Merry Christmas!!!!

I know... I was gone waaaaaay too long once again.

Had end of semester grades to calculate, essays to read, conference attendance, blew up a dryer (Literally... plugged it in and it went KABOOOMM!!!! Rattled my bones and gave a a crazy chest pain.), my car is still dead as a door knob, and now my vacuum cleaner has went the way of my car.

Busy, busy, busy.

BUT!!! I am blessed with my babies, my family and my friends... all in physical form and in cyber space both.

I hope everyone has a lovely Holiday Season in what ever way you and your family celebrate!

Be safe!  MUAH!

Happiness Project Part 1 and Some Finishes!

I mentioned before that teaching my students this semester has helped open my own eyes. I spent an entire class period being overly honest, divulging secrets, and overwhelming minds with self-deprecation. It was a path I chose as to not pick on any particular individual in class. It was meant to gain attention and show that each individual would not be judged for his/her path to happiness and that open and honest comments were welcome but would not be pried from them.
I explained that in order for someone to truly understand their own happiness and joy, they needed to understand the highs and lows, the spirals, the whiplash and yet amazing aspects of their lives.
In using myself as an example, I explained where I came from, the fact that I've been used, abused, chewed up, spit out and abandoned. The ever persistent rain cloud above my head telling me that I'm not good enough, I'll never know what being truly loved is, I'll always be broken ... held together by invisible duct tape and zippy ties, and nothing in life will ever go perfectly right for me. I also explained the depression, self-sabotage, emotional eating and suicidal thoughts that plagued me for years. Then I brought out the good... GOD, my family, my babies, small miracles, simple things and stitching.
One of my students said she almost didn't come to class because she was not feeling well, but that she was glad she did... it was the best class she had ever been to. It seemed that in that hour and 20 minutes, I had reached many... and in a way I had reached my own self. That's not to say that the clarity I have been working towards never back tracks. I spiral backwards quite often... silence on the blog front. BUT... I withdraw, I regroup, and I start again.
In the first part of my Happiness Project I created a list. This list is comprised of reminders to me:

"Be still and know that I am God"... first and foremost
This too shall pass
Be Trina
Don't self-sabotage!
Stop bargaining
Enjoy the fun of failure
Employ emotional contagion
Exercise for sanity, not vanity
Recognize my ghosts and dismiss them
Forgive Myself
Let it go
This too shall pass
Keep it simple
Give free hugs
I am enough
Speak my mind
Be silly
Make time to just be me
Inspire and be inspired

On that note... I am proud to say that I have FINISHED Stitching my Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble:

I just can't decide if I want to frame it or stuff it. What do you think?
Also, I was awake at 0540 this past Sunday thanks to the time change. I had my laundry washed an put away by 0715, and had already drank half a pot of coffee. It was nuts. The remainder of my day I spent watching movies and finishing a couple of Christmas ornaments.

My favorite so far:

These two are ones the Boy and Girl picked out:

I think they turned out pretty well.

It's November! Be thankful for what you have, send light and prayers to those who may need it, and give someone a hug!

Just say NO...

You need to virtually meet Brynn... Without a photo I would describe her as a firecracker. She quirky and giggly and definitely keeps you on your toes. I also need to add in that she's COMPLETELY amazing!!! I told her parents that I wanted to adopt her and they kind of just giggled and tried to pass of her siblings. No thank you, LOL.
So... today has been one of those overcast and everything brings you down kind of days. I just want to ditch teaching class tonite, turn off my cell, snuggle up with Cricket and watch a movie. Too bad there's not an easy button for that.
Anyhoo... The lovely Brynn asked me if I wanted to share her peanut butter M&Ms. Uhm... NO! You should have seen the look of horrified shock on her face! Can we say priceless?!?!?!
There's a story behind that. And you say... "Of course there is, Trina!"
Once upon a time, many moons ago, Trina and her sister, Channy, decided to make cookies. After much debate... sugar, oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate chip... the two, not so bright teenagers decided upon peanut butter cookies. Oh, those peanut butter cookies were sooo amazingly delicious! Before you could blink an eye, the sisters ate the ENTIRE batch... 3 dozen cookies.
Because those cookies were sooo yummy, the sisters decided to make another batch. BUT! This time, the cookies never made it to the oven. You read that correctly... those two girls ate the ENTIRE next batch RAW out of the bowl.
You'd think that would have been enough. Oh, no. They then decided to eat the remainder of the peanut butter out of the jar.
Let me tell you... Trina was soooo sick that she tossed all of her cookies back up ALL NIGHT!
Just the smell of peanut butter for almost a decade made her bow to the porcelain goddess. It was some kind of horrible to say the very least. Now, Trina believes that Peanut Butter is the Devil. LOL.

Before I go, I finally remembered to bring that forgotten mini-stitch to the office. Take a look at the little Pop Dog I made for the lovely Brynn...

It's the cutest!
And remember... It's not a great idea to binge eat peanut butter!

Not a Great Blast from the Past

First, let me start by saying that my Fire Burn & Cauldron Bubble is almost complete! I'm going to try my hardest to have it finished in time for Halloween. Cross your fingers and knock on wood for me.
Sorry the picture is kind of shabby... sometimes natural light creates a funny photo effect.

I will make sure to use a filter on the final product. LOL

As usual, I leave you with some nutsy quip or story so here goes...

Last night I'm catching up with all the hustle and bustle on FB when I notice I have a message in the "other" inbox. YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE WHO IT WAS!!!! There in all his glory... Blue Panties Guy. (For the full background story, go to January 2014 and read about the dog's name not being
B!t#h) Yup... you read that right! Its been what? 4 years possibly, maybe. He said "I remember you" To which I responded with "Oh, really now and how did you find me?" hahaha. After his explanation, I COULD NOT RESIST asking if he still wore his panties.  LOL. He said yes. HAHA. So, I called bullsh!t and told him I wasn't biting. Needless to say, my sister thought I was losing my mind when I busted in a fit of hysterical laughing. And that was that.

On a side note, please don't think that I am all about degrading people.  I'm not. It's just that this story in particular was too random not to share.

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

The Struggle is REAL

Everybody has crazy quirks. Some people pick their noses and eat their boogies while driving down the road... I've seen it happen, true story; some people are superstitious; some people are completely OCD.

I fall into the OCD category. I wasn't always this way. I think my tendencies have grown in massive proportions over the years as a coping mechanism for things that I cannot control.

OCD exhibit 1: Say hello to my staple collection. Yes, sitting on my desk is approximately 7.1 pounds of used staples. No, they don't stay there. I put them in a cup until the cup fills up and then store them in a Christmas Popcorn tin.

Moving on...

If I change one aspect/task of my morning routine, I ALWAYS forget my cell as a result. I think I need to submit this situation to be added to the list of eponymous laws. Seems perfectly logical to me... can't you just picture Trina's Law listed just beneath Murphy's Law?

So, as I was saying, I alter one task, and I forget my cell. This morning, I meant to place my mini-stitch from last night into my pocketbook to bring to the office. I sat it down right beside my pocketbook instead of in it b/c I remembered I needed to grab my cell. I grabbed my cell, and walked out the door leaving the mini-stitch. Ergo, no photo today. Just me ranting.

I have been employing my GOOGLE-ology skills in an effort to understand why things are the way they are... especially when it comes to the multitasking ability of my hamster to operate my brain. Stay with me, I am making it to my point for the day.

I always have a song playing in my head. I have previously just chalked it up to "there's a song for everything" in life. Usually it doesn't bother me... I can't say the same for my co-workers when I start singing something random... today has been the theme song to WKRP in Cincinnati and the theme song to Cheers... " Sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows your name"... sad but true... don't judge the decade of music... I am a Model 78 after all, and my brain likes all genres of music. Anyways, at other times, it can be utterly horrific... trying to sleep at night and my brain is singing "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts...". 

Today I researched this phenomenon. Apparently, I suffer from music hallucinations or "earworms". And people who are slightly neurotic or OCD suffer from this the most. Isn't that just great! Don't believe me... go talk to GOOGLE. I'm telling you the struggle is real.

Scrambled Days

I know... it's been a day or two since I last posted.

I completely lost my gumption. Not just in the stitching department, but in everything related to life.

The trek back to "happiness" has been a long and arduous journey... at least it feels as though I have climbed Mt. Everest when I know I only hit a small hill in Appalachia.

My students are working on a happiness project in class. I have found that teaching them has helped me to open my eyes and mind to things I needed to take control/let go of. I'm constantly reminding myself to take a step back and breathe. My happiness project is a work in progress as it seems to keep expanding. I will give you details bit by bit, but not today.

 With that being said, I am happy to report that I feel my balance returning.

I did finish my Sunflower project!!! Woot Woot. I estimate that it took me 9 months and roughly 64,000 stitches. Now I just need to decide on a frame and she will be hanging gloriously on a wall.

I have also become the Yeti to The Girl's 4-legged fuzzy baby. Meet the newest member of the family: Meeko McStinky the Wonder Ferret...

Isn't he the cutest! He and Cricket just play and play. They are way too funny to watch.
Meeko is also a little nosey. He kept trying to take my scissors and marker... at least when he wasn't nibbling on my toes.

 Here he is trying to climb into my ORTS jar. He did his best, but gave up AFTER he dumped it completely out.

I think he will need a link titled "Meeko Mischief" placed besides the "Cricket Antics".

And just because Cricket doesn't want Meeko to receive all the attention, here she is.... the day she turned 9. It's hard to believe she's turning into an old gal. Seems like just yesterday she was small enough to fit in my coat pocket.

Before I go, I just need to say that I was saddened by the passing of SoCal Debbie. I only knew her by way of cyberspace, but I will miss her. Sending lots of hugs, light and prayers to her family and friends.
Be thankful for the time you have with your friends and family. The days may be long, but the years are short.
XOXO

Getting There

I took a vacation from stitching in the past few weeks. I had just reached a point of severe burn out. So what did I do? I read 10 books in 3 weeks. Part of filling that unpainted canvas in life is coloring it in with new knowledge or expanding the imagination. Especially when someone, such as myself, does not watch TV. I just can't see myself making like a potato and holding the couch down to the floor all day.

Just this weekend, I started stitching on my Sun flowers again. Three of the 4 quads are now finished. Go me! Maybe I'll be able to pick up gusto and finish it soon.

Van Gogh is still screaming at me to work on Starry Night but I just keep telling him to zip it... that's really putting it mildly b/c his voice encourages my mouth to open and toss out buckets of profanity. The pattern is just too aggravating b/c some of the symbols are used for multiple colors and the chart is in black and white. I guess I just need to kick my intuition into over drive and tackle it.  Worse case scenario... lots of frogs and rippits.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend. Keep it real and don't do anything I wouldn't do.



Busy, Busy Bee!

What a whirlwind... It would appear that tomorrow turned in to next week! I still forgot to take a recent pic of the Sunflowers. HOWEVER... the Boy and Girl stayed with their Father for a fish fry this past weekend. Instead of twiddling my thumbs with boredom from lack of rug rat amusement, I completed my weekend chores and stitched the remainder of my 3 day weekend.  You will not believe what I have accomplished!

First up... I finally framed The Guardian Angel for my lovely momma. (Mom... if you are reading this... avert your eyes and just hit scroll down for a few second!)

I'm totally thrilled! I just hope Mom doesn't cry when she finally sees it. I may have mentioned before, but this was my Aunt Trudy's absolute favorite picture. The Christmas after she passed, we all received ornaments dedicated to her depicting this picture. I just thought that this would be pretty for a year round sort of thing.

Moving on before my eyes start to run amuck... the Boy and Girl picked out several Christmas ornaments from Just Cross Stitch MAgazines Christmas editions from 2009-2011 years. I know we're only in spring, but I figured I might have a few finished for this Christmas.

I finally added the beads to this one. I've bought the ribbon to close it up with, just need to get it done.

The Boy picked out the Sock Monkey. I think he's too cute. It was a pain in my flat tush trying to find his mitten buttons. Thankfully, 1-2-3 Stitch had them on the site.

And finally... I finished stitching this cute little snow man on Sunday evening.

Let me just rant for a second... it's hard finding the trims and beads when you live in a somewhat small town. Our Hobby Lobby and Joann don't always have what I'm looking for. I get these ideas in my noggin and when I can't find the exact thing I start stomping my feet and screaming like a toddler in a temper tantrum... only in my mind of course... my exterior remains the cool and composed Southern Belle that I have morphed into. Hehehe.

Well... it's turned out to be quite a beautiful day here. I hope yours has as well... don't forget to stop for a second, take a deep breath of fresh air and enjoy the sunshine! Toodles!

Where did April go?

Half of May is gone as well. It's mind boggling! I guess time really flies by when you are a busy gal.

I've been working on several WIPs in the last few weeks, but I'm only going to show you how far my sunflowers are at the present time because I'm adding a few other things in to this post. You know me... just wonky enough to skip around. :)

I'm so excited that the bottom half is complete! I think they are really starting to pop.

I actually finished my jewelry frame about a year ago... just never thought to post it. I have an armoire,  but I grew extremely tired of digging for matching earrings and my necklaces were over flowing. This frame is all of my over flow and hook earrings where I can easily find what I'm looking for. Brilliant, is it not? Just and old frame, some peg board and some paint.

My neighbor, an older cooky sort of fellow, had surgery to remove a gall stone last week. He knocked on my door the day of his surgery and asked if I could run pick up his Rx for him. Just handed me his debit card and pin number like he'd known me for years. Knowing he didn't have anyone else to do it for him, I put my real clothes back on, as I was in my jammies already at 8, and went to get it for him. Well, he surprised me last night by bringing me a plate of food and some Callas for Mother's Day. Very sweet of him, though in a selfish kind of way I hope he is not developing a major attachment as I am not really a sociable gal. I'm neighborly and like to say hi and help my neighbors, but I'm not the type to sit around and chit chat. I guess that makes me a completely horrid person.
But, I have to say, he lucked out on his choice of flowers because Callas are my favorite, right after orchids anyway.

I hope everyone's Monday is behaving! I'll give you a sneak peak of the other WIPS tomorrow! And to all the Mother's out there in their own little corner of the cyber world... HAPPY BELATED MOTHER'S DAY!

A frame and some paint...

Hello Sweet World!

Finding time to post this week had been non-existent until this very second. With Easter upon us, I have spent the last week planning Easter dinner and shopping. I sooo cannot wait to dig my fork into the food being prepared on Sunday. Good food makes me happy, happy, happy. LOL

I do have to say that I ended up framing Yoda's stitch. It took me forever to find a frame and even now I'm still unsure that I like it. Beware when frame shopping because even if it says it's a certain size... it still may not fit your stitch correctly. (Notice I said the frame may not fit your stitch instead of the other way around... Heaven knows our stitches are essentially perfect and all the worldly elements should bend to their specifications. Hehehe.)

Anyhoo, I waited for what seemed like an eternity for Yoda to step out of her office. I planted it square on her desk with a note that said "For Yoda, From Agent K, Just because." She squealed with delight and promptly passed it around the 3 departments that make up our office. Good for me stitch wise because now several ladies would like me to make something for them... I love stitching but what do I do with all of it once done? Give it away, I say.

So, here's Yoda's:

And in my true fashion of working backwards, the kiddos and I painted last weekend. The sun was shining and the weather was just right for a patio paint party. It was truly lovely. Thankfully it was before the plants started pollinating in full force and turning everything green. (The 4th season in NW GA.)
I painted the "Owl" LOL... so sad.

The Girl couldn't decide what to paint so she just started finger painting... looks a little like Mickey Mouse. LOL

And The Girl's little friend painted this one:

The Boy painted as well, but didn't complete his for a lack of white paint. Once he gets his done, I'll add it. We did have a grand time.

Well... I hope everyone has a most wonderful Easter weekend! Enjoy your family, friends, good food, lots of chocolate and don't forget to remember what Easter is all about!

She's Finished...

Ladies and Gentlemen, both from afar and near, it is with extreme delight that I now present to you on this not so fine and blissful rainy day, the completed Guardian Angel! She is from the Janlynn Praying Hands Collection.

I finally buckled down yesterday and back stitched for 8 hrs. Okay, not 8 straight hours due to stopping for laundry... so maybe closer to 6.5 hours. Blah... not to the stitching per say, but to the completion of chores. :)

Here she is....

I'm totally thrilled. Now I just need to get her dolled up in a frame.

As for this past Saturday, I know... I'm working in reverse... I did complete the lower left quad for my Sun Flowers.

I'm totally giddy!

Ooops...

I've had another "bang your head on the wall" kind of day. Not literally, of course, because that would make me stupid.

It started early this morning when I was getting ready to leave for the office and felt a little funny under my jacket... a sudden realization hit me that I had failed to put my top on!

Reminds me of a year or two ago when I got to the office only to realize I had forgotten to put a bra on. HAHA!! Brain farts = great times!

The only thing I can think is that I skipped or added an extra step somewhere in my morning routine that threw off my entire balance... at least in leading up to forgetting my top. 

I did, however, remember to snap a pic of my Guardian Angel and Sun Flowers!

They are coming along quite nicely... other than the epic frog from this past weekend, LOL. Please try to ignore the enlarged stitch holes on the flower pot. :)

Other than that... I have been surfing thru everyone's blogs to see what's up... I have to say that all of the stitching and crafty stuff going on is simply AMAZING! This world may be full of nut jobs and horrible things, but there is beauty in it as well... such creativity just flows in leaps and bounds!

My words of advice before I go... check and double check that you are appropriately dressed when you leave the house!

Epic Frog

I've been slacking just a little bit in the last few weeks. Suffering from a slight kilter to my inspiration and motivation... or perhaps I'm just being a little melodramatic.

I did complete a quick stitch for my co-worker, Yoda. (Yoda she is, for lots she knows.) I LOVE Yoda. It took me about a year to come to the realization that she is completely fabulous... I just knew she hated me when I first started working in the office almost 8 yrs ago. HA! Anyhoo... she loves her kitties. I just need to find the inspiration to finish it. To stuff it or to frame it... that is the question. Any thoughts or ideas from the peanut gallery?

I'm down to the back stitching on my Guardian Angel... oh, how I despise back stitching. I meant to take a pic of her last night but suffered from a mental glitch. 

Speaking of mental glitch! I had a completely horrifying brain malfunction this past Sunday. I'm stitching a long, begging the Boy for a few more minutes before putting my stitching away and attempting to play Call of Duty with him on the PS3, when I realize I made it to the bottom row of the flower planter for my Sun Flowers and ended a row off! An epic frog of massive proportions! I have manipulated patterns before to make up for a missed stitch but this was an oh my goodness just wow moment. I spent the next hour ripping. Geez o peet, what a mess!


With that being said... I need to chase my Li'l Bro down... he just pulled off a figurative drive by at my office door... "Hi, Sis. Bye, Sis. I'm going fishing!"  

Take time to go fishing!!!
 

Returned

Was there and back again... Elvistown that is.
Grandmother's service went perfectly. We laid her to rest wearing her tiara. She was beautiful.

Before the sadness with the passing of my Grandmother, I had the surprise of an afternoon off with some lady friends from work. What did we do? We went rummaging in the local antique shops!
I literally squealed out load when I came upon a vanity table. It was almost exactly like the one my Grandmother on my bio-dad's side had passed to my Aunt before my bio-dad passed it to me. Only this... after a while, he passed it to his girlfriend's daughter. I was most distraught. But lo and behold, I had just stumbled across one that could almost pass for my grandmothers!!! I couldn't believe it. This was the first one I had seen since my Grandmother's was given away. It was as if the clouds parted, the sun shown and the angels sang. I text my Momma and Daddy to make sure that it was a good deal. I wanted it to go home with me, but didn't have the funds for it at that point. You know how it is.... we have buyer's remorse and non-buyer's remorse... this was the non-buyer's to the extreme. I hated leaving it there.

So, Grandmother passed and I left town. Did I forget about it? HECK NO! Hahaha.

Did I buy it as soon as I made it home. Nope.

Last night I did receive a knock on the door... I opened it to see my L'il Brother... standing there with the vanity. I thought I was going to cry but suppressed it for his sake. HE was worried that I would miss the opportunity to get it myself. How freaking amazing is he?!?!

So... here it is...

It's mostly dove tail work... very little hardware. Just gotta clean it up a bit and find some antique drawer handles. I could jump up and down!

Other than that, I finally picked up stitching on my Gaurdian Angel again. She's coming along.

I hope all is well in your corner of the world!

I promise I'm still here...

Life has been crazy the last few weeks to say the least. I haven't stitched in a while but its not due to laziness. More like extreme exhaustion. Work has started making its way into the busy time of year. On top of that, a beloved Grandmother has passed away this week.... that in and of its self has kept me busy.

Anyhoo... I hope everyone is doing well. I will post again soon.

Have a brilliant day!

She's Baaack...

Sup, Buttercup?

Finally took my first "real vacation" in almost 3 yrs. My parental unit spoiled the kids and me last week. Ski resort, indoor water park, museum, spa day, movies... the works. It was AMAZING to say the least.

My little cricket was stuck to me like glue after being gone for the week. She told me it was fun at my Sister's house, but she missed me sooo terribly and wondered where I was. I couldn't even shower without her sticking her nose in the curtain... I guess she thought I might sneak down the drain and leave her behind again. I guess that's what happens when you're a pet parent.

I did stitch a little bit yesterday evening on my Guardian Angel. She's coming along quite nicely.

Mother Nature is still acting bi-polar. Yesterday we had a high of 70... I was wearing flops for goodness sake. Today I heard we're supposed to get more snow Wednesday night. We're up, we're down. She's giving me whiplash.

Well... I hope everyone is doing well!

A little note of encouragement for you before I go:

Later, Tater!

Road Trip...

No stitching this week... just no time.
I worked out of town on Tuesday.
Wednesday, my Sister and I drove southbound for an over night road trip... we went to see our Little Brother graduate. Stopped in ATL to surprise a Bestie at work... great fun. Passed a billboard that said "Do something EXTRAORDINARY"... hmmm... what to do?
We couldn't check into our hotel until Momma and daddy showed up.... so we toured the local cemetery. I know I do that a lot. I find it to be peaceful. Anyhoo... we straightened the flowers on graves as we walked the rows and read them aloud. Something kind of extraordinary until I had a brain to mouth filter malfunction.... I came across one and said "she's fresh." My Sisters jaw just dropped... oops.
We stayed up with Momma until 0300... not too bright but great fun... what can I say... wine was involved, lol. Got to see our Grandparents and Uncle Sackeojimbo from Elvis Town. Graduation was fabulous! So proud of Little Brother.
Ended up do something else kind of extraordinary... we went to housing and picked up some of the other kids. Little Brother had 2 of them in his truck and Sister and I took the bags because of rain chances... picked up another who rode in our car a few exits up the road. This was almost 1730 and we had to have them at the airport in less than an hr and a half.
We made it! We also dared anyone to say anything to us when we parked to let them out at the curb... these guys and gal deserve preferential treatment. 15 bags and a couple of hugs later... we had two headed home to Washington State and one headed home to Michigan. My only hope is that one day... if my children are in their situation... someone will be kind enough to help them. If this makes any sense to you .... some strangers are family in the type of world my bio family lives in... we have to take care of each other.

Clumsy, that's me.

I took a nose dive yesterday. Stepped funny off the sidewalk and almost face planted. Nothing is broken... just peeled a layer off of my knee and mutilated the palms of my hands.... I still have gravel in them because I couldn't tolerate the idea of peeling them any more than they already are in order to get the crud out... it can just stay there for now. Thankfully, the Boy carefully obeyed my instructions to patch me up while I tried not to faint, or pee my pants for that matter, and my Girl held back my hair.  Excuse my language, but showering was a total b!@%h this morning.

I did manage to stitch Saturday... worked on my Guardian Angel. She's coming along.

I also remembered that I never showed you the ornaments to my Christmas Calendar. They're too cute! I still have to finish putting the calendar it self together. I can't decide if I want to frame it or quilt a backing to it. Decisions, decisions.

Well... I hope all of you lovely people are having a fantastic day! 

I survived the Great Snowmageddon!

Ha. I cracked myself up, truly.

You may have seen that the South received about 2 inches of snow. Then completely iced over. It started snowing here Tuesday about 0900. I left my office at 1130. Slid right on out of my parking lot. Almost hit a tee-niney sports car in my apartment complex drive. And almost hit the two that park on either side of me.... while driving at a slow crawl at that. (It doesn't help that we all park on a hill.) I'm not from the South! I can drive in "real snow"! This was nuts...

So... I have been stuck until today. The drive was one big ice rink. What did I do? Laundry, scrubbed my oven clean and stitched. I stitched until I thought I would go blind. Fabulous, really.

I worked on my Fire Burn & Cauldron Bubble until I ran out of thread. I chided myself when I ran out... I mean who in their right mind starts a stitch, all in one color might I add, without having enough thread to complete it? I proudly, and with a devilish grin, raise my hand and shout "I DO!!!!" To which I also say "tsk, tsk, naughty, naughty..." I'm almost half way done though...

Once I ran out of my 552 purple thread, I worked on my flowers... I actually started it over a week ago... To the possibility of your dismay... I don't have all of the colors for this one as of yet. LOL. However, the lower left quad is completed... ok... completed as much as I can complete thus far. (Don't judge.)

Also, you should know that my morning cup of coffee is not complete without my Jack Skelington mug... and you may not be able to see it very well, but the Magic 8 Ball is used quite often as a difficult decision making tool... either by yours truly or my students.

So.... you may ask... "Besides stitching and cleaning, what else did you do, Trina?" To which I would reply with a chuckle... "I stitched some more!" What can I say... I live life completely on the edge... always careful not to fall off into the bottomless, boredom abyss. Anyhoo... I started my Guardian Angel. This one I stitch in memory of my Aunt Trudy. She passed away from GIST cancer at the ripe old age of 41 about 10 yrs ago. I remind myself that if I can make it past that age life is gravy.

Well... before I fare thee well, I wanted to show you a couple of my "snow" pics. I absolutely love my holly tree... just not the berries tracked into my apartment. Little Cricket had a blast, though! She would have stayed out all day if I had let her... I just feared her becoming a Cricket Pop. How would you defrost a dog? Blow dryer I presume. LOL... ok maybe not so funny.

For today:
Drink some nice hot cocoa... because I said so... stay warm... 
and remember... "should've" is a stick we beat ourselves with... just do as you will and there will be no regrets... not making a decision is still making a decision.

Hugs!

Monday, Monday

My Monday started Sunday.

Let's see...
There's a germ fest going on in my sinuses... thank Heaven for DayQuil.
I managed to burn two of my shirts while ironing last night... how does that even happen?
I scuffed the toe of my patent leather shoes on the concrete steps to my office this morning... was I sleep walking to not pick up my feet? Geez-o-peet.
Insomnia is getting the better of me. I took a sleep aid last night about 0930.... midnite comes... 0100 comes... what am I doing awake?.... playing the theme song to Fresh Prince of Bel Air on loop in my mind. (I've got to fire the hamster operating the inner workings of my brain... she's slipping.)
Then to top it off.... I forgot my cord... so no photos of my stitching today. Grrrr.

I hope everyone is having a better Monday than I am!

Grow Your Blog

 

Hello!!!

I'm Trina. Welcome to my little spot within the cyber-universe.I know I'm a little early on posting for GYB, but I was a little too excited to wait. 

I have been stitching since I was in the 4th grade... somewhere around 20 years perhaps. It's crazy to think it's been that long. My lovely mother is responsible... she bought some cross stitch ornaments for me to make my 4th grade teachers for Christmas. I picked it up and have been doing it ever since. It's definitely a way for me to relax when I am discombobulated. I can get lost in a pattern and all of my negative thoughts just flow right on out the window. I love it to say the least.

I have two children... 1 girl, Cobi Lynn, and 1 boy, Gage Egan. I will typically refer to them as "the Girl" or "the Boy" on my blog. They are my pride and joy... my greatest accomplishments in life thus far. I am also pet parent to Cricket. My 4-legged child is almost 9 and more mischievous than both of my human children combined.

The title of my blog may give the impression that I rant and rave. Aside from the sometimes off the wall thoughts and ideas, I try to keep it well within the limits of what is expected from a true, transplanted Southern Belle. My, my, my... I think I am suffering from the vapors and am in need of my hand fan and a cold glass of co-cola. Maybe that was a little over dramatic... seeing as it's maybe 20 degrees outsides. Unfortunately, I don't blend into the South very well at all times. I don't drink sweet tea... only un-sweet. And, I don't particularly care for grits... pass the cream of wheat.

Wow... I think I digressed just a little. 

Before I leave you, I wanted to show you the little pillow ornament I made for my dear friend,  Miss Sherry. I was sooo proud of myself for keeping it a secret from her until I had her close her eyes and open her hands this morning. I found the pattern on Stitchy Kitty... and it was free. We like free, don't we?

It's almost too cute!

Well... I'm glad you dropped by! Have a wonderfully, lovely day or evening!