Jello Brain

ARGH! As I suspected, I've had a crazy-busy couple of work days. On Wednesday, I took a "lunch break" from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. to attend the monthly Thimbleberries Club meeting and then went back to the office to work until a little bit before 2 a.m. My boss and I both left at the same time, and we were both back at work a little before 9:30 this morning. AND I just got home around 10 p.m. tonight.

And on Wednesday? I was only a half hour short of making up the time I missed by taking Tuesday off for Hubby's surgery; but then I'd already worked more than that half hour in overtime on Monday. I think, though, that the crazy hours are over for now, as the last of the big projects we've had the last couple weeks is nearly ready to go out the door tomorrow.

On the positive side, I'll have a little extra in my paycheck at some point, which will come in quite handy because THIS Saturday I'm going on a little shop hop excursion up to Paradise (yes, there really IS a Paradise in California, and of course it has a couple quilt shops!) and Chico with five of my closest quilting friends. Yeah!

Right now, though, I think my brain has turned into soft-set Jello, so I'm just going to take a nice, hot bath and go to bed to read--this:

Bet you're jealous, aren't you?! I just wish I could sleep in tomorrow, but it's back to work again for one more day.

What Does 29 Mean?

Thanks to all of you who commented on my Birthblogday post! For some reason, the number 29 popped into my head, so I counted backward from the first comment and the 29th person (the 29th person who wanted to be entered as one person asked not to be) was chosen to win the Bette Bunny kit. I then counted 29 again, and then once more for the next two winners who will each get one of my patterns of their choice. First, drum roll, please . . . .

Laurie wins the Bette Bunny kit. She said, "Your blog and a hot cup of coffee is how I start my days. I have to agree with the comments that everyone before me posted. I laugh at the job and the quilting and the amount that you get done inspires me. I hope hubby does well with surgery. Happy Blog birthday!!!!" Laurie, please email me your mailing address.

Second and third prizes go to:

Arlene Ferrigno, who said "Kim, I get an immense kick out of reading about your adventures. Hope all goes well with your DH" . . . .

and Sandy, who said, "Happy Blogbirthday, Kim. You need a nice vacation for all this extra work. Life gets too hectic and we all need to stop and smell the roses. Good luck to your hubby with his surgery."

Arlene and Sandy, please look at the patterns in my Etsy store (you can click there through the link in my sidebar) and email me the name of your pattern choice and your mailing address. (Don't order them through Etsy--just let me know which one you want.)

Winners (and anyone else, of course!) can email me by clicking into my profile and then clicking on the email link.

Thank you all for your loyal readership over the past few years and your encouraging comments. I truly appreciate it.

[P.S.: Hubby's surgery went fine and he's home and resting.]

Thank You!

Thank you for all the nice comments that helped to make my Birthblogday special! Your words are particularly special because I had already told you that you didn't have to tell me you loved me to be entered into the giveaway!

Some of you mentioned you hoped I'd gotten a better night's sleep or some rest over the weekend, and I can tell you that yes, as a matter of fact, I did. Saturday night was much, much better and I think I probably slept around eight or more hours. I really needed it, and finally by Sunday, I was feeling much more "normal." It's funny how working long hours and not sleeping well for just a couple days can throw a person off so quickly!

After a good night's sleep, on Sunday, we went with another couple to see a play at a small local theater. One of the women I work with, Lee Marie, is an actress in her "spare" time, and she was THE actress in the play, Shirley Valentine. Shirley Valentine is a British play about a 40-ish woman whose children are grown and whose marriage isn't what it once was. She wonders what became of "Shirley Valentine," the person she was before she got married and had children and settled into a life filled with expectations, but by the end of the play, she finds herself again. And yeah, it IS one of those stories that makes you laugh AND cry. The tough thing about the play is that it's a one-woman show, and my friend Lee Marie has mastered two hours of dialogue--in a British accent, to boot! Can you imagine? We were all very, very impressed. And it's a great script too--if you ever have an opportunity, go see it and take all your girlfriends!

After the play and on the recommendation of another friend from work, the four of us had dinner at a really yummy gourmet pizza restaurant that's opened in the last year or two. One of the friends we were with had lunch there before, but the rest of us were unfamiliar with it. As it turned out, it was a perfect choice, and we all had a marvelous time.

Tomorrow is Hubby's surgery--a few of you wished him well. The surgery he's having is similar, I think, to varicose vein surgery in that they will close off one of the veins in his leg because the doctors are concerned it could cause problems in the future. With Hubby's healing problems and skin ulcers, the vascular surgeon feels it's better to take care of it now. So, it's not a huge procedure and it's done on an outpatient basis, but it's still a surgical procedure, and we appreciate your well wishes.

I DO think work will be crazy again later this week--on Wednesday and Thursday--but at least the week is starting out slow. I'd better get some sleep now, while I can, because I have a feeling there will be less of it as the week goes on. See you tomorrow!

By Golly! I Think I've Got It!

Okay, loyal blog peeps, I've come up with an idea to celebrate my fourth Birthblogday! Woo-hoo! Here's the thing though: I don't have very much time this week. And what does that mean?

Well, first of all, let's keep it kind of low key. I'm certainly not going to ask you to post it on your blog, become a follower, or otherwise advertise on my behalf. I'd rather just make this about you guys--the peeps who come back here day after day and read whatever I may have to say.

I'll just keep this open two days unless something crazy happens and I have no time to pick winners on Tuesday night. But I should. Hubby's having some fairly minor surgery on Tuesday, so I won't be working late--at least I don't think I will. Winners will be picked late Tuesday night and posted on my Wednesday blog post.

The prizes? First place is a kit to make the Bette Bunny wallhanging--it contains everything you'll need except the binding. I should also mention that the fabric for the yo-yo flowers in the kit is slightly different, but the rest is the same.

I spent some time today putting together a couple kits for my Etsy shop, and I'm setting one aside for the celebration. Second place? Well, the second place winner can either pick a Bette Bunny pattern or a Spring! pattern. If you click over to my Etsy shop HERE, you can see them both (Spring! is also in my sidebar). Or, there are a couple other patterns there, if the second place winner prefers one of those.

And if there are a lot of entries, I'll pick a third place winner who will get the same offer as the second place winner. What are a lot of entries? Well, let's say if there are over 75, okay?

And I'm not even going to make you stand on your head or tell me how much you love me. Just leave a comment. And come back and see if you've won--because I won't email you to let you know--I like to make you come back and visit again. I'm funny that way.

At the start of this post I mentioned I'm not going to have much time this week. So the other thing that means is that I might not be able to post every night like I normally do. Or I might post from work in the middle of the night to say I'd rather be chatting with you but I'm working instead. I know you'll understand. And hopefully this week will be the last crazy one for awhile. Keep your fingers crossed for me, okay? Do that right after you leave a comment so I can enter you in the giveaway. Thanks, as always, for stopping by to visit.

COMMENTS CLOSED--WINNERS WILL BE DRAWN AND ANNOUNCED SOON.

A Restful Weekend?

Well, not quite.

I don't know why exactly, but I had a really hard time sleeping Friday night. Maybe I was TOOOOOO tired? I think I was somewhat dehydrated--I don't think I made enough effort to keep hydrated during the work week, nor did I eat right, and I know I sat for periods that were too long. But whatever it was, I woke up every hour and a half to make a trip to the bathroom, and just about every time I woke, I was having an unpleasant dream.

I tried to take a nap this afternoon, but just as I was drifting off to sleep, Hubby came in to say he was going to run a couple errands and did I want anything? Yeah, SLEEP!!! And it's hard to get mad at someone when they think they're being thoughtful. Then the Wild Child took a shower, which seemed to involve a lot of banging and bouncing off walls, and the neighbors were working outside in their garden with their oldies music cranked up, so no nap.

Seriously, it turned out okay, though. Tonight we surprised my sister-in-law with a 50th birthday celebration, and we had a great time.

It's been really tough trying to keep it a secret and to make sure everything worked out okay because she kept trying to plan her own party! In the end, we were able to make sure both plans meshed--we had a buffet dinner that my brother-in-law planned, held in his favorite sports bar with cake after the dinner, and later in the evening, those who wanted to keep the party going went dancing at a local bar/pub/club. (Hubby and I elected to come home after the first part of the celebration, and I was able to sneak off to the Sweat Shop for a little quilting--something I hadn't gotten much of all week!)

The birthday party was fun, particularly because people attended who we hadn't seen in years, and almost all of the family was there. There were a few weird instances when strangers helped themselves to the buffet, but the bar was still open to the public at the time, and it was kind of like a wedding where no one knows exactly who everyone is. In fact, the only reason I know that some of the people helping themselves to food were strangers was because I'd overhear things. Like one man, who had just filled his plate with food, turned to see my brother-in-law--the one who planned the event--and asked him what he was doing there! But we had plenty of food, so it was all fine.

I had taken a few photos of friends, and I THOUGHT I was turning the camera off but instead I must have pushed the wrong button, because suddenly the flash went off and I captured a photo of the Wild Child--

I have no idea what she was looking at, but I thought it was a pretty good photo. (After the dinner, she headed up to Chico to spend the rest of the weekend with Manager Man.)

I think I'll take a Tylenol PM tonight and try to get a more restful sleep. We have another social outing planned for tomorrow, and I don't want to be a grouch.

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend! I'm glad you could stop in for a visit.

March 7th . . .

is my four-year blogiversary. Or birthblogday. Yep, I think it's my birthblogday--because you know I always like to be different, right? I wanted to celebrate with a little giveaway, but I haven't had a chance to come up with a prize idea these last few days. Well, I'll give it some thought this weekend and we'll see what happens.

So, I guess you know that my work has been crazy. I brought my camera to work to take a photo of the big stack of papers we finally sent off today, but I couldn't figure out how to take a photo without breaching confidentiality, so you'll just have to imagine.

My boss uses a voice dictation system that types as she speaks, and it's kind of cool, but it's far from perfect, and that's where I come in. My job often seems more like that of an editor than a typist because I'm usually proofreading and correcting documents. (Sometimes the dictation program comes up with the funniest things!) We then revise documents several times, adding in and taking out and tweeking them until they're either perfect or we're out of time. (Mostly we just run out of time, but I think they're pretty good.)

This particular project required around 70 pages of typed legal argument and analysis along with a stack of exhibits--A through N--that was about an inch and a half thick and was taken from all of the different written evidence in the case so far.

As it turned out, my boss and I were at the office until 2 a.m. on Thursday night (actually Friday morning, I guess) before we figured we were far enough along to be able to meet the noon deadline. After going home and sleeping for a few hours (and doing laundry, in my case, so I'd have clean pants to wear), we were back at work at 9 a.m. on Friday. My plan was to get off work early, around mid-afternoon, and come home and take a nice nap but because I really needed to get a jump on next week's deadlines, I ended up staying until 7 p.m. And you know what? I guess 7 p.m. IS early compared to what the rest of the week was like!

There was one kind of funny thing that happened when we were working Thursday night. Around 10 p.m., my boss could see flashing police lights in the parking lot not too far outside her office window. (We're in a one-story, somewhat sprawling building, and the whole building is ours.) There's a courtyard between her office and the parking lot, and a fence obscures her view, so we decided to move to another office with a clear view to see what was going on. Just as we were standing there, looking out and trying to see what the cop was doing, a second police car pulled into the parking lot, sweeping the building--and US standing at the window--with a spot light. My boss panicked and said something like, "Oh my God, they can see us!," and started to run out of the office until I pointed out that she was making us look like fugitives, hiding from the law; so then she decided we should turn on the office light to let the police see what obviously upstanding citizens we were. Anyway, nothing really came of the whole incident except for our enjoyment of a rather goofy interlude, but it felt kind of funny (as things often do when you're beyond tired). As far as we can figure, the first cop may have turned on his lights so the second cop could find him more easily because they certainly didn't have anyone in custody nor did we see any suspicious characters lurking around the building (except us).

Now the weekend's here and I need to catch up on a little sleep. It's only around 9:30 p.m., but I'm going to take a bath, put on my jammies, and go to bed and read. Yep, I need to do some serious relaxing. Because next week will probably be crazy at work too. Next week we have an appellate brief due. And a whole bunch of other things that need to be filed with the court in a case with a trial starting the week after next. I'm telling you, being a legal secretary is just filled with never ending glamour and excitement.

Yep, Still at Work

It's after midnight. If I was sleeping instead of working, I'm absolutely positive I'd be dreaming of all the fabric I'm going to buy with my overtime pay. I'll be back tomorrow with a bit more time to chat. See you then!

My Whistle Ran Out a Couple Hours Ago

I'm writing this from work to post a bit later. It's 9:30-ish. Last night I worked until 8-ish. This week, we're working on another one of those crazy projects that has to be out the door on Friday, so--to use yet another really trite expression--we're burning the candle at both ends. (The idea of working on a computer while talking about using candles for illumination is kind of amusing. Or maybe I'm just tired.)

So I have nothing much to chat with you about tonight. Tomorrow night . . . maybe nothing then either since that will be crunch time, but we'll see. Sometimes I get SOOOOOO tired, I get pretty funny; maybe my loss will be your gain. In any event, thanks for checking in on me. And if you stop by and see me sleeping with my face planted in my keyboard, wake me up, okay? I've got work to do.

P.S.: What did I miss on Survivor?

Hey, Here's an Idea!

I don't know if you noticed, but I started a list in my sidebar of people who want to participate in my 11 in '11 challenge with links to their blogs. A couple of participants don't actually HAVE blogs but they do have profiles, so I've linked to their profiles in the list. Would anyone else like to join? Just let me know and I'll add you.

I've had some questions about what counts toward the goal of 11 projects and I've answered some of you individually, but if you've wondered and haven't asked, here's pretty much what I've said: It's whatever YOU think counts. I'm not the quilt police. All of us have different levels of experience, different needs, different budgets, different interests, and differing amounts of time to devote to the craft. So challenge yourself--and make it something you CAN accomplish if you put some effort into it, just as long as you don't make it too easy. Think about what your biggest stumbling block is when it comes to quilting and incorporate THAT into your challenge. For me, I have a tendency to finish quilt tops and set them aside without quilting them. I also have some UFOs with applique that aren't all that far from being done and then quilted. These are the kinds of things that will be a challenge for me to work on this year. What do you find is your own challenging area or task when it comes to quilting?

Another idea is to pick a couple things you've WANTED to do but haven't so far. Maybe you've always wanted to hand quilt something but haven't had the time. How about making one of your challenges a hand quilted project? Or try a new technique and carry it through to completion. Or maybe you want to make a quilt for a special person or occasion. Only you know what kind of challenge is right for you. Make a list now if you work best that way or simply have a few projects in mind and be flexible enough to add to it as the year progresses--whatever works best to keep you on task. And most of all, remember: it isn't supposed to be a chore!

I'd like to also encourage you, if you're participating, to post comments on my blog from time to time, letting us know you've completed one of your challenge projects so we can visit you and see what you've done. You could set up photos in your sidebar showing your progress as I have. Or set up a Flickr account for photos of your projects and link to it in your sidebar.

As I said earlier, a couple of participants don't have blogs, so I've linked to their profiles, but please let me know if you have a Flickr account (or anything similar) for photos and I'll change the link to your Flickr account. Or consider starting a blog--it doesn't have to take a great deal of time and effort, and you don't have to write regularly; just upload photos of your completed projects with descriptions so we can see what you've done. (Blogger is very simple to set up and has templates you can use for your blog format.) It's a great way to track your progress through the year.

And for those of you who don't want to make the commitment for whatever reason? Well, the rest of us are sticking our tongues out at you. That's quite alright, but please enjoy looking at what the rest of us are doing and cheer us on--I know you will!

And as always, whether you participate in the challenge or not, I'm glad you stopped in for a visit.

Next Up: St. Patrick's Day

I've decided which quilt will be my third of eleven for 2011--

All things considered, it might not seem like much of a challenge, but here's the thing. Or actually, here are TWO things: (1) quilt number two was an awfully BIG project with "accessory projects" so I feel justified picking a smaller quilt for my third selection, and (2) even more importantly, apparently it IS a challenge for me because I've had it in my "waiting to be quilted" basket for two years. You see, I made this quilt top two years ago as a free pattern/tutorial for my blog readers. You can click the link in my sidebar if you'd like to make one, but you should be aware--because I get questions a lot--that this was a multi-part blog post and the last part will be the first section you'll see--you need to scroll down to get to the first part and work your way back up. That's just the way Blogger sorts it if I use tags for searching and posting links.

And, by the way, you COULD just make a small shamrock quilt with four shamrocks and borders, and you don't even have to get all fancy with a ribbon border like I did. You can just keep it simple. In fact, you COULD make SINGLE shamrock blocks and then use them to make potholders for all your friends so they can protect their hands from being burned when they make corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day. So there you go--make some shamrocks.

In the meantime, I'll be quilting mine.