Stitching Notes

I thought about bringing my latest cross-stitch piece with me when we went to Cologne this past week, but I didn't. A. didn't take his notebook and neither one of us took a book so that we would be "forced" to spend quality time together. (ha ha)

Anyway here are some stitching-related notes...

1. I am very close to being finished with the dragonfly piece that I am working on. I hope that I will be motivated to finish it this coming week.
   
2. A couple of weeks ago I bought paint so that I can paint a couple of frames. I will then frame "Keeping the Eggs Dry" and "Precious Family."
   
3. Now that I have my sewing machine I need to buy some material so I can practice my sewing and make pillows. I have at least one cross-stitch piece ("Cat Sampler") I want to make into a pillow.
   
4. Maybe I will someday get around to making that quilt with my cross-stitch pieces now...

Bored housewives and crafts sure do go together... just like peanut butter and jelly!

Cologne/Köln

We have returned from a trip to Cologne. Here is a summary:

We left Munich about 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. We were hoping to avoid holiday and rush hour traffic. We were making really good time until we got caught for nearly three (3) hours in a 20 km (12.5 mile) traffic jam! For any American who has ever dreamed of driving on the speed limitless German Autobahn, let me tell you, even in Germany most of the time it is still a dream.

Since we were staying with the in-laws we took all three cats with us. They are well-traveled and made the trip up with no problems and only a little crying by Scooter. On the way back, Mouse had an upset tummy and managed to puke in her carrier, but it was minor in comparison to some of her hairballs.

Wednesday was hang out with the in-laws day. A.'s mother and I seem to getting along a little better every time we visit. A while back A. mentioned to her that I wanted a sewing machine, but hadn't bought one because I didn't really know too much about them. So, while I was there we began discussing sewing machines and after she gave me a crash-course with hers, she took me shopping and bought me one! I can't wait to make some pillows!

Sometime on Tuesday between loading the car and reaching our destination I cracked the face of my Fossil watch. I have had that watch for almost 5 years and damn! I really loved that watch! My mother-in-law noticed that it was cracked and while we were out shopping she also bought me a new watch... A Swatch!

At first I thought, a Swatch? Isn't that a little 80s?! But this one doesn't look like a cheesy one out of The Breakfast Club or anything. First, it is a man's watch. I only buy men's watches. I hate women's watches. They are so small I have to squint to tell the time. Second, it is black and silver, just like I like, and has a red star at the 12. My mother-in-law was teasing me about the red "commie star" and then when I examined it a little closer I discovered it is a James Bond Secret Spy Watch! It has 007 and From Russia with Love on the band! I love it! It has everything a secret spy watch should: the commie star, the date, and it even glows in the dark! :)

Thursday was our day to visit Cologne. We planned three things: a visit to the Dom, a stop at Boutique 4711 where they make the famous "Eau de Cologne," and a visit to the chocolate museum... yum! That update later....

Helen Homemaker

Today I went to see The Stepford Wives. Quick plot summary: This super-successful career woman gets fired from her job, has a nervous breakdown, and then moves to the suburbs of Connecticut with her husband and two kids. However, there is something weird about the community of Stepford.... the wives are all 1950s Helen Homemaker perfect! I won't say anything more about the movie here because I don't want to spoil it if you haven't seen it, but it got me to thinking about the whole "Helen Homemaker" persona and things I have often pondered since I got married and don't work.

As I have mentioned before, I never planned on not having to work my adult life. However, because of circumstances that I chose, I have taken a break from working and now am (if truth be told) only half-heartedly looking for a job. Presently, I don't mind not working. But that wasn't always the case. When I decided to move in with (and later marry) A., I up and quit my job with no promise of a new job on the horizon. It was a big and scary step. I was scared he would eventually resent me for not working, and I was terrified of losing my independence and identity. We talked and talked about it and finally A. convinced me that he didn't mind if I didn't work and wanted to take care of me. He also convinced me that while financially I would be dependent on him that didn't prevent me from being independent. I wrestled with the decision, but in the end I chose (excuse the sap) to take a chance on love.

My girlfriends quizzed me relentlessly when I told them this. They wanted to know if he truly didn't care one way or another whether or not I worked or if he was a traditional European man and in actuality didn't want me to work. I was amazed that they stuck this traditional European macho-man stereotype on him, when most American men I know are much more traditional in that sense than European men I have known. Since then when he grills me about what I really want to do in life and where I want to go, I have unfairly accused him of not wanting me to work. Honestly, I don't think this is true at all. He is just trying to help me with my decisions, but when he says something I don't want to hear, I guess I start grasping at straws.

Yet, when I see this movie and think about it, it is definitely I question I wonder about: Deep down inside, do men (no matter what nationality, race, age, etc.) want their woman (wife or otherwise) to stay home, look beautiful, cook, clean, and live only as an extension of them? Of course nowadays, it is very politically incorrect to even mention these things, but is it there?

One thing I do notice is that even though we are married, A. does still care about my appearance. Most days I wear comfortable clothes around the house and only wear makeup and fancy shoes when I go out. But unless we are going somewhere together, he doesn't see me then. So when he comes home on a day that I have been out and about, he always makes a comment about how nice I look. The compliments are nice, but inevitably they are always followed by, "Why don't you dress nicely more often?" I am not offended by the question and it is true... I do dress sloppily when I am not going anywhere or doing anything. I should look nice not only for him, but also myself, more often.

However, he has also acknowledged my difficulty at being a housewife. At first I tried to make him three square meals a day and keep the house spotless while looking beautiful. It was driving me mad and making me depressed. One day when it was just too much I exploded and in the end I found out he is much more concerned that I am happy and healthy than whether or not I vacuum the carpet every Wednesday.

I guess the only way I will ever be the perfect "Helen Homemaker" is if I am turned into the "Housewife Robot 2004". Luckily for me, A. doesn't want a robot for a wife. :)

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week #1

As a way to participate in my new cross-stitching blogger's webring, I am posting my thoughts on the Question of the Week:

Would you consider yourself 'addicted to stitching'? Why or why not?

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Hmm... usually when I hear the term "addicted" I associate it with an activity that the person in question has a difficult time controlling. I like to say I am addicted to sugar. As much as I try, I just cannot control my love of sugar!

Can I control my desire to cross-stitch? Yes... so I would say that I am not addicted to cross-stitch. I control it, it doesn't control me. However, I will admit that my hobby is sometimes more like a habit that one might associate with addiction. :)

Occasionally I have been known to go through phases where I do basically nothing else but cross-stitch. Then again, some days I deliberately do not cross-stitch so that I can enjoy my progress and don't get bored with a piece and I seldom start a new piece unless the previous one is finished.

So, even though I may spend all of some days cross-stitching, start planning my next project as soon as I begin my current one, and sometimes get irritated when my stitching groove is interrupted... of course I don't have a problem! :)

12 Simple Rules

I have often said that in my next life I want to come back as a pampered indoor housecat. In order to get a jump on the situation, I decided to observe my cats and try to live my life like they do. In doing so, I have drafted...

12 Simple Rules for Living a Cat's Life:

1. You can never take too many naps.
   
2. Take time to enjoy lying in the sun.
   
3. Bathing is an art form.
   
4. Sometimes you just gotta throw up a hairball.
   
5. There is no shame in being a carnivore.
   
6. Never clean your own litter box.
   
7. Avoid unnecessary bursts of energy.
   
8. Everything needs to be inspected once a day.
   
9. Looking cute gets you a long way in life.
   
10. Protest loudly when offended or not getting your own way.
    
11. Always place yourself in the center of attention.
    
12. Always Remember: You are the Boss!
    

Waiting for the Repairman...

I am on pins and needles waiting for the dishwasher repairman to come and look at my dishwasher later today...

What will he tell us? Will he have the part that he needs and fix it right away? Will it cost so much that we can't go on vacation? Will it be cheaper to buy a new dishwasher?

And most importantly, when can I stop washing dishes?!

2:30 Update
The dishwasher repairman came and fixed my dishwasher! Yeah! If A. hadn't been standing there, I might have kissed him! (hee hee)

Robin Hood: Dialect Thief

Last week, we added Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves to our DVD Collection. Remember that movie? The one where you got a glimpse of Kevin Costner's butt and for months on end Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do (I Do It for You)" was on every time you turned on the radio? (At least it was in America!) I always liked the movie and we got a good deal on it at Wal-Mart.

I hadn't seen it for a long time, so today I decided to watch it while I cross-stitched. (I started a new project today.)

The first thing I noticed while watching the movie with fresh eyes was that the dude that plays the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham had an uncanny resemblance to the dude that plays Professor Snape in the Harry Potter movies. So when the credits rolled I noted who the Sheriff was (Alan Rickman) and double checked in the Internet Movie Database. I was right! The Sheriff of Nottingham was played by none other than Professor Snape!

However, what really struck me was Kevin Costner and Christian Slater's (lack of) English accent.

The time period of this movie is around the time of the First Crusades (around 1100 AD). At this time, the English language was in a state of change. Old English was dying out and Middle English was becoming the standard dialect. Some scholars even think that the accent of Middle English sounded closer to that of American English than present day British English. (Whether or not this is actually true, isn't really the discussion here. I am only mentioning this so that I can eventually come to my point...)

In the movie, Alan Rickman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and most of the other actors spoke with what I would consider a British accent. However, Kevin Costner and Christian Slater didn't even TRY to adopt one.

The movie takes place in England. Today we identify the English with a particular accent/dialect, so I would have thought they could have at least hired Costner and Slater a dialect coach to give the audience the impression that they were actually English.

Or... if we go with the premise that early Middle English sounded more like American English, everyone else could have spoken like Costner and Slater. Either way, I think everyone (except Morgan Freeman who plays a Moor) should have been speaking with the same accent and in the same dialect. (Nottingham uses the word "twit" at one point, is that a Middle English word? No, according to my Oxford Dictionary of English, "twit" meaning a silly or foolish person originated in the 1930s.)

Overall, I think Costner made a decent Robin Hood and Slater an alright Will Scarlet, but their lack of an English accent really troubled me...

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Disclaimer:
Lest my British, English, Scottish, Irish, and/or Welsh readers be offended, I want to point out that I do know about the difference in the dialects/accents between you. However, like you might have a difficult time pointing out where in the US I come from by my accent/dialect, I have some trouble differentiating amongst your dialects/accents. I also know that Britain is made up of more than just England, so I hope in the spirit of my post you will understand that I am not trying to pigeon-hole you, just complain about the lack of consistency in this movie!