Mystery Sampler Not Going Well

I have been so busy what with gardening, and housework and all the kids ( you know pick them up from here, take them somewhere thats never near) that I have not done a lot of stitching which is really annoying me know as I have loads that I want to get done.
On Saturday Nicole had a birthday party to go to and since it was at the other side of town I decided to wait there, ( there was a football match on and the traffic was horrendous!) and take my stitching. This way I would get some peace and quiet and be able to get going. We arrived a couple of minutes late which was not bad considering the traffic and the police kept blocking the roads. So I took Nicole and got in the car, and i could have screamed. I had left my bag ( I use the DMC Travel bag) on the kitchen table. So I waited there ( I didn't take any money so I couldn't even buy a magazine) and began counting all the cars that went past ( yes i was that bored) and then played on my phone until it died its death. ( I forgot to charge it up)

By the end of the two hours I was really peeved. I did contemplate on going home and fetching my stuff but by the time I would have got back she would have been coming out. I won't do that again in a hurry!!lol

I have been doing a bit of stitching from the Martina Wiehenburg Mystery Sampler, and so far its not going as well as I would have liked. Its my first real project on Blackwork so I decided to use Aida for it and I now wish I hadn't used the Light Effects Threads. they take so long to do and are always knotting up. I have bought some Thread Heaven to see if this will help, but at the moment it is making stitching really slow.

We will be getting the last page of this soon and I am still not anyway near half finished. The piece that is unfinished in the photo has took my nearly two nights to do, so I will be glad when I can change onto another block!!

Some people on this group have posted some pieces that are nearly finshed and they have used linen and hand dyed fabics which look really good, but Im glad that I choose Aida for this, even though its not as nice. I think I may well have given up on it if not!