Just to say hi, a bit long one !! :)

Thanks for your lovely comments on my doily in the last post !! I enjoyed making it :)
This is a loooooooooong post . Make sure you have enough time and not going to bed . Don't worry, you aren't going to get anything out of it, so if you want to miss, just miss it :) I forgot to write about my Birthday plans and last post was a bit of quick one so I will share it in the end of this post . Nothing much, just random chat:)

I did not make much progress on stitching but I am done with my secret crochet gift and it has been posted too ! I hope the recipient will be happy :)  I cannot show you until she receives .

This is where I have reached as far as stitching is concerned, did some more coloring in the flower . It is big (around 4 inches) so it is taking time .

I was bored with only animal stitching so I took my Lady Bird fairy yesterday and could manage only few stitches - the yellow ones in the bottom .

I have also opened a new Ravelry account for my new crochet pattern website . So those who are on Ravelry can reach me here .  And one facebook page too . I am a very lazy facebook user, I don't use even the personal one for weeks . I just call my best school friends on their Bdays . And most of my cousins call me on my Bday if they are in India. Those in the US, depends on their mood and time else I am as happy to receive a personal email too. So those who have a facebook page for their crafty things, reach me here and I will be glad to reach you :)


Now about the Bday plan. Well, it started with what I want or what I want Raj & my mom to give me  :) . My mom doesn't take the risk of trying on her own for the fact that I wanted a big gift for my 40th and given the fact that I don't like Gold and Diamonds, it was difficult to find gifts . Anyways, I have told them that I will be happy to receive more number of small gifts than one huge gift .
So a budget was fixed because there were some known gifts I wanted to buy, nothing special, they could have been classified against my normal expenses/splurges as well. But when you say a Bday gift, you do it without guilt, isn't it ? :D

Hmmm....have you reached until here? I haven't even started :D
My planned gifts were definitely some books and crafty things, so I searched for lot of patterns and charts and spent many hours on the internet and then gave up :( I was surprised but each time I felt I wasn't convinced to buy anything . And at the end of each surfing session, it was like I have lots, I don't need anything . Then I decided that I will splurge half the amount and remaining half I will donate . But few days after I could not come up with even for half the budget. No, no, don't think the budget is huge . It is decent for a 40th B'day and is in Indian currency so no need to get jealous ;)

And since the budget was supposed to be inclusive of what Raj and Anshita want to give, I could not have been mean to spend all and go over budget to accommodate their gifts . But still being a little selfish, I wanted to have what I want and not just what I was being gifted. So I again turned greedy :) Finally, I decided to have what I want within the limit and leaving them some part of budget to use . Do you think why I am talking about budget for Bday gifts? That's because few years back we used to spend a lot on Bday gifts and then we thought it is not needed so just keep it simple every year unless it is a milestone Bday.

I have kept a basket and I am adding the known gifts as and when I am receiving those . When Anshita and Raj saw that, they started to put their gifts, one per day in the basket .  The next day, that gift is replaced with another :) Those are the teasers and I am not suppose to open until my Birthday. They didn't had any plans to put in basket though, basket was my girly way of enjoying but I guess he is doing that because Anshita is still not capable of keeping secrets smartly :)

You made it until here? You are the real friend ;) A friend who reads is a friend indeed :D

But do you think I forgot about the donating part I mentioned ? Nope, after all these tantrums, I decided that I will donate the equivalent amount of total gifts from my account . I know my expenses and it is upto Raj to tell me how much he want to add his. If he wants me to donate more, he have the option of inflating his budget :) In this way, I will keep track of not spending too much. Gift or donation, whatever, we will end up with double expense on family . My Birthday is on 13th, so we usually don't have any gifts left until Valentine day .

Yes, I am done now, tired, I need food :)

Have a nice day!
Preeti