Hello Sucks!

Hello sucks!!!!

Blogger sucks!!!!

Enough said!!!!!


Update: Ummmm Blogger and Hello still suck.

Okay. I have been searching online and it appears I am not the only one having the same issue with photos not posting. I guess I could use my Photobucket account but I am too lazy. LOL! I was able to find thru one forum some steps to fix the issue so I will be trying those soon. So, if you see some weird things going on………that is what is happening.

….well maybe not all me as Blogger seems to be doing weird stuff today. I will no longer discuss how long it took me to post this tiny update.


Cough Drops - 1
Soda – 1 (reg) 1 (diet and it was free!) = 2
Coffee – 1
Advil for headache – 2
Water - 1

Happy day after Easter

I have been loving my time away from the computer while at home. Working non-stop in front of the computer all day is starting to take its toll. I have been skipping lunch since I have so much to do. I don’t want to stop my momentum so I just keep working. I usually go home early then. Like today I am thinking may be a skip lunch sort of day. B started a different job today and if I leave early, I will get home before him. Yippee!!!

I am feeling more tired today than usual. Maybe because I got out of the house this weekend because I know that I went to bed much earlier last night. Instead of 4-5 hours, I got 6-7. I did not want to wake up. This is not a good thing as I am planning to meet my mom to work out at 5:30am when my schedule changes next month. That will be really hard for me. I am so not a morning person. I am determined to do it though.

Today B started his new job. It is kind of funny how it all came about. He has been out of work for a bit and never got any calls for interviews etc. Well last week was the jackpot. He had an interview at a retail construction store and went in for background testing. While waiting for the response for that, he was hired at a fire-sprinkler place. It is still construction based and that worries me, as I don’t want him to be laid off again. That same day he got a call from another company to have him come work for them. He had to turn them down. What a weird feeling to have everyone want you. J Last week the retail store called and since they want to start him off at more money, he is going with them. It will be nice for him to have a job inside again. It will be nice to have money again. I can buy yarn. LOL! I so hate being the sole-supporter. Darn it!

My Dad is buying a fixer-upper house. On Saturday, I went to see it. It sure does need a lot of work. He wants B and me to move in when our lease is up in June. I admit it would be nice to be in a house and even though this is not part of what we planned, I am thinking about it. I am not quite sure though as I just don’t get a really good feeling about the house. I cannot picture what my Dad wants to do with it so I am just going to wait and see. I am sure it will look great when he is finished.

For Easter, we went to the in-laws. We drove out to Picacho Peak (pictures coming soon) to see the poppies. Unfortunately, there were not that many in attendance. I guess we went a week too late. After a very short mini hike (basically from the car to the side of the road) we got back in the car for the drive home. My in-laws had never been there (neither had B). My mother-in-law wore flip-flops so we did not go very far. We then went back to their place to have dinner and watch a couple of movies.

On the cold front. I am feeling much better. Just a sore throat and the choking continue but I am sure it is short lived.

I have been having such problems trying to post to Blogger recently. I am unable to get my photos uploaded and the site appears to be down a bunch. So I really am not slacking, it is more like giving up. Instead of trying over and over to post, I just stop after the first couple of tries.


Cough Drops - 1
Soda – 1
Coffee – 1
Advil for headache - 2

All by myself

It is so nice to have the house to myself. With B being out of work for a bit he was always here. I mean I love the guy but a girl needs some alone time. I always looked forward to having the place to myself. Bummer thing is…..it won't last long. Now that B is back working, my schedule is changing. I will no longer be working 4x10's with Friday, Saturday and Sundays off. I am so bummed! I currently work on a specialized team with only four members. Two of the guys have new positions that start April 1st. The other guy has an interview on Tuesday for another department (but he does different stuff than I do anyways). So that just leaves me. Since I will be the only one doing the job of four people I have to be there every day. At least I can decide on my own schedule. I am thinking 8-5 sounds good! Now my specialist team is actually being disbanded as the work we do actually belongs to other departments and we are trying to get these departments to do their own work. I do not know how long I have in my current position. I have had this position for a year now (Exactly 1 year on April 1st). I was one of the first members of the team when it was first created. Once the team is gone I go back to the phones which I am not looking forward too as it is for a new program. Don't get me wrong, I can do the work and have been doing it for 5 ½ years but it is getting old. I currently handle online customer issues via email and also work as help desk when needed for the rest of the department. Luckily the main managers are allowing us to know apply for different positions. Management had at first refused to let any of us leave our main department (phone support) so a lot of open positions that I would have liked are now gone. There are two positions that are currently opened that I would love to have. They are salaried positions so that means I would be chained to work but I am willing to do that for more pay and a promotion. My current manager is turning in my resumes and interest forms for me today. I believe interviews start next week. Wish me luck.

So back to having my day off….. I actually woke up at a decent hour but stayed in bed to finish reading a book I checked out. The book was Paradise County by Karen Robard. I liked it and it was the first book I have read by this author. I may have to check out some more of her books. It was nice to sit in bed reading as I have gotten away from it lately. Now I am getting ready to do tons of laundry but got sidetracked by walking by the computer.

As for my cold. It is still here. It is extremely hard to swallow and clear my throat but I just know I am on the mend. I hope to start a new project tonight……..

Sick & Tired of being Sick & Tired

Today has not started out well.

I am so tired of being sick. I cannot sleep. I cannot eat. I have no appetite and so I have to make myself eat, as the only thing I have in my stomach is medicine. I am constantly nauseous. What I do eat makes me choke. Damn it! This is just a cold! I just keep telling myself that everyone else who has been sick has gone thru this. B is mad at me for being sick and it does not help. I have had this thing exactly 1 week and 2 days. B keeps saying that 2 weeks is too long to be sick. I have not been sick 2 weeks. Sickness does not run on a business day schedule! Just because he had this thing and it was over in 3 days, he has to make me feel even worse about it. So, even though it is hard I try not to cough or blow my nose so that he does not get irritated. However, now that my voice is gone it doesn’t matter if I do any of those things. I so want this crud to go away.

So on top of this cold I ended up falling this morning. This is the 2nd time. This time I took 5 steps out the door and down I went. You know that feeling when you trip and think that you are going to catch yourself? I had that feeling the entire time and it was not until I was down on my butt that I realized I was not going to catch myself. I did not trip. My ankle refused to work. Just like the last time I fell. This time was different though. Last time my foot was asleep and when I went to step on it – it would not hold my weight. My ankle was like Jello (all wobbly) and my foot would not move. This time, my foot was not asleep. I had been up for a couple of hours, standing and climbing stairs before I left for work. Everything I was carrying went flying. I have a basket I have been taking to work with my 50% sale items and all those nail polishes went flying. I am so lucky nothing broke – just a little scratched.

So here I sit. I am now starting to feel what body parts hit the ground (hopefully the redness won’t turn into huge bruises) and trying not to let this cruddy cold kill me.

At least today, there are 2 other guys working with me. I am not working alone like yesterday.

Well that’s it for whiney ‘ole me.

Remember me?

I'm back.

Thanks Julie and Natalie for the well wishes when I was away.

This cold is killing me!! I don't think it will ever go away. I slept most of the weekend! I did nothing crafty as I was not in the mood to do a thing! I went back to work yesterday but it just exhausted me. Well it does not help that I am doing all of my work and the work of 1.5 other people. The main part of my cold is gone now but the coughing has started. I know I am getting better but it sure does hurt. My voice is about gone and the guys at work are getting a kick out of hearing me try to talk.

At work one guy is on vacation in Japan and another got a different position. So it is only me and one other person. Well guess who decided he did not want to come in tomorrow? Guess who will be working on her own? I am so behind I am stressing!!!!!!

Then last night I found info online on a friend from high school. Well we hung around the same group of friends. I could not tell you if she would even remember who I am. I was excited to find the info and when I was showing the guys at work I came across another site that excited me but I can see it is going to bug me too. Last December a bunch of people (different ages, different schools) got together for a party. At least I can say I knew about the party so I am not totally out of the loop. However the person that told me about the party forgot to give me the webpage to get the info. I was also told about the party from another source and still did not get the info. Yeah, you can say I am partly to blame for the slackiness (how do you like that word) but now that I found pictures of the party I so wish I was able to attend. Maybe next year - or maybe not as I don't believe anyone that I remember, remembers me. How sad is that? So then my main point about writing about this is that I am so toally disgusted with myself after seeing pictures of everyone! Everyone looks absolutely gorgeous! Argh! I guess I better get busy and start working on myself! Makes me feel better that I did not go to the party. Whew!

Now isn't this the bummer post?

Okay. Enough griping. I am going to try again to see if blogger will let me post some pics because it really is starting to get to me that it won't!!! I hope to have some updated project content soon!

Under the weather

I managed to leave work for home a bit early yesterday and went straight to bed. I slept until it was time for Amazing Race. No matter how I sick am I cannot miss that show. I was hoping that the girls did not get eliminated as the one ate all that meat when the men gave up. Of course they really screwed up by missing the turn. The show is interesting this time as they are not giving out the non-eliminations as early in the show as usual. That is from what I remember from previous shows but I may be wrong as I keep forgetting this was only the 3rd episode. LOL! After watching that I swigged back some Nyquil and went to bed. The Nyquil helps but I never get that good nights rest as for some reason I always wake up every hour when I take the stuff.

I am now at work and my brain is all Nyquil fuddled. There is just two of us here today (just me doing my stuff - the other guy has a separate queue he work in). So I am doing the work of three today as one started his vacation today and the other has the day off. I am thinking about taking tomorrow as a vacation day and sleeping thru the weekend.

It is so cold in this building I can hardly move my fingers. I am not sure if it is the building or just me. :-( I am finding it really hard to concentrate today.

As for my co-workers dog, he was not even sick. Just a little sad that his owner is going away for a bit. All that drama yesterday morning for nothing.

bleh....

I am sick.

Last night it started with just a little sore throat but a big swollen throat. This morning my throat is on fire! I am really hoping I can leave work early today as I am not allowed to take any time off of work. So far I seem to be okay as long as I do not talk. So my plan is to drink hot tea all day. The sad thing is, I am really hungry and cannot eat anything. I think it does not make it any better that B is home sick with the same thing (thanks honey). I wanna stay home too! Plus tomorrow I will be the only one working.

.....well scratch only working a half-day. The guy next to me that is leaving for Japan (tomorrow) for the next 3 weeks is going to take the day off to take his dog to the vet. I am not against animals but this guy lives with multiple roommates that refuse to do anything (including work). Considering this guy does not have a car and his roommate is going to have to pick him up anyways to take the dog to the vet.......it just bugs me - why can't the roommate take the dog? I cannot be too upset as my co-worker is asking himself the same thing.

I am so selfish.

So far so good

This morning has turned out to be good so far. I was able to drag myself from bed and realized that I really could not call in to work. So I got my butt into gear and got ready for work. It is a good thing I did as we are short 2 people today. Monday's are very busy anyway but today will be super busy I am sure.

I bought breakfast at the cafe here at work and got a middle-of-the-road coffee out of the coffee maker and not the machine. Of course I had to pick myself a nice leaky cup to use. I am not a big coffee drinker but lately I have been having a cup in the mornings when I am at work. We have three stages of coffee here at my workplace. We have the low grade coffee that you can get out of the coffee machine (what I normally get). Then there is the middle-of-the-road that is out of a coffee maker dispenser. Which is too far to walk so I don't get it too often. Then there is coffee you pay for. We have a coffee cart for those that really like their coffee. Since I am poor I rarely buy it but even so it is also far away (right next to the free coffee maker). The building I work in is huge and it takes my entire 15 minute break to walk down to the cafe area to get food and coffee. The coffee machine on the other hand is right by my cubicle. You do the math.

Well break is over. Time to get back to work.

It has been awhile

Talk about boring. I have a blog and I don't write to it. Sorry to all of you that visit and there is nothing new posted. I cannot believe it has been a week since I last posted.

Work has been so busy that I just don't even try to post during the week days anymore and on the weekend I try to stay away from the computer (since I work on one all day long). I have actually been trying to post some recent layouts but Picasa/Hello does not seem to want to work. One of these days I will have pics again.

I had a very nice relaxing weekend where I did nothing (well I did complete a 2 page layout). B told me not to even clean and so I took him at his word (you don't have to tell me twice - LOL!) It has been very warm this weekend (in the mid-80's) and since the A/C has not been turned on we can only open the windows in our apartment. It was quite warm this weekend so that also put me in the mood to do nothing productive.

Friday I went to the scrapbook store to spend a gift certificate I got for my birthday. I am usually pretty good and not buying duplicates but I bought something I already had. I have so much that I do not know why I still shop for supplies. In fact this item I bought was not even stashed away some place but sitting on top of my desk when I got home. I guess I really wanted it. LOL!

I have been wanting to update the site and I just seem to run out of steam when I get ready to start.

I want to make an oval doily. Does anyone know of a good site that has one?

Well I am off to bed. I will try to post updated layouts this week. Good Night.

Just another Monday

I had a busy weekend at home.

I cleaned out my bedroom. The only problem I have with it being cleaned out is that it now echoes. I am thinking that is why I had trouble sleeping this weekend. Now my closet....you don't want to look in there. Especially now that a lot of stuff that was in the bedroom in now in there.

B cleaned out our hall closet. I had done it before but did not do anything with his stuff except box it. So he went thru his boxes and then thru mine. Urgh! He told me when he started that he would ask me before throwing anything out. I am a huge packrat and stuff just holds sentimental value for me. I have to go thru a huge thing to throw something out. I tried not to stress over him cleaning out the closet and since he asked me if he could do it first I was relaxed about it. It started out nice enough with him asking me a few times if he could throw something out. Then it happened......he came downstairs with a bag of garbage with a pair of candle holders that my uncle made us for our wedding. I told him he did not ask if it was okay to throw them out. His response was that since it was given to both of us that he did not have to ask me. Uh... NO. You would think after as many years that we have known each other that this was not a good move. He then proceeded to tell me they were broken. I told him that I wanted to keep them and they meant a lot as they were made for us. He then took them back upstairs and like the pain in the rear he is - he threw them down. Of course now they probably are a bit more broken. LOL! They are pretty durable actually. They are made of rod iron and have decorative leaves. It is the leaves that bend and one has broken off. I glanced in the closet and it looks great (he was able to move and stack stuff I was unable to). I can now fit my vacuum back in the closet. I must say though I did not check to see if the candle holders are in there.

I had a great time scrapping this weekend. I managed to finish 5 pages and hope to have them up soon. It feels great to have some type of project completed. Now if I can only keep the momentum going.

Oh and this morning while B was taking his shower the tub was leaking thru the ceiling into the kitchen. Just what we need. Now we have to see if we can get a maintenance guy to come and fix it while we are home as we don't want anyone in our place when we are gone.

Well I better get back to work. I am the only one here today (out of our group of 4) and I have a lot I need to do.

FO: Thread Flower Bookmark

It is official. I have completed my 2nd thread project and my 1st project using a color other than ecru.

Here is the bookmark that I made for my Mom. I would have made her more than one but for some reason I could not get past the first row. She loves it and has been showing it off. Now that sure does make me feel good.

Thanks to Heather for pointing me to the direction of the pattern.

I thought it was about time to post something with crochet content. *Ü*

MVD SUCKS!!!!!

Because of their incompetence and unwillingness to admit they were at fault I received my first ticket yesterday!!

After working thru my lunch, I left a little early from work. There was an accident on the way home so I had to drive out of my way. Due to this accident there were a lot of cops on the street. I was in the left turn lane with a cop behind me. As soon as the light turned green he had on his lights. As he walked up to me, I had my payment receipt ready and explained to him that the car is actually registered and that my dad and husband had been at DMV all day (5 hours!!). He told me it did not matter. He stated that he could see the car was registered but that it was forbidden for highway use. Now tell me how can you have a car registered and yet you are not allowed to drive it? He ticketed me and then proceeded to tell me that I could go to traffic school or pay the fine (yeah right - which is what I told him). He seems to think the judge will not let me off of this ticket. I did not know what to make of this guy as he was nice and then he would say things that were not - like he felt I was lying. He told me that even though the car was registered, the previous owner (of the tags - not the car) got a refund. Due to the new stupid law of keeping the plate with the person and not the car, we had to go thru this. The cop then proceeded to tell me which way he was driving. He then told me not to tell him which way I was driving. He stated that if he got behind me (or if any cop got behind me) I would be given another ticket. He then proceeded to drive across the street and park his car and watch me. So I had to stand out in the cold until B came to give me the new tags.

So now to B's story at the MVD. The idiot rep told him that if we wanted this resolved we would have to pay an additional fee. So even though we paid $150.00 to register our vehicle, we would have to pay a $70.00 fee and then pay the $150.00 again. This was a MVD mistake and they are causing us to lose money and to be in court twice now this month! I need to take a letter to the judge about what we have been thru. It has to be from MVD but MVD will not admit to their mistake. I am so ready to get rid of this car. B does not know how but my dad was able to get us all of our money back (I hope he did not pay the fee which would be just like him).

Now onto today........ I again worked thru lunch but with how busy it is I will be here way past the end of my shift. So far I have been here over 10.5 hours. I don't want to miss Amazing Race tonight but I also have errands to run. Well back to work I go.

....oh and did I mention that MVD sucks??????

Something sounds fishy

I bought my car last year on 01/28/04 and it was registered on that date. I am used to car registrations lasting one year so I was expecting to renew this month (Feb). Well about 2 weeks ago B is pulled over for expired tags. It appears we were only registered for 6 months and the registration expired in November. I understand that Motor Vehicles is not guaranteed to send us a renewal notice but since I was expecting the tags not to expire until a year later, I never noticed what was actually on the plates. The registration goes to my Dad’s office so I was waiting for him to call me to pick up my mail. The renewal notice was never sent to us, with my Dad having surgery, and in the hospital at that time, our minds were on other things. We were okay with missing the registration and B went online on Feb. 7th to renew. On our receipt, it states we will receive the new tags in 5 business days. It is now the 28th of February and we have no tags. I called my cousin who works for MVD and she said we would have to go down and pick up the tags. B and my Dad went down to MVD today and they were told that they could not get our tags, as our car was not registered due to ‘someone’ requesting a refund on the 17th of Feb. They could not tell us who this person was but they do have our money! Talk about something not sounding right. I am wondering if the previous owner has anything to do with this since we never got the original renewal letter to begin with. However, the state does show our address as the mailing address.

How fishy does this sound?

Post that used to be part of Good Afternoon

Why is it when I would like to buy something for me I always think twice and never buy it, but when I am buying for others I am all gung-ho?

For example….. As I have written about before, I joined the Thread CAL at Crochetville. I have completed one thread project and wanted to buy colored thread to work on more projects. Each time I went to the store, I would look at the colors but never buy any. I decided to make my mom some pretty flower bookmarks for her birthday that I found on Heather’s site. I WOULD HAVE A LINK TO HEATHERS SITE RIGHT HERE BUT FOR THE PAST HOUR BLOGGER WOULD DELETE ANYTHING AFTER THE LINK! To do this I would need colored thread. So last night I went to JoAnn’s to check out the colors. I could not decide on what colors to get (the pink was too pink) when I walked down an aisle (just cause) and found the prettiest light pink DMC thread (it was cheaper too). When I checked out, I was expecting to pay $2.50 per roll and ended up only paying $1.49 for the DMC (I got pink and white). I had to force myself not to go back and get the pretty light blue. I am hoping the price will be the same next time I head out there (30 min drive). I started making my first flower last night and finished it. Now I just need to block it and start on the second one. Once I am finished I can use the colored thread for me – without a guilty conscience.

BLOGGER HAS TICKED ME OFF. I AM SUCH AN IDIOT TO SPEND MY ENTIRE LUNCH HOUR TRYING TO POST ONE STUPID POST. IS ANYONE ELSE HAVING A PROBLEM WITH BLOGGER ACCEPTING WHAT YOU TYPE?

Heather's site link is - http://truelovetreasures.blogspot.com/

Post that used to be called Good Afternoon

Adagio Teas

I received my sample from Adagio Teas. I was sent the Herbal Sampler. I am so excited to have this tea. Last night I had yummy Spearmint. Doesn’t it just look yummy?

B laughs at me because I keep opening the tins just to smell the tea. Mint is one of my favorite flavors and this tea did not disappoint. I cannot wait until I save my pennies for the teacup they sell on their site. I want to get the starter set so I can get the tea cup thingy and have some teas that maybe B will like. He is very picky and just likes plain black tea with no flavorings what-so-ever.

Work

Work will be busy due to one of our group of four being on vacation in Hong Kong for 2 weeks. Then when he gets back another one in our group of four is leaving for Japan for 2 weeks. Then there is me. I am stuck here and need to cover for when they are gone. The one guy that started his vacation today had arranged to have someone cover for him but it appears that the higher powers that be do not like that idea and it is up to me to administer (which I don’t mind) and handle (which I don’t) these particular cases in addition to what I already do. So needless to say I just found out I will be having to come in to work on my days off (Friday) and have to cancel a doctor appointment I made back in December and hope that I can be seen sometime soon in the future. I really don’t like when work makes me rearrange my personal life on such short notice and I really don’t like when they expect me to just go with the flow and cancel everything.

Blogger

I would write more but this darn site is ticking me off. Each time I go to preview or save my post it deletes everything and I have to start over! URGH! Lunch is almost over and I now have no time to work on my knitting that I brought with me. I just want to get away from my desk for a few minutes. Is that too much to ask?

Blogger does not like me

Just a test post to see if what I actually write is what shows up on my post.

LO: 6th Anniversary

One page layout - 8.5 x 11

Supplies used:

• Bazzill cardstock
• Patterned paper – From the big stack from Provo Craft (don't remember the name)
• MM rub-on letters
• MM heart brad
• Bazzill brads "June Berry"
• Fiber
• I made the tag using Scrapagerz tag template
• Computer font for journaling – "CK Script"

LO: Carving Pumpkins 2003

Page size is 8.5x11 - Two pages stitched together in scan. The page really is not crooked but looks that way due to the scan.

Supplies used:

• Cardstock - Bazzill (gotta love the monochromatic packs - I can use any color and they match!)
• Patterned paper - Provo Craft - one of the big stacks I think
• Black embroidery thread
• Tag I made myself
• Computer font - Scrap Serif the I printed in gray and wrote using Micron Pen
• Jolee's stickers

What would you do? I need help with a customer.

I need help with a customer. I am hoping you all can help me.

I have a home-based business. I have a new customer that wanted to purchase an item from me at the end of December. I got the product in stock that last week of December and she asked me to call her the first week of January after the holiday to arrange drop off. I did call her but had to leave messages for her, as she was not in. Each day I brought her product with me to work hoping to be able to drop it off. The 2nd week of January, I was home sick. She called me on a Saturday and DH told her I was in bed (way to go honey)! He said she was not too nice but I think this is just her and not the fact that I was in bed. She told DH that she wanted to know why I had not called her. I immediately called her back and told her that I had called her and left messages and told her who I left messages with. I found this weird as all other times I have called my phone number has appeared on her caller-id and she has always called back to find out who is calling her (she is new and does not recognize my name). She then mentioned that she had not been getting all of her messages. She then proceeded to tell me she still wanted the original product and also would be ordering something else but that she was going out of town and would call me when she got back. She clearly mentioned that she did NOT want me to call her. So here is my dilemma. It is now the end of February. I have not heard from this lady. I want to know if she still wants her original product or if I can sell it to someone else.

My problem is knowing how to contact her. Should I call her? Should I send her a card? What should I say? Should I mention that someone else is interested in the product (even though there is no one)? Should I mention that I was concerned she had tried to call me but due to issues with my phone, she did not get thru (again not true)? What is a nice way to contact this customer and get across to her that I still have her product? I don’t want to sound pushy. But yet it would be nice to get her the product she ordered.

Thanks.

Mid-day review

It is now afternoon. This day is going slowly but not as slowly as last week. Lunch was not too exciting except for the 20 minutes where I got to work on my ribbed scarf. I do not know why it is taking me forever to finish this scarf. It is rarely cold enough to need one here in Arizona but lately we have had tons of winter storms, which one would think would motivate me to finish but I have been in a slump to work on anything lately.

I want to start working on some summer tunics/sweaters. Anyone have any ideas of something I can make? Luckily, with being in such a large building, it is usually kept cool. Well it is kept cool when I keep going to the thermostat and changing it from heat to cool. I do not know who keeps changing it but someone always manages to turn this place into a furnace in the afternoons. I would rather it be cold in here and not hot.

I am feeling pretty good today. I am wearing the new clothes my mom bought me for my birthday so I fell all pretty and grown-up. Leave it to my mom to choose colors I would never choose for myself. I love what she picked though and need to go back and find another pair of the pants she got me. Hey! When I find a pair that fits AND is comfy for everyday wear I need to stock up!

So basically, I am reading up on my favorite blogs (and some new ones) and trying to work in between (shhhhh don't tell anyone). I have 4 hours to go until I get to go home.

I am so boring

I did absolutely nothing this past weekend but sit on my butt. B played his video game (Mercenaries) and I just lounged about. I did not even do anything crafty. I totally forgot about my yarn projects and although I tried to scrapbook, I just could not get any ideas down that I liked. I stayed away from the computer and either read or napped. I must be getting old as I find myself sleeping more often. My mom naps – not me. Napping is for babies and old people. My mom is old – not me. Well I guess I am getting up there in years and the napping time sounds so good now. LOL!

On Friday, B went to the movies with a friend to see a movie he wanted to see and I stayed home and watched a chick flick (yeah me time!). I watched First Daughter. I liked it but thought it was the same as Chasing Liberty. I did nothing on any of my projects.

Saturday was stormy with lightning, thunder and hail. Even though I have a surge protector, I always unplug everything having to do with my computer. I don’t know why I do that. I am such a scaredy cat.

B and I also watched Napoleon Dynamite and The Village. I was disappointed in Napoleon Dynamite and surprised B sat thru it. As for The Village……All I can say is that I loved it! B hates M. Night Shyamalan movies (except for Unbreakable) and so I watched it first by myself. I am so happy that I did. B has a habit of commenting during movies (at home only) that ticks me off. So I am glad I got to see the movie on my own so that I could enjoy it. I watched it again when he went out on Sunday for a couple of hours.

So now, it is Monday and it is back to the grind. I brought my knitting with me to work and I hope to work on it during my lunch break. Eventually I will finish one of my many projects. The guys I work with know that I taught myself to knit. Now whenever I wear a sweater they always ask me if I made it. One of these days, I hope to be able to say yes. I do find it funny though as they will usually bring up the subject and ask me about my progress.

Such is my boring life.

I miss the sun

I was able to go home an hour early yesterday. It was just an hour but what a difference an hour makes. The sun was still up and I had energy to do stuff (not that I did anything). I never see the sun. When I leave for work it is dark and when I get to work the sun is just coming up but you cannot see it yet – just the lightening of the sky. I work indoors all day without a window nearby. Since I am not a smoker I do not go outside during the day. I know that is not a good excuse but I very rarely take breaks and if I go outside, I feel as if I am slacking. When I leave work the sun is down and the sky gets darker as I drive home. When I get home, it is dark. When it is dark, I do not feel like I have much time to do much of anything so I basically just wind down. Working these long days is the only reason I do not like working 4 x 10’s. Other than that little reason I love my schedule. I work Monday – Thursday and have a 3 day weekend. Of course, I seem to spend one of those days just catching up on sleep. Today there is no sun. It is very overcast. It sure has been raining a lot lately. I am not used to all this water but I will take it when I can get it, as it will soon start to be in the 100’s. Moreover, when it gets that hot I find myself begging for it to rain.

YUMMY!

Last night B made King Crab legs for dinner (he is now feeling better). They were the best and not just because we got them for $8.99 a pound!!!! Guess what I am having for dinner tonight? Yep! They were so cheap B got 2 pounds. I am still surprised that we had leftovers though they are one of our favorite things to eat.

It is slow again at work today. Since it is my “Friday” I am hoping I can go home early again. Only problem with that is I really need the money so I need to work the hours.

Too early for spring fever?

B is not feeling well. He has not felt well for the past 2 days. I think he has the flu. I sure hope not because he sure does get grouchy when he is sick and I really don't want to catch what he has. Not because I don't want to be sick (although that is a good reason) but because I will have to take care of myself. What is it with men that when they get sick they expect to be mothered but when the woman is sick we have to fend for ourselves?

I wonder if I should go home early today. I wonder how I will work that out. I mean I already took Monday off of work and I always have Friday off. How sad is it that I cannot even work a full 3 days a week? Maybe I have spring fever or is it too early for that? There is nothing left for me to do here and I am bored. Of course you will never hear me admit that.

As for my projects......I have not worked very much on them so pictures are definitely not necessary.

Tea for two

Tea for two? No way. Just tea for me.

I love tea and cannot get enough. In fact B does not like me to buy tea as he says I have enough - he is not a tea lover and will only drink basic black. *Ü* I don't think he understands that I drink different teas depending on what mood I am in. One of my new favorites is Rooibos tea. Usually with vanilla and honey. Very yummy. I like me the red teas!

Lately, I have been seeing the Adagio tea buttons on different websites. While reading Julie's blog today, I know now what the buttons are for. I have no problem advertising for tea. Hmmmmmmmmmm I think I need to go and make me some tea now.

Happy Birthday to ME!

For my birthday dinner, my parents took me out to eat at Sullivan's. It is a very pricey steak and seafood place (I don't think that is how they are advertised but that was ALL they had). It is in a small center with two other extremely popular restaurants and not enough parking. After driving around for over 10 min and finally being able to follow someone to their car, we got to park. My parents were already there and seated. The hostess told us she would get someone to take us to the table. Well we were standing right by her and she forgot all about us. Each hostess and host that came by she had them do something else. She finally remembered we were there (even told us she had forgotten us) and we were led to our table. The place was crowded but I think that was the style and mood of the place. It has a 20's style theme as if we were in Chicago or New York. They had loud music playing and it was hard to talk. One little funny was when my sister-in-law got up to use the restroom. She had placed her napkin down on the table. One of the servers immediately came by and refolded it for her. LOL!

Each item on the menu was a separate price, so if you wanted a potato with your $30.00 steak you had to pay $6.00 more. Same thing if you wanted a salad. My dad ordered a salad. It was not a salad. It was a head of iceberg lettuce cut into fourths and drowned with Blue Cheese dressing. That was it. Nothing else. Oh and just in case you did not like Blue Cheese…..well that is too bad as they did not have any other dressing. Not even Ranch. Only Blue Cheese. I think this was about the time my mom was not too pleased with the place.

When our meals came, they did not bring mine and brought my brother the wrong steak. We were told it would take over 20 min to cook another so he just ate what they brought him. I had ordered Tequila Lime shrimp. I finally got it and it was un-eatable. I only ate one (I got eight for $24.00). It was too hot. It did not taste like Tequila, Lime or even shrimp. Another worker, not our server told us that it is soaked in red pepper chilies. This would have been nice to know when reading the menu. So even after all this I still enjoyed my night. I am starving and have not eaten anything but that won't hurt me. I can tell you though; no one in our family will ever go to that place again. I think if it were not so busy, it would have been better. I just feel bad that for over $200.00 I did not get anything to eat.

This is a picture of B and me right after we were seated. Before all the mess-ups.

Here is my Mom and Dad.

My brother and his wife.

And me.....Yay! Happy Birthday to me!!!!

Wednesday - Works-in-Progress

I have not been feeling well so I neglected my poor computer this past weekend. Since I was not feeling well to go to work, I was also not feeling well to work on any projects. Then of course last night (Tues) I found myself working on my ribbed scarf and not even getting to one row when all the stitches came off the needle. I got them all back on but it was just not right. I mean the end of the yarn was four stitches from the end and not at the end like it was supposed to be. I just threw in all in the bag and decided to stress about it later. So fast forward to tonight…..I fixed it. I can tell where I frogged it too but that is just because I am anal. LOL! So here is a current picture of my ribbed scarf. I am using two skeins and have just started with the 2nd one. I was surprised how it looked when I hung it on the wall, as I had not noticed how the pattern of colors looked. I really like how the pattern is turning out. Now I did just start the 2nd skein so I am hoping that with this 2nd one it does not change the pattern too drastically. Is it too much to wish for that the pattern stay exactly the same? LOL! I can see though in the top left that it is changing already.

As for the garter stitch scarf, I am going to start over and do a different pattern. Probably make 2 scarves instead of one and make them single colored. I have never started a project and then changed my mind and decided to make something else before. Of course, I have never made anything specifically for me, as they have all been gifts and are specific in what I decide to make.

Project Update

I am such a slacker. I start to write an extremely interesting update and then I never post it. I mean it is really interesting and yet the time passes and I post something else. Same thing with updating my template. I have everything ready to go except a couple of things but I never change it. So today's post.........it is ummmmm one of the not too exciting ones. Well that is if you do not like crafty things. In fact I uploaded these photos last night and still did not update.

I am almost done with my garter stitch scarf. I am really not loving this scarf. Well I do think I will be excited once it is done but there are many things I do not like about it but I can say I have learned not to carry the color up the side on this type of project. Another thing is that it appears to no longer be straight. I have checked and I do have the correct number of stitches (no increases) but if you look at the picture you can see where the scarf is getting wider. I did find myself telling B that he is to no longer make any comments of any kind (good or bad) concerning this scarf or I will stop and may not start again. LOL~!

So even though I have many projects that I need to finish I did decide to start a new one. The other day I bought a couple of skeins of LionBrand Jiffy and I am making yet another scarf. Now I do not know what I will ever wear these scarves in the desert but I am excited to make them. This scarf is a knit2, purl2 rib. I love it!!!!! I realize that once I am done with this scarf I can move on to a much larger project with confidence. I started this new scarf the other night at 11:30pm (when I should have been in bed). Well I was in bed but I thought starting a new project would be better then sleeping. I did not like how my first attempt was coming out and restarted it making it not so wide. Now B is asking me why I get the cool scarf and he gets the icky scarf. Yeah. I don't think he likes the garter scarf either.

One project or two?

Are you the type of person that can only work on one project at a time or do you find yourself getting bored and starting multiple projects? If you do work on multiple projects do you find that you never finish? How many projects are you currently working on?


As for me.......I find that I get bored and start new projects. However the projects I first started out on never get finished. As for how many projects I am currently working on......they are too numerous to count.

FO: Tote Bag in Blue

I thought it was about time I shared this finished project.

I crocheted this tote for my sister-in-law for Christmas. The picture with the flash shows the real color of the pretty blue. I was looking for purple but this was the closest I could find. This was my first time working with cotton. The bag works up pretty quickly.

Pattern - Easy Crocheted Bag
Yarn - Lion Cotton "Morning Glory Blue"

This first picture will show you the shape. Sorry it is so dark. I don't know why it looks so dark as it looks fine on my system.

This second picture shows the true color of the yarn. It is such a pretty blue!

FO: Bounty

I am finished! I am finished! Yippee! I finished my first thread project ever that I did for the Thread CAL. Sorry for the dark picture but the flash inside was making the detail go away and I took this outside (it was overcast). I am looking forward to starting on my next project. I have it narrowed down to two. I just need to decide which to start first.

Pattern - Bounty
Aunt Lydia's Size 10 crochet thread in Natural
Size 7 crochet hook

Look up your house

You can look up your house. You can see what your roof looks like. How cool is that?

http://terraserver.microsoft.com/

Nyquil daze

Yesterday just seemed to drag on forever. After work I should have gone home but instead went to Michael's. I bought some yarn. It took me forever to decided on what to buy and I ended up with 2 different colors and styles. I am planning on making a couple more scarves to practice my stitches. I don't know why I bought more yarn as I am not yet finished with my current projects and we will not mention the projects still in the closet that I started years ago. I was thinking I could use a smaller knitting needles so I did not buy any, but since I bought bulky yarn I should use my size 10 needles. I only have 2 needles so far (7 &10) and the 10's are being used right now so I did not start any new projects last night. I almost bought some pink thread to make a heart doily but changed my mind and put it back. Then of course I bought a big 'ole stack of patterned paper when I already have tons. I DO NOT NEED ANYMORE PATTERNED PAPER!!!! I will never learn though. I bought this stack and I do not even know what is in it - so I hope I like it. LOL! So now I am feeling totally guilty for buying stuff that I should not have.

I took some Nyquil last night so today I am a bit loopy. Being loopy at work is fun. Talk about not being able to concentrate. If I thought my typos were bad before.....well today it is worse. I am sure that if I close my eyes I will fall asleep immediately.

I am going to finally post the pictures of some recently finished projects. I have been stalling because I made some of them for gifts and one of my sister-in-laws has not yet received hers and I think she may read my blog. I have also posted some recent layouts on the sidebar and will post info on them soon.

But for now you can go here for a huh? type picture. I find this picture funny but also wonder what they were thinking? Since I live in an extremely warm climate I am sure I would be freezing to death. Is this just something the cold does to a person? Seems kind of loopy to me. LOL!

Works-in-Progress pictures

I have been taking pictures of my works-in-progress. Of course, I never shared them and end to end up taking even more pictures since I have been working on them. So here are some updates to my current projects.

First is my garter stitch scarf. It is actually straight but I think I was holding it at an angle and looks tilted. It was a bit larger than what is showing here but for some reason after about four stitches something went wacky and I could not fix it. So I tried to follow the steps to frog a couple of rows. I put a needle in certain stitches and then pulled the yarn out until I got to those stitches. I did not do it right as my needle was left with just yarn rolled around it and not attached to my work. I was able to catch the loops and put them on the needle. I surprised myself by being able to put them back on the needle the correct way (well I am not sure yet as I have not continued with my work but they look correct). Since the needle was facing the wrong way, I just had to transfer the loops to the other needle. I think I am back on track. I took apart maybe 5-6 rows so that is what is missing from this picture.

Now I like the front of the work (that picture up there). B is telling me he likes the wrong side (with the stripes from changing colors). I like it too actually but I am a bit bummed as I decided to carry the yarn and not just switch it out. So now I have that icky little trail of yarn up my piece. Being the perfectionist I am, I am trying not to dwell on it. LOL!

As for my thread project……it is still not finished. Here is where I am so far. I keep misplacing the darn pattern! LOL! I hope to finish it sometime soon so I can then figure out how to block it and then start on another one. They are fun! Now are they supposed to not be flat until they are blocked?

HEY! Grrrrr...

Shoot-out at the LSS!

Well I survived the crop! It was pouring rain when I left and it was slow going thru the flooded and dark streets. I finally made it there at around 7-ish. I started right in on scrapping and managed to finish 2 pages (one layout). Then I was super tired. I guess the week caught up with me. I started working on the second layout when there was a drive-by shooting (that was pretty much the consensus). The crop area in the store is right next to a huge plate glass window - in the front of the store. The store owner locked the doors and made us all go sit at the back of the store (I am hoping I can convince them to give me a copy of the photo that was taken). We were not allowed to go to the front (hence why I did not have my own camera). We were told to stay in the back until the police said it was okay. So we worked on a Make-n-Take (how is that for a scraping diversion). Finally the police let us go back to our cropping. Our call to the cops ended up being call #10. I ended up staying until midnight and although I only finished the one layout I did get some good ideas for the other pages I had planned. Hopefully I will get those completed sometime this week.

I took pictures of my works-in-progress but on Saturday I ended up knitting quite a bit on my scarf so I need to take new photos. I am already planning what my next project will be - I just need to decide it if it will be for me or B. If I make something for me I need to decide if it will fit or if I will have to make adjustments. I am interested in making a shrug (instead of the poncho). I need to decide if I have to make it wider or not. Why are all patterns make for the smaller set? It should not be too hard as this piece is just one rectangle and the sides are sewn to make arms. I am sure if I just make it longer it should work.

The weekend is almost here

Do you ever have one of those days/weeks/whatever where you just don't have enough hours in the day and when you do have a free hour you are so exhausted you don't want to do anything. That has been me. Although it has been actually a short week with Monday being a holiday, work has made the week feel longer. I am working my required overtime today and I am looking forward to getting out of work at noon. I have so many errands to run and I want to attend a crop tonight where I hope to actually scrap and not gab. It is sad when the one thing I have to look forward to is sleeping in tomorrow (Sat).

My uncle is sick. I was very upset yesterday to find that he has a malignant tumor but after speaking to my mom we don't know if we should believe everything he says. I think he is trying to see who looses it the most.

I have not done anything really crafty this week. My thread project has not progressed but I have completed a couple of rows in my garter stitch scarf, usually while watching a little TV before bed. I think B is disappointed that it takes longer for me to knit. He wants his sweater now! He asked me if he should put in his order for next year. I told him 'probably so'. LOL!

Work

Yesterday work was hectic. Today not so much. We are short one person and another will be leaving early but I think we can swing it. That means it will just be me and A@@. He came into work yesterday (after screwing us the previous) week and had the nerve to ask us if the work was piling up and what should he know. I am sorry but if it was me that ditched my co-workers during the busiest time of the year I would be ashamed to show my face. I am just looking forward to the time when he realizes he will not get holiday pay since he called in. Wouldn't you think that if you were planning on ditching you would not tell everyone at work about it? January is the only time there is a vacation freeze at work. When you are hired they tell this to you on the first day and it is mentioned many times through out the training. People that don't listen to this have learned the hard way. One guy had planned his wedding during this time and was told he could not have the time off. So when the A@@ asks the boss for time off to go to California he was told no. He has worked here long enough to know better. Well he then started telling everyone he would call into work. He gave different reasons but the main one was that he would not have a ride into work because his roommates were going to California. He made sure to tell everyone that he was planning on staying home the entire time. That since he was told he could not take vacation time he would not be going to California. Yeah right! I am just sure that when all of his friends and roommates left for this huge adventure (as he explained to the boss) that he told them. "oh just go along without me. I will stay home all alone". I noticed that he did not really talk to anyone yesterday but then no one really talked to him. The only thing he said yesterday was to announce really loudly how tired and exhausted he was. One of the other guys caught him on it and said 'how can you be tired when you have been off of work the past 5 days'. He kept to himself yesterday. Okay enough of my work gripes. As long as he does not talk to me I will not bring HR into it.

Yesterday I was a good girl and stopped to work out after work. It has been awhile since I have been in and there were some changes. They re-arranged the whole place (paint etc.) and got some new machines. I had to wait to watch a few ladies before I could use them. Hopefully I will go again on Thursday.

After the work out I watch the oh so entertaining Amazing Race. I am happy to say the Jerk of all time and his wife were eliminated (insert happy dance here). I was able to work some on my garter stitch scarf and I think I am getting the hang of it. I get scared when it comes time to change the colors as I am worried that I will do it at the wrong time and mess up the right side of the scarf. So far it is going well and I am picking up speed. I am carrying the yarn up the side and I have to remember not to pull too hard or the stitches get messed up and the side is not straight. I will have to take an update picture this weekend. I really need to finish this scarf as it is already in the 80's and there will be no need for one soon.

As for my Thread project......I only have 2.5 rows to go. I am excited to finish. I have read some directions but still need to figure out how to block it when I am done. I may wait though to block it when I finish some more thread projects but that may change (the blocking, not the other projects).

I am looking forward to this weekend. I am going to a local crop (YAY!) and I am really looking forward to it. I am also planning on getting some yarn for new projects. I just need to remind myself that if I start too many projects I may not finish the ones I am already working on.

And with Blogger down today I will not mention how long it took me to post! Urgh! That is all I have to say on that!

Some current projects

I thought I would write an early post today. B has gone hiking for the day and I get the whole place to myself. Yippee!!!

Here are photos of the two projects that I recently started. I am planning on adding more projects cause you know you cannot have just a couple. I still have a couple I have been working on from last year and previous years but I am only concentrating on new projects right now.

So far I am halfway finished with my thread project. Here is my progress so far. See I got the lopsidedness out of it. I had missed a ch5 and it threw the whole thing out of whack. I hope to finish this one and maybe start another sometime this weekend.

I have officially started my first knitting project. It is not anything fancy. Just a garter stitch scarf. I really think I am finally getting the hang of it. I tried to work on it some more this morning however but my fingers hurt too much. I am sure I will get used to it though.

I am using LionBrand Wool-Ease in Black and Oatmeal (I am loving this yarn!). The colors go well together I think. Of course everything goes well with black. This tiny bit (except for 2 rows) took me all last night (probably about 3 hours). I realize that knitting goes a lot slower than crochet and I am prepared for that. B is not prepared. He does not understand the difference even though I have mentioned it over and over. He wants his sweater now! LOL! I keep telling him that I only know one stitch right now and his sweater will have to wait! I guess I can take it as a compliment that he is already expecting me to be far more advanced than I currently am.

I plan to spend the rest of the day scrapping, reading my favorite blogs and cleaning (just a bit - I don't want to over do - LOL!). I am really looking forward to having the place to myself all day. I hope that does not sound mean but since B is not currently working he is always home. I do not get a day to myself anymore. Since I get 3 days off - one weekday and two weekend days I really looked forward to that weekday to do stuff for me.

Finally get to relax

After a very busy week that included lots of extra work and overtime, I was so happy to be able to sleep in this morning. It felt so good!

I really did not do very much today. Threw some beans in the crock-pot and planned to scrap the day away. I just could not get in the mood to scrap though. I could not get in the mood to do anything.

B usually goes out with the guys on Saturdays so I had planned to watch a chick flick and scrap. He ended up staying home so we watched Troy and I started to knit my first project. I am just making a garter stitch scarf with two colors. I think I finally have it down. I must say though that my hands are killing me. Not only do the tips of my thumbs and index fingers hurt due to the points but my entire right hand kind of spasmed up. I may be holding the yarn too tight or I just may not be used to it yet. I can say I am pretty pleased with my progress so far and I was able to cast on a new color with no problems. That was not the case last night or any of my prior attempts. I was so frustrated last night. I think it is because I am a perfectionist when it comes to making something. I am sure knitting will not be an exception. I am working with LionBrand Wool-Ease and I love it! I have another project I want to start that uses this yarn so I am glad to be able to 'test' it out first. I am not one to pre-buy yarn but I told B tonight that I am going out to buy a big plastic bin to store my left over yarn and any I may decide to buy. I also warned him that the yarn store has so many pretty colors. I do not think he was paying attention though.

As for my thread project, I have not worked on it for a couple of days. I plan to work on it some this weekend though. I am halfway finished with it so I need to find another one to start.

I will be sure to post my progress on all my works-in-progress this weekend. I am just so happy the work week is over and now I get to relax! Yeah to a 3.5 day weekend!

The day after Monday

Today was good, until it sucked. I had to deal with the impossible co-worker again today. He just really ticks me off. This is the guy that has to debate and argue about everything. I have written about him before. He did something really rude and I called him on it. He as usual tried to turn it around into it being all me taking it personal. I am so sick of him always doing this. The others just don't talk to him because they don't want to have him throw a fit. I was not going to let him get away with it this time. So basically I got to throw in the fact that he doesn't know what he is doing and that I had to fix his messes.

My group works on different queues. All the records we work on allow us to lock them so others don't work on them at the same time. The only thing we cannot lock is when we go thru the email inbox for our group. Usually there is only one person in there at a time but when we get busy we usually have more. To claim a record we rename it. So basically if you have an email with a name on it you know not to touch it. One usually will work from the top down and the other from the bottom up. I work in this particular queue most of the day. There are 2 of us that are very proficient at it and we have no problem clearing out the inbox. We had in fact already done it once today. I was the only one working on them when I notice that the subjects are being renamed. I asked who was working in the inbox and it was (oh I really need to think of a name for him so right now I will call him the A@@). This really surprised me as he hates to work in this queue (and all the other queues were high). I asked him if he was working from the top or from the bottom. He did not understand. I explained how the inbox is worked and I told him that I would start at the bottom. He then informed me he was changing all of the emails in the inbox because that is the way 'he does it' (he repeated this alot). I was basically kicked out of working on my queue. I called him on it. I told him he was rude to just do that and not check to see who was currently working on the records. I told him I did not mind if he helped me with the queue. I then proceeded to explain to him that there is no problem with multiple people working on the records but he cannot change them all or no one would know where to begin. Again he answered with his 'this is the way I do it'. I told him that I understood that he has only worked in this queue when he is the only person scheduled for the day (my day off) and I can understand he has a system but when there are all of us there he needs to follow the proper steps. I was going pretty well with stating my point, as he always likes to butt in and take over. I could tell he was getting ticked at that. So he tells me he cannot change it now. I said that was fine but in the future he would need to follow the steps. He then told me that he would let me do them. That he did not want to do them anymore. I told him I would not finish them as he needed the practice and he should finish what he started. I mean he did claim all those records as his. He had the nerve to tell me he did not need the practice. Now this ticked me off. I know that my manager wants him to have more practice because he refused to read the training and screws up. So I basically let him have it. I told him he did in fact need the practice as I had to fix up all his screw ups yesterday (this felt good to say). He did not like that very much and the argument ended when he yelled out 'Bite Me'. This is his answer to any argument he cannot win. I found out later when talking to my manager that he has been told not to keep saying this and my manger talked to him about his attitude again. However I do not like when my manager does this as he will sometimes make me come off as taking things to personal when I do not. I am the only girl on my team. We are very limited in number at my workplace. I am getting tired of everything being blamed on me being a girl. The A@@ uses this alot when he does not get his way.

So basically I came home with a headache that did not appear until after all this drama and stayed home - I did not work out as I had planned. I watched The Amazing Race (of course) and worked on my doily for the Thread CAL. I started it over. I have come to the conclusion that this pattern is incorrect. There is no way that after increasing each round that I still only end up with 16dc for 3 rounds. I just continued with it and did it my own way. It is coming along. It is looking kind of lopsided (as the scan shows) and I hope this is fixed when I continue with the rounds. I am halfway done.

It was a Monday

The day seemed to be very long and work dragged very slowly, which is weird since we were so busy. I was so happy when I finally got to leave. There is one co-worker that likes to argue with everyone about everything and anything and he started in with me today. He did something wrong because he did not read the training. So far, I have found two wrong accounts and it was left to me to clean it up. It was a very bad experience for the customer. Moreover, with how busy we have been it is unneeded extra work. I told him that he had done the first one wrong and he asked me to show him how to fix it. I started to show him and off he went on a tangent of how stupid the whole database was and he did not care and that the database needed to be changed completely blah blah blah. I never got to show him the correct way to do it. The database is working just fine and he would know this if he read the training. I told him that I think a person who has completed 2000 records (me) would know more about the database and what can and cannot be done than a person who has completed a total of 107 records (him). This is a guy who told me he argued with his high school English teacher because she said Shakespeare wrote in English. He said he told her she was wrong and stupid. Poor lady was put thru the wringer. This is how he is at work. Everything is a debate with him so our manager just avoids him. I am waiting for him to stomp on too many toes so he gets himself booted. My only consolation is that I make a lot more than he does and I am sure it irks him to no end.

As for my thread project…………well ummmmmmmm I may need to start that over. I was doing so well too. I finished a couple of rounds but all the time was feeling that it was just not right. At the end of the 5th round, I am supposed to have 64 dc. I did not have 64 dc so I took that round out and started it over. This time I got a bit closer but the pattern is not matching up. I will probably rip out all the rows back to 1 or 2. The only problem with this pattern is it does not tell you how many stitches you should end up with after each round. After completing the 5th round is the first time a stitch total is listed. Now I do have a question and I may have to ask on the crochet boards but when I join I always join in the ch 3. I am wondering if I am doing that correctly.

Well that is my update. I hope to have a lot more accomplished in the craft department tomorrow. However I do have a lot of errands and house stuff on my plate. Hey I never posted what our Christmas present was. I may just have to do that.

Good night.

Lots of goodies

I did not plan to go shopping today but I did end up with a few goodies. I stopped by the scrapbook store and bought some supplies (even though I probably did not need any). I have been on a roll with scrapping some pages and I hope to continue. I will post some to my blog soon.

B and I went out to eat at Chili's (Yay for gift cards)! Afterwards we stopped by Barnes & Noble (of course it is the other book store I have a gift card to) and looked around. I bought myself the Knit It! Magazine and Stitch 'n Bitch. I was going to buy the 2nd one (Stitch 'n Bitch Nation) but will save it for my gift card. I so already love this book and I can honestly say I have already learned some things on what not to do.

I joined a crochet Thread CAL (my first CAL). Did I mention I was doing this? This is my first time to using thread and a tiny hook. I started tonight and so far, I think I am doing okay. I do have to get used to the thread twisting

For my first project, I chose to make a doily – Bounty. I think it is very pretty and I am hoping it is not too much for my first thread project. I have only worked on it for a short time (last half of Desperate Housewives) but I have completed 3 rounds. At first, I thought I might have been doing the third round wrong but it seems to look okay. This is what I have completed so far (I will have to use a dark background next time).

I have a few finished projects I need to post and the pictures are already uploaded so maybe I will do so tomorrow.

Well the weekend is over and I have to go back to work tomorrow. I have not been in to work since Wednesday as I was not feeling well on Thursday & Friday. I hope it is not too busy. I better head to bed.

Snow!

The desert rarely gets snow. We have one small mountain (with ski slopes nonetheless) that gets very little snow. When it does snow, it is a big deal. The last time B and I saw snow was on our cruise to Alaska we took in 2002. We wanted to get out today so we decided (well I decided) to drive up the mountain as far as our little no 4-wheel drive/no chains Civic would take us. We stopped a little before the cut-off for chains and found an area that did not have too many people (just one family of four). It was nice. Of course, as you can tell in the photo B liked to cover me in snow. It was non-stop. What I find funny is even though there was snow on the ground it was not cold. We did not need to wear our jackets and B was only wearing a t-shirt. I did end up getting very wet though.

Now I do admit it (and I even mentioned to B). I can now scrap SNOW pictures!!!!! You do know that is the only reason we went right? :-)

Afterwards we stopped at Marie Calendars for lunch/dinner with my very wet pants then headed home. Now it is SCRAP time and I am hoping to get a lot accomplished.

Bummed

Today was the day I decided to get some yarn for some projects for myself. I have four projects picked out that will be just for me. Three are crochet and one is knit.

I started my adventure by stopping by Michael's since they are the only store that carries Frenzy by Bernat. This yarn is for the poncho that I finally decided to make. They had it but not all the colors I needed. At over $5.50 a skein, this poncho will sure end up being expensive since I need 10 skeins total. Since they do not carry all the colors used in the pattern, I have to decide if I still want to make it (heck yes!) so now I need to find a place to buy online I guess. I also need size 11 knitting needles, which they were out of by the way. The next project I want to make is a crocheted afghan. This afghan calls for LionBrand Wool-Ease. Since this yarn is much cheaper, this may be my next project. However, the store did not have all the colors I needed. Okay to be honest they had one of the five needed colors. So off I went to look for yarn for pattern #3. It is a crocheted capelet using Berroco Suede. It was a no go with finding the Berroco either. Now while I am looking I find a free pattern for a knit poncho. It says beginner but the pattern looks like there is more to it, as I would have to use three different needle sizes, including a circular for the neck. I even looked for the needles and yarn and they did not have it. So, I decided to look for the crochet thread and needle for the thread-along I am joining. Would you believe that they did not even have that! So I said good-bye to Michel's and drove across the street to the super Jo-Ann's.

Jo-Ann's was not much better but I did have a little bit of success. Jo-Ann's does not carry the Frenzy and they were out of size 11 knitting needles. They did manage to have two of the colors for the crocheted afghan but that still was not enough. I looked for the items needed for the free pattern I got at Michael's and they did not have any of the colors. As I expected they did not have the Berroco Suede. I was able to find the size 7 crochet hook I needed and the crochet thread. As I was waiting to check out the woman in front of me handed me a 40% off coupon so all was good!

On the way home I decided to stop by Ben Franklins. I do not know why as they never have anything in stock. I am always disappointed when I go in there yet I keep stopping by. I can say that the only thing they had was the Berroco brand! Of course they did not have the Suede. As I was leaving the store they had a table advertising 25% off the Christmas scented Yankee candles. There were three scents (Christmas cookie, Home for the holidays and Holiday Bayberry). The Bayberry is my favorite. I took the candle to the register and was promptly told it was not on sale because it was not a 'holiday' scent. They are such idiots. Needless to say I did not purchase it.

Now I am home and I think I may start on the thread crochet, look online for yarn or finish up some already started scrapbook pages. I plan to post some finished projects to my site as well.

To tired to think of a title

I have been asked to clarify more about a previous post. I guess I really did not explain it too well. which is a problem of mine. My thoughts are so much more detailed yet when I write I skip things.

I was asked the following:

If she had $50 (or even withdrew $50), then deposited $600, as you said in your
post, wouldn't her account be positive, not negative? I'm just curious, since
spending $50, then depositing $600 doesn't come out negative on my end. Could
you clarify?

The account in question was not a bank account. It was the cash drawer of a store. The customer took in $50.00 cash in sales. Her deposit at the end of the night to the bank should have been for $50.00 cash. When she entered her deposit into her computerized accounting program she entered it for $600.00 cash. This made the cash drawer a negative amount. The customer does not know the real amount she deposited to the bank and had to look at her receipts. I hope that clears up any lingering questions - I am good at math I promise. Explaining it fully with out going off topic is another thing. LOL!

The calls really do not bother me and if they did I am sure I would not have lasted as many years as I have here. I can understand that some people do not see things right away and need extra help (my dad is a great example). But when the person on the other end is yelling that it is our fault, that we do not understand that the account is negative and must be fixed immediately and does not give you the info you ask for (after multiple requests) to resolve the issue then the calls do get frustrating.

By the time I left work last night (an hour after my shift) there was no evidence of any police activity. It was a long work day (12 hours work - over 1 hour travel) and I was tired. It is sad when more time is spent at work and travel then spent at home. I was happy to be able to watch The Amazing Race but it was really gross last night. I will not go into it but B and I were almost sick. Who would have thought that a person's gag reflex is alive and well by just watching or thinking about it. The website does a really good job of narrating the episode but they did not write about the really gross part. I guess that is a good thing. I will not mention it here as just thinking about it makes me sick. Leave a comment and I will respond. I don't remember much after the show was over and I think sometime afterwards I headed up to bed. LOL!

This morning I woke up 3 minutes before the alarm. I have always hated that. I am one that loves my sleep. It drives B crazy. Once he is woken up there is not going back to sleep. I do not have this problem. I can even get out of bed but I can go right back to it too.

Today is another busy day. I think I do prefer it that way. The company is providing free lunch today so I think it is time I went to lunch.

Working Late

Well it appears I will be working late tonight. I had kind of planned on it but I just got a phone call from B asking me if I was on my way. I told him I would leave soon and he told me something was happening in are apartment complex - in the parking lot in front of our apartment. He says there are tons of cops, including a helicopter. He told me he saw them when he took out the trash and was yelled at by a cop to get inside and out of the crossfire! Well I guess I will just stay here a bit longer.

The holidays are over

....and it is back to the grind. No time off for awhile.

Work is starting to pick up. My team alone has hundreds of cases to work on and we are losing one of the guys tomorrow because we have been told that although our job is important it is not as important as people who call into the phones. So since I am skipping lunch on some days my posting to my journal will probably be almost non-existent. Of course I say this now thinking ahead to me being exhausted and tired of the computer but I will probably post as often as usual.

I got to listen to a few calls on the new software yesterday and I must say some people are not so bright. For example, one customer wanted to know why her balance was negative. As she is reading the totals in her account to us she is not getting it. "oh I have total cash sales of $50.00 then I deposited $600.00" Ummmm hello where did you get that extra $550.00? I will not tell you how long the call took. Then we get the customer who could not get a receipt to print. All I can tell you is I have never heard an person more angry when they realized they had to click the print button to get the darn thing to print! That is just a sampling of my day and what I have to look forward to when I start taking calls again on Wednesday.

Monday was B's birthday. I took him out for dinner for his favorite meal of legs. King crab legs that is! Why couldn't I have married a man with not so expensive tastes?

Since today is Tuesday I am hoping to get to watch The Amazing Race tonight. I am not too happy I missed an episode because the network changed the time, but it appears I am not the only one who missed it so now I feel better. I want to go work out at Curves tonight but need to check the show times first. How sad is that? TV before exercise? Well it will not be the first time.

Since my life is not that exciting and who knows when I will post next, I leave you with a prior post to waste away the time. Be sure to post your longest time! Enjoy!

What a way to relax

I spent my day scrapbooking. However, I really did not make a dent in my huge stack of photos as I have been working on only one layout. Granted it is 2 pages but it is taking me forever to complete. I am hoping that once this layout is finished I will be able to start cranking them out. All in all today was very relaxing for me.

Monday starts day one of our busy season at work. It will be hard to do anything fun this month as I am sure after 50 hour weeks I will be exhausted when I get home. To help out I have to take inbound calls for about 3 hours a day. I am not looking forward to that. I hope that our busy season is not busy at all so I can just do my regular daily stuff. Especially since we are expecting our daily load to double this month.

I plan to upload some pictures of finished projects soon. I am also looking forward to starting some new projects as well.

Happy New Year

Happy 2005!

Doesn't that look yummy? This is what B made for dessert last night. I thought it was very good.
Today was a good day. B and I went to my parents' house and got some baby time with the newphews & Niece. Well I got the baby time, B I don't think was as excited as I was. I will post pictures soon.

I hope you all had a great New Years. I am looking forward to a great year ahead!