In The Light Of Day

Everything seems a bit brighter and more hopeful in the light of day. So what if it is pouring rain and there really isn't much 'light' out there today. I am feeling lighter of mind (I wish it was of body also!) today now that I look at the work situation. It is the sport that I love and somehow I will get past the pettiness and survive. I always do. It seems the more I step up and try to confront issues the more it backfires on me. Maybe the "human doormat" thing just works for me and I should stick with that. At least then I am well-liked and reduce the outside stress...even though the inside stress is always there.

I nice early morning trip to Meijers solved our on-going telephone problem. It would ring, but as soon as I picked up the handset it would beep and disconnect. The answering machine works and so does the Internet connection, but no in-coming or out-going calls that actually involved speaking to anyone. My apologies to Jean who left me a very kind and sweet phone message. I was standing right there listening to you, but I knew if I picked up the phone we would be disconnected immediately. The wierd looking little battery pack has been replaced in the headset so we are back in the 21st Century. Some of you know that I would prefer to live without the phone though. Internet yes, phone no. I was never one of those 'chatty phone girls' even in my high-school days and I am still not much of a phone gal. I just do not express myself well in speaking ( i.e. the meetings with my boss!). I much prefer to write so the Internet/e-mail suit me well. I am an avid letter writer, although some of my pen-pals would disagree profoundly with that lately. If I can just stop thinking about the gym then all things will fall into place, the planets will align and I will finish 4 Christmas ornaments, my Quaker Animal Exchange and write some long-overdue letters and e-mails. Does making four ornaments in three days make up for not finishing an ornament per month like I had vowed to do, or is that cheating? I have nearly completed the four from Prairie Schoolers "Winter Wind" I even picked out backing fabric and some nice trim from my stash of supplies. I felt good about that since the New Year's Resolution of not buying any new craft/sewing/hobby items has completely crumbled. Hobby Lobby is conveniently located across the street from Meijers so I just couldn't resist this morning. I replaced some DMCs that I was out of (I love having all the colors on hand just in case of an emergency) and bought a new "pin tomato". My original tomato is nearly 30 years old and starting to shred. The saw dust is falling out and I've lost a lot of pins into the disintegrating fabric. I will save it though, as Joe loving printed out his name in pins over ten years ago and I just don't have the heart to pull them all out. I bought a few supplies for the finishing of the Quaker Animal Exchange. After several weeks of debate I think I have finally settled on the finishing method, but of course it must remain a secret for a while longer. I also cracked under the immense pressure of on-line browsing and bought some Dinky Dyes and a much-needed Weeks Dye Works 'Mulberry" thread from Laurel's Stitchery. I ran out of a Carrie's Creations thread called "Glory", an amazing red, white and blue blend that I just love. Laurel was out of that one so I went to Stitching Bits and Bobs and found that along with a couple other little threads to make it worth the shipping cost. The red, white and blue are for a rather odd-looking animal. Since he will not be used for the Quaker Animal Exchange I can post a photo of the WIP. Not a very traditional Quaker is it!? In case you don't recognize him, he is the Workbasket "Quaker Cow"

I have used up my entire stash of double-sided quilted fabrics by making some more project bags. It is amazing how much space I can free up by using these fabrics.

A few pet snaps. Alix and Coal. It seems the digital camera is on it's way out. It will only take extreme close-ups. If anyone knows more about digitals then I do maybe they can help me with this problem. I have replaced the batteries and the memory card with no improvement. You can see it in the photo of the project bags. The bag closest to the camera is clear but the others are blurry. I have become so addicted to the digital I don't think I could go back to waiting for photos to come back from the camera shop before sharing them on-line. By the way, it took almost 2 hours to write this and upload all the photos. Dial-up is driving me crazy!