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.

Hodge Podge

Nightmares
I must have a lot of emotions that I still have bottled up.  The problem is, I don't know what they are in relation to.  The past two nights I have been awakened by nightmares.  Tuesday night, after only being asleep for about an hour, I woke up beating the bed with my hand and screaming, "Someone is in here."  I swore that I saw a shadow.  Yep, I'm loca!!!  Poor Duke was staring at me like I was a mad woman.  I even got up to check if the chain was still on the front door.  It was.  I have no clue what spawned that nightmare but it had me jittery all night long and I did not sleep well!

Last night I had dreams about my ex-fiance.  It has been years since I've seen him.  Probably close to 10 years.  I have never run into him or his family members. I have no reason to even think of him.  I was dreaming about our time when we lived together.  Now, nothing terrible ever happened but I consider it a nightmare cause he was not someone who made me happy.

So for two nights, I've been having these dreams.  No, I haven't been watching any  horror movies.  The last one I watched was Saturday night and that was about a werewolf!!!  Nor have I watched any "scary" tv shows or read any "scary" books.  I do not know what is triggering these images.  But I hope they go away soon!

Oprah
Did anyone see yesterday's episode of Oprah?  It was the soap opera actor extravaganza!  It was so interesting.  Susan Lucci is 64 years old!  Wow!  She looks pretty darned good!  If we could all look that good at that age!  The show also had the 8 actors who played her husbands over the years on the show.  Wow, some of them have NOT aged well. Genie Francis and Anthony Geary were also on the show.  For those who don't know them they were/are Luke & Laura from General Hospital.  Their wedding was the number 1 show ever in daytime history.  That was in 1981.  I was 6 years old.  I remember that wedding!  Found out that Anthony Geary had an affair with Elizabeth Taylor, who was on General Hospital several times, for several years.  Also, the actress who plays Catherine Chancellor on Young & The Restless was on.  She is 82 years old.  She is the first actress to have her face lift televised on tv.  There were a lot of interesting random facts on the show.  Catch a re-run if you can!

American Idol
Who has been watching this season of AI?  I haven't really watched in years but I decided to see what the new judges would be like. I am so enjoying the quips by Steven Tyler.  He is a hoot!  The best line of last night was "Did you hit your head on something on your way in here?"

I like the fact that they are focusing more on the best singers than the really terrible ones.  I always thought that was cruel to showcase the bad singers!  And the stories behind some of the singers have been really rather poignant.  I might watch the season through!

Weather
Today the sun came out.  I saw a few snow flurries but they were itty bitty little flakes.  Nothing stuck to the ground.  But I will say, I am sick and tired of this cold weather.  I want no more rainy, cold, grey days.  I'm done.  It is time for spring to come.  The first LSU baseball series is next weekend. There is also a parade next Saturday.  I don't want to be all bundled up attending either event. I am tired of layering clothes on!!!! I realize that I don't have it as bad as my friends who live up North.  And for that I am thankful!

Stitching
So, my youngest niece, Cassady Hope, is coming up on her 2nd birthday.  Her older sister, Marly Grace, LOVED Disney Princesses.  So I did several cross stitch pieces for her of the princesses.  She has Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty.  I don't want to do the same things for Cassady Hope.  She has no ONE interest like Marly so I'm not sure what to do.  Any suggestions?  I'd like to start a series of pictures for her for her room.  I'm just stumped because I haven't seen any books of patterns that interest me!

Oh My!

I often times sit back and think, "What have I been doing that has me so busy?"  I feel that I am busy but yet I don't feel like I am when I reflect back upon my actions.  I go to work.  I take care of my dog.  I do chores around the apartment.  I have my hobbies.  I spend time with my family and friends.  But is that really accomplishing anything?

I guess I'm just a little frustrated these days.  I am continuing with my job search, with my fingers crossed that my current job will be able to continue paying me and employing me until I can find something else.  I send out resumes every week and occasionally I get a nibble on one.  But so far no offers have been forth coming.  I get a lot of "You were our second choice."  Yay me!  I'm second best.  I need to figure out what will put on top for one of these jobs! Without great exaggerations, lying or misrepresentation of facts!

This weather has been crazy!  While we aren't getting the snow that the rest of the country has been getting, it has been grey, cold, and rainy for far too long!  I know that not seeing the sun really affects my mood!  I like the bright sunshine!  It makes things seem so much easier to cope with! For the second time in less than a week we have a "winter storm" warning.  What exactly does that mean?  For us it means very little.  Last week's winter storm was a bust.  There was a little bit of frozen rain but other than that there was no big ice storm.  Now tonight they are once again predicting frozen rain and maybe snow.  Sometimes I feel like I've fallen into an alternate reality!

My poor sister has had a rough year.  As many of you readers know, she broke her foot last summer and has been dealing with that.  She recently had surgery again to have a screw removed that was causing her a lot of pain.  Thankfully, many, including my sister, can see a difference.  My sister says the pain is gone and others say she is walking "close" to normal.  But as she seems to overcome one obstacle, another slams into her.  The other night she called me in tears because someone she trusted with her secrets blabbed them to all to have attention directed away from himself.  Typical male.  I recently went through that myself with my ex-friend Ronnie.  I can handle it.  My sister, however, is so close to her breaking point with what she can handle.  All I could do was sit and listen to her and tell her that all will be well and that I have her back.  I'm over 8 hours away, I can't swoop in and fix it like I used to do.  That is frustrating to me.  One of things my Dad instilled in me from the day my sister was born was that I was to always protect my sister.  I take that very seriously.  She's my  little sister and I want to see her happy.  These past few months have been tough.  I hope that for her sake (and my sanity) that there are some good things coming her way soon!

 I'm hoping that I get to make it out to some Mardi Gras parades this year.  There is nothing like spending time "people watching."  It really is great fun!  I don't really catch many things unless it is thrown directly at my head, then it is self-preservation that kicks in.  I just like to go and see the pretty/weird/strange costumes and floats and the things that people will do for plastic beads! We also have a doggie mardi gras parade.  That is also fun to see!  The costumes and floats that people make for their dogs!  Wow!   I've been a participant in it, with Duke, a few times, but I think that this year, if the weather is permitting, I think we will go down and just be a spectator.

Sorry for the rant but I just needed to get some things out of my head!!!  Bottling it up doesn't help at all!

Ponytail and glasses kind of day!

Today is one of those days where one wears their most comfy clothes (not necessarily pjs, in this case, I have on my favorite pair of yoga pants and LSU sweatshirt), hair is in a ponytail and glasses instead of contacts!

Yesterday and today was supposed to be the "big" ice storm!  Instead it just turned into very cold, overcast, rainy days.  Schools, businesses, and state and city governments are closed down.  As I write this, I am looking out my balcony window and I see a very heavy fine rain.  Ok, maybe there is some "winter mix" in it but it just looks like rain to me! 

It's been a movie kind of day so far.  It's only 11:30 and I've already watched Moonstruck with Cher and Nicholas Cage and Mr. Deeds with Adam Sandler and Wynonna Ryder.  Up next, Cutting Edge!  I know, very odd assortment of movies but entertaining none the less! I haven't had to pull out any DVDs yet! 

Since I am stuck inside for the time being, I am working on my stitching, the laundry, and may even pick up a book to read a chapter or two.  I FINALLY finished Trinity, the book that my Dad wanted me to read.  It was totally out of the norm for me to read that type of book.  It was historical fiction, which I do read but it had very little romance in it.  Well, it shouldn't.  It was about the Irish Republican Army.  I'm very glad I read it and it gave me great perspective on that particular movement but it was very HARD to get through it! So now, I have moved on to Lord of the Rings.  Or at least I am trying to.  I just finished the prologue and am posed to begin chapter 1.  And yet again, I am just not getting into it!  My friend Jill is currently also reading it and enjoying it.  I just don't know what my problem is with that book.  It is like I have an aversion.  I'm going to have to just sit down and start reading it and hope I get past the first chapter.  It is one of the books on my list of those that need to be read!

It has been so cold that Duke will go out only if his sweatshirt is on.  That's a biggie.  He is not a "clothes wearing" kind of dog.  Despite my efforts to dress him in cute stuff.  He is just too macho for that! LOL
Here he is in his Harley Davidson sweatshirt. He's even taken to wearing it in the house. 

I have been stitching on The Kiss by Mirabilia.  I should be working on other projects but this one is such an easy stitch.  It is quite enjoyable to work on it and see the image slowly appear on the fabric. I am hoping to finish up the bottom portion this weekend.

All this yucky weather and posts from my friends who live up north, make me so glad that I do not live north of I-10!  I couldn't imagine having these super cold days for more than a week at a time or not be able to leave the house because of huge drifts of snow!  I hope that those who are currently experiencing all of these snow storms that you are safe, warm, and dry!!!