The people you meet on a plane......................

It's interesting how air travel has changed. I have a total aversion to paying in order to select a seat. In the past, we didn't have to do that. My preferred seat in order is an aisle, window, and lastly middle. My profile has the aisle seat as my preference and in the past, things have worked out. However, with fewer flights and fuller planes, the last two flights where I did not check in until mere hours before the flight, I got stuck in the middle seat.

I wasn't able to change my seat for the longer flight last time, but this time, the minute the 24 advance notice for check-in came in my inbox, I went in and selected for free, a different seat. I had an aisle towards the back of the plane. I don't really care where I sit - front, middle, or back. Just give me a seat.

Yes, it does take longer to get off the plane if you're in the back, but when you have to wait for luggage, does it really matter? Nope.

I may need to start paying for a seat in the future, as I heard the guy across the aisle (a big guy) mention that to the fellow who got stuck in the middle in that row. But I'm going to try my luck with checking in the full 24 hours in advance. I have to check a bag which costs about $35 with tax and if I have to pay another $25 to select a seat (or whatever the cost is) - well that starts to add up. I'm cheap!!!

Speaking of checking a bag, this is another behavior that I've had to change. In the past, I waited in the gate area until pretty much the last to board the plane. There was never any hurry to get on the plane, however, it seems that everyone has carryon and if you don't get on in a timely manner, your carryon may or may not make the overhead bin. And sometimes if it does make the bin, it's not near you!

So a few minutes before the check-in starts, I'm lined up in the correct zone line to get on the plane and get my carryon in the overhead bin near me!

And a huge thank you to Air Canada for accommodating me yet again with my checked luggage. When I checked in on the phone app, I was told excess baggage fees might apply when I said that I had one bag to check. I know - just let me pay. The app did NOT. OK - when I get to the airport and check-in at the kiosk, I can pay. However, I was not asked to pay for the bag at the kiosk. No pay, no baggage tag. I had to go to the check-in desk. By this time, I had weighed my suitcase and it was .3 KG over. OK - so I bought a couple of small things at one of the shops I was at and I also put the cords for the projector in there. That was enough to tip the scales. Being humble in an airport is a good thing. They let the bag go through without me paying extra for the heavy bag and without having to repack.

Yesterday was an interesting flight. I"m near the back of the plane - no big deal. But there were babies on this plane - two of them and neither of them were very happy. I don't know how to say this without stereotyping someone, but one of the mothers looked very "organic". Is that a good way to put it? Anyway, she wore big work boots, had tons of carryon with her. When she first came on the plane and walked past me, I noticed her - how could you not with all that stuff she carried. Next thing I know, there's a little kid wandering down the aisle. No adult in sight. Who does this baby belong to? OH - it belongs to the woman who made it down the aisle about 1 minute before.

She was also in the aisle seat about 2 rows behind me on the opposite side. Anyway, she spent a LOT of time with her big boots planted on the seat while she dug through her carryon in the overhead bin. I don't know how many times, the flight attendants had a wee chat with her to tell her to stop. I couldn't see what was going on, but holy - she was totally disruptive and I think she was holding the baby in one hand while she dug through her carry on with the other.

At some point, when I looked back, I saw a small green potty on the floor, but I don't think she used it? Maybe she (well her toddler???) did???   The kid was under 2 because it did not have its own seat. I'm sure her seatmates were thrilled. And one other time when I glanced back, she was digging through the carryon in the overhead bin and the hem (the BOTTOM HEM) of her T-shirt was practically at her neck?  I don't know how that happened - she was a little off it would appear.

Thank goodness, the ADHD man from that other flight wasn't on this flight. He would have been bouncing up and down the aisle between the two moms. Eventually, the baby behind me fell asleep, the other one not so much. But it all worked out!!!

It was weird to fly home first thing in the morning, but it was too late to fly home the night before. I arrived at the airport extra early - so I could have a leisurely breakfast at Tim's. Thank goodness I did. There was NO line when I arrived and when I left, the line was HUGE.

The girls were happy to see me and then it was heads-down as I got some sewing done. I have FOUR classes (well four different quilts and three classes) today. All of them required some prep work. Thankfully, I had done the bulk of it before I left but still had to piece a block which took quite a bit of the day. I also did some embroidery for one of the others. There's still a small bit of embroidery left for this morning.

I'll be sharing pictures of all the homework this coming week.

I was missing ONE thing that I wanted to share with one of the classes. Do you think I could find the darn thing? It was one of those things that I had moved to a new location a while back and could not find it. So I decided to try one more time this morning. Oh - shoot - I forgot what the front of the plastic bag looked like, but I found it. I also did a wee bit of tidying up in Studio U. When I'm home later today, I'll finish what I was doing. I'm trying to get the stuff out of the hall and into some form of organization with labels so I know where things are.

I love having those manuals on my iPad and YES - I was able to consistently get that menu when I was in iBooks. Just a slight flick upward at the bottom of the screen and it works. A couple of other people suggested touching in the center of the screen and that also works!!!  Two ways to get the menu up. That's good - if I forget one, I'll have the other to fall back on. I need some time to sit down with my embroidery software and practice what I read in the manual before I got on the plane. I'm super excited about all that the software can do. That's for another day!

And that's it for today.

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!

A scrap of fabric saves the day!

What a fabulous day! Yes - even though we had rain. Who cares when you've got a couple of sewing machines? And you get to spend part of the day with friends.

I'm incredibly inspired by all the work that is getting accomplished in our UFO class. It was our monthly meeting yesterday and boy - the work is amazing. I'll try to edit those pictures and get them up for tomorrow. It's so exciting to see people fulfill their commitment and even work beyond what they said they would do. And there are speed bumps along the way, but instead of putting the project down to contemplate how to advance, they're moving forward! I can't wait to share with you what's been going on.

Once the group left, it was back to prepping for classes. I'm in pretty good shape although I'm not completely done. Of course, I can't share it with you. I think it's only fair that the students in each class see the work first and then you.

I'm off again for the week and then, thankfully, I'm home for quite a while. This is the last of five somewhat major events (or multi-day) events that required travel and it's been intense to keep ahead of everything that needed to be done. I'm in good shape and I feel pretty good about that.

Last night, we had a wee bit of thunder and lightning. Both girls were not happy so they got wrapped in their Thundershirts. I thought I would sleep on the couch to keep them company. I woke up at some point in the night and all was quiet, so I removed their Thundershirts (try taking a velcro jacket off a dog in the middle of the night and be quiet about that!) and went to bed. But I couldn't sleep.

So, I got up to work. I had some e-mails to send, some banking to do and some fabric cutting as well as throwing some last minute things that popped into my head into my sample suitcase.

A while back, I had pulled all the fabric for the next block in our North Star quilt by Elizabeth Hartman. I was cutting it last night and wouldn't you know it, I was short on one fabric. Hmm - if I swap with another fabric, I might be OK. Nope - even then a wee bit short.

I popped downstairs to the stash room to find something that would work. Let me browse the scraps first. Yes - I still owe you the videos of the stash room. This is how I store my scraps. Each color/category is stored in a separate clear shoe box. Yes - there's more than one box for some of the colors.

The scrap bin storage

I grabbed the appropriate color box that I was searching for and can you believe? Right on top was the EXACT fabric that I was looking for. There were two pieces that worked perfectly. It was meant to be. Within 1 minute of realizing that I was short, I had a match - a perfect match. That makes me happy knowing that organizing works! I've said it before, but once I organized those scraps by color, they became an extremely valuable resource.

Here's my traveling sewing kit. For those in the class, don't even bother looking closely at the picture to see which colors are in there. The main block fabric is NOT in the kit - at least not when the picture was taken!

Have kit, will travel and sew

My goal is to get that sewn at night after my events. The first two days of events are our events (not at a store) so I should have access to a sewing machine. If not, then when I get home, I'll be sewing like mad.

I got a chuckle when I turned off the lights. WHOA! What's that on the cutting table? OH - I have some glow in the dark pins in the pincushion!

Three glow in the dark pinheads

I did go back to bed after I got some work done and guess what? I dreamt of prepping projects!

I have to say that I'm LOVING what I do. I love the pace, I love the energy, I love the NEW NEW NEW. I'm just a busy person. Always have been, always will be. When I stop being busy, I'll be dead! I'm just like my parents. They both keep busy even in their 80's and technically have nothing to do all day. But they are busy! That'll be me as well when I'm their age.

On that note, I'd better get some clothes packed. The sample suitcase - packed. The backpack with all the technology - packed. The clothes suitcase - not even started. No big deal. It doesn't take long - I'm a light packer.

I did find a luggage tag for my sample suitcase. It comes down the carousel and I've no idea that it's mine. Now I'll know without having to open it.

Luggage tag

The other thing I need to find is my luggage scale. I know I have one, but where? No idea. OK - so I'm not 100% organized. I thought I knew where it was, but alas it wasn't there. So I had to trick my Aria scale which is connected to my FitBit. I didn't want it to think that I had suddenly gained 50 pounds! I think I'm good. I hope I'm good!

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!