Celebrate!

Oh, YAY, the weekend is here! On the one hand, it seemed like the work week went by in a blur, but on the other hand, it seemed like the weekend would never arrive.

Why celebrate? Because it's the weekend. My time is my own for the next couple days. I don't have to get up at a certain time or go to bed at a certain time. I can do what I want with only a few limitations.

Those limitations? Sometime this weekend I need to clean house. And tomorrow, Saturday, I need to be at Bearpaws & Hollyhocks from 3 to 7 p.m. But how can spending time at a quilt shop be classified a "limitation"? I don't think it really can--I guess it's more of an "appointment."

Tomorrow's the shop's Open House, kicking off the fall/winter season and the new class schedule. Because I'm a teacher, I like to attend each open house so I can chat with potential students and answer any questions they may have about my classes. If you're here in the Sacramento area, please stop by and say hi!

This session, I'll be teaching the Frightfully Crazy Buggy Barn class again on September 12th (and will need to start getting ready next week so I can surprise my students with Halloween treats!) and a Christmas class in early November. For my Christmas class, I'll give my students several patterns for making Christmas decorations (wallhangings, quilts, etc.) and gifts, and I'll help them get started in class by showing samples and describing the techniques they'll need. Of course, you know me by now--it will mainly be a good excuse to have a Christmas party and sew at the same time!

Why else does "celebrate" come to mind tonight? Well, so far--after only two days, mind you--the Wellbutrin seems to be working pretty well. My stomach has calmed down and I'm feeling much more "normal." Someone commented the other day about weight gain on Wellbutrin--I checked the statistics and was interested to see that according to one study, a little over 9 percent of patients gained weight, while 28 percent lost 5 pounds or more. Maybe it depends on what a person normally does when they're happy--eat more or eat less? Well, we'll see. I anticipate I'll only be on this stuff for less than two months, so whatever I might gain or lose will probably reverse itself when I go off. BUT--when I come back from quilt camp (where they feed us non-stop, I swear!), I'm going to make an effort to eat healthier and get more exercise, so maybe I'll be among those who lose weight on it.

Funny thing though--so far (again--after only two days, so who knows what it really means?), my mood has been pretty darn happy and I've stopped being as obsessive/compulsive as I normally am. Good? Bad? I'm more relaxed and not quite as driven to get things done, so it could go either way, depending. I have a quilt that's waiting for binding, but tonight I'm just sitting around, reading and relaxing. But I shouldn't over-analyze at this point; only time will tell. But so far, so good!

Shall I tell you another reason I'm ready to celebrate? Only one more week of work before I go to quilt camp. I AM SOOOOO READY! I know you'll miss me while I'm gone, but I'll get some photos and maybe I'll come back with a few stories to tell. This is pretty much the view:

As you may imagine, it's hard to decide whether to quilt or stare out at the lake--ah, the decisions that must be made when one is living in Paradise, huh?!

And a final reason to celebrate? I have a few more things from sorting out the Sweat Shop that need a new home, so I'll do a final August giveaway post tomorrow night. My August "tasks" are nearly done--I still have to sort through my quilt magazines and get that binding on the quilt I'm working on and then the only thing left on my "to do" list will be the Thimbleberries Hometown Christmas. I can see I WON'T get that done in August, but it doesn't really matter--I think I've done pretty well, working toward my goals. And that, too, is reason to celebrate!

What are you celebrating?