May Memories, week 1

The first project I worked on for May Memories is a piece called "Autumn Jewels".

I picked it because I know that I took this piece as a class at my very first Spirit of Cross Stitch Festival. It's also the first class I ever had with Rae Iverson. And if I remember correctly, it was the first class I took at the festival. I was a little nervous about going into the class. Although I'd been stitching for years, I was very young compared to the majority of stitchers (at least as far as I knew...I now know that's a somewhat erroneous assumption). I was "only" 27 at the time. Also, I didn't know what all the fancy stitches in the class description were..."Rococco stitch"..."Double V"..."Detached Buttonhole"! That sounded scary! Of course, I was taking the class to learn, but I was a completely self-taught stitcher and this was my first class experience...I was sure that all the other people in the class would be very experienced and I'd look like an idiot (one of my biggest fears).

I walked into the class with some trepidation, and then I learned that there was only one other student in the class! So Rae sat down with us and taught us stitches and we laughed and gabbed and had a great time. I've now been to many, many classes and attended Rae's A Stitchers' Gathering for like seven years! I think that the first year Rae squeezed me in over the limit somehow...and I'm eternally grateful! Because of that, I've formed some wonderful friendships and had so many good times.

So, a great piece for May Memories!!

Extremely High

Last night on the news I heard that the pollen count was 149, which is rated "Extremely High" on whatever the pollen scale is. This reminded me of about a month ago, when the pollen count was 5,269 (seriously)...and it was also rated "Extremely High". I'm not sure how the divisions in this scale were determined, but it seems that if we rated earthquakes with it, the disturbances caused by the San Francisco quake of 1906 and my upstairs neighbor (whom we have affectionately nicknamed "Stomper") making a milkshake at 5:43 this morning would both be ranked "Extremely High". I do suffer from some allergies, but they're not that bad. I think maybe allergy sufferers should recalibrate the scale. It would speak more to how to achieve a level of normal function:

• No Medication Necessary


• Over the Counter Meds


• Prescription Meds


• Don't Make Plans that Require Thought


• For the Love of God, Don't Go Outside!

Queen Me

I have been having trouble sleeping for a while. (For those that know me, you know that the worst possible thing I can suffer is lack of sleep, and the biggest sin DH can commit is not making sure I have enough sleep time available.) I'm not sure when it started, and the weird thing is that it's not consistent. So I can go along fine for a week or so, then *BAM*. I'm lying awake from 4:30 to 7:30 wondering why God doesn't love me. Because, of course, if He loved me, He would let me sleep. I'm not sure why it's His fault, exactly, except that He has everything under control (you know, Romans 8:28 and all that) and He supposedly loves me (John 3:16...come on, people, these are basics!! *sigh* I had to look up the John reference. For someone who grew up in a Baptist church, that's tired.) So why would He take away something I so desperately need?

My Reformed theological friends would say that, somehow, this is for His glory, 'cause everything is. Well, I don't know what they're smoking, because I'm sure not glorifying Him in this state. Dizzy, headachey, back-achey, eye-stinging, hazy, incomprehensibile days do not make me want to glorify God. Unless there's a "We Hate Heather Club" out there (and there may well be), I'm pretty sure no one else is glorifying Him because of it, either. (And hopefully my sleep would trump that kind of glory in God's eyes.)

You then might say that this is just "one of those things" that "just happens" and God's not really involved with it; He doesn't care one way or the other. I'm not really comfortable with that answer, either. Do I only attach God's hand to good things that happen to me? Am I being His PR rep to myself by picking and choosing what events I want Him to be associated with in my mind? Can my faith not stand a God that sometimes chastises or causes bad things to come into my life?

So now we are back to my suffering and the reason for it. And there is the heart of the problem. What's the reason for it? I can't see it. And I don't like bearing up under suffering for no reason. Because, of course, I am the best judge of what is a good and bad reason for something to happen. (Wow, where's the sarcasm font when I need it?)

I am generally a rule-follower. I learn from other people's mistakes (unlike my oldest sister, who says she can only learn from her own). Usually, if you tell me the rules, I will follow them gladly...with one exception. If there's a rule that 1) goes against something I want to do and 2) seems unjust, I may still follow it, but I will rant, rave and rail against it. And by "unjust", I mean that I can't see a good reason for it. Back to me being the ultimate judge here...I mean, I am omniscient and all. Oh, wait a minute...I'm not. Maybe someone else should be sitting on that throne that I put myself on.

102%

Today is laundry day, and while sorting I picked up the shirt I wore to church on Sunday and read the content:

98% cotton
4% spandex

I felt good about my drumming Sunday morning, but I'm not sure I performed to the level of my clothing.

April Wrap Up...er, wrap up

So here were the grand plans for this month's stitching theme, which was again: April Wrap-Up - Finishing...whatever that means to you...be it finishing the stitching/knitting on something, or assembly of a stitched piece.

What I said:

• Finish stitching ornaments for exchange YES!
• Finish stitching Sapphire NO.
  I would have finished this if so much of my stitching stuff wasn't packed. I ran out of a metallic and couldn't find any more in the stuff that's not packed. Then I discovered I'd stitched a whole section with a silk instead of a different metallic (not that I have enough of that metallic to redo, either) and I totally lost heart.
• Finish knitting Cornflower Mitts YES!
• Finish Indigo Rose Pincushion NO.
  I did get it close...but again, I ran out of perle cotton in the kit and couldn't face trying to find more. I may do it tomorrow, though.
• Finish Cubie Bwahahahahaaaaaaa...
  That would be a NO.

On the plus side, I also did finish a cute little cell phone case (well, it will be finished once I get around to buying a snap) and I laced (and re-laced) my Snowflake Nativity.

On to May Memories!!!