Weekends are too short!!!

I think we need to petition the "job gods" that the work week be 2 days and the weekend be 5 days!  This weekend was another weekend that I didn't want to end!

It was another gorgeous spring weekend!  Warm temps and lots of sun!  Spent as much time outside as possible.  Took Duke out to the new dog park where he proceeded to make new friends.  Or at least that's the story I am sticking to!!!  My perfect baby acted like a monster!  He seemed to be "attracted" to a cute little shih tzu and well, he let her know it.  Over and over and over again!  It was quite the embarrassment for me!  Thankfully the owner of the dog had a good sense of humor!  When we weren't at the dog park, Duke spent time out on the patio sunning himself.

I got to see Stacy and Marly Grace for a brief visit on their way home from their cruise.  We had a yummy lunch at Chimes and I got to open my souvenir from Mexico.  This pretty tile that my sweet pea Marly picked out for me.

I've also been steadily working on Cassady's baby quilt. I think I am making great progress. 

The entire quilt.  As you can see I have Jill, the spoon and the plate to finish along with the flowers in the border.

Jack is finished!

Almost finished with the Goose!

I may actually get the quilt done in time.  MAYBE

On the job front, well, it has taken a life of its own!  I have been praying for guidance.  What is the career path I should be on.  I went back for a 2nd interview with a really great company in the next town over.  They spoke of a possible 3rd interview, which I agreed to if necessary.  I've heard from 2 people on my reference list who said that the company has contacted them. Yay!  Shows they are interested in me!  BUT, then, today, I find out that an opening has come available at my old place of employment.  My old boss called me today to talk about it and if I'd be interested.  I said Yes.  Yep, I am crazy.  But I miss the work, I said I wanted more pay and well, who knows?  I can't turn away opportunities waiting on other opportunities.  I am confident (or at least pretending to be) that the right choice will become apparent to me!

Dancing with the Stars starts tonight.  There are many "stars" that I do not know but then there are some that I can't wait to see dance, particularly Kirstie Alley and Kendra.  I like my "reality" tv!!  :) 

Good bye Mardi Gras! Helloooo Lent!

Oh, it has been such a great Mardi Gras Holiday!  Yep, it is a holiday down here in the South!  I've been off of work since Friday and I am dreading going back to work because it has been so nice to have no stress or worries! 

It has been a busy six days!  At first I wondered what I would do with myself, but now, I'm wondering, "Where did the time go?"

Mardi Gras
I was able to get down to New Orleans on Sunday for parades.  I have to say that this was one of the easiest trips I've ever taken.  It only took 1 1/2 hours to get down to the Quarter and find a parking spot.  For Mardi Gras time, that was like "ZOOM".  That never happens.  Plus we were able to find a great parking spot in a really nice (clean, well lit) parking garage.  Not to mention pretty cheap, only $20 for the day. 

We hit 4 parades: Okeanos, Thoth, Bacchus, and Endymion.  Endymion is typically a Saturday parade but due to the torrential rains that our area had on Saturday, they moved the parade to Sunday.  We were on a great corner, Tchoupitoulas and Poydras, that was at the end of the parade routes and were surrounded by great people who were fun to talk to and were polite!

Captain of Okeanos

This is either Okeanos or Thoth.  Can't remember!

King of Bacchus, Andy Garcia!  He was a great king! 

His float was stuck in front of us for about 10 minutes and he really played it up for the crowds!

One of the Bacchus floats.  This year they were playing tribute to World War II vets. 



Crafting

I did get some stitching and scrapping done!  It wasn't all fun down in New Orleans, although a very good time was had down there! What happens in New Orleans, stays in New Orleans! :)

Baby Blanket

I have managed to finish the well and the bucket on the baby blanket.  When you look at it as a whole, I don't feel that I have very much more to do.  So, I hope I can keep it up and continue to work on it!

Butterfly Fairy - Night

On February 27, my sister's birthday, I started the latest project I am doing for her.  I've made some progress on it. 

Scrapping

I even managed to get one page done of scrapping.  Finally I did some pictures of my niece Cassady Hope.  In these pictures she was 7 months old.  So I've got some catching up to do and a pile of pictures to finish off!

Well, that's all I have for now!  I go back to work tomorrow.  Yuck!  I had an interview with a headhunter today that went very well, so now I am just waiting on a call back.  Friday brings Stacy and Marly Grace into town.  They are spending Friday night with me before they head off on a cruise.  I can't wait to have a night out with them! 

The 40 days of Lent started today.  For Lent I am giving up all fast food, McDonald's, Taco Bell, Burger King, and Sonic.  Which will really limit when I go out for lunch during the work week but will also  help with me saving money! :)

Till later!

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!)

Updates!

Stitching

I have an update on two projects!  Yay me!!! 

The first one is Mad Tea Party.  This one is a HAED being stitched on 25 count, 2 over 2, correction!  2 over 1.  Thanks Nancy!  You are so right!  I do mean 2 over 1.  Sometimes my brain goes faster than my fingers! This is the first time I've done a HAED with two threads. Typically I only use one.  I like the coverage but it definitely makes it a little bit more difficult.

The second update is the baby quilt I am doing for my newest niece. It is stamped cross stitch.  Let me say it again, for the thousandth time, I LOATHE stamped cross stitch!!!

Weekend

It was such a lovely quiet weekend.  I've been so sick these days, it was great to stay at home and rest!!!  I watched the LSU game.  Yes, we loss. We won't dwell on that.  I also watched the Saints!!!  Who Dat!!!!  Yay!  They are 8-0!!!!  First time in the club's history! 

I also made enchiladas.  Yummy!  I used my grandmother's recipe.  They aren't hard to make but after making them this weekend, I remembered why I don't!  My tiny apartment kitchen just does not have the counterspace to make them!!!  They create such a mess!!! 

Jill came over for dinner.  I always am nervous when cooking for others.  But the enchiladas seemed to have been a hit with her.  I even sent some home with her. And there is, of course, more for leftovers! Yay!  No cooking for the next few days!  That's always a plus!

Totally Free

A co-worker and I ventured out to a local bakery, Totally Free, today.  We just thought we would see what they have.  They make goods WITHOUT gluten, sugar, dairy and eggs.  Yep!  What is possibly left to make a cookie or a muffin? We got some chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles.  I love snickerdoodles.  I didn't love these snickerdoodles.  They were very thick and unusual tasting.

Work

Another fun, exciting week of work.  Can you hear the sarcasm drip from the words?  The little man is in a mood, and not a good one either.  I hope I make it through the week.  My tongue may not survive as I may have to bite through it to not say any smart ass remark.  Wish me luck!