79 thoughts on “Working Wednesday, March 23, 2022”

  1. Today my partner’s mother and I are going to buy pansies. If it doesn’t rain too much I will plant them later. I love them for their hardiness and cheerfulness, and especially the watercolor violas.

      1. Thanks for asking. She is doing really well. I cried more at the ceremony than she did, but that is because the casket was pushed out to Danny Boy being sung in Gaelic, which was perfect.

        The pansies are on sale at our local greenhouse. If you sign up for the email list you get secret discounts. And they are her favorite. So we had lunch at a local spot and walked around the greenhouse for fun. She took a couple of four packs home and I got the rest of the flat. Will plant them when it’s a bit warmer.

  2. This past weekend my group held our Quilt Show. It was the culmination of a lot of hard work, and was quite successful. These were my quilts that were in the show. None won any ribbons, but they’re all beautiful in their own ways.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CbSCTmXuQky/

    Since then I’ve been making up for vacation time at work.

    1. One cool thing at the show was the result of the President’s Challenge. Quilters were given a 1/4 yard of blue fabric and a size requirement (18″ x 36″) and told to make the blue be 3″ on both sides. What happened between was up to the quilter. Here’s a video of them all. It’s amazing to see how different they are

      https://www.instagram.com/p/CbSJlgBFDxJ/

      2. OMG, that is amazing! The way they are displayed with the blue material like a river running through the quilts makes them look even better.

    2. Finally, my group of 7 quilters had our own challenge at the beginning of the pandemic. We decided to meet via Zoom and do a quilt block per week. Each of us chose one or two, and we worked from fabric we had on hand (mine was all scraps of other quilts). While the end result is quite different, if you look closely you can see we all have the same basic blocks, just wildly different colors and settings.

      Mine is the blue one – it’s easy to see the individual blocks in it. Meanwhile, the pink one was awarded Best in Show!

      https://www.instagram.com/p/CbSCn9MO8Ve/

      Okay, I’m done talking about the show now. Thanks for listening!

      1. I think those are wonderful, intricate, beautiful, but most of all I love how different they all are even though they’re the same blocks.
        And you can post as much about the quilts as you want. It’s so much fun to see them.

      2. They’re wonderful! Both my mom & my aunt are quilters. My aunt is well-known in the quilting community. I’ve worked in many crafts and can thoroughly appreciate the amount of time and creativity. You have great color choices!

      3. Thanks for sharing, Nancy. I really enjoyed these links. It’s nice to see the thematic links between very different quilts.

      5. Beautiful! If the Smithsonian ever does an exhibit about the pandemic, I hope it includes things like your group’s quilt challenge.

    5. The quilts are lovely; my personal favorite is the one done in blues and purples. ( my favorite colors, can you guess!)

  3. I’ve tried to stop telling myself I’m behind – it doesn’t feel good, and it doesn’t make me get things done any faster. I’m not always successful, but now I at least usually catch myself when I think it.

    On Saturday one of my team members came here to film a video course with me (teaching instructional coaches how to use trauma-informed practices in their work with teachers).

    Sunday I mostly snuggled in bed and napped/read.

    Monday I mostly fiddled around, ostensibly prepping for a conference next month.

    Tuesday/Wed/Thurs this week are virtual training days – so I’m live on Zoom teaching coaches how to facilitate groups (and helping them practice actually doing it!) In between, getting the assets for the video course ready for our editor.

    Friday I’ll meet with my team and wrap up random admin/loose ends.

    Saturday is pottery day (and boy, did I miss it last week!) I have a three mugs I’ve been delaying putting in the bisque kiln. I want to play around with some new surface decorating techniques, but I don’t know exactly what I want to do, so the mugs just sit here getting drier and drier…

    1. Speaking of pottery did anyone see that there is a documentary out about Claricr Clif?
      The Colour Room
      The trailer looks good but there doesn’t appear to be any way to stream it in the USA.

  4. I’ve been working on edits all week. Can’t do much else while this toe heals. The good news is that there’s less pain every day. 🙂

    1. Hooray for recovery and good luck staying off of your foot until you are officially set free.

  5. I think I’m going to have to live vicariously also. I have Client From Hell that I’m meeting with in ten minutes and my only real accomplishment of the month will be surviving her another week – three more to go. #april15orbust

    2. My friend visited her parents and did not kill her sister, she rewarded herself with some gin & tonic. Maybe you need to reward yourself a little to mark the occasion

  6. Most of what I’ve done this week has been going off my diet. My friend Barb and I traditionally celebrate our birthdays together because they are a few weeks apart. Needless to say, we haven’t done that recently so finding out what restaurants are open for lunch has been my project for the week. Our friend Claire is usually still in Florida at this point, but they came back early because of the lack Covid restrictions there and she will be able to join us this year. I fully plan on enjoying my last blast of dietary freedom.
    On the plus side, I did buy a fridge full of fresh vegetables so I am prepared to go back on the straight and narrow.

  7. I am currently in the office of a new private care physician. Major accomplishment.
    We got the new dishwasher installed. We got the house rearranged so I can sleep days. I started my new overnight job hours.
    The new hours gives me writing/reading time. I did some discovery writing and I have a new project that I like a lot.
    New writing project so of course my laptop went belly up.
    What do all the not mac / apple people write on?

    2. An Acer. Huge and heavy, but I needed one pronto at the start of the first lockdown. Dd also got an Acer for xmas, smaller and not so heavy, she adores it. It’s attractively decorated with loads of One Direction stickers while mine is drab and only decorated by the occasional finger print.

    4. HP Chromebook, my last chromebook had an accident with a cup of tea. This was the replacement and I logged into my account and all my documents were available, so lost nothing. Downside each version only has a set number of years from manufacture before they stop doing auto security updates

    5. Summer of 2020 is when I switched from just having a laptop to having a desktop computer with two big monitors (one on an arm that raises, levers, and swivels), a fancy desk that raises and lowers at the touch of a switch, and a very luxe office chair. I wouldn’t have made the total switch if I had still been traveling or if my laptop hadn’t crapped out, but it has been life changing! I don’t know how I used to do everything on just my laptop before.

  8. I live on a dirt road. It’s mud season and there is a 40-foot mud pit in front of my house. I feel I have accomplished things by just getting to work.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if my home disappeared into the road. You know, like giant quicksand.

    Also, I think MAYBE the niece’s wedding present will be done before the wedding. Maybe. God willing and the mud doesn’t swallow the house.

    1. Kate G this is sounding very much like what happened to Impecs building in Captain Vortpatrils Alliance. I hope it doesn’t happen to you.

  9. I planted out some lavender and assembled most of a giant IKEA cabinet for yarn (Havsta). The room smells of pine.

  10. My writing projects went to the side a couple years ago. Lost the mojo, faith, etc. They’re still on the side. Once in a while a new idea peeks out. I write it down & file it. Your McDaniel lessons are still handy and ready when the time comes. On the flip side, I started needle felting a little under three years ago. If creativity was scored like an archery target, writing was a 6-8 depending on genre/ideas. Needle felting is my bullseye! Two state fairs = three ribbons. Now I can call myself an award-winning fiber artist! I’ve already done some commissioned works and have several (possble) for this summer. This week I finished my third pet portrait. The first two were memorial portraits. Each one is better than the previous one. I’ve made myself and two family members cry. Goal accomplished!

  11. I’m trying to catch up with housecleaning chores after nearly three months straight of being too tired and stressed to do as much as I usually do. I’m chipping away at it very slowly, because still tired, but I can now actually see some surfaces and have swept up enough cat fur to build three additional cats if I had the inclination to do so
    .
    Otherwise I am mostly chasing after my agent, editor(s), marketing folks, and theoretical author assistant in an effort to make some forward progress on my writing career. And feeling depressed, frustrated, and full of self-doubt. I guess I’ll go clean something else.

  12. I met with the investment guy twice this week to work on rolling over my 401k and setting up an annuity for my retirement. Aside from that, I have made myself go on several walks. So far, I am averaging between 12-15 steps a day. It’s hard to get motivated to walk when it’s chilly and there’s a strong wind making it feel colder!

    1. I was wondering about the numbers, because even with my stupid smartwatch missing like 90% of my steps and also my developing an allergy to the strap so I had to stop wearing it, I was doing a couple hundred steps in just a few hours!

    2. I walk and that is a good number for daily steps. I usually walk 8000-9000 + while we were away I often got 12000 to 15000 a day. Walking on the beach is so much nicer. It’s been raining most of the week. Not much walking.

      I did get the non profit year done. Way ahead of schedule. On a roll with the administration stuff. And watching the senate Judiciary hearings.

  14. Rehearsing for two shows and performing a third. One of them is a 10 minute play involving a farting machine, so that’s fun. The other is Evita, which is the dullest musical experience ever to just rehearse standing around, kneeling, holding out your hands, walking around, hugging, and singing Latin. Whoopetydoo, why is “the ensemble” such a big deal here again?

    At work: my remaining teammate had emergency surgery on Monday and is now out indefinitely. The sidebar teammate that was asked to help me just quit for another job. Another one leaves in a few weeks and of the two managers remaining, another one is out for a relative’s health issue. So once again, drowning and in hell at work again and sick of THE EMAILS. I really, really, really cannot be Point Person for everything and it keeps being thrust upon me because we can’t keep people here (and let’s face it, if you can leave, you would).I was having yet another nervous breakdown and wishing for death again yesterday. At least we have Friday off, so there’s that.

  15. I’ve been recovering from (the main part of) the edit, then recovering from my big day out (which involved a lot of driving), then digging out weeds from the allotment paths I’m making, and recovering from that (my right arm’s a bit dodgy at the moment), then planting my expensive new daphne, which involved digging a large hole and filling it with bricks and stones, then soil mixed with grit.

    And today I drove to another garden in pursuit of the perfect camellia, decided I wasn’t going to find one after looking at all the ones there. And as soon as I gave up, I found one that actually ticked all my boxes (there were five or six of them) in a nearby garden centre at a reasonable price – and then they insisted on charging me less. So tomorrow I must check the pH in the planting spot, and then get it in the ground. It’s called ‘Freedom Bell’, which sounds rather American.

  16. On a documentary style film about jury duty. They take my phone. I did a few taxes. Happy spring. I want to read the Nita rewrites. Can’t wait.

  17. Work. I’ve been working. And it’s annoying. Everything is annoying me.

    However, I am really almost at the end of the cleaning/straightening project. (Which is good as the impetus arrives Monday and will need a place to sleep.) There’s still a lot to do in the long run, but getting to this point makes the long run seem possible. I’ll never be neat, but I do feel better if the mess is below a certain level. And I don’t appear to be a hoarder.

    I realized that (a) I have a hard time throwing away padded envelopes and (b) I have clearly ordered entirely too much stuff that came in padded envelopes. I am keeping the bubble wrap though. That stuff is expensive.

    1. Maybe someone you know would take the envelopes? I take all my family’s unwanted shipping stuff for my Etsy sales. It’s a win win.

      1. I used them to insulate my compost bin, a few gardens ago: it was made out of pallets, so I stuffed them down into the gaps – in the hope of keeping my compost warmer to speed the process up. Not sure it did much though.

  18. I watched Turning Red over the weekend and loved it. The dad is the best. 13-year-old me felt very seen.

    We are, apparently, considering getting a new dog. I’m okay with that even though my still-broken heart really just wants me to invest in some plastic plants that will never die. I do know that Fred is really feeling down, especially now that the snow is melting and some of the Charlie scents are coming out. The other day he didn’t want to go outside and he loves outside. I will admit that I have looked at puppies on rescue sites but Paul has been the one to really “casually” mention that he’s been looking.

    I’m also trying to sort out my thoughts on the Nita opening scene because I don’t know how to say what I want to say without it sounding like I’m slamming other people’s comments and views.

    It’s plus Spring outside so I’m breaking ice and clearing the sidewalk. It’s going to be -5 on Saturday so I’ll enjoy the +14 and water running down the streets while I can.

    1. Some months ago on Instagram you’d posted a clip on how one of your dogs told you it’s time to go to bed. It stayed with me.
      Was this Fred or Charlie?
      Loosing companions is so bad!

      1. That was Fred. When Charlie wanted to go to bed, he would get up on the couch, sigh loudly, and settle down to sleep. Jasmine, on the other hand, just takes herself to the bedroom and goes to sleep.

        1. Thanks! Please give Fred a hug from me. I could do with a four legged friend telling me to go to bed!! One of my weaknesses…

  19. Without giving it too much thought this week I looked in my closet and said some of these have got to go. I have two bags filled and out in the car ready to be delivered to Goodwill. And all was done without poking through the bags and retrieving a single piece for just in case.

    1. Sounds horribly familiar. As dies Jenny’s remark about being behind on everything. Life sucks. And it shouldn’t – the sun is shining and spring is almost here.
      If only I had time for anything…

  21. Running a tiny fundraiser for Ukraine, thinking about the war every second of every day

    1. It’s always there in the background for me. I think, “I can’t do this anymore,” and then I see pictures and think, “If they can keep going, so can I.” One man murdering thousands because he’s insane. It’s sickening.

      1. I don’t know if he is insane, I do think he is a human monster. Some generations are unlucky to give birth and power to pure evil. I hope for justice.

  22. It’s been family crisis month so not a lot of work. But! I did get the outdoor fountain cleaned out and running, did a little pruning and weeding, and helped youngest do a total dresser/closet clean-out and donate of outgrown things.

  23. Trying to get three grant proposals and four grant reports done. One staffer down due to Covid makes it harder.

  24. I added 4700 words to a WIP on Sunday, net of a couple chunky outtakes, which makes it the best writing day I’ve had for quite a while. Also finally settled on Who Is Telling This Story after a couple of false starts. It’s a showbiz story which means it intersects several other books/novellas which means I’m doing a ton of continuity checking.

    The front yard looks the best it has for two years, and progress has been made in the back. Not beyond the realm of possibility that we will make it fit for company soon.

    Approved and paid for a custom cover for my new queer historical, which I now have to finalize back-cover copy for. This will be my first time publishing with a ‘pro’ cover – all my others have been done by my awesome sister (who is working with me on a complete series re-design this year, a huge project).

    Plus, oh yeah, Day Job. 🙂 It’s been unexpectedly not awful recently (looming deadlines = fast-approaching awfulness).

  25. I was so busy at my day job this week that I didn’t have time to read the Working Wednesday post. Oh, wait – I’m retired – I have no day job.

    I kicked back, read all the posts this month, some more than once. In the garage, I tidied just enough to say I did. I had to make room for the ninth hydroponic unit, after all. I didn’t need it, but I’ve got it, and I’m dedicating it to Romaine Lettuce, six pods worth. When I make a blog entry with pictures, I’ll mention it here. It is the cutest thing ever. 🙂

    I saw my cardiologist on Tuesday. He didn’t add any meds, and would happily have stopped the Plavix/Clopidogrel, were I able to take aspirin instead, but I’m allergic. I hadn’t seen him in three years, so he set me up the bomb… No. All my base are belong to me. *cough* He set me up for an echocardiogram. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Next month. I hope I can get pictures. They do it for pregnant women, why not for heart patients?

    Diet. I am still locked into the 251.2 +/- 3.0 pounds plateau. My body has adjusted to the reduced caloric intake, so I’m going to do a two-week Atkins Induction to shake things up. I’ll start tomorrow, being Official Weigh-In Day #49.

    Tomorrow is recycling day. I’ve got many cardboard boxen to contribute. That counts as work, right?

    ttfn

  26. Daughter is taking control of her life. I’m happy.

    Son and daughter-in-law in Poland have fewer pickups at the Ukraine border because buses have been coordinated for refugees. Instead, son and daughter-in-law have been packing buses or trains full of donations to take to Lviv or Kyiv, respectively. Son sounds confident and adult. Makes my husband and me happy, althought anxious.

    I’m spending a couple of hours on Duolingo every day, learning French. I feel accomplished.

    I now have high-priced and comfortable pants for the trip to France next month, but they’re tight at the waist — I really need to stay on my diet. But life happens. I will persevere.

    I am absolutely thrilled to read Nita again. I can’t wait to read the chapters where Nick lives through several lives over several centuries. Only fun stuff ahead!

  27. Quiet week so far, so I can’t say that I’ve done anything in particular. I’m trying to reach someone so we can plan a meeting for the end of April, preferably at a restaurant. Keep getting voicemail on her phone and she hasn’t answered my emails.

    Need to figure out what to have as a program at the meeting, too. I’m perfectly happy to do any amount of public speaking, but I need an interesting subject for the ladies.

  28. I sat through a four hour board of election meeting yesterday and will now transcribe the minutes. We’ve got a special election coming up and our primary right after that.

    Other than that, it’s just keeping up with the chores and walking Pixie (she insists we accomplish this.).

    And monitoring the people replacing the water main on my street. They seem to be making excellent progress and are somehow not blocking the road much. So that’s good.

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