Most months, I’m so busy that I look forward to my “nothing weekends”. There aren’t enough of them lately. April originally had only one “nothing weekend” – which is better than none – but then something came up that simply had to get done one Saturday. My evenings seemed a little more free than in March, which was nice. I’m hoping for a relaxed summer once school is over for the year.
One of my goals is a no-buy year… or two or four years. That means fewer activities out and about, but we have more than enough at home and the library to keep us entertained, including books and crafts. It’s especially important to hold onto any cash right now, especially while President Orange Flabby Ass, the Loser in Chief, and his sycophants continue to shit up the United States with their boundless cowardice and stupidity. (Too real for you? Those people don’t deserve anyone’s kindness.) Anyway, on to a look back at the month!
Cross-Stitching
I’m sticking with my major goal of trying to complete one page per month on Addie’s Window, artwork by Scott Gustafson, charted by Heaven & Earth Designs (HAED). I’m stitching this pattern one over one (that is one strand of thread over one square of fabric) on 25-count Easy Grid Lugana with most of the called-for DMCs. Initially, it took time for me to get used to having the gridded squares on fabric, but now that I’m used to them, it’s so helpful. I got so close to a page finish in April, but not quite! This is my April 29 progress pic:
I’m also working on Tokyo’s Haunted Store by Cross-Stitch Curiosity, stitching two over one on an 18-count navy Aida with all the called-for DMC colors. Progress is slower on this, but I might start devoting Friday nights to it because I’ve been doing a lot of cozy, nostalgic TV/movie watching on those nights and this project is more portable than my full-coverage:
One of my goals is to use up as much of my collection of DMC as possible. I have nearly every color and multiples of several colors. These belonged to my Nana who gave them to me about 20~ years ago. That means many of the skeins are older than that, and it’s possible color lots have changed since then. My concerns are 1. That these changes may make stitched pieces look odd if I need to replace a color and 2. That there is no way I can use up these hundreds of skeins of floss in my lifetime. Heck, I have 13 skeins of Ecru! Nana, did you really need more Ecru? <3
Reading
This month I read Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright. It’s pretty intense what Scientology did – and does – to its adherents. Scientology is more horrifically abusive than most folks realize, and gives off the exact same cult vibes as MAGA.
After that, I finished much lighter fare: The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen. It was an enjoyable follow-up to The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy. The next book, The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam, releases in July, so I’m looking forward to that.
I followed that up with Behind the Crimson Curtain by E. B. Golden and, oof, that was a dark one again. It was a good story. I got Showgirls vibes from the competition between the main character and another, but I also noted on my Storygraph a trigger warning for child death. That’s a hard no for me, so I don’t know if I’ll read the sequel. It’s sitting on my shopping list and I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.
Last, but not least, I started That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming – another light, fun, silly, sexy read that I’m enjoying.
Gaming
This is something I haven’t done much of lately. Without a TTRPG currently going, I should probably pick up my Nintendo again. I’ve had Pokémon Arceus open on my Switch, but haven’t touched it in months. Oops. Probably time to close the game, check the Switch for updates, restart it, and then get back to Arceus!
Genealogy
I realized my list of brick walls and research questions needed updating, so I did that. Now it’s so much smaller than the original list, thanks to all the Italian vital records I found recently. However, the questions that remain are still big, difficult ones. I need to look at my timelines on each ancestor in question and brainstorm all the places I haven’t conducted research yet.
For now, I can’t wait for the end of the school year, big progress on projects, and long, lazy (I hope) weekends!
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