New Year's Eve in Arizona

Well, here it is, New Year's Eve in Arizona. As you can see, it's such a beautiful day that Bear just had to go out and enjoy the sunshine. It probably felt good on his old bones. It was about 75 degrees and the sky was a gorgeous shade of blue. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. This is why we live here in AZ. Well, not all of the reasons but it sure helps. As usual, we will have a quiet evening at home. Sherrie is going over to a friend's house so Dave & I will probably watch a movie and then watch the ball go down in New York at 10 PM. Then off to bed. Sometimes I wish we would do something a little more exciting. We thought about going to a movie tonight but Dave isn't feeling real well today so that has been postponed. Oh, to be young again and able to party half the night away.

Well, I hope everyone out there has a wonderful New Year. Here's to 2009!

It's a Disease!

It's a sickness, I tell you. Just when I've made up my mind that there'll be no new stash in this house, along comes another must-have design. I saw the new design from Ink Circles called Cirque des Carreaux and just had to have it. It doesn't help when my friends at work tell me it has to be displayed as a WIP in the store. We sold an awful lot of patterns for Cirque des Cercles that way. So I agreed that it had to be started. I'm so weak! Of course, I'm doing it, once again, on 25 count lugana over one. I love this color fabric but what a pain it was trying to get just the right shade of thread. I first tried a rust and green but the rust faded right into the fabric. Then I tried a shaded green and pale green but the pale green muddied the pattern up. So now I have a really dark green/bright green and I think this is the one I'm going with. If it isn't then I'm going to go with another color fabric. Besides I've already ripped it out twice already and I refuse to do it again. Stitching over one is hard enough. Frogging it is the pits. I'll be posting my progress on this so we'll see how long this takes me. I can't work on this too much cause I still have the Chinese piece I'm working on for Chris for his birthday in late january. Must stitch faster!!

Merry Christmas to All!

Well, it seems like only yesterday that Thanksgiving was here and now Christmas Day is almost over. We had a lovely holiday with the kids and Brian's girlfriend. Then we watched a movie and am now contemplating dinner. I've been having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit but today was really nice and quiet. We also got a Nintendo Wii for the family and have been playing it today. Dave also gave me a Wii Fit and it looks like exercise will finally be fun. On the cross stitch side, he got me the kit you see in the picture. Now I know I supposed to be getting rid of stash but I have loved this design ever since I first saw it in a catalog a couple of years ago. So I figured it was okay to get it. How's that for justification?!

I hope everyone has had a Blessed Christmas with family and friends. Here's to the New Year!

My Christmas Present!

Well, these are the storage units we're decided upon for my craft room. We were originally going to get one with space for a new TV but frankly I don't need a new TV. It would be nice but really, all I do in that room with the TV is watch dvds so there was no need to get a new one. I have the same amount of storage space with these 2 units as the other one had. The advantage of these is that they can be mounted on the wall and save floor space. I plan on putting one on the wall where the units are now and one on the wall adjacent to it. I've reduced the file cabinets from 2 to 1. Now I just need to find a spot for the boxes of stash I intend on rehoming. My plan is to get everything out of the garage into the craft room and moving the boxes out to the garage. Now the fun begins, organizing everything. Actually I'm looking forward to it. I'll get to see stash I haven't seen in a couple of years. Should be fun.

On a sadder note, one of my oldest and dearest stitching friends passed away on Tuesday not one hour after I had talked to him. He and his wife were 2 of my first customers ever when I started working at a cross stitch store here in Phoenix. I've known them for almost 13 years. He'd had heart trouble but recently had been doing well. It was just such a surprise. His wife came to see me in the store on Thursday (to pick up a piece I had borrowed for the measurements) and she was just so strong. She mentioned that he had a ton of UFO's (who doesn't) and said she might need my help in finishing some. I would be honored to help such a good friend. I know I'm at an age where this will happen more and more but it's always such a surprise when it does happen. I'll miss him. RIP, Haydn.