Thoughts on Goal lists and other crazy things.

Why do we make goal lists?  Why?  I look at my goal list (especially since we are halfway through the year), and I feel like a big fat failure as I'm getting so little done on the projects I listed for this year.  On the other hand....I'm doing a lot of extras and I'm happy with my completed projects list.  I'm battling this right now, because several on my goal list are currently in rotation and right now, I have absolutely 0 interest in my rotation.  I want to stitch something else!!  I'm so mixed on the goal list.

This is one of the projects I started working on:

 This is from the movie Labyrinth and is for the hubby.  I also have the Marvel comics alphabet he wants so bad.  I ran out of thread for this one last night.  I started looking through patterns thinking I wanted to do some fall ones.  Wouldn't you know every dang one I tried to kit up is missing at least 1 thread color?

So now I've made working patterns of some of my pink ribbon patterns and am considering trying to kit those up.  I would really like to do some pink ribbon stitching and scarves to donate to next years Bike Run.  I would also like to do some to donate to the Epilepsy Foundation.  

On the Ty front, we got his certificate and are working on the driving experience.  He's got the feel of the 'burban now.  Today we need to focus on vehicle control.  His dang size 14 foot has a tendency to slip and hit the gas when he means to hit the brakes, he doesn't have a good feel for accelerating yet, but we've not been on roads where he can get that feel either.  He needs to gain more control in turns and just overall build his control of the vehicle before I take him on a busy road.  It's all about time and confidence.  I FINALLY saw an upswing in his driving confidence yesterday.  That was so exciting and good to see.  I realized when we were talking, he's trying to be the tough, stoic guy and not admitting fear.  When in truth he is scared of driving and has 0 confidence in himself.  Some of it is because of his wreck.  That really, really shook him up.  Understandable!  But the other part, is his epilepsy.  Last year proved to us that it can come back even if you've been seizure free for a year or more.  We're 8 months in now.  But ALWAYS in the back of his mind is, Is this the day I have another seizure.  Now adding driving it is compounded with "what if I have one while driving".  Going through this with him has really opened my mind to the struggles of an epileptic person.  I'm so thankful that we do gain so much control with his meds as I know there are many out there that the best control they can get is down to a few seizures a day.  Our goal right now is to keep prodding Ty and have a lot of positive interactions with him and try and set him up for successes so that confidence can build.

Seriously..June 15th was my last post?

I am beyond falling way behind then.  I do have somewhat of a reason though.  I normally use LiveWriter to do my blog.  Well, my 'puter died.  I had to get a new one and I still haven't loaded livewriter on it.  But, I thought, maybe, just maybe I'll be able to write my blog like normal :)

Ty, hmm, poor kid, he is having ups and downs.  Thankfully today was a talking day.  When his mood flips, there is no talking to him, it is very adversarial, but today was a good day.  He got stuck for the longest on his Driver's Ed, and we talked about that.  But he did finally finish it, his certificate is being mailed.  So now it is a matter of getting him driving and experienced so he can take his driving test.  It's a little scary because he's only taking his seizure meds every 2-3 days to try and make what is there last longer.  He has no insurance now, those meds are easily 500 a month.  He has applied to the local clinic here, but no word yet.  And since it is for indigents, it can take forever, so he is probably going to have to run out of meds, run the risk of some of the most dangerous seizures, and when he has one, take him to the ER and maybe it will get the app pushed through faster.

Hmm, on the stitching front?  I'm not sure where I last was, so here is a current report and pics:

First Fall of Snow is finished.

Goonies I did for the hubby, and the Mephobia for Seb.  The cancer one was for a local Bike Run Breast Cancer Benefit and the flag is the most recent of my patriotic finishes.

The MicKenzie tree was a model stitch, the Cancer poem and pink ruffle scarf were for the same benefit.

Another wonderful Silkweaver package :)  I got 2 DMC grab bags, a pattern grab bag and of course some gorgeous fabby :)

 

Some works in progress:  Oriental Dragon, Spring Butterfly and Coyote Portrait (re-started on different fabby)

And wouldn't you know it, I can't find the pics of the other patriotics I finished!!  I also have another silkweaver order, but I don't have the pics transferred.  I set my scan disk that holds the mini disk somewhere safe and I can't find it!!  I'll have to wait till my phone is back on to email them to myself so I can load them.  Same for the progress pic on The Pack.

I'm trying to crochet.  I remember doing it when I was little but it sure isn't coming back to me like cross stitch did!  I'm not going to give up and I am going to keep going at it until I figure it out!  That has taken a lot of cross stitch time.  But I did get 200 stitches done on The Pack and I pulled out A House is Made to work on in the evenings.  I have to have something out to cover my tracks as I'm working on the Labyrinth  quote for James's birthday.  I doubt I will have it done by Friday since I can only work on it while he is gone to work, but I'm going to give it a good try!!  And I guess that is all my updates for now!!

 

Loving my mailman!!

What a week!  This week started off VERY rough!  The washer “broke”.  It was the filter, but getting to it was NOT easy, 3 days later fixed.  There was LOTS of Tyler drama.  He moved back to Amarillo.  It took one night of him “living” with his friend Jake to become humble and talk right to come home.  He talks a good talk, but he always has.  We are waiting to see if he will follow through for more than 2 weeks.  Please pray for him!  He is going to get back in therapy too. 

My mailman made this week all worth it.  First I got my Silkweaver order.  Talk about stash enhancement!!

Frightful Pumpkin, I love this fabby!

Golden Promise, this pic does not do this fabby justice.  I fell in love with it!

This order only had those 2 fabby’s.  But are you ready for the patterns?

Grimm, Glumm and Gloom, Witches Wheel, Easter Avenue, Murky Manor, Eggs Ala Round, and Ghoul School.  I have several Glendon Place patterns, I must like them or something!

THEN, I had received a gc from sis Kim.  Oh how I love her.  I ordered the rest of the DMC thread I needed for Snowmen Ala Round.  And the beads, which I got 2 of since I needed another for Sleepy Hollow.  I need to order another black since I SPILLED mine.

THEN, today we got a settlement check that will get everything out of pawn and pay rent.  I paid my phone and Ty’s adult drivers ed course also.  Oh, and my next silkweaver’s order, a couple of AAN patterns and a subscription to JCS.  I got James 3 months of XBOX Live Gold for Father’s Day.  So a little splurging.  I can also fill up the gas tank, we were down to an 1/8 of a tank with no more money until the 28th.

This week was really stressful at first.  With Ty, no child support, and no spare money this payday and bills stacked high.  God blessed us in a miraculous way with that settlement check!

OHHH, and the black ‘burban was totaled out due to all the hail damage.  Thank goodness I had gap insurance, which paid it off just barely.  But, since I am through a “tote the note” guy, he was real nice and put us in another ‘burban.  It is white instead of black, 2000 instead of ‘97, and 173K miles instead of 209.  So that all worked out also.  God is really at work in our lives isn’t He.  Praise be to Him!!

This week’s update

Wow, I didn’t get to stitch near as much as I wanted to this week.  The insurance totaled the ‘burban due to the hail damage and it has been hectic dealing with that.  We now have a little newer model white ‘burban.  It’s only critique is that the leather captain seats in front are torn on the edges.  I’m investigating seat covers, yes.  The seats seem wonky though and I can’t find a thing to fit.  I may have to go special order, or just cover the bottom or something.  I don’t know.  Seb is now out of school and can say he is a SENIOR.  Oh goodness I just can’t believe it!! 

Due to all the running around this week, I didn’t get to stitch as much as I would have liked.  This week it was work on “the Pack”….remember it?

This is where I left off last time: 

And here is where I left off today:

Pretty decent progress.  I got 2 rows done.  This puts me halfway through page 1.  I’m happy, happy, happy!

Sunday night wrap up….

I hit a good stopping point on Oriental Dragon on Saturday, so I rotated early.  I just started Oriental Dragon and am please with the progress I made.  I really hated to put it away, I was just enjoying it too much!!  6 weeks is going to be a long time to wait for it’s next turn!!

I got 2 columns on the 1st page done!!  Woo hoo!!  I’m now working on “The Pack”.  I got a row on the 1st page done this weekend, so that is exciting.  It’s now kind of like a contest to see how much I can get done in 1 week   I did play with my PCStitch, Winstitch and another patternmaker.  But I just am not good at this whole converting pattern making thing.  This is what I originally had:

My dad spent 20 years as a Dallas Police Officer and was also on SWAT.  But, when I showed this to my mom, I learned that daddy’s badge was gold because he was a Sergeant.  I tried to change the silver to gold and just couldn’t fathom it.  It needed color tweaking because I don’t think lavender really belonged in there.  But again, that is just beyond my skill set.  Then I found this one:

Gold, perfect.  BUT, I really want the flag background!!  So bad!  I tried layers, but then there is the white around the badge and I just couldn’t erase it right.  Not to mention the letters and scroll design between Dallas and Texas get all blurred once I convert it.  So I am very, very frustrated.  I wish I could find a class to take on learning how to do this.  But nope, there aren’t any.  And I’m just not the patient kind to sit and play with it.  So it is once again tabled as I mull it over some more.

A little Saturday night fun….

Yep, I’m posting way too much for me!  Don’t know why, guess I’m just in a “blog” kind of mood.  So I ran out of my thread for Spring Butterfly and have to wait for the rest to come in.  Here is where I have left off with it:

That means I got to start Oriental Dragon a day early and I won’t argue   It has been fun so far, but I am only 200 stitches in.  I am enjoying it so much more being on 14 count.  So much so that I’m debating re-starting the HAED and doing it on 16 count.  I know, it would be huge, but I ran it by the hubby and he thought it would be totally awesome!  So I’m going to have to ponder that one, not to mention see if I can get fabby that size.  And that might actually require some kind of stand.  I also switched Coyote over to Aida and will be starting it over when it’s up for its turn again….  And where do I do all this thinking and stitching?  Right here of course!

Welcome to the best seat in the house!  I watch TV Shows or movies on the laptop.  Snacks and drink on the TV tray, heating pad and blankie, handy dandy lamp and stitch in total comfort!  I love my little cave!!  Oh, and everyone posts these TUSAL pics.  And then I saw how they made all their orts into ornaments at Christmas time.  And I adored that idea, even though I didn’t want to sign up for the TUSAL (Lord knows I can barely keep track of what day of the week it is!).  So I started saving mine at the beginning of the year.  This is almost all of them.  There is a definite lack of SpongeBob Yellow, but the kitties can reach in this vase and get strings out.  I recently found a bunch of S.Y.   I keep it on the floor by my chair so when I snip I just drop them in.

And these next 2 are a little blurry, but you get the jist of them, sorry for the blurriness.  Using the camera phone isn’t the easiest   My recent stash acquisitions:

Jack Frost in regular and opalescent and Porcelain Opalescent.  They are 25 and 28 ct Laguna.  But I seem to do okay with this count on smaller projects, just not ones where there is a lot of confetti stitching or over 1.  So that will be fine.  This pic does not do these guys justice as they are absolutely gorgeous!!

And 2 patterns that I have been wanting for awhile.  Snowman Ala Round and Tiramisu.  Tiramisu is in the color range of another stitch (even if it is celtic) that is on my list for the living room, and I think the pattern is totally cool.  And of course I can’t resist Snowmen. 

So that is it for the weekend guys!  I’m going back to my Grimm and Oriental Dragon.  I hope everyone in blog land is having a wonderful, relaxing and crafty weekend!