I think I'll do a little meme work. Maybe it'll get me to post more regularly! I'll try to add some stitchy commentary in an answer or two, also. So - here goes the Friday Five:

1. Do you enjoy the cold weather and snow for the holidays? Yes and no. I like cold weather ONLY if it snows. Then there's something to do - sled or ski or if there's ice we can skate. If it's not gonna snow, it may as well be warm.

2. What is your ideal holiday celebration? How, where, with whom would you celebrate to make things perfect? My ideal holiday celebration would be right here, right now, but with more of the people that I love. Physical distance keeps us apart, otherwise I know we'd be together. Good food, some fun games, and sending people home happy.

3. Do you do have any holiday traditions? We used to light advent candles, but that got away from me this year. A nice dinner Christmas eve, then mass, then a decadent dessert afterwards.

4. Do you do anything to help the needy? Yes, but not as much as perhaps I should. Hat, glove, and sock donations to our church's Jesse tree, money to St. Vincent DePaul, "angel tree" donations for our church youth group.

5. What one gift would you like for yourself? Pie in the sky? Money for Lasik surgery! My eyesight is really becoming a problem. Stitching is becoming very difficult. It has to be done under certain light conditions, with glasses layered on glasses - it's a drag. Watching TV thru bifocals when I'm in a recliner is almost impossible. But if we're talking realistic gifts, I'd like some slippers that can be comfy around the house, but can stand up to going outside a bit when I need to get wood. Stitching wise, I'd like my very own chair set up for stitching. Really. Excellent light source, preferably on a floor base. A table with a drawer so I can put my stuff away and the cat can't lay on it, or so the dog can't grab a skein of floss and chew on it. And nobody can sit there but me, so I don't have to sweep away crumbs or pick up cups or glasses.

OK, there's my Friday Five! It was kinda fun!

Stitching news - finished the little log cabin. I love it - It'll make the perfect gift for my friend who....lives in a log cabin! And I started another really simple project. It's another oldie - REALLY oldie, and it's a row of pine trees, one covered by snow. I'll post the design name as soon as I think of it, but I'm gonna bet it's at least 10 years old.

Home remodeling news - we definately won't be in our new room at Christmas. I'm pretty sad. I really wanted that room finished and decorated for the holidays. But at this point the drywall still needs work, the window trim isn't up, and painting isn't in the near future. So I called the rug guy and told him not to schedule installation yet. **sigh**

Teenage boy worries are kind of receding to the backround. It's been a smooth week.

I'll work on putting my cabin on webshots soon!

Another week goes by...My life has been a series of paint/flooring/carpeting/furniture selections. This new construction may be the end of me. I really stress out over the choices. I guess it's because I know that I'm going to have to live with most of these decisions for at least the next 20 years. Not to mention that I stress out over costs.

Well, I don't want to talk about that anymore. My blog should be a place on no stress!

I've framed the Gift of Friendship - I'm getting pretty decent at this! I'm seriously playing with the idea of setting up my own framing workshop. I don't exactly have space, but that never stopped me before. Heck, I have so many stitched pieces to frame, I have to think that any tools and supplies I would buy would pay for themselves in a very short time. So far I've only framed things that look ok in standard size mats and frames, but every now and then I look at something I've framed and thought, "Hmmm, just an inch more around would have really improved that framing." Maybe after Christmas? Stay tuned...

I've worked a tiny bit on the PS Log Cabin. I can't stitch when I'm worried, and DS is worrying me gray. Teenage boys! Lord, help me. I'm blessed to have good friends who assure me that this too shall pass. Sometimes we can find the humor in situations. Well, other peoples situations! Like my nephew. He recently got into worlds of trouble because over Halloween he and some friends went to the railroad tracks and shot paintball guns at commuter trains. They didn't damage anything, but the idiots shot at commuters instead of just freight trains and the people on the trains were scared half to death. I know I would have been the first to hit the floor... And they called the police. Well anyway, I can laugh at what idiots those kids were, but if it was my kid, I suppose I wouldn't think it was so funny.

I wonder if parents of teenagers have a patron saint? If you know of one, email me, so I can buy his statue! And his medallion...and I'll burn candles.....whatever works!
Lee

I haven't been a very good blogger of late. I can hardly believe my last entry was 10 days ago. Life is really getting in my way! And sometimes on the work/motherhood front it feels like I spend a lot of time spinning my wheels. I'm constantly in the car, so you could take that literally and figuratively.

I've finished DH's scarf. Looks pretty cool - black yarn with bright color flecks through it. He wears a black leather jacket all the time, so it should match perfectly.

I've been working haphazardly on the Prairie Schooler cabin, too. It's a good carry along project for waiting rooms, waiting in cars, etc. And I sat for about 15 minutes during the Steeler game Sunday, got in about 6 stitches, and DH asked me to go look at paint with him. We've just added a new living room/dining room to the house, and we need to come to some decorating decisions....

But back to stitching. I'm enjoying the simplicity of this Prairie Schooler design. I've always liked their projects. I was reading another blogger who was going thru her leaflets, charts, and mags, and trying to see what drew her to a design. Wow, that's ambitious! I think I'd be all over the map! Sometimes it's the subject matter. Like when I was hugely into birds. I bought tons of CWC designs. But I only stitched a couple. I think I'd rather buy paintings of birds.... Sometimes it's the color. 20 years ago we were all into mauve, so many of the designs I bought were mauve-y. But I'm not into that anymore! Sometimes it's the designer that draws me. But I could go on and on, and I don't know that I could come up with an answer. My tastes are so transient - I wonder if everyone else is, too?

Time to work. Checks to write, columns of numbers to add....

Well, the lion costume turned out ok. Actually, pretty cute if I do say so myself. Working with fake fur - yuck. I coughed and hacked all night. But w/dd cutting pattern pieces, and me sewing and snipping, it only took us a few hours. She's such a good kid.

Now back to doing what I find relaxing and fun! I hope to finish DH's scarf tonight. I want to start another now, and I'd like to try some more interesting stitches.

DD and I will take a roadtrip to Michael's tomorrow. (It's on the way to the music store, and she needs some repairs to her clarinet.) I hope to find a nice frame for Gift of Friendship, and then I hope to have it framed and shipped before next week.

In the interim, I've been putting stitches into the Prairie Schooler cabin. I need to find some interesting christmas/winter saying to stitch into the bottom. I've thought of "Silent Night", or "Peace on Earth". They'll do if I don't come up with something more unique.
Have a good one!

You know, I love cross stitch and I love knitting, and I love quilting, so WHY do I hate garment sewing so much? I hate. hate, hate it. I hate reading the instructions, I hate cutting out the patterns from that flimsy pattern paper and I hate running it thru my machine.

Why am I whining about this today? Halloween is tomorrow. My most dreaded holiday. Because it means making costumes. And because I always procrastinate and then I'm going nuts the day before. DD will be a lion - her friends all want to go as characters from the Wizard of Oz. I've convinced her that she only needs the hood w/a mane, mittens, and shoe covers, and not the full body outfit. But that's still enough to send me into a tail spin. Oh yeah - that reminds me, she'll need the damn tail, too.

I read a cool idea - you buy a yellow sweatshirt and pants, paint tire tracks on it, and you're a speed bump. Now that's MY kind of costume. Let's face it, I'll never be the kind of mom whose kid goes to school on Halloween and everybody marvels over my creativity. I'm the kind of mom who sends them with a Kmart costume and plastic mask. We watched It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown a couple of nights ago, and I was taken back to when we were kids and the sheet with a couple of holes was just hunky-dorry with us. Now costuming is like going to the prom! One of my friends daughters was a fairy last year. She spent well over $100 in the material for the costume....and this was for a 5 y.o.!

I'll check in after Friday when all of this is over. I'll be in a better mood then.

OK! Just added a photo of Gift of Friendship to my webshots page. Go look!

I finished Gift of Friendship last week! What a pleasure it was to finish, wash, and press it - I couldn't stop walking to the ironing board to look at it about a million times. I haven't put a picture on my webshots page yet, but I did put on some others. Take a look if you like - I stitched the Autumn sampler and Simple blessings last year. The cat sampler is pretty old, but I liked it enough to take a picture!

Framing..... that's another story! I'll frame Simple blessings for Christmas for one of my neighbor friends, but the others will have to wait.

I started some old Praire schooler ornaments over the weekend. Sheesh, I have some OLD stuff in my stash!

I found some moments for stitching last week. I took a couple of hours one afternoon and didn't move from my chair. I'll tell you one thing - daytime tv really sucks. Except for Judge Judy, who rocks.

I'm almost finished with the wording on the house piece. In case you're wondering, it's by X-Appeal, called Gift of Friendship, but I can't find a pic of it on any website. I guess it's another oldie but goodie! Wish I had a flat scanner!

I'm really liking the way the sampler thread looks on the wording. I like to be able to pick and choose if I have to use the special threads, and the wording is the only place I wanted to use them. Good choice, if I do say so myself. And I used a color that had more variation than the one they suggested.

Only one more soccer weekend left. I'll be so thrilled with my first Saturday at home in two months!

Life's been a blur since Friday. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it's been soccer, soccer, soccer.

It's DS birthday today, so my day will be spent baking and cooking. Without a doubt, the way to this 15y.o.'s heart is through his stomach.

Took some pics of some of last year's stitching to put them on my webshots album, but the !#$%^&* digital camera was giving me fits. I'll ask my more techie husband to look at the camera tonight to see why I can't download the pictures.

Back to the guilt induced wedding sampler....
I've had Autumn Romance in my stash for years.
I bought it after I had stitched Child of Spring years ago for my niece and I'd have to say it was one of the most enjoyable things I've ever done. Not only that, it was knock-out gorgeous. So I've had Autumn Romance on my mind since the R&S announced their engagement. To be fair, the guilt is totally on my part. R&S haven't said a word, or even hinted about feeling badly. And I really want to do it for them.

I'll think more seriously on that after soccer season ends.

Only 2 1/2 more weekends of soccer, thank you very much. This has been a particularly stressful season, with 2 (of four) new officers in our group and a new league president. I'll be glad when it's over. I'd rather be thinking of all the Christmas gifts I'd like to stitch/quilt/knit, but instead I'm working on referee schedules, ordering food for concessions, and worrying about the league funds. Oh well, time to turn off the gripe machine, because we all work hard and have our own pressures, don't we?

No stitching was accomplished in the last couple of days. Took MIL to the eye docs for a cataract check up, so I took along my knitting because it's easy to put down and pick up. This doc has a huge practice, and it's just full of stunning artwork. Originals - not prints. At the reception desk there was a lovely XS pic of an angel carrying a flag. I had to wonder if it was from a grateful patient? I'm going to ask about it when we go back next week.

See ya!

What a nice weekend. I should go to weddings every weekend, especially those where I stay in a hotel, eat and drink myself silly, and my only worry is about getting to the church on time.

Anyways, I actually did finish the LK freebie. After I finish it up with some holiday type gingham, I'll take a picture of it and put it on my webshots page. I'd add a link to it on the LK website, but evidently it's so old - - - it's not there anymore.

I stitched it on a medium to light colored Floba, and it's funny - in the car I was thinking that the white blocks wouldn't be visible, while the yellow star and letters looked just fine. But inside the house, in my sewing room, the yellow had disappeared the the white really stands out. I would have thought the opposite, but then again, I leave most color decisions up to DH.

Back to the wedding - I'm feeling terribly guilty because I've made wedding samplers for all of my other siblings, but not for this DB. I know I did lots more stitching in those days when the kids generally took naps and went to bed early. And later when they were in school and I wasn't working yet. But now...I'm happy to get a little thing done here and there and the prospect of starting an intricate sampler for R&S is overwhelming. I know the one I want though.

More thoughts later....

No will power. I took out Christmas stitching today. Nope, and I didn't finish the house one.

My excuse? I needed a car trip project (read that to mean NOT linen) and I've had these cute LK holiday freebies on my mind. Found an small piece of stash Floba and some older DMC flower thread and it's just gonna happen. So it's not so bad...I don't have to justify any expenditures. I'll just do it and maybe it'll be finished after 5 hours there and 5 hours back.

I hope the old flower thread looks ok in the place of the sampler threads. But without a stash of sampler threads, I have a hard time spending $8.00 for thread for a 2" X 2" project.

Note to designers: if you don't list DMC equivalents for the specialty threads, I'm just not going to buy your design. Nope. I'm not . $2+ for a skein of specialty thread and I may only use it for a handful of stitches? I guess I'm cheap.

Off till Monday when I'll either be feeling accomplished or like a slug. Or hungover if we get too carried away from the Sunday wedding we're traveling to!
Later -

I finally had a chance to stitch a bit last night, once all the kids were home and didn't need any more rides here or there! I'm past my roadblock on the house piece. Did you ever have one little roadblock that stops you dead from stitching and it's so itsy bitsy but it's enough to make you put it down and walk away? Honestly, I swear I had all the floss pulled for this project. And I swear I had a skein of pine colored sampler thread. But noooo, somehow I was short that one skein of thread, and I knew I could substitute DMC 935, but hunting in my floss box seemed like an enormous task.

Isn't that nuts? I can organize a soccer league in my spare time (well, parts of it, anyway), I can face any problem at work, I can raise teenagers, and yet I can't get past not having a skein of floss.

But anyway, I hope to move along with this quickly now. It would be nice to get it to Kathy by Thanksgiving.

I probably shouldn't call myself Lake Stitcher...Blogging is calling it to my attention that I don't seem to accomplish much stitching. At least not on a regular basis.

Another weekend of sports. Both kids ran really well for their teams in the cross country invitational. And I worked my butt off in the concession stand for 5 hours.

Then it was over to the NEXT concession stand for soccer. If I see anymore pizza, candy, hot dogs, or Pepsi, I'll choke.

BUT, DH is off on a business trip for a couple of nights, and I usually work on projects while he's gone. I'd love to finish this house piece for Kathy. Theoretically, it should be a quick and easy little thing. But I'm just not making any progress! Well, let's see what happens tonight. If I finish this, maybe it'll be time to treat myself to a new Christmas project!

Till next time.

Didn't stitch a stitch yesterday. After spending a day at work spinning my wheels, coughing my head off, and generally feeling lousy, I just wanted to veg.

I've been reading another blog reviewing several of the JCS ornament issues. What interesting stuff! Makes me want to go downstairs and go thru all the old ornament issues.

This new blogging idea sounded like fun, so here goes...

This was golf tournament weekend here in the mountains, so almost all local activities were cancelled. It gave this soccer mom a real break! I haven't had a fall afternoon to myself in a few years.

What a treat to sit on the porch in the warm sun and stitch for a while. Then read for a while. Then stitch for a while. Pure pleasure.

I kind of I paid for it on Sunday though, (forgive my fatalistic attitude) when I took my two teenagers clothes shopping. They weren't too terrible. Only short bursts of eye-rolling and heavy sighing. And the occasional exasperated grunt. Mind you, it comes from the kids, not me. But somehow we all survived and managed to still be speaking at the end of the day.

I ended the weekend by finishing To Kill a Mockingbird What a book! Enjoyed it thoroughly, and it was one of those where I hated saying goodbye to the characters. Why I've never read it before is beyond me.

Sounds like a great weekend, huh?

Till next time....