Discombulated

While I had a great sleep, the day did not start well. Remember how I said that everything has a home - at least in Studio B? Well, it's the same when I travel; I am NOT one to unpack my suitcases in the hotel room. I leave everything in the suitcase, and there is zero danger of me leaving something in the drawers. It's one less thing to check. 

So yesterday, when I was looking for my conference T-shirts and then my yoga pants, they were not to be found. I thought the pants had been left in one of my colleagues' rooms, as that is where we stored our suitcases when we first arrived, and I had changed into my shorts. But leaving a pair of pants in a room that is not mine is not like me. 

The shirts - I thought I might have left them in the classroom, but after checking and asking a few people, they were not to be found. Drat!!!! What a mess. My boss even asked me if something was going on in my personal life because I am NOT like this at all. By the way - everything is fine at home - well, wait for that drama at the end of the blog. 

I came upstairs around lunchtime, and it was at that moment that I remembered that I had unpacked the clothes and put some of them in the damn drawer!!!! And yes -- there were my yoga pants and my two conference shirts. Sheesh --- you would think I would remember doing that! It's not that I forgot - I was chatting with Margaret as I did it, so I can blame her for distracting my brain! 

All is good, and I'm together!

We could wear whatever we wanted yesterday, but I decided to wear one of the Western shirts I had borrowed from a friend. Thanks, Beth!!!! And I decided to wear the cowboy boots I also borrowed from her. You can't really see in this photo - I meant to get someone to take a picture, but I forgot! I have to say that my brain may have been scattered, but I looked pretty westernish in my outfit!!! I think if you click on the picture, it will open up larger. 

Me in my western gear!

I thought the boots would be a killer, but they were actually quite comfortable, although we were not standing around all day. As for getting them off, that was easy. I think I may just wear them again today!! Looks a bit more classy than the shoes I brought. I can't wear dress shoes anymore, or I don't wear them at these events. I have a pair of running/trail shoes that look decent, and I wear those. Not my HOKAS, which are huge. 

It was great to see everyone and meet some new educators. I sure wish we had more opportunities throughout the year to get together, or at least to chat online. There is so much inspiration, talent, creativity, and knowledge among us, and it would be fun to share it. I think we are 21 educators here. 

After breakfast, we sat down in front of the new PFAFF creative icon 3. Oh my -- I will NOT share any of the details at this point - I want it to be a surprise to anyone coming to this event, not that any of them would be reading my blog, but it's not my place to share those details. But wow!!!! There are some very cool features on top of what already existed, and, well, it's going to be loads of fun to learn the ins and outs of that machine in greater depth. 

There are actually quite a few new things from both a physical and a software standpoint. 

What is nice is that two of the top executives from North America sat in the room, listened to our feedback, and took notes. And how can you have 21 educators in a room and not have feedback!! We are the ones that put those machines to the test to see what it can and cannot do. Let's say that our boss has her hands full with her crew!!! The Canadians are quite vocal, and hey -- when I have an ear, I'm going to take advantage of it and explain why we want or don't want certain things. 

We had lunch in small groups, which was good because we got to chat with other educators in a less formal environment, and I had mentioned something about creating edge-to-edge designs in our embroidery software. Because of some comments I made in class, I had a private lesson with our top guru in the afternoon. I was in my glory because this woman can do anything with our software. I have a few new tricks to practice when I get home, and it's all about digitizing, which is my weak point! 

Personally designed and drawn edge-to-edge digital designs - here I come!!!! Don't hold your breath—it's going to be baby steps. The designs will be simple to start, but I'll get there! 

Then it was time for dinner, as everyone wanted an early one. I convinced my small group to go back to The Diner. Hey -- it was a great place, good options and close. This is a multi-story restaurant covering the corner of a building on six floors. I believe the kitchens are on several floors, and the restaurant is on floors 1, 4, and 6. 

This photo was taken from the 6th floor, which is a bar. We just went up to see the view. Our hotel is the large building in the background on the left - the one that you can see in full, not the ones on the immediate left. There is this tiny little corner balcony at the top! 

The view from The Diner

Our hotel room is on the 26th floor, which reminds me of the time I was in Atlanta many, many years ago. There was a storm, and the wind was blowing so bad, the windows were vibrating. I remember thinking that perhaps I should be in the lobby. With all that expanse of windows, if the windows blew out, so would I!!!! Thankfully everything was fine, but I don't think I got a lot of sleep that night. 

Despite seeing some storm clouds from our room the other night, we've just had hot weather. 

Stormy skies the other night

I had someone in our small group take a picture of me in the elevator at The Diner, so you'll know it exists. 

The elevator in The Diner

As we waited for several to use the washroom before leaving, I checked out the desserts. BUT I didn't have any. I'm just guzzling my water and trying to eat healthy. 

No room for dessert!

It was still early, so we walked past the SVP head office. It's a neat building not far from the hotel. Apparently it used to be a wild nightclub or something like that. Interestingly, it has SINGER on the outside, but no other brand. Very discreet. The last time I was here, the offices were in a suburb of Nashville. 

SVP Head Office in Nashville

Our little group of four split up: two people went to see the Broadway area, and the other two, including me, went back to the hotel. I got a chance to chat with Elizabeth, who is new to the educator job, but not new to the company. So we had a grand chat, and I'll share what she did to embellish her T-shirt. It's stinking cute. 

How cool is this? 

That is such a cool idea to embellish an ordinary T-shirt!!! 

Then we took a walk around the conference floor after discovering a cool way to get there from the front door. Instead of taking the elevator, which can be a long wait, you take the escalator from the lobby and VOILA - the conference floor is right there! There is signage everywhere! The conference is called the Global Sewing Summit - the first of its kind for us. 

Signage on the escalator

We stopped and chatted with a few people (who were not busy setting up), and I love chatting with the person responsible for designing the stitches on the machines. She is so darn creative, and wait until you see what she has done this time. It is unbelievable, and I can't wait to experiment with this new stitch. I would LOVE to visit our engineering team in Sweden. Most of them are here, but wouldn't it be fun to visit the Swedish office? I'd offer to go and intern for free!!!! 

Here's a neat diagram of Singer's history. 

A timeline of Singer!

They still had a bit of setup to do when we left, and since that was NOT our job, we were on our way to our rooms. 

During the day, I received some very disturbing news from home. The two adults there were not very forthcoming in their descriptions, so it took a long time to get all the details. 

Apparently, a raccoon tried to get into the house through the back door, and of course, you know Murphy and Lexi - they hate raccoons. So there was quite a ruckus, and they would NEVER listen and come in on their own. I can't imagine what kind of a job it was to get both of them in the house. They would have been frantic to get the raccoon. 

All I know is that Murphy, when DH finally got her into the house, was so upset that she threw up twice, and she never does that. Lexi was also quite agitated and had cornered the raccoon by the house, practically nose to nose with the darn thing, before they were able to grab her and bring her into the house. It sounds like quite a mess. 

The raccoon must have been sick because they never come into the backyard, and this was the middle of the day, when they are usually sleeping. So they called animal services, but the raccoon had left by then. The poor girls. 

As if that wasn't enough, I got pictures from DH just now. Apparently there is a massive storm at home, and he went upstairs to shut the windows. Lexi was so upset that she followed him up the stairs. This is a dog that will NOT do the stairs EVER!!!!! Oh my --- I'm afraid to hear what else could possibly happen while I'm away. 

I think the girls are telling me something - "MOM - we don't want you to leave again! We miss you too much!"

I am so mixed up in my days as we left on Sunday and did some work on Sunday, and for some reason, that has thrown me off. But all is good!!! 

Let's hope that all the excitement is over! I don't want any more excitement, here or at home. I know where all my clothes are; I know where all my samples are, although I'm afraid to take them out of the room in case I lose them! But all will be good. I've got my sh*t together now, or at least I hope I do. 

A note from anyone wishing to sign up for the Forty Shades of Grey quilt --- the store I recommended (Out of Hand in Calgary) purchasing the pattern from is out of stock. They are willing to order more, but they need to know the numbers NOW to get it here on time. So please, please, please—if you are going to order this pattern, let me know—send me an email (elainetheriault@gmail.com), or, even better, contact the store. There is a phone number and email address in that link. 

40 Shades of Grey quilt

If you know someone who wants to take the class and is away or doesn't read my blog, please let them know. I don't want the store to order a bunch of patterns that don't sell. So PLEASE let the store know that you want a pattern. Tell them you are taking a class with me, which helps with the order. 

Pass that class information to anyone who might be interested. 

We start at 8 AM, so with that early start and having to get the blog together, there isn't time for a morning walk! I think it will be a low count on steps day, as we have dinner tonight, so not much time between the end of the day and dinner. 

So let's hope that today - at least the rest of it will be non-traumatic. DH is at home with two very scared girls upstairs, and it's going to be a challenge getting Lexi down, as I doubt she will go on her own. Murphy has her own issues that I haven't shared, but when I'm back, I'll share more details. She's fine but is slowing down, which has caused some issues with stairs. 

And on that note, I'm out of here!!! And praying for a trauma-free day both here and at home! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!