A friend of mine is short on sponsors for his MS walk. He's willing to walk it in a Tutu if he can just raise the money. Every little bit helps. You can help him here!!
Problems are the price you pay for progress. Branch Rickey
If problems result in progress why am I where I was 3 years ago now. The boss's other assistant quit today. That leaves me doing the computer work, the claims supervisor's job and all the executive work - exactly what I was doing 3 years ago but this time, I'm getting paid more.
1) who was your favorite band/musican when you were younger? When I was in high school I developed a crush on a poet. I found out that he loved the Moody Blues and Yes. So I looked into those bands. I fell for the Moody Blues. 2) why? Something in the music and the lyrics clicked with me. Yes, I understood immediately that Nights in White Satin was about death and the white satin referred to a coffin lining. 3) Are they still your favorite/one of your favorites? Yes 4) What is your favorite of their songs? Dear Diary (as long as it has the H-bomb line), In the Beginning, Are you Sitting Comfortably, pretty much everything thing off the On the Threshold of a Dream album (yes, I have it on vinyl). 5) Are there any specific lyrics you hold dear? In the Beginning: First Man: I think, I think I am, therefore I am, I think. Establishment: Of course you are my bright little star, I've miles And miles Of files, Pretty files of your forefather's fruit and now to suit our great computer, You’re magnetic ink. First Man: I'm more than that, I know I am, at least, I think I must be. Inner Man: There you go man, keep as cool as you can. Face piles And piles Of trials With smiles. It riles them to believe that you perceive the web they weave. Keep on thinking free.
I was informed last night that I can have bushels of apricots, free this year. They'll even pick them for me. I love apricot jam and I haven't made fruit leather in ages. Sounds like I may be canning this weekend.
As I get older, I find myself withdrawing from stressful situations where in the past; I would have cannonballed into the muck. This can be damaging at work and in places where aggression is required. I’ve always considered myself an alpha pack member and it’s killing me when I look at my recent beta behaviour. What happened to my spine? My DH says it’s because I’ve grown a brain now that I’m thinking before reacting. Frankly, I think I’ve just gotten lazy. It’s either that or the situation I’m in now doesn’t really matter and if I don’t care, why should I expend the energy?
Last night was a momentous occasion. DS#2 boxed up his ABC blankie and put it in my cedar chest. It was traumatic but I think it helped him when he saw that I had baby clothes that he wore and that there were things from when I was little in there. DS#1 was fascinated by the gold cords from the National Honor Society that I still have in the chest. I explained to him how I got them and he announced that he was going to have a set at his graduation. If he keeps up the grades that he has now, he’ll be able to do it for sure. It was a nice trip down memory lane although I almost cried when DS#2 solemnly put ABC’s sealed box in the cedar chest and then hurried from the room. I’m just glad that ABC survived that last trip through the washer and dryer.
It’s amazing how a small decision can effect the rest of your life. If I had finished out the interview process with the alphabet agency that was drooling over me in college, I would probably be living in Virginia instead of here. I definitely wouldn’t be working for my little brother. Even if I hadn’t received that job, if I had held out for a new job instead of going with the sure thing, my life would be very different.
Would you consider yourself ‘addicted to stitching’? Why or why not?
If you consider addicted to stitching in the same light as addicted to running or addicted to exercise then: yes, I’m addicted to stitching. If you consider all addictions to be bad then it may not be possible to be addicted to stitching. But then again – I know people that spend money that should go to paying off bills on stitching, I don’t know of anyone that has put stitching before food or clothing for their kids. But I’ll admit to putting both stitching and quilting before housework. I’ll admit that a finishing frenzy can interfere with personal relationships. I’ve never called in sick to work just so I can stitch but that could happen. I’m spending my vacation at a stitching getaway this summer. I don’t obsess about it. Although I do have a picture of my current focus project on my desktop at work, it’s only there to motivate me to get busy and finish my work so I can go home and work on my project. Most of my friends deal with stitching or quilting. Although I really should enlarge that circle to include more local people along with all my online friends.
1. What color ink pen do you like best? I have a lovely purple pen that I like to use at home. 2. Do you prefer plain paper or paper with lines (notebook paper)? Graph paper works better when your designing cross-stitch patterns. 3. What's better: books from the library, or reading online? Books from the bookstore that you get to savor over and over again. 4. Which would you rather get, e-mail or snail mail? I like the frequency of email but snail mail from friends usually contain surprises! 5. Do you have a paperweight on your desk? Yes, it’s called a stapler.
[i]I have observed that the world has suffered far less from ignorance than from pretensions to knowledge. It is not skeptics or explorers but fanatics and ideologues who menace decency and progress. No agnostic ever burned anyone at the stake or tortured a pagan, a heretic, or an unbeliever. [/i] [b] Daniel J. Boorstin [/b]
[i]The toughest thing about the power of trust is that it's very difficult to build and very easy to destroy. [/i][b]Thomas J. Watson [/b]
It’s strange just how easy it is to destroy trust, a word from someone, who you don’t know well, warning you about something, a chance comment that festers instead of being clarified, an action that is out of character from someone you think you know well. Pressure and stress do strange things to people. It brings out character traits that normally stay hidden. It causes us to behave in ways that we wouldn’t under normal circumstances. When it’s friends that hurt, you hurt with them. When it’s total strangers, sometimes you just want to make popcorn and enjoy the show.
How do you choose a project? What “calls” to you the most?
Lots of things call to me and there are some designers I collect just to collect. Let's face it, I'm probably never going to stitch Floral Bellpull or English Cottage Sampler or Stone Roses - Although it's growing on me.
What decides to get stitched is usually determined by where I can picture the finished product. Teresa Wentzler's rocking horses ([url=www.twdesignworks.com]TW Designworks[/url] ) decided that they wanted to be throw pillows and thus got stitched, [url=http://www.enchantinglair.com...]Enchanting Lair's Fire Dancer [/url] is announcing that she want's to be in Ixy's room, the [url=http://www.mirabilia.com/cros...]Mirabilia[/url] Queens want to rotate on a quarterly basis in the room of endless holding, Stone Roses (also Mirabilia) is suggesting that she might be an excellent foil to DH's artwork in the entry way. But I'm still not sure that I believe her.
The claims manager gave her 2 weeks notice today. This means that all of my allies in the office are gone now. So, either I find something new, or I make new alliances. Considering the options that have been hired since the new HR person took over, this isn't a good option with the exception being the accounting person.
And I bet you TWBB'ers thought I was referring to something else, didn't you?
I hate when friends are hurting, especially when it appears that what they’re blaming themselves for is not under their control. Sometimes it’s the fault of upper management being lied to by the middle. Sometimes it’s vindictive petty people looking to make themselves feel better by trampling others. Sometimes it’s just a build of of lots of little things. There are times I just want to wrap my arms around my friends and say, “Let’s head out for some decent Thai food and forget this mess.” On the other side, some people enjoy being victims, which I’ve never quite been able to fathom although I see it a lot. They see injury in everything whether it was intended or not. My mother in law was one who believed that God hated her, the government was out to get her and if her kids got married, they couldn’t love her and their spouses. It made for an interesting home life. It’s been interesting combining two differing life cultures into one. Cynicism and optimism don’t always mix well but if done right leads to a balanced nature. At least that’s what I hope the kids see.
[i]"If you don't invest very much, then defeat doesn't hurt very much and winning is not very exciting." -- Dick Vermeil[/i]
Maybe this is why I haven’t been looking really hard for a new job? I don't have much invested where I am and the pain of it is familiar. But I don't have many successes either.
There is something fantastic about having a hot bagel out of the oven in Salt Lake City for breakfast and dinner on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco that same night.
