DEEP DARK SECRETS

OK. Confession time.

When I start my 'puterizing for the day, I go through a silly little routine of:
1) check email
2) scan through the AOL headlines
3) post to my blog
4) read misc blogs (like Pearls Before Swine, Crazy Aunt Purl, Posy Gets Cosy, etc.)
5) read stitchy blogs

You'll notice that I don't have a "check the comments on my blog" listed. There's actually a really good reason for that.

I save them.

Yes, you heard me. I save them.

Unless Aunt Chrissy calls me to say "Did you read what so-and-so wrote on your blog today?", I save up for days and days and days and sometimes weeks and weeks until I need a big fat chocolaty boost from all of my stitchy pals. I pretend that I've just been sent an 87-pound box of Godiva truffles and I get to sit down and eat every single one of them. While wearing my underpants and an old Notre Dame t-shirt that should have been thrown in the "use this as a dust rag" bin ages ago. Oh, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan is sitting there at the table with me. And he's wearing Tony Soprano's bath robe. And we're watching Eric Ripert cook fish.

That's about all of the details I can give you on this here family network, but suffice it to say that my hair looks really good and I weigh less than what my driver's license says I do (and it's off by 200 pounds).

So today I thought it might be a nice day for some chocolate, and to my horror I discovered that several of y'all were kind enough to comment AND ask a question or two and I HAVEN'T RESPONDED TO YOU.

This, of course, makes me think that Emily Post is going to knock on my front door and confiscate my secret decoder ring that tells me how to behave in public (I generally go with the principle of "keep your pie hole shut and give your bus seat to old people and pregnant ladies), and that I will be shamed forever as a boorish spinster who has no manners and who simply cannot make a decent cup of tea.

SHELLEY asked who designed the piece in my Halloween tableau called "Faith". Well, Shelley, I believe that it was Country Cottage Needleworks. Or maybe it was Little House Needleworks? Anywhoose, the whole thing reads "Faith is being sure of what we hope for" and I liked the way that sounded. So I stitched it. Why it's in a Halloween tableau is beyond me at this moment, but I assume that it has something to do with the fact that I thought the ribbon was kinda autumn-y.

DONNA asked how I liked working with the Valdani threads in the Quaker Diamond project. I actually enjoyed them and didn't have the knotting problems that so many others did. I did notice a few slubs, but nothing that threw me too much off my game. What I really liked was the fact that they were balls. Pulling a strand to use was very easy, and I wish there was a way to wind all stitching threads into balls henceforth. I will say that it was a little hard to get used to using all of the strands together after stitching with so much silk, but by the time the piece was done I was still happy with the overall experience.

JENNIFER H followed my whacky ort jar project through to conclusion, but I'm mortified to say that I gave her no help whatsoever in finding all of the components. By now, I'm hoping that you are on your way to ort organization nirvana, Jennifer, and that the next time I reel you into one of my nutso schemes I'll remember to give you all of the necessary details. You also asked about the Annie's Keepers labels. I actually used the labels that came with the set that I bought and I wrote the symbol from the chart on them with a Sharpie. I'd love to tell you that I was clever enough to come up with that system on my own, but the fact of the matter is that the girls at Prairie Moon deserve all of the credit.

CONNIE FROM NEBRASKA went off in search of the Blackbird Designs Moonlit Garden chart, and discovered that it is sadly OOP. I'm so sorry, Connie. I would have been happy to share mine with you, but I'm afraid that it was already spoken for. It would have been nice, though, if I would have been courteous enough to tell you that BEFORE you had to run around hell's half acre though, wouldn't it? So sorry.

WENDY gets the award for throwing me into a full-blown "I have to go breathe into a paper bag and then have a shot of tequila and a small slice of cake" panic attack by telling me that there is a movie out there in which somebody is buried alive! I think she said his name is Ryan Reynolds? BURIED ALIVE? IN A MOVIE? Oh, holey schmoley....I can just imagine how long I would have lasted in the the-aay-ter for THAT one!

DIANE mentioned that she was at a quilt retreat and that when the last miner emerged and waved all the ladies at the retreat waved back at him. This reminded me of the TWO times that Air Force One flew over South Bend and I stood in my driveway in my pajamas waving like mad. The first time I was mortified that I had done so, but the second time I realized that there was absolutely nothing wrong with waving at my President, and I decided to do so with impunity from this moment forward whenever Air Force Once flies over South Bend.

DENISE asked me about the crop of scissors on my stitchy table. I know. It's obscene. But these darn scissors are really the only thing I collect, and Stewey's college education is fully funded. If he goes on for a second PhD we're in trouble, but for now I don't feel too bad about an occasional $17 or so to add to the collection. Besides....I just saw that a pair from 2001 was selling for a ga-jillion dollars, so I figure the return on my investment is pretty good, right?

EDY...you liked the thistle pillow on the guest bed. Thank you! I like it too. Sadly, I'm not sure who the designer is, but I can tell you that it is a painted canvas that I stitched with perle cotton.

ALICE noted that I've been rather calm and not flitting from thing to thing like the 300-pound hummingbird that I usually am. I wish I could tell you why this is, but for now we're not going to question it, but rather enjoy the relative peace and quiet around here.

KATHY asked if I would share my color selection for Live Laugh Love. Well, yes, Kathy. I would be happy to! I'm using all Gentle Art Sampler Threads and the colors are: Forest Glade, Burnt Orange, Mulberry, Gold Leaf, and Dark Chocolate. Hmmm. This is interesting. Now that I look at them all up close, they are extremely reminiscent of the Valdani colors in Quaker Diamonds. I guess I enjoyed that piece even more than I thought....it's permeating everything in the house!

And finally, SUZANNE commented that she thought the previous post was from me and that I was taking about my mom or mother-in-law. Nope, Suzanne. Mom's in a drawer in Phoenix, and I never married so I don't have a mother-in-law. (Although I always wanted one. I always thought that I would be a very very good daughter-in-law because I would treat her son like a king and would always remember to address her as Mother Morgan.) I know it can be very confusing to read a blog from somebody who has a precocious little dog that likes to write his own posts every now and then, but he can be pretty funny sometimes, and you gotta' love those little buck teeth! I'll remind him that when he posts he needs to indicate that in the title so that you are ready for him and that the people who would rather eat a can of worms than read a blog post by a talking dog can move to the next entry in their Google reader.

That's it for today, kids! I am so thrilled that you all stick with me through thick and thick around here and that you care enough to ask questions and leave such lovely comments. I'll try to do a better job of answering your questions, but if you like, you can always send me a super secret email (or send the bat signal), and I'll be happy to respond.

We're off to the weekend! I've got chicken rice soup on the stove and I'm not afraid to use it! Woo Hoo!