What Is A Fiber Artist?

The other day, on my Facebook wall, an old pal of mine asked the question, "What is a fiber artist?"

After replying with a joke that seemed a whole lot funnier at 5:30 AM, I attempted to explain it to him.  Unfortunately, my brief, pre-caffiene, tossed out there explanation seemed to just confuse him all the more, so I thought I'd take a moment to expound upon it here.

What is a fiber artist? 

Well, the short answer is someone who makes works of art out of fiber.  And what is fiber?  It can be many things.  Fiber can be the fluffy stuff we cut off of sheep, goats, or rabbits.  Fiber can be the hair we brush from our cats or dogs.  Fiber can come from more exotic animals, like Yak, buffalo, or camel.

Fiber can also come from plant sources.  Cotton



flax, hemp, even corn and bamboo are all examples of fiber plants.

And of course, fiber can be synthetically made, too.  Acrylic, nylon, polyester, tencel, rayon are common synthetic fibers.  So what does a fiber artist do?  A fiber artist turns these raw materials into finished products.  There are various methods of doing this, but all have to start with turning the fiber in to yarn or thread.  Many people out there like to spin their own yarn.  I do have a spindle



but I'd really rather spend my time knitting.  Anyway, once the fiber is spun into yarn, the fiber artist will take that yarn, and turn it into something useful.  These useful items can range from the simple necessities of life, such as socks



and warm winter hats

to the more decadent lacy shawls.



And some that are downright works of art. 



Now, me, I prefer knitting. Other people enjoy crocheting, weaving, or tatting. Whatever the method, we are all fiber artists.

In other news, I finally got fed up and removed that idiotic Picapp widget.  My page loads so much faster now.  The down side is now I've got a bunch of posts with no pictures were pictures used to be.  But they'd taken all my pictures down anyway when they decided not to support blogs any more--and this after they assured us that the photos we'd already posted would remain live.  I would not recommend this app to anyone. 


Maybe now my traffic will pick up. 

M is For

Muddy shoes.

That is something we haven't had near enough of around here lately.  But this last week or so, it's been raining pretty good.  It rained all morning, and cooled things off enough that I was able to walk Rylea. 

Last night, I thought I was going to be slick.  I went to bed around 8:00, read a bit, then turned out the light around 9:00.  I'm thinking, oh boy am I going to get a good night's sleep! 

Wrong.

I woke up at 4:30 and could not get back to sleep.  I finally decided to get on up.  I did make good use of that extra time, though.

I renewed my True Blue Fan Club membership. 

*Ahem*  Yeah...

Monday Blues

I don't know.  I slept pretty well last night, but this has been one of those days when I just felt tired all day.  I didn't have that bad of a day at work, but I was still tired.  So, I came home, thinking I would relax with some knitting and some Netflix streaming, but all the shows I wanted to watch were temporarily unavailable.  Hmph.  Something about upgrading the quality.  Double hmph.  They looked fine to me to begin with.

So, I began to wonder if 5:00 PM was too early to go to bed.

Yeah, I figured.  If I went to bed that early, I'd be up at 2:00 AM, unable to get back to sleep.  So I dug out this old photograph of myself.  This was taken at Carney Park, the U.S. Military recreation center just north of Naples, Italy.  This was in 1991, or thereabouts.  I scanned it, wanting to get some of the orangeyness out of the print.

I wasn't able to.

 

After tinkering with it a bit, I thought, "Well, duh, dummy! Just go get the original!"  You see, this was always one of my favorite photographs of myself.  So much so that I sent off and got several reprints made.  Every one of the reprints had this orangey cast to it.  So I went and got the original and scanned it. 

Much better, except that I forgot to crop it before uploading it. And I didn't feel like re-doing it.

However, while looking for the original, I ran across this other photograph, also taken in 1991, of me and -- um, a stray dog.  

It was taken in the amphitheater in the ruins of Pompeii. 

A couple of my friends and I had gone right after I got over there. This dog attached himself to me and followed me all over the city. Or the ruins, rather. Of Pompeii. I'd have taken him home with me if I'd had a place to keep him.  Pets weren't allowed in the barracks.

I loved that dog. 


Funny thing is, there was a time when I thought I didn't like dogs.  I didn't dote on my dogs, or spend hours babying and pampering them.  I didn't dress them up, and I didn't let my life revolve around my dogs.  But then, I realized that what I wanted was a dog.  Not furry children, nor a surrogate spouse, nor a substitute friend.  A dog.  I wanted a dog. 

Once I realized that it was OK to let my dog be-- well, a dog-- that's when I realized, I love dogs.  The first time I knew that I had a special connection with them was long years ago.  I was wrestling with my cousin Jimmy at his house, in his living room floor, when his dog attacked him, to protect me.  I'll never forget the look on Jimmy's face.  Nor the sight of his dog Bess biting him in the butt. 

After all that, I went back and cropped that there photo anyway.

Hope you like it.

Almost Finished

I'm almost finished with my second work shirt. All's I've got left is to hem the bottom, but since hemming is about my least favorite thing to do, I left it until later.

I went down a couple of sizes, but I'm still not really pleased with the fit of this pattern. The front --even in size small-- is way too low cut. I don't think I'll be making any more of these.

When I wasn't sewing, I spent most of the day working on AMS  11.  I've finally finished clue 3.  

There's also been hat progress made:

I'm knitting this one following the notes I made to myself as I was making up the pattern. If they make sense, then I'm going to write the pattern out and send it out to be test knit. Oh, and I've also got one going in fingering weight.

As if that weren't bad enough, I'm starting to wonder how many stitches I'd need to cast on to make a hat in lace weight yarn...Hey, it can't be any worse than knitting a full sized shawl, now can it?

L is For

Lace.

In this case Queen Anne's Lace.  Designed by MMario, hand knit by yours truly. 

And today, you get a bonus. You get to see my lovely toesies.

Did you know it's devilishly hard to take a photograph of one's own feet? I sincerely hope you appreciate the effort.

Thank you.

Um....Oops...

So, if you remember back about a year or so ago, my favorite socks were my Falling In Love socks, also known as my Marion Barber socks. They made me think of old Elvis Presley songs...

But alas, first one sock, then the other got huge holes in the heels.  But I couldn't bear to just toss them.  I darned one, and intended to darn the other, but then...

I found a website that has closeouts of discontinued colors.  Yippee!  I found some Supersock in the same colorway (Cabin Fever) and thought I could just re-knit the socks into a pair worthy of Marion.

My yarn arrived today. 

I was excited at first, but then I noticed something odd about the yarn. It didn't look like my other skeins of Supersocke. It looked more like the Sockittome. Darn it all! They'd sent me the wrong yarn! Until I saw this:

Darn it all! I'd ordered the wrong yarn! Phooey.  Oh, and yes, I did check my e-mail confirmation.  I had indeed ordered the wrong yarn.  Double phooey!  On the bright side, I can probably get two hats out of each hank.

Yeah, you knew that was coming, didn't you? 

Oh, the other color is Sugar Maple, which I seem to be inexplicably addicted to.  This is the third hank I've bought of the stuff. 

Here There Be

Pirates!!

Yes, the Pirate shirt is finished.

See, I went to work yesterday as usual. Working merrily along, when at about 7:30, the power went out. Of course, without power, we can't do anything. No lights, no machines, no high pressure air, no nothing. After about 30 minutes, when it became obvious that it wasn't going to be a quick fix, they decided to send us all home. Funny thing is, about 2 minutes after everybody left, the power came back on. It was on by the time I got home.  I laughed and thought, 'Boy, I'll bet they regret sending us home now!'

Anyway, since I'd ended up with an unexpected day off, I finished sewing up the pirate shirt. (I also did laundry, but that's not nearly as exciting.)

When I tried it on, though, I decided it was too low cut in the front to wear to work, for both modesty and safety reasons. I do work with a very hot flame, you know. I'm going to try tinkering around with hiding some darts in the shoulder seams to kind of raise the front up a little bit. That'll probably be my weekend project.

I got the second shirt cut out (after going down a couple of sizes in my pattern pieces), but decided to take today to knit a bit. I've been working on AMS 2011.

 

I'm about 2/3 of the way through clue 3. I also want to work some more on AMS 10, whose mojo, after nearly a year long absence, has suddenly returned with a vengeance. Ahhhh, so much lace, so little time!

I talked to Former Group Leader Rod this morning and told him that I'd been looking for him yesterday when the lights were out.  He said, "You were looking for a black man in a dark plant?"

Ummm, yeah.

I didn't find him, either.  All right, then...

I was expecting them to have us work Saturday to make up for yesterday, but we aren't.  I told Vanessa that I wanted to go somewhere this weekend instead of sitting at home staring at the wall.  I need a break,  a diversion.  I need to do something different! 

But I probably won't.  I'll probably just end up sitting at home, staring at the wall.

Sigh...

Oh, Monday, Monday

I ended up sleeping all night last night, but had strange dreams and woke up crying.  I can just hear some of you now:  "Strange dreams?  You?   Nawwwww..."

But yes, it's true.  Strange dreams.  I had 'em.


Anyway, after work, I ran back out to the store to get my elastic for my shorts, and picked up some more material for work shirts.  Funny how life works.  I  had picked out three very cute fabrics, but as it turns out, I messed up.  If I hadn't messed up, I wouldn't have gone back.  If I hadn't gone back, I wouldn't have found The Coolest Fabric Ever.

This is not it.  This is an Also Cute fabric that I picked up off of the clearance rack. 

Fun, summertime images, aren't they?  But no, that may be Cute Fabric, but this is The Coolest Fabric Ever!

It's got pirates.  It's got daggers.  It's got snakes.  It's got roses.  Best of all, it's got sparklies!  Which make it darned hard to photograph, but still totally awesome!  And at only $2.00 per yard, how could I resist? 

Oh, and I also picked up a new tomato, my old one having long since vanished seemingly into thin air.

And a new hem measurer thingy, since I couldn't find my other one. 

I know, I know.  I could just use a ruler, but these are so much more fun.  Handy gadgets make everything better. 

Speaking of work, I saw Former Group Leader Rod this morning.  He asked me what I'd done over the weekend, and I told him I'd sewn me some new shorts.  He said, "Sew?  As in go get material and sew them up yourself?"

I said yes, and he said, "Woman, is there anything you don't know how to do?"  Without missing a beat, I replied, "Catch a man, apparently."  Whereupon he bopped me in the head with his stack of papers.

He does that sometimes.    

Now, though I'd love to stay and chat with you more, if you will excuse me, I've got pirates waiting! 

Later, peeps. 

Plan B

So, after all that--finally getting my material and all, I set down yesterday to cut out my work shirts. Much to my dismay, I discovered that I'd read the pattern wrong, and hadn't bought enough material for my size.

After gakking for a few minutes, I considered other options. I could run back to the store and hope they had enough left--and a sales clerk handy-- to get the extra I'd need to finish. I quickly discarded that idea.

It only took a moment for me to realize that all was not lost.  I ran into my craft room and dug through my old patterns until I found the one I wanted.  Sure enough, the yardage needed was the exact amount I'd bought.

Lickety split, in no time at all, I had three new pairs of shorts, well, almost.  Here they are, eagerly awaiting elastic, which I will have to go back to the store to get.  While there, I will make sure I get the correct yardage needed for my work shirts.

And all will be right with the world again.

Rylea says, "I sure hope you don't get any ideas about doggie clothes."

Weight Watching

They've recently announced that they are going to start a Weight Watchers program at work.  They're going to have the meetings and weigh ins there at the plant, and you can do a payroll deduction for the fees. I thought about joining, but decided against it. I just didn't want to deal with the snide comments and obnoxious remarks.

Like, I'll mention that I need to lose some weight, and I'll get the sneering response of "Where?" Um, my butt. My thighs. My stomach...Look, just because I don't weigh 300 lbs doesn't mean I'm not overweight. I know these days, if you aren't morbidly obese, people think you're OK, but that isn't necessarily true. We have become a nation of fat people. We've become so fat that just a little fat doesn't even register any more.

Another thing I get often is something along the lines of "It must be nice to be able to eat what you want and not have to worry about gaining weight." Yeah, it must be. I wouldn't know. Thin people do not have some magic metabolism that keeps them thin. We don't sit around with our feet propped up wolfing down every item of food in sight and magically remain thin. On the contrary, thin people are thin because they work hard at it.

So, I chickened out of joining Weight Watchers. I just didn't want to deal with the staring and the sneering. One of the knitting blogs I read posted a link to a site called SparkPeople.  It is an online healthy living community.  Yeah, it's about weight loss, but it's more about eating a balanced diet and living a healthy lifestyle. 

It is a completely free website and has just about everything you need.  There is a page to track your nutrition-- including calories, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.  The site even calculates how much of each you need to eat per day to be healthy.  There are message boards, and support teams, and you can add friends like on Facebook.

I've got one.  Friend that is...

You earn points for tracking your nutrition, and your exercising, and reading articles, and participating in message boards.  Granted, the site can be overwhelming at first.  I've been there nearly a month and am still finding my way around.  But I've lost 4 lbs since I started. 

Now, I've never been very overweight.  For years, I'd kept my weight at around 130, and was comfortable with that.  But as I've gotten older, I've found it's been getting more and more difficult to lost the post Holiday 5-7 lbs that I would gain every year.  So, it's been adding up, and my weight has been creeping on up there.  And of course, dealing with the stress of work, more and more I'd been turning to food as a comfort.  I didn't think I was really eating all that much, until I joined SparkPeople and started writing down every thing I ate. 

And just having to write down everything has helped me to not eat for the sake of eating any more.  I think "If I eat that, I'll have to add it to my nutrition tracker, and I don't want to do that."  So I don't eat it. 

Well, instead of me going on and on about it, why don't you click on the link and check it out for yourself.  If you do register, be sure and add me as a friend.  I'm BGUNSTREA over there. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to earn some more Spark Points. 

Success!!

Yes, I finally made it to the store and came home with fabric. 

I got these three off of the clearance rack for $2 per yard.  I got two yards of each.  That's enough to make three shirts for less than what one shirt would cost to buy. 

My trip was not without incident, however.  In line ahead of me were two college girls who wanted to make a blanket.  I won't tell you which college it was, but it's colors were maroon and white.  Remember that this is Mississippi, so no, it wasn't the Texas Aggies. 

Anyway, they were going to make one of those blankets where you get the two large pieces of cloth, fringe them, then tie the fringes together.  They picked out some kind of fuzzy, white cloth, and let the sales clerk actually cut a huge hunk of it off of the bolt before deciding that they didn't want that particular fabric after all. 

They went back to the racks to pick something else, and the clerk cut my three pieces.  I saw them as they left the store with what they eventually picked out, and I wondered how that blanket is going to work. 

Nevertheless, I've got my pattern, and I've got my fabric, so now I'm going to go

knit!!!  

Hats. 

Sigh, I'm so predictable, aren't I?

Ten On Tuesday

It's back!  Finally, a Ten On Tuesday topic I think I can actually do.  And what is this topic, pray tell? Well, I'll tell you.

What Are Your 10 Favorite Love Songs?  

I think the hard part is going to be narrowing it down to 10.  There are so many good love songs out there.  One of these, I was going to post as a Music Monday yesterday, but didn't.  Kinda glad, now, because I can post it here as my absolute, all-time favorite love song.  And it is:

Wait, maybe I should go in reverse order.  Can't make this too easy, you know...

10.  You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This, by Toby Keith. Unless you mean it like that.  If you do, baby kiss me again. 

9.  Can't Help Falling In Love, by Elvis Presley.  For some reason, this song always makes me think of Marion Barber, and is one of the few Elvis songs I really, really like.

8.  You'll Accompany Me, by Bob Seger. 

7.  Carrying Your Love With Me, by George Strait

6.  Faithfully, by Journey

5.   Would You Lay With Me, by David Allen Coe

4.  Safe In The Arms Of Love, by Martina McBride, My heart is not ready for the rocking chair, either.

3.  Drift Off To Dream, by Travis Tritt.  Someday, I'll find you.  I really will. 

2.  Stay Forever, by Hal Ketchum.  A little known song, by a little known artist, but one of the best ever written. 

1.  Everything I Do, by Brian Adams.  And there it is, my favorite love song, from the most romantic movie ever.  What?  Robin Hood romantic?  Why yes.  Yes it is.  In the words of Duncan, "I may be blind, but some things I can still see." 

Music Monday

Well, I didn't get my material again.  I went straight from work and paid my dental bill.  He's now paid off.  Yippee!  Then I went to the post office to mail the care package.  After choking on the $44 price tag, and settling for the $22 parcel post version, I decided from the look of the clouds that it would be best if I just came on home.  So I did. 

Good thing, too.  Not 10 minutes after I got home, the wind hit so hard it was shaking my house.  We got a lot of wind, a lot of thunder, and a little rain.  Just enough to wet the dust down good. 

Maybe this'll help:



An oldie, to be sure, but still good. 

Whole Lotta Nothing Going On

That pretty much describes my life lately, and is also the reason there hasn't been a blog post since...gee, when was it?  I don't even remember.  But, I decided that since I had nothing to say, I wouldn't bore you with a post full of filler material.

So, what am I here to talk about today?  Why, knitting, of course!  Yes, I've been knitting, though it's been slow going. 

I've done a few rows on AMS 11. I'm still only halfway through clue 3, though.

And I did a couple of rounds of AMS 10.

After that, my mind went into a mystery rebellion. I just didn't want to work on anything mystery. So I picked up and did a couple of pattern repeats of the old Fruit of The Vine scarf

And as I knit, I wondered how hard it would be to adapt this pattern to make it into...sigh, you guessed it-- a hat.

Speaking of hats, I'm still plugging away at my as yet un-named design.

OK, truth is, I have a name for it, but I don't want to reveal it until I get all the kinks worked out of the pattern. Which I have just about done. I've finally gotten the decreases the way I want them. Now, I'm knitting through my notes one more time, just to make sure they are right. Next step will be to write the pattern out, then send it to some test knitters.

I'm quite sure I'll have no shortage of volunteers for that.

I've also got one going in sock weight, just to make sure the decreases work out the same for different weights of yarn.

They should, since the pattern repeat is over the same stitch count for all weights. Just the amount of stitches cast on is different.  This yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersocke in Cherry Blossom.  For some reason, I keep wanting to call it Cherry Chip, but that is incorrect. 

This weekend was our town's annual Thunder on Water festival thingy.  Note that there is NO "the" in the name.  That is one of my serious pet peeves, when people call it Thunder on the Water.  I try not to get smart aleck about it though.  Sometimes, I even succeed. 

Be that as it may, it was this weekend.  I went out Saturday morning as I usually do.  I don't care anything about the carnival rides, or the concerts.  I just go to see the arts and crafts fair and the car show.  Boy was I disappointed.  There probably weren't 10 booths in the arts and crafts fair.  Just my opinion, but I kinda think more people are waiting for the Downtown Jubilee that they have on the square in September.  I prefer that one myself.  It's not as hot. 


A while back, I started collecting things to make up a care package for a military person.  Well, I finally decided to just send all my stuff to my friend Bobbie Jo.  She is a member of her local Blue Star Moms group, and that's what they do.  I tried to find a chapter in this area.  There is one, but they don't seem to be active any more. 

I there are lots of groups that you can just send money to, but I don't like doing that.  I like going into the store and picking out stuff myself.  Makes it so much more personal.  Plus, this box had 5 hats in it.  You just can't put a price on a hand knit hat. 

Well, Beverly has loaned me a table to set up my sewing machine on, so tomorrow when I go mail the box, and pay off the dentist, I'm going to head back to Wal-Mart and try again to get material for my work shirts.  Then I'm going to try to remember how to sew.

I'll let you know how that goes. 

Old Habits

die hard.

Yes, I am a creature of habit.  Most of us are.  It's in the human nature.  We like familiar things--even the most adventurous among us.  We still long for home and hearth, and all things comfortable.

Imagine my distress this afternoon when one of my old comforts was forcibly ripped from my side. 

Yes, I'm talking about my tool bag.  It's the same tool bag I've been carrying for nigh on seven, maybe eight years now.

I liked that tool bag.

Oh, I knew it was beginning to wear out, but I couldn't give it up just yet.  I really, liked it.  It had lots of pockets and zippers, and hidden compartments. 

It only had one shoulder strap, which is ok, because I only slung it over one shoulder anyway.   I really, really liked that tool bag. 

Today, as I was leaving work, I slung my old, familiar tool bag over my shoulder, as I did every day.  I reached around, and put my hand underneath it to hitch it up a bit.  To my horror, I found this.

A hole big enough for me to lose my tools.  And with that, I knew it was time to bid my old friend farewell.

So, off to the store I went.  Being that school just got out, I knew there wouldn't be any school-type backpacks, but I checked the school supplies aisle anyway.  No dice.  I checked the tool department.  No dice there either.

I ended up finding this one in the sporting goods department.  It is made just for women.

It has pockets.  It has zippers.  It has secret compartments.

It has two shoulder straps.  But that's OK.  I'll probably only use one anyway.

K is For

Can you guess?

I know there are some of you out there who can guess what these are, but for the rest of you:

K is for Knitting Needles!

In this case, Knitpicks Harmony needles. These are probably my favorite needles ever.  I used to didn't like wooden needles, preferring the slicker'n snot nickel plated options.  I hated bamboo needles.  Too grabby.  I spent more time trying to shove my stitches along the needles than I actually did knitting.  Even after the Harmonies came out, I didn't try them for a long time.  When I finally did, woo hoo! 

I was in love. 

Unlike bamboo, these are actually slick enough not to hinder my knitting, and oh those sharp points!  Perfect for lace.  Perfect for anything. 

Just perfect. 

Tragedy

We've had a tragedy here in our little town.  It seems that a 16 year old girl was bullied, teased and tormented to the point she could no longer escape her pain.

Over the weekend, she took her own life.

I don't know her, but Cody did.  I don't know the details.  I'm sure they'll be forthcoming in the near future.  Rumor has it, though, that some boy sent her a 7 page long letter in which he said some of the cruelest things imaginable.

In her despair, she sought the only escape she could think of.

This is not my first encounter with suicide. When I was about Cody's age (which is 17, by the way), a former classmate of mine died by her own hand.  I felt bad, because I'd never really liked the girl.  Still, I wondered, if I had known what to do.  If I had known what to say.  If I had only reached out to her, could I have prevented her death?

I wonder the same thing about Sara.  Was there no one to reach out to her?  Was there no one to hear the cries of her heart?

This evening, I sat out on my front steps, watching the lightning bugs.  I recalled one of my favorite poems*.  I heard the crickets chirping.  Somewhere in the distance, geese honked. 

And I thought about this little girl.  About the life she will never live.  All the things she will never experience.  Watching the sunset with someone she loves.  The joys and trials of marriage.  Children of her own.

Catching lightning bugs.

And I couldn't help but weep for her.  For the tragedy of a life cut short.

Weep with me, if you have any heart within you.  Weep for the girl.  And tomorrow, as you go about your business, listen to those around you.  Really listen.  Not to their voices, or their words.  Listen to the cries of their hearts.

It may be that you are all that stands between a life and a tragedy. 



*I'd like to be a glowworm
'Cause a glowworm's never glum.
It's hard to be unhappy
When the sun shines out  your ***. 

And It's Blocked!

And, really, that's about all I did today. 

Oh, I had good intentions. But you know what they say about good intentions.

It's A ShawlETTE!

Obviously, it's not blocked, but I hope to get to that this weekend.

I've been spending a lot of time playing Threadwords on my Kindle. I must get back to reading Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Hat's 'N Whiskers

I'd meant to post this yesterday, but got so aggravated at the poor customer service from the Picapp site that, well, I just didn't get around to it.

Yes, I finished another hat.

I think I've finally just about got the crown the way I want it. Just a bit more tinkering, then I'll knit one up in each different weight of yarn, just to make sure it all works out.

Oh, that big hole right beside the center isn't part of the design. It's a big, loose stitch. I'm not sure what happened, but I tightened the stitches up, and it looks a lot better.

Charlotte did not get the privilege of blocking this one. I noticed that when Charlotte blocks hats, the ribbing gets stretched out a bit too much.  This one I laid up on top of one of the snake tanks, and bunched the ribbing up.  I think it looks --and will fit--a lot better. 

Squeaky says, "I'm still waiting on my kitty blanket."

Oh, and speaking of poor customer service, I finally found a new Avon representative. She's the wife of one of my DC4L buddies, and she's in Florida. It's kinda sad, you know, when your co-worker --who spends every day less than 10 steps away from you--sells Avon, and you have to go all the way to Florida to find a rep. The thing is, my co-worker won't give me a brochure unless I ask for one.

Every. Single. Campaign.

And I do mean every single campaign, I have to go to her and ask for a brochure.  You would think that if she wanted my business, she would bring me one, but no.  I have to go and ask for one.  Every.  Single. Campaign.  Then she wants the books BACK, so she can give them to the next person who asks for it.  Huh?  She claims she'd doing good business, but I don't see how.

I finally got tired of well, basically begging her to sell me stuff and quit asking for books.  It's been about 6 weeks and she hasn't even asked if I wanted to see one.  I guess she doesn't want my business.  So, last week when this buddy posted his wife's page on FB, I asked if she would be willing to take on someone who didn't live near them.  He said yes, and today I got my first brochure from her.  I see several things I want.  It's just a matter of fitting them into my budget. 

Well, gotta go in at 6 in the morning.  Funny thing is, I'm the one who talked my supervisor into letting Vanessa and me come in early. 

What was I thinking? 

.