Well, I got a 90 on my paper, which is an A. He said I could revise to get a better grade. I may just do that! :) I know I'm a nerd, I can't help it! Well, I did stitch a little more on my quaker strawberry, but it's still not finished.

I found a great outlet for all this nervous energy I have (I think that's school related)... knitting! I knitted a little scarf, it's little because I realized I was doing it wrong. I casted on 12 stitches instead of 10. I didn't realize it would throw the whole thing off! I have a lot to learn yet about knitting. Here's Bradley modeling my scarf...



It was supposed to look like this...

Red Scarf from The Ugly Green Chair Blog

Oh well, I plan to redo today with big yarn. Too bad Jake's sleeping, or I'd run to hobby lobby right now!! :) Well, that's all for now. Write more soon! :)

I got my computer yesterday!! It's is so nice!! My computer had pretty much quit doing a lot of the things I needed it to do, like run basic programs. I burned my first CD ever yesterday! I was so proud of myself! :) I've decided to order DSL again because Dell gives you a $100 rebate when doing so. Now, I've just got to wait for them to activate it. I don't know why they just can't do it?? Oh well!

Well, I turned I finished Anna Karenina! It was very good!! And I'll definitely have to read it again one day when my kids are little older and I can read it a little better without distraction. I also turned in my paper last night... my stomach is in knots. I hope I did OK. The bad part is that I was the first one to turn it in. I really didn't want that. But I also wanted it over with!! Everyone was asking whose it was, I was trying to hide!!!!

AOL is charging my $2.50 an hour now because I have the AOL light usage plan. Oh well, it will be worth it when I get my rebate! :)

Well, I got a 92% on my test last night... not too bad! :) I'm rewriting my paper because it needs to be more essay-like. Hopefully it's ok! I may turn it in tomorrow, but I really don't want to be the nerd that turns her paper in first! I never realized what a school nerd I really am!! In high school, I was just the opposite.. I was more interested in clothes, friends and my boyfriend (now husband) Chris. Oh well, I guess that's just the way it is sometimes! Well, I didn't get any stitching done yesterday... maybe I'm in a slump? Who knows? Oh well, not much else! Write later.....

Yeah!! They've shipped my computer! I'm so excited!!! :) Maybe I'll get it this week?? That would be so awesome!

Well, my American Govt. class is going well so far. I take a test tonight, so I'll know more after that... LOL! I finished my paper for the class last night. I'm hoping it's ok!! I get so nervous about these things. My dad wants to read it, but I'm funny about letting people read my papers. I'm critical enough, I can't imagine what others think. I'm not even sure if I did it right... I'm afraid it may be too much like a book report. Oh well, it's done, it should be off my mind, but it's not. All I dreamt about last night was the Clinton's. Ugh, that's the last thing I want to be dreaming about. I don't think I can even watch the Oprah interview today! :)

On another note, I'm getting close to the end of Anna Karenina. It's so good, probably one of the best books I've ever read. Tolstoy's writing is so modern it could've been written yesterday instead of in the 1800's. He brings up so many issues that I struggle with and I'm sure many others struggle with as well. I definitely recommend this book. And I know it's silly, but I thank Oprah for bringing the classics to us mainstreamers who might not have noticed them before if it weren't for her.

In the book one of the Characters (Kitty) is doing Broiderie Anglaise. This really interested me so I had to google it! LOL! Here's what I found out about it...

http://www.heritageshoppe.com/heritage/essays/anglaise.html

That's all for now! I'm really hoping to get some stitching done today, maybe I'll finish up my quaker strawberry!??

I'm getting a new computer! I'm so excited. It's been 4 years since I bought my Gateway, not long after Bradley was born. It's defnitely time for a new one. Money is tight, but I really need it for school. It's an investment in my future! LOL! :) It's a Dell, Penitum 4, 2.8 Ghz, 256 MB of Ram, 40 GB HD, and it will have a dual drive DVD ROM/DVD RW. I'm so excited!! And it was only $763 with free shipping. What difference compared to my first computer, which was $1700 and sooooo slow!!! :) Well, still no stitching. I've been procrastinating doing school work by reading Anna Karenina. I really need to get started on my paper!! Oh well, I've got a month! Not much else! Can't wait to get my new computer next week! Yippee!

Stitching? What's that? My life has been taken over by work, school, house cleaning, and kids, not in that particular order. I did work on my Quaker Strawberry a little bit and had to frog everything I stitched and I have not gotten it back out.

Everyone is better and no sickness that I can tell. The next night Jake threw up all over the place and then was fine in the morning. So they defintely caught a little bug. Although I haven't been stitching, I have been reading my book. I'm about 300 pages into it and it's really hard to put down. But I'm going to have to put it down because I have to find my political book today and read that. I was thinking of getting the Hillary Clinton book. She's such a controversial figure, that I thought it would it be pretty interesting. Well, I'll check out the book store and decide then.

Not much else going on here!! Write more soon!! :)

Not stitching much this week! It was Bradley's birthday Wed. and I had school Tue. and Thur. Then Bradley got sick last night. He was acting really tired all day. I thought maybe it was just too much birthday fun. Then when we got to my mom's house he said his tummy hurt and he had a fever. I went to school and my said he had thrown up. I took him home and he had a fever of about 102.6, but refused to take any tylenol. So I put a wash cloth on his head to try to get it to go down. I put him in bed with me and checked him from time to time. I woke up around 5 am and it was still about 102, so I gave him a warm bath and put him back to bed. He woke up around 8 am with no fever and was feeling fine. Must have just been a little bug. I'm so glad he's feeling better. When my babies are sick I'm sick!! I can't stand it!!

I have been reading some lately. I got Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. Now before you get too impressed it was the Oprah book for the summer. It's actually really good and it's easier to read than I thought it would be. It's just long about 800 pages. But that's ok, I think Gone With the Wind was like that, and Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and those are my favorite books. And I have been stitching a little bit. I started Quaker Strawberry by Little by Little. It's coming out cute.

I have to do a paper for my class on a political book, movie, or cartoons. I think I'm going to do the book. It would be easier to quote from a book than a movie, I think. Well, that's all for now!!! Gotta clean... fun, fun!!

A tiny finish...

I worked on this during my lunch breaks at work



It's Be Happy by Shepherd's Bush, from one of their little heart kits.

20 Flowers is finished!! I definitely need practice with finishing though! Oh well, I'm sure it will come with time! :)

Here's the pics...

Front


Back


The fob was stitched wrong (too small), so I'm going to have to restitch it. For now I'm using my pink tassel fob.

What childhood toy from the 80s are you?
brought to you by Quizilla


You're My Little Pony!! Sweet and innocent and
happy, you make people want to spew burrito
chunks. Even a Care Bear could kick your ass.

This is so funny because I had a TON of My Little Ponies!!!

Finishing
1. How many have you framed on the wall?
23
2. How many do you have finished in other ways?
21
3. What was the most expenisve finishing?
I'm pretty cheap when it comes to framing or finishing I don't usually like to spend over $100 when it comes to one piece. I'd probably have to say the most expensive was Shepherd's Bush's Sailor's Collar, I bought the Jill Rensel mats and had it professionally framed. I wanted it for my son, so I went all out. Although my mom bought the mats, so I still didn't go over the $100 mark.
4. Have you finished anything yourself?
I've finished fobs, needlerolls and little pillows myself. I'm getting ready to finish a scissor case... scary!! I taught myself how to pin mount so I've framed several things myself.
5. Describe your favourite finished piece.
My favorite piece I framed myself is Shepherd's Bush's Queen Bee Sampler and my favorite unframed finished piece would have to be my Shepherd's Bush 2004 fob.

What...
1. What is your most treasured needlework possession?
I treasure all my needlework, just ask my husband or kids!!! :) I'd say my most treasured needlework possession are my silver Dovo scissors that I received as a gift from my LNS. I love them!!
2. What is your greatest fear when doing needlework?
That when I'm taking out stitches that I'll cut a hole in the fabric, which I've actually done! Not fun!!
3. What is your greatest extravagance in needlework?
Going to California for the Drawn Thread class. It was worth every penny though!!!
4. What is your stitching motto?
It's not mine it's Diane Jourdan's of Sampler Cove... "When I can't stitch, I get so cross!"
5. What do you dislike most about your needlework?
Nothing!!! Well, I would like more time to stitch, but there's nothing I dislike about it!! :)

I finished the stitching on Just Nan's 20 Flowers! I finished it last week, but I had to close 5 nights in a row, so I haven't had time to post the picture! I finally have 4 days off, yeah! Now I'm going to try to work on the finishing. Ugh, I dread this part!! Wish me luck!!!!



I have also been working on my three friends class piece a little bit. I'm working on the border of the 2nd panel. Slowly, but surely! LOL!