New Finish For Charity and SBQ

I was hoping to get this one done before the end of 2007 but doing the sachet bag for Curtis got in the way so this wasn't finished until today and is now my first finish for 2008 and my first ever charity stitching peice. I thought it was a real cute design! I stitched it for the Yahoo Group called WOCS. They take stitching, crochet, and knitting projects and donate them to hospitals and such. I hope to continue to do more charity stitching in 2008. Here is a picture of the King Tut Cow. The pattern comes from a French web site, and there are a bunch more cows and mitten designs to stitch. Some of them are real cute! I just loved the King Tut cow so I chose that to be my first charity cross stitch and I completed it earlier today. It is done on 14ct Aida fabric with DMC floss. I changed the color of the yellow as the chart called for one that seemed far too light in my opinion, so I selected a darker yellow and used that instead. Hopefully I will get it out in the mail tomorrow.

I have been working on Stroke of Midnight by Teresa Wentzler, but I have not taken a pic of my progress. I hope to do so tomorrow and post it for everyone to see. I am really hoping to do a lot more stitching in 2008 than I did in 2007. I did not realize how much I missed stitching until I picked it back up again a couple months ago. I have truly been enjoying stitching again, not just cross stitch but also thread crochet. I am currently working on a doily that will be 16 inches accross when I finish and so far it looks better than I thought it ever would! I am quite proud of myself.

I spent most of today in the waiting room of the local surgery center. I was there to be moral support to my friend Curtis and his mother. He had surgery on his shoulder. It repeatedly dislocates and causes him a great deal of pain so the doctor attempted a second surgery in the hopes of preventing further dislocations and pain. The surgery went well and Curtis came through just fine despite a small complication with a low blood oxygen saturation level. He is uncofortable but glad it is over. I just hope that this surgery is successful and he no longer has chronic pain once he is all healed up. I live with chronic pain so I know how horrible it can be. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, forget someone I truly care about and call a friend. Being in pain day in and day out, all day long, is extremely disheartening and depressing. It is even worse when one has a doctor like Curtis's that refuses to treat pain under the mistaken idea that a preson can't possibly feel pain from things such as nerve damage, bone spurs, arthritis, torn ligaments, and bone fragments from a broken joint socket. It utterly flabergasts me that any doctor could believe such a thing and I truly hate seeing anyone I care about in pain. I wish I could wave a magic wand and make it all better for Curtis, no more pain, no more surgeries, no more injuries..make him all better. Sadly, this is not possible so all I can do is continue to provide him with emotional support and with any advice I can think of that might help his pain levels.

I feel good though about sitting in the surgery center for 4 and a half hours today. I had to leave when my pain level hit an 8 (0-10 with 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain I ever felt). Curtis was out of surgery and in recovery. His doctor said he came through the surgery really well and was doing just fine. I was there to be support for both him and his mother. Before I left his mother hugged me and thanked me for being there. She said that my presence made it easier for her to deal with the waiting around for answers and news while her son was in surgery. I am very happy that I was helpful to her as well as to him. I did feel guilty though for having to leave before I saw him in the recovery room, but I did wait until I knew he was in recovery at least, so I knew he was fine. He was really worried that he wouldn't wake up from anesthesia, which is a normal anxiety whenever one faces surgery and I wanted to make it easier on him if I possibly could. I called him on the phone a little bit ago to see how he was doing and he says he is doing okay. I am glad that he is allright, I was worried about him.

Today's SBQ is: Are you starting something new to celebrate the New Year or participating in "Guilt Free January?" If so, what are you planning on starting? (The question is a link to the original site as usual) I have not started a new project yet but I do hope to start one. I want to start "And A Forest Grew" from Rosewood Manor. It is a project for my DH who is the environment coordinator for Tyndall Air Force Base which basically means he ensures that the shops he is assigned to are following the laws for environmental issues. I jokingly call him a professional tree hugger, so I thought this design would be perfect for him. I am not sure when I will start it but it is one I am planning to start. I also joined a stitch-a-long for an ornament a month on the Cross Stitch Crazy posting board. I really like the idea of decorating next year's Christmas tree with a bunch of hand stitched ornaments. It just seems to me like they would have more meaning than store bought. I'm not sure I will be able to do one a month, but I will do my best. I am unsure what "Guilt Free January" means so I can't really answer that.

Well that's all I can think of for tonight, so I will stop her. I will try to post updated pics of my Stroke Of Midnight WIP tomorrow.