My Easter recess is more than half over and I have been enjoying the break from normal routines.  I have gotten in a lot more stitching time and the rotation method appears to be working quite nicely for me.  I am moving along with my projects without suffering from boredom.  And if I feel like lingering on a particular project a little longer than the rotation stipulates, well: I made the rules so I guess I can break them if I choose.  I did exactly that yesterday, finishing up the windows and starting on the sign on The Cross Stitch Shop from the Indy Town Square series.  Now all that's left is the over one background of the sign which I  am stitching in a tent stitch laid out in the basket weave method and a few specialty stitches here and there.  I should be able to finish that today which would give me my first cross stitch finish of 2013.  And that would still leave me four Tuesdays in April to stitch The Framing Shop.  I need to double up on the Town Square ornaments for the next three months if I am to meet my annual goal of one a month from this series.  I'll post a photo when I have a finish, sewing and assembly included.

The weather is beginning to warm, at least during the day.  We still drop to the 20s overnight.  Still, it won't be long before I can stitch on the patio and enjoy all the natural light and fresh air.  I live in a rather densely populated town house development and sometimes the noise from neighbors can be a bit of a trial but that's to be expected.  My neighbor to the left just bought a pit bull puppy who seems to think my backyard is part of his territory.  I wonder how long it will take before he gets used to my presence and ceases to bark every time I venture out at the same time he is enjoying a bit of fresh air, too.  I approach the fence and talk to him to get him used to my scent and my voice.  I figure we'll make friends eventually.  The folks next yard beyond the puppy are the real problem: whiny, argumentative children one of whom is a world class tantrum thrower, inconsiderate adults who have no sense of volume control [either for their music or their own voices].  Parenthetical Question:  Why do loud voices speaking a foreign language always sound like a violent argument is in progress?  For all I know, the speakers could be discussing a grocery list!  I don't mind happy noise, especially from children.  I can deal with the varying tastes of my neighbors when it comes to music: punk, salsa, ethnic folk, even, God protect and save me, rap ... as long as it is not at ear-splitting volume.  I figure you just have to accept noise if you choose to live in a town house.  It's not like I'm not used to close quarters.  I grew up in Brooklyn, in a two story house just two lots in from a major avenue ... plenty of traffic and people noise.  Those who desire absolute silence should live on mountaintops or desert islands or the far side of the Moon.  But it is wearing to hear a constant barrage of whining, crying, screaming, arguing.  A CD player with headphones is often the best friend this old lady has!  But if I just have patience the whiny, tantrum throwing children will grow older and abandon the backyard in favor of our relatively traffic free street as a playground for bike riding and ball playing.  Or the family could move out of the neighborhood.  And I'll enjoy a relatively quiet backyard again.