Rest In Peace

After almost of year of dealing with an uncooperative, unsupportive, mind of it’s own cell phone, I decided to put it to rest. It now makes a good paperweight if you have silver and blue décor. And if you really get bored, you can play the cell phone version of spin-the-bottle just by flicking the little antenna that sticks out the top. Endless source of entertainment.

I am now the owner of a spankin’ new Motorola ROKR Z6m! Crafted of metal, stainless steel and glass, it’s quite the phone for a techno-geek like me. (These photos really don't do it justice) Inside it’s got stereo Bluetooth, camera/camcorder, streaming music player, downloadable and side-loadable (from a PC) music and video, built-in memory, plus a removable memory card. It also came with stereo headphones, wall charger, and an SD card reader for direct photo printing. The camera has 4x digital zoom and automatically switches from portrait to landscape viewing when you flip the phone on it's side. I like the fact that I don't have to flip open the phone (like my old one) or slide it open in order to answer a call. Calls can be answered opened or closed. Text messages can be read while the phone is closed, too.

I think I’ll give up playing spin-the-bottle with my old phone (It’s no fun playing alone, anyway.) and play with all the features of my new phone.

Ripping & ReUsing

When you have to frog out stitches, do you reuse that thread or do you start over with a new strand?


If I unpick the mistake with a needle and the thread is long enough, I will reuse it. If I end up having to cut the erroneous threads, then they go into the ort jar.

Workin on the Railroad

Do you railroad?


Just what IS railroading?

a. The construction or operation of railroads.
b. Conviction without a fair trial or on trumped-up charges.
c. Specific stitching technique to get floss to lay flat.

The answer is.... All of the above! However, for purposes of the SBQ, the correct answer would be (c). Normally, I do not railroad. If I do, it's usually when I'm using blended threads.

Who's That Skinny Girl?

My coworker came to my cubicle this morning to give me her observations as she came in the door to work this morning.

"As I was coming in the door, I saw this skinny girl walking into the kitchen. I thought to myself: Whos' that skinny girl?!?" my esteemed coworker excitedly tells me.

She continues on, "Then I realized it was you!! You look so thin!"

I sort of chuckled and thanked her. Then I started thinking to myself: Did I lose more weight and don't know it?

Update 8:45pm -- Guess what? I DID lose more weight. I've lost about 5 lbs in the past week or so. Go figure!

What Next?!

The past several months have been filled with lots of stresses for me. I am so ready for a vacation from everything... So what am I carrying on about now?

The day before Thanksgiving, my Dad drove himself to the hospital (an hour and a half from his house) because apparently he wasn't feeling good. The doctors told him he had to stay overnight for observation. Since Dad took Mom with him, someone had to go get Mom and take her home.

*Ring* *Ring*

Voicemail from brother: "Dad's in the hospital. Mom needs a ride home, can you go get her?"

When I received the call, I was in the doctor's office attending to my own health problems. I couldn't go get her, so bro ended up doing it.

Dad came home on Thanksgiving Day and spent it with the family. He said he was feeling fine. In retrospect, I have to wonder if he was really feeling OK or if he was just feeding us a line.

Friday after Thanksgiving, Dad drives himself back to the hospital. Alone this time. Again, they admit him. He was supposed to come home yesterday, but he is still there. Why? Because they can't get his heart rate under control. They've got him on bed rest... won't even let him get up to go to the bathroom because his heart rate skyrockets.

Last Christmas, he had the same problem. He went through surgery that was supposed to fix the problem, but apprently he falls into the 20% that didn't work. The doctors are discussing the options as to what's to be done now.

As you might guess, Dad is EXTREMELY bored. I'm sure my Mom is beside herself being home alone without Dad.

The Homestead Chronicles

Buying a house and moving has been quite the adventure. I thought it deserved a titled chapter all it's own...

Thus "Homestead Chronicles" is born. Below are subchapters of the trail that leads to my front door...

Really, it was just by chance that I came to see the Homestead.

Kicking the idea around in my mind, I did some calculations. Could I afford it? Actually when ask myself that, what I really am asking is... Can I afford it and still live the lifestyle I'm used to without overburdening myself? A lot of people buy homes they can afford, but then realize afterwards that they can't afford *anything else* like vacations, evenings out, fun stuff. I have always been of the mindset that I don't want to work to JUST pay for a house. I want to enjoy my life and the stress of living on the edge financially, isn't part of it.

A second Act of God moved my butt into gear. I put an offer on the Homestead! As with any home purchase, the ball was being kicked back and forth trying to win the game. Surprisingly, the suspense in waiting didn't bother me. On a nice late summer morning, I became the owner of the Homestead. :)

Well, not technically since the mortgage details and closing needed to occur. I was impressed with my first contact with the bank. The finalization process went so much smoother than I thought it would. When I locked in the rate... reality set in... it was really going to happen!

I spent a month packing, before the closing came and went. Then it was time to move!

Which brings me to where I am today... Living in a disorganized home with boxes still piled everywhere. The question looms largely in my head: "Where am I going to put ALL this stuff?!"

Normalcy?

Hopefully, I'm back on the road to normalcy...

It's been a rough past few weeks with surgery, recovery, and the issues surrounding S. It appears that he thinks it's OK to carry on a "relationship" via text messages, rather than talking on the telephone or in person. In four more days, it'll be a month since he turned tail and left. I have talked to a lot of people (both online and off) about what happened, and not one of them said I am/was out of line. There were a lot of common thoughts and concerns about S's immaturity in regards to relationships, how I don't deserve to be treated the way I have. Do I miss our time together? Yup...however... I'm a good catch, and if he didn't/hasn't realized that... It's his loss.


Health
I had my post-op check up last week. My throat was still hurting, but the doc said everything looked good and that I was almost healed up. Woo Hoo! The bad news? I had a sinus infection for which he put me on 5 days of antibiotics. The throat feels fine now with the exception that extreme cold foods/beverages makes it a bit tender yet.

Did I ever say that my name should be "Grace"? One day last week, I was feeling a little ambitious so I went into the attic so I could bring a box of ribbon down to organize. Fuzzy socks and I (You know where this is going, right?) went tumbling down the stairs. I hit my forearm against the edge of a step, whereby a knot and bruise the size of a silver dollar started to show itself. In my attempt to grab the railing, I took a chunk out of my thumb the size of a pencil eraser. Both the thumb and forearm are still healing up. And people wonder why I don't like wearing shoes and socks! LOL


Work
Yesterday was my first day back at work after being off for 18 days. Coworkers and clients welcomed me back and asked how I was doing. My first day went pretty smoothly even though I ended up staying 1/2 hour late to finish up.


Stitiching
Sad to say, but I didn't do much stitching while I was off. The only thing I got done was the ornies in a previous post.

While recovering, I received a beautiful ornament from Patty in Canada. She sent me a "New Home" card also. It really lifted me spirits. :)


Family
I'm disappointed in my parents for not calling or coming to check up on me while I was recovering from surgery. It's not like they didn't know... My mother wrote it on their "important dates" calendar that hangs in plain sight.

My niece stayed overnight with me last weekend. Hard to believe the little baby I rushed to the hospital to see is now 15 and driving! I let her drive the entire time she was with me and she did pretty well. We had one little "incident" where she had to jump in the backseat and I had to climb over the bucket seats to get into the driver's seat because she parked tooooo close to a car in a parking lot. LOL

Smiles All Around

You know, it never ceases to amaze me when it comes to people in the blogging/stitching world. I've been awarded the "You Make Me Smile" award! Not once, but three times!

Most recently, it came from Sweet Pea. I also received one from Sharon and TeeJay.

So now it's my turn to bestow the award to people who've made me smile:

Cup of Tea With Friends (Michelle)

Glenda's Blog (Glenda)

Cross Stitches & Kitty Kisses (Nancy)

Lavender Rose Ramblings (Deb)

Ladybird Lane (Tessa)

Musings from a 3 Bedroom Ranch (Melissa)

Stitching Hour (Kendra)

Tale of a Shooting Star (Jenna)

Me My Needle & I (Lisa)

J's Place (Jaunice)

Post Op Update and...

Well, here it is... Day 11 after surgery. I'm happy to say that I am venturing into eating more solid foods other than soup and mashed potatoes. I tried pizza today! As long as I chew really well and take small bites, it goes down pretty well. I also had my first sneeze today. LOL It wasn't as bad as I feared it might feel. Eating/drinking cold things still hurt more than the sneeze did. Tomorrow, I'm going to try macaroni and cheese again, hoping it tastes good this time! Talking is still a bit difficult, but at least I sound "normal" even if it is guarded and tentative.

I had a work emergency on Friday. I received a frantic phone call that a client needed work redone (our office screwed it up). Everyone was out of the office at a seminar. Since I felt OK, just couldn't talk, I went in and redid the work. The client was really wigged out over the issue. One of the partners was there and very appreciative that I came in and saved the day.

In the past few days, I've been feeling well enough to work on some ornaments. I've had two... one, two... finishes. They are both "Christmas Tree Ornament" by X's & Oh's. I stitched them on 14ct white aida with DMC floss. Krenik gold blending filament was used to embellish the garland and star. Red Mill Hill beads created the ornaments on the trees. The hanger was created using 1/8" satin ribbon that goes around the entire ornament. Gold pearlized pins decorate the borders of the ornament. The back of the ornaments are covered in a green fabric with tiny gold trees. It took me about 4 hours to do the stitching, and another hour to create the ornament.

Day 6 Post Op

I am hungry! Broths and applesauce just aren't cutting it as far as my tummy is concerned. I've had a couple bowls of ice cream and 1 1/2 popcicles. Popcicles just don't taste good for some reason. It hurts to eat or swallow. Stuff at room temp seems to go down the best.

I was pretty much out of it the first day after surgery. I couldn't sleep for more than an hour at a time, and had major sinus drainage (TMI?). I'm on a liquid pain killer that contains vicodin. IMO, it just takes the edge off and it makes me sleepy. The past few days I've been trying not to take it until I can't stand the pain anymore.

One can only watch so many talk shows in a day! Thank goodness for the net, and my stitching groups. I just want to thank all of you again for checking on me with private emails, and for your comments in the past week.

I did manage to finish the stitching on two ornaments last night. Just have to make them "into" ornies. The only reason I managed to do that is I didn't take the pain meds. If I take them, I'm worthless. I know I should be kicking back and just recovering, but I feel so lazy! Especially when I look around and see all these boxes that need unpacking... But I'm not unpacking anything since I'm not supposed to be lifting.

I read some adult tonsilectomy "horror" stories online yesterday. Boy, am I glad I didn't read those before surgery. All of them said it was rough. Great.... During days 7-10, the pain is supposed to get worse because the scabs will fall off at that time. Another thing I have to look forward to.

I haven't slept in my bed since surgery since I haven't been able to sleep laying down. Plus with waking up every couple hours, it's just easier to sleep on the sofa with the computer, tv, drinks, etc right there.

My employer sent me a HUGE beautiful bouquet of flowers the day after my surgery. I'm able to check my work email from home, and my coworkers have been emailing me every couple of days asking how I am doing. :) My sister text messages me... She tried calling but since i can't talk, texting is best right now.

Overall, life sucks for me right now... LOL, but hey I'll bounce back. I always do.