Working

I will be working again starting tomorrow morning! I guess I was wrong in the last post, there is someone who wants to hire a person my age. I have aquired a position at a hardware store a few towns over. I used to be a customer service manager at our local hardware store. It had been my favorite job ever, and when I got laid off I was devastated. I was looking through some online ads (again) and saw this ad for the hardware store, so I emailed them. I got a call from them the next Monday (I sent it in on Friday). They asked me to come in so we could "get to know each other better". I went in a few hours later, and a half hour later I was an employee! I will send my previous hardware employer a thank you note, because he gave me a high recommendation. I am excited. I love working in hardware. I always kid, and say my Dad raised me in the garage...well, he and I used to putter out in the garage together, so I learned a lot about hardware and I am very comfortable with it. So I am going back to my element, that was something that was missing in my last job...yuck, laundry equipment...plus I can start working on my house again!

Needless to say, my posts will probably be shorter and fewer and farther between. As well as my stitching projects. Both have served me well, during my forced vacation. It's okay, with winter coming up and the nights dropping in on us earlier in the evening, I will again pick up the stitching to while away the evenings. During the summer months I tend to play with the dogs outside in the evenings!

I will be finishing the quilt I started for my neice as my sister informs me the baby shower is in just a few weeks...what happened to the time?!? I just have two sides to bind, and a lttle touch up on some of the quilting. I will get a picture of it posted. I have also made some more progress on my Earth Goddess. Pictures there too. I made a bid on a floor frame holder from ebay. I had been watching it and it was successfully bid on, I lost. Then for some reason it came back in, so I bid on it again! I hope I can get it this time, it'll make my stitching so much faster. Wish me luck!

Later all! Hope to see you soon!

Los Lonely Boys

Saturday was an eventful day! In the morning I went to my daughter's friends' wedding shower. That was fun. It was a mixed shower, the guys were there. It always adds interest when the groom and friends attend. I like those better than the traditional "girls" only showers. After all it is the guys wedding too! These are some great kids. They have been in my life for several years now. My daughter has some wonderful choices of friends.

In the evening my girlfriend, her daughter, neice and her nephew's girlfriend and I went to Concord (a fifty +mile drive) to see Los Lonely Boys. I was excited to go see them when my girlfriend first told me she was getting me a ticket too, then as the date got closer, I was a little more reluctant. This reluctance I now believe is a direct result of my getting more and more depressed over the joblessness in my life. At 4:45, fifteen minutes before we were to leave for the concert, I was getting ready to back out all together. But they came and picked me up, now I am so glad I went. They were excellent. We had a blast! We did the lawn seating area, sat on a blanket under the stars. My bottom was flat and numb for a good hour and a half. It is good to have a girls night out like that.

My youngest daughter came over yesterday and spent the day with me. When I went to pick her up, we stopped by her work "for a minute" (She works at a Safeway grocery store) We ran into my dad and his girlfriend. I live five miles from my dad, by rarely get by to see him, so it was nice to run into them. I love his new girlfriend. She is down to earth and very loving. She has been really good for him. Besides, she raised five girls by herself, so completely understands me. (I raised three girls, by myself)

Today, we go pick up a mattress, box springs and frame from my afore mentioned girlfriend. Then my youngest can come and move back home. Being on her own was not all it was cracked up to be and the boyfriend (now ex) is being stupid. (Not just, "oh we had a fight" stupid, stuff that can get him in trouble with the law stupid and my daughter doesn't want to be involved). I told her to come home, save up for a car and her schooling that will cost her an arm and a leg, and be done with the guys for a while.

I need some sleep. We got home at 1:30 AM after the concert and then my daughter and I stayed up til almost 2 AM last night (this morning) just hanging out. I had to get up at 6AM Monday mornings to put the garbage out (So, I don't have to clean up after the raccoons) I am going to have a nice nap for myself later this afternoon maybe. If not, I will hit the hay early tonight. Maybe I will get stitching done today!

Things change so quickly

My ducks apparently are not in a row...those aren't even my ducks! I'm freaking out cause I cannot find employment. No one wants a 50 something y/o working for them, I don't have a higher education, I have some skills, but nothing anybody wants to hire! Crap! I got the local paper today, the pizza parlor is hiring in store personnel, maybe I'll be a pizza lady...I don't know. All of my confidence is gone, the last job took care of most of that, the 6 months of searching for a new job has gotten rid of the rest. I was going to do doggy day care, but the company I was going to go with on that has decided they want someone in different towns, and with having to get permits, licensing, insurance etc., it's not happening on my own.

My youngest daughter is moving back in with me for a while. Until she can save up enough money to buy a car, she will take the bus to work and then I will pick her up after work. She works 15 miles away and she gets off work at 11 PM some nights, Midnight on others. I would rather do this than to make her stay in the situation she is living in now, sounds like it could be getting a little dangerous for her.

The weekend after next, I am going to have a garage sale. Hopefully, I can get enough money together to carry me another week or two past the week my unemployment runs out. This weekend, I have a concert to go to. My girlfriend bought the ticket for my birthday for me. We are going to see Los Lonely Boys. I hope they do a good concert, I am in the mood for good music live.

In the meantime I have my stitching...I need to finish my neice's baby blanket soon. The baby is due Oct./Nov., but I do not like waiting til the last minute. I want it finished, washed, packaged all pretty and ready to go. I have a baby afghan that I need to tie a couple of ends on, then wash it, pack it up and send east to my girlfriend's daughter before her baby gets here. Another Oct./Nov. baby...and both boys! My neighbors just had a baby boy yesterday or the day before, must be in the air! Okay, I am really rambling on here. It's late, obviously I need sleep. Thanks for listening!

Progress!

It's been a while since I took a picture of what I am working on. I have thought about it a lot, but just never grabbed the camera and took the picture. That is such an easy task too! (I love digital cameras!!!) So, this is the middle section of Earth Goddess, all it needs is the vines backstitched. Then it is on to the top section. I couldn't decide if I wanted to go up to the top or down to the lower section, but the middle was very labor intensive (as stitching goes) and the bottom is the same intensity, so I opted for the top to take a "break". It's been a fun project so far. Can't wait til it's done.
The big dog helped me out on it a lot today...NOT! He was getting off the couch and bumped my storage box of floss. Of course, as in the Laws of Murphy, it landed upside down. I had to dust it all off, (dog hairs on the floor) and re-establish where everything goes. Actually, it helped a little, cause I really needed to organize the floss in a more workable way. Thanks Big dog!
No employment yet. I actually got a case of cabin fever today. Still didn't do anything about it. Well, I did do a little something. My youngest daughter had put a huge hole in her bedroom wall that I didn't know about til after she moved out. Those big posters sure come in handy, don't they kids??? I know I would just flub up an excellent looking patch job so...ya know, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade? I am making a little shadow box type of shelves in there. I know I can do that. I went in and cut the drywall out and squared it up. (I also found out that there is not one ounce of insulation in the outside walls.) Now, I just have to get the wood to make the shelves. My oldest daughter is moving into that room, so she will be able to place her collection of small fairies on the shelves!
Well, I am in the middle of making a carrot cake.I took a little break from it, because I am grating the carrots the old fashioned way. Now I know why my grandparents never gained weight! They had to work harder than we do to get the food prepared and on the table. More later!

This is where I live. No, not in the water, but just the other side of the buildings you see in the background. I went kayaking in the ocean right down the street from my house. This was my first time out there. My daughter surfs there all the time, and kayakers go there all the time, but I have been too chicken until today. It was fun, til I came in. Then a bigger wave caught up with me and pushed my boat over! I got to go swimming! YAY!!! NOT!!! I asked advice from one of the veteran kayakers and he told me, it'll take time, just practice and know that I will get rolled from time to time until I have practiced enough. At least I know now, that I am not the only one. I was a little embarassed. Not anymore. Now I have a new adventure to talk about. It was on my want to do list, so that is good!

It's a beautiful morning

The big dog let me sleep in until 6:30 this morning. How kind! It is beautiful and peaceful here. Sun is shining, neighbors aren't out and about yet, so no traffic noises. I have a list a mile long of to do's today, but I think I will be lucky to get 1/4 mile into it.
My dad helped me fix my chain saw the other day, so I really need to get outside and chop up some wiley looking bushes and the tree that is threatening to push the eaves up on the front of my house. I'm a little nervous about that one...it is big, I don't even know what it is, it volunteered to grow years ago. I love it, but it is going to do some damage.
I got lots of stitching done yesterday, since I didn't feel like doing anything but sit. The little dog loved that. She slept on my lap the whole time.I will get ambitious about taking pics of the stitching I did and the progress on my neice's baby quilt that I am making for her. It only needs the binding done on two sides and a good washing. Wa-la..it is ready to present to her.
I have been catching up on other blogs this morning and got to thinking to myself that I really need to make my pages more appealing. I will start messing with that project one of these days. I do want it to look good. I have a lot to learn there.
On with the day...see you all later!

Open for business

F I N A L L Y !!!!!
After about four months, the road between my family and me is OPEN! YAY! The road closed the beginning of April, and they have been working on it day and night for the last three months. The first month they hemmed and hawed about how to go about making the road safe for us. They ended up blasting a few huge boulders and knocked them down off the side of the hillside, so they wouldn't just roll down inadvertently onto a passing motorist. Then they drilled into the lower hillside to insert some big ol' metal pipes that attatch the lower hillside to the upper hillside. They graded and paved the road. I gotta hand it to these men and women who worked on the road so long. It was dangerous work, but they got it done. I, for one, am eternally grateful! Now I don't have to go 32 miles out of my way to get 5 miles from my home! (Not that I wouldn't do it...but have you seen the gas prices lately?!?)

I am taking a trip down there today; not because I have to, but because I can. Oh, and I am taking my dad's mail to him and my chainsaw, to see if he can help me fix it and my camera, so I can get pics of his pooches. (I have a killer idea for a Christmas present for him) Then I am going further down the road to see my daughter. I saw her for about five minutes on the first, but you know young adults...always in a rush to get to the next thing. She is packing up to move today, so I want to go by and watch her pack!

I'm off. Things to do, places to go.....