6:32 PM
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Today has been a very difficult day. I feel like I am trying to swim through a murky, thick, muddy swamp. Thinking is difficult~not to even speak of the other bodily functions one must perform on a day to day basis. It is so hard to put into words the actual feelings. All I can say is it is much like your body is submersed in cement. Every limb is covered, and it feels like you are carrying around 100lb weights attached to you. I haven't been able to stitch much today, as my arms just got "tired". This frustrates me so~ and more frustrating then the way I feel, is trying to explain the way I feel to those here! My kids and husband just don't seem to get it (or they don't want too). My kitchen is a disaster, the laundry isn't done, the living room is a mess, and all I can do is hide out in my bedroom~trying not to cry. I know I SHOULD get up and get all this stuff done, but the thought of doing ANYTHING just makes me want to bawl! All I seem to be able to do is sit here and play stupid suduko games, and poker. I HATE THIS!
Okay, enough of my pity party. I am sure tomorrow will be better. I just need some extra sleep......Which won't happen if I go to church.....So now my choice is, miss church AGAIN, or go and not get the extra sleep :( UGGHHHHH!!!!!
11:05 PM
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Got home late from soccer games. Josh had 100% saves tonight, so good games. It is now 11:05, so I will not post much tonight. Have felt very off today, and so I am headed to bed. Will post tomorrow.
7:43 PM
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Ahh Winter. My favorite time of the year! Okay if you know me, then you realize this was said tongue in cheek. The kids had another snow day today~although in reality, it had nothing to do with snow, and everything to do with the temperature. Right now at 8 p.m. it is an actual temperature of -10 with the wind chills at -36! Its too cold to even THINK about going outside, let alone to stand out waiting for the school bus to come pick you up. This creates only a minor problem for me though. The kids will miss school Wed. Thurs. and Friday this week. Monday is a school holiday~ so they won't go back to school until Tuesday. Talk about messing with my routine LOL!
As for stitching, I did manage to get quiet a bit done on "Quilts in the Garden" I am about 5/8 of the way through the project now. It is supposed to be done for my Secret Sister at church (Who happens to be my best friend Mary) by the 6th of Feb. Not sure if I can pull that off, but I am certainly going to try. Won't she be surprised if I do, since she has watched me stitching on this for nearly a year! LOL
10:58 PM
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This was on the MSNBC website today. It really caught my attention, as it seems we are all having to make such difficult choices. Do you pay your utilities, or buy medicine? Pay your house or your car payment? and on and on. So many of our friends are without jobs right now, and I am very thankful that so far, we are still with a job. But the choices get harder each and every day. I would have thought this comic funny, if it weren't so darned scary!
7:40 PM
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Here is the update of Sistine Chapel. This is week 2 of stitching, and only on column three. I had to put it away for a bit, as I was getting frustrated with it. I have decided to do 1/2 page - 1 page a month rather then working on it weekly. I plan on working on it for one full week each month until it gets finished.
6:40 PM
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Today was my birthday...... I had it all planned out, what I was going to do. I was going to lunch with my husband, and then out to a movie, ending the day off with a nice dinner at church, church, and a few hours reading before bed. Mother Nature, however, had other plans! I awoke this morning at 6 am to Josh and my husband sitting on the couch, watching the television. The minute they saw me, Josh got a huge smile on his face, and informed me that there was no school. A snow day! Over night we got nearly 6"s of snow. Then to top that off, it is bitterly cold. Right now it is a warm 4 degrees, with a windchill at around -12! That will only get worse, as the temp is to drop well below 0 tonight, and the wind is supposed to pick up to around 30-40 mph! YUCK!
So what did I do, you ask?! Well I met my best friend Mary for lunch (along with both my kids, my husband and her daughter). Then we came back to the house, where we spent the afternoon Talking and stitching <-But mostly TALKING! It was nice! I then made Chicken and Noodles for dinner, and have now settled in for an evening of Texas Holdem Poker. Not a bad day, if I do say so myself!
4:11 PM
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So today I had time, I thought, to spend on Sistine Chapel. I got all comfortable, wrapped my extra fabric around a tube, put the pup in a blanket next to my legs and off I went in search of the stitcher's utopia~you know the one where everything just seems to flow, and you find yourself in a trance like state?! Well with the first few minutes, I had been disturbed several times by the phone, husband, pup etc. Then I realized as I stitched further, that I had two left thumbs! Nothing and I do mean NOTHING was flowing. In a row of 10 I made and pulled 4 mistakes~not real good odds. So after an hour of being totally frustrated, I decided to put S.C. away, and get out another project. I fought with trying to stitch for another hour and a half. I finally just gave up. Certainly is NOT going to be a productive day for stitching :( Maybe tomorrow! I have decided to put SC away early. I will post a picture on Thursday, but I am not taking it back up again until the 1st Thursday in Feb. I will work on it for a full week, and then put it away again.
5:53 PM
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I am so sick of snow! Okay to be honest, it really isn't the snow I am sick of. It is WINTER in general! There is a ray of hope, as I heard on the news today that there is only some 7 weeks or so left before Spring. Hallelujah! I guess the snow is nice to look at, you know, pretty and all. The real downfall of Winter is the cold, the ice, the blowing wind, the being cooped up in the house etc.
I did get quite a bit of work done on my S.C. today. Finished the 2nd column and began work on the third. I think the third column will go a lot faster as there isn't as many confetti stitches. I have also amended the way that I am stitching a bit. I stitch the first block (10 columns x 10 rows) of one color, and then seat that color in the next block of 10. I then go back to the first block and do the next color through the whole block before seating it in the second block, and so on. Seems to move a bit faster that way, just have to pray that I do not mess up, for taking those stitches out would be nearly impossible! It is certainly not a project I should ever work on while tired. All in all I got 400 stitches put in, in just under 4 hours. I have Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to continue working on it, before putting it away for the month. I will then pull out my Quilts in the Garden for Friday. I am not sure what I will go on to if I happen to get that done before my 3 weeks are up, so will have to think about that.
Our church is starting a new service on Thursday mornings at 10:00. We also have W.M's (or Women's Ministries) on Tuesday Mornings. I am considering going back to WM's, but I am just not sure. I had stopped going because the women in this particular group are all much older then I am (retirement age and above). While I love to learn what I can by those who are older then I, I don't find much in common with them. Even the simple things, such as children or managing the house, seems to have changed so much since they raised their children, that it is hard to find common ground. And yet, I feel that I must get back involved in the church, that I have been away for far too long. The best thing about WM's is that I can take my cross-stitching with me, and work on that during the meeting. So it is free stitching time for me. Will see if I can manage to get out of bed early enough for it tomorrow. The other obstacle is that Tim is off for the next two days. My schedule is always different when he is home.
I had wanted to attend the M.S. Support group on Wed. morning this month as well. I hate to be off running to this and that, when Tim is off., and it is my birthday, so I am really not sure about what to do. The last time I went, several years ago, it was an odd experience. All of the people in attendance were 50 and older. Many were in advancing stages, so it scared me a bit. Unfortunately, I am now in the same state many of them were years ago, so it might do me some good to go and get some information and such. I just hate going into new groups of people by myself. I guess I need to learn, since it seems that I will be doing that a lot this month. Next Tuesday night, I will be attending my first Blue Star Mothers Support Group~its for mothers with children in the military. Figure I am going to need all the support in this area that I can get. There are actually two gold star members in this group~I hope to NEVER achieve that status, as you have to lose your family member to get there.
10:12 PM
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Just a quick post today, as it has been a very long day. Like usual, when I know I have to get up early, I have a horrible time trying to go to sleep, and so it was last night. Finally at 3:30 or so, I stopped watching the clock. Went to church and Sunday school this morning. Actually was very glad I went, as they were collecting an opinion poll on what was needed in the church, and one of the issues is that with an elevator. We don't have one right now, and it is really hard to get from one floor to the next (from Sunday School to church etc). After church, came home for a quick lunch before heading out the door for soccer game. Josh only played 1/2 the game in goal, at which point he had a 100% ratio. He then played the second 1/2 as forward~which is what he plays on the high school team. Then after the game, drove home to drop Josh off and worked on Board Meeting stuff quickly before leaving again to go back to Morton for a Board Meeting. I finally got home at 9, but spent the next hour or so typing up the minutes from the meeting, before I forgot what was said. It will be so nice to have a lap top to take with me, so that I can type while people talk, instead of having to come home and do it.
So anyways, that was my day, and now I am tired, so off to bed for me. Tomorrow is Monday, and I intend to get my home blessing done, all my laundry washed/dried/put away, and my dishes all done. Then I plan on spending as much time as possible stitching!!!!
9:00 PM
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Today I spent almost 3 hours working on Sistine Chapel. Got 260 stitches into it, and nearly 1/2 of the 2nd column completed. What I realized is that working on the S.C. as I had originally intended to do, won't give me any time for anything else this year. This will not only make me cranky, but will make me give up and the S.C. will end up in my pile of WIPS. So I have decided to dedicate 1 week a month to working on it. During that week, I will stitch on nothing else (unless its a traveling project) but the S.C. But, when the week is finished, the S.C. gets put away and I move on to something else. For now, the other 3 weeks will be working on ONE project from my WIPS pile, so I can try to get some of them cleared up. I have several smaller projects which I can kit up and take with me to soccer practices over the spring. That way I will always have something to stitch, and hopefully accomplish the projects I need to finish. As I am always adding to my "Want to do" pile, I have to be careful not to add more projects to my WIPS LOL. Will take a picture of the S.C. at the end of this week (Thursday night 1/15) and post, and then beginning Friday, finish working on Quilts in the Garden. I would like to have that one completely done by the end of the 3 weeks, and think it is very do-able if that is all I am working on.
Tonight was nice. We had a very nice birthday party for Robert. He is in the "hippie" phase, so we got him a sweatshirt/jacket with peace symbols all over it, a matching bandanna, 2 c.d.'s with 60s music on them, and a peace symbol key chain. He seemed to have loved the gifts, even though I thought they were a bit corny. As I watched him unwrap them, I couldn't help but think how grown up he has become......and yet, how young he still is! I remember when I was 18, I thought I was finally an adult, and couldn't wait to prove myself to the world. But looking at him, makes me realize how young 18 really is! It is going to be very hard to watch him graduate and leave for the Army in May. I didn't realize how it was going to effect me emotionally before tonight.
8:11 PM
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Today is supposed to be my housework day. You know the day where the house gets put back in order, so that the kids can destroy it over the weekend?! Yeah, well I decided not this week! I haven't had the energy to do much at all, specially not housework YUCK! So, I decided to clean on Monday...once the monsters (I mean kids) go back to school, and the house can at least stay presentable for a day or so, instead of feeling like I have done it all for naught.
I managed to post an update for week one, of my Sistine Chapel today. I was only a day late, which I consider quite good considering!
Have a long weekend ahead of me this weekend. Tomorrow Zech will be home for the day. I love having him closer so we can be more involved with him, but it also really takes its toll, as he requires so much extra work then the other children do. We are going to be going out to my parents tomorrow evening to celebrate Robert's 18th birthday. I can't believe he is already 18...where did the time go? Seems like just yesterday I had him, and a few months I will be sending him off to the Army~and his Independence!
Sunday we have a soccer game in Morton at 3:15. My goal is to go back to church in the morning as well. I will have to take Tim to work after lunch, then head to Morton for the game. Then after the game, I have to bring the kids back to Pekin, and head back to Morton for a board meeting. I would take the kids with me, but we are going to be discussing some serious stuff, and its my first meeting as secretary, so I want to make sure my attention is where it ought to be. I had hoped to have had a laptop by this meeting, to make taking notes easier for me, since it is so hard for me to write....but that didn't happen, so will just have to do the best I can.
3:23 PM
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This is my first update photo for the project Sistine Chapel (an Artecy project). I had committed to getting at least 1/2 a page done each week~but as you can see, that did not happen! I think the fact that it had a ton of confetti stitches, as well as our new family member (Otis), I may have set an impossible goal for the first week. I am going to attempt to have the first 1/2 page done by next Thursday (1-15), and from there hopefully stay caught up. After I took this picture, I got about an hour and 1/2 more done on it, so that the first column is completed, along with the first 10 rows of the second column.
8:39 PM
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Had to go out in the terrible, cold, mean world again today~and do the detestable~ GROCERY SHOPPING. I don't really know why I hate it so much, I just know that I do. I have been going when Tim is home to go with me, but it still wears me out so much, that all I want to do when I get home is sleep. So for the most part this afternoon, I sat on the couch with the puppy and dozed.
Cleaning?? Whats that? I haven't been able to keep up on my flying at all! Really depresses me when I can't seem to do the simple things to keep up (the swish and swipe and the clean sink). I just seem to have no energy for anything that isn't completely required. I did finally make it to church last night~but by the time I got home I felt like I had been through a marathon. People just don't understand how hard it can be at times for me. Simple things like going to church, suck out my life blood. And when I do go, I have to listen to everyone go on and on about how I haven't been there....... Even my friends don't seem to listen when I tell them that its the little things that wear me out~and I have to pick and choose what I am going to do.
Then of course you add to all of it the fact that I have this cute, adorable little puppy who 
is not potty trained yet, and you add in a whole new set of circumstances in which I am responsible for care taking. We have had some successes, which make me feel like continuing on, in the potty training area. But it also seems for every success, we take 3 or 4 steps backwards. I know it takes time, and I am trying really hard to remember what a wonderful pet he will make once he is trained. But sometimes its hard to remember that he is just a baby and I have to give him a break.
Course generally just about the time that I am ready to give up, he does something cute, like chase after his little tail stub...and all I can do is laugh at him. I bought him a little blue sweater today, to try to keep him warm, but he still shivers all the time! And we found out recently, he is scared of heights......so there is no fear of having him sleep on our bed, as he doesn't like being that far off the ground LOL.
As for my hands, they were particularly empty today, for once again I got NO Stitching done. This really has to stop, as I am sooo cranky from not having my stitching time! Tomorrow morning, while Tim is home, I am going to take some time alone to stitch. And then he is off again on Sat, so hopefully I will get a chance again then. Once Otis is potty trained I will be able to leave him where I don't have to watch his every move, and then I can go back to my regular schedule. Its just right now, I don't know how long that will be. I am way behind on my Sistine Chapel. I still have 10 rows to do, in order to finish the first column, and I was supposed to have the first 1/2 page done by today!!! Talking about that, I have to get a picture of that and post it to the group as well~even if I haven't meet my goal~to keep me accountable.
Well I am going to play a game of poker, then it is off to bed for me.
9:28 PM
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This is a picture of Max, our cat. The picture does not do him justice, but it is the only one I have been able to take so far. So, a bit of information is probably needed first, on how Max came to live with us. Back in late Sept. or early Oct, during the height of High School Soccer season, (and Hurricanes), we came home one day from a soccer practice to loud howling coming from our under our deck. On further inspection, we discovered the source of the howling was a rather large and angry cat. I immediately suspected that the cat had been a run-a-way, and had told my children to leave it alone, in the hopes it would run back to its owner. A full week went by, and the cat never left under our porch. Of course by this time, I had to give it some food (although I have a stinking suspicion he was eating plenty of mice to keep him happy). The cat would come out and sit in my daughters lap, or mine, but would not stand still long enough for us to figure out if it was a boy or a girl. So we decided to name the Cat MAX (for Maxine or max-a-million {later determined to be Maxwell} depending on the sex~to be discovered later). Anyway, after two weeks of a cat living under my porch I realized that someone had probably put him out. (This has been happening a lot lately with the economy and people being unable to take care of their animals.) I discovered that Max was a he, and that he was fixed and de-clawed. So we did the next plausible thing........we invited him in. He didn't stay! As soon as the front door was opened, he ran back outside and hid under our porch. A week or so later, Tim and I opened the door one day to leave, and Max walked into the house (much like he owned it) and has never left!
So now on to the part of the Cat thinking he is a dog. Here is my case:
- Max Begs. Anytime you have food, he will sit at your feet and attempt to get you to drop your food to him
- Max Fetches. When playing with the dogs, if you throw a small toy, Max will not only chase after it, but will also pick it up and return it to you.
- Max Eats Dog Food. Need I say more about this one???
- Max knows commands. Max knows how to come, and sit, and lay.
- Max loves his stomach rubbed.
- Max plays with the puppy, as if he is a puppy himself. The chase each other all around the house, the cat chasing the dog, and vice-versa. Max will pounce on Otis, pinning him to the floor, steal Otis's toy and on and on...
So as you can see, our house has a strange assortment of animals. We have a Gecko (Buddy), Two goldfish (Kiko and F-I-S-H), a Cat (Boots), and three dogs (Abby, Otis and Max~who has S.I.D (species identity disorder)).
7:30 PM
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I have discovered today what puppies and babies have in common. The answer? Just about everything! This falls under the category of "WHAT WAS I THINKING" LOL. At Least the puppy sleeps through the night! (or at least for the most part) But that honestly is where the difference stops! The only thing keeping me going is the knowledge that Puppies learn faster then the average child. I am hoping to have him completely potty trained (or at least 90%) by the end of next week.
Its not just the potty training though. This puppy wants/needs constant attention. Loves to snuggle and be held, but seldom sits still long enough for me to read a chapter or do cross-stitching without being interrupted. And my living room looks like a war zone with all of the toys strewn everywhere LOL. On the plus side, he is very cute and does like to cuddle! We will have to work on teaching him to sit on ones LAP, not on our shoulders~he prefers to sit on our shoulders like a parrot!
So besides the puppy, isn't much to tell about today. I did spend about 1 1/2 hours stitching on Sistine Chapel, but still don't even have the first row on the first page done! I really believe it will go faster when I get over another row, as there isn't quite so many confetti stitches there. I think I will just continue on with this project through the next week, or the finishing of the first page, which ever comes 1st. I got NO stitching done last night, as I had planned, because I spent the time talking to one of the other moms whose son was there practicing as well. I am not totally upset about not working on my stitching, but I am certainly going through withdrawals from not having a decent amount of time to work on anything! Probably could have spent some more time this evening, but decided to play Poker instead (I know priorities). Truth is, I was to tired to really concentrate on the stitching, so I figured I would do something a bit more mindless. Talking about being mindless, I think I will head off now. Once my game is done, its early bedtime and reading for me!
4:01 PM
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Normally Monday evenings are reserved for quietness and stitching in this house. Josh generally goes off to "This Thing" (A Youth for Christ outing) and Allyssa generally finds herself some quiet reading or television watching to do. Tonight, however, "This Thing" was cancelled. Instead of having nice QUIET time to myself, I am again driving to Morton (20 Min's away) so that Josh can play soccer during the open gym night at our indoor soccer arena. I swear if this kid could, it would be soccer 24-7. I guess it is not all that bad, I will get to take my stitching with me. We are there for an hour and a half, and as long as my daughter cooperates and finds her own things to do, I will be able to spend sometime stitching.
11:52 PM
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Well, the soccer game did not go quite as planned. We planned a team that is one of our two arch rivals. To say it was not a friendly game would be an understatement. Fortunately, there was no blood, and no one was seriously injured...............Except that is for my son, whose ego was bruised severely! Our boys did not play as well as they have in the past. Thinking it had to do with the several weeks off for Christmas, and also the fact that we played on a Sunday afternoon, when our normal games are on Friday night. Non-the-less, there were 20 shots on goal. Out of the 20, Josh blocked 15. (In his view point, he allowed 5 past). It was a very quiet and solemn ride home!
I am just plain exhausted, but also wide awake (I HATE THAT). So here I am at almost midnight posting, rather then sleeping. I am too tired to read, too tired to stitch~which by the way, I did NONE of today~, pretty much to tired to do much of anything worth any good LOL. When I had a TV in my room, I would have curled up in bed and watched some boring history channel show to fall asleep. But we have been without that TV for several months, as it broke.
I have not kept my New Years eve thought of stopping watching all TV this year. However, I can say that I have cut back tremendously. I believe once or twice a week for an hour or two will be okay. Before I was watching every night for 3-4 hours. Silly waste of time!
Okay, well that's all I really have to say right now.
12:43 PM
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I haven't been sleeping well lately, even pre-puppy. Last night was the third night in a row with under 5 hours of sleep (an anyone who knows me, knows I need more like 10-12). So to say I am tired, is an understatement.
The puppy did remarkably well last night, after I moved his kennel into my bedroom. I guess the sound of my husband snoring was a good enough sedative, that after a few restless moments of whining and tossing. But after a few deep NO's from me (and the shirt off my back, quite literally), he settled right down and went to sleep. He actually slept longer then I did!
We are off to Josh's soccer game in a few minutes. This is the start of a new year, so his stats get to start fresh. He wants me to keep track of them all, so I guess that will keep me busy during the games at least LOL.
9:26 PM
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My husband surprised me today with a new family member for our household, for my birthday. I had mentioned some time ago, after seeing one in a pet store, that I would really like to have one....................His name is Otis, and he is a Min Pin. Most people think that a Min Pin is a Miniature of a larger bread of dog, a Doberman. However, this is not the case. Otis is 4 months old, partially potty trained, and crate trained. He has a very sweet temperament and likes to lay on the shoulder rather then on my lap. We are finding out that he is much like having a 2 year old around with boundless energy. He will not get much bigger then what he is here, full grown. I am hoping that he will make a great companion at all the soccer practices and tournaments that we attend.Because of all the traveling to go get Otis, and then subsequent traveling to get food, toys, bedding, etc. I didn't have time to stitch today. Its now after 9, so I think I shall go to bed early and read! I can start fresh on stitching tomorrow. BTW, the man in the picture is my hubby Tim :)
6:23 PM
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Sat and stitched with my best friend Mary today. Put in 180 stitches in the 2 hours and 45 mins. that I stitched. Not bad I guess, but I sure hope my stitches per minute pick up a bit once I am past this confetti stitching. I am hopeful to finish the first column tomorrow, and work on the 2nd one.
I had planned to spend some time this morning flying. I had my TaDa list all printed out, and sitting on my desk for when I got up. I got the bed made, dinner made and dishes done, and laundry going, but that is as far as I could get. I did not sleep well last night, so there just isn't much energy to do anything today! I am hoping that when I get up tomorrow I can get my home blessing hour done, before I sit to stitch.
Lazy?? Well I had thought tonight that I would spend sometime cleaning the house, you know get all the things done that need to be done (vacuuming, dusting, cleaning bathrooms etc) so that tomorrow I could do nothing but stitch........but guess what?! Okay you got me! I am being L>>>A>>>>Z>>>Y So Guess what I am doing.....yep, playing Poker LOL. Tomorrow, I promise with be a better flying day!
