My last post for 2011

...mmmmaybe.

Who knows if I will jump on here and become last-minute-nostalgic for 2011, but right now I am ready to kiss it goodbye and send it on it's merry way.

Actually, I feel like smacking it on the behind and giving it the boot down a rather long flight of stairs, but bidding it a calm fare-thee-well seems the more PC way to handle the task, sooooo...

And I feel like a pizza.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Last year (just about this time - give or take 72 hours) I was feeling curious and wondered how I had managed to snare some readers.

In fact, I've asked this question a few times, but have never received any answers. [tisk tisk]

I've also noticed more views over the past twelve months from far-flung lands and surmised that it was just the happenstance of a word or phrase in one of my entries that 'popped' during your searches for something that brought some of you into my little reading hole.

I asked (way back when) if you wouldn't mind leaving a comment to say where you're from and to (maybe) let me know how you found me out here in the ww'verse (Browncoats UNITE!), but no one has ever dared 'speak.'

Cowards!

:^P

Because the readership has gone up quite a bit over the last year, I am also betting that some of what I have to say must be a bit amusing, or curious, or enlightening (somehow) to keep some of you returning from time to time - and that is very cool.

Of course there are some of you who have me scratching my head. I mean I can't help but wonder how some of your searches for "male enhancement" products, for example, (or shaved body parts) gets you looking in my direction, but um, er....well, that is to say....some of you have strange 'hobbies.'

However you got here - welcome! And if you're a returning reader - welcome back! I hope you find this little corner of the world interesting enough to continue stopping by from time to time throughout 2012.

Still snowing

It's snowed all day - ALL day - with maybe a 20 minute reprieve while 'they' reloaded the snow canon early in the afternoon.

I have no idea what the accumulation is, nor do I know how much may have melted away, since the temps were j-u-s-t warm enough to allow for a little dripping from the leaf-filled gutters. (Don't get me started, and do not lecture me, either...thank you.)

I do know our normally too-fast drivers on the street were moving a bit slower today (HA!), so that tells me it might be a bit slick and/or a tad harder to plow through with ease (if you're a jerk behind the wheel of a car).

I spent the day indoors looking for work, cutting out stencils for the quilt - the last of the VERY LARGE stencils - and transferring the lines to the top for stitching (oh, and quilting). Both Cleo and flop required quite a bit of one-on-one time today, each begging for my attention....and winning it. Took me away from working on projects and needful things, but once they settled in for their naps I was off and flying with the top stitching. Still have a very long way to go before I am finished, but it is moving along. I am in a groove now, and making great progress, it is just slow going.

I know, I know. I hear you out there.

"How can you be making 'great progress' if it's so 'slow going'?" Well, I wish I could show you so that you could completely understand, but you are just going to have to take my word for it.

Visited with Gram S yesterday, taking along the quilt to show her what sort of progress has been made since the first time she had laid eyes on it, and she was surprised to see the entire thing stitched together. She commented on the alarming number of safety pins employed to baste it together - oddly enough.

I don't think she was anticipating such a large quilt or the colors - or completeness of it. But, I think she enjoyed looking at it even if it didn't make much sense to her.

I am in the throes of finishing another of the largest motifs and should be able to start yet another before quitting for the night, but I'm thinking of biting into another aspect of the quilting design for a change, just to switch things up.

We'll see.

Until another time, I hope you are managing to stay warm and well and happy, and that your holiday season is still bright and shiny.

It looks like....

...a REALLY large snow globe outside my window!

By the way, bird number one done! DONE I say!

Lists

Things I Need:

New fridge (old one is laboring and the seals are shot)

New dryer (old one sounds like a trash compacter running inside a cement mixer)

The new stove to be hooked up and working (requires wiring to be completed)

Things I Want:

The staircase finished

The kitchen finished

All the wiring to be completed, drywall done and to be able to paint (and put things away - I guess this should actually go under "needful things")

The lower level bathroom to be an actual bathroom (instead of a concrete sub-floor and plumbing pipes sticking out everywhere)

Air conditioning (and a dehumidifier for winter)

A new, energy-efficient furnace

Chinking on the house to be done (top to bottom and side to side)

Under both of those lists would go "job", but that really isn't a "thing" so much as a necessity (however, I do NEED and WANT one very badly). And for some reason, it also didn't feel like anything I should add to this sort of list. But, then again, there is an awful need for me to compile this next list, which also really doesn't fit in with the first two.

Things To Be Thankful For:

My family - my sons and my mom

My mom

Good friends (you are most certainly a blessing)

This house (which I still have because of my mother's love and sacrifice)

A working car (also due to my mom)

Fairly good health

Both of my sons' good health, working bodies, beautiful minds, abilities and possibilities

Food for the table

Power and heat

Extended family (I love you all)

A bright and working brain

The talents I have been blessed with

The future my Lord has been making ready for me

A country like America to live in (as messed up as it is)

Desires and dreams which keep me going every day

The chances I have taken and the opportunities I have been afforded

What I have learned about myself over these last 4.5 years

Can't tell you how glad (and thankful) that I am to see that my "thankful list" far exceeds my other two. Ooo!!! Add that to the list!

Let me sew, let me sew, let me sew!

Of course, today it's snowing.

Karl didn't get his white Christmas, but I hope this falling snow will lighten his mood a little - even if it is two days late. And it looks as though this patch of snow will be sticking around a little while, too. According to our weather weenies we are in the 'band' of predicted 2"-6" snowfall.

What does that mean? It means I should've worked more on cleaning out the space in the garage to park in rather than the quilt!

As for the quilt, it is coming along. Finished top stitching the toughest area - the center - and now I am branching out to the wide open spaces of the top, bottom, and left and right sides. [smirk] If you don't quilt you wouldn't know, but the stitching at the center of the quilt is the most difficult (as you can imagine), and as you work your way out to the edges, it becomes infinitely easier - but that only makes sense, right? My particular selection for this portion of the quilt was a little more involved and detailed, making the work that much more time consuming and difficult - but it was so very worth the effort!

That said, now that I am working my way out from the center, and adding my other objects to the overall scheme, I am finding myself far less enamoured of my choices for the background work. Doesn't that just figure!?!

Brian survived the retail onslaught of the twenty-fourth, enjoyed a delightful day with nowhere to go, and then worked the day after Christmas. He came home last night relatively unscathed from the retail twofold nightmare (A.K.A. "the day AFTER Christmas). Between the returns (which he said were relatively light) and the stupidity of customers demanding to know where they could find sold out Christmas merchandise, it wasn't a bad day. They closed $3000 above the expected total for the day. Always a good thing.

Oh, and it turns out Bud had also managed to contract whooping cough from some infected child of a ne'er-do-well parent/customer who probably figured they could skip getting their kid vaccinated! So, the coughing/vomiting (among other symptoms) he's been experiencing the last week-and-one-half weren't just a rough side effect of some bug he caught from me. Nope, he was really sick.

Hey, parents! Get your children vaccinated - you @zzhole$!

He is feeling much better and the coughing is abating day by day. He hasn't vomited after a coughing fit in the last two days, and he has said his breathing is easier, he feels less congested and his ears have drained! Thank God.

Now my chief concern is to get Karl to the doctor and get him checked and update his booster. He certainly does not need to come down with whooping cough. After last year's late summer episode of myopericarditis, I think he's entitled to a pass for a long time.

Anyhow, it's time to get back to the sewing table. I have a lot to get done before I can submit it for entry in time for the fast-approaching quilt show deadline.

Feeling very Pink Floydian

Is there anybody out there?

Merry Christmas, from my family to you and yours!

More later, but for now I simply wanted to provide a little Christmas cheer.

The video is something Karl put together for an animation class. It's short and there is an audible 'Easter egg' during the credits - listen for it.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YldqQgFNY7Q&feature=g-all-u&context=G22aa71bFAAAAAAAAAAA

Enjoy!

I ARE a good deed doer

But if it's all the same to you, I am just gonna go over here in the corner and take off these tights....and maybe the cape, too. The tights are riding up and bunching something fierce; and truth-be-told, this cape isn't really all that fashionable.

Stupid salespeople and their darned sales commissions!

Terrorfication

Is that a real word?

Well, it is now.

Indeed

Leaving to do a good deed for the day.

That's right, I'm going to be a good deed doer!

If I like it, I might just buy the t-shirt.

What are you gonna do?

http://shops.half.ebay.com/funnyladyinred_W0QQ_trksidZp2919QQmZbooks

Well! They finally fixed their error at HDC, and the online store is visible once more! Just in time to totally miss the last two weeks of the Christmas shopping time period.

Thank goodness, and I was afraid I was going to be able to make a little extra bill-paying money.

*Phwew* - dodged that bullet. [yes, that was dripping with sarcasm]

I guess there's always next year, eh? Hey, as long as they get my proceeds into my bank account, I will count that happy little blessing, cuz....what else can you do?

Uh-oohhhh

It appears as though Bud may be sick - again. This time however, he is vomiting (remind me to not step off the porch to the front).

He was leaving for an open shift about five minutes ago, when I walked upstairs to say goodbye. I asked if he had eaten anything and he told me no, he hadn't, as he was feeling sick to his stomach.

Bud opened the door, stepped out the length of the porch, leaned over the edge and threw up! Then, he climbed into his car and went to work.

No amount of convincing could dissuade him from calling in sick, so I guess we will have to wait and see how the day develops.

More later.

Up too late

Stayed up entirely too late last night to watch "The Agony and the Ecstasy" on a local station.

I was doing fine with the film - remained engaged and upright (and awake), but found the hour's worth of commercials a little grating. As the movie drew to a close the commercials were peppered in closer and closer, making it grueling to stay tuned to the station. BUT, I did watch the entire movie - and I haven't seen it for at least 25 to 30 years!

Still got a kick out of the recurring exchange -

Pope Julius II: "When will you make an end?"

Michelangelo: "When I am finished."

I have plans for today however - a mission, if you will - and the lost time from the early morning hours are simply going to have to remain lost. I am rested and ready to move, and happy to have seen a classic movie I tend to quote from time to time. So, it was all time well spent.

Have a happy and productive day, one and all.

Nearly giddy

I made myself a cup of tea moments ago, and totally expected to have to fill the sugar bowl (because yesterday - I noted - it was running quite low).

Imagine my surprise when I lifted the lid to find it had already been filled!

[swoon, palpitations]

Be still my heart.

You know what this means, don't you? They CAN be taught!

Now, if I can just get them to actually place the new roll of toilet tissue on the roll (to the right) and not simply set it on the counter to the left.

Hmm.

Happiness in small packages

Half.com online store still on "vacation" setting, due to help desk errors and poor (to NO) customer service.

Cats are fed and burping, purring, cleaning, happy (for the moment).

Boys are still fast asleep. Brian is mostly over his bug; coughing much less, and returning to work after two days off. Karl has taken his final exam and is relieved to be done with class for the time being.

We pulled/pushed/rocked and cajoled the beautiful new stove (time is relative since it's been standing, crated up, in the garage for the last 5-6 years) into the house and ultimately into it's spot in the kitchen yesterday. I did do the happy dance for about 45 seconds! Next steps are whenever they can be arranged.

Cleaned a bunch of stuff out of the garage before the trash collection, too, making a nice chunk of open room for possible car parking this winter. Very cool! Will continue to chip away at it, but the quilting comes first, despite deep desires to walk out to a totally snow-free vehicle in the dead of winter.

Daylight is brighter so I will be off for the time being. Need to utilize the sun for important things like completing the creation of stencils and getting first quilting tracks onto the project.

Have a good day.

[major groan of disgust]

WARNING: Don't read this if you are in a good mood; I am venting and crazy today. Things may change up tomorrow, so come back and visit then. I mean it.

- - - - - - - - - You've been warned.

So....I have had sporadic sales of books through the online site - yea!

So, it hasn't been as great as I had hoped given the flying start at the beginning of the month.

So....I created an 'event' on a networking site, hoping to drum up interest and sales for the holiday.

So, it appears many of my 'friends' are lame and useless when it comes to depending upon them for a little help in spreading the word to their circle of people and making magic. I guess I knew that would be the case (I was just hoping it would be different and I would be proven wrong). I won't feel badly for ignoring their own pleas to share some news or in asking for help in the future.

Baaaah!

Many of you know that I had been hijacked (identity-wise) more than one month ago, AND that one of my bankcard accounts had also been compromised and abused by some cretinous ne'er-do-well since then. Long story short, that bank account was closed and the card number made invalid, but the lingering fear of banking/paying bills/shopping online is more than a little paralyzing for me, yet.

I believe the compounded hits on my personal accounts have left a bigger fear than would normally be here had there been just one corruption or the other taken on my identity and/or meager money pile.

In the aftermath of the change to those accounts, I didn't take into consideration what would happen when half.com attempted to deposit proceeds from sales of my books into my account -- the CLOSED account! Yikes!

I was sent an email telling me that there was an issue with depositing the money, and would I please make the necessary changes so that they could make the money transfer into [my] acct?

Well, sure, I responded, but with their help, since I was reluctant to make that sort of change online given recent events.

Would they help me? Could I deal with a human, please?

Their response was to suspend the online store account, rendering me invisible to customers and incapable of making sales!!!! HELLO!!

SO, I made the changes to my account myself and emailed them of this turn of events, asking them to please take my account from offline to available status once more.

THAT was two days ago! They have yet to respond in any way, shape or form, and I cannot believe the archaic methods they employ for contacting them.

Yeah, right....happy freakin' holidays.

[sigh]

I would dearly love to change my mood. Lighten up. Smile though my heart is aching. Put on a happy face. Yes, I would like to think that if I changed my mood then the rest of it would catch up and turn itself around. B-u-u-u-u-t, my mood is what it is because of the activities of the situations, and people doing unscrupulous things, and the happenings or the non-happenings. My cloudy outlook is a reaction to, not the cause of.

[grumble]

Had a long day with Karl at his college campus yesterday, straightening out crooked lines (dealing with issues) and scheduling him for an impromptu tutoring session. Then I waited....and waited, and waited some more for him to finish with class and then tutoring, etc.

I kept busy with the quilt while I waited; turning over the surplus backing to the front and basting it down (this helps to protect the edges of the quilt while I do the top stitching).

Today, I looked for work (like normal), made us a decent breakfast, and then got busy with creating the stencils for the top stitching/quilting. Currently I am in the middle of cutting out the first of (too) many, and man! - I just want to get started quilting!

Bud has a day off, and Karl is going back and forth between studying for his final, complaining about studying and goofing off on his PC when he should be studying. Please think motivational thoughts for Karl, and say a prayer if you're of a mind to. He needs all the help he can get to pass his final this week. Thank you.

It's just a blah, icky, wet day here. Whatever snow was left from the last squall is now melted and washed away with the constant rain, leaving it looking very un-Christmas-y outside.

Well, I need to get back to what I was doing, just wanted to stop in and say "hello" and to see how everyone is and what you're up to.

Be well, be happy, be creative!

"Play date"

That's what Brian called it.

"You need another 'play date' with Jean, mom," he said not long ago.

As it so happened, we had one scheduled for Saturday to see her daughter play in the Tuba Christmas gathering in Howell. That's right! Hooahs in Howell. The weather was brisk and sunny, and while a little cold for sitting in the snow and blowing on a large metal instrument, it was delightful.

My advice for next year's holiday to-do list: GET YOURSELF TO A "TUBA CHRISTMAS" NEAR YOU!!

[bla-a-a-a-r-r-p]

And, in other news

"Black author wins the Matrix copyright infringement case" screams the headline.

After six years, Sophia Stewart will be awarded the largest settlement in Hollywood history, based on the gross receipts of the Matrix series, and the Terminator series - also based on one of her manuscripts. Well, good for her, but does it really require specifying her skin color in the report?

NO, it does not. Within the story it was mentioned that "there have been outside implications as to racial injustice...she does not feel that this is the case." THEN WHY MENTION IT?!?!?

Hey! What color was the judge?

And in other news -

Michigan spent a considerable portion of their federal defense dollars on snocone machines with the reasoning that we would be better prepared to aide the wounded (from a terrorist attack) by making ice packs with the use of the snocone machines.

Geez, I hope they got enough of them and that they are situated in the right locations. Those Ohio subversives to the south (and our shifty Canadian neighbors) could attack at any time!

Don't you hate it when...

Doesn't it just get your goat when you come home from shopping and find that you had a coupon for "$5 dollar off your purchase if you spend over x-amount of dollars?"

Not only that, but it expired the very day you did your shopping!

Yes, it happened to me.

[*steamed*]

Crap.

There are a lot of things I used to want to do

Going to Iowa was on my list of things to do, for several reasons - but an article I've just read online has me reconsidering.

What sort of state harbors the kind of person who would seal up four to five kittens in a cat food bag and then dump that bag out onto a fairly well-traveled road?

Some sh*t state called Iowa, that's what sort of state. [pardon my outrage]

Can you imagine? Sick. SICK!

Well, if you're out there, you heartless, disgusting excuse for a homosapien, two of your little victims survived in spite of your cruel scumbag act.

What is the matter with you?

A yellow lab found the sack on the road and dragged it to his home, where he urged his owner to examine the bag. Inside, the owner found two sickly kittens amongst the battered remains of the litter mates that did not survive their ordeal along the highway.

I understand that the horrific actions of one or more citizens of Iowa should not define an entire state, but I am going to have to hear of a whole lot more good before I cross that state line.

That was inexcusable and unnecessary cruelty.

By the way

I am finishing this quilt top TODAY! With any luck I will also be able to put together the backing and have all day tomorrow to stretch and baste it!

Boo-yah!!

Guess that means I 'd better get busy making the quilting stencils, eh.

Keep up on the quilt news at: www.truenorthquilter.blogspot.com

Poor kid

Due to his manager's inability to juggle a calendar, Brian has now left to cover an opening shift after having closed last night.

Because of the extended holiday hours, the store is scheduled to be open during the week until 10 or 10:30, making the cleanup and counting of the receipts, etc., a job that lasts until eleven o'clock. Add the drive time from the further location to home and he had maybe five-point-five hours of sleep.

Then, there was the pre-dawn call from the "replenishment manager" asking him about things from last night. That happened before his alarm could even sound!!!

I have a good mind to drive there and confront that hag - maybe follow her home, and then - some morning when she doesn't have to be at work - knock on her door and waken the household to ask how they hang their toilet paper! Why the heck she didn't call the boss to ask her asinine questions is beyond me. I mean, this is why the manager gets paid the big bucks, right?

The people he works with aren't really much better than the people who shop and bi*ch in the store. Poor kid.

He really handles it all so well. Everything about this experience is preparing him for a brighter future, I just hope he is taking notes

Teddy Bear Toss

Canada's Calgary Hitmen have incited fans for years to donate plush toys to area hospitals, benefiting children who are receiving care and to make the time a little more bear-able and less scary for the young patients.

It's how those donations are collected that has grown in notoriety.

The Teddy Bear Toss is a longstanding tradition whereby immediately following the first Hitmen goal in the game, the fans are encouraged to throw their plush bears onto the rink. That's right, the game halts while the fans rain down thousands upon thousands of teddy bears of all sizes and styles over the glass and onto the ice! It's an amazing sight and a generous way to help out a worthy cause.

This past weekend the Teddy Bear Toss totalled 25,003 stuffed critters laying in icy limbo once the barrage from fans ended and the haul had been cleared from the decks.

Go Canada!

Counting my blessings

Family and friends are a blessing.

Nice people are a blessing.

Kind people are a blessing...and sometimes (if you're lucky) these three components are wrapped up in the visage of one person.

If I were a prize fighter, I would have to count myself one of the luckiest people in the universe. There are folks in my corner who help me 'train,' help me stay on task, tend to my wounds and training injuries, and those who help me throw the punches (and I mean literally raise my arm and aim my fist and extend my arm for the contact between the jaw of my opponent and my fist).

There are people in my crew who give me balance and keep my goals and dreams attainable - and when I dream too big for my universe, they keep me reaching for the correct stars and help me set my sights within the realm of possibility, reminding me that the further reaches of the universe will come in time.

There are people on my side who are there just to pat me on the back and encourage me, let me know that they have faith in my abilities and will be there to cheer me on the next time I'm 'in the ring,' too. These are my cheerleaders.

Of course, I'm not a pugilist, that was all metaphorically stated. My opponent's 'jaw' is any large problem or question to solve, or a hurdle emanating from under-employment or some physical malady - such as the unexpected surgery two years ago, Brian's stones or Karl's miopericarditis.

I know, maybe this all isn't making much sense. Maybe I should stick to simple statements and not try to draw mental pictures and corollary lines.

Simply put, I am a very fortunate person. I have a bounty of good in my life, and I know it. I may not always say it...I may not always tell those of you who know me personally how I feel or how much you mean to me, but I am blessed by you.

My blessings are compounded by my children who have become kind young men and by the talents I possess.

I think I have a long way to go before I become one of those people who are the 'whole package' -before I am someone's blessing - but I would like to think I have a few qualities that make you feel as though having me in your life was worth it.

Another beautiful day!

Didn't get everything accomplished that I wanted to, or even planned on, but that's the way it goes, right?

I had a really nice conversation with my mom yesterday, followed by a great confab with a fresh set of artistic eyes regarding the quilt project. With a renewed sense of purpose, I attacked the quilting with new thoughts and possibilities in my head.

Today I used the beautiful sunshine to gain some ground, and while I didn't get as far as I anticipated, I did get other things done besides a little laying out and piecing....so not a completely wasted day.

Received a fairly long email from my aunt in NY, and then took some time to send a response - hi, Jude. My cats are crawling around me as I type - Cleo the most. She is begging for some lap time, and it is hard to resist her lovely green eyes and chirpy pleading, so I will make this fast. Hello to your cellar cat from me and mine.

Sent two more sets of books on their way to new homes - hooray! - and I keep looking for more sales. I know they will come and I must be patient and make myself ready for it when that happens. There is a need for more cardboard and tape to ship with and more room in which to get the job done, so this is something I will need to take some time to remedy soon.

Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to look through the bookstore listings...please know there will be more added over the next few days. The process is time-consuming and I am trying to justify taking time away from my other needful project. If you don't see something, PLEASE ASK. I probably have it and just haven't gotten there yet. Check back often, and please tell your friends and family.

Hard for me to believe we are at another another Friday already, but here we are. I hope your weekend is everything you need it to be! Enjoy.

World Aids Day

Walking through the halls of a building at our local junior college, I was met by an enthusiastic group of socially-minded students sitting at a long table. The table was festooned with posters and paper scallops, and strewn with items I only gave a cursory glance at.

Upon passing the crew a second time, I allowed myself to make eye contact with one of the students, who then promptly asked if I wanted "a sample."

"A sample of..." I trailed off, waiting for him (or, one of them) to fill in the blank.

"It's World Aids Day," another chimed in. To which I replied "No, thank you. I don't need any Aids. I've gotten this far without it."

A couple of them laughed and said "No! It's samples of condoms!" thinking it may embarrass me, or catch me off guard.

"No thanks," I responded once more. "I haven't any need...it's been a long dry spell."

More laughter.

From somewhere in the back of the pack came the response "Never say 'never'."

"No," I shot back, "just never again."

The same faceless voice quickly retorted, "but they're flavored."

"With what?" I asked.

More laughter.

The first young man who offered me the initial greeting quickly recovered with an offer of candy - I turned that down, too.

Good for them, though, they had the right idea. Now they just need a better sales pitch.

December First: A fruitful meeting

In so much as I gleaned a couple of really good ideas from Trish about how to experiment with my quilting design (for the competition piece), I am now chomping at the bit to get started today.

Too bad I wasn't in the same location as the quilt for several lost hours. [awe....snap!]

It's another sunny, gorgeous day, and with so much of our first snowfall still on the ground the light is brilliant indoors for what seems like hours more for this time of year. It's a mind game, I know, but I don't care. Sunshine is sunshine and I will gladly take it! The snow just magnifies and bounces the light all over for an uplifting feeling.

Two more book sales appeared late last night for the online bookshop, so those will need bundling and posting, taking away from the precious daytime work hours.

For those of you keeping track, still no reply to the questions at hand for the film job I was offered late-October/early-November. Also, very little else in the way of corporate jobs to apply to, either. Opportunities are scarce and I feel a little like a deer in deep snow, pawing at the ground to find some sustenance.

Dear Lord, thank You for your gifts of the day, and for the promise You place in tomorrow.