500 years of women in art

That was a title in the off topic section of my favored knitting forum. Then there was the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUDIoN-_Hxs

Yummy.

Seven Whole Hours

DO you know how long it has been since I have gotten seven whole hours of sleep? O. Mi. God. i might not know how to act today. It is so nice to wake up, however early, and have gotten a restful night of sleep. i htink I must have remained on my back the entire night as well, because it is not aching. All around feel good to start the day. What a concept. Dare I hope for more of the same?

My addiction was the cause of my demise.

That is a direct quote from my son Connor(16.87 years). I got a call last night and the caller ID on my cell showed it to be from my wasband. If you know my history at all, you know this can't be a good thing. After saying a cautious hello, I discover I am talking with C.

C: Hi mamaa...
M: Hey, baby...How's it going? You are still coming next week?
C: all is well, yes, still coming.

Lightbulb shines brightly...

M: Why are you on your father's phone?

Long pause...

C: History repeats itself. My addiction is the cause of my demise. I am writing a book and that is the beginning.

He was cracking me up. Really. Last year about this time he all of a sudden had caused us to have a $700 phone bill. Of course his line was cut off imediately and that was basically his xmas present. Then when xmas came and he was traveling here for the holiday, I reinstated his phone so he would have it for emergency use and he did good for a while again. EB monitored the line more closely and the minute there was a deviation we dropped him again, this time permanently.

Soon enough, his dad added him to his plan as he had gotten quite used to C having a phone. So now he sees his son's addiction for what it is...the boy should have a phone implant, he is on it that much.

In other news...I was actually two full days without knitting. That was so tragic, that I picked up some yarn and knit eb a skull hat. Mostly done in one day. I will try to get pics of the skull hat series up in the next day or so. I have knit four of them so far. I am also knitting a scarf for myself, the Montego Bay scarf from the summer issue of Interweave Knits, and I am making another My So Called Scarf for a xmas gift for someone.

Surprise planning continues. A commitment has been made. We are going. Somewhere. For our 10th anniversary. Woohoo.

The new job situation seems to be working out just fine.

I am about halfway through HP 7.

Knit? Read? I have to choose?

A day without knitting

How sad is that. I knit not a single stitch yesterday. I did, of course, think about knitting, and I bought tickets via the phone from one of my local yarn stores for the Astros stitch and pitch on August 12th, but it's not the same.

No bamboo knitting needles warmed by my touch. No luscious fiber coursing through my fingers. No glorious fabric miraculously being produced by my own two hands. A day sans tricoter doesn't happen very often around here.

Today, the stove is being fixed. Bright and early (anytime before work), Mario is here to see what he can do to prevent the stove from flipping the breaker every time we use more than two burners or the broiler. This has been going on since the stove was installed a few years ago, but I have been dealing with it. Now that The Chef has moved home, it could become a more serious concern.

Tuesday night we had chicken stuffed with spinach with a side of pasta in a brownn butter sauce with pine nuts and garlic. The chicken was topped with a tomato reduction and was very tasty. Let's nnot forget the apple crisp with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Wednesday night was mile high meatloaf sandwiches. This is an open faced meatloaf sandwich with creamy mashed potatoes and fried onions and gravy. We also had a salad of baby spinach and bananas, strawberries and walnuts with a sweet dressing.

Last night was leftover meatloaf with pasta topped with sauce and pinenuts.

We need to have The Chef study up on portion control or we soon won't be able to go out the door.

Just plain criminal

Working with eb again has been a relatively smooth transition. There is but one woman there who worked there when I was previosly employed there who has not said a single word to me. Not. One. Word. No need to give her the benefit of the doubt. The woman I thought would react in this way has been totally pleasant. Mostly, it's all good.

On most days, eb and I think of Weese and we car pool. It's really funny when eb looks at me over her shoulder and tells me I can get going any time and that she is almost ready to go too. Umm...how are you getting home, sweetness? Then we chuckle and I bet that makes silent woman down the hall cringe.

Yesterday, I even remembered to bring my lunch so I could work straight through, thus maximizing my hours. I brought a banana, some cherries, a stash of mini candy bars, and a fluffernutter sammich. I was so looking forward to the fluffernutter being perfect and then, the criminal part. As I picked it up out of the bag, half my fluff was in the bottom of my ziplock bag. Thank goodness it was a ziplock or else we would have had marshmallow fluff on everything.

Wednesday tip-o-day: Always! Always store your fluffernutter sammiches flat.

release

I am well n to being adjusted to my new work situation. I am currently three days a week at jcp and I am starting to realize, as everything eases into a new image, just how much that place was stressing me out. By the end of the month, I will be just Wednesday and Saturday there, and I think that will be totally acceptable in the terms of energy balance. It is hard to totally give up the discount and the savings for getting my hair and nails done. I can see a day where I might choose that, but not in the next 6 months at minimum. Time will tell.

The new job is going well, I think. My new boss is very touchy feely and well, we all know I like that. She calls me babe all the time, and while I don't mind, I have to wonder if the bossman whose office is adjacent has any objection. And she is is also very gracious with the help when I have no idea what thew fuck I am doing. But when she explains it slow enough for me to write a few things down, I get it quick enough to recover, or so it seems. I think by the time the August issues are put to bed, I might be on my way. By the way, if you haven't followed, my new boss is eb.

So as my new schedule settles around me, there is still plenty of knitting to be done. And surprise contemplation. I am at the point where I need to commit and I went back to the planning site to see if there was more info. It seems that the particulars have changed a bit, just enough that I might have to give it up and consult with eb before committing. Drat. I think I will go knit and meditate on it until she wakes up this morning.

Recap

So we did not jet to the island yesterday. As has been the norm lately, we had some wicked thunderstorms in the area. I drove through them on the way home from the yarn store and bagel shop. I think traffic on the freeway was slowed to about 30 mph.

Just before my exit it had let up a little and I was not sure which way it was going. I got home to a dry driveway and figured it was headed our way. I hurriedly shuttled the dogs out the door to pee and the thunder made all three of them come sit at my feet on the patio. I got up and went and stood in the middle of the yard and all three followed and peed. I saw that Sawyer has a wicked rash in the crease of one of his hind legs. Attractive. I think he will have to go to the vet. Yippee.

So we did not go to Galveston. Also, Lilli Munster did not get transformed from a dustmop Chewbacca looking doll to a snauser. Her grandmama, Angela, had her brother and parents donme recently in a snauser cut and they were all so cute, I think I might give it a go. I will drop her this morning.

Not much else going on here today. Some laundry and some cleaning. Woohoo.

Non-agreement survived

Don't you just hate it when you have a few days off?

I mean when you have a few days off and you eat something that doesn't agree with you. I worked Thursday til about 7. I was supposed to work til 9 but as I was told by the store asst mgr, they understand it if I have to leave early until my schedule change can go into effect. Since I was to be off jcp til next Wednesday(when my new schedule begins), I had to leave early. They understand. Although my boss asked me how I was feeling when I was there yesterday getting my nails done.
Me:Fine, why?
Boss: Well Esme told me you left early and you weren't feeling well.
Me: No, I was just tired.
Boss: (the exasperated look)
Me: Debbie said you (the store) would deal with it if I had to leave early...

A little fire flashed in her eyes as she realized I was being spiteful, but frankly, I no longer give a damn.

So yesterday, I went in the morning to see my client Angela and did her hair. Then I called Paulie expecting he was still in the hospital. He was home and I went by to visit. I picked up an Antone's po' boy on the way. Tuna. Now if it was the tuna that did not agree with me, I think I would have known right away. Remember what a delicate flower I am. After a nice visit with Paulie, I went to get my nails done. That took about two houes, about 4 hours since I had eaten. No tummy trouble.

On the way home I got some fried rice from our favorite local place. I eat this all the time. All. The. Time. About an hour after I ate I was feeling a little indigestion. When it is bad food, I usually know in minutes. Now that I consider that, I feel it is possible that the tuna and the fried rice did not agree with each other.

Anyway, This morning, after a restless nice sans EB, as well as restless up on the pot all night, I think it has passed.

Paulie's nurse usually comes by around 11 and he wants to jet to Galveston. I am glad he feels well enough to get out and I am happy to oblige. To maximize my morning, I am going to take Lilli Munster for a haircut and then go to the bagel shop on the way to the yarn store. Well maybe the haircut will wait til tomorrow because who knows when we will get back from the island.

The yarn store trip is necessitasted, mostly because I have a beautiful skein of Helen's Lace that I want to play with. It is very fine and thin, and I am not about to wind 1250 or so yards of it by hand. Just. Not. Happening. I also want to pick up two skeins of Cascade 220, one in orange and one in blue, to make a skull hat for Thomas in his Syracuse colors.

Maybe I will even wear the Syracuse crocs today.

Go...Now...

Take the poll...

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/leisure/your.picks/index.html

Yawn...streeeetch...

My new boss is such a babe. I like her so well, I will be dropping another day at JCP at the end of July to give my new boss 3 days and JCP only 2. Poor ole JCP. What will they do without me? My goal there this next month is to get the other receptionists a little more paperwork proficient so I will not be doing it all on one of my 2 days there. We have been open more than a year, and there should be a foolproof system in place by now. But there isn't. And I am not quite sure I will be able to remedy this. I say it is my goal for the next month, but if I do not pull it off, have no fear. I will stop giving two shits about it. I promise. I just feel like I need to ease everyone into the idea that JCP is no longer a priority for me. At all.

I have already set it up to where the evening receptionist does the confirmation calls because of all the things the desk is responsible, that is the one thing I absolutely hate doing. It isn't terribly difficult. It takes all of about 10-15 minutes. I just don't like doing it. On Thursday, I will have done it for the last time. Unless I forget. I might.

So now, I leave you with another question. I have alread decided, but I am still interrested in a vote. South in February? Or north in May? Vote in comments.

questions

Can a surprise be too big and should not be a surprise?

How big is too big?

Discuss.

Hear Darth Vader's March playing softly in your ears...

Evil has been unleashed in my house via USPS and KTS3. My package arrived this afternoon and I opened it when I was home from work for lunch. I didn't want to go back. I wanted to plunge into my new adventure to the Dark Side right away. (Of course, it should be said that I never really want to go back.)

Take a moment to hear the Emporer as he commands Darth Vader to lure poor young Luke over to the Dark Side. Shwhooooo...shwooooo...shwoooo...(that's Darth Vader breathing for those not in the know).

Laura of The Painted Sheep sent me a lovely letter detailing my goodies. The yarn is a skein of Mango Moon Recycled Silk. Laura says, "I am not sure if you know about this company, but I thought that a recycled sari silk yarn benefitting Nepali women would go with your zen approach to life."

There is no way Laura could have known this, but one of my LYSs carries this yarn and I buy a skein every time I go. My plan is to collect it and eventually knit a patchwork bedspread from it. Just plain garter squares to make a nice and substantial weight quilt. I have 2 skeins in my stash, now 3. Awesome. Darth Vader is still lurking waiting to make his move...

Laura also sent a skein of The Painted Sheep's "Foot Prints" which is superwash merino sock yarn. If that isn't enough yarn, there is a skein of The Painted Sheep's "House Blend" which is a blend of merino, silk and alpaca.

"Luuuke...shwooooo....shwoooo...I am your faaather...shwoooo...shwoooo..."

Darth Vader jumps out of nowhere...evil is running rampant in my house.

Did lovely Laura send me some of her fabulous handpainted colorways? No. (For the record, I am not complaining here.) She sent me naked yarn. A blank canvas. And pure evil in the form of Cushing's Perfection Dyes. Nile Green. Turquoise. Mint Green. And a book I have been lusting after, The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook. The book will help me on my trek toward the Dark Side.

While communing with Darth Vader, I can enjoy some of Angelina's Orange Spice Black Tea, and Earl Grey Green Tea. Perfect to dunk in my cup-o-tea is something local to Laura, Moravian sugar cookies. I have already snacked on some of those and I hope there is a website they can be ordered from because they are delish.

A very well rounded package and a very satisfying swap. Many thanks to all whose efforts made this possible!!

EB is a babe

Cultivating Grace is up and running (linked right), and though the template is not perfect, until I have time to sit and tweak it(likely never), or until I find another one I like better, it will have to do. My goal is to post there once a week, but we shall see how that pans out.

Not only is EB a babe, she is also a rebel. She is blatantly defying the docs instructions as she just drove herself to work. IMHO, not taking it easy enough, and she was supposed to not drive another day. But I suppose it should be said if she was home another day she would likely be working on the bathroom, so being at work is taking it easy in that respect. Everything is relative to something.

Now I have to see if I can get my ass in ger enough to make the post office on my way to work.

And so it was

I was so stressed out going into work this afternoon. I even thought, for a brief moment, that I should call in sick so as to avoid the confrontation with my boss. I immediately saw the flaw in that plan as it would just have me more stressed out tomorrow.

I saw her as soon as I got to work. She reacted as I knew she would. I said specifically, "I need to drop Tuesday and Thursday altogether as I just cannot handle the evenings." She said, "Well do you want to work til 6 on T and Th and just close 2 registers before you leave ond someone can close the third?" Umm, no, I need to drop T and Th altogether as I just cannot handle the evenings."

She then did a little For Fuck's Sake (tm GFI) in her own full of charm and never uttering the word fuck in her life suthin way and was totally talking out loud to herself. Well, if I am sitting there in the room, and you are talking out loud to yourself, you're sorta talking to me. So I was answering. She said something about compromised coverage and I replied that it could no longer be my concern. "Well of course not, Max, I was talking to myself. I'm just trying to figure out what we can do..."

I stressed to her that this was about my illness. I was telling her at one point how I appreciated that her concerns were company related and not personal toward me. I then told her my concerns were company related, too. In particular, I told her that I felt that if my Crohn's was a visible disibility, I would have been given the modified schedule I requested a few weeks ago. That put her radar up and she got up from her desk and went down to the main office to call the Assistant Manager out of a meeting in another store to ask what to do. Amazing how the word disibility being thrown in made the sparks fly.

She came back explaining that with our new system (new next week) schedules were locked in three weeks out and my new schedule can't go into effect until 7\1. funny that not 30 minutes prior, she had been asking me if I needed any edits for the week before that. She could edit that week to drop me out T and Th, yes? I did not push it because my new boss is a pushover...umm...flexible.

JCP is just less and less a company I want to work for. Maybe that is taking care of itself.

So the new job... I will be the assistant to not one, but two! Two hotshot art directors. Both who like me well enough. One even loves me dearly. They can totally have their way with me.....

Ask, and it shall be given...

Everyone needs to hold a good thought for me today. I have accepted a new position part time and in lieu of that will let my boss know I am dropping two of my days and will no longer be available evenings. it will be a challenging conversation because it compromises desk coverage, but I can no longer let that be my concern.

A few months back I asked to be taken off nights as soon as possible because it was a challenge for me in that I felt more tired on Tues and Thursday, the nights I work, and then I felt worse at work the next day as well. I told my boss I really felt I needed to not work past six. Nothing really came of that that has helped me. I was clear in saying I needed to not work past six, but my boss took it to mean I was working too long a shift and cut me back on the early end changing my 12-9 shift to 2-9. Not so helpful really.

Recently, I asked to change my work week to a 4 day week. This would be the best of both worlds solution. It would get me down to one night, and it would still offer good desk coverage. I got an uncompromising no. Crohn's is a protected disability. Basically this just means they cannot fire me for being sick, I think. However if it was not an invisible disability, I think my scheduling request would have been taken more seriously and likely would have been granted.

I see no choice but to go in today and limit my availability. The down side might be that they really fuck with that and schedule me minimal hours within that. But that will be okay. Within my availablility, I will work whatever I am scheduled.

So here's my shout out thanks to The Universe for answering!

Did you hear that loud bang?

It was the sound of one door closing. I need everyone to be clear on this just in case The Universe isn't paying attention. I can't give notice at my current job until I have another offer on the table. I was going to say I officially hate my job, but that isn't accurate. I actually like my job and I am rather good at it. it is my employer I am less than fond of. Toxicity has reached a new level and it is soon time to go, if The Universe will cooperate. MAW, get to work. xo.

Buttons

I need buttons. You all know you have a small stash of buttons which you will likely never use. You have saved them for me. When you see a jar of buttons at the thrift store, garage sale, your sister's house, those are mine too, so facilitate their safe travel queenward. Buttons...BUTTONS...lovely round or otherwise shaped buttons...You are getting sleepy...when I snap my fingers, you will be ready to send me buttons...

*SNAP*

Please let me know if you need the address.

Commit to Sit

Yesterday, eb and I began our Commit to Sit efforts. Our friend Irene is on board with this as well, and we are looking forward mostly to an improved sense of well being.

Sawyer is also taking the challenge rather seriously. While I was sitting this morning, he stood guard at the entrance of the meditation room and was very growly toward both Nola and Lilli when they attempted entry. Whe my timer went off at the end of my twenty minute sit, Sawyer was positioned across the threshold in a way that prevented either of the grrls entry, and they were both laying perpendicular to hime waiting for me to emerge. I think they like the energy shift.

I am also incorporating a few yoga poses with my sit time in a n effort to bring yoga back to my daily schedule. It will work, or it won't, and only time will tell.

feliz dia de los mamacitas

dancing grrls 5
Originally uploaded by queenmaxine.

Some day my Spanish will not be so bastardized, but it is the best I can do today. I made a scrumptious breakfast of potatoes and eggs for eb and myself, and now, I must phone my mamacita lest I be deemed dog meat.

ps...my laptop shifted to a large print setting all on its own...how does that happen...last night I was checking email and all was normal and this morning I opened it up to large print...maybe the universe thinks I am squinting too much? Maybe it was a visit from Gnomo the homo?

pps...the dancing grrls bag is donerooni and there are more pics on flickr.

We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog for a special report................................

gnomo
Originally uploaded by queenmaxine.

Meet gnomo the homo. Gnomo is of the miniature branch of the gnome family, and as her name suggests, is a homo. Yes, I said she.
No teasing as she is sometimes quite sensitive about being a bearded lady. There is a fine line between her sensitivity and her fine beard being a point of pride.

Gnomo is reposed in the latest in Gnome's of the homo type cozy fashion. She is decked out in a custom residence, a bowl of her own. Very Virginia Woolf.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled blog.............................