Still Working on Miras

I am still falling behind on this SAL - I have only completed seven out of nine.  That's not actually too bad, but it's still not where I want to be.  I have never had this many projects going at one time, and it has been a bit overwhelming for me - especially when I remember that there will be 15 in all.  
 

Halloween Fairy 04 Jan 2015 on 28 ct Lugana in Opal Falling Leaves from Hand Dyed by Stephanie

Sabrina 05 Jan 2015 on Stephanie's 28 ct Opal Lugana in Snow Drifts

Waterlily 06 Jan 2015 on 32 ct Jobelan in Pollywog Princess by Stephanie

Bluebell 07 Jan 2015 Stephanie's Pollywog Princess in 32 ct. Jobelan

Stargazer 09 Jan 2015 on Stephanie's 32ct Jobelan in Lunar Eclipse

Sadly, a fellow stitcher and someone I admired, Genie Heldt, passed away on Tuesday.  Genie was the founding person of the SSS-DDD group on Facebook and the organizer of the Chicago GTG that I love to attend.  Unfortunately, the loss of her husband, Jim, was too much for her.  I'm glad that she made it to the last GTG, and that I was able to hang out with her.  Sadly, I sucked at taking pictures there and did not get one with her. 

Genie was an incredible and loving woman.  All of us stitchers who had met her loved her dearly, and many of us felt that she would never recover from the death of her husband, Jim.  Many are posting on her personal Facebook page and on the Group pages.  I am happy to report that the Chicago GTG will continue this June.  The promise is to cry a little and laugh a lot - which is what Genie would want from us.   I hope that she is enjoying her reunion with Jim, and that she is getting all stitching done and she loves.  I have been very happy to hear that our group is in contact with one of her nieces, and the unfinished pieces Genie had for family will be completed by someone and sent to that family member.  Yay!!!

My hope for this weekend is that I will not only catch up on the number I should have, but that I will get some real progress made rather than just a few stitches.

For anyone new to  my blog, I am a Special Education teacher in my "other" life.  There are many days that I bring a ton of work home with me, and then there are days that I am too mentally exhausted to do anything when I get home - let alone stitch.  There are many teachers who do not work very hard as they are into a "routine," but I'm not to that point in my career.  I actually still care, and I work damn hard to deal with each student on an individual basis each and every day.

I did not get much done last year - moving sure takes a lot of time - but I don't want to fall in the habit of not doing what I love, so I joined this SAL.  

Oh, and I did join the AAN 2015 Christmas SAL, but I'm not going to get to it until the end of the year.  Rather than stitching along, I'm going to wait until the entire pattern is revealed so I can make the best decision for fabric and floss colors.  It's a perpetual advent calendar, and I'm really excited about it, but it will require a full yard of fabric.  I would rather not make any mistakes at all.