Two Nights No Stitching on DH's Present

Here it is, only a few days left until Christmas, and I swear that man knows I'm stitching something for him. Last night, instead of going to bed early, he decided to stay up and watch "Judging Amy" with me and then work on bills. He NEVER watches "Judging Amy"!!! So after realizing he wasn't giving in, at 11:45 I went to bed, with him following just a couple of minutes later. Hmmmmmm...... Now tonight, it's almost 10, and he's finding things to do again. I've been trying to get a few stitches in during the day time, but with housework, cooking, and homeschooling, there's really not much time. As for progress, I have most of the bird's head done. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have enough of it done to post a progress pic.

Well, I bit the bullet and went back to owning an online group. I used to have one a few years ago that traded leaflets and other unwanted stitching items, for wanted ones. The group was a huge success. We got so large and had so much fun, until the group slowly started to change. Looking back on it, I know where the problem was, but at the time, I had no clue. I had to leave for a while because of family matters, so I gave the group to a moderator, and when I came back, the group was not the one I left. So, after a while, I just decided it was time to move on, and had the group over to the moderator. I had it for a couple of years, and then it went through quite a few people, and then was deleted. I've joined and left a number of pattern trading groups, because of the attitude that came with them. People really didn't want to swap things - they wanted you to "buy" their used stuff with either a gift certificate or send them new stuff from a LNS. Quite defeats the purpose of a trading group, doesn't it?

Well, DH said, if you don't like it, then do something about it. ok - so I did. I started my old group again, under it's old name. With just starting it a couple of hours ago, there's already 4 members. Old members of the old group. All with the same problem with the other groups I had. We used to swap our gently used charts, or unwanted fabrics, etc. for someone elses - you know recycle. And boy did we have a good time. They are already chatting about doing the old secret sisters, exchanges, round robins, contests.... Like putting an old glove back on, it feels good!!! I think the thing I missed most, that I didn't find in the other groups, was the sisterhood we shared. When we traded, we usually tucked in more than the trade. One never knew what surprises they would find. And Secret sisters was so much fun - the $ amount was set, but everyone always went over it. One had a fire at her house, and the others gathered stash and sent it to her, one gave her a place to stay for a while. Things that I don't see anywhere else. And I don't know if I'll see it again, but I'm hoping with starting with a few of the old group, that we will succeed to be as good or better than before...

Now, off to go brood, while DH finds other things to watch on tv - UGH!!!!