Auld Lang Syne

New Year's Eve--I have only met one person who could sing all the verses to Auld_Lang_Syne. Chris is British no less and was my next-door neighbor when I was in undergrad. I am still impressed and that New Year's was probably the best I've had. I still remember the great friends, good food, a fine bottle of scotch, and Chris singing. I always think about Chris on New Year's but I digress... All and all New Year's Eve is highly overrated. I mean really--how many people actually dress up in swanky clothes, go to fabulous parties, and have some monumentally wonderful romantic evening????? (Maybe I just hang out with the wrong people.) I think the New Year's party scene in When Harry Met Sally completely spoiled New Year's Eve for me. So I am happy to be in my own house having a normal, low-key evening.

Am working tonight at Sbux (surprise, surprise), but we close early so then it is h0me and dinner and a bottle of champagne chillin in the fridge.

Morticia update: inconclusive. She is on antibiotics again and has to go back to the vet in 2 weeks.

Reflections on 2007: Well it wasn't a great year and it wasn't a bad year--it was just a year. Cynical I am but there is always a little bit of optimism in me that hopes the new year will be better than the last. So here is to 2008, may it be a better year for everyone in my life (and for me too.)

PS: we have had rain in Atlanta for 10 out of the past 12 days so yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus and I should have asked him for a winning lottery ticket!!!!!!

Mandatory New Year's Resolutions

Is it mandatory for everyone to make New Year's resolutions? I think it is written somewhere that you must make at least one. I'll just discount the usual resolutions I make every year, they mostly just rollover year to year like cell phone minutes anyway--all those obnoxious no-fun resolutions like exercise more, eat better, lose weight, declutter the house, clean out closets, yada yada yada.



Then there is always the "big picture" kind of resolutions--ya know life changing kind of stuff. Well those don't have to be written down either because they just rattle around in my head all the time anyway. Usually at 2 in the morning (also called Insomnia Inducing Thoughts).

So maybe I'll stick to something easy like quilt resolutions:

1. the always fashionable--finish UFOs. I do know how many actual planned quilts that I have or have some fabric for. I blame it on my friend Debbie who came up with the idea of index cards for UFOs. I thought "hey that's a great way to stay organized". So I have all my UFOs on purple index cards with name, pattern, date started, whether I need backing or not, etc. But it is a scary thing to see and realize that I need to live to be 278 years old to finish everything I want to do. I am going to try really hard to get some projects done and not start new ones, except for....
2. ...make a Storm at Sea quilt. I love, love, love this pattern and want to make one in "stormy" colors--icy whites, blue grays, and bruised purply blues. I think in batiks which will be a step out of the box for me (I'm more of a Moda girl). I think I will try to cajole my friend Pat to design a pattern for me. I should do it myself in EQ since I have EQ6 and have yet to learn to use it (another roll-over resolution....). Also, this will require some color theory to get the right look--more stretching of the creative mind.
3. work on the Dot Quilt that Becky and I did a trade for. 148 or whatever different dot fabrics and I have yet to make one block. Becky, we need to schedule some sewing days (or cutting days.)

Today was another day off spent being unproductive. I did get a memory card for the digital camera I received for Xmas so I will be a photo-taking fool soon and maybe this blog will be a bit more exciting. Coming soon...lots of photos. Stay tuned.

On the sixth day of retail holiday...

After 6 nights in a row, I'm starting to feel like Bill Murray in the movie "Groundhog Day"--doing the same thing night after night.

Anyway, I am dealing with a sick kitty on top of everything else. Morticia is not doing well. She was at the vet earlier this month because she was sneezing blood (Yuck! can you say CSI crime scene???). The vet gave her antibiotics and some other medicine thinking maybe it was a respiratory infection. Well either it hasn't cleared up or it's something else so she is back to the vet on Monday. She has also lost a lot of weight lately. Not a good sign. She is nine years old and was adopted from Petsmart when she was 6 months.

Here she is on a better day.

It's the little things....

....like no more Christmas music. I didn't want to jingle all the way the first time I heard it and I definitely don't want to jingle anywhere the 2 millionth time I hear it. It's back to proper coffeehouse music at SBux (jazz, blues, Radiohead).

Another gratitude, rain. My Christmas wish for rain has come true (note to self: next time wish for winning lottery ticket doh!). It has been rainy and cloudy and gray, all of which is much needed here in GA.

Also, a big tin of mom's chex mix (the best on the planet and not your usual chex mix but the special secret recipe), which makes a wonderful dinner at midnight when I get home from work. Cereal, pretzels, and nuts all count as a meal right?

Also, my iPod. I love my iPod, especially at the Day Job when everyone else is on vacation and the phones don't ring and I can listen to podcasts and music all day. Hope I am not singing out loud.

Only 2 more days and I get a day off from both jobs. I am going through quilting withdrawals. I need to sew! However, my sewing table is a jumble of patterns, books, thread, rulers, fabric, jelly rolls, magazines, and who knows what else--I think my sewing machine is in there somewhere--so before I can sew, I have to excavate.

Maybe I'll be lucky and the cats will do something useful while I am gone and my sewing space will look like it usually does

This is highly unlikely though....

The Day After

Did everyone survive Christmas? I am barely moving today. We were crazy insane busy again at Starbucks. Doesn't anyone make coffee at home anymore????? I must say that I like working at SBux at Christmas because all the customers are in a good mood and they are so happy that we are open so they can get their caffeine fix but really we didn't have to be THAT busy...

I stayed home from the Day Job today and slept until 2:00 pm...yes that's 2:00 pm and I think I could still sleep for a week.

A very low key evening when I finally got home after 8:00 pm. Finally got something to eat and called the family. Everyone is doing well in Michigan and had a good day. That's about it for the fun and excitement.

Now I am drinking coffee and eating a peach fried pie sent by my grandma. Grandma's fried pies are in the pantheon of the best food on earth in my dad's side of the family along with chocolate pie. Seriously, the fried pies are parceled out, carefully hoarded, and newcomers are not encouraged to like them. The recipe is from my great-grandma and may be older than that. They are not easy to make which is probably part of thier appeal since they are only made a few times a year. But I got 2 precious pies sent to me along with some cookies and candy and I'm not sharing hehe!

Happy Holidays

Sorry for the couple days without a post. WOW have I been busy busy busy. Here's what's been going on:

Saturday--a day off so hung out at home and watched the movie "Stardust" with S and E. Great movie. See it when you need a little mood lift. Sweet and funny and a great story similar to
"The Princess Bride." Based on the book by my favorite author Neil Gaiman.

Later on Saturday, I went with the SBux gang to see "Sweeney Todd." I don't even like musicals and I loved this movie. It's very grim and dark. It was fabulous. Can't wait to get the DVD and see it again.

Sunday--went by in a blur. Worked at SBux all day and we were busy. One of our regular customers gave us a $100 tip. Wow! Some people are so very nice and generous and probably will never know how much that extra money will help all the baristas. Came home exhausted and slept most of the rest of the day and went to bed early. I think I could sleep for a week straight....

Monday, Christmas Eve--Worked a very loooooong shift at SBux. We were crazy busy--seriously crazy busy. No breaks, nothing to eat, crazy crazy day.

Number of quad venti organic carmel macchiatos = THREE! (that's 12 shots of espresso and a fair amount of sugar--gotta keep going somehow)

Glad we closed early but still took forever to get the store cleaned up and closed. Got home late. Ate some soup at 9:30, watched part of "A Christmas Story" (I don't know if I've ever seen the whole movie even though it's on a zillion times each year....) So tired but couldn't sleep (imagine that!)

And here we are at Tuesday, Christmas-- drinking coffee, the cats have opened and played with their presents and are now asleep. I have a little while before I go to SBux for another loooooong shift. I hope things aren't quite as busy today and am soooooo glad we are closing at 6:00 pm. I'll call the family when I get home. Merry Christmas everyone!

Holiday Essentials

In better spirits tonight (although maybe it's the wine haha). The Day Job at the state let us leave early so I had time to run a few errands before Sbux. So I picked up some holiday essentials for the weekend at Whole Foods:

1. cat food

2. wine

3. cheese & crackers

4. chocolate truffles (thanks to Crazy Aunt Purl for the idea!)

5. really great bread to go with the ham I already have--hooray no cooking for me this weekend

Also went to Borders and picked up a treat for myself:

Pirates of the Caribbean 3

Last but not least, I picked up some presents for the cats. More toys to scatter around the house and get batted under the stove and lost in my sewing room.

Looking forward to a day off tomorrow. Maybe do some sewing or maybe just sleep.

A Non-Christmas Kind of Year

It's just that kind of year. I am doing the least possible for Christmas this year. No tree, no decorations, no parties, no baking, no cards sent, minimal gifts ordered and send via Internet so I don't have to deal with wrapping and UPS. Don't get me wrong--I can do the whole "Martha" Christmas--bake the 20 different kinds of gourmet cookies that are packaged and delivered to friends and family, the artfully decorated tree, the beautifully wrapped gifts with handmade bows, dinner parties, the whole shebang. I just don't have it in me this year.

I am among the Holiday Orphans this year. No family in town, not going anywhere, most friends are all busy with their families, and I'll be with the other Holiday Orphans at SBux working Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It's always fun working on Christmas so I don't mind it (this will be my 6th Xmas at SBux). Everyone is in a good mood and the customers are fun and happy that we are open. My friend Sam's mom used to have us Orphans all over for dinner each year but they have moved out of state. Last year I went out for Chinese. This year I'm not taking any time off from the Day Job so I will come home do the usual --grab dinner, do some laundry, call the family, and watch some TV.

It just seems like that kind of year. A lot of people I've talked to are in the same blah kind of mood. Maybe it's because the world seems too messed up right now to be festive. The drought here in GA, troops still in Iraq, economy going south, global warming, etc. etc.

The things that I wish for this year are all big and global:

peace

our troops home

New Orleans to be fixed and healed and alive again

ice for the polar bears

clean air for our planet

a government with some sense and who really, truly cares about our country and the world and everyone in it

rain for the south

It's all to unlikely and too big to fit under a tree and maybe that's why I don't have one this year.

2008 challenge and meet the cats part one

Well I'm getting a head start on 2008 by starting this blog. My sewing group buddy Becky challenged us to start a blog for the new year. So here is mine (better get busy Becky!) I am enjoying my one evening off until after the new year (ah the life of a part-time retail worker during the holidays...)

Here's one is a series of introducing the cats. I am well on my way to becoming a crazy cat lady. I have five cats who have adopted me. Here are siblings Edgar Poe (left) and Stella (or Stella Bella), who were found roaming the streets a year and a half ago. I was going for a walk and they followed me. They were skinny and very small and were in the middle of the road. What was I supposed to do? I scooped them up, took them home, and now I can't imagine the house without them.

Here they are in May 2006. Awwww.










OK off to work on some hand applique while I have some free time. I am working on a wool BOM from Primitive Gatherings. Will post photos later.