Feb 22/08

Here is the purple version of the Alphabet Heart. I am about to pick through my threads to decide on the green version before I collapse into bed tonight. Having to work this weekend will put a dent in my time and energy, but I hope to get some stitching done!

One of my little daily joys is to check my map stats. It never ceases to amaze me that my little blog gets hits from all around the world. My favourite surprise was Ankara, Turkey because it just seems to exotic to me, but all the others are cool, too. I would be thrilled if you all would post a comment even if it is just to say "Hi!" so that I can check out your blogs as well! Happy stitching wherever you may be!

Feb 16/08

This is my January ornie. I had been holding off on posting about it because I needed to find the time to look for something to attach to the centre of the design like the snowflake that the designer used. There was nothing suitable in my bag of tricks so I have decided that this ornament is done, at least stitching wise. This design is the bargello star ornament designed by DebBee's Designs for the JCS 2007 Christmas Ornaments. I fudged some of the colours because I did not have any Weeks floss or the Kreinik braid that was called for. You can compare my version with hers since hers is on the cover of the magazine!

Feb 15/08

Some stitching has been occurring around this place. This pattern is one that C. sent me from her blog. I am thinking of doing the pattern in several other colours like yellow, purple,and green to represent the different emotions and turning it into a wall hanging.

Other than that, I have adopted a new kitty this week so things have been furry around here as the other two cats get used to an interloper! Please say hello to Miss Penelope who has come out of hiding and is busy exploring the rest of the house.

Feb 2/08

Not much to really report on the stitching front although I am almost done an ornament for the ornament blog! There are just not enough hours in the day between sleeping, eating, working, trying to get into shape, trying to maintain a social life and taking a course at the university. How do people with kids get anything done?!


My Curl for Cancer team was the top fundraising team for the second year in a row and we have the medals to prove it! I also won alot of stuff in the silent auction like a car safety kit, custom framing and a night at the Delta Brunswick! The Delta is close to some bars that my friends and I like so I figured that some weekend we might need to crash our drunken butts there!


My Curl for Cancer team was called the Peace Rocks. The cranes were my inspiration because they are a symbol of peace and hope and I love the story of Sadako Sasaki and the 1 000 cranes. The story is so moving and beautiful about her battle with leukemia that was caused by the atom bomb being dropped on Hiroshima. Plus, I took a wee chance to celebrate something of my heritage while doing a sport I love with people I love to hang out with!

Jan 20/08

A few stitches have been done around this place, but mostly I have been increasing my stash through donations from other people who are decluttering their craft supplies. One friend gave me several large pieces of Aida cloth that she no longer uses because her interest in cross stitch has waned in favour of other crafts. The photo today is of the bag of patterns that one of my co-workers gave me because she no longer cross stitches and she was cleaning out her stuff. Not all of the patterns appeal to me, but there are lots to look through!

Jan. 7/08

I am quite excited about this little bargain that I found on Chapters Indigo online. Yup, that price sticker is very much correct, plus I got a percentage off for being an irewards member and it was free shipping for orders over $39. Not much accomplished on the stitching side of things because a few viruses and the Christmas holidays have kept me away from my stitching. Right now, I am procrastinating from my grad school application because I am stumped as to how to properly promote myself in my letter of intention. Arghh!!!!


This is what the snow looked like on my deck yesterday before the weather warmed up and melted alot of it down. I call my table the "snow mushroom" in this photo! We have received alot of snow this winter so far------4 storms in 7 days makes me very weary from shovelling the driveway.

December 29/07

No stitching pictures to show because I have been too busy working, hanging out with family and going out with friends. One of my fantastic customers saw this card while out shopping one day and bought it for me. You know, if I had a loonie ($1 for you non-Canucks) for every time I have heard this, I would be comfortably retired to an island in the Caribbean with the biggest stitching stash in the world!

I hope that everyone is enjoying the holidays and I wish you all the best in 2008.

Dec. 19/07

I was away to Toronto last weekend for my aunt's 60th birthday party. The surprise party was held at the Japanese Cultural Centre which was a real treat for me because I know very little about my Japanese side. My uncle took this photo of me there in front of the sign that represents my generation in Canada. I am not sure why it is important to know one's generation, but I know that it is important.

Dec. 11/07

Life has been slowly getting back to normal. My mom is recovering from her surgery with no apparent after effects from the post-surgical complications! Thank heavens for small and big mercies! My papers are all handed in and my one and only exam is written so now I can concentrate on relaxing and hanging out when I am not working. Apparently, Christmas is only a few days away, but I have already had my Christmas miracle so everything else is not important to me this year like cards and gifts and decorating.

I did finish a couple of ornaments to give to family when I go to Toronto this weekend for a visit. The snowmen are sitting on the backing fabric that I bought to finish them. It is awesome to spend my evenings again in front of the TV with my stitching and my cat curled up asleep beside me.

Nov. 27/07

Well, a little bit of stitching did get done on the wreath as I sat at my mom's bedside in the hospital (she came home last night) and as I relaxed and regrouped. Now that I am almost feeling human again, the stitching will have to sit to one side as I scramble to get two papers done for next Monday. They were due this Wednesday and Thursday, but my prof very kindly gave me an extension because of my mom's hospital adventure. Speaking of which, I need to get cracking some more on those papers....

Nov 22/07

Well, very little stitching has been done here of late. My mom had a hysterectomy last week and ended up back in hospital with complications. Her kids have been at her bedside all day, every day as we wait for her to get better. We have counted 12 different doctors at her bedside this week and a lot of amazing nursing staff who have definitely earned their pay looking after her various ailments (and there have been many!). Mom has been an amazing patient to the point where she has been apologizing to the nursing staff because she is making so much work for them because she is so weak at the moment. Oh! It has been a week!

Nov. 15/07

Well, this post is kind of about stitching, but not really. I was being a little philosophical and teary-eyed tonight as I put a few stitches into my wreath piece. Truth be told, I had a little meltdown last weekend. Exhaustion and some life stuff just got the best of me and this past weekend was one of the darkest few days I have had in a long time because I can usually see it coming and prevent myself from falling so far. There are those of you who check this blog who know what a bastard depression is for me and how that demon can engulf me for no apparent reason. As I was stitching tonight, I was thinking about how grateful I am for my family and friends who are always there for me and how they love me unconditionally even if they do not understand how I feel and why I feel that way. I was also thinking about an old friend who I hear from sporadically and he hears from me sporadically, but somehow he knew to pop back onto the scene just when I needed him most. Then, there is the new friend who sent me a lovely message today about how I cheer him up after one of our university classes each week by telling him that everything is going to be okay. Last but not least, there is my family who drag me along behind them or pull me out of my emotional cave when they need to. Mom once said that at the end of days when the world is going to hell, the ones who will stand with you and protect you are your family.

Stitching a piece is kind of like life. There are the first stitches that you put into a piece to get it going. You work away at different bits and then all of the sudden the bits start to take form. Sometimes, you put away the project and neglect it in favour of something else and other times, you are totally dedicated. There are some beautiful, amazing finishes and there are other pieces that rot away at the bottom of the project pile because the mistakes are too unbearable to face. Some threads are blended and others are shiny and specialized and some are just your every day average threads.

I am so thankful for the love of my family and friends, old and new, IRL and online. Thank you.

Nov. 4/07

A few more stitches have gone into my wreath, but nothing worth photographing so instead I am sharing my new-to-me Teresa Wentzler patterns that I have recently bought off Ebay. I am not a big fan of all the dragon stuff, but I love her other designs. I wonder if Betty Ford has a program for cross stitch patterns addictions.

Oct. 29/07

My fingers have started to grow keyboard keys at the ends because I spend so much time typing up stuff for my classes! My head is swirling with tidbits about Southeast Asia, prostitution and pharmacy stuff. It is no wonder that I am looking more dazed and confused than ever!
As you can see, I have managed to put a few stitches into the wreath. Stitching is such a wonderful way to wind down at the end of the day and allow my mind to relax so that the chips fall where they may.

Oct 18/07

Last night during my class on global issues, we were discussing the UN Millennium Development Goals which has set that whole train of thought off again for me. The Millennium Goals can be found here. The discussion in class circled around the idea about how many countries will probably not be able to reach these goals because it would mean that they would have to develop their social programs at a rate that has never occurred before historically in many of those countries. Earlier this year, I had asked myself what I can do as an individual to ensure that these goals are met. I still can not fully answer that question, but I am reminded that I had pledged to do something as often as possible to further those goals. Even little actions would be of consequence, in my opinion. So, I would challenge everyone who takes a peak at this blog to take a peak at the MDGs and to take a moment to think about the things that they can do. Some suggestions that I have are to write your government representatives to ask them what your government is doing to ensure the success of this program, donating or volunteering to charities that have women, children or health as one of their cornerstones, become more energy efficient, read about other countries to become more familiar with a place you currently know nothing about, and so on!

So, that stitching thing. Yeah, I do not have much progress to share although most days I do manage to get a stitch or two into the wreath project I am stitching for a Curl for Cancer fundraiser.

If anyone is in the Hampton area this weekend, there is a chili and chowder fundraiser at the Legion on Main Street from 4-7 pm on Saturday. The proceeds are going towards the trip I am planning to El Salvador so that my Rotary club can sponsor a house in El Salvador through Habit for Humanity. Many thanks to the Lions Club for working with us and putting this event on!

Oct 13/07

So, when I was all bright and shiny and walking across the big stage to get my diploma, they did not tell us that there would be days where I would just shake my head and lock the door behind me when I leave the pharmacy. In the past 2 shifts, I have talked to 2 Mounties doing drug investigations (love the uniform, the conversation could be more fun), a man who lost his wife a year ago after 50 or so years of marriage and hearing him say that he feels he has no reason to live, a man who wants to take female hormones so that he can have breasts and dealt with 4 or 5 other conversations where the health issues were of a delicate and serious matter and I did what I could to sort them out. Somehow, what to cook for supper has lost its importance tonight, but it was nice after one conversation when one lady said that she was really hoping that I was working today so that she could ask me the questions she needed answers to.

Oh! I am listening to the national news as I type this and the protest in Saint John against turning UNBSJ into a polytechnic has made the national news. Way to go!

Stitching has been low on the priority list, mostly because I can barely keep my eyes open by the time I get everything else done and think about doing some stitchin!

Oct 9/07

To maintain my sanity, I have been putting a few stitches into the wreath every night as I decompress in front of the television before falling into bed. It is slowly coming to life!



Here is a photo, and a cute one at that, of the two critters who share my house with me. Actually, it is more that they rule the place and I pay the mortgage, but let's not get into that!!! LOL!

Well, back to the grind. I am working on two research papers, one on prostitution and AIDS and the other on Laos. My eyes are getting buggy from staring at computer screens and trying to figure out the whole on-line research system that the university uses.

Oct. 1/07

So, I was faced with a piece of paper tonight that had 3 questions on it. They were (more or less):
1. What do Marxism and Social Darwinism have in common?
2. Describe the left and right spectra of the political system in terms of globalization.
3. Make a case for Universalism or Cultural Relativism and use examples from your own life.

I will never again complain that science exams were hard because at least with multiple choice questions, the correct answer was somewhere in front of me and I just had to reason it out. These friggin' essay papers where a blank page mocks me as I try to assemble something that sounds like a remotely coherent answer to questions like those are HARD! Two hours later, the hand gripping the pen and my brain were numb after scratching out answers that I hope will pass muster.

It did not help that anxiety kept my mind whirling all last night so sleep was elusive. Then, I put in an 8 hour shift at the pharmacy with one 20 minute break to shove my lunch into my face because things were busy all day before rushing in to the university to write the exam. I dreaded hearing the doctor's line ring because they all wanted to ask me questions today about odd stuff since the local docs are all mistaken and fooled into believing that I know lots of neat pharmacy things (actually, I am tickled pink that they all love to call to pick my brain)and I really had to struggle to think.

Well, maybe a hot shower and some stitching will the perfect end to a hectic day.

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!