More on this later, but this is a short note to say that I am moved and starting to settle in. Now on to the really important stuff… Stitching! 
After not touching a needle for a week, (Withdrawal was starting to settle in) I finally picked up my needle and started something new: A little piece for my new kitchen.
My new apartment is cute, cozy, and has a retro-kitchen… in that lovely(?) avocado green (DMC 471) color that was so popular in the mid-seventies. However, while I was cleaning said avocado green counter top, it occurred to me that the color was not dissimilar to the color of the cacti that I have been seeing around my new West Texas home.
This gave me an idea: Instead of looking at my kitchen and seeing puke green, I should embrace the color as the basis of a southwest decorating scheme for my kitchen. With this thought in mind, I immediately remembered some patterns I had seen in the March 2006 issue of Cross Stitch & Needlework. Minutes later I was rummaging through my yet-unpacked cross stitch stuff and found what I was looking for.
“A Taste of the Southwest” was designed by Laurel Blake and is a series of seven southwest designs, including cacti, pottery, chili peppers, and horse shoes. As shown in the magazine, the charts are designed for a different dish towel every day of the week.
I have chosen to start with the Friday Cactus, but will leave the day of the week off. (The rest of the series may be stitched at my discretion.) After I finish the stitching, I plan to finish it into an ornament/wall hanging and display it in my kitchen.