What a good couple of days!!

First the good news...I have another stitching happy dance:



Designed by Just Nan, copyright Nan Caldera 1997

It's stitched on 28ct natural linen using DMC floss and hex beads/crystals from the JN embelishment pack. I started it back in late February and finished it yesterday afternoon. In that period of time I would say I worked on it about 18-20 days. Once you got the white snowflake background in the rest of the pattern worked up really quickly. The picture doesn't do it justice but it's super sparkly with the Hex beads, crystals and lots of #4 braid. It's almost too sparkly...

I'm glad to get another project finished. It's also nice to be excited about stitching again. I'm thinking about what project I want to do next and I'm going to treat myself for some fabric later today.

Like I said the past couple of days have been really nice. On Wednesday we all slept in IE overslept. It turned out to be a good thing since I think we all needed that 45 minutes of sleep extra sleep. I had originally been awake at 5am when Dh went to work. I normally get up then but I just didn't want to get out of bed(something I hadn't felt in a long time) so I rolled over and next thing I knew it was 7:10am. It was no biggie since Donovan's school doesn't start until 8am(his bus gets him at 7:25am) so I just drove him to school.

I also went with G and his class on a field trip to the zoo. It was a lot of fun but a bit stressful. It seemed like every other school in the area were there that day so there were lots of kids running around. G was really good and stayed close but keeping track of all the other kids were stressful. We had a lot of help so it wasn't bad. We didn't see very much of the zoo but the kids got to see the animal they adopted, a Zebra, and were very excited to see it.

It was also nice to talk to some of the other parents. I got so many compliments from them about how great G was. One mom helped out on a recent field trip to the high school where the kids had a bake sale to raise the money to adopt the animal. She said G was the most outgoing, best seller, most focused out of all the kids. She said she was very impressed with him. One of the dads had been his "partner" on another field trip and also said how great G was. He's such a great kid and I wonder how he turned out so well? Not to brag but there is something special about G(I'm not saying that there isn't anything great and special about Donovan) that people really react to. When he turns on the cute he is almost irresistible!!!

Wednesday evening we got to go up to Donovan's school to see the stories and artwork the kids have been doing. Donovan was very excited about showing off his stuff and talked about it fora a week. He has really improved in both his writing and coloring skills. He wrote a good story about the life cycle of a butterfly and there was artwork of butterflies, caterpillars and flowers. I also got a chance to chat with his teacher who for once didn't use the word shy!!! She said that he has really started to settle down and his reading scores have improved so much. I thought as much since he is reading super well at home. It was nice for once to hear something positive come out of her mouth and nice to see that he is able to show his improvements at school.

Yesterday was a quiet day. G didn't have school so I had most of the day free after dropping Donovan off at the bus stop. I did the minimal work around the house and spent most of the day stitching. I also watched "Phantom of the Opera". I really enjoyed the movie. I have never seen the play, or any other movies, or read the book so I was I had no preconceived notions. I thought it was beautifully shot and the clothes were gorgeous, the singing breathtaking and a fun way to spend a couple of hours.

I've been enjoying my Wal-Mart DVD service but am sad to see that it is coming to an end. I got an e-mail yesterday saying beginning June 16th they will be merging with Netflix. Since I can't give my money to Netflix this means no more home delivery of DVD's for me(unless I try blockbuster which I might). I liked wal-mart because they were a lot cheaper and faster since they had a shipping station in Detroit as opposed to Netflix which is in Lansing. Maybe I might have to do it the old fashioned way and actually go to the video store... I do have a couple of weeks to get a few more movies.

And of course how could I forgot to mention today is an anniversary of sorts. 17 years ago today was the anniversary of my first date with Billy. Billy was room mates with a good friend of mine from high school named Scott. I had met Billy on several occasions when I went to see Scott but had never had the chance to seriously talk to him(he always seemed to be on the way out as I was coming in). The three of us that night just kind of hung out, talked, had a few wine coolers. Billy was really funny and made me laugh to the point my sides hurt. As the night progressed I found myself really drawn to him(I remember thinking how great he smelled).

It was a bit confusing because I was technically engaged at the time(I had a ring but was very unhappy with the relationship). Scott eventually fell asleep and about 3am I knew I had to head home. Billy being the gentlemen he is walked me to my car and before I got in, grabbed me, kissed me and I knew that was it. My heart pounded, my toes curled, and in an instant I knew he was the *one*. It was pretty tricky from there. The guy I was engaged too was very well liked by my family and he was a *safe, easy* relationship. Within days however I had broke the engagement and within a month was seeing Billy exclusively. My mom only lived another 18months and I don't think she ever really warmed up to Billy. Not that he isn't a nice guy but Billy really encouraged me to think, do and be myself. I think that was hard for my mom and other family members to take.

The last 17 years haven't all been perfect. The last two in particular have been hard but I still love him, he still makes my heart beat fast, toes curl and makes me laugh like on one else can. Along with him I was blessed to get an incredible family that has really made me feel like one of them and he has given me two great kids. I couldn't imagine at that moment when he kissed how my life was going to change but I couldn't ask for anything better. I may not be exactly where I want to be housewise or finance wise or where I thought I would be at this point in my life(still at home rasing the kids instead of working or going back to school) but where I am is pretty damn good!!

I'm looking forward to another easy day, G is off from school and I have no place I have to be until 3:20pm when I get Donovan from the bus stop. I do have to get a bit more done around the house today than yesterday but I will fit in some stitching today. I've dragged out an old WIP "Fairy Tales" and I'm looking forward on working on it.