a stitch of time

sometime almost exactly a year ago i began new adventure in crafts.  one that has not ended yet.

it is the cross-stitch project that i said would probably never ever get finished.  that still may be true, but i have officially gone over the halfway point sometime in the past month or two...or three. right now, it just means that the pattern guide has tattered edges and i've had to re-fold it backwards so that i can see the lower half that i'm working on.  the dumb thing is split so that the top half, with the symbol chart is on one 2-page-width side, and then the lower half's chart is on the flip-and-reversed side with the spanish and french translations that are telling me how to wash and iron the finished project before displaying it.

seriously?

i'm beyond amazed if this thing EVER gets completed.  the last thing i'm thinking about is "oh, blast- am i supposed to spot-clean this with: warm water and soap or cold?"

let me tell you, though- if that glorious day ever arrives, this will be displayed all over the place.  anyone who knows me will be told the feat i have accomplished.  right now, this is the only thing keeping me going one teeny tiny stitch at a time. i'll even admit to cheating a couple times.  because i refuse to go through the bother of taking ONE strand of a tan color, and combining it with ONE single strand of an off-white color so that i can complete 4 stitches.  they're right next to 50 stitches of a just-barely-not white bunch of stitches.  sorry, but they're all going to be just-barely-not white.  just deal with it.  the only people who will care are the few who read this and know that at least 4 stitches are the "wrong" shade of off-white.

i dare you to find them.

but i had a thought halfway through a couple hours of cross-stitching that linked back to a weird conversation i had with my mother.

well, let's face it. the mere existence of a phone conversation between me and my mother is odd enough to throw me for a loop.  but this one was just a bit different from the like… 3 other phone calls in the past several months.  not to betray any confidences, that's going to be all you see about the phone call; but between that and getting an earful of JD Greear while trying to decipher the hieroglyphics on this huge graph made me wonder some.  wonder things like how life is like a huge, freakin' complicated cross-stitch project that seriously takes decades and decades to finish.  if each new stitch is a new day, you have the choice to cut corners and cheat- but you also have the choice to follow the chart, put in the extra effort and do what you really are supposed to do.  if you had one day for every stitch in this project, you will live to be approximately 87.67 years, which is just kinda creepily accurate given the illustration here. 

but even if you mess up on a few days here and there, and even if you're SURE the color the designer chose to put there is stupid but you do it anyway… you're gonna wind up with a masterpiece.

your master is, too.  and believe me when i say He simply can't wait until He gets to display you and all His other works of art up in heaven for all eternity while He soaks up all the due praise and glory.  yes, it takes a horribly long time. but it only takes that long because He's got a bit more patience than me and knows what He's doing, and can do it on several billion people all at once. 

so, if you are on Stitch #8775 (which i am, incidentally ;), and you wish it were more like Stitches #8770-8774 (which i sure as 'eck do NOT, by the way), or a different shade, or if He could just move on and work with somebody else for a bit and leave you alone… well, He's not going to.  He is working toward a pretty ambitious goal and it will be worth it. 

less seriously: my Stitches #8769-8774 involved an awful lot of color-switching, rule breaking, protocol- ka-chunking and generalized craziness such that my boss would either laugh her head off or cry. so this lil' masterpiece is going to look like a completely different pattern than yours.  be glad and rejoice exceedingly. because i'm literally in a back brace right now. once i'm completed and in Glory Land, i'll dance like there's no tomorrow.  but while there ARE still tomorrows, i'm going to find a chiropractor.

Summary for those Stitch-Cheaters:

1. whatever you're working on, do it right.

2. wherever on planet Earth your mother is, call her. today. i don't really care if your relationship with her sucks or not.  two of my friends either just lost or are in the midst of losing family members unexpectedly.  "today" is the only day you and she have.  make the most of it.

3. you're awesome. be satisfied.

4. you're going to be much more awesome.  be excited!

5. go back and read #2 until it sinks in and you actually do PICK UP A PHONE and call her.

6. take care of your back. you've only got one, and you kinda want it to last a while.

7. i hate typing the word "stitch"- i need to stop this!!! this post is done!!!!!!! good night!!