February 2015 Reflections

Sorry, y'all, I'm super late getting this posted (as in April), and it's pretty much post it with this limited info, or don't get it posted at all. I did throw in a few pictures for you, though, and they're clickable/enlargeable. Enjoy!


From the 2011 Year of Memories Brag Book by Dani Mogstad

Read, Listened, Watched

Been listening to lots of 40s on 4 (SXM radio).
Very little reading
Really not much watching, either; Suits and Mythbusters are running, usual shows
Did see Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Fun with Family and Friends

Snow days. And Disney!

Milestones, Holidays, Special Events

Traditional snow day cookies.

Watched the Kitten Bowl again this year. Luke has been asking me about it for months (one of his friends is very into football, so he knew it was on, but no real sense of when the championship would be).

Our first time using MagicBands at Disney.

The Everyday and Routine

We all hate homework.

The Good, The Bad, The Unusual

Luke got called for his first foul in basketball. Only took 5 games! I think my husband might prefer a few more, actually. He got to play against his best friend (number 25) in one game, too, which was fun for everyone.

Progress on Goals

Plenty of stitching, not much else. Only one picture to show here, sorry.

Prompts by Katie the Scrapbook Lady.

Currently feeling: not doing well at all on notes this month

Wordless Wednesday - February 25, 2015

Currently feeling: doesn't look like much, but school's out

Not Much February Blogging

Not sure what I've been doing in February, but blogging is obviously not it. Don't see much of it happening this week, either. Sorry! Hang in there with me. I'll try to get some stuff up by the first week in March or so. (Can you believe March is next week? ACK!!)

Currently feeling: wondering where the month went

Eggs: A Conversation With Luke

Luke was very cautiously eying the eggs I had sitting out on the counter overnight....

L: Are those bird eggs?
Me: Yes, they're chicken eggs.
L (slightly agog): Are they going to turn into chickens if you leave them there?!
Me: No.
L: Why not? [Side Note: I'm pretty sure he wanted to ask "are you sure," but chose this instead.]
Me: Ummmm.... because they aren't fertilized.
L: Oh. (pause) How do they get fertilized?
Me: Ummm..... roosters fertilize them.
L: Roosters?
Me: Yes, roosters are boy chickens, hens are girl chickens. Only hens lay eggs. (silently prays this will be the end of the conversation)
L: How do the roosters fertilize the eggs?
Me: I honestly don't know.
L: Do they sit on the eggs or something?
Me: I'm not sure. We can look it up later. We have to go now!

Currently feeling: not quite sure how to answer

Wordless Wednesday - February 18, 2015

Currently feeling: loving the traditional fresh snow day cookies

He gets it from me....

Alan Rickman - Die Hard and Harry Potter, respectively

Like mother, like son! I decided to try an experiment today. I showed Luke the scene in Die Hard near the beginning where Hans is walking among the party guests looking for Mr. Takagi. (It was "child safe.") He's seen the first two Harry Potter movies, including Chamber in the last week or so, but I wasn't sure if he would recognize Alan Rickman since he looks so different. Luke broke out into a huge grin in under 5 seconds. "That's Snape!" He said he mostly got it from the voice, which is fine with me! That is often the key to identifying people from other films they are in.
Currently feeling: pleased as punch

Homework Tales: Compound Words

Copyright: bonumopus / 123RF Stock Photo

Yet again, we have been stumped by elementary school homework. This happens much more frequently than I feel it should. Today's quandary was compound words. Now, I understand that this seems to be a straightforward concept. Doghouse, sailboat, homework. I get it, I really do. Until I got to this word: subway. I've always thought of "sub" as more of a prefix - subway, subzero, submarine - not a word all on its own. Because it is not a word all by itself, my instinct was to say no, subway is not a compound word. But then I read the instructions: they were given a list of words that had to be placed into four predetermined categories: ends in "er" sounds, ends in "el" sounds, irregular plurals/possessives, or compound words. Thus, subway would have to go in the compound word category because it clearly does NOT go in any of the other three (and I'm guessing adding a 5th "none of the above" category is against the rules).

Leave it to my friend Kelli, truly one of the smartest people I know (including scoring 800 verbal on the SAT) to seek a definitive solution. And I quote, "In my nerdy quest for a really authoritative answer, I just signed up for a free trial of the Chicago Manual of Style Online. They do indeed have a section on compound words formed with prefixes (7.85, section 4, in case anyone else cares). The examples given for "sub" are subbasement, subzero, and subcutaneous. Although the focus of the article is proper hyphenation rather than the precise linguistic meaning of "compound," I'm not about to argue with that source. (So yes, "prefix" and "unnatural" would both fall under that heading as compounds.)"

I am totally fine with being wrong. What I'm now annoyed about is that the above definition means they are teaching the definition of compound word incorrectly! Lovely. Another friend asked if it really matters. In the real world, no, I don't think it does. But if they are going to ask him on a test that determines whether or not he passes the 5th grade if the word "unnatural" is a compound word, then yes it matters!

Currently feeling: completely exasperated

Wordless Wednesday - February 11, 2015

Currently feeling: in need of new pants

Raising a Movie Score Nerd

Copyright: soleilc1 / 123RF Stock Photo

I must be doing something right. We're watching the second Harry Potter movie tonight. When we got to the scene with Aragog, Luke asked ,"Was this made by the Star Wars people?" I thought he might be asking about the special effects, so I asked why he wanted to know. "Because the music sounds like it."

Currently feeling: so very happy

Basketball Funnies - Boxing Out

Copyright: nebojsa78 / 123RF Stock Photo

Until this week, I did not really know what the basketball term "boxing out" meant. I had heard it, and I knew it meant to try and keep your opponent away from the ball, but I didn't truly understand the nuances. As it was explained to the kids at practice this week, "put your butt in their lap, so they can't get by you or reach the ball." Okay, seems simple enough. So, they practiced it and were instructed to try and do it at this weeks game.

Yeah, you should see these young Southern boys trying to figure out how to appropriately box out the three girls on the opposing team. Ain't happening! LOL
Currently feeling: greatly amused

Older Than Harry Potter

I think I totally melted Luke's brain today. From his perspective, the Harry Potter books have always been around. So, imagine his surprise when I explained that only the first five books had been published when he was born; the last two came "after Luke." Mind. Blown! LOL He has finished reading the second book now on his own.

And, just because I can, here is a picture of him "reading" his first Harry Potter book. (If you look closely, you can see that the book is actually upside down.) Based on the binding, this is Half-Blood Prince, and the picture is from 2007, so I would guess I was rereading it before Deathly Hallows was published.
Currently feeling: nostalgic

WIPcoalypse 2015 - February 4

Okay, so it's February 5. It's close! I actually got quite a bit of stitching done in January (and the first few days of February). I really surprised myself, honestly. It wasn't every day, but it was definitely more than half. I certainly wouldn't expect to see this much progress every month! Let's talk about the topic, and then we'll move on to why you're really here: the pictures! LOL

Topic: How do you overcome that feeling that you're in a rut with a particular project?

I tend to burn out more than I get stuck in a rut (unless that's what was meant). When that happens, there are three possible solutions for me. One is to switch projects (as you may have noticed). The second is to just put away the stitching for a while, which typically means moving on to one of my other hobbies (usually reading). Shopping can also help, but there's only so much of that my bank account can stand! I actually did two out of three this month. Every time I burned out on one project, I moved to another one. I also did a little shopping towards the end of the month. Seeing everyone post about the Year in Chalk series by Hands On Designs finally convinced me to do it. Picked up a few other things, too, which will probably gradually start making appearances on these monthly updates. ;-) I am still feeling a little burned out, though. I haven't stitched since Monday (it's now Thursday). I'm starting to fear that I won't have much to show you next month.

Anyway, on to the pictures! Click on any of the stitching pics to see a bigger version.

Titania, by Mirabilia (click image to biggify)


I started with Titania. I actually did many hours worth of work on it this month (probably about 20), but I don't feel like you can see much progress. I filled in a lot of the dress/sleeves around her arms, did some of the bottom left wing (close to the dress), did the leaves on the left, and the last bit of sash/swirl on the right.

Baked Alaska, by Glendon Place (click image to biggify)


Next up was Baked Alaska. I needed to stitch something besides pink! I feel like this one is going pretty quickly, but it's hard to say for sure. I do find it very soothing to work on. Not sure if it's the blues or the silks or what, but it is quite calming.

Tiramisu, by Glendon Place (click image to biggify)


But there is also only so much blue I can stand to look at. I know, I'm wishy-washy like that. I don't feel like Tiramisu is going quite as quickly as Baked Alaska. That might just be perception, though. It's so pretty, though, I really love watching it grow. The white/natural silk shows up better in person, though I do wish the fabric was about a half shade darker than it is, like if the lightest parts were the color of the dark parts, and the dark parts were correspondingly darker, if that makes sense. (That's probably what the fabric would have looked like if I'd ordered the same color in a different fabric type; live and learn).

Adia the Garden Fairy, by Mirabilia (click image to biggify)


My friend Terri has started #MirabiliaMonday on Facebook, so I snuck in Adia at the last minute on February 2. I only put in 4 strands of floss, but it's pretty obvious where they went. All I can see when I look at it is a chainsaw, LOL!

Taj Mahal Mandala, by Chatelaine (click image to biggify)


There was progress of a sort on Taj Mahal. I finally pulled the trigger on the fabric, which traveled all the way from New Zealand! 28 ct Lugana in Twilight from Country Stitch. Again, because I went with Lugana instead of a linen, it's lighter than I anticipated (I knew it would be lighter than the linen, but it's even lighter still than I expected). I think it will be fine, though, plus it's too expensive to not use. Since I'm stitching on 28 count fabric (instead of the 32 count the chart called for), the actual stitching part will be about 19 inches (50 cm) square when finished. That means that it won't fit on a fat quarter of fabric, which is only 18-ish inches wide. Thus, what you're seeing is actually a fat half of fabric (folded in half, so it looks like a fat quarter). Unfolded, it looks like this:



That is 27 x 39 inches (70 x 100 cm) of fabric, larger than a standard USA piece of poster board (which is 24 x 36 inches). For reference, my son is about 5 feet tall (1.5 m). I am completely intimidated by this gigantic piece of fabric! I'm sure once I get some stitches on it, things will be fine, but wow, my mind is still boggling a bit at how huge this thing is.

Currently feeling: intimidated

Wordless Wednesday - February 4, 2015

Currently feeling: that is one BIG piece of fabric!