Oh, Sweet Bliss That Is Sleep...

and massages.

I was, finally, able to sleep last night. Not my full 10 hours (yes, I really do need that much sleep every night), but enough to able to fuction much better today.

This morning, as I was finishing my breakfast, the Desktop Suppport Manager stopped by to let us know she hired a massuse for the day and to go sign up for a slot. Now I am not one to turn down a massage...EVER. To my glorious delight, the slot were 20 minutes long, and after lunch we were told that many of the techs had cancelled and we could get in a second time.
Oh, I am so relaxed right now, its...lovely? Not the word I'm wanting, but the only one I can come up with right now. I'm blissfully relaxed.

Hubbby declaired tonight to be leftover night at the house, so no cooking for anyone (especially me)! Which means I'll get a chance to pick up the livingroom a little, and work on Tanager for awhile. Eureka is also on. I'm loving the show. The character's interaction are great. Plus, I recognize many of my friends in them.

Did I mention I was relaxed?

Insomniatic musings and SBQ

I hate having insomnia. Even more so when the next day is a weekday. Not even laying in bed for an hour, getting up for an hour is enough to wear me out so I can sleep. And the brain works overtime. I'm picking apart every little thing. Sheesh, even if I passed out right this second, I would only get one and a half hours of sleep before having to get and go to work. Like driving a car would be safe at this point; I'm defiantly NOT 18 anymore.
Luckily I am able to telecommute for work, so as soon as I'm done typing this, I'll login and email my boss letting her know I'll be working from home today, and why. Then leave a note (you know, just in case I really do fall asleep anytime soon) for my husband to have him wake me up by a certain time and only allow me to take 1-one hour nap today. I already have a wet towel in the freezer for if I need "nudging" to wake me up (you take the frozen towel out, run it under cold water to soften it up, lightly squeeze out the excess, and casually drop on the sleeper).

Last week was really rough at work, hence having no time to blog, or do much of anything else (read as: Lisa had no time to stitch, so she had no time to unwind, which made her CRANKY by Wednesday) except to get sick with a cold, which I was nice enough to share with my daughter. I know I gave it to her, and not the other way around, because I had the milder version. Open cubicle and floor concept at work=BAD idea.
However, Friday was my day off, so I played catch-up in the stitching department (much to my numb fingers horror) and worked on Tanager and a piece for the Bakers Dozen RR. No pictures yet, I'll do that later in the week.
Saturday was spent packing Granny's dining room and kitchen. The family is taking turns on the weekend packing up her house, so we can (among several things) replace the floor in her house before she falls through it. We're hoping to have her all packed up in the next three weeks, so that all the repairs needed will be done by Thanksgiving.
Saturday night, hubby and I were supposed to see a friend, who had a gig with her band, but as I was still feeling crummy (and not want to spread the cold), I stayed home and sent hubby out for a night of fun. He had fun, loved the music, and bought their CD (yep, I'm linking it again). However, I have yet to hear it, because he won't give it up.
Sunday was the usual uneventful house cleaning and stitching. Although, I've been watching BBC's ShakespeaRe-told on Sundays lately. Last night's was the retelling of "The Taming of the Shrew", and it was hilarious. Shirley Henderson (Moaning Myrtle from the Harry Potter movies) played Kate (Katherine) and Rufus Sewell (Count Adhemar from "A Knight's Tale") as Pete (Petruchio) were great together. I've added to my list of must have movies. I've always been a fan of Shakespeare, and a little snobbish when it come to the retelling of his works. BUT, I was impressed with this one. It has bumped "10 Things I Hate About You" down the list, but lets be honest. I really like that one for the eye-candy of Heath Ledger.

Time: 4:43 AM and my body is saying it's time to lay down and close my eyes. Now guarantees I'll get sleep, but at least the eyes will get some rest. Also, did you know that the spell check on this thing does not recognize the word 'blog'?

Time: 10:53 AM and still no sleep. I believe I'm on my 20th wind now. Only one cup of caffeine; my morning tea.

A news article caught my eye this morning, "Many in hurricane-prone areas still aren't prepared."
I have to answer that with a big 'ol responding "DUH!"
They people who don't need to panic, do. And the people who need to get the hell out of the path of a catastrophic storm sit back and wait for it.
My husband and I have pretty much agreed that for a Cat 1-3 hurricane, we will stay in our house, as long as the windows get boarded. A Cat 4+, we will vacate to higher ground. Not because we need to worry about flooding or damage (although the trees could cause damage), but because if there is going to be looting, we want to be able to see them coming from a mile or two away, literally. Besides, the farm is the best place to handle living "in the rough", everything is already there.
I must say that hurricanes are good for cleaning out your freezer of food that has been there for awhile. When Hurricane Rita headed towards us, we were eating steak and lobster, chicken and dumplings, and my son was chasing the animals asking if we were going to eat them when the power went off. The dogs were not amused.

On to the :
This weeks SBQ was suggested by Anna M. and is:
What do you keep your WIPs and other stitching supplies in when traveling?

I have a tote bag with an section of Aida on it, that someone sent me (I'm sorry whoever did, I forgot who), on which I stitched the phrase "Need has nothing to do with it". In that I carry at least 2 projects in their own large ziploc bags, one hoop, and a little deco bag (that I receive from Silkweaver when they had their SOTM club) that has a magnetized Needle Nest (with spare needles and straight pins), a pair of folding sissors, a clover cutter, and a needle threader. I also usually carry spare DMC kits and freebies to hand out to people who are interested in what I'm working on. The occational book slips in too.

SBQ and an update

Do you have an organizational system for your fabric? If so, what is it? If not, what do you store your fabric in?
How do people store their fabric, especially those small but potentially usable pieces? Do they sort by count? How do they label it or otherwise know what each piece is?

Me? Organized? Hel yeah!
First all my fabric is labeled with count, color, type, and the size (either on the package from the manufacturer or a piece of paper I fold into the fabric). Then they are sorted by count and put in labeled gallon size ziploc bags (which are left open to breathe) and stored in a huge basket in my closet (you can fit 3 newborn babies end eo end in the basket).
To top all that off, I have everything in my Organized Expressions for Needleworkers software, which makes it easier to hunt down what fabric I need or want to use. I just pull up together all the floss for a project, then open up the software, look at demensions I need, and the possible colored fabric to go with it. Then after narrowing the choices down, i go to the closet and pull out the fabric for a floss toss. At the most I'll pull out 5 different fabrics, so I don't have to do alot of digging.
After I've cut off the amount I need, remeasure the remaining fabric, change the label, and update my software. It make take a little extra time, but in the long run makes thing easier.
I've been considering having a separate bag for ornament/bookmark size pieces, but I don't really have enough 'scaps' at the moment to justify it (in my own head, at least).

AND I have finally gotten a chance to download progress pictures of a couple of projects. The first is "Snowcones", a freebie from Michaels.com.

by libhita

Also finally got a picture of a Janlynn Kit "Tanager with Tulips" that I've been working on.

by libhita

As always, you can see the progress pictures of everything I'm working on in my Webshots alblum.

The differences between girls and boys

A very amusing thing happened this past weekend...

My daughter (12) wanted to spend the night at her friend's house, but since the same friend was going to be staying at our house the next night, she wasn't sure if we would allow it. So she asked her dad if it would be alright (I wasn't home from work yet). Her dad asked her why she wanted to have sleepover's back-to-back. DD, thinking the dad would be mad at the whole truth, starts telling half-truths; she wants to help her friend clean her room, etc. DH's answer, "No", because he's thinking that DD is holding something back and maybe that something is that she's going to sneak out of the house, or something else.

I get home and DD comes to me crying that dad doesn't understand her anymore and she feels that he doesn't want to. I finally get her calmed down enough to tell me the whole story and that she wants a sleep over because to just wants to spend more time with her friend.

Did you know that guys do not have sleepovers with their friend, just to spend time and talk with them? That is very much a girl thing.

So after giggling a little (and explaining to DD that I wasn't laughing at her), I asked my daughter, "Has your dad ever been a teen-aged girl?" and then convinced her that we needed to have a mini-family meeting with dad.

Now DH has a Bachelors in Psychology (that means he's qualified to listen and then say, "Hmmmmm") and keeps up-to-date with child behavior and psychology , which really comes in handy with both kids as we know ahead of time why they've done something, even if they don't. So when I called him into the livingroom, the first thing I said was, "Honey, you know how girls are social creatures? Daughter, ask again."
She asks to stay the night.
DH asks why.
DD says, '"Cause I just want to spend more time with my friend."
DH says, "Now that I believe (and understand)! Yes!"

Problem solved. Also, now DD knows that if hubby doesn't understand her, he'll ask me what's going on. And to tell the whole truth. There may be times where we will not like hearing the truth, but better a truth we don't like, than a lie that sounds good.


Ah yes, DD just had to get in a parting shot of "You know if daddy HAD been a teen-aged girl, then we would have never had this conversation."

The smart ass. I wonder where she gets it from...

SBQ of the week

Do you have a favorite needlework tool that you like to work with? What is it and why do you like using it?

I do have a favorite tool. It is a Fiber Hider (link is to the exact one I have). It comes in two pieces, one with a wire loop, the other with a hook. I use it when I'm trying to get that last stitch in, have run out of thread, and the tread won't stay on the needle for me to anchor it to the back (Or the occasional tail that my hoop pulls out). It was a little expensive but has been well worth the price.

Losing loved ones...

Over the past couple of weeks, many of my friends and acquaintances have either lost family members or are close to losing them (from sickness). The worst part for me is offering words of comfort. It's not that I don't have any to give, but the words that do come out of my mouth (either in person or in writing) sound trite and insincere to me.
Why?
Because I know nothing I say or do will ever make it better or easier to bear. I know this because I have been there and there is nothing in this world that will ever make losing my grandparents easier; not time (it's been 28 years), not if the man who murdered them apologized for his incompetence.

I've been able to forgive every other wrong doing in my life, but that. My daughter asked me what I would do if I ever met that man face to face; what would I say to him. I told her that I wouldn't be able to say a thing. I would either have to walk away, or someone would have to stop me from hurting him.

So to everyone I know who is suffering from losing family members or have family who is dying, please know that my heart and thoughts are with you, even though I can not say so out loud.