Learning Lessons

Right up front, sorry for the non stitching rant

Well folks I sure have been an absentee blogger on both the posting and following sides.  Ever get caught spiraling out of control and find yourself running amuck?   Well that is where I have been.  My eagerness not to disappoint,  the love of job and my boss and covering multiple positions have  made for an extremely overworked and tired little lady here.   I don't mind the workload or the hours until I start to resent all I can't get done at home because I am too tired from the extra hours seem to move through my days zombie like.  I can be my own worst enemy getting worked up because the yard, or the house, or my crafting is not getting my attention. I get a bit irritated that I rise each morning with Mr. W.  only to come home and he is already in bed!   And then I got myself into a little health scare albeit self-imposed.  Eight weeks of pulling into the driveway over 12 hours after I have left and then with logging in from home over the weekend has caused me to snap at people,  have headaches and an overwhelming feeling for dread for my job which just exacerbates the whole situation.  Top that with being a stress eater and no time or energy to work out.   Co-workers, you know the type, we all have one in the workplace that is condescending and seemingly passes judgement like it is my fault someone had a heart attack and someone else was transferred and yet someone else is a new position and I have to help pull it all together and make it work.

I kind of was short with one such person which she began sharing with the entire floor after  barking at me....."you'd better watch your blood pressure" and har-humpft away telling anyone who would listen....she didn't know what wrong with me.  To some co-workers it is unfathomable what my workload or current pressure is like which is also irritating to me.  You know that saying about let the sleeping dog lie.....that is how we handle this type of person....better to have the pooch taking a nap than annoy him and have him snarl at you.   This type of fellow employee reminds me of how Fred Sanford used to grab his chest and yell..."it's the big one", some will throw  a fit with real tears...."I don't know why the other girls don't include me" type of drama.

So more to the point.....I guess I should thank this person.......they got me thinking in my weakened, overtired mind that OMGosh, maybe I have developed high blood pressure and my brain went off in all directions.  A quick Internet search of high blood pressure provided no reassurance just left the words bouncing off  brain else..... the silent killer.......so off to the doctors I went remembering I waited too long back in April when I had a sinus infection and bronchitus.   I am happy to report a BP of 110/70 .....can't get much better than that.  I  felt a bit foolish for wasting the Drs. time and gushed about my current woes of life to my doctor of 30 years.   He was ever so  patient with the DX that it is stress and I need to try meditation, exercise more and walk away from work at a decent hour.  So DX noted, RX noted and a weekend at my daughter's is just what the doctor ordered.  Funny thing when I could sleep in here with no alarm to go off,  no laptop to log into work, no household chores to get into,  the damned birds start their chirping  at 4:30 in the morning in the city just like they do at home!  But I am enjoying the quiet time to myself and catching up on what everyone has been up to.  I plan to turn on the lights shortly and get out the stitching I brought with me and stitch until my #1D and S-in-L  wake up.

I hope to be home by early afternoon and get in some yard time, I hope to be able to convince Mr. W. to grill something for us for dinner, and I hope to do a bit of  stitching on my front porch after an early evening shower and I vow NOT to VPN into work at all tonight.

Sorry for my ranting and raving but I think it is all part of my much needed de-stressing.   A dear friend told me once that when you have trouble to take pen to paper and start writing it all down....the troubles will flow down your arm and out of your body and onto the paper.  Sounds weird but it does work....when you write the problem down it does seem to flow out of your body and not seem so horrible...so glad that tapping away at an iPad seems to work the same way.

Here's to a great week for all and to me staying on the straight and narrow and working human hours and maybe I will even have some stitching progress to report next week.

Tired

It has been a long week.....had 40+ hours in by the noon on Thursday.   Part catch up from having off between Christmas and New Years, part a couple of major projects, part that I seem to have to cover for everyone who is out but have no back up myself.  Before I headed out the door Friday morning, I stopped long enough to enjoy the morning sky.     Like the sailor's rhyme....red sky in the morning, sailors take warning......we got a soaking of rain later Friday afternoon and evening.  

The last two weeks I feel like my mantra has been......ohmmmmm....it will all be good once you get this/these task/s completed.....ohmmmm.  Not complaining, just putting a name to the culprit that has left coffee mugs in the sink, afghans tossed across the sofa, mail unopened, laundry not put away and has allowed for little stitching and caused a bit of frogging.

Seems when you are tired is not the time to find comfort in stitching.   I missed an entire row on one block on Santa's coat.   Thankfully I realized it was a bit wonky before I did the back stitching and starting the frogging.  Whew! Good break for me.

Good new is I am super happy with my progress.     Also, making me happy is that I have stuck to using my treadmill at least 5 days a week, started a Walk-Fit class at work, signed up for a retreat in New England this summer and am two weeks away from my Caribbean cruise!  Think I should take a few minutes this weekend to fine my passport!

Canvas Work

Here is my minimal progress on my Gay Ann Rogers piece. It is called - A Case for Color. So far, I am enjoying it even though I have not made much progress.



Whoever thought to sell little assorted packs of beads was a genius!  Just perfect for the little pizazz! 

  And I am happy to show off my new project bag.   This is a gift from my boss and his wife for my birthday last month.    He took quite a bit of ribbing after he announced it was one of Vera Bradley's newest patterns.   Hmmmm, he knew this why???  It is perfect to slip in my mesh project bag and carry my stitching things to guild meetings, retreats or to friends.

 And in true Dave and Mary form, they didn't stop at the bag......I got the eyeglass case (perfect for the cheaters), pencils (great to have around needlework - no pens allowed), a journal (for meeting and project notes) and more.   I am one lucky gal with all this loot.

Running the numbers

1 in 2

(513)w/abc-lmnop

[19/(247hrs @10/12/+inc's)]

{5lbs}

(w/6)

1flg

(1)

(1)

(2)

(1)

{0xxx's}

1 in 2 - One Rate Case Filing in two weeks to complete                                                         



(513)w/abc-lmnop - 513 multipart [a., b., c., …] - the actual number of questions

[19/(247hrs @10/12/+inc's)] - 19 straight days worked.....247 hours in 19 days in increments of 10, 12, or more hours a day

{5lbs} - 5 lbs heavier from ordering fast food

(w/6) - 6 inches the length of my grass -

1flg  - one filing completed

(1) - one boss no longer running around with his hair on fire

(2) - two vacation days comp'd

(1) - one happy Robin

{0xxx's} - …..no stitching involved…..and that’s where I have been keeping myself……

Not much stitching going on here

In fact, not much but work going on.   I am under a BIG BIG Big crunch at work and putting in 12 hour days six and seven days a week.   Or at least what I count as 12 hour days - if I have an 12 mile commute and I am pulling back into my driveway at night 12 plus hours after I left in the morning - it's what I count as 12 hour day!   Interrogatories come in from the PSC (and others) in one big glut.   My boss doles them out to the various departments.   All the questions then funnel back to me for edits, formatting and forwarding to the attorney all the while keeping track of the progress of each question.   Top that with Mr. W on the road again and the pool, the yard, the pond, the cat and everything else falls to me.   Right now the floor of my walk-in closet looks like the floor in a teenager's bedroom.   Oh no!  I am too young to be reverting back to my childhood.    Not complaining though because I am thankful everyday that I get up, my feet hit the floor, I have a job to go to and a way to get there!   Good thing I love my job and my boss appreciates me.....even though it is making my brain hurt right now - not a headache but a swirl of facts and figures and trying to keep everything in an orderly electronic format on the network as I receive emails from co-workers with their response to the 500 plus data requests I distributed.    Oh and yeah, do my normal work too.  LOL!  I am woman, hear me roar!   The answers are due to the Public Service Commission on the 12th.   (Hmmm- lot's of 12's in my life right now....maybe I need to play the Power Ball and choose 12 as a number.)  Crazy, but last night when I left work - and I was the only one on the floor at 7 p.m. - I could have kept going for a couple more hours.   I mean, when I am there, I am full guns blasting and just get home, I sit on the sofa and crash.   This always gives me a new appreciation of when Mr. W. worked 12-hour shifts.  On his schedule days, he slept and went to work only.   We women don't seem to have that choice.  There are so many other things to do.   Maybe I need a wife!  I cut the grass - or most of it - in the near dark the other night.  It felt good to do something physical and mindless.   Good thing I got the front and sides done before twilight so the curb appeal is there!  Just don't look in the back yard near the clothesline! 

I did finish my Williamsburg Quaker Pinkeep a couple weeks ago but haven't had the energy to find the camera!  Blogging and stitching are always what ground me and not much progress on any particular project..   I did take a class last weekend with my EGA guild.  It is a Gay Ann Rogers canvas piece - a new thing for me.   Again - pix will follow!!  It is enjoyable and I have been taking it to work to steal 15 minutes at lunch time after wolfing down my salad.   It gives me 15 minutes to rest my head and calm my thoughts to be able to stitch a few minutes.  I really feel sorry for those who don't stitch or have a hobby to immerse themselves into and recharge themselves and still laugh to myself when the comments tend to go the way of needlework getting on an observers nerves.   

Hope everyone stays cool with the next approaching heatwave.  You will find me with a margarita in hand, on a raft, floating (maybe sleeping) in the pool much of the weekend.   One thing I learned from the last major push at work - do not log in remotely from home and work from home - it makes for 16 hour days and then there is really no down time and that is no good.  That's when I really get out of sorts and resentful.  Remembering all work and no play makes for a really crabby Robin! 

Stay cool all and I will get some photos up this weekend.

Idea to execution!

UPDATED WITH DONNA's REACTION and PHOTOS/SEE BELOW  -  I get these ideas in my head and can visualize the final product but somewhere between thinking up my brilliant gem of creativity and the final product things can go awry.    My friend is retiring about 35 years service.  Technicalities and being politically correct has caused management to determine that we no longer have individual retirement parties but quarterly hold joint retirement dinners for the retirees.   I get it.   If you do for one, you need to do for all.  No matter, but I kind of was feeling bad that 35 years and nothing!   So my wheels started turning and concocted up a plan.   I created a GIANT retirement card - seriously 24 by 36! and send out an email to managers and supervisors to spread the word and get folks to sign and offer their well wishes.  I ordered lunch for all the admins on the floor, with a little extra for the officers of course and got permission to use the Employee Recognition Account to pay for it.   I ordered a giant sheet cake to share with all the Company tomorrow afternoon as we wish her well. 

Now the crazy creative ideas start to come. I get this idea to make a beauty queen sash and add 'badges' that commemorate her career. Simple right?   I searched clip art and printed out all these little images that reflected a job task - Cake Serving, Phone Manners, Mastering Planners,  Foreign Travel, Veterinary Sciences - as an Administrative Assistant the tasks are many and diverse and we all joke there are a lot that fall under the ...."and any other duties as assigned"...part of the job description. 

And I threw in a few fun ones, like "Nascar Driver" to reflect her love of speed and "Queen of the Machine" for her love of  casinos.    Now came the time to attach them to the sash I made.   I tried hand sewing and they got all wonky.  Not to mention I had the flashback of sewing all the patches on kids jackets and uniforms til my fingers bleed.  I tried using glue dots and they were not attached securly.   I even tried stapling which worked but the back was too rough and there were too many sharp edges.  

I ended up machine sewing them on.   It may not be the neatest but it is the more secure.  Although it didn't turn out as professional as I imagined it, I hope it will be something to make Donna's last day fun and memorable.

I will surprise Donna in the morning, with the giant card, flowers and balloons and her sash of achievements not to mention lunch and dessert.

UPDATED!!

So here is how the day started, save my running around like my hair was on fire......Donna arrived to flowers and balloons.  She was then presented with her sash which she donned immediately.   She looked at all her badges and roared with laughter...except for the badge "Veterinary Sciences".    She couldn't figure it out.    Donna, really?    Your boss is a horse-woman!  You have ordered hay, called the vet for colic, arranged fundraisers for the wolf rescue compound your boss has on her property and even had the unenvyable task of getting the guys to take the frontend loader down from work to your boss's farm when she put her bull down and they needed the frontend loader to dig a hole.  Really Donna - Veterinary Sciences badge was EARNED.  So continue - we got her to the lunchroom on a ruse and she was surprised the whole floor was there to cheer her - about 25 of us.   Midafternoon, we had a giant sheet cake and I sent a network email out to the whole company to come eat cake and wish her well.   And while she was chatting away, we tied a dozen soda cans to her car and painted her windows with "good luck" and "happy retirement".    We all helped her  load her car and she discovered our mayhem.   Just as the street crew was getting out for the day, she found the cans and we convinced her she needed to cruise the parking lot.   It didn't take much convincing and off she went with lights flashing and horn honking and cans dragging.   We laughed so hard our sides hurt.   She daintily parked and back inside we all went as if nothing happened.    We have it on good authority that dispatch has the surveillance video from the parking lot camera along with that video of Donna the day she walked down the Executive Hall with her dress tucked in her pantyhose.    We have teased Donna about all the "Marlboro" freebies she comes in with and her girlfried threatens she will arrange her funeral with Marlboro apparel and Donna said she has to include her sash and badges too.  

  I must say, I have to give myself a pat on the back.   Donna had a great last day at the office and I wish her well in her retirement.   We already have a dinner date on the calendar.   Hopefully I will get some photos off the network at the office and can post them....silly me with my getting everything together, I forgot my camera this morning.

Ta-da

A big job finished -

I was able to put to bed my company's annual report in mid-March and we were rewarded this week with cases of the report delivered to my office.   8,000 copies!!  You know that glossy book you get with all the financial info about the company that is delivered to anyone owning shares of stock in the company; yes that real snoozer of a document.  Last year, we went from the glossy style book to a cd.   It was well received and under budget.   And'green' to boot.  I am happy to report, we came in under budget AGAIN this year!    Not to steer anyone down the path of wrong assumptions, I am the one who creates the schedules, gets appointments on calendars, makes sure deadlines are met, grabs the facts from here, there and everywhere and makes edits between the Officers and the PR group that does the report.   I don't actually WRITE it, just coordinate it's creation and completion.   Still not a small task.

Absence makes the hearts grow fonder

Hi all!  been busy busy busy which is evidient by my lack of blogging.   A funny aside, a few people actually noticed I was absent and were curious.   I am ever amazed at the internet and how its tenacles reach the far corners of the world and my blog ends up on the laptop of a little stitcher sitting on her sofa all cozy with a cup of tea and a blanket reading about my spastic life.   I must remember to thank Al Gore for creating the internet.  LOL

So what's up with me......let me give you the brief recipe of my life as it exists currently:

Recipe for creating
  "Every Second Accounted For"
    First factor in lots of work
    Blend a Rate Case/Rate Increase
    Continue process  for 18 month
    Maintain all your other tasks
    Keep the Company's Annual Report work on schedule
    Add constant deadlines and a hyper boss who is mildly freaking
    Remove our Rates Analyst (who moved to South Carolina!!)
    Roll out of work after 10 hours each day
      
  At home -
    Repeat as above, maintain all your tasks in addition to extras
    Blend in a couple of weekends away (which I live for!!)
    Simmer several non-profit obligations
    Factor in requests to update non-profit's website
    Manage some random dr's/dentist appts.
    Attempt to stitch however briefly

    Reinforce yourself that you are not alone

    Gently squeeze in some Board mtgs and dinners

    Attempt to click your heels and get back to Kansas!

  Set aside and anticipate:

    Wkend in Lancaster at quilt show in March

    Add to datebook retreat info for Ocean City Md - May

  Optional adds:
     Include workouts at the gym
     Add Yoga class if desired
Results - 1 exhausted Robin, serve with wine or a Cosmopolitan, or just pair with chocolate

I admit, many a night I come and I am just totally brain dead and just sit like a turnip on the couch.   It's all good and I keep telling myself a.) I have a job; b.) I have my health; and c.) this won't last forever.

      
So, that explains my absence and my little stitchie progress........  little meaning there is some.   Stay tuned for more posts and pix of my i-Challenge status.

Bummer - NOT!

I just received a call from work telling me all non-essential personnel need not report to work today.   Hmmm, I thought I was pretty essential but anyway.   There is a water main break and our complex has no water!  My boss said treat like a snow day.   YeHa!  I will be forced to stitch all day and perhaps finish up my Live Simply little sampler.....oooohhhh, maybe I can do the finishing on iStitch Halloween!  Oh, the possibilities!  Here's the irony............I work for the water company who's main is broken.  So I am the provider as well as the customer.   hmmmm, does that mean I complain to myself?   Whatever.....it is a free day, a pleasant surprise, time to get out my latest Netflix and watch with another cup of java and needle and thread in hand.   I see a nap in my afternoon...........

Be Kind to the Admin/Secretary in Your Life

It is Administrative Professionals Week so please be kind to any from the School Secretary (where I got my start) to the Lady at the Tax Office to the girl at the window in your Doctor's office.   Admins are what keeps everything together and moving forward! 

Every been in an office and the boss is out.......work still happens.   If the Admin is out......things grind to a painful stop.   No one left seems to know how to unjam the copier, where the extra plastic ware or plates for the luncheon, where are the menus for the nearby places that delivery, which way does the letterhead go in each and every copier and printer to make your document come out right, where is the secret place that phone numbers and addresses are kept, how to fax a document,  format a document and believe me I could go on.  Who reminds the boss what he needs to be aware of before he knows he needs to know?  

Being a good Admin .......................pause - I don't know when we went from being Secretaries to being Administrative Professionals......somewhere about the same time Janitors became Custodians I guess........being a good Admin is like being in the stage crew of a play.   You do not get center stage billing nor do you want it.  But you are instrumental in making the show go off without a hitch.  

So this week as you go through your day and interact with others think about who typed the lists, maintained the file, created the phone tree....it was probably a Secretary.......she is kind of like a mom who manages to balance kids, carpools, the house and husband but on a different playing field.

There are 9 of us Admins that all sit in same area of the 3rd floor at work.  For the last few years I have been doing something special  for them each day.  I supervise four of them.   My girls are better than great.   They are wonderful and joy to Supervise.   They are all dedicated and hard working.......maybe it has something to do with their boss.   Since we all sit close to each other, I do it for everyone.  Nothing big, but something to let them know they are special and appreciated.

  

Monday will be Pansies

Tuesday will be Muffins (for the Weight Watchers they are only 2 pts.)  Tuesday's muffins were burnt! so Thursday became Muffins-revisited!

Wednesday will be a Scandanavian Salad I am making them all for lunch.

Thursday ----(I forget what I planned.  It is listed on a piece of paper under my blotter at work.)  Muffins Revisited

Friday - I am stitching up little card wallets.

Have a great week, thanks for stopping by and remember the Secretaries in you life.

Wow - What a week!

Working backwards from yesterday..... I had a bus trip and I was so excited to go, I kept waking up all night for fear I''d oversleep and miss the bus.  Yeah, sounds like I have no life.....oh contraire'.   Anyway, I took bus trip to Woodlawn.   This was my first trip to Woodlawn and what a wonderful day.   So much thanks to Pam Silverman of the Creative Needlework Guild in NJ.   Check out the slideshow of the Woodlawn display.   It was a great day; meet some new friends, became better friends with some acquaintances and just thoroughly enjoyed the day.   My husband teased me that I would be wasting the wonderful springtime weather they were predicting on a bus trip.   Oh, he just doesn't get it.  

So after our lunch at Woodlawn, which was very  very good,  and a couple of walks through the mansion we went by bus to In Stitches needlework shop.   Oh I want to move to Alexandria VA so they can become my LNS!!!!  The ladies had lite refreshments set up for our little bus group in their classroom and we made it worth their efforts as we all left with purchases in hand.     Yes, there were some things that I just HAD to get to add to my STABLE Stash.  And I got smart, I did the whole soup to nuts and got floss and fabric too.  

The staff of In Stitches provided goodie bags which were handed out on the way home.   I snagged a Just Nan!    It is "Pansies Please".

I haven't made the pledge not to buy more but I am making the pledge to NOT START anything new until something is finished.   Must be why I have dedicated my time to the Nan Tyson Euler class project.  My stitching progress has been slow.   I am working on the strap work of the Between the Sheets sampler.   And because I don't follow instructions too well, I did stitch in the gold and did not wait to do it last.   I mean, c'mom.......a girl's got to see what it is going to look like.

Let's see what I couldn't bear to leave at In Stitches....Litte House Needle and Thread;

JBW - French Country Alphabet, love JBW!!!  I couldn't decide between the WDW Purple Majesty or CC Four Leaf Clover so I got both flosses.

Shephard's Bush - My Mom's Garden.  Doesn't SB put together such a nice product?  Then a little quickie from Bent Creek called Autumn.....you know if it has a squirrel, chances are I will stitch it.

Mrs. Waddlelow's Huswif --- another Ellen Chester....love it!  Last it is Pineapple Welcome from Sunflower Samplings.  I've done one of theirs before.

Since I don't do well with stitching on a bus, I k'nitted.    My skill level is not the greatest so I k'nit dishclothes.   I did manage 1 1/2 dishclothes on the way.

Working back into the week past, I'll just give the highlights.   It was so hectic I never even posted my TUSAL!  Oh no, can't even keep up with that.   lol   Monday was just a 10 hour workday and collapsed when I got home.  Tuesday I enjoyed dinner with my brother and sister - always lots of laughing.   Wedensday - I was lucky to have my Gavers for dinner.   He has been doing so well in school and cub scouts and loves to read that I let him download a book to him to read on my Kindle!   Strict strict instructions that he is not to go onto the Amazon Whipsernet for fear he would download their entire library!    Friday - I worked 13 hours!  We put the annual report for the company to bed on Friday save for the final final review by officers over the weekend.   I spoke with our publisher and got really nice kudos from them which made it all worth it!    Funny they gushed at how I went over the top but I was just doing my normal work ethic.  

Gee - left out Thursday - after a harrowing  two days of running around doing my job and the job of another who was out on both Wedsnesday and Thursday - I went to class and proceeded to fall asleep when they turned out the lights.    Not so bad, but the teacher annouced "someone fell asleep!" when the lights went on and they all chimed in about my snoring.   How embarrassing!   Oh well......guess I was relaxed and comfortable.  So suffice it to say I made no progress on My Small Changes - Working on my files.

Now to get outside and enjoy this gorgeous day.

Week 11 - My Small Changes

I consider myself pretty 'with it' considering others I know my age.   I mean, I blog, I have a Facebook account, I have a Twitter account, I pay my bills online, I shop online, have a Paypal account, I buy on eBay, visit Craigslist, I backup my systems, I've eaten tofu for Pete's sake!   My filing system, however,  has not evolved with me.    It is still in the 90's.   In this age of more and more electronic files and fewer paper files, I need to do something.    About 10 years ago my husband took over the bill paying to my great relief.   I hate to say it but we are in better financial straights than we were when I did it but there are contributing factors.   a. better salaries; b. kids out of college; c. kids out of the house!  And he has the whole electronic filing system down.   It is me that needs to catch up.    shhh! we can't tell him that.

So look at my current system(ssss).  This is the filing cabinet that I hope to downsize to.  

I have a file cabinet which still houses interims reports from grammer school and my baby is almost 30!    (Maybe I should give them to him at his upcoming birthday!)  Look at the valuable space this is taking up in my craft room!

I have every tax return, just recently shredded the paystubs from my first job in 1973....those paystubs that were banded by year and stored away with my husband's from 1973 til (almost) current.  Fortunately for us, his company went electronic a few years ago.    I recently heard on TV on a tax tip the time frame for keeping files.  I need to destroy this time capsule I am keeping.   Not only do I have EVERYTHING from day one, I have it stored in 3 or 4 places. 

Trust me, this antique trunk holds all the tax returns,  my father's final tax returns and my mother's estate papers. 

One plastic file under my desk; another plastic file in my walk in closet!  Wouldn't it be nice if something were to happen to my husband and I that my kids would not have to play huckle-buckle bean stalk and go on a scavenger hunt to find things... ..and then they probably wouldn't find things til years later!And this is the stack 'o stuff on the shelf in my closet waiting to be filed. 

I have been sorting and purging closets and cabinets in my efforts to downsize as a pre-emptive strike prior  to  any thoughts of moving so why not my filing system?   I know I have owner's manuals to items that have gone the wayside.   So this week my small change is to be pro-active on cleaning and consolidating my filing.   This is going to involve much more than a week.   I need to make the start this week, one file, one folder at a time.   What a pile of shredding I will create.   It may require me taking an entire lunchtime at the company shredder!

On to stitchie stuff......not a whole lot of stitching time this week.   Stayed a few nights late at work because I am involved with the corporate annual report (saw the proto type Friday - it is awesome!!  We are going totally electronic to be green and I will post the link when done.  It is so pretty!!!)  I am doing no more than creating the schedule, coordinating the schedule and maintaining the schedule to keep everything on time.  Not to worry, I am not belittling that task.   Days of meetings, seriously Thursday was 8:30 - 12:30, Lunch meeting 12:30 - 2 and meeting 3 - 5.....so how do you get your normal tasks done without staying a few extra hours.   And I had two days like that this week!!!!!  It's all good.  We all know we have those push times. 

And then there is the additional office I have taken on with my volunteer organization.   In addition to being the webmaster/secretary/membership chair, I am now the treasurer as well!  You know these volunteer organizations...there are never enough bodies to go around and we all wear multiple hats.   Long ago I learned that there are givers and takers in this world and that you can pretty much go through every situation and easily identify which line people fall into.....I know which line I end up in!   It is a good thing to give back and I am proud that my children all fall into that same line.

But to continue on the stitching......progress made on my Nan Tyson Euler piece and a couple of observations.    The progress part is the lettering in the center is now complete, I have extended the borders up the side to meet the band's progress and I learned I really dislike the stepped herringbone.   It is not a fast stitch.   Also, I have decided, even though the colors of the silks are beautilful and the feel is awesome, I am not a big fan of the *quick* change of the colors.  Literally, one stitch is light green and the next jumps right to dark green.    Personally I like the subtle varigation better but to each his own......like I say....it's all good. 

We had our monthly guild meeting yesterday and again it was no disappointment.   These ladies are awesome.   Awesomely friendly, awesomely talented.   We had a speaker in and although it takes from the stitching time the knowledge you gain is well worth it.  We are planning our annual retreat to Ocean City, Maryland and I can't wait.  It is 3 days of nothing but good food, good friends, good stitching, and good shopping in Salty Yarns - which adjoins the hotel, and it is on the boardwalk!   What could be a better?