The Morning After

Speaking of the Packers - did you see the finish of the Denver v. Packers game Monday night? I was so disappointed when the Broncos tied up the score with 8 seconds left in the game! But, leave it to Favre. With one spectacular throw on the first play in overtime, he hits his receiver who runs for a touchdown! Just like that it's over!

My cheering woke the kids!

Sports Fan with an Agenda

I am becoming quite the sports fan in my old age. Football, NASCAR, drag racing, baseball, even poker. If it's on TV, I'll sit and watch it. Why? Hours of uninterrupted stitching in a house full of men!

I have three boys, all of whom play multiple sports and a husband who is a major motor head. Being conversant in sports terms, rules, and players is pretty much a requirement around here. But I'm finding I probably watch more sports than anyone else - just so I can sit and stitch!

Most televised sports are good for about three hours of uninterrupted stitching. I only have a problem when my teams are playing (Go Jayhawks! 8-0 for the first time in 98 years!) because I tend to get a little excited. I can't stitch during Kansas basketball games. I once threw my stitching at the television (Bad Call!) and had a heck of a time finding the needle that fell out!

So, right now, my fifteen year old and I are watching (or rather listening to) Brett Favre (always worth watching just because he does something spectacular every game and you can catch it on replay!) and the Packers play Denver (Go Packers!) on Monday Night Football. My stitching is waiting expectantly on the couch - I already managed to get in one hour tonight, a minor miracle around here.

My only problem - Kansas plays Missouri (both vying for the Big 12 North championship) the weekend I am going to my first stitcher's weekend. Since my sister is also a Jayhawk fan, we may have to sneak off to a sports bar to watch the game. I can just see it - two middle aged women complete with their cross-stitching sitting in some Oklahoma sports bar, cheering for Kansas. We'll probably be lynched!

The face of doggie depression

Poor Winston. He had a posh life in the suburbs but threw it all away to chase other dogs (loves people, hates dogs). He had six weeks in a four-week bad-doggie bootcamp before he could come home. Now, he has to go to the salvage yard every day with Dad instead of lounging around the house watching soaps. He's been reduced to enduring a white-trash dog house (two camper shells stacked on top of each other) out at the yard. How the great have fallen!

The good news is, he's too tired to misbehave when he gets home at night. So he lays on his doggie pillow and gives us reproachful looks.

I've hit the wall!

I have been madly stitching on my Chatelaine Designs Convent's Herb Garden (see right) for a month now. The piece is almost 2/3 done and I've hit THE WALL.

You know, the "Geesh this is getting boring;" "Maybe I'd enjoy this more if I put it down for a while (read: months, years) and worked on something else;" or (with appropriately whiny tone) "Can't I just start something new?"

So, where is the love? the anticipation? the thrill? (Yes, I'm talking about cross-stitch, not marriage). I studied the Herb Garden pattern before ordering the fiber/bead pack from European Cross Stitch. I thrilled when the little package arrived so quickly with each luscious silk in its own little bag and all the beads in cute little bottles. I pondered my fabric choice for days, if not weeks, finally settling on 30 ct. Legacy Dower Linen in Coconut Macaroon. And finally, when everything arrived via my own personal Santa Claus (the UPS guy), I made myself wait until I finished the little project I was working on before permitting myself to start the Herb Garden.

And now, just a few scant weeks later, I find my attention wandering. Oh, there's Long Dog Sampler's All Things I and II (and a whole cadre of fabulous Vikki Clayton silks).

Or how about the Heaven and Earth Design Keltic Mandela.

Yes, I'm being unfaithful to my Convent's Herb Garden. Do I feel guilty? No. Ok, a bit.


So now, all I'm left with is the grim determination to justify the vast sums spent on the materials for the piece (Chatelaine Designs are fabulous but they are not cheap to stitch!) before haring off on another project. Of course, my resolve will probably only last until I finish the stitching and am faced with all the d*** beads.

And yet another temptation looms on the horizon - a stitcher's retreat with my sister and ladies from The Silver Needle down in Tulsa. The thought of a few unrestrained hours in that needlework shop has my checkbook (and my husband) cringing in horror. So, I better stop whining and get stitching so I won't feel quite so guilty buying a few, just a few mind you, new projects at the retreat!