Thursday Stitching

I haven't been sleeping well of late. I wake up every couple of hours. Hence, I find myself nodding off during the day, going home and being wired at night so the cycle begins again. Last night, I came home, sat down in the recliner, had Pilchard sit down in my lap and, the next thing I know, it's an hour later. I start to get down on myself.

But that small voice inside me that is trying to help me remember gratitude pipes up that now, when I'm feeling badly about nodding off, would be a good time to stitch. Now, when the voice of failure and how I 'shoudda' done something can be drowned out by the small voice of gratitude for having something I like to do in front of me.

So the dishes and the wash and the 'shouddas' were set aside and I stitched for an hour before making myself supper and trotting off to play WoW. It still doesn't look like much, does it? Technically, I have finished the lighter mauve pink and the light blue but I'll keep those colors in the bag in case I didn't read the chart right.

I'm getting there, both in remembering to listen to the voice advocating gratitude and in finishing another project.

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

Still Doesn't Look Like Much

Another hour spent stitching last night. It was quite relaxing.

This project still doesn't look like much. It's going fast. The weekend is to be rainy with snow mixed in for good measure. It's the perfect combination to putting up the feet, tossing a load of wash in the machine and just stitching. I've been quite stressed since Monday and stitching relieves my stress.

It's good that I didn't pick too difficult of a pattern for this next project. If I'd have to do partial stitches while feeling this overwhelmed, the stitching would contribute to feeling badly.

As it is, all it does is relax me and give me a feeling of accomplishment. That's what hobbies should do, make you feel good.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

What Have We Here

I went to dinner with Pam last night. Prior to her picking me up, I decided I needed to replace that light bulb in the front light that had burned out. The back light needs an electrician's touch to fix so the front is the only working exterior light. I was coming home in the dark and needed it working.

I took out the old bulb and, well what do you know. Look at that. I don't know if this is a yellow jacket or a wasp nest. Both are opportunistic builders. Whichever one it is doesn't need to be there. This is right by the front door.

So, I took a knife and knocked down the nest. I'll need to keep an eye on the light this summer as once they have built a nest in a certain location, they will return to that location. A small sign asking them to move won't do the trick.

I walked around the house, looking at the eaves just in case there was another mass I needed to knock down before the creators returned. Thankfully, I found nothing. Once the nest was removed and the bulb replaced, I had front light again.

This explains why I felt there were more wasps around the front door last year than in previous years. I'll just have to remain vigilant to keep them away.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

One Year Ago

Yesterday, I came home from work and let the girls out on the deck. It was 58 on the last day of January. A thin sunshine worked its way through the over cast. We sat on the deck and smelled the early smells of a spring unsure of what was going on. We enjoyed a few minutes on the deck with a light breeze.

Last year, after work time was the leading edge of what we remember as the 4th worst blizzard in Chicago history. Yesterday, at 1, we went into Mike's office and said, with smirks on our face, that a year prior, we had gone home at 1 due to the weather. He laughed and said, "Ah...no. Everyone back to work."

I went home on that Tuesday and didn't leave until the next Monday. I look through my collection of blizzard photos and it all comes flooding back to me, the snow, the cold, particularly, the need to shovel because there wasn't anyone to help me get out.

We've had 10 inches so far this winter, which is less than half what we got in one fell swoop at the beginning of the month. I expect the weather to vary year to year, but this does seem rather radical. There is still a month and a half of "winter" left. The snow shovels sit on the deck, almost begging to be used.

I'm not that upset that I've only done one shoveling so far. That was quite enough. I do miss the white of snow, after all I live where winter equals snow. There's a magic when the snow sticks to everything. But, if I had to choose between this and the afternoon above with the girls, I'll choose the afternoon. This makes for a story to be told and retold over the next years, but not something my achy muscles want to handle.

Beverage:  water

Deb