Archive of Marcia's Musings April 14-20, 2003Sunday, April 20, 2003
No Gardener?
I thought we had a gardener!! Who is that tall, attractively bearded man in our garden and on our lawn all the time???? Oooh, that's my husband!! I couldah swore that was our gardener!! Oh, well, because we don't have a gardener, I ended up turning the . . . mulch . . . there wasn't much soil . . . in the second raised bed. I cleared out the cactus that, of course, didn't survive the winter and dumped their calcium rich soil into the bed, mixing it through as best I could. In the pots that the cactus were in, I planted seeds of spices (oregano, parsley, "basil trio", and Italian arugula) and four pots of sage, cilantro, rosemary and thyme. If the seeds don't come up, we'll buy plants-- we will have basil and oregano as they are the most important!!
The Obvious
Of course, the gardening was followed by lunch (popcorn at 3:00) and a nap. Since Brian had his lunch at 2:30, our schedules were completely off so it turned out to be a snack night for "dinner" tonight.
Working On It
To help my sewing system pay for itself, in addition to sewing clothes, etc., there's the embroidery that it is capable of doing. This weekend, Brian and I worked on his company's logo-- they're interested in getting it stitched onto shirts, etc. The digitizing software, customizing software and reader/writer software is not exactly "User Friendly" so I'm having some trouble with it. It wants to do something that I don't want it to do-- not always a good combination.
Oh, well . . . we'll get it eventually!!
I'm working on little Katy's dress so, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get back to that-- have a great evening and a Happy Easter!!
Saturday, April 19, 2003Easter Eve
Happy Easter Eve!! I know there isn't such a celebration but I've always said that I'm unique. Yes, I am indeedy!!
Today started off slow and late for us. I got up about 7:30 with Sally and had some toast and coffee and then, a couple of hours later, went back to bed (Once again, why do I drink coffee? It obviously doesn't wake me up or keep me awake . . . why???). Some very bad dialer called about an hour later so we were up!
I started sewing and am still going now, as I write this post (7:49pm). Of course, there was the occasional break for lunch, dinner and a nap but none of them have taken very long and the day seems to have flown past.
I'm having fun working with the quilting patterns that I'm embroidering onto Pat's quilt-- really is cool!! I took some pictures but, of course, I can't post them just yet. Maybe in a bit less than a week you'll finally get to see it (and so will Pat!!).
Anyway, I'm back to work-- if you can call having this much fun "work"!!
Have a good evening and night!!
Friday, April 18, 2003Half Friday
This morning, I picked up my voicemail and found that Judy, my manager, called last night to tell me that she was working from home today and I should leave by 12 noon because of Good Friday. We had never discussed whether or not we'd take time off from noon on or not so I was a little surprised. Surprised but not stupid-- I headed out the door at noon, on the dot.
It was cold and rainy so I got home and had some soup and went upstairs to work on my sewing organization, etc. A couple of hours later, I ended up downstairs on the sofa for a much-needed, never-long-enough nap. Sally was busily snoring away in her bed so I left her there rather than disturbing her sleep. A couple of hours later I awakened and went back upstairs to get some sewing stuff set up.
Brian came home "early" (translated means "On Time") because traffic was light so he went and got Chinese food for us followed by another couple of hours upstairs sewing.
Polyester is quite warm-- Pat, you won't be cold, okay? Yes, I've finally begun the long-awaited process of quilting. I'm using a swirly stitch on my sewing machine along with some of the designs for my embroidery unit. I think its going to be nice but I think that way.
Not My Fault!
I found out today that there's a regional (East Coast) sales meeting next week in New York. I knew that there was a meeting in New York but I was told it was for the Northeast Region, not the Southeast and Northeast Regions. Whoops!! Upon finding out today, I tried to call Judy but was unable to reach her-- Oh, no! I guess I won't be able to go!! That's okay: Lee is going so she can fill me (Judy, too, I'm sure) in on what was discussed. Rats!
Guess that's all for tonight-- its kinda nice knowing that I don't have to go to work this weekend-- I've still got TWO DAYS to sew!!
Have a great evening!
Thursday, April 17, 2003Very Interesting
Well, it turns out that everyone at the store has decided that my side of the events makes sense and they can see where I was right. No one is "picking sides" and I don't want them to do that because it isn't a matter of "sides" but of principles. The manager, one of the co-workers that was working tonight and one of the co-workers who weren't have all said that they prefer working with me to working with the other person because she is the way that she is-- commission-greedy. They can see her doing what she did and think I should've gotten the full commission-- I was being very generous by splitting it with her to begin with since she had never actually did a demonstration. Should be very interesting to see how this shakes out over the next few days . . .
Steroid Use?
My knee, surprisingly, feels better. Brian says its probably the steroids but all I know is that it doesn't hurt badly anymore. It still hurts but certainly doesn't have the pain that it did have earlier this week. I don't have any concept of whether this condition should require another shot-- if it still hurts as much as it does now in a couple of weeks, I'll give the doctor a call. In the meantime, I'm just grateful it hurts less.
I know its a short post but, I don't have anything else to report simply because I'm too tired. I'm going to go to bed and get some sleep.
Have a nice evening!
Wednesday, April 16, 2003Good "Interview"
I had an "interview" with a prospective client. She is a bride who wants a wedding dress made for her. It is very much less expensive than buying off the rack to have a dress made. The problem is that she wants this neckline, that backline and this strap here and that strap there. Oh, yes, she definitely needs a seamstress!! She seemed like a nice girl and I offered to meet her in Laurel next weekend to choose a pattern and fabric. I will find out in the next day or two if I get the job-- it could be good and it could be bad but, either way, there's six months to work on the dress which is a good thing.
R&R Again
Other than that, I've been doing some resting and relaxing tonight. I've iced my knee a couple of times along with doing the exercises that Amy gave me to do while she was on vacation. In certain positions, my knee (actually, below the knee) doesn't hurt at all-- in other positions, it hurts worse than before surgery or during recuperation. I'm just hopeful that this goes away SOOOOOOON!!!!
Thinking of going to bed early-- need the rest from that, too. Hmm, sounding better and better! Maybe I'll work on the software a bit more before I try to go to sleep.
Yep, sounds like a plan-- have a GREAT evening!
Tuesday, April 15, 2003Reality Check
So I've been "In Retail" for six weeks now. I've been able to get a commission for the last two weeks and, frankly, I'm quite good at sales. What I'm not good at, however, is tolerating much of lying and cheating. I believe I've mentioned that here before many times. I've been lied to and cheated by a co-worker at this job over a $20 commission so, how do I handle it? The manager is aware but so far as I know, is only going to "talk" to the offender. I find that offensive since this person is known for stealing commissions, having done it many times in the past.
On the other hand, I'm tired. I'm still not used to working a 60-hour work week. I don't get to sew because I'm recuperating from working the 60-hour work week. I miss spending time with Brian even if we're both in our separate offices at the time. There's something reassuring about knowing my life partner is that close by me.
In other words, they've picked a bad time to mess with me: the manager by not firing the co-worker and the co-worker for pulling the theft of a commission on me. No, she won't be fired even though she's done this a number of times-- she's the only person who is full-time at the store beside the manager. Thus, the manager "needs" her and, after all, I'm just a part-time worker bee.
As a result, I'll be giving my two-weeks' notice. (I don't ever just quit anything unless I have no options.) I will not work or talk with the person who has cheated me out of my commission for that time. [Update: After giving my two-weeks' notice, the manager and I talked and decided it would be best if I finished my shifts for this week and that's fine with me-- it means I don't have to work with her again.]
If at some point in the future, I would like to change careers and go back to selling sewing machines, I'll contact the manager again and, so long as this person is not working there, I will apply for a job there. (That's why its good to not burn bridges.)
I haven't done any "advertising" per se for my business. I could easily take out an ad in the local papers and have more than enough business for the time being without ever leaving my home.
Sew'kay
I just checked with our insurance company and, so long as it is part-time, I can have people over to the house and have no problem with liability coverages. If it gets to be more than that, i.e., full-time sewing, then I need to let them know. Cool!! Now we don't have to worry about that anymore!
Knee Update
I went to the doctor today for my knee. It turns out that the pain that I have in my knee is not my knee but the bursa sac between the ham string and fibula and, with a cortizone shot and ice pack, I'll be fine. Cool! I should continue to do the exercises, particularly the stationary bike and other ham string strengthening exercises. Way cool!!
Now, if I could just hear from the other doctor!
Okay so I did: its negative but, there's still a "time bomb" there that I'm not pleased about. He's going to check things out with my insurance company and see what we need to do next. I'll keep you posted.
Much more to come . . . as always. At least I'll be able to start posting decent updates again!! Have a great evening!
Monday, April 14, 2003What The Rest of The World Does
Oh, so this is it, huh? This is what the rest of the world does on a Monday night? It doesn't feel tired? I didn't feel really good when I got home from work tonight so I took a nap but I feel a bit better now.
I never did get around to working on my office and, since I have a bride-to-be coming over on Wednesday night, I really need to do that tonight.
Earlier tonight I updated some of the pictures on the other Site to include the alterations that I've done in the past along with some sewing projects over the years. I'm going to look into doing some advertising for work on that, too, once I know (or guess) what the future holds for me.
I've had an early conversation with my sister and so, it is on to The Project for the evening. Hopefully, I can get that finished tonight.
Thanks for stopping by-- sorry so short. I'll have a whole lot more to post on Tuesday night or Wednesday. Something's in the works but I can't talk about it yet-- as soon as I can, I will let you know.
Take care of yourselves and each other. Have a good evening!
Current Musings
Return to 2003 Archives
Return to 2002 Archives
Return to 2001 Archives
Return to 2000 Archives
Return to 1999 Archives
All Content Copyright © 1999-2003 Marcia L. Dykstra. All Rights Reserved.