A window into the life of a professional geek, wife and mother (and nonni), stitcher/designer, bibliophile, old-school gamer, and whatever other roles she finds herself in.

Thursday, May 20, 2004

Time flies (or almost time to fly!)

T-19.5 hours until departure, and the excitement is mounting. We've been planning this trip for over a year, and I am very much looking forward to it. (Naw...really? ;)

Tonight is the laundry and packing and such, and for dinner we're going out for sushi. I love sushi. All of us do, including DD. (Though she doesn't like wasabi!) And after dinner, during packing, I'll try to catch the Lightning-Flyers game (GO BOLTS!). I hope the Lightning win - I don't want there to be a Game 7 that I'd miss!

Anyway, dear readers, you won't be hearing from me until the beginning of June. Take care, all of you, and happy stitching, reading, or whatever hobbies you pursue! I'll regale you with tales of Bella Umbria upon my return!

Wednesday, May 19, 2004

40 hours and counting...

Gee, can you tell I'm getting excited about this trip?

I went today and acquired a few new pieces of luggage and various other items for the trip. Much of our old luggage is...well...old, and I've discovered I really like the 'add-a-bag' straps that let you piggyback bags. Very helpful when having to manipulate multiple suitcases! Tomorrow night will be laundry and packing, and there will doubtless be a few other items to be handled as well. Already have the hold-mail in place, but I need to stop the paper. Typical vacation planning!

I took DD to get her hair trimmed, and reluctantly bit the bullet and had my own trimmed as well. I really don't like getting my hair cut, because I've been trying much of my life to grow it very long, but the ends were very damaged. I'm coming to the conclusion that my hair probably isn't even *able* to grow to the length I want it (just short enough that I'm not constantly sitting on it), so I clenched my teeth and submitted to a sorely-needed trim. I probably lost 3 inches in most places, and I do admit it looks a lot neater than it did. The one main feature of my hair that people comment on, natural curliness, is the same feature that is preventing it from getting superlong. So it's a mixed blessing. DH has commented that by just letting my hair dry naturally, it tends to achieve the windblown ringlety look that people try to mimic. So I really should be happy with that.

I'm not sure why I'm so hung up on getting my hair very long. It's part of my mental self-image, but I don't have a good reason for it otherwise. I'm too broad-shouldered (and it's too curly) for short hair styles to work for me, but I'm just not happy with it being only mid-back. *shrug* After all, I'm not Mnemosyne, and my memory isn't getting any *worse* for having shorter hair (it does that all on its own!). So why does my mental/idealized image of myself have hip-length hair? Who knows.

I'm also a bit heavy for my idealized self, but I think many women could say that! I do have the pale skin and fiery hair, and I was a lot thinner once upon a time. Anyway, that's what the alter-ego-Belinda looks like.

How about your alter ego?

Monday, May 17, 2004

Just another manic Monday..

Somehow it doesn't seem as though I had much of a weekend. Or at least not much rest. On the whole it was good, just not very restful.

Saturday was DD's birthday party, which was a lot of fun. She got to party with 15 of her friends, and she got a fair number of presents. She's already gotten thank-you notes out, too. Several of her gifts were Polly Pocket sets. Now, I was never much for dressing up dolls as a kid, but these seem fairly cool. Or at least they provide the dress-up capability of a Barbie without all the insidious....Barbie-ness. (Okay, I freely admit it. I HATE Barbies. I could expound at length on why, but I think I'll leave that rant for another time maybe.)

Saturday evening was gaming, and then Sunday was Mass, lunch, and then I had to do some grocery and trip-preparation shopping. Tried all over town looking for security wallet type things (like the little pouches you wear around your neck under your clothes), to no avail. Eventually ordered a couple online with rush delivery. They've shipped, so they *should* arrive in time.

Speaking of trips, in about 89 hours I will be on a plane bound for Europe. I am looking forward to taking it easy, enjoying good sightseeing, good food, good wine, and good company. And we desperately need this trip, especially after the hell that has been the past two weeks. (My hope is that I've burned off some of my sentence in Purgatory with all that's gone on!)

Now I just need the Lightning to finish off the Flyers, because I'd miss any Game 7s!

Friday, May 14, 2004

The new "normal"

Well, we're certainly not out of the woods yet, but things are slowly reverting to some semblance of 'normal'. I'm thankful DsS is safe, and I hope we can get him the help he needs (whether he wants it or not).

I finally stitched for half an hour last night, for the first time all week, and I watched parts of the hockey games (GO BOLTS!). And since I'm off work today I slept in a little - the stress of the past week is catching up to me.

Did get a little bit of non-family-related good news - I'll get to help with updating my parish website as time permits. I'm psyched, and I want to do a good job on it. I enjoy doing web development.


In the spirit of the 'new normal', I'm finally getting around to this week's Stitcher's Five.

1. Which type of beads do you prefer: Mill Hill, Delica or other brand?
Well, I'm really only familiar with Mill Hill and some of the real cheapo seed beads, so I'll have to say Mill Hill.

2. Why?
They're what I'm familiar with, and they're what most patterns I have that use beads specify.

3. What do you use to stitch beads on with?
Um....a beading needle? . Seriously, I usually use floss in a color that matches either the bead or the stitched area where the bead will be attached.

4. When to bead..as you go or at the end?
At the end. I use scroll rods for pieces big enough to warrant them, and rolling up stitching that also has beads messes up how the beads lie. Beading can be monotonous if you have a lot of them, but is a good candidate for doing while you're watching TV.

5. Do you bead only with cross stitch or do you use them on their own?
I could see myself using beads for other crafts if I did them, but I mostly just stitch to indulge my crafty side.


Well, I have errands to run, so I'm off. And I'm going!

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Lost and found

They found him!

I got a call this morning from the police that DsS had been located...up in South Dakota. He was, as we suspected, trying to get to his online girlfriend. He is safe and is cooperating with authorities.

I'm so relieved I feel like crying.

He has a hearing this afternoon to determine where in SD he'll be detained until someone can go get him, and we still have to decide what will happen next. We still have a long road ahead, but at least the worst part for us is over.

Thanks to all of you who offered prayers and good wishes.

Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Topsy turvy day?

Okay, there is just something inherently wrong with the world, when credit card solicitors can get access to all sorts of personal financial data, but I can't find out from Greyhound or the airlines if my stepson happened to get on a bus or a plane yesterday. And it has nothing to do with my being his stepmom. I was never even asked for ID or anything, I just flat out got told to my face when I showed up at the airport that 'sorry to hear that, but it's illegal for us to give you that information'. Even if he's a MINOR?!?!?!

Hello??? McFly??

Today has just been a big long day of spinning my wheels. I can't get any info to help other than the numbers/addys I gave the police. And I was informed by a detective today that unfortunately running away is not illegal and there's really a limit to what they can legally do.

They sure make it easy for someone to disappear, don't they??

Monday, May 10, 2004

Never challenge worse...

I was planning on writing today about the weekend, which for the most part was good other than the undercurrent associated with my stepson's impending move.

Well, that won't happen.

He's run away. DH dropped him off at his bus stop this morning, but he wasn't on the bus, wasn't at school, isn't at his mom's. His laptop, passport, wallet, new clothes, and the contents of his bank account are gone.

DH is out of town on business, and can't get back home before tomorrow evening. Stepson's mom is on the road and won't be back in town before tomorrow.

I'm at wit's end. I've already filed a missing-persons report. I'm praying he turns up soon.

Any prayers you could add would be more than appreciated....

Friday, May 07, 2004

And then there were four...

So after yesterday's incident, my stepson has decided to go live with his mom, rather than apologize to his sister or seek professional help for his anger. He has basically said he doesn't care about anyone or anything, and doesn't think that will change living with his mom but at least it'd be a change. In some ways, this is probably for the best for all concerned. Hopefully the change will be enough of a rude awakening for him that he'll straighten out. He needs it. I hope his mom makes him get professional help. After he moves, him getting help will be a condition of him returning to our house if he ever desires to do so.

I'm just very numb right now. I cried last night over the whole situation - why is he wanting to basically cut himself out of the family, how did things get this way, how did we not see it, what did we do wrong? Now, the logical side of my mind is taking over, considering the logistics involved in getting him moved and dealing with details such as cancelling his cell phone and such. If he's wanting to cut himself out, we're going to make it as clean a cut as possible.

I hate this whole situation. I feel ill and numb and just want everything to go away. And I must shamefully admit I'm starting to count the days until he's gone as well.

I wish him well, I really do. I love him, and I hope he turns out okay, and that he eventually gets his head on straight. But at this point, I also realize I'm not part of that solution. And I think that's the deepest cut of all.

Thursday, May 06, 2004

Teenager or alien?

It must be crazy teenager week.

I know, I already hear the murmurs that it's always crazy teenager week, but hear me out. I'll keep it short, I promise. Basically, my teens got into an argument this morning (so what else is new), and DsS punched his sister in the face while she was driving him to his bus stop. This is the second time this week he's struck at her, and it's definitely causing DH and I concern. Now, the two of them have been bickering ever since I've known them, and sometimes there have been shoving matches, but this is a seemingly recent escalation. I had thought our marathon meeting Monday brought out all the issues, but obviously not. Something else is going on that we're not aware of, and I really wish I knew what it is. DsS is a smart kid, gets excellent grades in school (he's in the IB school in the county), but he could easily jeopardize everything he's working toward if he loses his temper at school. Now, he's been fine to us since Monday (and is much of the time, truth be told), but apparently not toward his sister. Maybe there's just an issue with her, but it still concerns me. I don't want him growing up to be an abuser. I don't want him to throw his life away because he won't rein in his temper.

*sigh* This is all giving me a headache and making me sick to my stomach again. I just want things to be back to normal.

I'm not the only one at work having difficulty with teenagers, at least. One of my coworkers was joking that it's the full moon. I'm not sure I buy that, but it sounds good.

So I ended up not getting to stitch last night, though I did at least get to Curves. Tonight I'm going to drop by Curves with DD on the way home from her school. If she's a good girl, that will make life much easier for finding time to exercise.

Calgon, take me away...

Wednesday, May 05, 2004

Trippin'

Just under 16 days until we leave for our trip to Europe. My mind is already cluttered with the thousand domestrivial details of getting ready - what to pack, what services to suspend...

And how to keep a 5-year-old occupied on a trip full of mostly adults. There will be 9 of us staying at a house in the country, and everyone except DD is an adult or close enough for practical purposes. We'll be doing some sightseeing, which hopefully she'll enjoy, and this trip will be more laid-back in pace than previous trips.

But still, I don't want her to be bored. I'm packing cards, and I got a small dry-erase board (couldn't find a Magic Slate thing) for her to draw on. Right now she's really into drawing and trying to write, so I hope that will be a success. I'll bring a couple of books, for her and for me. But I don't want to overpack, either - vehicular space for luggage is a potential issue.

So...any other suggestions as to what would be good to bring?

Tuesday, May 04, 2004

With silken threads...

Stitcher's Five 5/3 - Specialty Threads
1.)Which is your favourite brand of specialty thread?
Hm. In general I like silk threads - they feel very nice when stitching. As for favorite brand, that's a tough call, but I think I may have to give the edge to Vicki Clayton's silks.

2.)Why?
Beautiful colors, and the threads are very easy to work with. That, and Vicki is very nice and is open to suggestions for new colors - Midnight Rainbow is proof of that :)

3)How many other brands of thread do you have in your stash?
Um... Not sure, to be honest. I've picked up various things over time, gotten more types in trades, and so on. I have a fair bit of Caron, some Silk'n'Colors, WDW, Needle Necessities, Madeira, Rainbow Gallery, GAST, Kreinik of various types (metallics and silks), Six Stranded Sweets, DMC Perle... Without rummaging through my stash, those are the ones that come to mind.

4.) How do you store your threads?
All of my stash, with the exception of charts and books, is stored in plastic storage bins under my bed. Some of it is stored in plastic hardware-storage bins, others are in empty Whitman sampler boxes, and some of it even in my cable-modem box. All of the smaller boxes are inside the larger storage bins. I know, my stash could benefit from some better organization.

5.) How confident do you feel at substituting between thread types and colours compared to what the chart calls for?

Fairly confident. I substitute colors rather often, usually converting female figures to redheads. My most recent conversion in that respect was changing L&L Emma's Garden. I think it turned out pretty well, and I personally think the little girl looks better with red hair. But then I'm admittedly biased. I also changed the roses slightly because I didn't like the way the designed color spectrum looked.

For thread types, I've swapped in silks for lettering, or for rows in band samplers. I've also used metallics for accents on occasion. I usually only do small substitutions in general, though. I haven't gotten brave enough to do very large color-swaps (other than hair ;)

Probably my strangest 'sub', though, was using a few strands of my and DH's hair (along with standard DMC) for the angels' hair in TW Birth Announcement. For using hair, you definitely have to use other threads with it, and treat it like you would metallics. Good for really putting a bit of yourself into that special piece, but not something I'd do very often at all.


So I didn't get to stitch last night. Did some webwork, and against my better judgment stayed up to watch through the end of regulation of the Red Wings - Flames game. I'm surprised I'm not more tired.

But at least things are calm on the home front, so I'm not as stressed as I was yesterday.

Monday, May 03, 2004

Twilight Zoned...

Well. The weekend had both its ups and downs.

The ups : I got to stitch for about 3 hours, which was good. My Lightning swept the Habs, which was VERY cool, especially since the Flyers-Leafs series is still going. And Thursday night I got to have a couple pints at my favorite Irish pub.

The downs : : Had what started as a sibling rivalry incident turn WAY ugly last night - family meeting was called, and all eventually got resolved and a cathartic experience had by all, but it was probably 1:30am by the time I finally got to sleep. So minimal sleep combined with emotional drainage have left me at less than optimum efficiency today. And then today I got turned down for blood donation due to low iron. I try to donate regularly when the Bloodmobile comes around to my office campus, so I'll just have to wait the requisite 8 weeks and catch it next time.

I'm rather zoned, and I have some webwork I need to do tonight, so I'll save the Stitcher's Five for another time.