Thank you!

Thank you for the nice comments about my stitching, and the generous comments about my finishing.

Archangeldecker asked about the bunny design, where I got that from. It came from this site:

http://lesgrillesgratuitesdenathalie.over-blog.com/categorie-11769914.html

which is no longer available. I didn't bother to print it off the site when I stitched it, but, if you have access to the Wayback Machine (not a snark, there's a site that lets you go back in a site's history), you may be able to find it.


Someone (Annie, maybe?) asked about the comic book board. It's an OK way to finish, but I think it works better if you do a running stitch and tighten the stitching that way instead of trying to pin and center a design, which was what I did. As far as cutting out, it was A LOT easier than foamcore and I would not hesitate to use it for oddly-shaped ornaments. I haven't tried cutting matboard, but this has to be easier than that. The only thing that I hesitate about is that you do end up with a lot of small pieces, since the individual sheets are the size of a notebook, and most ornaments are larger, but it's not that expensive, and for the same price, you would get more ornaments than for the same dollar amount of foamcore. (At least this is what I tell myself to make myself feel better). I did glue batting onto the board, though, that makes it a little more sturdy.

I still have not finished HoA. Yesterday was a pretty bad day for me. I had my gestational diabetes test. The test itself was not bad, the drink they give you tastes like orange Triaminic, or overly sweet Kool-aid. And, of course, I failed. Miserably. I now have to take a 3 hour test. And my blood pressure was up, which I don't understand because it was perfect two weeks ago, and I am religious about taking my medicine. I understand, academically, that this isn't my "fault", a lot of times, a pregnant body just can't make enough insulin to keep up, but, teamed with this blood pressure situation, I feel like I was letting my child down. All she asks for is a safe place to be for 12 more weeks, and it didn't feel like I can provide that for her. I've calmed down a little bit, a lot of people don't pass that first test, but they do fine on the second one. But, if I don't, and I have to see a nutritionist, and take shots, then that is how it is. I'd give my life to see she is here safely, so, next to that, the rest is cake. But I don't know if it was just a reaction to the test, a bit of depression, or being tired from watching the game on Monday, but I was in bed, asleep by 8:30, and I didn't wake up til the regular time this morning. I know everything will be OK, it was just overwhelming to deal with.

But I did get to see her again yesterday. She's so pretty, and so amazing. And it was so mind-blowing to see her move an elbow and get a bump. Seeing her gives me so much comfort, I think my ideal existence would be to see her all the time, just have a monitor propped up, have the US wand on all the time (even with the gnarly goo) and look at her. At least now I know what those feel like! And she's a big girl, a little bit over 2 pounds now. Still obstinate, though--she in in breech position, but then again, she's got three months to figure out how to get herself situated properly. She was just chillin' out, sitting up, probably in the midst of a sugar rush. LOL.