It's been awhile!

Yeah, so I've been busy *cough cough*. Ok, I haven't been that motivated to sit at my computer. So, an update. Let's see.

WORK LIFE
January was really busy at work catching up from all the time I was off in December. Then February was really busy too, still catching up from the time off in December and finals for the end of quarter at school. March was busy too because it was next quarter starting again and then finishing up as much as I could so I could make a trip to Denver at the end of the month. April I had the actual influenza virus so I got behind in work. May I had to catch it all up again because in June we shut down so I could go home to visit family.

HOME LIFE
In March I found out DH was deploying later this summer, so I made some plans. I decided to go to a concert that my favorite band, Blue October, was putting on in Denver. I went down a day early and got to visit my dad and his family, and then I met up with my very best friend in the whole world and we checked into an awesome hotel in Denver (The Burnsley...it's really nice!) and had some fun up there. Unfortunately, the band got stuck in Utah due to travel conditions, so they postponed the concert another night. My DH was ok with that, but my best friend had to call her hubby to see if something could be done with her little ones so she could stay an extra day. Luckily her husband and mom worked together to make sure her mom could watch the boys and told her to just have a good time. It was awesome of them! So we got to stay an extra day in Denver and shop and have fun and then go to the concert. It was General Audience, but we were about 4th row back so not too bad!

When I got back from Denver, I came down with a nasty case of the flu. By the 5th day, I realized I should go to the doctor. They told me I had the actual influenza virus and since I waited 5 days to come in, there wasn't much they could do about it, so I had to let it run its course. They gave me some cough suppressants to help, but they didn't help much. It took nearly the whole month to get back to 100% because I went back to work, but I was so tired, I'd have to stop earlier than usual and take a nap!

My oldest son is having a real hard time with his dad deploying. We went through a few weeks in April of this crazy behavior. He would be so angry from the moment he got up until he went to bed. Anything would set him off into screaming and crying. Things got pretty bad, but I think it's under a bit more control than it was. We still have days like that, but at least they're not 3 weeks long like in April. Part of it is probably puberty. Part of it is probably the ADHD/ODD. DH has deployed 3 times since we've dated and gotten married, so it's not like this is anything new. It'll be interesting to see how it goes when his dad is actually gone. I'm hoping I can depend on him to help out a lot around the house, but it depends on his behavior.

School's about to end up for the year and then we'll pack and be on our way to go visit family! We can't wait! It's been a couple of years for DH and I saw my mom and grandma last November, and I flew out to my cousin's wedding last May. So it's been over a year for me for most of the family!

DH has been trying to get some things knocked off his honey do list before he deploys. I wanted him to fix the drain for our driveway, fix the stairs in the retaining wall (all the blizzards broke some of the steps up), do the stair railing for the back deck, and I'm sure there was something else, but I can't quite remember it. He got part of the stairs in the retaining wall mortared down, but ran out of the mortar and it has rained ever since then, so he hasn't been able to finish it. He also got the drain in the driveway completed. Now we're just keeping an eye out for some good weather to see if he can finish the steps and the stair railing!

STITCH LIFE
Wow, I've actually made quite a bit of progress in the last few months on some things.

Here is the last Blackstone Fantasy Garden I posted:


Here it is now after stitching on it for a week or so:


I also got the entire left side of my Glendon Place's A Grateful Nation done. It doesn't look like much now, but it will!:


I started Midnight Enchanter by Dimensions for my youngest son and here is how it looks now:


And last but definitely not least, I FINISHED my Moon Fairy Spirit by Passione Ricamo!! Here she was the last time you saw her:


And here she is all finished!


She has been shipped off to Jill Rensel for matting and framing. I can't wait to get her back!

Since I finished something in my rotation, I allowed myself to add something in. I chose to do the Letter "L" by Nora Corbett. It'll be a quick but pretty piece to finish I hope!

Well, that's all for now! Probably won't post until I get back from vacation. Hopefully I'll have some updated pics to show on my stitching!