After lots of cat cuddling and talking with both Erich and my original manager at work (who seems to be having similar issues to mine), I'm feeling a bit better. Between their support and the emails and comments I received from you all, I really do feel better. Thank you to everyone who gave advice-- on a variety of the issues. :)
I really do try to not spew forth vitrol about situations, but every once in a while I just hit that wall, and last week was most definitely one of them. *sigh*
Anyway... here are the things circling my brain today...
Wedding: The more I think about it, the more I really, really want to pursue Mount Hope Farm. It just feels right. But before that really goes forward, I'd like Erich to see it-- so we're going to see about arranging a quick look-see next weekend (in early August) for him, and then when Mom comes up, go forward with booking. While both Erich and I were easy going about having any day of the week for the wedding... my mom said on Monday that she really wanted to keep it on a Saturday. In the spirit of "pick your battles," that's fine. If she's willing to drop $1,000 more just because it's the most popular day, I'll go with it.
And I already have a caterer in mind, who comes with good reviews from a couple of co-workers who have been to events they've done, plus the event planner at Mount Hope Farm.
So as of right now, if everything works out right... we're shooting for September 2007 with an old-fashioned New England clam bake.
Bugs: Aside from the REALLY FRIGGIN HUGE Junebug that scared the crap out of me at Park Street station last night (dude... any three inch long bug that lands and then crawls on my shoulder is going to result in a very big EEP! and freak-out flailing from me), our bug problem seems to be quieting down. With the cat food removed from the kitchen floor, the ants have disappeared in the kitchen. I'm well aware that it takes very little to entice them back (having dealt with the aggressive ants in California at my mom's former houses), so we're going forward with the scrubbing & spraying/baiting with taro plans for the weekend. Once everything's set in the kitchen, I'll be doing the cat dishes/plates in water trick for the summer and early fall, and see how things go. I imagine that Noby will ensure that there are wet paw prints on everything once that water's down... but hey, it's better than the ants. :)
Elly has also ensured that our house remains flying bug free, being the Mighty Huntress that catches (and of course immediately eats) anything that manages to fly in when we open the screen door. We've watched her stalk the house, staring at the ceiling a few times.
Illness: Finally starting to feel better, although I think there's something coming out of the air vents at work that is causing me to cough more. It only seems to really affect me at my desk. Last night, after one of those "settle down" coughing fits, I finally got about 5.5 hours of solid sleep... almost my normal nighttime average. I felt surprisingly rested this morning when I woke up.
Journals: All but one of my journals for the 1001 Journals Project are now enroute to the first person on the list. The last one will go out Friday. I'm psyched to see what happens with them!
Stitching: Due to being sick, I really wasn't able to stitch as I'd hoped this past weekend or much so far this week. I just didn't have the focus to read the patterns. :( Last night I managed to get about an hour done on Apache, but an hour equalled perhaps 30-40 stitches because I started to cough a lot. I'm hoping that I can plunk down tonight and tomorrow (backstitching slot) and really push Apache forward. If I keep moving, I'll get all of the cross-stitching done plus perhaps a bit of backstitching done on the left border of the piece.
I'm also trying to decide which of my Teresa Wentzler pieces I'm going to put into the UFO ("Unfinished Objects") Round Robin that starts in September... or if I should reconsider and find something else. As I mentioned a couple entries ago... I'm leaning toward Magical Night. I also have Millennium, Floral Bellpull, Fantasy Triptych and Noah's Ark that I *could* send. Magical Night is probably the most straight-forward design (other than Floral Bellpull). It is quarter-stitch and backstitch heavy, but no over-one stitching. Due to all of the over-one (and really predominantly over-one), Noah's Ark may not be a good choice, even though it is otherwise probably the easiest TW piece I have sitting around. Millennium has a mix of over-one and standard stitching to do, and would probably be a good piece to move along. I'm going to alter the wording at the bottom, though... but haven't decided what I want it to say. Floral Bellpull would be fine to send, but with all of the fantasy TW stitching I'm interested in, I thinking that the bellpull would be a nice change for my own stitching... but still might be a good one to consider sending. Fantasy Triptych is absolutely impractical, due to the weight of the thread with the kit-- with everything in a large ziplock bag, it literally weighs more than Elly does. I'm not going to ask people to spend the money to send 6+ pounds of stitching materials around the world.
So right now, I'm deciding between Magical Night, Millennium, and Floral Bellpull. I'm still thinking Magical Night is the most practical to send. Of course... with over a month still to go before sending it out into the world, who knows. I'll probably change my mind four more times. :)
But yeah... I'm feeling better, and working on being myself again... :)
26 July 2006
24 July 2006
Annoyances big and small...
I've had to prevent myself from posting after a rather nasty Thursday morning at work. For the better part of my waking hours since then, I've been silently - and occasionally not so silently - fuming about it. I'll be going into detail more with the notify list because some of it's probably not good to post on my journal. I'm planning on beginning the search very quickly for a new job. I'm just... done. Sick of the bullshit. Just... done.
The only thing right now that I'm waiting to do is to book a date and place for my wedding. Once that's set, my focus will go to job hunting. If I try to do both at once, my brain will explode and I won't get either done. So pacing is the key. All of the other wedding stuff (flowers, dress, etc.) will fall into place fairly quickly because I've had wedding on the brain in some form for 18 months now.
Another large annoyance lately has been the damned commuter rail trains. While the trains are never all that great, the last two weeks have been downright shitty with the train schedules. Last Tuesday, Erich and I were catching the 7:50 a.m. train from South Attleboro into Boston, and wound up having a 2 hour, 45 minute train ride as our train was instructed to become a rescue train for the 7:10 train from Providence that apparently died on the track and had been sitting there for about 30 minutes. It took over 40 minutes just to hook up to the broken train. And then, with the train being 14 cars long (and twice as long as the stations), we had to make two stops at every station.
Add to that the issue of air-conditioning on the trains... or the lack of it lately. Metal frame trains running all day in the blazing sun = vicious discomfort in 85+ degree heat. The air circulators are blasting hot air into some of the cars, making them intolerable to stay in for more than five minutes. One day last week, we just wanted to sit down and dealt with it. By the time we got home, we regretted the decision. Any complaints to the MBTA are ignored.
This evening, I arrived to South Station in Boston (where I always meet Erich) to find a horde of people just standing around... never a good sign. All of the trains were running late. At about the time the 6:10 train to Providence is supposed to be leaving, they finally announce that it's boarding... on track 4. Erich and I scoot out there, get on the train, and celebrate that we found a seat on a car with air-conditioning... something that has become extremely rare on the commuter trains.
About five minutes later, a couple guys get on the train and say to no one in particular "are you guys going to Providence? Because they switched the train... it's now on track 6. This one is going to Worcester." Mind you-- we're physically on the train. In fact, the train's about 3/4 full at this point. No MBTA official has bothered to announce this TO the people sitting on the train, so no one has a clue. Erich and I scoot off, and he sees a conductor standing over on Track 6. He yells over to verify that Providence is in fact leaving on Track 6.. yes. It is. We have to walk all the way back down the boarding platform, go around the bend, and get on the NEXT platform to walk all the way back down to catch this new train. And it's immediately a winceable situation. Not only is the train short one car, but we're now being stuffed onto an entirely single-level car train (the other was all double-deckers) which is entirely too small for the line we take home. And as we get on the train? No A/C. For two cars out of five.
We don't get a seat now-- we get to stand. For a while. And as people pack on the train over the next two stops, it gets so crowded that the doors can't shut. People are turned away from the train. Just to add insult to injury, the train is CREAKING about as slowly as it can possibly go and still be moving most of the way home. We finally get home at 8 p.m.-- significantly later than should have happened.
The kicker on this is that any complaints to the MBTA are met with silence. They claim they're fixing the trains. They claim that due to the horrible accident in the Big Dig tunnels a couple weeks ago, they've added additional trains to help divert commute traffic. No-- they haven't. Maybe they've added some buses, but no trains. In fact, I'd argue that the trains are shorter these days and therefore much more packed.
And as of January, they want to raise my monthly pass fee to $250 a month. A full 25% increase. Yeah... because I see the value of adding that much money to my commute. For what? Shitty trains that neither work nor run on time? And of course... there's the parking fees on top of that. Gee, what a value.
Screw that. Yet another reason to find a new job.
A slightly smaller annoyances from work... Erich and I have both caught the latest incarnation of the commuter train plague. It's yet another cold-- continuing my streak of not being healthy for a single month this year. Once again, Halls drops have become my lifeline to not looking like an idiot as I cough myself to death. I haven't had a full night sleep in three nights due to this damn thing. I envy Erich, who seems to be able to sleep all night. I think I'm running on 3 days of 4 hour sleep intervals now.
On an even smaller annoyance scale: We're dealing with an infestation of teeny tiny ants in the kitchen. So far, the infestation has been limited- they're bee-lining straight for the cats' canned food plate. *sigh* So for the time being, the cat food has been removed from the kitchen and moved clear across the house into the sun room in clean bowls fresh from the dishwasher. I wiped the area with vinegar tonight to eliminate the scent trail. This weekend I'm going to scrub the entire kitchen floor with a one part bleach to ten parts water mix. We'll also need to hit Lowes or Home Depot to pick up some stuff to spray on the outside of the house. Any recommendations?
But in trying to end this entry on a good note... I think I found the place for the wedding. I've mentioned it before in my journal as a possibility, I think- Mount Hope Farm. I absolutely loved it. It's not yet booked. I'm going to look at a couple more places first... but by the end of August, I will officially have a date (gasp!). My mother needs to physically be here to put her credit card down as the holding deposit due to both Erich and I being extremely po'. After talking with her tonight, she's going to try to get up here during the latter half of August for a couple days to go see Mount Hope and possibly another couple places before we make a final decision.
I need another vacation.
The only thing right now that I'm waiting to do is to book a date and place for my wedding. Once that's set, my focus will go to job hunting. If I try to do both at once, my brain will explode and I won't get either done. So pacing is the key. All of the other wedding stuff (flowers, dress, etc.) will fall into place fairly quickly because I've had wedding on the brain in some form for 18 months now.
Another large annoyance lately has been the damned commuter rail trains. While the trains are never all that great, the last two weeks have been downright shitty with the train schedules. Last Tuesday, Erich and I were catching the 7:50 a.m. train from South Attleboro into Boston, and wound up having a 2 hour, 45 minute train ride as our train was instructed to become a rescue train for the 7:10 train from Providence that apparently died on the track and had been sitting there for about 30 minutes. It took over 40 minutes just to hook up to the broken train. And then, with the train being 14 cars long (and twice as long as the stations), we had to make two stops at every station.
Add to that the issue of air-conditioning on the trains... or the lack of it lately. Metal frame trains running all day in the blazing sun = vicious discomfort in 85+ degree heat. The air circulators are blasting hot air into some of the cars, making them intolerable to stay in for more than five minutes. One day last week, we just wanted to sit down and dealt with it. By the time we got home, we regretted the decision. Any complaints to the MBTA are ignored.
This evening, I arrived to South Station in Boston (where I always meet Erich) to find a horde of people just standing around... never a good sign. All of the trains were running late. At about the time the 6:10 train to Providence is supposed to be leaving, they finally announce that it's boarding... on track 4. Erich and I scoot out there, get on the train, and celebrate that we found a seat on a car with air-conditioning... something that has become extremely rare on the commuter trains.
About five minutes later, a couple guys get on the train and say to no one in particular "are you guys going to Providence? Because they switched the train... it's now on track 6. This one is going to Worcester." Mind you-- we're physically on the train. In fact, the train's about 3/4 full at this point. No MBTA official has bothered to announce this TO the people sitting on the train, so no one has a clue. Erich and I scoot off, and he sees a conductor standing over on Track 6. He yells over to verify that Providence is in fact leaving on Track 6.. yes. It is. We have to walk all the way back down the boarding platform, go around the bend, and get on the NEXT platform to walk all the way back down to catch this new train. And it's immediately a winceable situation. Not only is the train short one car, but we're now being stuffed onto an entirely single-level car train (the other was all double-deckers) which is entirely too small for the line we take home. And as we get on the train? No A/C. For two cars out of five.
We don't get a seat now-- we get to stand. For a while. And as people pack on the train over the next two stops, it gets so crowded that the doors can't shut. People are turned away from the train. Just to add insult to injury, the train is CREAKING about as slowly as it can possibly go and still be moving most of the way home. We finally get home at 8 p.m.-- significantly later than should have happened.
The kicker on this is that any complaints to the MBTA are met with silence. They claim they're fixing the trains. They claim that due to the horrible accident in the Big Dig tunnels a couple weeks ago, they've added additional trains to help divert commute traffic. No-- they haven't. Maybe they've added some buses, but no trains. In fact, I'd argue that the trains are shorter these days and therefore much more packed.
And as of January, they want to raise my monthly pass fee to $250 a month. A full 25% increase. Yeah... because I see the value of adding that much money to my commute. For what? Shitty trains that neither work nor run on time? And of course... there's the parking fees on top of that. Gee, what a value.
Screw that. Yet another reason to find a new job.
A slightly smaller annoyances from work... Erich and I have both caught the latest incarnation of the commuter train plague. It's yet another cold-- continuing my streak of not being healthy for a single month this year. Once again, Halls drops have become my lifeline to not looking like an idiot as I cough myself to death. I haven't had a full night sleep in three nights due to this damn thing. I envy Erich, who seems to be able to sleep all night. I think I'm running on 3 days of 4 hour sleep intervals now.
On an even smaller annoyance scale: We're dealing with an infestation of teeny tiny ants in the kitchen. So far, the infestation has been limited- they're bee-lining straight for the cats' canned food plate. *sigh* So for the time being, the cat food has been removed from the kitchen and moved clear across the house into the sun room in clean bowls fresh from the dishwasher. I wiped the area with vinegar tonight to eliminate the scent trail. This weekend I'm going to scrub the entire kitchen floor with a one part bleach to ten parts water mix. We'll also need to hit Lowes or Home Depot to pick up some stuff to spray on the outside of the house. Any recommendations?
But in trying to end this entry on a good note... I think I found the place for the wedding. I've mentioned it before in my journal as a possibility, I think- Mount Hope Farm. I absolutely loved it. It's not yet booked. I'm going to look at a couple more places first... but by the end of August, I will officially have a date (gasp!). My mother needs to physically be here to put her credit card down as the holding deposit due to both Erich and I being extremely po'. After talking with her tonight, she's going to try to get up here during the latter half of August for a couple days to go see Mount Hope and possibly another couple places before we make a final decision.
I need another vacation.
17 July 2006
New stitching rotation
I'm trying a new rotation through the end of October to see if this system works for me... I'm realizing I just can't work on an hourly rotation. :(
I'm doing a day-specific rotation with a travel slot for my train commute in and out of Boston (where I'll stitch a smaller piece). In September, I'll be participating in my first round robin, so I want to make sure I provide ample time for that, too.
Apache Wedding Blessing is a gift for a friend (she knows it's coming). Ideally I'd like to have it done by her anniversary in October, but I'm more likely to have it done for Christmas.
Commuting piece: Home Is Where the Cat Is (mini version)
Mondays: TW SAL- Egyptian Sampler
Tuesday: Apache Wedding Blessing
Wednesdays: UFO RR (starting in Sept. Until then, Apache Wedding)
Thursdays: Backstitching (any project that needs it)
Friday: Cat pieces: Cats on a Staircase
Saturday: Open day (usually busy with other things...)
Sunday: UFO RR (start in Sept. Until then, Apache Wedding)
I'm doing a day-specific rotation with a travel slot for my train commute in and out of Boston (where I'll stitch a smaller piece). In September, I'll be participating in my first round robin, so I want to make sure I provide ample time for that, too.
Apache Wedding Blessing is a gift for a friend (she knows it's coming). Ideally I'd like to have it done by her anniversary in October, but I'm more likely to have it done for Christmas.
Commuting piece: Home Is Where the Cat Is (mini version)
Mondays: TW SAL- Egyptian Sampler
Tuesday: Apache Wedding Blessing
Wednesdays: UFO RR (starting in Sept. Until then, Apache Wedding)
Thursdays: Backstitching (any project that needs it)
Friday: Cat pieces: Cats on a Staircase
Saturday: Open day (usually busy with other things...)
Sunday: UFO RR (start in Sept. Until then, Apache Wedding)
15 July 2006
The yard keeps growing
I have to boast about my tomato plants because I'm shocked at how many are growing. The cherry tomato bush on the right has over 30 on it. I'll be eating homegrown tomatoes in a matter of weeks. I can't wait. :)
I've uploaded a group of new yard photos to my Flickr account... things have changed a bit since we moved in at the end of June last year. Other than potted plants (and my one little hydrangea), we haven't changed anything yet in the yard... just doing upkeep. We're still a bit behind with weeding, but for the most part we're now doing quite well with it. All of the rain this year has it looking nice and lush.
I took all of the photos here about a half-hour ago after we finished mowing and attacking the poison ivy.. again.
More to write about tomorrow-- Erich and I are hoping to get to the drive-in this evening to see Pirates again. Happy weekend, all!
I've uploaded a group of new yard photos to my Flickr account... things have changed a bit since we moved in at the end of June last year. Other than potted plants (and my one little hydrangea), we haven't changed anything yet in the yard... just doing upkeep. We're still a bit behind with weeding, but for the most part we're now doing quite well with it. All of the rain this year has it looking nice and lush.
I took all of the photos here about a half-hour ago after we finished mowing and attacking the poison ivy.. again.
More to write about tomorrow-- Erich and I are hoping to get to the drive-in this evening to see Pirates again. Happy weekend, all!
14 July 2006
Rotation planning
Now that I have The Castle out of the way, I'm trying to come up with my new rotation for stitching. All things considered, I haven't really been doing well to make my 2006 stitching goals. But I know why-- World of Warcraft. It's sucked away a ton of my time. For the second half of the year, I want to balance that a bit more.
So, fellow stitchers, I'll give the info that I have on my stitching habits. Please give me any advice you have on making a workable rotation. :)
My rotation history: For 2006, it's been non-existant. I've really only stitched on two pieces all year in a bit of a screaming fashion. In 2005, though, I was a 10 hour minimum stitcher, but would continue for another 10 hours or so on a piece that I found myself motivated to work. I only had a 6 slot rotation, but it would often take me 2-3 months to complete it.
My original goals for 2006: 1) Finish 2 TW's (not going to happen. I finished one. I'm considering this complete.)
2) Finish both wedding samplers (again.. not going to happen... revising to one.)
3) Finish five other pieces (I've finished one other so far.)
Obligations: My biggest obligation is Apache Wedding Blessing, which is a gift for my friend Ivanna. It's currently at about 25% done (not counting backstitching). Ideally, I'd like to finish it for her anniversary the first weekend of October. Realistically, I'm shooting for this Christmas.
I also have signed up for the UFO Round Robin over on Worldwide RR's. That will begin mailing on September 11th, and I'll have six weeks to do approximately 20 hours of stitching on each project before mailing it and receiving the next one. Since I have so many floating in UFO land, I will be selecting one of my Teresa Wentzler pieces to send on this RR. (I'm leaning toward Magical Night).
Non-stitching obligation is to plan my wedding. We are having a more casual wedding, so once I get a place reserved, I should be in good shape. Right now I'm shooting for a spring '07 wedding.
Weekly timeframe: On an average week, I currently do about 10 hours of stitching. If I cut into the WorldofWarcraft addiction a bit, I would add another 3 hours on weekends. :) My stitching time breaks down to about the following:
Weekdays: 1 to 2 hours stitching on the train. Tuesdays at lunch (for office Stitch & Bitch). Rest is in the evenings at home-- about an hour per night.
Weekends: Flexible schedule.
Other UFO/WIPs: None of these are a priority to finish, so they can be added or subtracted to my rotation in whatever fashion. For those not as familiar with the individual pieces, I'm including the size of the piece. If this list doesn't excite you, a (roughly) full list of what I have is here (from the StRIP board).
One TW Piece (currently Egyptian Sampler) - XL piece
Cats on a Staircase (Bucilla) - L piece
Elemental Dragons- fire is done, need the other four (Dragon Dreams) - S piece
Astrology Sampler (Witches Stitches) - M piece
Fantasy Wedding Blessing (Dragon Dreams) - M/L piece
Smoky Mountain Cats (Pegasus) - L piece
Home is Where the Cat Is (Leisure Arts mini) - S piece
Why I Love New England (Sampler Needlework) - XL piece
Leaping Cat (La-D-Da) - M piece
Mirror Mirror (Abbey Lane Designs) - M piece
Things I'd really like to fit into the rotation...: So here are ideas that I'd like to incorporate if possible...
1) A focus on Apache to get it done
2) A backstitching slot, for both Apache and TW's
3) Some way to fit the RR in... Rose on the rotation board suggested a Sunday/Wednesday RR slot.
4) A definite TW slot-- I have a ton of her pieces I want to do, so I need to have one going in every rotation
5) A definite cat-related piece slot, for the same reason
Other than that, the pieces I work, the number of pieces, etc. is completely open...
So... whatcha think? :)
So, fellow stitchers, I'll give the info that I have on my stitching habits. Please give me any advice you have on making a workable rotation. :)
My rotation history: For 2006, it's been non-existant. I've really only stitched on two pieces all year in a bit of a screaming fashion. In 2005, though, I was a 10 hour minimum stitcher, but would continue for another 10 hours or so on a piece that I found myself motivated to work. I only had a 6 slot rotation, but it would often take me 2-3 months to complete it.
My original goals for 2006: 1) Finish 2 TW's (not going to happen. I finished one. I'm considering this complete.)
2) Finish both wedding samplers (again.. not going to happen... revising to one.)
3) Finish five other pieces (I've finished one other so far.)
Obligations: My biggest obligation is Apache Wedding Blessing, which is a gift for my friend Ivanna. It's currently at about 25% done (not counting backstitching). Ideally, I'd like to finish it for her anniversary the first weekend of October. Realistically, I'm shooting for this Christmas.
I also have signed up for the UFO Round Robin over on Worldwide RR's. That will begin mailing on September 11th, and I'll have six weeks to do approximately 20 hours of stitching on each project before mailing it and receiving the next one. Since I have so many floating in UFO land, I will be selecting one of my Teresa Wentzler pieces to send on this RR. (I'm leaning toward Magical Night).
Non-stitching obligation is to plan my wedding. We are having a more casual wedding, so once I get a place reserved, I should be in good shape. Right now I'm shooting for a spring '07 wedding.
Weekly timeframe: On an average week, I currently do about 10 hours of stitching. If I cut into the WorldofWarcraft addiction a bit, I would add another 3 hours on weekends. :) My stitching time breaks down to about the following:
Weekdays: 1 to 2 hours stitching on the train. Tuesdays at lunch (for office Stitch & Bitch). Rest is in the evenings at home-- about an hour per night.
Weekends: Flexible schedule.
Other UFO/WIPs: None of these are a priority to finish, so they can be added or subtracted to my rotation in whatever fashion. For those not as familiar with the individual pieces, I'm including the size of the piece. If this list doesn't excite you, a (roughly) full list of what I have is here (from the StRIP board).
One TW Piece (currently Egyptian Sampler) - XL piece
Cats on a Staircase (Bucilla) - L piece
Elemental Dragons- fire is done, need the other four (Dragon Dreams) - S piece
Astrology Sampler (Witches Stitches) - M piece
Fantasy Wedding Blessing (Dragon Dreams) - M/L piece
Smoky Mountain Cats (Pegasus) - L piece
Home is Where the Cat Is (Leisure Arts mini) - S piece
Why I Love New England (Sampler Needlework) - XL piece
Leaping Cat (La-D-Da) - M piece
Mirror Mirror (Abbey Lane Designs) - M piece
Things I'd really like to fit into the rotation...: So here are ideas that I'd like to incorporate if possible...
1) A focus on Apache to get it done
2) A backstitching slot, for both Apache and TW's
3) Some way to fit the RR in... Rose on the rotation board suggested a Sunday/Wednesday RR slot.
4) A definite TW slot-- I have a ton of her pieces I want to do, so I need to have one going in every rotation
5) A definite cat-related piece slot, for the same reason
Other than that, the pieces I work, the number of pieces, etc. is completely open...
So... whatcha think? :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
