Uphill Struggle Through Mud

It felt like one of those days. You know the kind. Where everything suddenly seems to be much too hard? Where you feel like you're taking five steps forward only to take four steps back? Where you seriously think it would be much, much easier to just go back to bed and, if necessary, pretend illness?

Gran called me today, and of the four quilt class teaching slots I had booked this year, they need me to reschedule three of them because someone else wants those dates. I don't know if I really have that big a desire to teach, especially since a couple of those classes were hard to schedule in the first place. I guess I'll need to give it more thought.

Not long after Gran's call, I needed to run some errands. Before I left, the Wild Child pointed out that the air in my front tire was low. Can you guess how many gas stations I had to drive to before I found one where I could get air? I think it was four or five. (And it cost $1 for air when I finally found one too! Not to mention the fact that the gas I filled up with cost $4.20 per gallon. Crazy!)

I thought I'd stop at a couple thrift stores today, and I didn't find a single thing at the first one I stopped at. In fact, I've noticed that the shelves at our local Goodwill stores have been a bit bare lately since they opened a clearance center on my side of town about a month ago. I think they're pulling stuff from the local shops so they can stock it. I'll need to stop by and check it out when I get a chance, but it wasn't on today's "to do" list.

The day DID get better though. As I progressed through my errands, everything seemed to get a bit easier. I found a couple little things at the second thrift store I stopped at. And at Home Depot, I picked out a nice yellow paint color and found all the other things I needed. (I also found a bathroom cabinet that I think I'll send Hubby back to look at and buy tomorrow or the next day, if he agrees he likes it too.)

The only errand I wasn't able to finish today was the grocery shopping--by the time I got out of Home Depot, it was dinner time, so I figured I'd save the grocery shopping for tomorrow.

With all the running around, not much progress was made on the bathroom today, although I took a few minutes to spackle some holes. I also decided I need to paint the paneling around the lower half of the room--something I originally wasn't going to do now, but I can see it needs it after all.

The other thing that always seems to make a day better is escaping into the Sweat Shop for a little textile therapy. I think you know I've been working on the Brocante Schnibbles pattern using the Lovely line by Sandy Gervais (along with a little more Sandy Gervais fabric from other lines I had in my stash). By the end of the evening, I finished sewing the quilt top--

Doesn't it look happy? To play up the stars (which are hard to see in the pattern), I made one of them a contrasting green. Also, instead of adding the flying geese pieces around the outside per the pattern (if you're making it, you know what I'm talking about), I used plain sashing fabric. (I auditioned a few geese, but because they complete the square in square pattern, the stars get lost).

Stitch has been fairly patient with me this evening, waiting for me to stop sewing and come to bed. He's quite a creature of habit. He doesn't like to stay up, but then he doesn't like to go to bed until I do either. It's a constant struggle. Typical male!