Happy dancing

Here it is! A special gift for a special couple. The Coyle family - that is, my sister and her husband - will celebrate their first anniversary soon and this beauty will be my present to them. They have already seen it but I want to have it framed for them.

My hubby loves morning glories and really liked this design as well so I might gonna have to stitch it again soon! :) Until then I'm just happy dancing. :)

So much to stitch...

I have been soooo busy these past weeks! First of all, I was working on my model stitch. It has two cartoon characters on it, so it uses only a few colours and is not very difficult. I am done with the crosses and now I am doing the backstitch. I really hated all the half stitches in it, as I got a very stiff aida to work on, and I can hardly understand 1) why not use linen for a design with so many half stitches, and 2) why are those half stitches needed at all, when the backstitch doesn't follow the stitching outline. Anyway, I'll be done in a few days.

In the meantime, I got further news that are - in a way - connected to stitching. We got invitations for two weddings, one from DH's former classmates and one from one of his cousins, Roland. We also heard that another one of his cousins is going to get married next May! Plus, if all goes well, my sister will marry her NZ beloved this September, along with one of our best friends! That makes FIVE weddings = five wedding samplers! ;) One of our friends is expecting a baby for July, so there is one more gift to stitch... and then I didn't mention all my WIPs or future plans!

I also had a birthday, you know. :) I turned 32 last week. I had a day off from my usual daily duties. I used the chance to get back to my old feminine self, waxed my legs and visited the hairdresser, had a copper red dye and a cut. I also got a new, pretty top from my MIL and bought a light green one to match my new, bright hair colour. No more running around in jumpers or worn jeans and T-shirts! I can wear skirts again! It's summer! All I need now is the weather to realize that. As one of my friends said in a message board: it'd be time to tell the global warming that it's happening! :P It is cold, really cold here! :(

Back to my birthday... I also got some stash, a few Light Effects floss and a kit called Wildflower Trio from Dimensions. I love it! I already have the floss sorted, and cannot wait to get started!

About my weekend: we spent Sunday at my FIL's and MIL's place, and on Monday we visited DH's grandmothers. They both live in small villages, not too far from each other - not by car, anyway. DH's maternal granny had her 83rd birthday this week, so that was an extra reason for our visit. She is a darling, I love her as if she was my Granny, and in a way, she is. I showed her the semi-finished Ice Angel, as it is going to be hers once it is finished and framed. She loved it. Tamara fell asleep on her couch, so we had some time to chat and I was stitching on the angel's skirt quite a lot.


After Tami woke we said our good-byes and left to visit the other Granny. We were taken by surprise as she was not alone, FIL's siblings and their spouses were there as well, plus two of DH's cousins - that is where we got the invite I mentioned earlier. :) Everyone wanted to see my baby! Tamara was extra cute, she was amazed to see all the animals: she loved the hens and was awed by the rooster; everything was full of the song of birds, and most of all, there were cats wherever she went! There were three cats in Granma's yard and several others all around! She kept running to catch one but they eluded her. She wasn't very disappointed though. Running is half the fun, after all. :)
Anyway, we went back to DH's parents' place and spent most of Tuesday there. We got home late in the afternoon. Tami barely wanted to let her grandparents go. Anyway, we are back to our everydays now.

Oh, one more thing: I mentioned that I had some plans regarding cross stitch I wouldn't talk about. I'm telling you now as it seems I had to give it up for now. There was a vacancy at a needlework store and I wanted to apply for the job. I had some doubts whether it's a good idea or not, mainly because of Tamara. But you see, Oliver has serious difficulties getting a daytime job, as he has little working experience, and without that or without degree rarely anyone can get a good job nowadays. So he voulenteered to be a stay-at-home-dad. I should work about 13-15 days a month, from 10 to 20 hours, so he said he could cope with Tami and also be able to continue his translating job. BUT. But then he got a phone call from his boss saying that the deadline for his present work is now set to July 1. And that he had better not miss that. Which means, that now he has to work all day, every day. Even now as I type, he is looking over my shoulder, waiting for the keyboard to be freed from my fingers. :) Anyway, I had to postpone my plans of working in the cross stitch industry. Maybe later. Who knows, maybe they won't find anyone until July... we shall see what happens. I'll keep you updated.

Big sister leaving

Sometimes I bless the net. It brought me close friends I never would have had the chance to meet. Some of them I will never meet in person, not as long as I live. And yet, I will be able to be a part of their lives, just as they are parts of mine. Maybe if I get a webcam and a headset, we will be able to stitch'n'bitch, or chat over a cup of coffee as if we were sitting on the opposite sides of a table and not an ocean. The internet made me able to have a rich and active social life while sitting at home with my baby girl. It also allowed me to send photos of my baby to my family at home and I was able to share my thoughts with them.

Now it seems it takes something away from me. My one and only sister, while chatting on the net, came accross a young man and soon they fell in love with each other. That is not a problem. My sister, Monika, spent lots of time alone, looking for a man she could love and who'd love and appreciate her and her son as much as they deserve it. I am SOOO happy she found him. What makes me a bit sad is that he lives in New Zealand, practically the opposite side of the planet. I don't know much about him - his name is Steve, was born in America, had a marriage far too young so he divorced. I know he too is a Christian, like my sister, and nowadays he lives and works in New Zealand. Monika met him a few months ago but was a bit scared about what the family will have to say about this relationship, so she told no one, only her son, who is very supportive.

Well, things seem to speed up now... Monika will fly to NZ in August, they plan to get married in Hungary in September, and then move to New Zealand together. I really hope and pray they will be as happy as they can be and stuff... but I am too selfish, and all I can think of is that I never had my big sister further than an hour's drive away from me for the past (almost) 32 years of my life, and that my nephew has recently escaped death just so he would live hundreds or even thousands of miles away from me, and that my parents are both over 60 and how hard it will be on them to have a child and a grandchild so far they can hardly imagine... and I hate the thought that although the net brought a happy family life for my sister it also became the only possible means for me to keep in touch with her for maybe the rest of our lives.