor right now? My in-laws are coming to visit on Saturday. They will be here for 2 weeks. Please know that I absolutely adore my in-laws but I know after about 10 days I'm going to be ready for them to leave and have my house back.... Happily we have a quick trip to Las Vegas planned in the middle, so a break will be had :)

Of course we have the move coming up...and packing...and we should finally get the house up for sale soon....so that's more balls to juggle....

So I'm feeling stretched a bit thin right now...and I don't see much relief until late in November (given the house selling soon) and no serious relief until after we move in December.....ah well, "may you live in interesting times" is a curse and a blessing and I'll survive these times like I have all the others.....

Road to Bethlehem Finished!

I finished Shepherd's Bush's Road to Bethlehem this evening:



17 hours total, and I have *never* had as many problems as I've had with this piece! I made so many errors - some I frogged out and some I simply fudged (see the row of backstitch above the hearts mid-piece? I had to put something in that space as I surely wasn't taking out those blasted hearts!)

But it's done and after a good pressing, I'll find backing and trim materials and send it off for finishing :)

Lottery dreams....

The Powerball lottery is up around $190 Million for Saturday's drawing.

When it gets that high, you just can't help but think about what you'd do if you became in instant multi-millionaire overnight (yes, of course I'd take the "cash" option!).

So, what would I do? First, work is over-rated. I'm thinking it'll be a full-time job just tracking money and all the necessary investments and various and sundry tax shelters. DH has a finance/accounting background, so with his expertise and my research skills, I'm thinking we'll be in good shape ;-)

What else? Well, I think I would make whatever financial investment was necessary to allow my in-laws to move here from Tennessee. I *adore* my in-laws and while they are seriously considering moving next year when my MIL retires, an extra year with my kids would be welcome.

Next we'd have to look at living arrangements. While we are planning to move to a new house in December, given our new financial situation, either a bit of renovation is in order (like adding a second story - I'll need a sewing/craft room at least!) or possibly moving the in-laws into that house and buying one for us not too far away....there are a couple *very* nice neighborhoods within a mile or so.

Transportation - my DH needs a new Jeep. He can't decide on color, so I'm thinking he should have at least two options on a daily basis ;)

Last of all would be a great trip next summer with England the first stop. I know a few folks there that I'd love to visit. Couple weeks in England, quick visit to Germany, Italy, Greece and finally Egypt. Ahhh...the ultimate vacation.

Guess I should buy a ticket, eh?

I'm late! I'm late!

I realized while at work today that I had neglected my blog yesterday!

Please forgive me....I even received stash in the mail!

Monday/Tuesday Stash Report

The mailman was very very good to me on Monday. He finally delivered my Stitching Bits & Bobs order which consisted of:

Spruce Waterlillies (Chatelaine's Watergarden is in my future!)
Vickery Collection's Egyptian Tomb (I love all things Egyptian)
Stitchy Kitty's Halloween Kitty Moon (Halloween - another weakness)
Wee Darlings' Nautical Pillows

He also brought the current issue of Just CrossStitch and a "Cross Reference" puzzle book from a dear friend overseas (Hi Fiona!!)

You'll be happy to know I did finally manage to finish my homework today. Of course, class isn't until tomorrow night, so I'm technically ahead of schedule even though I skipped it on Sunday ;-)

Stitching wise - I've got one more hour on the current block of WQ, so I'll absolutely finish that tonight during either Game 3 of the World Series or.....Indiana Jones! DH (dear husband in this case) was kind enough to pick up the set on his errands today. I foresee lots of "Innnnddyyyyyy" stitching in the next few days! LOL

Noah's Ark picture..

Today I finished off 10 hours on Teresa Wentzler's Noah's Ark:



I finished the doves (the "roosting" one was already complete) and the hedgehogs and added a few more clouds in the Ark scene. Not bad for 10 hours, if I do say so myself!

Now it's back to Crusty (Winter Queen) for the rest of today's Nascar race and World Series Game 2 (GO FISH!) tonight...

My next "regular" piece will be Shepherd's Bush Road to Bethlehem and I'm hoping to finish it in the 10 hour slot!

Of course, I *should* be doing homework......but just no interest....

Friday - Thank heaven!

I am SO glad it's Friday.

I did manage to stitch on TW's Noah's Ark last night, finishing a dove (the one "in flight" - I did the roosting one last time). Still have a few hours before a picture, so patience...patience...

Work was just a rollercoaster this week and while home won't be much better, at least on the "down" parts I can sit down and relax a bit ;) I can feel my stress level rising ever so incrementally as work demands increase, school work becomes more demanding and our impending move (and all the packing that goes with it) gets closer.

Heck, we haven't even hit the holidays yet. My in-laws will be here for the first two weeks in November....I wonder if I'll have any nerves *left* for the holidays??

But on to the quiet evening - I think I'll bypass the stitching and head straight to reading while tucked into bed (with freshly washed sheets, thanks to my dear husband).

Until tomorrow.....

Winter Queen Update!

As promised a scan of my current progress on Winter Queen:



I finished her shoulders and the purple/green accents on her bodice and started the "crusty" bodice beading on her dress this time...

On to Noah's Ark for 10 hours and then I'll be back to finish off the beading on the left side and start working on the right side....she's coming along!

Stitching Report!

Just a quick stitching report for today's entry....

I finished another five hours on Mirabilia's Winter Queen and promise an updated progress picture on Thursday evening.....watch this space!

Stash arrived in yesterday's mail as well. A lovely skein of Cockleshell Silk n' Colors (I love this fiber) and a "Double Running Etui" chart from Historic Needlework Guild's Tricia Wilson Nguyen. A lovely piece....

That's it for today, I'm afaid, I'm off to class!