I Decline To Answer

I thought I'd come home this evening and work on the little dinosaur Christmas ornaments that I found yesterday.  They were almost done, so it shouldn't take too much to finish them, right?

Unfortunately, when I pulled them out, the needle was smashed beyond use.  I got a needle out of one of my cross stitch kits, but its eye was too small.  These call for using six strands of floss, and I couldn't even fit them into the needle.  No problem.  I'd get a needle from the other plastic canvas ornaments I'd started a couple of years ago.

But their needles were the same size as the other, since they only use two strands of floss, too.  BTW, the one on the left is supposed to be a snowman holding presents.  Yes, that's as far as I've gotten.  The one on the right is almost finished.  I just have to do a bazillion French knot snowflakes.

Digging deeper, I found this needlepoint kit that my Daddy had given me years and years ago.  About 30 years ago, to be exact.

Its needle had gotten lost somewhere along the way.  Yes, that is as far as I got.   Then I found these two, the one on the right having never even been opened.

And this one.  All three of these were bought when I was in the Navy.  I got out in 1994, and that's all I have to say about that.

And this nativity scene tissue box cover, also probably 20 years old.

And this one that has also never been opened.

At this point, I'm actually starting to doubt my own existence, not to mention my sanity.  So, why did I order five more kits last month?

We won't even talk about my yarn stash.

I'm pleading the fifth.

The good news is my little knitting bag is now filled back up -- with needlepoint and cross stitch kits.

Dull Day

I'm afraid this is going to be a somewhat dull post, as it has been a somewhat dull day.  No mysterious phone numbers.  No birds in fireplaces.  No fights between coworkers.  Just relentless heat and monotony.

The most exciting thing going on is that it is Shark Week on Discovery channel.  In honor of shark week, I wore my shark tooth necklace.

I've had a thing for sharks for as long as I can remember, and the year I turned 11, my parents gave me this for my birthday.  That and a trip to see Jaws at the theater made for a memorable birthday.

I've been meaning to start cleaning and organizing the craft room for a while now, but it's so cluttered that I get overwhelmed by it all.  So I said I'd start small.  Just one thing at a time.  Today, I chose this.

It's an old project bag that I've had for probably 15 years.  As you can see, it's collected a lot of dust and dog hair over the years, and was filled with mostly non-knitting stuff.  I mean, seriously.  Books, old magazines, even a pair of old shoe inserts.  Ick.  Why they were in a knitting bag is beyond me.  I've long since given up trying to find an explanation for such things.

I put the books in the bookshelves, tossed the magazines and shoe inserts, and putting the knitting patterns in the knitting pattern cabinet.  Then I took the empty bag to the kitchen sink and washed it out.  I'll let it dry, then put it behind one of my end tables in the living room for -- you know, actual knitting projects.

I did find a couple of gems hidden within the bowels of that bag that I wanted to share with you.  First up, this set of dinosaur needlepoint Christmas ornaments that I'd completely forgotten I had.

I remember (after I found them) buying them to make for Cody.  I started making them, and got about halfway done before I set them aside.  I don't know why I didn't finish them.  They're really cute.  I'm going to try to get them finished before this Christmas.  Along with a bajillion other projects I've got going on.

And then there were these:

Necklaces and a bracelet that Cody made me for Mother's Day one year.   I'd been hunting for them for forever, and now I've found them.  Yay!  They are safely tucked away in a drawer with some other keepsakes.

OK, I'm going back to watching Shark Week.  I declare, I spend most of this week hollering "Get back in the cage, Dummy!" at the TV.

It's nerve wracking, I tell ya.

Well, That Was Interesting

I got home from work, let the dogs out, and began cleaning out my lunch box to put it away from the night.  As I was doing that, I heard a strange scratching noise.  I briefly wondered what the cat was destroying, but quickly realized the scratching was coming from inside my wood burning heater.

It was with some trepidation that I carefully opened the door, fearing it might be a squirrel.  A squirrel loose in my house would not be a good thing.  I was very relieved to find two small gray birds trapped inside said heater.  One immediately flew out into the room, while the other went up the chimney.

Now, I have a bird in my chimney and another one flying frantically around my kitchen and dining room.  Quickly, I opened my back door and it didn't take him long to find his way to freedom.  A few minutes later, I heard more scratching from inside my heater.  The other bird had fallen out of the chimney and was once again trapped inside my wood heater.

I opened the door, thinking I could shoo him outside the way I'd done the other bird.  It didn't work.  The poor thing was too exhausted.  Panting, it's little wings drooping, it just didn't have the energy to fly.  I did the only thing I could do.  I reached in and caught him.  I carefully carried him outside, intending to put him on a tree branch to rest.  As soon as I let him go, he found a sudden burst of energy and flew off into the woods behind the house.  I hope he'll be OK.  I'm sure he will.

I'd thought about taking a picture for the blog, but the poor little bird was already too stressed.  I didn't want to add to it.  So, that was my excitement for today.

Remember all that new yarn I got last week, and how I said I'd have to make myself finish my works already in progress before I cast on anything else?  Yeah, so while Cody was sleeping the day away yesterday, I finished three, yes three, count'em three projects.

First was this hat.

This was knit from some of the yarn my mother in law* sent me.  It didn't have a label, so I'm not sure the brand or colorway.  I'd be willing to bet it's Red Heart, though.  In retrospect, I think I should have used larger needles, since it was such a heavy weight yarn.  It's done, and it's huge, but hey, someone out there will have a giant head that it will fit.

Next up, I finished the wash cloth.

I can usually get two washcloths from one ball of Peaches & Cream, and I'll probably cast the second one on in the next few days.

Finally, I finished this hat from the leftover baby dress yarn.  Bernat Baby Sport in Tiny Tulips.

The pattern showed up much better here than it did in the dress.  It does kind of look like little flowers.

At long last, all the WIPs were done, and I could cast on!  Woo Hoo!  Naturally, I chose the shocking pink to start with.

This is the only shade of pink I really like -- that hot, neon, shock your eyes color of pink.

I'm a little frustrated, because I can't find any of my DPN sets.  I know I've got a bunch of them, from size 1 all the way up to 9.  And I can't find most of them.  I guess I really need to start cleaning out the craft room.

Maybe once the overtime is done I can get to that.

*Technically, she's my ex-mother-in-law, but I don't think of her that way.

Not So Fast

Cody came home yesterday to bring me the lease to sign.  Before he got here, he texted me and said two of his friends were coming with him to bring his furniture back with them.  And by furniture, he means his bed and his gun cabinet.

Cody got there around 3:30 and said that Josh and Matt were having a little trouble with their truck.  They'll be here in a little bit.  We looked over the lease, discussed some of the particulars, and I signed it.  I also cautioned him, since it's my name on the lease, saying, "I've got good credit now, and it had better stay good."   He told me some of their budgeting plans, and it sounds like they've got it all worked out.  I told him to make rent and the electric bill the top priority, since they are the most important.

About that time, he got a text from his friends.  They didn't think their truck would make it all the say here.  They were heading back to Clinton.  Their truck was running very hot -- so hot that the coolant reservoir melted.  We heard back from them later.  The good news is, they made it back safely.  The bad news is, we  didn't have a way to get Cody's furniture to his new apartment.  He talked to another friend of his, and he will be able to help, but not this weekend.   The plan is for him to come back next weekend and get it.

Since his friends didn't make it here, I invited him to spend the night.  And I took him shopping for stuff.  You know, the things you need but that early 20-something young men don't think about.  Flour, sugar, shortening, a canister set, and some baking dishes.

An ice tray, and a dish rack, plus measuring cups and a few utensils.

Then I took him to the grocery side and bought him some boxed dinners.  And I told him, "Rice and spaghetti are your best friends."  Not together, though.

When we got home, I said, "You don't have to spend the night if you don't want to.  I didn't mean for it to sound like an order."

"No, I want to.  It'll be good to sleep in a bed again," Cody replied.

"Where've you been sleeping?"

"On their couch."

He spent the night, and slept until 1:30 PM.  When he came out of his room, I told him I'd thought he was going to sleep the whole day away.  He replied that it felt so good to sleep in a bed, he just didn't want to get out of it.  Can't say I blame him.


He loaded up and left around 3 ish, and I got out and took some pictures of my flower bed.  There is some good dirt in my yard.  My flowers never grew this big at my old house.

I had no idea those vincas would get this big.  My last ones never did.  My poor little Dwarf African Marigolds are lost in the middle of them.

My big marigolds are huge.

Even my one lonely zinnia takes up about half the bed.

Now that I know these plants will grow to be ginormous, next year, I can plan better and leave more room between them.

Just Like That

I got to work bright and early this morning, and I went to my brazing stand to begin setting up the day's work.  No scraps of paper today.  I checked.  After a few minutes Group Leader Theresa comes up and says, "I need three more headers (manifold assemblies) for this order."

I went and ran off a pick ticket (bill of materials, sort of thing), and a print of what she needed me to order. I thought, "That looks just like what I'm setting up on now."  I check the work order numbers and said, "Hey, that is what I'm setting up on now."

I went and found Group Leader Theresa and showed her.  "This order you said you needed three more of is what I'm setting up on now."

"No it isn't," she said, showing me the order that was on the line.

I showed her the print I'd run and said, "That's the wrong header on that unit."  Sure enough, the brazers on the other shift had gotten two orders mixed up, and had put the wrong headers on one of them.  We had to work that out, and Theresa said, "I'm going to talk to [the boss] about you coming in early.  Too much stuff is messed up."

Just like that, I'm back on 10 hour shifts.

A few weeks ago, I'd posted about the department looking like a tornado had hit it.  The next morning, a coworker who reads my blog stopped me and said, "I read what you wrote.  Isn't that every day?"

Pretty much.  The only difference is whether it's an EF-1 tornado or an EF-5 tornado.  Today was about an EF-4.  Not only that, one of our builders quit a couple of weeks ago.  I know most of you don't know who our builder is or what he does, but you don't really need to.  Just roll with it.  As I was saying, a couple of weeks ago, one of our builders quit, and they haven't given us anyone to replace him.  I guess they figure since it's the temp line and is only going to run for another month or so before they shut it down for the Fall, they think we don't need a replacement.

That leaves us shorthanded every day.  What Theresa usually has to do is to move the other brazer to the vacant builder spot, which leaves me alone doing a two person job.  The sub brazing schedule requires us to do 250 headers per day on average.  Some days it's a little more, other days a little less.  These last few weeks, I've been brazing around 450 per day.  By myself.  Today, I said I'm just not doing that again.  I'm going to braze at my pace, and if the line goes down, then they'll figure out they need to get me some help.

So I brazed at a nice, comfortable pace -- fast enough so that the line didn't go down, but not so fast I wore myself out.  At the end of the day, I thought, "Heck, I'm going to add this up and see how many headers I brazed today."

Supervisor Mike told me once, "You don't know how to go slow."  I guess he has a point.  When I added up all the orders I'd brazed, it came out to 442 headers.

Four hundred and forty two.

I give up.  I just give up.

Look at the flowers, Lizzie.  Look at the flowers.

By the way, I took Terrance's paper back and intended to leave it for the person on 2nd shift.  When it came time to do so, however, I found myself strangely reluctant to part with it.  I find the idea of having a secret admirer to be just a bit exciting.  I guess it's not a secret, since he signed his name, though, is it?

On the other hand, since I have no idea who Terrance is, it still counts.

Adventures In ...I Don't Know What

I got to work bright and early this morning.  I went to my brazing stand and began setting up my work for the day.  That's when I saw it: a small scrap of paper under the chunk of steel I use for a paperweight.  Thinking it was jut trash, I started to toss it.  When I picked it up, though, I noticed that it had been carefully folded, and set just under the edge of my paperweight as if it had been put there on purpose.

Curious, I unfolded it and on said paper was a phone number and a name.  Oh, I knew right away it wasn't intended for me.  How do I know?

1)  I don't know anyone named Terrance.

2)  I'm not the kind of woman for whom men leave phone numbers under paperweights

3)  Anyone who knows me knows it's a waste of time giving me a phone number, because I will never, ever call it.  I don't call people I like;  I'm certainly not going to call someone I don't even know.

I thought it must have been intended for the girl who brazes on my stand on second shift and she just didn't see it, so I put the paper into my pocket intending to put it back where I'd found it at the end of the day.  And it was a long, hot, frustrating, tiring day.  Then I had to go to the post office.

A phone number and the post office -- two things I dread the most in the same day.  The only way the day could have gotten any worse is if I'd had to go to the dentist, too.

I'm not quite sure why I dread the post office so much.  I think maybe it's that they bombard you with questions any time you need to mail something.  How do you want to send it?  How soon do you want it to get there?  What's in it?  Do you want insurance?  Stamps?  Passport?

Noooooo, it's a baby dress.  I want to mail the baby dress.  Just let me mail the baby dress.  I don't want stamps.  I don't want a passport.  I just want to mail the baby dress!

Despite feeling like a witness in a trial for murder, I persevered and got the baby dress mailed without too much trauma and headed home.  I was emptying my pockets before changing out of my work clothes when I discovered that the aforementioned piece of paper was still in my aforementioned pocket.  Poor Terrance's message never got delivered.

If anyone out there knows Terrance who works at ADP --presumably on 2nd shift-- apologize to him on my behalf.  You also might want to mention that it would probably be better for him to just talk to the person to whom he wants to give his phone number face to face.  That way, it won't mistakenly end up in the hands of a crazy, telephonophobic, white lady...

who might just publish it to the entire internet.

Take that, Terrance!

More Good News!

Cody called me last night.  He and his friend DeJuan have found a place to rent.  You might remember DeJuan.  He and Cody were roommates in the dorm at Mississippi College for a while, and have remained friends.  He's also the one who brought Cody to me when my Jimmy broke down on the way to get him a that time, and he found Will the mechanic for us.  Cody told me that DeJuan pulled some strings to get him the interview at St. Dominic's.

This place they found is half of a duplex.  He says the rent is very affordable, and it is in Clinton, close to the Mississippi College campus, and only two minutes away from the police station, so it's in a really safe area.  He's very excited.

There was just one problem.  Neither he nor DeJuan have a credit score.  Seems the only way to get credit is to run up a bunch of debt.  Seems counter intuitive, doesn't it?

I have a friend who wanted to buy a house a few years ago.  She didn't have a credit rating, either, because she'd always saved up and paid cash for whatever she bought.  The only way for her to get approved for a mortgage was to go into debt.  She had to buy a car and finance it in order to build up enough credit that they approved her for her mortgage.  Doesn't make much sense, does it?

Anyway, since they didn't have a credit rating, Cody asked me to cosign on the lease.  Since I do have a credit rating.  Because I'm drowning in debt.  I gave him the information for the application, then gave him permission to forge my signature.  This afternoon, the landlord called me and said I had a credit score in the upper 700s -- which I knew, just having bought a house and a car -- and said Cody had first shot at the duplex if he wanted it.

So, yay!  He's coming home this weekend so I can sign the lease.  I decided this called for a celebration, so I bought pens!

Most people celebrate by having a nice dinner out, or buying jewelry or clothes.  Me, I buy pens.

Not sure what that says about me, but there it is.

The Strangest Thing

Yesterday afternoon, I had the bright idea that I would go out and finish the mowing.  I knew it was hot out there, but the back yard was in the shade.  No problem, right?

I mowed the back yard, and thought, "What the heck, I'll weedeat while I'm at it."  I got the ol' weedeater out and cranked it up.  I got the back yard weedeated...weedate?...weedeaten?...whatever, I got the back yard done and decided to do the front, too.  That's when it happened, the strangest thing.  I'd done around the flower beds and house, and was out weedeating the ditch.  Two really short guys with enormous feet ran by and threw a ring at me!  It's a real pretty gold ring, with some kind of loopy inscription around it.  If you know someone who has lost a ring like that, I have it, OK?

After thoroughly roasting myself, and taking a quick shower, I settled down to an evening of knitting and TV.   What was I knitting, you may ask.  Well, I'll tell you.  Better yet, I'll show you.

First thing, I cast on a new washcloth.

The yarn is Peaches & Creme and the colorway is Black Cherry.  I think this was some that was given to me, because I don't remember buying it.  The pattern is Grandma's Favorite.

I put a few more rounds into this hat.

I'd thought about frogging the whole thing and starting over, since the ribbing is so loose, but I decided against it.  I've got plenty of this yarn, and I knew my new needles would be here soon.  Sure enough, when I got home from work today, I found a box in my car port.  In said box were four sets of needles -- two wooden and two nickle plated--in sizes 5, 6, & 7.

I can't wait to try them out, but I'm determined to finish some of my WIPs before casting on anything new.  Yes, that includes this hat which has been languishing on the needles for several weeks now.

This one is for the charity box, and keeps getting set aside for more exciting things.  Speaking of exciting, I temporarily went off of my yarn diet.  I love these bright colors.
 

I can make a fun hat for a kid with them.

Adding up my shopping cart, I discovered that I was only $6 away from free shipping, so I tossed this in there, too.  

It is Chroma in Vermont.  I love the fall theme colors.  It isn't machine washable, so it won't be a gift or a charity project.  It'll have to be something for me.

Now, if you will excuse me, I'm off to browse patterns.

Admonished

One of my coworkers stopped me this morning, and told me the day just isn't as good when I'm not posting, so I need to do better.  She told me I have to do better than that.  With that admonishment, here is a new post.  What I'm going to talk about is beyond me, but here it is.

Yesterday, I had a bit of a bizarre experience that I wanted to share with you.

I was driving to work, almost there, when this car came barreling out of a side street -- Papermill Rd, for you local folks.  It totally blew through the yield sign and cut in front of me, so close I nearly hit it.  Said car pulled into the employee entrance.  Naturally, I pulled in right behind it.  Said car then let off a passenger, but then tried to back out of the gate.  I don't know, number one, why she didn't go to the passenger drop off lane in the first place.  But I don't know where she thought I was going to go.  I was behind her, and by this time, there were three or four vehicles behind me.

I was sitting there behind her, saying, "Where do you think I'm going to go?"  Then she started motioning me to go around her.  It's a one lane drive!  How in the world did she think I was going to pass her?  Anyway, I was trying to pull to the side so she could back out, and all the vehicles were trying to move over, and it was just a big snarl.  Finally, the security guard had to come out and unblock the area right in front of the guard shack that we aren't supposed to drive in so I could get around her and make enough room for her to back up and pull into the drop off lane and get back out of the gate.

I make it into the parking lot, get my stuff out and head inside the plant.  I go into the break room to put ice in my lunch box, and there is this guy totally blowing off the "small, personal coolers only" rule.  Five people waiting in line behind him and he just keeps scooping and scooping.

And yes, he did fill that entire bag up with ice.

The day just went downhill from there.  In the end, I was glad I did my shopping Thursday -- which was typically mayhemic, oh by the way, so I could just go home and watch TV.

Which is what I did.

Good News!

I was driving home from work several weeks ago, when I saw one of my new neighbors going into his house.  

"Hey!  That looks like one of my coworkers!" I said to myself.  Of course, I called his name, but out of respect for his privacy, I won't post it here.  I thought the next time I saw him at work, I'd have to ask him.  But that's the problem.

I've known this guy for years.  We used to work on the same line for a while, but they've moved us both several times since then.  He now works in a completely different part of the plant, and I seldom see him any more.  

A few weeks after I saw him the first time, I saw him again.  "That is him!" I said, and I waved at him.  I saw him a couple more times as I was driving down the road, waving each time.  Finally, yesterday, I ran into him at work.  

"Is that you I've been seeing on my road?"

"Do you stay on [our road]?", he asked.  "Is that you who has been waving at me?"  Yep!  We got to talking, and he told me he moved into the house he's renting about a month before I moved into mine.  He told me he wants to stay out there, because he really likes the area.  It's nice and quiet.  He said he didn't know any of the neighbors, though, because he goes home and goes inside.  

I told him how nervous I'd been about moving.  I'd lived in my old spot for 20 years, and knew everyone on that road.  Mostly.  I was anxious about not knowing anyone here, but it turns out I know about half the people on the road and didn't even know it.  I'm glad this guy lives here, too.  He's a good guy.  Someone told me he's a preacher.  When we used to both work on the same line, we'd talk about which book of the Bible we were studying at the time.  

So, yay!  

Other than that, there's not much to blog about.  It's been sooooo hot in the plant that by the time I get home, my brain has turned to mush.  I stand there at work all day thinking of stuff to post, but by the time I get home, I just don't feel like doing anything.  

That's why blogging has been sparse this week.  Maybe something exciting will happen and I'll something to post soon. 

Finally!

Yes, that's right!  I finally got those buttons sewn on to baby Brooklyn's dress.

Alas, when I picked them out, I only thought about how cute they'd look.  I didn't think about how difficult it might be to get the dress buttoned while on a squirming baby.  Ah, well, she'll outgrow it in just a few weeks, then it can become a doll's dress.  Or a keepsake.  I still have a dress my grandma crocheted me when I was a baby.

The point is, it's finally done.  Now I just have to wrap it up and take it to the post office.  Oh, boy.  My favorite thing.

Meanwhile, the cross stitch continues.

It's slow going.  I'm thinking they might not get these this year.  I might ought to dig out the kits I bought two years ago and finish them.  If I can remember where I put them.  You know, when I moved and all.

The little hat is growing, too.

I should be able to make quite a few of these for the charity drawer. The only problem is, I can't find my size 6 circulars, and using size 7 really makes the ribbing too loose.  As much as I hate to do it, I may have to break down and order from Knit Picks again.

I still haven't forgiven them for that credit card fiasco a few years ago.  Well, it's not so much as forgiving them.  I just don't trust them with my financial information any more.  Not after I got my bank account cleared out, and several thousands of dollars worth of fraudulent charges on my credit card.  All from them storing card numbers on an unencrypted server.

Maybe I'll get a money order and just mail it in.  They ought not be able to lose that.

Noise

For the last three days in a row, when my alarm has gone off in the morning, this song has been playing.  I kid you not.  Three days in a row.

I think somebody might be trying to tell me something.




Be still and know that I am God. -- Psalm 46:10

Friday

Before you ask, no I did not have a better day at work today.

It's not that my coworker is lazy.  Everyone knows that.  As soon as we found out they were putting her over there with me, people were telling me they felt sorry for me because she is lazy as all get out.  Ok, they didn't use those words, but this is a family friendly blog.  Well, let me tell you, they weren't lying when they said that.     I'm used to that.  The part that burns me up is that she stood there doing absolutely nothing for the last two hours of the day, then blamed ME because she didn't get her work done.  Yeah, she told our supervisor that it's my fault she didn't get the order finished because I didn't do her work for her.  Seriously, she said that.

That just burns me up.

Anyway, I'm going to bed, and here's a marigold.  

Typical Thor's Day

I knew it was going to be a typical Thor's Day filled with mayhem the second I woke up.  My first waking thought was how badly I wanted to call in sick and just stay in bed.  Then that little voice in my head informed me that I was too close to another perfect attendance bonus to blow it now.  So, out of bed I get and to work I go.

I get to work, clock in, and head upstairs to make my copies of the daily schedule -- only to find the office door locked.  Why, I don't know.  It's never locked.   But it was today.  No big deal.  I'll just run down to Tubing and use their computer to print some out.  I get over there and it figures.  Their computer is down.   Um, yeah.  OK, I'll just use an old schedule until someone gets here.

I go back to my stand, and about that time, I saw the dispatcher come in, so I start to go back upstairs.  She meets me as she's coming back downstairs.  She doesn't have a key.  She works in the production office and doesn't have a production office key.  But, she knows what to do.  She borrows a screwdriver from the maintenance man and jimmies the lock.  We finally make it into the office -- only there are no schedules.  No one has printed them out.  Aaaand...

The day just went down hill from there.

As if that weren't enough.  (TMI WARNING), you know how they say that if your red headed aunt doesn't visit for a year, then you are considered to be through The Change and done with it?  I made it 11 months.  Sigh...

After all that, I just came home, binged on Grimm reruns, and cast on a new hat with the rest of the baby dress yarn.

I just didn't have it in me to do anything else.

Busy

I think my cat has a death wish.  Thursday night, after a long, mayhemic day of work, I went to crawl into my bed only to discover that she had peed right in the middle of it.  Sigh...  Again, the benefit of sleeping under 15 blankets was that the sheets were still dry.  I just threw all the blankets onto the floor and spent the next two days washing bedding.  Well, not just washing bedding...there was regular laundry and regular work days going on, too.

Somewhat fortuitously, when I got up Friday morning to get ready for work,  I saw an article posted on Facebook by PetMD.  Said article was entitled "Why Is My Cat Peeing In The Bed?"  Seriously.  One of the suggestions was that the cat doesn't like the location of the litter box.  That afternoon, I went to the store and bought her another one.

Another suggestion in the article was that the cat doesn't like the type of litter box.  I already knew she didn't like the ones with the covers.  The one I had was a high sided one, so this time I got one with lower sides.  As I was going through, looking at each litter box, debating with myself, putting them back, then picking it up again, I looked up and there was this lady just laughing at me.  I explained to her, "My cat is very particular."

Anyway, I got her a new box and some fresh litter.  This box, I put in my half bath, so she has a box on each end of the house.  She seems to like it.  She is using both boxes, and so far, no more accidents.  Let's hope it lasts.

Lest you think all I've been doing is playing in cat toilets, take a look at this.  I've had this birdfeeder up since I moved in last fall.

That post is out by my back fence.  I'd bought that hook thing a couple of years ago, and at the time, it seemed like a good -- albeit temporary -- option from which to hang a feeder.  I'd wanted to hang a longer hook thing so that the poor birds who feed on that left side don't have to squeeze in between the feeder and the post.

After much searching, and a little bit of cursing, I finally found a hook I liked at a price I was comfortable with.  You wouldn't believe how much they want for these things.  This one is hand forged iron, coated so it doesn't rust.

This afternoon, I got out there and hung it.  Now the little birds have room on both sides!  I got another hook, so I can hang a second feeder on the other side of the post if I want to.

Yesterday evening, I got out and tried to deadhead my roses.  That was a job, and I'm still not done.  I found these growing on the back fence.  They are some kind of trumpet vine.  I've only seen the bright orange ones, so I thought these looked cool.

I'm making progress on the cross stitch.

But I still haven't gotten the buttons sewn onto the baby dress.  I really must get it done before it ends up being a gift for Brooklyn's babies!

D-Day

Today we honor them, these men who didn't need a safe space.  Today we remember them, these men who stormed the gates of Hell and conquered a tyrant.

Today we give thanks for them, for their courage, for their strength, for their sacrifice.

These members of The Greatest Generation.

Dear Coworker

If you want to play the race card by claiming the group leader is favoring me because of my race, it might carry more weight if the group leader (and the supervisor, also, lest we forget) was actually of my race, instead of being of your race.  Don't you think?

While we are on the subject, you're getting all upset because you say she "won't move the white girl".  So tell me, when was the last time she moved you?  Oh, yeah, that's right.  Never! Which means she's moved me a whole lot more than she's ever moved you.  Oh, but never let the facts get in the way of a good agenda, right?

And by the way, I've never seen you volunteer to take our other coworker's place when the group leader tries to move her.  That's something I have done -- many times.  

"No, no, I'll go.  You move Tasha a lot.  It's my turn to go."  "No, it's OK.  I'll go the whole day, instead of four hours.  She was on the line all day yesterday;  it's my turn."

I've never heard those words come out of your mouth.  Here is something else for you to chew on. I'm the one who went to our supervisor in the first place and discussed with him about our group leader moving Tasha all the time.   I'm the one who told him it wasn't fair to either of us -- not to Tasha because she's the one who is always being moved, but it's also not fair for her to expect me to do a two person job by myself every day -- and that she needed to move us equally.  Have you ever done that?  I didn't think so.

Next time the group leader tries to move Tasha, why don't you put your money where your mouth is, and volunteer to go in her place?  Otherwise, shut up and get off your high horse.  Like I told you last week, I'm not the pet because she just likes me.  She likes me because I work.  That's exactly what she said to me when I told her what you said, "I don't favor you.  It's because you work."

It's because I work.  Maybe you should try it sometime, instead of playing on your phone all day and then complaining about how ill used you are.  All you're doing is making yourself look like a spoiled, selfish child pitching a hissy fit, which is exactly what you are.  Grow up and get over yourself.

Thank you.

That is all.

Did I Ever Mention?

The plan was to finish Baby Brooklyn's dress over the Memorial Day weekend.  All I needed to do was seam the back of the skirt and sew on the buttons.  That was it.  Just seam it up and sew on the buttons.

Did I ever mention that I really don't like seaming?

I picked it up several times and held the edges together, then I put it back down.  After the fourth time, I did what any good knitter who hates seaming would do.  I cast on another whole dress.

That's right.  Instead of sewing one little seam, I knit another entire dress.  This time, when I got to the skirt, I joined it and knit it in the round.

Much better.

Now, all I have to do is weave in the cast on tail and sew the buttons, and it'll be done and ready to wrap and mail.  I've got a coworker who is expecting a baby girl in October, so I've got that long to psych myself up to knit that one little seam on the other dress...wish me luck.

One of my gardenias is loaded with blooms.

The good news is, they seem to be stabilizing.  This one still looks pretty sad, but at least they don't seem to be getting worse.

Maybe they'll survive after all.  I hope so.  I love the smell of gardenias.

I didn't do much for Memorial Day, but I did set a Missing Man place at my table.

For all my brothers and sisters who never made it home.