Time for myself

I AM going to make it through these two brutal weeks. Hey -- this week is almost done! I did three presentations yesterday - two of them in French and one on the sergers. I had a customer ask a question last night in French, and for the life of me, I couldn't understand what she was asking. So she asked in English, and I still couldn't understand. But eventually, when she switched back to French, I got it. I didn't know the answer. I'm not sure why someone would want to do what she asked, but I'll check to see if it can be done!

Although there are four presentations today, it's going to be an easy day. The first one, I just have to attend, so that's easy. The following two are all prepped and ready to go. The fourth one is the wrap on our Tula Pink quilts. I must load photos for that one. 

Tomorrow with FOUR presentations back to back starting at 9:30 - well, I'll be up tonight to get those prepped!

And one more writing assignment got finished. That leaves one urgent one to do and then a couple more that need to be written. At some point, I might be able to say I'm caught up? 

The internet seems to be working fine as of yesterday. I have no idea why it's been so sporadic, and I had to be in a specific spot in Studio B to get a connection. Yesterday, I was back in my corner. I'm trying to reboot everything every morning to see if that makes a difference. But seriously - when the internet worked for me, DH had issues. I can see if the kids were still Zooming for school, but they are not, so bandwidths shouldn't be an issue!

I took a few minutes and dropped those four boxes of Christmas stuff off at the donation center. Yeah!! And now, look at that corner in the living room. There used to be SIX giant tubs and a couple of boxes. They've been there for a couple of years, so the corner feels positively empty. 

An almost empty corner

I have to say that I'm tempted to get rid of the two wrought iron tables in front of the window. I mean -- why are they there? Oh gosh -- if I don't watch out, I'll have NOTHING left in that room. 

I'm using the opposite corner of the room as my staging area. This is where things sit that are awaiting pickup or for me to drop off. I'm happy to report that there are only THREE things left in that corner, and all are small. Once my schedule quiets down, I think I'll hop in the car and deliver them! Just to get that area finally clear! But I'm sure I'll find something else that I'll be giving away or donating, and it will go in that corner. 

Now, if only we didn't have to put stuff on the furniture so Murphy wouldn't climb on it! Naughty girl!

Speaking of the naughty girl, she's needy! I was trying to do a presentation yesterday, and there she is - right at my side, DEMANDING attention. Poor thing. I managed to snap a photo of her. She's fortunate she's so darn cute!

MOM -- I NEED YOU NOW!

She needs a bath and a haircut. It's almost to the desperate point now. I'm going to try Petsmart again and see if they will take her. So far, NO ONE wants to have her back because she's just too noisy -  Bark - Bark - Bark - the entire time. It's very stressful for the other dogs and the groomers. Oh, Murphy!!! I can give her a bath, but it's the haircut. I could do it, as I've done in the past, but I'd like her to look pretty, not hacked! There is a mobile groomer, but I'm not keen on her. 

If we don't get her groomed soon, we'll appear on Instagram as a rescue story where the dog had to have pounds of fur removed! It's not so much the knots; it's the undercoat -- it's so thick, it needs to be thinned, and I don't know how to do that. OH -- I could Google it. 

I walked to the grocery store yesterday.  WAIT  - before I go on, I want to clarify something. I talked to someone yesterday who said - "you need to slow down and take some time for yourself.". So here's the thing -- I take about 2½ hours EVERY DAY to walk. This is totally 100% personal time. I use that time to think through issues, solve problems, let my mind just go blank. But that is a HUGE amount of personal time, and I NEVER miss it. 

Yes -- I'm a busy person, but that's about 15% of my waking time EVERY DAY that I have personal time. How many of you can say the same thing? Let's put it this way -- I work hard, and I play hard! There were times in the past when I would have forgone the walk because of my work schedule. That will never happen now. The walk gets priority over my work. 

Let's not forget that even in these crazy times, I'm booking retreats that are for personal sewing! I went on FIVE quilting retreats last year with COVID. That's the most I've ever done in one year. This year, I only have three booked as well as two mini-retreats. That was because our retreat house was sold, and we had to work on other dates in other locations. I've got one coming up soon and if things go well, there will be NO sewing for work. And no homework sewing -- I can do whatever I want, including laying on the sofa for five entire days!

Anyway -- I walked to the grocery store. WAIT A MINUTE! Did I miss something? Is Christmas over, and I missed it? Aren't those Easter Eggs? NO -- they have snowflakes on the packaging - so they are Christmas Eggs? I think that's a bit of holiday blurring??? 

Christmas eggs

This morning, it was like Santa's workshop in Studio B. I pulled out three scrap containers because I had some serious cutting to do. I have a "few" blocks to prep for one of tomorrow's classes. I'm happy to report that everything is cut for one of them. Only one more class to prep for. 

Scraps boxes - ready to cut blocks

And I know that I'm totally crazy, but I "shopped" for fabric by size, not what was on it! If I could cut the appropriate size from a piece, then it got pulled. When you use so many fabrics in a scrap quilt, does it matter what goes where? I think NOT!

Picking fabrics by size

I tried to use that ruler that I showed you yesterday. WHAT? Oh -- there are those rubbery dots on the back. I HATE those, so they are gone, and now I can use the ruler. Although I don't really need it, I have a perfectly good 6" by 12" ruler, which I use all the time. I might consider giving this one away. Or I'll keep it as a spare. 

The rubber dots have to go!

On that note, I'm out of here! There are loads to do today in between the presentations, so let's get to it!

Have a super day!!!

Cio!!!