Hooray! I got the paying work done and even though my eyeballs feel like they are trying to escape from my skull, I am going to lay down a few more stitches in my kitty. I had so hoped to finish it today but that is NOT going to happen.

I signed up for a Halloween mailart exchange today and I'm pretty excited about that. I laid out all my Halloween designs and let Max choose which ones I'd do - he picked the same one I wanted for the big design and a little Jack-o-lantern for the small design. I can't decide if I should stitch on some Jobelan lambswool (super-easy stuff to stitch on) or go for a funkier look with one of the linens.

I've measured the envelope that Annemarie sent me (left picture) which is my only tangible example of this art form, to make sure I don't run out of fabric. I stitched one for Annemarie (right picture) but it wasn't functional. he he. Um, I kind of neglected to make it so you could actually put something in the envelope. Rather embarassing, really. But Annemarie was a sport about it and liked it anyway. Hey, it was my first time ... (But I will start this one early, just in case I make another blunder!)

I also explained to another stitcher what a SAL (stitch-a-long) is. Not a big deal, but a few months ago I wouldn't know a SAL from an RR. Which leads me to mention that I start my first SAL on Monday and I'm hoping to get an RR going with cyberspace stitching pal Annemarie.

If it weren't for cross stitch and my cyberfriends, I don't think I would have a social life at all. We sort of got disconnected while pregnant with Rowen and it's surprisingly hard work to get back into the swing of things. Tomorrow we're lunching with Eric and Ingrid - Eric is a coworker/carpooler/all-around-nice-guy and Ingrid is his 8-months-pregnant wife. I think they want to see our little hellions in their house to get an idea of what might be in store for them once baby makes three. Anyway, it's our first social thing as a family in months.

Later this month we will also get together at Anja's in Delft as our annual ex-Exacters/M&T reunion. Anja, Rik, Jos, and I were the core of the manuals & translations department at Exact for awhile. Niek is also an ex-Exacter, too. Poor Judith and Marina will have to listen to more boring Exact stories. Hopefully all the kids will have as much fun playing this year as they did last year.