Huge Finish!!

Oh my gosh!! After 4 years and 5 months, Dragon Knot 2 is finally finished!!

Pattern purchased February 2008. Finished July 29, 2012.

1 over 1 on 25 count lugana fabric. 50 different colors. Final size 12 inches by 12 inches.

Next weekend I will take it to a LNS in New Orleans to have it framed.

Another one done!

Another convention over!  Yay!  No more conventions until late September.  Now a whole summer to catch up on work and lots of fun stuff!

I spent the last 3 days in Lafayette for a convention.  It went well.  Or at least that is what I was told.  It seems that the boss man was going around to the board members asking them about my work.  How did I find out?  Several of them came up to tell me how well run the convention was and that they told my boss that when he asked them.  Hmmm, I know he wasn't fishing for anyting in particular about me.  There has been issues with some other workers in the office and I am sure that he is feeling out of touch with some of our clients.  In fact, at the end of the convention, he told me how well I had done and that the Board was quite satisfied.  He and I tend to butt heads a LOT on issues but there's one thing he can't say about me, I get my work done!

Good news about Duke.  While I was in Lafayette, he was boarded at the vet and getting his annual exam done.  While he is not any better, the heart murmur has not gotten any worse and the tumor on his heart has not grown any bigger!  He does have cataracts in both eyes (knew that already).  His knees are shot (been like that since he was a puppy).  So no change is good news to me! The vet said he could go a couple of more years this way, possibly.  Yay!  Although my baby is really an old man as he is 12 years old already.  He will be 13 in December. 

I am out of the office 3 days this week due to training of a new software and I have so much to do!!  I thought my overtime would end with this conventon but I think I may have one more week of it!!  Which is great because I have a vacation and a concert to pay for!!!

I am heading for a whole week to see family 4th of July week!  I cannot wait.  I have my little countdown app on my phone already going! Only 25 more days till I get on the plane!  I am very excited!

Then we got tickets to the Brothers of the Sun tour, Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw, in August in New Orleans.  That is going to be so much fun! I'm going to have to get me a cowboy hat!!

Following that, the weekend of September 1st, if all works out, my cousin Jessica is going to come visit.  I'm trying to get tickets to the opening game of LSU football and I would love to take her!  I can't wait for her to visit.  It has been ages since I've seen her!

And that is only the things I know at this moment for the summer.  I am sure there is so much more to come!

Happy Dance!!!  I finished another page on Dragon Knot!!!  That leaves only 1 full page and 2 partial pages left to go.   I just might finish this one this year!  I hope so because I haven't gotten anything else done!  And I have pictures I need to do for my nieces and nephews!!

I'm continuing on with the exercise and weight loss!  I am currently down almost 23 pounds.  I can't believe it!  This morning, before it got too hot, I went to the lakes for a walk.  I walked 4.2 miles.  I never imagine that I would be doing that or could do that!  It is so exciting.  And even better is that I want to keep doing it!!!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Long Week!!!

Started the week off with a trip 2 hours down I-10. Worked a convention for 2 days at a casino. It was fun. The co-worker I was with is a very good friend and we hung out at the bar and casino afterwards and had some drinks and laughs!!!



At the Jack Daniels Bar enjoying some nachos after a long day!



First, Jenny lost her money.



Then I lost my money.



Then my 2 hour drive home turned into a 4 1/2 hour detour through little town Louisiana! An 18 wheeler overturned on the interstate, closing it in both directions! What did people do before cell phones? I got off at the first exit I could, pulled up google maps and began driving. I had a detour route to take, the problem was the traffic wasn't moving towards that detour. So I made my own detour to get to the detour. At least I kept moving! Even saw a rainbow.

Then it was 3 days in the office playing catch up. I have a convention in 3 weeks and I am so far behind!!! I spent those 3 days glued to the computer, barely coming up for air!!

Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows opened this weekend. Yes, I just had to go see it!!! Love Johnny Depp! And I think he and Tim Burton make great movies. The movie was good. Not as corny as I thought it would be. Definitely not dark enough for my taste. And to be honest, I didn't like the ending. But I didn't feel like I wasted my time or money!!!

50 Shades of Grey

I've been getting questions about the book 50 Shades of Grey. Yes, I have read it. Read the entire trilogy. I was curious about it after seeing an article in People magazine about the book and then several other news sites. I wanted to know what the big deal was. There was no big deal. At least I didn't think so. In a nutshell, it is about sex. A dominant and his subordinate. I didn't really care for it. I read it, I'll probably never read it again. But if you are interested in that kinky sex stuff, let me recommend the Sleeping Beauty series by Anne Rice. It is much better written and an actual story. Or Exit to Eden is a good choice too. Also written by Anne Rice.

Other Stuff

I am still in the hunt for the 20 pounds lost. I hope to obtain that goal by the end of the month. That one wish is within my control. I hope by working hard I can accomplish it because honestly my birthday is not turning out the way I wanted it.

I've been doing some spring cleaning, finally, around the apartment. Finally feeling like I'm in control at home!!! The mess was out of control!! Duke's toys were absolutely spread out everywhere!! But I feel that now I can finally have friends over again without being embarrassed! And now, I have more free time to have fun!

Because I was so industrious with my cleaning, I have been able to sit down and do some stitching.  I've made great progress on Dragon Knot.  I cannot wait to get this one done!!! It has been around for almost 5 years!  Time to be completed.

I am looking forward to the coming week.  Lots of work to be completed at work but also lots to be looking forward to starting next weekend! I hope everyone has a great week!

Spring is here!

Spring is here!!! We have had some beautiful weather these past few weeks and it has kept me busy during my free time. 

Last weekend, I went to DC for the very first time.  I was only there for 2 whole days and I was attending a leadership symposium for work so there was little time for sightseeing.  But I am anxious to go back if I can!

I did manage to roam the grounds of the Capitol and visit the Botanical Gardens.  There was an exhibit of orchids occurring.  They are such beautiful, fragile looking flowers.  But I have been told that they are actually quite easy to care for.  Hmmm, I sitll don't think I dare to try to grow one!

LSU Colors!



Pineapple!  I didn't know this was how they were grown!

Very little stitching has been done.  Between work, working out, Duke, and friends/family, there's been little time to stitch.  :(  But I have managed to put in a stitch or two, here and there on Dragon Knot when I can. 



Close up of the middle section



The entire project.  Only a few more pages left to go!



I have gotten some reading done however.  Well, my flight to DC was delayed two hours going there. Then the weather went from 80 degrees and sunny to 40 degrees and rainy and my plans to visit a friend fell through so there was some time in the hotel.  I managed to finish The Girl Who Played with Fire.  I've been trying to find time to read this book.  It was good!  Not my typical genre but very good!  I am now trying to read the third and last book in the series!

In two weeks, Charlaine Harris, the writer of the Sookie Stackhouse series, will be in town for a book signing.  I am hoping to get to it and have the last book of the series signed.  :)

Ok, break time is over.  My apartment looks like a tornado came through so I've been spending a good part of this weekend cleaning.  I'm making progess.  Slowly but surely. Hopefully by next week I will have it back in order after neglecting it for so long!  

As If I Didn't Know...

Fitness Band Wagon
As part of my Christmas present, my parents bought me the Zumba Fitness and the Wii Fit Plus.  They hope that this will help me in my goals to get back into shape.  According to my nephew Parker, the Wii Fit Plus is "super fun".  He was very excited when he found out I had gotten it. So this past week I tried them both out. 

The Zumba was fun??  Yeah, the jury is still out on that one.  I started with the 20 minute easy level.  I was dying pretty much by the end!  I've got the booty shaking (as I have quite a lot of booty to shake) part down quite well, but the other steps?  Well, let's just say it is more of my body just flaying around than actual dancing!!! 

Today I tried out the Wii Fit.  So, when you first start it you do some testing.  It is supposed to get your BMI, weight, center of balance, posture, etc.  Ok, well it told me what I already knew.  I'm fat.  When you start out, you pick an avatar.  Well I already had one from another game so it picked that one.  When it finds out how fat you are, it makes your avatar swell up!!!  I have to say that just adds insult to injury!!! But was kind of funny to watch!

Then the "game" proceeded to tell me that according to its calculations I am 43 years old.  I have to admit, I didn't think that was quite that bad considering I am 36 years old and well, exercising is not my friend!!!  I figured I would be in the 70s or 80s in age.  Then it told me that I had a pretty good center of balance and good posture!  Ha!!!  Any one who knows me that I can literally fall down by just standing up I am so clumsy! Also, my Dad is constantly telling me to sit up straight and stop slouching.  I'm not sure how accurate this thing is!!!  It can obviously be duped pretty easily!  Anyway, I did a few of the exercises and it was ok.  I like that you can set up goals and it has a calendar which marks your progress.  I hope to keep up with it and be able to see some progress!

Projects to be finished in 2012
Ok, so I thought I would pull out all the projects that I've started and see what I had.  Not such a good idea!  LOL  I obviously have a severe case of ADD when it comes to stitching!  But I hope to finish some if not most of these projects.  They are all in various degrees of incompleteness! (Sorry for the photos, for some reason I just couldn't get very clearn pictures of some of them)

HAED Dragon Knot 2.  This has been one I've been working on for ___ years.  I can't quite remember.  I have about 6 pages to complete, some of those are just 1/4 pages. 

HAED Queen of Hearts.  I started her last year I believe.  This is 2 pages completed.  I have a goal of completing another 2 pages this year.  So this is not one that I am necessarily looking to finish.

I started this one in 2011.  It is Thomas Kinkade's Tinker Bell/Peter Pan.  This one is for my sister because she saw this and just had to have.  What Sissy wants, Sissy usally gets.  (Yes, I am quite guilty of spoiling her!)

Mirabilia's The Kiss.  This has never been a "hard" stitch.  In fact it is quite easy.  I've been working on this one off and on for about 2 to 3 years.  I usually put it aside because I run out of a thread and forget to pick it back up when I get the threads in.  Hopefully this will be the year to finish!

Disney's Snow White.  This one is for my little niece Cassady Hope.  Also another easy one.  Don't know why it isn't finished.

HAED Emerald Hearts.  This was a freebie from HAED in 2011.  It is all kitted up and ready to go.  Just never started it.

A stocking for my sister.  I haven't consistently stitched on this one because it is Aida cloth and I don't like it.  But I need to finish it since I've gotten so far!

My niece Cassady Hope's baby blanket.  Well she isn't a baby anymore.  She'll be 3 this year.  I don't have much to go.  I just find stamped cross stitch tedious.  You would think it is easier than counted, but not really.

Another one for my sister.  I can't remember the name but it is the night fairy to match the day fairy I've already completed for her many years ago.

HAED's Mad Tea Party.  This one is for my niece Marly Grace.  My goal for the year is 2 pages.  This is a really big one!  This picture reflects about 2 1/2 pages completed.

This is 10 projects. I'm sure I hav more "hidden" under my bed in storage but I'll just go with this list for now!! 10 seems manageable, doesn't it? 

This week I've been working on Dragon Knot 2. Here's a close up of the section that I've been working on .  To see the last time I posted a progress pic click here. It seems that the last time I worked on Dragon Knot was back in June of 2011.



Ok, it is time to get ready for the week!  Lunches to be planned.  Laundry to do.  And of course, the most important thing to get ready for: the National Championship game between LSU and Alabama.  I've already go the corn, black bean salsa made for tomorrow night's party!  Geaux Tigers!!!  Beat Bama AGAIN!

Another Good Weekend

Saturday I took a mini-roadtrip to Biloxi.  It is only about 2 hours away.  I drove by the beach, smelling the salt air and anticipating my vacation in August when we go to Orange Beach!

I visited a quaint little cross stitch store in Ocean Springs, MS: Threadneedle Street. It was cute.  They had a great selection of specialty threads.  I walked away with two Mirabilia patterns that were on sale for half off!  Yippee!

Lilac part of the Spring Garden Party Collection for Pixie Couture:

November Topaz Fairie:

Did a little bit of shopping at the Gulfport outlets before heading home to watch some of the College World Series.  I was able to see the end of the Vandy game and then all of the Florida - Texas game.  Great that two SEC teams are in the winners bracket.  Sucks that they have to play each other on Monday night.  South Carolina plays tonight.  Here's to hoping that an SEC team takes th e championship again this year!

While I was watching Florida beat Texas, I finally completed another page of Dragon Knot!!!  Woo hoo! That leaves only six more pages left.  Three of those six pages are not complete pages.  In fact, if you put those three together, you might get half a page of stitching.  So, I'm thinking I really only have 3 1/2 pages left to stitch. 

I've put this design aside again for just a little bit.  I've picked up the Mad Tea Party design.  Hoping to finish a 2nd page in that design. 

Father's Day morning was spent at the pool.  My dad is currently on vacation so we gave him his gift a few days ago.  My sister and I chipped in to buy him a remote controlled helicopter.  He was like a little kid on Christmas morning.  He spent the rest of the night crashing the helicopter all over the place. 

Tomorrow it is back to work.  Boo hoo!  I really need to win the lottery!  Working really cuts into my fun time! 

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Working Hard, Playing Harder

I have been terrible at keeping up with my blog.  Actually I've been terrible at keeping up with really anything computer related.  It is summer time and it is busy, busy, busy!!!

Last week was my first week of work with no overtime.  Woo hoo!  I was even able to take a day off to just "collect" myself!  Treated my mom to lunch to thank her for helping me out all these weeks!  Thanks to her, my apartment was cleaned, the refrigerator was stocked and my dog was well taken care of!  My mom is the best!

Along with all the hard work, I've been having a lot of fun also!

I recently was able to have my 2 nieces and nephew spend the night with me!  The kids camped out in the living room and the next day I took them to the pool!  We had a blast just splashing in the pool and enjoying the sun!

Enthralled by Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!

Little Miss Diva!



Bayou Country Fest was once again held in Tiger Stadium this year.  I was able to head to it with some friends.  We had a great time but we melted!  That is the only way to describe it!  It was incredibly hot the Saturday we went.  The line up on that Saturday was Luke Brian, Trace Adkins, SugarLand and Tim McGraw.  SugarLand was awesome!  I would highly suggest to see them in concert!  Tim McGraw is a great singer but he is kind of a boring performer!  Sorry to say, but he is.  And while I didn't get a picture of them, because it is like the one reality show I do not watch so did not know who they were, the cast of Swamp People were seated in the next section over from us. 

Jenny and I before we started to melt!

The view from our seats



I took a trip down to New Orleans for a morning, by myself.  I headed to my favorite cross stitch place to look around and do some shopping.  I picked up some fabric and a Mirabilia Mermaid pattern to do.  :) Like I don't have enough other things to do!  Once I finished my shopping, I headed to the Quarter.  There was the Creole Tomato Festival going on.  It was being held in the French Market.  Tons of food, people and music.  There was even a Navy band playing!  I'm a sucker for a man in uniform!!

I even made it over to Central Grocery to get one of their famous muffaleto sandwiches.  Yummy, yummy!  And of course, I couldn't leave without getting some pralines.  It was a quick roadtrip that was very much needed by me!  A little alone time doing something fun!

Spent this morning/early afternoon at the pool with Jill.  It was so relaxing.  We got lots of sun, or at least I did as evidenced by my red arms and upper legs! We are lucky we did it early because true to form, we had the typical late afternoon rainstorms! Definitely must do again!

The summer hasn't even "officially" started and it has already been so much fun!  I can't wait to find out what is next . And I think it is going to be....drumroll please.......the Poison/Motley Crue concert in Biloxi!  Woo hoo!  I am so looking forward to it!  It has been years since I've seen Poison and I have always wanted to see Motley Crue! 

I've been working on Dragon Knot right now.  It seems to the be the project of choice right now.  We'll see how much I can get done before I get bored.  I hope to have a progress picture very soon. 

I hope everyone else is having a great summer so far!

Spring has Sprung!

Spring has hit the South!  Everything is green with pollen and thus allergies have kicked into high gear!  The weather has been gorgeous but I can only venture out for a few minutes at a time before I start sneezing.  Breathing through my nose is non-existent at this point and my new best friend is my box of Kleenex!!!  But I'm not complaining!  I am loving the warm weather!  I was even able to get out and plant some new flowers this past weekend!  Got the hanging baskets out on the balcony again!  Yay!

I've been working on several projects!  I love making progess and letting people see it!  I look forward to the finished products!

Baby Quilt
I've been working on Cassady Hope's baby quilt.  She turns 2 at the end of March and I really hope to have it finished by then!  By making sure that I work on it a little bit every day, I've made great progress!

I've finished all the satin stitches in the border!

I was home sick (allergy related) one day last week and finished the puppy dog and two small flowers:

This weekend, while listening to LSU whoop up on Holy Cross, I started working on the bucket.  I didn't finish because I was pretty restless but I came close.  Just a few more crosses and then the back stitching and it will be over.

Dragon Knot 2
I've also been working on Dragon Knot 2 (HAED).  It is coming right along!  I've finished another page (it wasn't a full page of stitching).  I hope to finish this project this year (yes, I've been saying that for the last 2 years!).

The Butterfly Fairy
Yesterday was my sister's birthday so I started on her next present.  The Night Butterfly Fairy.  I took a picture but it came out extremely dark so I am going to pass posting a progress picture at this point.  It wasn't much of a start anyway, just a teeny bit of the upper left corner!  I'm hoping to finish this for Christmas! 

LSU Baseball
Woo hoo!  The Tigers are starting the season off undefeated!  Yay!  They are crushing their opponents!  I'm hoping that this continues on into SEC play!  They have played 7 games so far and have reached double digits in each game except 1.  Pretty impressive! 

Weekend Great! Monday Crap!

After a beautiful spring weekend, one would think that Monday would be full of promise of nothing but good things!  Nope!  That would be a great big, fat, NOPE!!!  I don't know why but Monday is really getting on my nerves today!  I wasn't the only one.  This was also confirmed by my friend, Jill!

But before we go on more with how crappy Monday (or all Mondays) is, let us talk about the weekend!

Weather
The weather was absolutely beautiful.  Temperatures were in the 70s, blue skies, breezy, sun shining all over the place!  It was absolutely a glorious weekend after the crappy winter weather we have been having.  (I am so sorry for all those who are still suffering with the snow storms!) Even today, Monday, even though crappy, is a nice day.  A tad bit on the windy side but still temperatures in the 70s and mostly sunny skies!

I was able to get out on my patio and start some cleaning.  I cleaned off my patio chairs (they were extremely green!) and was able to cut off the dead parts of plants and start assessing what is dead and what may come back.

Baseball
Let's talk baseball!  Yep, it is officially college baseball season!  And as you can tell, we had perfect weather for it!  The LSU Tigers started off by sweeping Wake Forest this weekend!  I'm hoping that this is a good sign for the season!  The goal, the only goal, is to make it to Omaha.  To play in the new stadium!  Mikie Mahtook had a great weekend starting the season off with 4 homeruns after they said that probably wouldn't happen as there are new bats in play now that aren't conducive to "gorilla ball". I didn't get to attend any of the games as they were all sold out but the first game was on TV and all the games are broadcasted over the radio. 

Parades
This weekend the first parades of Mardi Gras rolled.  There was one here in town on Saturday night.  Jill and I went with our daiquiris and watched it.  It was a great night weatherwise.  I've been to this parade before and it just seemed really short this year.  It is always highly entertaining to see the dance troupes that participate in the parades and the high school bands can be entertaining too!  And of course, people watching!

I am really hoping that the nice weather hangs on through Mardi Gras and that I get the chance to go to New Orleans for at least a day/night!

Stitching
I have been working on Cassady Hope's baby blanket a little bit each day.  I am almost done with all the satin stitching of the border!  It isn't hard, just tedious.  I can't tell you how many times I have poked myself with the needle!  I've actually drawn blood at times!  I'm not normally that clumsy when stitching!

I've also picked up HAED's Dragon Knot 2!  It is slow going but I feel confident that I just might finally finish this one this year.  That would be so nice!

I finished kitting up the "Night" Butterfly fairy that I am going to do for my sister this year.  Or well, I started the kit part.  There are some threads that I just didn't have in my stash so off to Michael's for those!  Works out too because there was a 20% off your entire purchase coupon in Sunday's paper for Michael's!

No pictures this post!  I waited too long and it got dark before I took the pictures.  Hopefully next post I'll have some good progress pics and a picture of the new start!

Monday
First off, I did not want to get out of bed this morning!  Had a hard time going to sleep last night after such a great weekend.  I didn't want it to end!  Then I was dealing with vendors at work and a broken copier/printer amongst other things! (Yes, I am still looking for another job.  I read an interesting "fact" or "opinion", that for every $10,000 in salary you are seeking, you will have to search that many months for a job.  So if you are looking for $50,000 job then you will have to search for 5 months!)  I was just overall cranky!  The trip to Michaels helped lift my spirits a bit as I picked up the remaining materials for the next project that I want to do for my sister and some scrapbook materials to scrap some pictures of my nieces and nephew!  I'm looking forward to working on that next weekend.  Came home and worked out which also helped with my frustration levels and then I worked on the baby quilt and Dragon Knot.  So I am ending the day on a high even though a majority of the day was quite low! Here's to hoping that the next 4 days of work go by quickly and smoothly! (Hopefully I didn't jinx myself!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day
Hope that everyone had a nice day!  Whether you celebrated/recognized the day as Valentine's Day or not.  It was a pretty spring day here in South Louisiana, although I didn't really get to enjoy it as I had to work.  But I did get some Valentine's goodies!  My parents gave me flowers and my favorite, chocolate covered cherries.  Then my boss gave me some chocolate covered cherries and some chocolate liqueurs.  So, it turned out to be an ok day.  LOL Today is also my parents' 36th wedding anniversary.  Can't believe they have been married that long (my mom says it surprises her too! lol)!!

Busy Weekend
It was a beautiful spring weekend.  The sun was shining all weekend and the temperatures warmed up!  I'm just hoping it stays like this through next weekend when the Mardi Gras parades start!  I even pulled up some of the dead plants out on my patio and started re-planting.  My dad gave me a bulb that will grown into an elephant ear.  We'll see if I kill that one or not!!

Lots of projects
I guess the beautiful weather had me feeling so good that I worked on a bunch of projects! 


I FINALLY scrapped the photos from my vacation in August with Jill.  Two pages worth!  It came out cute. I am a very amateur scrapbooker.  My layouts are very simple but I like them none the less! I hope that with Mardi Gras I will have a few more pages to scrap!  Those are the most fun!

I pulled out a couple of different cross stitch projects to work on and even kitted up and started a new one!

I worked on Cassady Hope's baby quilt.  I'm just working at the satin stitches in the border.  I should be done with this project but I've avoided it.  As I've avoided Brendan's baby quilt too.  So I am determined to work on this project a teeny tiny bit each day!

I worked on Dragon Knot 2 (not a lot, but I did pick it up again). The 3rd vertical black line is what I worked on last night for a tiny bit.

I worked, and have spent the majority of my time on, Mirabilia's The Kiss:

I kitted up and started a new one for Cassady Hope, Snow White!  The first one I ever did for her older sister was a portrait of Snow White so now I am doing this one for her.  You can see the basket and part of her skirt forming:

Today, as a treat for myself, I bought some new fabric (had a 40% off coupon for Hobby Lobby) to start another new project for my sister (How is this a treat for myself if I am buying it for a project for my sister?).  This is from a booklet containing two patterns for Butterfly Fairies.  One is day and one is night.  I 've completed the day one for her MANY MANY years ago and I'm going to do the night one for her to match.  I hope to have it completed for Christmas or her birthday next year.

My Cup Runneth Over....

Boy, I sure do hope I am not jinxing myself!!!  Life has been good this week.  I love my sister dearly, but, geez, she was sucking the life out of me!!!  And money too!!!  LOL!  Ok, she has me wrapped around her little finger, I cave to all her demands! Anyway....

On to the good news of the past week. 

I have officially booked my vacation for August!  My friend, Jill, and I are headed back to the Caribe!!!  I was able to get a great rate on a 2 bedroom condo and we are headed there for a few days of R-E-L-A-X-A-T-I-O-N!!!  Cannot wait!!! It has been so long since I've been on a trip with no familial obligations or work obligations. Until we leave, I am on a STRICT budget.  Money has never flowed freely from my wallet but I am going on this trip NO MATTER WHAT!!!!

Recently received an email from my BFF, a doctor in Houston.  She is due to have her 3rd baby girl in November.  Very exciting!!!  She will have her hands full!  In October, Zoe will be 2, then the new baby in November, and the oldest, Eden, will be 4 in December.  Hmmm, I wonder if she planned that!?  Going to make it difficult to make all 3 birthdays.  I only made one last year which was an improvement over all previous years of not making any birthdays!!!  But now 3?  Will make scheduling interesting. Anyway, the down pour of babies continues!

I've been spending some time out on my balcony lately.  Our weather has been good AND bad.  But when it is good, it is so beautiful out!!!  These are some pics I've taken on those "good" days! Duke and I like to sit on the balcony and read.  Ok, I read and he watches all the many, many, many black feral cats that hang out in the courtyard.

Some stitching updates.  Below is the latest update on Dragon Knot 2.  I spent a good portion of the past week working on it. 

This is the full picture:

This is a close up of the section I've been working on:

I've also started a new project on Sunday. The Passione Ricamo design that I had mentioned in a previous post that I was going to do for my friend Stacy.  I finally started it on Sunday evening.  I have to admit it is a very easy stitch and I'm thinking that it may not take me "years" to finish!!

Ok, I have a big week ahead of me.  There are tons of work to be done and today started off with a 4 hour meeting.  Tomorrow is going to start with another 4 hour meeting and Wednesday is starting with a 2 hour meeting.  That's 10 hours of time I am not at my desk.  While I enjoy being away from my desk, my to do list is getting longer and longer!!!!  Which may be a good thing though as I do need some OT!!!!

Hope everyone has a great week!!!