Order, not CHAOS!

About that shelving - it's still in the garage. At the warehouse, we attempted to release the shelves with a mallet, but the little things that hold the shelves in place are NOT the little black plastic ones I've got on my other shelving. These are sort of rubberized WHITE ones. One of the guys told me in his experience that once these heavy-duty shelves are together, they are NOT coming off. I might try the wood and hammer method, but getting two guys to move it might be faster. I can't deal with it right now, so it can wait. 

We woke up to snow!! And I scrambled outside to shovel what I could from the driveway. However, it really wasn't much, but I had left a patch of driveway and would finish when I got home. Well, with the sun and the slightly above-zero temperature, all the snow was gone when I got home! No shoveling was needed! It was pretty in the morning and looked much worse than it was! Here's one thing that NO ONE checks when they purchase a house. The front of our house faces west (well, it's not directly west), but it is close enough. Now that I think about it, our last three houses (including this one) have all faced the same direction. That would be a PRIORITY on my list for the next house. 

Why? When the sun comes out, it melts the snow off the driveway, and there is ZERO danger of ice. Yep—I want a west-facing house! 

When I let Murphy out in the morning, she went out and immediately plunked her butt down. She was in awe of the beauty (as if!) and wanted to admire it. It's more likely a squirrel caught her attention, and she was "stalking" it. 

MOM -- just admiring the beauty! 

Then, she and Lexi were playing tag, and I caught them taking a break at one point. They were eyeing each other to see who would go first. 

Playing cat and mouse

It's like a game of cat and mouse! They are hilarious, but they stop when they know you are watching them! Yet, when they are in the house and can be close to me, they have no problem being the entertainers! 

The stand-off

Compared to Lexi, who curls in a ball, Murphy loves to lay flat out in the snow. Lexi knows how to conserve her body heat, and Murphy is trying to eliminate some of it! I called her Menopausal Murphy!

MOM -- the snow is cool on my tummy!

Meanwhile, Bear is fast asleep in his bed. There is no way he's going out in the deep snow!!

Mr. Sleepy head

But Bear and I were very lucky because one of the neighbors had used his snow blower to do a good part of our street, so he got to walk on the sidewalk and didn't venture into the snow. For once, he was thinking! 

I spotted these tracks on my front step. Hmm --- not a squirrel, rabbit, or raccoon. They look like a dog or a coyote. I'm not sure what it was, but we spotted lots of these tracks in the forest as well, so it's possible it was a coyote. 

Mystery tracks on the front step

But it was absolutely beautiful out. It was a bit nippy, but nothing that you couldn't handle. And Murphy is so energetic when she's on FOUR feet, but she's quite happy to plunk her butt down (and listens very well to the SIT command) and then just sit there. But on four feet? She's a terror! 

MOM -- I'm a GOOD GIRL!!!

Don't yell at me, but I caved and bought another 100 GB of storage for my Google Drive. I was very close to the max. Despite deleting stuff, I cannot reduce the size of the e-mail box. Something is hidden in the files, and I don't know what it is. 

LOTS of storage now!

I need to schedule a day when I can thoroughly go through all the folders in my e-mail to discover what is creating the problem. I WILL find it, but what a hassle. 

I taught a great class at Sew and Serge, which was busy. I met Sharon!! It's nice to put a real body to a Zoom face! Those ladies went home with their Husqvarna Viking Designer Epic 3, and they will love that embroidery machine. But their heads are spinning as that machine has so much NEW!

We had our Virtual Retreat last night, and there is none today. I think we can miss the Sunday one for March, and there's another one scheduled for April 27 and 28, so be sure to put that on your calendar. 

While we were Zooming, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to do some tidying up in Studio B. I accomplished a lot. The samples were sorted into finished and unfinished piles. The presser feet and other kits were all sorted and put away. 

I piled the sample stuff on those two tables that were out, but all the small TV trays were put away. 

Order where chaos once prevailed!

More samples and vinyl for experimentation on the digital cutters. 

More samples and vinyl

Some stuff got put on the stairs as it needed to go up! It's all gone now, so no yelling! Especially that slippery scarf, which is a disaster waiting to happen! 

Stuff to go upstairs

While the empty boxes are NOT in the designated storage area, they are moved to the door so the space at the bottom of the stairs is once again clear. It looked like a parking lot for boxes before I started last night. I have to keep the boxes because they belong to products I have on loan, so when the product returns, I have the original boxes. Let's say that the storage area under my front steps is FULL!

Empty space at the bottom of the stairs!

Now, I need to take one sample AT A TIME and finish the darn thing. A lot of things just need the binding attached. Some need more work than that. But just get to work and get these done! Now that there are no more Zooms for the day job, I should have more time. LOL --- I say that, and everyone just laughs at me because they know that something will come up to fill the time. I'm trying --- see, I could have scheduled another Sunday Virtual Retreat in April, but I did NOT!!!

Even the cutting table is pretty clear

And look at this quote --- this is so true. I have used exercise (mostly walking) to get out of many funks. I'm in a bad mood -- let me out for a walk. I can't figure something out; I need to go for a walk! I can't say enough about needing that exercise, not for my physical body, but for my brain! And my sanity!! 

A great quote

I've got two Zooms this morning, and both are prepared and ready to go! I did one of them last night while on Zoom. It was a mess with MANY pictures, but everything is organized now! 

Let's hope the weather warms up a bit—it's nippy out this morning, and we've become spoiled with all the warm weather we had!!

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!