Category Archives: Life

Secret project reveal

Posted on February 9, 2008 by Terri | Comments Off

I am not a sewer. In fact, it’s been so long since I used my machine that I don’t know where the instruction booklet is and am having fits trying to get the bobbin tension proper.

I’ve long wanted to make some of the wonderful smalls I’ve seen in the stitching world. Pillows of all sorts, wall hangings, needlebooks, bourses, etc., but because I don’t sew well I’ve always been intimidated to give it a go.

If there’s anyone in the stitching, or triathlon, world that doesn’t know, I consider Melissa a sister of my heart. She’s my BFF 🙂 and knows more about me than anyone else in the world except Kahuna. I met her online.

When I lived in Japan I joined a yahoo WW group that she ran. I don’t remember how long I was a member of the group before I unsubbed and moved to California; but one day, I rejoined. She followed a link in my signature to my stitching photos and wrote me that she stitched too. I think I had a folder of some designs I was selling/trading and she contacted me then to do a trade, but anyway, this really kicked off us getting to really know one another. A while later there was a get together of local to me stitchers and she drove down and that was our first face to face meeting. We ate lunch at Chili’s that day and she sat across from me and I remember thinking “I’m going to like this gal!” Little did I know! LOL We have so many things in common.

Here it is, more than 6 years later, and I feel so blessed to have her in my life. She’s the first person I think of sharing anything with, next to Kahuna and sometimes I don’t even share it with him. She is one of the most giving people I know and I know how appreciative she is of every stitching gift/exchange she receives. I wanted to be one of the someones who has given her something.

She’s coming over today (in fact I just verified that she’s on the way) for us to finally have our Christmas get together. Our schedules have not allowed us to visit since Thanksgiving and I have truly missed visiting face to face with her. Her birthday is next week, and she’s going to be out of town, so I’m also gifting her with her birthday gift, which is what I’ve been secretly working on. There’s a little written bit that goes along with the gift, but I’ll let her share that if she wants. I think I was brave enough to attempt it because I knew she loved me and wouldn’t judge my errors too harshly and know that the attempt was an attempt from the heart.

The stitching is over 1 on 25 ct antique white Lugana in DMC 321. The fibers in the bourse are Belle Soie Cranberry, Lasagne, Elegant Eggplant, Fresh Raspberries, Carrot Cake, Espresso and Creme de Menthe. Sounds like a great birthday meal, doesn’t it! 😉

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Posted in Family

Tag – I'm it

Posted on February 7, 2008 by Terri | Comments Off

I got tagged by Melissa. Here’s the good, bad, and ugly.

1. I do not like children

2. I am strongly against illegal immigrants and a lot of my job deals with them.

3. I have been stitching for more than 30 years.

4. I could probably go the rest of my life without leaving my house and be perfectly happy.

5. I’m probably the most judgmental person I know.

6. I know karate.

7. I love to drive very fast

8. People don’t know me as well as they think they do.

9. I’m happily married to someone who doesn’t say “I love you.”

10. I love coconut cake.

Now, I thought about not tagging anyone else, because I really don’t like these things. They put too much pressure on me because I feel like all the randomness in my life is not nice stuff, but I figured what the heck…I’ll just be not nice and put the pressure on someone else! 😆 Of course this probably means they’ll never comment on my blog again…Sue and Karin…tag, you’re it!

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Posted in Friends

January is over?

Posted on January 31, 2008 by Terri | Comments Off

How the heck did we get to the last day of January already? At the rate this month passed me by, I’ll be setting down my 2009 goals in a heartbeat.

I’m thrilled by all the interest in Hannah Beeby. And it’s been so nice to hear from so many of you. I think since there’s interest in a weekly and weekend only stitchalong, I’ll set it out for a week, and those who can only stitch on Fri, Sat, and Sun., can join in at the end of the week. How does starting March 24th sound? Would you like for me to set up a separate blog for progress photos? If so, I can do that early so we can start sharing fabric and fiber choosing woes! Please post a comment and let me know your preferences.

Am I the only person (besides Darla) that will stress over deciding on fabric and fibers?? I’m determined to stitch from my stash so I think I’ll do some sample stitching with the fibers I pick out to see what they’ll look like together. I would hate to get really far in and discover I don’t like the way my fibers look.

The puppies had their shots and heartworm checks yesterday and with the exception of me being fussed at for not keeping their nails short enough (this was a stab to my heart that I wasn’t taking proper care of them!) they are in excellent very spoiled puppy health. They were very glad to get back home.

Since I have a meeting tonight after work, I know I won’t have anything more to contribute toward my goals for January, so I think I’ll do my recap today and set down February’s goals tomorrow.

For January I said:

Fitness goal 1: this month I’m in a cycling challenge. My goal is to cycle 78 miles. My first ride is tomorrow. Most of this month’s riding will probably be on a trainer. Well this didn’t happen. My heel ended up sending me to the doctor who said she preferred I not do any activity until I see a podiatrist, told me to wear inserts and gave me naproxen to take twice a day.

Fitness goal 2: do not miss a WW meeting and lose 6 pounds. I did miss 2 meetings. I forgot when I set this goal that I had plans for 2 Sunday mornings this month. I also didn’t lose 6 pounds because of the naproxen. For some reason when I take it I retain water. Add that to no activity, and well, I’m just glad I didn’t GAIN 6 pounds instead.

Stitching: complete page 4 of French Alphabet Sampler. Post picture when page 3 finished. Woohoo, I actually accomplished some goals! I did post a picture and I did finish page 4. In fact, I finished page 4 so fast, that I was able to start and finish 1 design and start and almost finish a 2nd design. But since I’m up to something secret I got a bit sidetracked and didn’t finish the 2nd design. I’ll get it finished after my February FAS goal of page 5. 😉

Professional: this is the new addition to my goals for 2008. Revamp personnel and accounting records. Scan in client billing records. NOTE: This will take more than a month to accomplish. I actually got all of the billing records scanned in (shocker!) and have started on the accounting and personnel records. I still have much to do in that department though, so this will be added to next month’s goals.

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Posted in FAS, Fitness, Goals, Hannah Beeby, Puppies

Titillating tidbits

Posted on January 30, 2008 by Terri | Comments Off

No stitching news. Something else has been sucking up my time.

Been working on my own webpage. Bought my domain, bought the hosting service, am pulling my hair out trying to get the photo service to work the way I want it to. Will move my blog over once my hair grows back.

I’m up to something secret.

Puppies have annual shot appointment today, so leaving work early. I’ve been able to gauge how cold it is by how fast they get out of bed in the mornings. The last two mornings have seen only noses. Harley will drag herself out for some oatmeal or cream of wheat, then it’s back to bed.

Since there’s interest in Hannah Beeby, I’m going to organize a stitch-along. This will be a stitch at your own pace stitch-along and the prize for the person who finishes theirs is a beautiful happy dance. Start date will be in March. I’m trying to decide if it should be for a full week (Mon – Sun) or just a weekend (Fri, Sat, Sun). Thoughts? Opinions? Comments?
I’m up to something secret.

Am almost afraid to write this, but since I’ve been following doctor’s orders (duh!) and taking my drugs and wearing my inserts (including in my houseslippers) my heel is almost not bothering me at all. Of course little farting noises are emitting from my favorite pair of work shoes.

Tri-club meeting tomorrow night which means no stitching, and no hair pulling out computer stuff, and working later than normal since Kahuna will be picking me up, which means riding the train.

And did I mention I’m up to something secret? 🙂

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Posted in Hannah Beeby, Life, Puppies

Searching for my past

Posted on January 28, 2008 by Terri | Comments Off

The weather held pretty much true yesterday and we had some wonderful rain/wind storms. It was a perfect day for sitting in front of the computer trying to find myself.

Last year one of my stitching goals was to start Lavender & Lace’s Mother’s Tree. I had information on my “mothers” as far back as my great-grandmother; however when I got to her mother, all I had was a name. I have been half-heartedly looking for more information and a couple of weeks ago decided to search on her husband instead. Surprisingly one of the sites that popped up was someone I knew from the stitching world, and had had the pleasure of meeting a few years ago when she was here on a business trip. I sent “T” an email telling her about this.

Yesterday “T” wrote again asking more questions and during many wonderful emails back and forth I think she helped me find not only my great-great-grandmother’s information, but her mother and grandmother’s info as well. Two extra generations! And “T” thinks this search has helped her find more info on the family member she was researching because they’re the same last name.

So for now, I have 8 generations. Am I satisfied and ready to begin? Of course not! I’ve always secretly hoped for 10 generations on the sampler because it will end as my being the last mother, since I had a son. I put a call in to my mother this morning and she is to pass on to me a family member who is the holder of our family tree. She’s the wife of my mother’s cousin and I’m hoping she can confirm the information discovered yesterday and have more for me to add.

This has renewed my interest in my father’s side of the family as well as Kahuna’s. I have tons of paperwork on Kahuna and need to start plugging it into a “tree” format because it’s very hard to follow the way it is right now. I know somewhere there is paperwork on my father’s side because his mother was always interested and I remember her talking to me about it.

A nice thing about this is it was free. I spent a wonderful afternoon not spending any money getting something I needed.

I forced myself to get off the computer and stitch some last night. I’m almost finished with my current design and should have a finished project report come this weekend since I plan on finishing it out as a banner.

P.S. For those interested in Hannah Beebe, the chart can be found at Gittas.com under “Products,” “Timeless Designs.”

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Posted in Finances, Geneology, Stitching

Financially speaking

Posted on January 25, 2008 by Terri | Comments Off

I just realized that I have not been including any tracking on my finances. When I started this blog it was to combine all areas of my life, and a major one is getting my debt paid off. It’s a little intimidating but I’m taking it one paycheck at a time. One of the reasons why I need to cut myself off in the stitching stash department. I seem to have all the other spending areas in my life under control.

I still have packages trickling in, which is helping me to not spend. The latest is Carriage House Samplings’ The Song They Sang. I purchased it as a “kit” so the fabric and NPI silks also arrived. Let me tell you, this is another one of those poor photographic efforts. The silks, 186, 302, 335, 336, 693, 767, 773, 957 and 998, are just beautiful and rich and the design is smaller than I thought it would be so this may be one of those “small starts” that I do this year. Definately sooner rather than later since I also ordered the frame at a discount but it won’t arrive until February some time.

I’m trying to keep my wish list updated so if I do get a financial gift I have some place to look for inspiration. That said, we are probably going to be receiving a tax refund but it will go toward my debt.

Today I received the NPI list for Shores of Hawk Run Hollow 🙂 and have put it on my wishlist.

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Posted in Finances, Stash

Just a post

Posted on January 15, 2008 by Terri | Comments Off

I meant to write yesterday, but work was weird and I got really busy toward the end of the day on a bunch of nothing.

Boss’ grandson decided to hitch a ride with his skateboard behind a pickup truck this past weekend and ended up in ICU with head trauma. I’m having a tough time being totally sympathetic for several reasons, but mostly because he was old enough to know better, didn’t wear his helmet (which has caused him to have staples put in his head before), and was told by the truck driver to stop but he chose to duck down to not be seen, which reiterates the old enough to know better. My sympathy goes to Boss who is distressed over this accident.

I made it to the gym last night and was shocked at how many people were there. No bikes or treadmills available so I only swam. I’m trying to increase the yards I swim by 100 every time I go to get back into my training distance. I’m going to have to just suck it up and get my behind on the saddle at home. I know I’ll build up tolerance but I’ve never been one for pain, and have a lot of trouble with self-induced pain.

Kahuna didn’t go to the gym last night. I’m so glad I didn’t wait on him. I did give him a hard time about it, but he’s decided to go in the morning before work, which means he’s getting up at 4:30 a.m. (and waking me up with his getting-ready noise). I know I could probably go early as well, but I’m already getting up at 5:30 to leave the house by 7 to drive my 1 hour commute (which he’s also having to drive now) and if I get up earlier, I’ll have to go to bed earlier, and when am I going to stitch?

Plus, we’re running into other problems with us both working south. The dogs need to get their shots updated. This means we have to drive back to the house to take them to the Vet’s and either take the rest of the afternoon off, or drive back to work. I also still go to the doctor at the same place, which entails the same scenario of taking the dogs to the Vet’s.

We need to move. I don’t know that I’m going to be a very happy person by the time April gets here.

Tonight is a trip back to the gym to visit with my PT, get at least 15 minutes of organization time in my office, take a photo of FAS (since I finished the 4th page), and stitch while watching Biggest Loser (which I haven’t decided whether I like this season or not).

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Posted in Weight, Work

1/13/08 Weekly recap

Posted on January 13, 2008 by Terri | Comments Off

Last week I decided that I needed to get gazelle in certain areas of my life. I think using it as a weekly mini-goal will help me so to keep with tradition I need to recap those goals to see where I succeeded and where I might need to keep on truckin’ or change up.

Week 1 results

I will focus more on quantity. Yep, and it’s paid off. I lost 1.4# this week.

I will focus on other cardio exercises that will allow my heel to heal, and allow my body to continue becoming healthy. I finally made it back to the gym last night. I do not count that toward my weight loss though, since I don’t think I did enough to contribute toward that.

I will have my grocery list ready on Saturday night and go to the store immediately after my WW meeting on Sunday morning. Well, right now it’s “immediately after my WW meeting” and I’m sitting here in front of the computer instead of grocery shopping. I didn’t get my list ready last night, but I did talk to Kahuna about it, which is better than I have been doing.

I will be more consistent in tracking my stats to see where I am during the journey and not be surprised at the end of the journey. I fussed at myself all week after looking at my logs….no fitness training!

Here’s to a better week.

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Posted in Life

Is spring in the air?

Posted on January 9, 2008 by Terri | Comments Off

Okay, no one circle today in red or anything, but I’m in a cleaning mood. Kahuna asked me last night if there were any plans for this weekend and I almost said that I wanted to clean something. Whew, it was a very close call. I thought that mood was from our impending move. We only need to broom clean the inside of our house but there are a couple of things that I want to do beyond that, just because they’ve needed to be done a long time.

Today, I’m wondering though if there’s a bit of spring-cleaningitis in the air because a couple of the blogs that I normally read are talking about cleaning and organizing.

I went outside to check the temperature and see if there is any new growth in the courtyard outside my office, but nope. My hands and feet are still cold because of the temperatures…so spring is nowhere near.

As to those weekend plans, I really do want to do a little something toward our move out cleaning, and maybe I’ll do that this weekend. We have extremely hard water here and our bathroom fixtures look terrible. I’m thinking a good soak in a bowl of hard-water something or other might be in store for the weekend.

Boss asked me this morning if I wanted the empty copy paper box and I was tempted. They store cross-stitch patterns so nicely! I plan on spending at least 30 minutes in my office this weekend shuffling through papers and shredding old school stuff. I do NOT want to move any of that crap across the room, much less across the county. And then I probably should do something about all that cross-stitch stuff in there.

Kahuna has a half-marathon coming up in a week. His first race of the season 🙂

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Posted in Life

An unscheduled day off

Posted on January 7, 2008 by Terri | Comments Off

I went out to my car this morning and found it flooded inside 🙁

I put a towel in the seat on Sunday when I went to my WW meeting because I noticed the seal over the window had been dripping a bit. The towel is dripping this morning, and when I tried to dry off the seat water just kept creeping to the top. This distresses me on several levels. My seats are leather and heated and I’m worried the water may ruin them; I cannot drive it in this condition (there’s also water leaked into the trunk on the same side, plus my floorboards are also wet). We had horrendous winds off and on this weekend and I know it’s pushed the rain into my car. This is one of the downsides to having a convertible. Plus it rarely rains here so I’m sure the seals between the top and the window dry out somewhat which causes it to drip when it does rain heavily. I’m just glad the top itself doesn’t leak.

Kahuna started his new commute this morning at 6, so I’m stranded at the house unless I want to drive my flooded car, or take his Harley, which would muss up my hair 😉

The downer is I cannot drive it to the gym either so that means instead of going early before the major crowds of people who get off at 5 are there, I’ll be going with Kahuna tonight after we eat….it’ll take some arm twisting though since the college superbowl is tonight! Geaux Tigers!

Guess what I’m going to do today with all this unexpected free time….stitch! and watch my West Wing DVD from Netflix, right after I finish the end of Pride and Prejudice. I managed to get and 1/3 of the 4th page stitched yesterday 🙂

Happy Monday.

P.S. Before I forget…I’m changing my email address. We will be moving shortly and I want to make sure I get it all switched over. So when you get a response to your comments to me, it’ll be from my new address.