At Death's Door

Okay ... I'm probably not literally at death's door but I sure do feel like I am.  Lord knows I have plenty of health issues in my life but I hardly ever get colds or the flu.  In the past when these maladies have stricken me, I usually felt fine within a day.  It has been years since the last time I was sick ... so many years I can't even remember the last time!  In retrospect I probably shouldn't have gone to my endocrinologist appointment yesterday but, in my defense, I thought I was getting better. Foolish me.  Last night I begged John to return all my Christmas gifts & bring me home a gun.  I don't think there's a part of my body that doesn't hurt.  My nose is constantly running. My throat feels raw & 3 times its size.  I'm coughing & feverish.  I have chills.  I hate this!!!  In retrospect again I probably should have had the smarts to remember that the symptoms of illness are always better during the day & worse at night, & I should have asked John to stop at one of the many drug stores we passed on the way to & from my appointment so we could pick up some Thera Flu or Nyquil or something.  Instead I curled in my recliner, covered up with 2 blankets, & waited for Jesus to come get me.  I'm still here.

I did manage to do some stitching last night & I finished LHN's It's Snow Cold.

It's a nice little design but I really did not enjoy stitching with the DMC ecru floss.  It seems to be rather wimpy.  I'll have to see what the closest substitute to it might be for the next project I start that requires its use.

I now need to find a new start.  I never plan definite projects to stitch because when they come next in line I may not feel like stitching them.  I haven't yet come up with a plan, a set of stitching goals, for 2013.  I do know I am going to Etsy a LOT of charts & kits that I bought last year & now look at & wonder why.  That might be something easy to do today ... go through all my charts & decide which ones I'm never going to stitch.  While doing that I'll undoubtedly find a new start   : )

I wanted to share this next photo with you. It's a picture of a puzzle that I found in my stocking.  In addition to a few things from my Christmas list, Santa Bear always finds some unique items with which to surprise me.  He knows how much I love snowmen & he thought this little puzzle would be something that would help Christmas last longer.  Gift opening would be delayed until the puzzle was completed.  Too long a time to put the puzzle together was not foreseen.  It is very small, maybe 7" x 9", & only has 160 pieces. The joke was on us though.  Many of the pieces look remarkably alike & so closely fit together that you are sure you've got them in the right spot ... but this is not so.  I think it took us 2 hours to get this silly thing finished, but we enjoyed it & it did indeed extend Christmas a bit   : )   I apologize for the reflection of the light on the photo.  I just could not get a photo taken without it.  I took the photo before writing this post so as you can see the puzzle is still together.  I hate to break it apart but I guess I must. Can you picture the puzzle photo used for a HAED design?  AAAHHHHH!!!!!

Before writing this post I caught up on my blog reading list but encountered a problem with some blogs.  I'm sure the problem lies with my account somehow ... the same way I am unable to delete blogs from my reading list.  When I tried to comment on several blogs this morning, I received no indication that my comments were registered in any way.  No "blog comments are moderated" notation, no comment showing up on the blog, etc.  I hope that turns around soon.

Happy first day of 2013 to all of you!  Only 357 days left till next Christmas!  Woo-hoo!!!