Marvelous Monday Update 9/27/10

Wow, did this month fly by or what?! September is almost over, and the fall weather has definitely set in. Cooler temps, leaves changing colors and falling to the ground, and allergies... oh what fun!


SCHOOL
Whew, describes it adequately! I wrote the paper. I was prepared. I knew how I was going to introduce "Gusto Consulting Group" (our team name). I even remembered to bring the "Drive One For UR School" tshirt that the local Ford dealership graciously donated for each of our team members. I wasn't even nervous before the presentation. Then I got up in front of the class, lol. My voice cracked, and instantly I was nervous. And it wasn't like I haven't done LOTS of public speaking before. *sigh* I felt bad for the other female team member... she broke out in hives and at the end forgot to forward her power point slides. We got through the presentation.

The instructor said we did an excellent job, and that we set the bar VERY high for the other groups who will be presenting this week.

Not only do we get graded on the presentation by the instructor, but also by the other "teams", and by our individual team members!

We have our last test this week. The other teams were complaining about how they had to give their presentation and take a test. As a team, we were pretty proud of ourselves in that we planned for that at the beginning of the semester. It's the team's choice when the presentation is given. Hee Hee, we were smart!

After this week, I'll be freeeee for two weeks! *happy dancin'*


STITCHY STUFF
I ended up re-charting the poem on TMQ because I wasn't sure it would fit in the space I had available on the afghan. Then I did some stitching. Here's my progress so far:

Other WIP pics can be seen HERE.

A shout out to Veronica... Start stalking your mailman. I sent your prize out last week. :)

Marvelous Monday Update 9/20/10

Can we say TGIM??! Thank goodness it's Monday. And that is reason enough for it to be a marvelous one! If you're wondering why I'm happy it's Monday, read on...



SCHOOL
This is the #1 reason! This past weekend was *REALLY* stressful. Two chapters of reading, two chapters of homework, a take-home test, three revisions to the group project paper, and creation of talk points for the power point presentation. Add to that back-and-forth emails amongst my team members "bickering" about various additions/deletions to the paper. Oh, and let's not forget that this week my group is up to bat (first) for presentations. At the same time, I'm working two jobs! I just... have... to... survive... two more weeks.

I know what you're thinking: "Quit yer whinin'!"


STITCHY STUFF
A couple weeks ago, I found out that I was the winner of the birthday giveaway on Stitching Devotee. Look what the postman delivered to my box:


Maggee generously mailed me an envelope full of Victoria Clayton hand-dyed perle silk threads. I'm looking forward to trying these out. Thank you very much, Maggee!

Did a fair amount of frogging on TMQ this weekend. I'm blaming it on the stress of class! (That's my story) Believe it or not, I actually ran out 3328. None in my personal stash, and none in my stash-for-sale/trade bin. What an excuse to run to JoAnn Fabrics. They were having a great coupon sale (Shhhh!).

TMQ Progress AF
(after frogging)


I also worked a bit on my Gingerbread House ornament:



Just want to put a shout out to Pirjo (Pike Stitching) that the prize package went out in last week's mail. So start stalking the mailman! LOL

That's all for now!

Marvelous Monday Update 9/13/10

TREASURE HUNTING
There's a church here in town that hosts a rummage sale each year. Usually, they have an awesome selection of "stuff". This year, there was an old 50's singer sewing machine for $10. I passed on it, though. Instead, I came home with these:

Unopened Magnet Board
and Antique Sewing Machine Accessory Box
Since neither had a price tag, the lady at the check out table said, "How's 50cents for both sound?" I said, "Sounds like a deal!"

I haven't been to the consignment shop in FOREVER so I decided to stop and see what they had. I didn't walk out empty handed...

Victorian Lace
Fully kitted up
for only $4!
I've been wanting to try needlepoint. The price was right and it was kitted up, I couldn't let it pass me by.

I found this fabulous metal picture frame at the thrift store. Look at those details. Isn't it gorgeous? Only 99cents!


The same store had close to a dozen porcelain dolls. Two jumped into my hands and insisted on going home with me!

Meet Anya

She is from House of Lloyd and is a limited edition Christmas Around The World doll. Her outer wear is actually 4 pieces: A hat, cape, coat, and muffler.

This little cutie doesn't have a name, but what's unique about her is that she's made entirely out of porcelain. She is also jointed at the head, arms, and legs.


GIVEAWAY
Wawanna at Silver Threads and Golden Needles is celebrating her 66th birthday! How awesome is that? To celebrate, she is hosting a birthday giveaway. Click on over to share your favorite birthday memory with her.

Pilar from Cenefas de Flores (which means Flower Borders) is celebrating 35,000 hits to her blog. Check out her giveaway. She does beautiful stitching and also has yummy looking recipes!


STITCHY STUFF
I made some really good progress on TMQ last week. At the rate I'm going, I may finish it this year!




SCHOOL
Hard to believe I'm in my 6th week of the semester already. I spent a good part of the day yesterday writing a paper for our group presentation. We had to pick a company and do a financial analysis. We picked Ford Motor Company and will be comparing it against Toyota and GM. Our group decided 5 pages would be sufficient. After compiling information from my team members, I ended up with 15 pages! Our group volunteered to be first to bat... next week.

TMQ Contest Winner

Boy, I almost developed a complex after reading all the suggestions as to what the mistakes were on TMQ. LOL






Several people thought the leaf on the right bottom side of the tree was wrong, but it's not. My guess is the designer wanted it to look like a bug(?) ate part of it.

All heart and square motifs are the same size. They may look different sizes due to the angle of the photo, but I assure you... They are all the same.

Others thought the colors and placement of motifs were mistakes. They aren't mistakes. I chose to "switch-it-up" for a couple of reasons. One was due to personal tastes. The other is due to the the center of the afghan not being large enough to accomodate the chart as is, so I'm having to re-chart as I go.

• All the letters are fine EXCEPT the letter "W". It needed to be two rows taller. How I never noticed, I don't know!

• The first two stitches of the third leaf on the right side (right below the letter "a") were never completed. Again... How I didn't notice, I'll never know.

• The lower tail feathers of the bird are missing. I kept looking at it wondering why it looked so funny!


Now, for the winner. No one guessed more than one mistake correctly so I put those who had a correct answer in a "hat" and drew a random winner. That person is....

VERONICA!

Congratulations, Veronica. Please forward your mailing address to me and I'll get something out into the mail for you.

Why Oh Why?

Why am I hosting another contest?? Look at THIS:


I was so proud of myself for getting it out and actually stitching on it. I showed it to a friend who said: "Why is this...." and "What's wrong with that...."

It was brought to my attention that there are three things wrong (actual mistakes) with the Treasured Memories Afghan (TMQ). I have since fixed them, but thought it would be fun to do a contest.

The first person to correctly name the three mistakes on TMQ will win something stitchy from my stash pile.

Leave your comment and email addy so I can contact you if you're the winner. I will be announcing the winner on my next Marvelous Monday Update. All comments will be moderated so I won't be approving them until next week. Good luck!


Hints:
• The photo was taken at an angle so the piece is slightly distorted.
• You may want to click on the pic to make it larger. Other UFO pics may or may not help, I dunno.
• The mistakes are *not* placement or color changes, etc. They are stitching mistakes that had to be fixed.

Marvelous Monday Update 9/6/10

Where did August go? Today is a holiday for a lot of us in the U.S. Since I am now considered "part time", I don't reap the benefits of getting full holiday pay anymore. :( So, I worked part of yesterday to make up for the loss. Don't you just love this cartoon?!




CHARLEY
I've had Charley for almost a month now. She knows "lovin" means a pet on the back of the head. She takes flight without flying full force into walls, windows, and such. She doesn't get scared when I pick her up and put her in the cage. Most of the time, I can say "step up" and she will step up on my hand! Whenever I get home from work, she gets so excited that she climbs all over the cage wanting my attention, LOL. She must be getting used to the camera flash/clicking because she doesn't flinch as much.



CELESTE
... is still adjusting to having a bird in.the.house. Birds are what she attempts to catch by jumping in the air while being attached to her cable. Birds are not supposed to be in HER house. Actually, she's been pretty good. The first couple of days after I brought Charley home, she charged the cage like she was being the big, bad dog. The first time Charley took flight changed all that, LOL. While Charley was flying into walls and such, Celeste didn't know what to think and took cover under the dining room table. And, she was whining the entire time.

Last week, I supervised a face-to-face interaction. Charley was sitting on the corner of the dining room table and I had Celeste on my lap. Charley hissed. Celeste got scared and backed off. Incidentally, at night I will often find Celeste sleeping at the base of the table I have Charley's cage sitting on. Go figure!

Remember the horrendous haircut Celeste was given last month? Let me refresh....


Here's what she looks like now:

Now, that's MY dog!

GIVEAWAYS
Shelley from Shelley's Artsy Fartsy Life is hosting a book giveaway. Click over to read about her giveaway, as well as check out her latest stitchy projects.

Bette from Reflections of a Desert Rat is celebrating her birthday this month! To celebrate, she is hosting *another* giveaway on her blog. Go on over and wish her a happy birthday.

Loretta is also celebrating! She's hosting a giveaway to commemorate her 3rd blogversary.


STITCHY STUFF
Since I hadn't worked on TMQ in a while, I decided to get it out. Here's what it currently looks like:

Other WIP pics can be seen HERE.

RAK'd!
I received a wonderful RAK in the mail from Sue V. She sent me not one, but THREE asian-themed stitchy items. Two were charts, and one was a magazine filled with asian charts. I gleefully laughed (OK, maybe that sounds a little weird, lol) to myself because I had *almost* bought that same magazine during the retreat I went to in June. How cool is that?!?

Thank you so much, Sue!

THE BABY - FINALLY!
I am ashamed to say that I wasn't able to see my new niece until she was two weeks old. Two weeks old, already??? I have photos of all my other nieces and nephew when they were only hours old. School and two jobs made it difficult for me to get over there, but I finally did. What a cute (I'm not biased!!) little bundle. She's so tiny compared to my nephew who was the last baby (now 14!) and we lovingly refer to as the Budda Baby, lol. Without further adieu, here she is:

Changed, fed, and content. This is after she pee'd on me! Paybacks are a B*tch, aren't they Auntie Meari? LOL, that's what I get for not coming to see her sooner, eh? Actually, she's still a bit fussy in the pic. See how her face is scrunched up? And boy-oh-boy does it get red when she's not happy!

Baby and Auntie
OK, so I made up for not seeing her right away by spoiling her. I cuddled and held and talked to her the entire 2½ hours I was there. Plus, I brought presents. What kid doesn't like presents?

Proud Papa and Baby
"Can you tell I'm a proud Daddy?" my brother says to me when I first get there. Not "Hello", "How's it going?" LOL Love you too, bro!

Worst Date #14 - Surprise!

Yes, it's back... my compilations of worst date stories. Not my own mind you, but true nonetheless.

The most presumptuous date I've ever been on was with a fellow who claimed he had a "surprise" for me. I love surprises!


Especially ones that start out with a long drive down the twisty roads of Mulholland Drive before pulling up to an impressive mansion with valet parking. I was banking on "Murder Mystery Party," but what I got was

-- wait for it--

an orgy!

You know, just a casual place for rich, horny men to walk around with their scrotums held in a martini glass (really), hoping to get lucky.

In the (brief) time I was there, I saw things that would make a Showtime exec blush.

My date realized he'd struck out with me, but I suspect he might have gone back to the party after he dropped me off, by the way his tires squealed when he dropped me off.

Oh! The final nail in the coffin: This fancy, no-holds-barred, uber-classy sex party? BYOB.