Annette's Acre

• Cookies Baked – made three kinds today: Oatmeal, Pecan Puffs and Spritz
• Gifts Wrapped – ok, there is still *one* due but according to UPS it should be here today
• Dinner Planned -  menu done, will pick up ham Tuesday
• Books Read – was that on the list?  Sure….

Stitching….well….

At least I’ve made progress on *something*

First, the Fair & Square Round 10 results:

Received from Jane (ultimately a biscornu, I think).  I love the colors:

Sent (from JCS 2008 Ornament issue – the Ink Circles Design):

(click for larger pic)

That little guy in the middle is a bottlecap pincushion (the third one I made with the Christmas tree guys below).

Tami’s Winter Neighborhood Round Robin is in progress:

This is the last house on the right on X’s and Oh’s Twas Twilight on Main Street.  I’ll do the street in front with the horse-drawn cart, too.

As for the new start that is currently enchanting me….Nora Corbett’s Poppy (Pixie Couture Collection)

(click for larger)

Love the colors.  Love the design. Thankfully I’ve got *lots* of time now that all Christmas shopping is officially done (yup, even Mom).  Just waiting on the various delivery men (UPS, Fed Ex, USPS) to finish off the the wrapping.

Finally  - a pic of K & Nero goofing off today:

First, I owe the Blog a slew of pictures.  I received my Round #10 Fair & Square(s) which I love, my squares have also been received and I have been stitching on my Winter Round Robin.  I was also seduced to a new start which I am desperately in love with and ignoring everything else on my list…… Anyway that will be tomorrow’s post.

For today, here’s a rundown of my morning:

7:00a – Get Z up for school.  Get myself ready to leave.

7:45a – Leave with Z.  Drop him at school.

7:50a – Starbucks.  Salted caramel hot chocolate.  YUMMM

8:00a – Gas Station – fill my car with premium gas for $1.91.  That’s right.  Less than $2 for 12+ gallons.  How, you say?  I shop at Safeway which allows one to accumulate $.10/gallon gas “rewards” based on grocery spend. I had 15 saved up since Oct 1.  I paid $0.149/gallon.  Score!

8:10a – Best Buy.  I think there were three cars in the parking lot.  I guess folks didn’t realize they were opening an hour earlier.  Picked up one of two items on the list for my spouse.  Interestingly, there were *no* cashiers open.  I guess you can come in but you can’t actually buy anything….  (Asst. Mgr. helped me).

8:25a – Target.  Again, not many folks in the store, but the cashier did recognize it was the “calm before the storm.”  Found everything on my list (and then some) and the missing item from Best Buy.

9:10a – Borders.  I had a coupon for 40% off two Blu-Ray DVDs and had a couple on my list for DH   Couldn’t pass that one up!

9:35a – Mervyn’s.  Technically, this wasn’t on the list but well…..  No Christmas presents bought, but I did find school uniform pants for Z for $6.40 (incredibly cheap, that) and a couple other useful bits.

10:15a – Back home to order the last two Christmas gifts from Amazon.  (Hard-to-find CDs for spouse)

With that I can state that I am *done* with physical shopping for Christmas with one lone exception (my mother is being very slow with her wish list and I’ve not gotten enough brilliant ideas for her).  DH is tasked with gift card purchases, so that’s on his list, not mine! LOL

Time to wrap.  I have one box to send that needs to go out tomorrow

As of today, I’m on vacation!  I will return to work on January 5th.

The company I work for does not allow rollover of unused vacation time to the next calendar year.  It’s “use it or lose it” for all employees.  As I’ve been on several high profile, demanding projects this year, I didn’t have much opportunity to take any significant amount of my vacation. I was left with four weeks to burn off in November and December.

I’ve been working on my list of “things I want to accomplish” for the last several days.  I realize that by posting it here, there’s a fairly high risk of me not managing much of it.  LOL

The Stitching List:

• Finish Autumn Queen (for DH)
• Finish Spill (my 15-sided biscornu design)
• Stitch next Winter Neighborhood Round Robin (have chart selected)
• Finish socks for my SIL (started)
• Two Christmas Ornaments – stitched & finished (this will be a stretch)

You may have noticed my “currently reading” box on the left there has been changing almost daily.  I have read through the books of The Black Dagger Brotherhood by JR Ward.  I’ve finished the first six books in the series in record time….and many late nights.  I’m now on the Insider’s Guide and it is an absolute joy.  There are interviews with the Brothers and they make me laugh out loud   April 2009 is a looooong way away!   Don’t be fooled by the cover art – this is a great fantasy series that happens to have a bit of sex (ok, more than a bit).  Vampires, action, love, plot twists and turns…  what more could you ask for?