Sad Weekend

Sadly, this was not a great weekend. My DH had a cousin of his pass away on Thursday, so much of Sunday and all of Monday was spent with family. Sunday we went to the Rosary (a viewing with a collective prayer of the Rosary, for those not Catholic). Then Monday morning was the funeral mass, then the graveside service, and then dinner at a local hall. Death is always sad, but this was especially hard for DH's family as the cousin was only 19 years old. Her death was unexpected, and it was horrible to watch her mother and step-father at her funeral. I had never met the dear girl, but from what I hear she was a lively, sweet girl who really loved spending time with her large extended family. Please, if you can spare a moment, send up some sweet thoughts both for Nicole, and her grieving family, particularly her mother, step-father and siblings.

Thank you

Two Swaps and a Win

I'm so excited for my mail in the next couple of weeks. First off, my swap partners and I for the Book and Yarn Swap on Ravelry have posted our packages. I had to delay the sending of mine due to being out of town, and I really appreciated my partners' kindness about the whole thing. I sent mine out yesterday, and I believe theirs went out either yesterday or the day before. I hope they like what I've sent, and I know I'm going to be thrilled with what I receive.

Secondly, Cathi had a giveaway if you could guess the name of the pattern she was stitching. The answer was Grille Gratuite 86 from Gazette 94. Since only 3 people had the right answer, Cathi has been sweet enough to send us all a little something. I can't wait to see what it is!

I also plan on stitching Grille Gratuite 86, so thank you Cathi for the inspriation!

You should check out how Cathi finished the piece. I think it makes a super cute wall hanging.

Easter - Stitching Plans

Did I mention that I cross-stitch? I'm new to knitting, but I've been the "cross stitcher" in the family for a while. Actually, that's totally a lie, my Aunt is the cross stitcher. She does gorgeous work, and has, IMO, great taste. That said, my DH and his family don't really know my aunt, so they think of me as the cross-stitcher. I feel like a cheat whenever they say that.

That said, I've made a decision. I have a project that I've been working on for my SIL that I keep picking up and putting back down. I have not admitted to my SIL that I'm working on this for her. SO..... I'm going to tell her (and show her) at the Easter dinner we're all going to this weekend. Then, I'll have to be good about working on it so that she won't be upset! It's the Queen Bee by Little House Needleworks. I'm doing it over one, so it'll be nice and small. I'm not sure how I'm going to have it finished yet, but probably not as a framed piece.

Also, I had a project I had started as a commission, but the woman who asked me to do it has backed out. Which, isn't a bad thing, because I'm going to alter it to suit my own taste. I think that I'll change the woman's dress to be white and gold (with Kreinik) and call it a wedding dress. My wedding colors were lavender and cream, so I think that it will look nice. I'm also doing this over one, as that was what the woman wanted, but I may frog what I have and do it over two instead, we'll see.

I plan on working on cross stitch, but also my nieces' surprise this weekend. I'm knitting covers for their DS lites. I found a cheery baby worsted weight acrylic by Bernat to stitch them with. The colors aren't too babyish according to Eldest Niece, so I'm in the clear there.

Ok, I just had to take a break because the Operations Manager is apparently a yellow chicken livered IDIOT. I work in HR, and I'm supposed to just do payroll, but for the moment, until the HR Generalist starts next Wednesday, I'm in charge back here. I have been for almost 3 months now. One thing that I have NEVER been in charge of is the hiring or firing of our employees. I just process the paperwork. We recently had a series of group interviews, and extended tentative offers of employment to almost everyone. However, we interviewed more people than we have spaces for, and we decided not to hire everyone. (Big surprise right?) Well, one of these people that I called last week to say Thanks, but we're not interested at the moment, stopped by today to plead his case. He went and spoke with the Operations Manager, who was NOT involved in the decision not to hire this person. She sent him over to me and told him that I might be able to make a decision for him WHAT?!?!?!?! OMG WTF, this is SO above my pay grade. I foisted the whole thing off on the GM (who is out today) and said that I would talk to him on Monday, but that I could NOT promise that the GM would change his mind!! (And seriously, I'm kind of creeped out now, he was totally in my personal bubble, which I defend very strongly.)

I fired off a fairly angry email to the GM letting him know what happened, and that I didn't think that the Operations Manager needed to be sending this kind of thing to me. She's a big girl, and she's FOND of telling me that she's in charge, so she can tell Mr. Creepy Applicant that he's not hired. Either that or give me a pay raise and the HR Generalist's job, but as official Payroll Clerk, this is NOT my job.

**Update, the GM called and said that he agreed, it's not currently my job, but that now he thinks it's a great idea for me to learn how to fire and not hire people. I feel that I may have shot myself in the foot....**

*** Both photos were filched from 123 Stitch's website, where you can purchase the patterns if you desire. I'm not affiliated with them, but I believe in giving credit.

My TRUE Love

I don't know if you recognize the style of blankets we have going on.... the white one with the flowers... a quilt made by some lovely Amish women. It's applique, so it's not authentic, but it's still precious. The blue and white blanket was made by Oleana, you know, the Norwegian knitted goods company... you know, the REALLY expensive knitted goods company.

My cat has decided that these items are his... ALL his! :)

I am so very stupid

My husband and I work in the same office. In fact, we sit within 10 feet of each other when we're both actually in the office, and I'm actually sitting at my desk. (Instead of sitting at the desk of the HR Administrator, who doesn't actually exist except for when I pretend to be that person.)

Anyway, since we work together, we share a lunch bag. However, we have different hours, so we do not carpool. (My butt isn't even out of bed when he clocks in at 7am, so forget coming into work with him.) When I finally drag in (usually 9-ish), I am lugging our lunch box. I slip my car and house keys in the side pocket and go on with my day. I always leave before DH does. He is a workaholic, and I am allergic to work, so I am out of here at 5pm at the VERY latest. He stays on and pitches in until at least 5:30, usually 6, often later.

Today however, he had to change the plan. DH decided that he needed to work on my car and his grandmother's car, and he was going to do all this at his grandmother's house. (I'm guessing because he wanted food from her.) Anyway, he left work at 4:30 today, with the lunch box in tow. (He takes the box home, because he's usually here later, and might need a snack.)

Did you catch that... with the lunch box in tow?!?!? OMG, I am here at work without house or car keys. I can't even beg a ride off of someone, because I have NO WAY to get in my house! It's not DH's fault, I don't think that he's aware of where I keep my keys during the day.

Now, I know what you're thinking, just call him up and get him to come and get you. Here's the BEST part! My cell phone died yesterday. It's a touch screen that now won't respond to the gentlest of my caresses or the hardest of my pokes. It's dead dead dead, so I sent it to the people at Sprint this morning, and I am carrying my husband's cell. Ok, I know what you're thinking now, why didn't you call the house? Because we're some of those super cool people without a house phone. Yeah, I wanted to be high tech and just have cell phones. I AM SO STUPID.

Let me guess, you're wondering why I don't call a family member/friend to come and get me? Right? Well, I have no friends. Well, no friends in this state that I feel I can call and have come rescue me. I do have a sister-in-law that I could call, but I'll get to that in a moment. I also have NO family of my own in this town. ALL family members in town are my DH's family, and I just don't feel comfortable calling on them to rescue me. They're not my family, and I couldn't tell you half of their names. It's my job to deal with my family, and his job to deal with his family.

The glaring exception to that is my sister-in-law. She is the BEST. I would honestly consider her more my actual sister, or my best friend than my sister in law. She is the sweetest, coolest, smartest woman I know, and I just think she's the bee's knees. That said, she is a single mom of two gorgeous little girls. I did call her to see if she could rescue me, but she had literally just put dinner in the oven. I can't ask her to pull dinner out, ruin it, and come and save me. No way. So, that's out.

I also called DH's grandmother to see if he was there yet, but alas no. He's supposed to call me as soon as he gets there, but he hasn't and it's been WELL over an hour, so Lord only knows where he's at.

So, for now, I'm eating my weight in mints and gum waiting for my SIL to finish dinner or for DH to get to his grandmothers. I have tomorrow off since my mother is coming into town, and I'm surely going to need it!

House phone will be added next week, and I'll be getting a spare pre-paid cell so that when I do something like leave my keys in the lunch bag, I will still be able to leave work.

Mom

My mom is coming to see me this weekend! I'm so excited, I could burst. :) She has a project that she needs my help with, so she's coming up here to do that. In addition, I plan on dragging her to the Korean grocery market that I've been raving to her about for a year now. I also fully intend on getting either some quality LYS (local yarn shop) or LNS (local needlework shop) time with her. It'll be the first time she's seen me since I dyed my hair brown, so here's hoping she likes it! :)

Knit Free Weekend

At the end of the week, I realized that my hands were a little sore, mainly from all the typing I did last week, so I decided that I needed to give my fingers a rest for the weekend. I managed to resist knitting until Sunday, when I cast on another double bump washcloth. I'm REALLY enjoying making these. I think that I may use that same pattern for some of the charity scarves I'm making. I think that it'll make the scarves pretty, without being too feminine or masculine, so I can use the same pattern for two different groups. (Christmas at Sea and Handmade Especially for You) They serve very different groups of people, as the Christmas at Sea is for mariners and the Handmade for you is to benefit battered women. I'm still such a new knitter, that I know I'm going to prefer one pattern that I can do really well. I want to give each group my best work, and I think the double bump scarf is going to be the way to go.