Our mental health is fragile!

I'm happy that I'm not alone in the missing items department. But what is interesting is how we become focused on the missing things to the detriment of what is happening around us. We are distracted, discombobulated, and just totally non-functioning to some extent. 

Why is that? And why do we get to that point? It's not every time I lose something, but the times when I get in that state are not pretty, and I hate it because I "waste" so much time, either trying to find the item or just being discombobulated. 

I confess that I sometimes feel destructive in those times. If something gets in my way or an item falls off the table, I've been known to swipe everything to the floor. Why? I know it's wrong, but I can't help myself. It makes me realize how easy it is for someone to pull a trigger. Is that anger management issues? Or some part of my brain just goes berserk? 

It reminds me of a story my Dad told me years ago. He was at someone's workshop to pick up something. This person—we'll call him John as I've forgotten his name—was on a forklift moving something when he accidentally touched a window that was leaning against the shop's wall. He broke the window, and that feeling of "destruction" flooded his brain, so he rammed the entire stack of windows and broke them all! 

Thankfully, it doesn't happen to me that often, and I have still not found any recently lost items, but they can't be far away. This was a bit scary and shows that NONE of us are safe from serious mental health issues if we don't learn to control our emotions. 

The state of Studio B is now even worse if that's possible. I have a reasonably quiet day today with only one Zoom, and it's all prepped, so that should give me some time to sort stuff out. However, I have four Zooms this weekend, TWO of which require significant work.

However, look -- I have ONE clear table on which to work. 

A clear spot to work

I've already loaded the tools and supplies I need to work on my two projects, and NOTHING is missing, so it should be a smooth day. LOL!!! 

Yesterday, as I prepped, it was chaos, and I was switching stuff around like crazy to find the best place for everything. 

Chaos in Studio B

I will try to nail down all the samples and tools needed for next week so I don't run into last-minute issues. And it's the last week of crazy Zooms. I have 14 Zooms for ALL of April, and this month, I had that many PER WEEK! I know the days are slowly being booked up in April—me, who says the month is wide open! And it was, but there's still lots of flexible time. 

I feel like I'm married to my embroidery software. I'm now reading the manuals at lunchtime to try to learn more. I LOVE when I get a puzzle and can't solve it. I have several at the moment, and I'm figuring them out bit by bit. It pays to sit and play at the computer and see what happens. If it doesn't work out, there's always the delete key!!

I'm amazed at what you can do with the software and how all the programs are linked. At least, you can go the easy or the challenging route at the top levels. 

Speaking of puzzles, LOOK!!!

Day 24~~~~

We are now down to the FINAL puzzle in the EXIT Game Advent Calendar. Between the two of us, we managed to solve Day 23. I'm not sure we could do it alone because I came up with part of the solution, and DH came up with another part. Perhaps our brains would learn to do both parts. But anyway, he wanted to forge on, but I had a Zoom!

Yeah—then we're going to take a break for a bit, but I have lots more where that came from! I LOVE them. 

It's time to break out a new pair of shoes. I bought these trail shoes last year as a potential for the Camino, but I never used them. I couldn't let a brand-new pair of shoes go to waste, so I wore them to walk the dogs. They are pretty comfy, and the outside of them looks way smaller than the Hokas. My feet seem to have loads of room in them, so let's see what happens. 

Then I'll have to buy a new pair in the middle of summer, so I better start looking in case there are some deals. Who said walking was a cheap hobby? At least it's much more affordable than quilting or machine embroidery!

My new shoes

I did get a meeting thrown into the mix this morning, but that's OK -- I'm not stressed about time, although that software manual is calling my name! Trust me, there are times when I don't get the manual. I may have read the same thing over a hundred times, but I still don't get it. Then I leave it and go play with something on the software. Then, by playing around, it all makes sense. 

The takeaway from that is to keep going. This may be a brand-new concept to us, and that's OK. Even those of us who sort of understand it sometimes take a while to have all the stars align and make sense of it. 

And getting all my manuals organized on the iPad definitely helped. 

I wish I had someone I could go to after I discovered how a tool works and find out if I am using that tool most efficiently. I don't want them to show me because they usually show me ONLY how they do it, and I might find another way or discover something else in the process. Besides, it'll stick in my head if I discover it rather than have someone show me. 

It's like anything --- it's overwhelming to get a new machine, new software, or anything and immediately take lessons. NO—what you need to do FIRST is play, then go for a lesson or two so you understand what they are talking about and can ask intelligent questions. 

The girls and the boy are waiting patiently for their walk - I must go!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!