Monday Update 7/30/07

Dad's Surgery
My Dad came home from the hospital on Friday. Hard to believe he was able to come home only after 3 days! His left leg is very swollen, but he is walking around... albeit slowly. He said there's over 100 stitches in his leg, and takes pain killers as needed. The doc told him he could go back to work whenever he felt like it. Dad said he was staying home until the stitches were taken out (at least).


Stitchy News
I've washed and pressed Pink Carnations. I still need to put the beads on it, but I'm holding off until I decide whether to do a bourse or box. If I do a bourse, it doesn't make sense to me to put the beads on it. Any opinions?

Me and PC stitch (How's that for proper grammar?) spent about 5 hours together on Saturday. What did we come up with, you might ask? Using various parts of Pink Carnations, I designed a matching scissor fob and needlebook. I even designed the needlebook pages! Now all I need to do is order the pink gingham fabric and I'll be stitching them up. Can't wait!

I worked on Mime again. I did a bunch of backstitching while watching re-runs of Grey's Anatomy and Men in Trees on Thurs night. Even though I've got a ways to go, I'm looking forward to when it's done. It's the oldest UFO I have.

I snagged a few more boxes with lids from the local Aldi's store when I went grocery shopping. While watching Star Trek (of all things! Ick.), I covered the boxes and lids in contact paper for stash storage. I now have 5 boxes total. I've got them labeled: Aida, Linen & Evenweave (small pieces), Linen & Evenweave (large pieces), Kits (small & medium), and Stitchables. I have enough contact paper to make one more matching box.


Need a Stash Fix??? I've added some things to my stash-for-sale blog. In addition to cross stitch stuff, there are some needlepoint canvases. Take a look! I spent a good amount of time organizing my stash on Saturday night and barely have made a dent. :(

I've started the needlebook that matches the Victorian Pansies scissor fob that I finished not too long ago.


Neighbor News
Ha... There's always *something*, isn't there? Wed morning around 5:30am, I could hear the neighbor and her grown daughter arguing. Apparently DD has been spending a lot of time in the bars and not coming home until wee hours of the morning. DD doesn't have a car or job, that I know of. (How's she get $$ for the bars?) I overheard neighbor yelling at DD about how close she was to kicking DD out on on her butt. More trouble in paradise? Wed night, I walked around to the front of the house and neighbor was on the front porch with grandson and a bunch of neighbor boys. Apparently, GS got into a fight with one of the neighbor boys. Does that surprise me? It was kinda amusing, actually. One boy was on the porch and the other at the end of the sidewalk... and they had the stare down going on.


Weekend Fun
Spent Sunday with S celebrating his little one's 3rd birthday. It was held in the garage and I did the decorating. (Guys really do not know how to throw kid parties! LOL) The tot got a lot of clothes, a couple of toys, and a fishing pole as presents... and kept asking "More presents?" The food was good and I think everyone had a good time.


Back To School
Yes, it's THAT time again! Last week, I signed up for two classes: Beginning and Advanced Excel. Both are needed for my Accounting Degree. One is an online class, the other is a campus class. I need to touch base with the instructor again to make sure this will work. I use Excel for work so I don't see a problem, but one never knows. What irked me is that the book for the class costs more than the tuition for class! Grr...

5 Things

I have been tagged by Jade for a 5 things meme.

5 Things I wish to do before I die:
1. I wish to buy a house.
2. I wish to travel more.
3. I wish to finish my formal education.
4. I wish to volunteer more.
5. I wish to retire comfortably.

5 Things I can do:
1. I can use a sewing machine pretty well.
2. I can write well (at least that’s what people tell me).
3. I can do lots of DIY (do-it-yourself) projects.
4. I can cook well.
5. I can change the oil and perform other maintenance tasks on the car.

5 things I cannot do:
1. I cannot drive a motorcycle.
2. I cannot condone my neighbors’ behavior.
3. I cannot be nice to someone who has done me wrong.
4. I cannot see without my glasses.
5. I cannot grow out my nails without them breaking off prematurely.

5 things that attract me to the Opposite Sex:
1. Honesty
2. Integrity
3. Strong work ethic
4. Good hygiene habits
5. Understanding Character

I had to leave off 5 celebrity crushes because I don’t have any.

The following are tagged: Barb, Sharon, Erica, Melanie, and TeeJay.

How Sick Is This?!!?

I just heard a news story on the radio that practically makes my stomach churn. In WI, three men were arrested last fall for digging up a 20yr old woman's body after seeing her photo in the local newspaper. Why did they dig her up?? I have sex with her body!!! How disgusting is that? The court case was dismissed because there is no law in WI against necrophilia.

Culprits!

For the past month or so, something has been eating the leaves of the plants in my garden and pots. I never saw any bugs or critters so it had me stumped. Last weekend, I saw a beetle on a green bean leaf. After some research, talking with coworkers, and checking with my online gardening board, I'm pretty sure it's the Japanese Beetle. You can read more about them HERE and HERE. The little suckers are making lace out of my leaves. Almost every plant I have outside have holes in them!

Today, I made up an organic concoction I found online that's supposed to kill and deter the JB. It contains water, dish soap (which kills them instantly), cayenne pepper, and garlic powder. I'll see in the coming weeks whether or not it works. If not, I'll have to resort to chemical insecticides.

I really don't need this...

My mom and I left the hospital around 7pm so I could drive home while it was still light. I stopped to get gas about 3 blocks from the hospital. Got a good price, too... only $2.99 a gallon.

When I started the car up, the alarm went off, light started flashing, then everything died. Three times I tried and same result. What the?!? I’d been up since 3am and now my car decides to act up? I really did not need car problems!

I went into the gas station to see if the clerk in there could help. He watched as I started the car and was clueless as to what was wrong. While he called a service station, a young woman (early 20’s maybe) overheard part of the conversation. She asked me what was going on. She had me start the car... then she got in and tried it... same results as before. She walked around to the passenger side, stuck the key in the door and turned it to the right. She got in to start the car and it started right up!! She told me that it was a security shutdown feature and I must’ve done something to tick the car off. I asked her how she knew that and she said she’d owned a lot of crappy cars. Thank you Trish, for helping an out-of-state stranger!!