Sept 30/07

I have managed to put a few stitches into the wreath as a way of resetting my brain after reading all kinds of articles on topics like Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma/Myanmar), prostitution and fair trade. University is such an interesting place to be for me because of all the interesting topics and interesting people that I have been meeting. The fun part of being the older student in the class is that I have no fear of speaking up during discussions and I have no fear of chatting up everyone because I am not trying to find my way in life or fit into any cliques. One student told me that she has never felt very comfortable about speaking up in class until this year now that her classes are more of the seminar style instead of the lecture style. I never spoke much in class either the first time around so I can totally relate. Now, after speaking in front of 600 people at the Rotary District Conference when I was in Australia, I have no fear of talking away like a magpie in front of a group!

Of course, stitching is never far from my mind despite all of the work and school stuff that gets shoved into my head everyday! I just received a pattern the other day from ink circles called Kaleidoscope. If you like geometric patterns with interesting colour variations, check out the site! I read about the designer in the recent edition of Just Cross Stitch and immediately went to check out the website because the pictures in the article drew me in. It will be ages before I get to actually stitch it because I have several stockings to do and then a few other patterns that I want to stitch as well, but the pattern collector in me just had to have it! Plus, I recently took several non-cross stitch books off of my pattern shelf because they were crafts that I will never get to and I figure that the Rotary Book sale in October (October 12 and 13 at the Hampton Seniors Resource Centre for anyone in this neck of the woods!)would be a better place for them so I have more room on the shelf for more cross stitch patterns!

Well, I must get back to studying for my exam on globalization tomorrow night.

Sept 25/07

The 2-3 hours each evening that I used to spend in front of the TV with cross stitch hoop in hand have been curtailed severely. Last night, I had had ENOUGH of topics on globalization (I have an exam on the 1st) so I said, "Screw it!" and stitched to my heart's content! Don't get me wrong, I love the stuff I am reading and writing, but I just need a few more hours in the day to nourish my soul by stitching and exercising.

Speaking of exercising, thank heavens that I gave up pop and chips at the same time as my exercise routine took a nose dive or I would be growing exponentially. My strategy is that I have to donate $5 to charity for every bag of chips or serving of pop that I ingest. For someone who had one of each every day at work, this is a major step. To help me through, I drink lots of water at work and make sure that I take lots of fruit to munch on instead of reaching for the chips. I am admittedly a scale-a-holic and step on it numerous times a day which is not healthy, but I can only break one habit at a time, okay?! The scale is telling me though that this cut back in empty calories is nudging my weight down despite little or no walking or running as a concerted exercise effort. Who knew? Well, yeah, I did know, but it was so much easier to grab a bag of chips than it was to remember to buy enough fruit to last until my next trip to the grocery store and to pack enough in my lunch bag each day.

Well, back to the academic grind!

Sept 16/07

I am avoiding reading an account of colonialization in South East Asia so I am here at the computer attending to some very important things!!LOL!!

Actually, I do have a stitching anecdote that I forgot to share the other day. I mentioned that I was at the closest cross stitch shop to me with a friend who is looking for some hobbies. As part of explaining my fascination/addiction, I mentioned that I follow blogs about stitching. Her jaw literally dropped as she asked me if I was joking. She was absolutely blown away by this whole subculture that she had never even heard of before. She was amazed that there was a whole shop devoted to cross stitch and that people would blog about their stitching. I will have to show her my craft supply collection as proof of my addiction because she could just not picture having shelves full of all the stuff that she saw at the store the other day.

Okay, fun time is over. Back to reading about the British, the Dutch and the French and their colonization of SEA.

Sept 15/07

Here is an update on the wreath! I was at Because you Count the other day with a friend who had expressed an interest about cross stitch. While we were looking around, I told her about this piece and one of the shop owners came running over. Apparently, just that morning, someone had been talking with her about trying to find this particular pattern. The lady's phone number is beside me here on the desk to remind me to call her sometime soon.

My stitching progress will probably slow to a crawl after this weekend as I go back to work and get slogging away at my school work. Eating and sleeping may be optional as well!

If anybody in the general vicinity of Moncton is interested, there is an event going on at Because You Count (164 Collishaw) on September 25th between 11:30am and 2pm. Sue Hillis of Sue Hillis Designs will be there. Plus, the shop is having a 16% off everything except floss during the week of Sept. 24-29th. Just thought you might like to know!

Sept 10/07

Here is an update on the wreath project. I am on holidays this week so I have been spending 3-4 hours an evening on this to get as much done as possible before school starts drowning me in paper.

So far, my holidays have been lovely and relaxing and I plan to spend the rest of the week in the same mode. Feesh and kids came down from Moncton on Saturday and we attended the first annual Roots Festival in Bloomfield. We sat out in a hayfield by the bridges and listened to local entertainers while eating the most awesome home made ice cream sandwiches. Then, they came over here for pizza out on the deck. Sunday started with babysitting my nephew while Thor ran the Hampton 5-miler. We had a blast cheering on Daddy and all of the other runners. The rest of the day was spent at the library, then on my bed reading the stuff I photocopied at the library before napping and going to watch Jove play softball.

Today, I am going to do yard work as soon as I quit playing around with the Internet and go to 2 Rotary meetings this evening. My bedding is going through the wash while I type this. I am in puttering mode which is one of my most productive modes because I start out with a vague purpose and do what ever catches my attention about needing to get done. At the end of the day, I invariably sit back in awe at everything I have completed while puttering.

Sept 6/07

Here is my August ornie which I actually completed in September! It is called "Christmas Tree 2007" by Jeannette Douglas and is in the October 2007 JCS. I stitched it on a mystery cloth that I pulled out of my stash. The cloth felt kind of interesting, perhaps it has wool in it??


This is a Dimensions kit called "Wreath of All Seasons" that I am stitching for a fundraiser for my Curl for Cancer team. Now that classes have started, I am not sure if it will be completed in time, but I am stitching for dear life at the moment to get as much done as possible ASAP before I get buried in readings and papers.

Sept 5/07

No stitching pictures today, mostly because I am too lazy to photograph the ornie that I stitched from the latest JCS. Instead, I am going to crow about the comments I received from my professor who read my papers for his globalization class. Keep in mind that I was extremely nervous about writing papers because I was not an arts major at Dal so I only ever wrote one paper during my 4 years there although I can do a nice job on a lab report! Plus, I could choose my own topics and that took me forever to decide because what the hell do I know about globalization and what kind of stuff this prof likes. The first paper on biofuel production and the increase in food costs took me over a week to write because I struggled with trying to actually write the darn thing in the first place. A friend who is working towards her PhD reviewed it for me and gave the thumbs up so I went on to write about the global clothing market. The second paper was much less painful to write. The bibliographies were a lesson or two learned as well so a little prayer was said before I emailed the essays to the prof last Friday.

His response came back on Sunday and I cried triumphant tears as I read that he thought I had done an excellent job!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!! I feel so much more confident as I head to the university tomorrow to start my class in the Politics of Prostitution. My other classes this term are the Politics of Asia and Global Issues. My class selection is a bit schizophrenic, but it was more about trying to fit the classes around my work schedule than trying to build a strong CV for my Masters application. My advisor is teaching two of those classes. She recommended that I worry more about writing good papers for the courses than the actual course content because the goal is to show St Mary's that I am so brilliant that they would be fools to not accept me into the IDS program.

There is so much to this university thing that I have had to re-learn like where to get a parking pass (I did not need one the last go round at uni.), how to get a student card, what to take to class to take notes, where to find my classes, figuring out the university web site (ahem, we did not have the internet back in my Dal gal days) and so on. So, tomorrow, I will be the old girl in the back of the class trying to figger all of this out! Wish me luck!