I think I forgot how to stitch...

Geeze, it's been so long since I've stitched, I think I might have just forgotten how to! lol Work has absolutely consumed my life this week. I'm used to the 36-40 hr weeks of working until 1-2 AM but this week has been something completely different. I've already worked almost 42 hours this week (still have a 9.5 hr shift to work tonight), including a 14.5 hr day yesterday, which was supposed to be my day off. It's soooo tiring now, but it will be worth it when payday rolls around, especially that 11+ hours of overtime! Apparently, and I'm not tooting my own horn here, this is what I have been told, I am one of the best workers they have hired in a while, that's why they always ask me to come in early, on my days off or stay late. Even though I have only been there for a little less than a month and a 1/2, they are talking about starting to have me train to be a manager!

Like I said, that has left no time for stitching. It seems like when I'm not at work I'm sleeping, and vice versa. I did find time (where I found it, I'd like to know because I need some more! lol) to make a trip to JoAnnes, where I found yet another kit. If only I could find the finishes to the kits I already have as easily! Since receiving the Suzy's Zoo Train Birth Announcement kit, I have been a little on the fence about it. I had purchased the kit with the intention of stitching it for my best friend's daughter, who was born at the end of December, but it's just not as girly as what I really wanted. Well, this is the kit I found at JoAnnes and I think it fits the bill perfectly!

It's another kit by Dimensions (I swear they don't sponsor me and I don't own stock lol) and as soon as I saw it, I knew I would end up stitching this birth record instead of the Suzy's Zoo one. I haven't even had time to think about starting it, but I'm hoping to change that this week, even though another new start is just what I need, not. If all goes as planned, I have Tuesday AND Wednesday off! That should certainly open up some stitching time and for framing Hot Stuff, nope I didn't forget about that being on my to-do list! ;-)

Also sadly this week I suffered a little loss. After 6 wonderful years of game day service my beloved 8' inflatable Michigan Wolverine died. :-( He let the neighborhood know every Saturday that this house was Wolverine territory. He was packed away at the end of last November in a rush because of the incoming winter weather, so I had planned to inflate him, wash him, let him sit out and dry since it was a very hot summer day and then pack him away. When I plugged him in though the lights came on and the motor started running but the fan wasn't working. Unscrewed the motor/fan cover and sure enough, the fan had died. Unfortunately the motor is mounted to the top of the fan, which is mounted to the base, so it can't really be replaced. I have been able to track another Wolverine down, like I said I have had him for 6 years, and they no longer make them so I would have been upset if I couldn't get another one. He is made by the same company that makes all the Christmas & Halloween inflatables like the Grinch, Snoopy characters, the carousels and stuff, that you see in people's yards. Here is a picture of him this past fall...

Hopefully I will be able to catch up with what everyone else is up to soon! Have a great day & thanks for stopping by! Nick

Snowmen, Eggs & Summer

Wow, it's been a while since my last update. I have been busy, busy, busy with work. I started working the closing night shift last week, so I don't leave work until between 1:30-2 AM. I'm holding out for Wednesday, which is my next day off!

Even though today is officially the first day of summer, what little stitching I have done has been anything but summer related. I started a small fall themed sampler freebie but don't have a picture of it. I did manage to start and finish the April block of the SanMan Inky Dinky SAL as well. That darn yellow! Though I think this is easy to see than the lemonade piece.

I saw Toy Story 3 with some friends on Friday, and it was really good! It's hard to believe the first Toy Story movie came out 15 years ago, I remember seeing it when I was a kid. In fact I remember having a Buzz Lightyear and a Rex (the green dinosaur) puppet, you could put your fingers into his little tyrannosaurus arms! lol I'm currently saving the codes from Kellogg's cereal so I can trade them in for a Hamm piggy bank. lol You definitely don't have to be a kid to enjoy any of the Toy Story movies, especially the newest movie.

Hopefully I will be able to catch up with everyone's else's blogs soon, thanks for stopping by & have a great day! Nick

Lemonade & Hacked E-mail

Thank you everyone for the comments on Hot Stuff! Hopefully this weekend I can get it framed. Until Sharon mentioned painting a frame red, the thought had never crossed my mind. Well duh, of course it would be much easier to paint a unfinished or white wood frame than spend forever looking for the right red frame, especially since its a standard 8x10! lol

Here is SanMan's June calendar piece "Fresh Squeezed", the calender is 1/2 finished now! I redid the backstitching in darker colors and I like how the blue ice cubes show up but still don't care for the yellow. It's weird in the picture you can really see the outline but when you actually look at the piece it's still really hard to tell the lemon slices from the lemonade, the flash must make it show up better. Now I'm all caught up with all my SanMan SALs, just waiting for the June blackwork and next Inky Dinky snowman to be posted.

SanMan's Fresh Squeezed

Also I wanted to let everyone know that my e-mail was hacked yesterday evening. An e-mail with no subject and only a link in the body (to an online pharmacy ???) was sent to everyone in my address book. As I was just telling Shari, I almost never use or check my e-mail so thankfully most of the address in my book were old or are stored address from store websites or newsletters (so their e-mails don't end up in my spam folder). I had tons of "mail undeliverable" e-mails because the message wouldn't send to Yankee Candle or Barnes & Noble! lol I did e-mail the bloggers whose e-mail address' I recognized on the list but if I missed any I just wanted to let you know what was up and that I'm sorry you were bothered with that pesky junk! I reported the problem to AOL, changed my password and changed the setting so that e-mail address aren't automatically saved to my address book when I send an e-mail.

Thanks for stopping by & hope everyone has a great day! Nick

A Hot Finish

Hot Stuff is officially finished! I finished off the 1/2 stitches around the peppers and the last of the backstitching yesterday afternoon. Now all I need to do is frame it. I didn't really find a frame I liked at Hobby Lobby, so I am still on the hunt for an inexpensive red frame.

House-Mouse Designs' Hot Stuff

Started April 11, 2010

Finished June 05, 2010

Here are all of the progress pictures since I started the piece...

I also started and am almost finished with the June SanMan calendar piece, Freshly Squeezed. I have to redo the backstitching because after doing it in the charted colors you couldn't really tell the difference between the color of the stitches and the backstitch, so it looked like a big lump of yellow. lol There also seemed to be a million quarter stitches which was a real pain on the aida and because the design is so small. Quarter stitches and French knots just don't agree with me! lol

Hope everyone is having a great weekend & thanks for stopping by to see my finish! Nick

Some Hot Progress

Last night my needle sure was smokin'! I managed to finish the 2nd mouse, 2 of the peppers and some of the foreground on Hot Stuff. All that is left is the biggest pepper and a little bit of the foreground, so my next update on Hot Stuff should be a finish!

Hott Stuff last update, and now...it's almost finished!

I'm taking my younger sister to pick up her Eclipse movie tickets tonight and since Hobby Lobby is up the street from the theater I think I will stop by to pick up the colors I need to stitch June's SanMan calendar. I can also look for a red frame to put Hot Stuff in when it's done.

On a much sadder note Rue McClanahan, known for her role as Blanch Devereaux on Golden Girls, died last nite of a massive stroke. :-( I am a huge fan of the Golden Girls, in fact I watched two episodes last night on the Hallmark Channel before going to bed. She will be missed, and the next time I have a piece of cheesecake, it will be in her memory!

Hope everyone is having a good week, TGIF tomorrow! lol Thanks for stopping by! Nick

Fresh Squeezed June

Happy June 1st everyone! I know I say this every month, but where did the time go? lol I hope everyone had a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend. I've worked everyday since last Tuesday so I spent most of my weekend at work, though I did enjoy a cookout/bonfire at a friends house Saturday night and a fireworks show Sunday night. Even though Memorial Day was yesterday I still want to say a big "Thank You!" to all of our veterans, those who lost their lives in war and those currently serving. I have several family members who are/were veterans, from WWII, Desert Storm and the current war in Iraq.

Since I have been so busy with work there has not been much time for stitching, though I did get the March square in the SanMan Inky Dinky SAL done. It was a quick and relaxing something to stitch last night. For now the snowmen are blind, but I will give them Mill Hill seed bead eyes when all 12 are done so I don't have to iron over the beads.

I also wanted to start the June piece for the SanMan calendar, but of course I only had one of the colors needed. It seems every new project I am missing several colors, so you would think I would have all of them by now! lol The piece is titled Fresh Squeezed, and is probably my favorite so far. It's a little glass of lemonade filled with lemon slices and ice cubes. I can't wait to start it!

Since I couldn't stitch, I washed my Baby today. It's been probably 2 weeks since the last car wash and boy could you tell, or at least I could! lol The only thing I didn't do was sweep the inside out, otherwise she got a complete cleaning. Now my Baby looks brand spanking new, I even got the wheel brush and rim polish out and deep cleaned the rims and took the license plate off to clean behind it and clean the plate as well. After all you can't have a dirty U of M plate! lol

Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a great day! Nick