Olympic Finish

I did it! I finished the Toy Gatherer! I only started it in 1995. I finished the cross stitching in 2006. And now it is done. And my dad is bringing it to the framer today. This is going to be hanging in my house this Christmas. Wow! Who knew that setting goals could be so rewarding? Oh, right, all those people writing the self help books.

I finished it on Sunday morning while watching a repeat of the very exciting fourth quarter of Olympic men's basketball.

Toy Gatherer
Shepherd's Bush
kit purchased at my first Spirit of Cross Stitch Festival!

Sorry the photo is so dark. Sunday dawned gloomy. Then just when it was time to get in the car and go it got all nice and sunny so we could be depressed that we had to leave. But I'll give you the full scoop on our trip tomorrow.

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Thanks for all your concern about the robbery. Donna, when the CSI and I went into the craft room I said, "I know it is hard to believe, but this is the way it looked when we left. Even harder to believe, I'm sure nothing is missing." He pointed to the file cabinet where I keep my patterns. It was open because it won't stay closed--I think it's the weight of the patterns. "Anything taken from there?" If I had known it might be you guys, I would have looked a lot closer. But really, if it were you, you would have cleared the stack of new patterns--waiting to be added to the database--off the top of the cabinet.

The suckysuckness is that I keep realizing things are gone. There was a basket on top of the armoire where I put the oversized items. They cleaned it out. At first I remembered Mexican silver beads, then a bracelet a friend brought me from India, then my bright green bakelite bangle. But I thought the rest was just crap beads on stretchy cords--remember those from the 90s? I was saving them to make something with them. Today, I realized that's where the jewelry I made in my class was stored. So, this, this, these, and this, all gone.

Late to the Party

Many stitching bloggers have reported on the Chinese weightlifters's stitching habits. But I just love this article, from the China Daily:

Cross-stitch originated in Europe and was improved upon by South Koreans, who added some cartoonish elements and made it a popular hobby among Chinese school girls.

Take that, Europeans. Improved upon by the South Koreans. Which is not to say they haven't improved cross-stitch. I'm going out on a limb to say that not a whole lot of westerners have even seen a South Korean pattern, let alone experienced their improvements. Does this mean we need a road trip? Everyone in the car! We're going to South Korea for improved cross-stitch! (While we're there we can pick up some Hello Kitty chest guards.) I will allow that it may be through South Korea that the Chinese school girls discovered cross-stitch. Yup, we'll allow that.

Just like the weightlifting coach Chen Wenbin.

Weekend Update

What a trip! Not quite what we planned.

It all started when the cab driver picked us up. Within two minutes of being in the cab we knew he was "recovering" and had begun healing his relationship with his 15 year old daughter for whom he bought cigarettes (it's her mum buys the beer) and who was having a tattoo party for her Sweet 16. Awwww, sweet. About 15 minutes later I was ready to throw myself from the cab. He was weaving in and out of traffic at over 85 mph, jerking the car back on the road every once in a while, had no idea how to get to the airport from the 476 (hint, you'd have to never have driven before), kept crossing several lanes of traffic at once, and could not read the giant green highway signs (we weren't sure if he needed glasses or was illiterate). I asked him to slow down once and he did, but when the driving rain started, he did the only logical thing and sped up to 85 again. This time, the dude asked him to slow down.

With the driving rain and lightning, we figured our flight would be further delayed (it was already an hour and ten minutes late). And it was. Somewhere around 10:00 pm, they changed our departure to 11:15. At 11:15 our flight disappeared from the board all together. Turns out, our plane had arrived. We were boarded by midnight. And then we sat on the runway in traffic. Our 9:00 pm flight took off at 1:00 am. And then we had to get to the hotel 40 minutes from the Orlando airport. We finally got to bed at 4:00 am. Which scuttled the plans for visiting Epcot. Instead we went to Johnson's Diner for lunch. And if I had remembered to bring my camera (d'oh) I would have taken photos of the collard greens. They were that good. I had the collards, corn casserole, and candied yams with my fried catfish. The dude had smothered pork chops with collards, mashed potatoes, and okra and tomatoes. For dessert, peach cobbler (better than mine) and sweet potato pie. I'm telling you all this because if you ever find yourself in need of a meal in Orlando on a Friday you should go "off property" to Johnson's Diner to eat the collards. I think they only have greens on Fridays. You are warned.

It mostly rained all weekend. I didn't get out by the pool but I read two books and did lots of stitching (photos below). Finished LHN Dog House Sampler for Sissy. Made good progress on beading the Olympic Stitching project. I hope to finish all the beading by this weekend when we are in Maine so someone can bring it to Casual Cat for framing. At least that's the plan.

We left before the tournament was over* so we could be back at work today. Some of the chess players were really disappointed because when we left, the dude was one of the leaders in his section (under 1700). He took a half point bye for Sunday evening which meant the best he could do was second. And he did end up tying for second (60 entrants). That went well! I'm not sure how I feel about accompanying him again. He has to eat at weird times: one day we had dinner at 4:45 and another we had lunch at 2:45. We averaged about two meals per day. OTOH, I did mostly do what I would have done at home alone: read and stitch and flip through the channels. It was nice for him to come back to the room and have me there so he could share the results.

*And as Tropical Storm Fay bears down on Florida, I think we totally did the right thing. They are predicting that Orlando will not be spared. And I'd pretty much enjoyed all of the delights of the Hilton "North Orlando" by Sunday.

In It to Win It

I finished secret stitching #2 last night. Took an hour. When you are ready to throw up your hands with a project like I was yesterday, it seems like it will take forever to complete. But that's an illusion. And now it's winging its way to a lucky recipient. We get the computer back Monday so we should have pictures again soon. If only I had remembered to take a photo of ss#2 this morning.

I have rejoined the Stitching Olympics. I packed only three things for the flight to Fla. 1) doghouse sampler 2) anniversary prize (giveaway coming soon!) and 3) Toy Gatherer with the Tacky Bob. The first two are only allowed out on the plane. I am going to be a chess widow for the weekend, and I hear the weather is going to suck, so it looks like a lot of Stitching Competition in the indoor arena.

Just so you know, I wasn't making fun of the cripples* in the paraolympics. I was making fun of myself. Because I do not make fun of the developmentally delayed, only a little when they deserve it. Did I ever tell you this story from bringing Yay-o to Thomas? On the train, this little boy was banging his head against the window. He seemed like he was all there, just a kid doing those weird things that kids do because they simply do not place enough value on their brains. Anyway, the father says, "Don't do that; you're going to catch retarded." Catch retarded. I came thisclose to walking over to say that the only danger of the kid "catching retarded" was the danger he had from catching it from his father. Only drop some eff bombs in there, because you cannot say enough of them when you are at Thomas the Tank Engine weekend. Anyway, the dude doesn't like me mouthing off to guys who are bigger than him, so I shut my mouth and hoped no one else had heard. It all makes me so sad. Because one day Yay-o is going to be an adult and people are going to say shit like that right to her face. Having her in our lives has been a blessing--and the dude and I hate the way that word has been coopted, so I don't use it lightly. I know I've written about that before.

* I once read this awesome essay by a woman with MS who "reclaimed" the word. It reminded me a lot of why my own father describes himself this way. (Nancy Mairs, "On Being a Cripple")

Olympic Stitching

So the dude and I were the only people in the world not to tune in for the exciting part of the opening ceremonies. We watched the endless parades of people in silly costumes but completely forgot about the real opening. Because, well honestly, we haven't given a shit about the Olympics since the 1980s. And possibly as early as 1976 when I wanted to grow up and be Nadia Comaneci which necessitated years of gymnastics lessons where I was incredibly mediocre because of the late start and the "adult" body. We were totally turned off one year--1996?--when the nonstop schmaltz got in the way of actually delivering coverage of the games. This year, however, we've noticed a lack of those crappy stories and more coverage, even when America isn't dominating the sport. We're in love with the Korean archers with the Hello Kitty chest guards. In.Love.

The dude, who likes making up rules, has new rules for which games should be included: 1) If there is regular, and true, international competition, no Olympics: buh-bye football (soccer) and tennis. He is also upset with FIDE's bid to get chess into the Olympics, and you know what a chess geek he is. 2) If your game is "stupid", no games for you: rhythmic gymnastics (I believe the exact quote was "Unless 'rhythmic gymnastics' is a euphamism for sex, out of the games!"). Although I have been growing more fond of Youngs and Branagh, I would suggest a third rule which is if your uniform is a bathing suit and you don't actually go in the water, no games. (The dude just doesn't tolerate beach volleyball at all, even though he was known to play back in the Los Angeles days.) I think we should get him on the IOC.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shut up and show us your Olympic Stitching. Yes, well. I finished the secret stitching with the 0" seam allowance on Saturday, and spent all day Sunday working on my Fair and Square exchange which I then left at home all packed up and ready to send. D'oh. So I haven't actually gotten to the Toy Gatherer. I have another project that needs to be finish-finished before we fly to Orlando Thursday night, but it's all cut out. I'm hoping this only sets me back another night. I'm sorry, Melissa and the other Olympic Stitchers, for being so disorganized.

Photo: White House photo by Eric Draper