Thursday, December 29, 2005

insomnia

Example

I lay in bed listening to:
  • Andrew breathe
  • Kula shifting on the bed in the guest room
  • the furnace kicking on... and shutting off
  • the ice maker kicking out ice in the refrigerator
  • the sound of a dying battery in one of the smoke alarms downstairs

I lay in bed looking at:
  • the clock
  • Della curled up between me and Andrew
  • the way the street lights illuminate the curtains
  • the enormous hole in the ceiling directly above where I sleep (more on this later)

I lay in bed thinking about:
  • the enormous hole in the ceiling directly above me is creating bad feng shui
  • if only I hadn't been depressed all day and sat on the couch for most of it I would be sleeping right now
  • how I really hate being depressed
  • what to write on my blog

If there is one thing I have noticed about getting older, it's insomnia. It seems to have become a regular condition rather than an occassional annoyance. However, for this particular bout I have several theories:

Theory #1: The enormous hole in the ceiling above where I sleep.
It's not really a hole... it's actually a spot where the drywall tape was coming off the ceiling and causing the paint to crack. I've been thinking about painting the bedroom because: #1, it's still pink from when we moved in and #2, my dad is coming to visit in a week. (whenever someone comes to visit I go crazy trying to finish projects.) Anyway...if I'm going to paint the walls I need to paint the ceiling and I can't paint a ceiling with a bunch of sagging drywall tape. So, Tuesday I decided to tear off the loose pieces which left a large area of exposed drywall...directly over where I sleep. I truly believe this has created a source of bad chi in the room that is keeping me awake...or please see theory #2.

Theory #2: Being slowly elimnated from my job.
When I returned from my Holiday vacation I was greeted with the news that my employer had essentially layed me off for the month of January. Apparently business is so slow in January (and February) that there is not enough work for part-time employees. It would have been nice of them to mention this when I was hired for the job back in September.... But instead I'm on winter break from school...a time when I should be raking in the money (to pay for school), but instead I have absolutely no income at all. The real kicker is that I got a phone call yesterday morning to tell me not to come in...and not to come in today...and that Friday and Saturday were up in the air... My last week of work, that I was TRULY counting on to help pay my bills...is essentially gone. If this isn't enough to keep a person up at night...please see theory #3.

Theory #3: You never really want your X's to be happy.
This one isn't even worth getting in to.

I was already a mess yesterday morning from theory #2...I was deep in pity party mode when theory #3 happened. Not a good combo. Hence, entire day on the couch and a night of tossing and turning.

But I want to end this on a good note...(because really...where else is there to go? It's 4:30 in the morning and I'm pouring my heart out to a computer...something I'm probably going to regret by 5:32 am. )

I really have to thank Andrew. He was a trooper yesterday....for putting up with my pity party...for making me laugh, for taking care of me, for being my eternal optimist.... I could not make it through this life without him....

Here's to hoping that 2006 is filled with baby-smooth ceilings (and other smooth home renovations; part time jobs that give you hours; straight A's in school; lots of home-brew; a garden; "sparkle"; a trip to the beach; long walks with Kula; friends with new babies; lots of knitting and quilting; lots of love, happiness and good health.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

every morning

"Every morning I awaken torn between the desire to save the world
and the inclination to savor it."

~ E.B. White

[via superhero]

Monday, December 26, 2005

Merry Christmas

Example

Here is a peek at our Christmas space... and here's what I've been doing with my Christmas weekend....

I made some pillows....
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I finally hung my Great Aunt Rita's mirror in our foyer (after it's been sitting in the hall since May). And I painted a blue border around it to give it some more weight and to tie it in with the blue dining/living room. Now I need to paint that table underneath the mirror black.
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I made some cookies.... here is Andrew doing the happy cookie dance. =)
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I did some reading....with Della on my lap - constantly. I got a lot of crafty books this Christmas which is awesome. I hope I find the time to do lots of quilting and knitting in 2006.
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Thanks to everyone for your cards, gifts and good wishes. We hope you all had a very merry christmas.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

31, day one

Thank you to all of my birthday well-wishers! I received many emails and phone calls yesterday wishing me a happy day.

I spent the day cleaning/rearranging my office and then I was off to work. When I got home Andrew surprised me with this cake....
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and with this little gift!!
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I have been wanting one of these Small Things necklaces for so long!! I also got this awesome Loop-d-Loop knitting book and this awesome Amy Butler fabric from my favorite peeps.

31 isn't so bad afterall.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Birthday

Happy birthday to me...la, la, la....blah..... I think that's about all the celebrating I need this year. I mean really....who can get excited about 31? Well I mean one exciting part is that my mom got me a parallel rule so I can draft at home!! WOO HOO!

Example
[Me, Maggie and Mikaela; The December Birthday Girls....Dec. 20, Dec. 31 and Dec. 13]

We just got back last night from NY and celebrating Christmas with my family. The trip there was not so smooth. We flew to Chicago just fine....but the plane from Chicago to Buffalo got cancelled. Thanks to Andrew's connections with several rental car companies we were able to get a car that we could drive one way to Buffalo. It took 2 hours just to get out of Chicago during rush hour and then another five hours to Cleveland. We stopped to sleep a bit at a hotel and finished the 3 hours to Buffalo in the morning. After a quick stop to see my mom's new cat it was back in the car for another 2 hours to Syracuse. Whew!

It was all worth it though. My nieces are cute and hilarious with a bit of exhaustion mixed in. My mom and I laughed so hard we cried...twice. The trip was great! Just nice being with my family. Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law for taking such good care of us while we were there. Thanks to my mom for driving us around and taking us to Charlie the Butcher on our way home.

Example
[The girls love their "I-spy" quilt]

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[Me and Mikaela sledding in the backyard. They got 8 inches of snow the night before we got there...]

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[The girls getting ready for the Christmas paegant at church. SO CUTE!!!]

The trip home was uneventful (thank goodness). A special HUGE thank YOU!!! to Bob and Steph for watching Kula and Della while we were gone. I've never seen Kula so happy when we've come back from being away. =) It was such a relief to know she was being taken care of by good friends.

Well...I suppose since this is my first big day off since school ended I should do something productive. I'm off to clean the house....and maybe sew some stockings.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

watering the thorns

"Those of you who are scattered,
simplify your worrying lives.
There is one righteousness: Water the fruit trees,
and don't water the thorns."
~ Rumi

[via Superhero Journal, go visit to read Andrea's eloquent words.]

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Tis the season

Example
[first snow, december 6, 2005]

Crazy, crazy busy. It's my last week of school, finishing Christmas shopping, working with crazy Christmas shoppers, studying, studying, studying. Here's some peeks of what I've been working on.

This is my last Interior Design project for the semester. It was a Kitchen design.....as you can see from my boards. Maybe Andrew's Dad (who is an engineer/builder/contractor in N. Carolina) will take a look and think that I'm good enough to help him in the future..... =)

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And here is what has really been taking up a lot of my time! and if I don't finish it soon it won't make it to NY before I do!! It's the "I Spy" quilt that I mentioned earlier in the year. My sister-in-law had asked me to make it for my nieces but I just never got around to it. Well....I was feeling super guilty that Christmas was here and it wasn't done. So about 3-4 weeks ago I started it. It's actually come together pretty fast and easy. I have just a couple more stitches to go.

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I have my last Graphic Design project to hand in today; still finishing my last drafting project and then I have two tests to study for next Tuesday. Vacation here I come!!