Crazy Week!

Thank god it's a new week! Maybe it will be better than the last.
First, my niece had pregnancy complications. She went for her sonogram and found out that the baby developed a brain tumor - within the past two weeks. She went for the emergency C-section, and the baby did not make it. Over 90 percent of her brain was taken up by the tumor.
The whole family is devastated, everyone is on edge. My niece is still in the hospital... dealing with everything.
              My DH has been really down and stressed through this. Finally, Friday we seemed to be doing better. Our friends, another family, invited us for a potluck party: good food, good talk, games for children and adults...
             We just started to relax, feeling this week may not be a disaster yet, when I heard a yelp, a cry and someone saying, "Rita got bitten." I got up and went to my daughter. She was holding a napkin to her face, and blood was streaming from under it, on her shoe and on the floor. A dog of our hosts', a Chihuahua, bit her on the lip.
The next half hour went by very fast: a trip to the Emergency Room, running in, getting admitted... I had trouble spelling things out on forms, and every time they gave me another form to fill out, I stared at the admitting person and said, "My daughter is bleeding, can you help her? We can sort out the dates and names later." Thankfully, my DH was able to take over the forms, and I could stay by my daughter. 
              Finally,  things were filled out, my daughter was admitted. The doctor had to put in a total of nine stitches, prescribed an antibiotic. Overall, he said that in about three years, no one will know my daughter had this accident. There should not be a scar left (to Rita's slight disappointment - she was hoping for a small scar "so she could tell the story to her grand kids.")
             By the time we got home from the hospital, it was past two o'clock in the morning. Saturday was taken up by sleeping, taking the medications and adjusting Rita to her new diet - yogurt and pudding (soft foods only). Today, she was ready to go back to school. I packed her a yogurt for lunch, since she won't be able to eat cafeteria food...
             I really hope that this week will be better!  Wish us luck!

April IHSW

The time I have been waiting for... My kids are with grandma, and my DH, by happy coincidence, is in San Luis Obispo celebrating the Record Store Day. I have the house all to myself, it's quiet, and as soon as I finish with the dishes, I can get on with my projects. These are the same as last time: the Crest, the B&W Sampler, and the Mansion. I have made some progress on the Crest - the bird is all stitched, now filling the blue background.
I'd better get on with my work so I can get back to my stitching.
Happy Stitching Weekend Everyone!

Back to Stitching!

My sudden "outburst" of crochet seems to be over, and with all the exciting news about Etsy and network social life I am still stitching! About a week ago, I decided to "clean up" my WIP box, which resulted in adding two more projects to my stitching stash, so now I put three projects in rotation. The first one, of course, is the Hogwarts Crest.

Hogwarts Crest

As you can see, I have advanced a bit on the lion and the motto ribbon, and also started on the helmet and feathers at the top. I really like working on this one.

 
Then, I have found a Blue and White Sampler I started ages ago.

Blue and White Sampler

This one has many motifs and is stitched on 14 ct Aida. Just this fact reminds me how long it has been, because I have not worked on 14 ct Aida for over two years. It is pleasant to remember where I started and "get back to basics," so to speak... I remember the first time I saw it in the Home and Garden collection. I was attracted right away to the alphabet and the lady with the gentleman. Then, after I got done with them, I ran out of the dark blue thread (one of the two colors it uses), and that is what put this project on hold.


Finally, my third project is the Carson Mansion by Debbie Patrick from 'Victorians Across America" series. I started it on a whim about a year ago, but never got it finished.

Carson Mansion

One thing that surprised me about this one is how much black color it uses. Yet, the finished picture looks so vibrant! When you start stitching, you find black in almost every window, on the curtains, in the corners of the building and on the balconies, not to mention the outlines and decorations (that I expected.)

 These are all my stitching updates. I am also charting "For Me and My House", thinking about other charts, and reading. I have almost finished "Dead Man Walking" by sister Helen Prejean, such a powerful book. I also did some research about sister Helen online, found her Facebook page and her blog. Now I know what she looks like and read her posts, I have a better picture of what she is like. Don't get me wrong, the movie was great, but having Susan Sarandon's voice in my head while reading does get quite annoying.
Have a good stitching week!

This Is Your Captain Speaking...

 Three days ago I was made a captain of an Etsy team. For those who do not know - Etsy is a web site where one can promote and sell handmade things. I joined this team some time ago, and then found out, quite by chance, that for the past 11 months it did not have an active captain! So, I alerted Etsy Admin, who in turn asked me, "Do you want to be the captain? " I said, "Sure!" And that is how I became the captain.

So much for the easy part. Now comes the part of turning it from "free-for-all," "speakeasy" place into something functional. My main goal is not to "shut down" the practices that were going on here before me, but simply to organize things so they become more effective... For example, right now if I wanted to post a link to my new item in the shop, I would have about 50-100 threads to choose from to post in, some just started, some older. I want to make one general place for new postings... That way, hopefully, more people will see them. That is just one example of what I am trying to do.
I know I started a big task and I am up to my ears in (insert appropriate word here). But, it will be fun! If nothing else, it's definitely a learning experience.
Wish me luck!