TA DAAA!!!

I did it! Today at lunch, I went to the courthouse (accompanied by my friend Janice), and file the necessary form to change my name back to my maiden name. I've been thinking about doing this for a very long time and some recent events finally pushed me into action. That's step number 1 - next I have to go to the Social Security office, followed by the DMV, and then my bank. And THEN I get to change the millions of other records, bills and places that involve my personal information. Yea, it will be a big pain in the butt - but this is important and I feel so strongly that this is the right thing to do. So it's worth all of the hassle.

Now, for the laughter - here's my "MasterCard commercial" moment. You have to understand that Janice is perhaps the sweetest person on the face of the earth - never says a cross word, doesn't drink, smoke, cuss, or do anything else "bad", and is the office "goody two shoes". It was HILARIOUS!

Cost of parking at the courthouse - 50 cents.
Cost of filing the "resume former name form" - $10
Watching Janice be frisked by the security guard - PRICELESS!

Customer Service?

I have been using the "bundle" deal from my cable company for the past several years and, at first, I was happy with it. It was fine at my former residence, but for the past 2-1/2 years, since I bought my townhouse and moved here, I've had nothing but problems with my telephone. Dropped calls, no dial tone, poor quality phone line, etc. - plus I've had to replace the modem for my phone and Internet 4 times during that time. I'd about decided to start looking for alternates when problems REALLY kicked in. My phone was in and out, along with my Internet (but not necessarily at the same time) for the past few months. I've called and complained, but really did not get any long-term solution to these problems.


However, Labor Day weekend was the beginning of the end. That Saturday morning, I discovered that, once again, my phone wasn't working (but Internet was). I called for service, and after numerous "do this, do that's" they said they would send a service person to my home. I told them that I needed to leave at 5 PM but would be home until then - and they assured me that was no problem. By 4 PM, I hadn't seen anyone so called again. This time they assured me that someone would be out that evening. Evening? I asked - meaning what time? 5-9 PM I was told. I politely stated that I was promised to have someone BEFORE 5 and they apologized and said they'd see if they could get someone sooner. A few minutes later, a service guy showed up and told me he had been told not to come before 5 PM (am I surprised?). Then he looked at my modem, agreed that it needed to be replaced, but stated that he didn't have one for me. Great, so why did he come? He re-scheduled me for the following morning. Later that evening, to my surprise, my phone started working again, and continued to work the following morning. So I canceled the service call - BIG MISTAKE! An hour or so later, you guessed it - phone was out again. So I AGAIN called for service and was promised that someone would come by 8 PM that evening. Just what I wanted to do on a holiday weekend - sit at home and wait. By 7 PM, no one had called or come so AGAIN I called. This time I was told that my service was scheduled for 8-9:30 AM the following TUESDAY! No way would I have done that - I have to be at work, so I would never have scheduled that time. They refused to do anything any sooner, and I told them not to bother sending anyone then, because I wouldn't be there. And that I was going to start looking for service elsewhere.

My Internet was working, so I started researching and decided to go with the "regular" phone company. While online, a customer service person chatted with me, answered questions, and I decided to go ahead and order the phone connection. This person assured me it would be in place by the following Friday (9/11). I could deal with just cell phone for a few days, so ordered it and figured all was well. For the next couple of days, I experienced occasional use of my phone, but it was out most of the time. Internet was in and out somewhat too, and I'm sure it was because of the modem. But then I got an email from the phone company confirming my phone connection that would happen on the 22nd. That's NOT what I was told, so I tried to call the woman who had signed the email. I made 3 attempts, left voice mails and my work and cell phone numbers - and got no response. The following day, however, she called me on my home number, and magically got through when it was working and left me a message. And she THEN called me at work later that day, and told me that the hold up was due to me wanting to keep the same phone number but it looked like it would be available on Wednesday the 16th. Ok, I can live with that, I thought.

On Monday, the 14th, I returned home from work and found that my modem was TOTALLY down. No phone, no Internet. I called the cable company and was told that my phone had already been shut off because I was changing carriers and apparently they had shut down the entire modem by mistake. I was on the phone with them for over an hour, getting more and more angry about this, while they attempted to get my modem back "online". They finally conceded that they needed to send service out to my house to replace the modem, and that would happen between 7:30 and 8 PM. A couple friends stopped by and sat with me while awaiting the service person, cell phone in hand in case they would call (and YES I have given them my cell number repeatedly). At 8:10 PM, I again called to see why no one had yet come, and was told that my service call had been canceled. Why? I asked? Because they had called me and I had not answered the phone. They called my home phone number! I LOST IT, went completely ballistic on the guy. My friends were telling me to calm down, because I was so upset they feared I was going to have a stroke! How incredibly STUPID - they cut off the phone, then call that number and don't come for service because I don't answer!!!!!! I cannot even begin to imagine the thought process that enabled that to happen. I DEMANDED that they send someone immediately, he put me on hold for 25 minutes, then came back on and told me he couldn't get anyone this late. I told him that was NOT acceptable, and demanded to speak to a supervisor. He put me on hold, then cut me off. I called back, wove through the menu and finally got to a woman who said she was the assistant to a supervisor. I blasted her, told her about the events of the evening, and that I had HAD it with this terrible service. She managed somehow to get my modem back online so I would have Internet, apologized and offered to send someone the next day. I declined because I couldn't be there and was sick of dealing with them anyway. After that Wednesday, I could take the modem back to the cable office and exchange it for a non-phone, Internet-only modem, so decided to do that. But I told this woman that if anything else went wrong, I was done.

Well, you guessed it, the following day I came home and the modem was back out. So I called the phone company and ordered DSL through them. Once it comes, I'm pulling the plug on the cable modem and will take it to the office and THROW it across the counter at someone.

On Wednesday, my new phone line was installed. On the day it was promised. Without a hassle. What a concept! And on Friday, my new wireless gateway for Internet was delivered. Amazing.

Thus, the end of the cable story. Unreal, but true. I'm leaving television with the cable company because, so far, they haven't managed to muck it up. But, unfortunately, it'll happen in time.

Customer service, in this industry at least, is apparently a thing of the past. Sad.

I've finished the wedding gown alterations! Well - almost, but the hard part is done. It was very scary to actually CUT into a 40-ish year old wedding gown, but I took a deep breath and did it. The rest was easier, the neckline is finished and it looks quite nice, if I must say so myself. Here's hoping the bride-to-be is happy with it. I still need to make the bustle, but that's nothing more than covering a button with a scrap of the satin removed during the alterations, sewing it onto the waistline on the dress, and then making a thread "loop" at the right place on the back of the dress (and yes, I have the place marked). So I'll do that tonight while watching the first Steeler game of the year.

I'm heading to the southern Virginia mountains tomorrow to spend the weekend with some sewing buddies - and this should be fun. I think there will be 6 of us, and the requirement is to bring something I've made, plus directions to share with the rest of the group. We're going to bring laptops and swap embroidery designs too. I need to decide what I want to work on, and then pack up all that stuff tonight. Laundry is in the dryer right now, so I can pack clothes in a little while and have that ready. I'll have time tomorrow to come home after work, because I'm going to a wedding at 7 PM, and will leave for the mountains right from there. Should be fun - and there's the joy for the weekend.

Procrastination

I've always stated that I am the QUEEN of procrastination. And I'm still convinced that I hold that title. Not only did I NOT finish my daughter's maternity dress yesterday as planned, but it is now 8:15 PM and I haven't started sewing on either that or the wedding gown as planned. Yea, I did a couple of chores around the house that needed done but that's not the point. I am going to re-set goals here, finish the maternity dress tonight - and work on the wedding gown on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. That way I'll still have it done by this weekend, and that's the ultimate goal, after all.

The reason I didn't sew yesterday as planned is because a friend G and I went to the local baseball game - and decided to leave earlier than originally planned. We got a great parking spot, and the game was very good. The weather cooperated too - it was a lovely evening to be sitting outside and enjoying the atmosphere of the baseball park. I met up with a couple of co-workers and their families, and that was nice, plus had a delicious ice cream cone. However, the real fun happened as we were walking back to our car. We took a short-cut through a parking lot and discovered, once we got to the end of that lot, that there was a railing and a 3-4 foot drop down to the next parking lot en route to the car. G climbed through the railing and jumped down. I fought the urge to turn around and walk the whole way back and go around the lot - and did the same thing! As I was crawling through the rails, my cell phone went off - so we were giggling to "Mama Mia" while I was jumping down the drop and then collecting our things from wall where we'd set them.

Happiness and joy - hmm. Well, I did enjoy having my daughter and son-in-law stop by to rescue me. I was attempting to install my own programmable thermostat - how hard can it be! I ran into one small hitch, tried calling the customer service number and got nowhere, so called in the family electrician instead. I still need to go over the programming but at least it's installed. It was great seeing them (and my growing grand-baby-to-be), chatted with them some about some new things going on in their lives, and planning some future things with them. It's truly a joy to see the two of them so happy with each other, things are going well for them and their growing family - I love both of them so much. Work was ok today - not too stressful and I did receive a couple of compliments from customer and one of my bosses on some work I had completed - so that's a good thing. The constant noise from "the other side of the wall" was still a problem, and I have no idea if and when any of that will ever change. So I'm trying hard to focus on changing ME and how I deal with it. But I'm not sure I'm winning that one.

I DID have a lovely chat with the attendant at the Costco gas pump when I went at lunchtime. That sounds like a small thing but I'll find a happy moment whenever I can.

Going off to do a few things, perhaps sew? More blogging soon, I promise.

Accountabililty and Joy

I've decided that I need to use this blog for something more than whining about my day. I enjoy reading sewing blogs online, so one thought was to do something in that line, partly to help me accomplish more and make me more accountable for my oh-s0-limited sewing time. However, I want to go one step further - and make it about finding joy. I'm working on some personal improvements and one of my "assignments" is to notice how much joy I experience each day. So, while I will continue to relate the strange tales of my life to provide humor to those who read, I am going to include a sewing blog, which is one of my true loves, as well as other experiences that have resulted in happiness for me. That said.... drumroll please......

Yesterday I made a big purchase - a Elna 344 serger. I've been using a practically-antique Pfaff 3-thread serger that I've had for close to 20 years, and it was used when I bought it! Technology has changed so much and the machine has gotten to the point of being practically unusable. Granted, if I spent a bunch of time tweaking the settings, I MIGHT be able to get it back to a decent overlock stitch. But that's all it is good for. Without the 4th thread, it does not sew a stable seam at all, so everything is a 2-step process (sew on the sewing machine, then serge on the serger). My new serger will eliminate that and allow me to sew and serge a the same time, offering a secure seam AND finished seam allowances. AND I can easily change to a flatlook stitch, and a rolled hem. I got a really good deal on this machine, too good to pass up, so I decided to go for it. I've unpacked and set up the machine in my sewing room, threaded and tested it, and I'm ready to go!

My current sewing project - and this is one that I intend to finish today - is a cute sun dress/jumper for my daughter (early maternity wear). I had it finished but needed to amke an adjustment in the fit of the top, have the side seams ripped out and just need to put it back together again and topstitch. So as soon as I finish emails (and blogs), and read the Sunday paper - I'm off to do that.

I have designated Monday evenings as "sewing night" for some time now, so I'm going to set my goal for tomorrow night's sewing project now. I have been asked by son #1's fiance to make a neckline alteration on her wedding gown (her mother's) and need to get that done. They will be here in town in a few weeks and that has to be the final fitting. I bought the lace I needed to finish the neckline, and have a game plan. So tomorrow I'm going to "do the deed". I have to admit that I'm a bit nervous about cutting into a wedding gown, but I need to get over that and move ahead. I will blog about that after I take a deep breath, pick up my scissors and .........

About joy - It's just slightly after noon but I have two moments of joy to report.

First, I went to church this morning, and sang as usual with the contemporary choir. I really enoyed a couple of the songs, and could tell that some members of the congreagation seemed to feel the same. Very nice.

Second - my daugher and son-in-law have just agreed to rent a house and plan to move in a couple of weeks. So after church, I took a drive to find the house and get a first-hand look at it. I had looked it up on Google maps, so knew how to get there from home, and found it to be a lovely and easy drive. Even with 1 minor wrong turn (I passed the turn but knew it immediately), it only took me about 20 minutes from home, not bad at all. I'm concerned about cell-phone coverage in the area so have to remember to ask them about that. But the house looks lovely, and I can picture them living there, and I know they will enjoy it. I can't wait to see the inside too.

More to follow. Until then - find JOY in your life.

I've Fallen - And I Can't Get Up!

I just have to blog about something that happened to me this past Sunday evening. I've been trying to rearrange my bedroom and haven't come up with a plan that works for me. While getting ready for bed that evening, I had an impulse to try a different idea, and moved around a couple pieces of furniture. I needed to move the foot of my bed over a few feet, so grabbed it by the very top of the post on the corner of the footboard and pulled very hard. With a loud SNAP, the knobby thing came off in my hand and I went flying backwards, hitting my arm on a dresser and - more importantly - landing on one butt cheek on top of a pair of shoes. And I landed HARD! Tears instantly poured out of my eyes, it hurt so bad. I laid on the floor and cried for a few minutes, thinking "I'm now an old lady, I've fallen and broken my hip, just put me out of my misery, and I need one of those thingy's that hang around my neck so I can call for help". What was I going to do - even if I managed to crawl to a telephone, the doors are all locked so there's no way for the 911 crew to come inside and rescue me! (Of course, my kids have keys to my house but who thought of that!) After a few minutes, I realized that I could indeed move my feet and leg, and that maybe I hadn't broken anything after all. I managed to crawl over to the bed, pulled myself up and found I could walk just fine. Yep, I was hurting but.....

So I hobbled into the bathroom, brushed my teeth, took a couple of ibuprofen, and went to bed. Exhausted, I fell asleep prety quickly.

Around 3:30 AM I awoke and rolled over OOUUCCHH! That really hurt. I managed to get comfy enough to doze off and on until morning, and then painfully got out of bed. As I was getting ready to get into the shower, I got a glimpse of my butt in the mirror and saw a bruise about as big as the state of Texas on my ass! LOVELY!


This isn't me - but my bruise is equally huge and colorful!

I spent most of Monday taking more ibuprofen and feeling pretty miserable, came home and went to bed fairly early. Today was a bit better - and my bruise is turning lovely colors - rather purple now. I can't wait to see what color it is tomorrow.

Yep, I'm graceful all right. Now I need to figure out how to fix the bedpost. And tonight my garbage disposal broke too. Ah yea, I have a fun life!

Mountain Critter

As previously mentioned, I just returned from a wonderfully long vacation at the Mountain House. My friend K and I arrived there after working all day and a 5+ hour drive, around midnight. The area was pitch black, and the blasted motion-sensor light wasn't working, so we were trying to get out of the car, pull out whatever bags were needed until morning, and get into the house in the dark. Fortunately I had a small flashlight in the car, so we put that to use. K stopped and whispered loudly "There's something moving in the bushes", indicating the long row of day lillies in front of the porch. I pointed the flashlight that way, and the rustling noise stopped, but we couldn't see anything. So we continued getting into the house, and K got up onto the porch first and again whispered "I'm telling you, there's something moving in there". Fearing it was a snake, racoon or skunk (or even worse), I ran up onto the porch and then shone the flashlight around the area behind me. To our surprise we saw ----- a box turtle???? I had no idea they lived on the top of mountains - I always assumed they lived near streams and lakes. Who knew! The thing was pretty good sized - about the size of a large saucer or luncheon plate. While we watched, it reached the edge of a landscape timber and rolled under the porch with a THUD! So much for fierce mountain creatures!

OUCH Update

It's been a few days since the infamous yellow jacket invasion, and I'd noticed a sizable lump on the underside of my jaw, getting bigger each day. I had an appointment today for some follow-up blood work, so decided to call and see if I could have a doctor check out the lump, and was able to get at lunchtime today. The doctor checked it out and isn't worried at all - says it's my lymph gland doing its job, fighting off what it views as an intruder in my system (aka bee sting stuff - I know there's a term for it but can't think of it at the moment). He's prescribed anti-inflammatory meds for a week or so, and said if it doesn't go down - or if it gets any bigger - to call and come back in. He said too, that this is the first time he's had a patient EAT a yellow jacket, although he did have one get stung on a lip when the bee was in a drink. Another first for me - wa hoo!

OUCH!!!!

So there I was, sitting on the deck of my cousin's mountain house, enjoying lunch outside one day of my much-needed week-long vacation. I was eating a turkey and cheese sandwich, very tasty, relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather. I took another bite of my sandwich, and immediately noticed a very strange sensation in my mouth. Something was definitely wrong - so I spit out the bite onto my plate and saw - a yellow jacket! My tongue was stinging and burning, and I knew that I had been stung. On my TONGUE!!!!! I pulled an ice cube out of my glass of tea and held it on my tongue for a minute to try and numb it, but it didn't help much. Going into the house, I tried to look at my tongue in the mirror and could see just a tiny red spot - not nearly as big as it felt, trust me. My friend K who was with me asked if I'd ever had any strong reaction to bee stings, and was watching me closely. We debated jumping into the car and heading towards the hospital ER, about 20 minutes away, but it sure seemed like a silly thing to do for a bee sting. However, I'd never had one in such a sensitive place so I didn't know what to expect. We decided to wait it out and, while it was painful for the rest of the day and the next, it never caused any more problem. But OUCH!!!

Struggling Again

I've been struggling with some emotional stuff for a very long time - family issues, my divorce, my weight, and some problems with friends. All of it has been snowballing and catching up with me, and I'd about decided that I needed to start seeing a therapist, and perhaps go back on anti-depressants for a while. Well, I know now that I must do that.

Last night I found myself in a very difficult situation. Someone I thought was a friend has accused me of doing something that simply isn't true. I was completely caught off guard by the conversation, and am reeling emotionally from all of it. Things have been changing within my group of friends for quite some time, and I've been questioning the future of our friendship but I now feel that things will never be ok again. I'm angry and hurt - as is my friend, by what she believes I did. But while I am deeply sorry that she's hurt, I know in my heart that I've done nothing wrong, and that I would never, ever act in the manner she's stated.

I'm taking some time off from everything to try to work through this pain, and am actively searching for a new therapist for some professional help too. I know from my past, that when things are so bad, I cannot deal with everything alone. I also know that in time I will be ok, but will probably be minimizing, if not eliminating, contact with some of my friends.

I've let a lot of things go over the past year or so, and I simply can't continue to put myself in the position of being hurt and criticized for my beliefs. I've tolerated blank looks and no response when I've tried to discuss a problem, and no support when I've asked for help with my weight issues. I've been put down because I believe strongly in volunteering with various charities, and have been laughed at because I don't know what "real work is" because I'm not in a certain profession. This recent accusation is the proverbial straw, and this camel's back is painfully broken.

So I'm retreating, I give up. I've got to remove myself from what has become for me toxic relationships, and focus on me for a while. I think it's about time, past time for this, and what I must - and will - do.

Good New and Bad News

The good news is pretty fabulous. The Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup last night - WAAA HOOOOO! I miss being in Pittsburgh so much at times like this - because of the incredible feelings of spirit that everyone shares. It was a wild play-off, but in the end, we won and the feeling is wonderful!


The bad news - well, it's sad for me. After 10 years in business, my favorite sewing shop, Sew Heavenly, closed it's doors today for the last time. I've worked there almost since they opened, but never considered it a "job" - it was fun, and a privilege to work there. I'm sure I spent more money there than I ever earned, and had a blast doing it. Some of us are going to try hard to stay together as a supper and sewing club, and I hope we do. I got so much inspiration and support from these women, and I don't want to give that up.

I know that when a door closes, a window opens and I hope that is true. But I don't deal well with changes - and this is a big one. I've got lots to do, especially sewing, and that will keep me busy for quite some time. And I'm sure I'll see many of the women at guild meetings, etc. But I will miss it.

I should go sew........

Mountain Weekend

I just got home from a lovely long weekend in the mountains of North Georgia with some of my Florida cousins. We had such a fun weekend absorbing the peace that I always find there. It is TRULY my favorite place on earth - and I treasure every moment there. Lucky me - I'm heading back in just a few weeks for a whole WEEK - and I can't wait!


I had fun with my cousins, going out to eat, spending a VERY hot afternoon in Helen looking for the hot-air balloon festival that we never could find. We had some good conversation, lots of laughs, and made some plans for future get-togethers too. I'm going to make a trip to Tallahassee next spring to visit them - something I haven't done for a number of years, and it's about time. I grew up with these cousins, and love the fact that we still manage to reconnect at least once a year.


We had one close call that now is a bit funny. I was driving my car with cousins in the front seat beside me and in the back seat, and the biggest dang bird I've EVER seen flew right in front of my windshield. We all screamed - and I threw up my hands in the air (like that was going to help). I don't know how we managed to NOT hit the thing and have it come crashing through the windshield. Fortunatly no harm done - but MAN that scared me - all of us. I think it was a buzzard or turkey vulture or something similar - I could see individual black feathers, it was that close! Of course, afterwards we were able to laugh about it, but for a few minutes there......

More Office Dangers

Ok, my wrist that was 3-ringed is healed with just a small scar, so I guess fate had to give me another dose of reality. Yesterday we finally got our new office chairs - black, sleak, high back, nice armrests, etc. Late yesterday afternoon, I rolled over to my counter and pulled up close - too close! I managed to get my pinky finger (on the same hand, of course) caught between arm rest and counter! @#*@%)(! I said very bad words - some I didn't even know I knew! Honestly, you just can't control what comes out of your mouth at such times! One of the salesmen poked his head around the corner to see if I was ok - and said he was shocked to hear me swear. My new young salesman-in-training offered to get me ice (but I think he had a bit of a smirk on his face). I now have a lovely bruise right at the base of the fingernail and I'm sure the nail will be marked as it grows out.

Well, karma happens. This morning, the very same smirky salesman-in-training did the SAME thing to his finger. More bad words followed. I offered ice.

We've now adjusted the arms of our chairs - and advised others who have the same ones - so that they are either higher or WAY lower than the countertop. A painful lesson!

Perils of Office Supplies

Ok I know that I haven't blogged for a very long time, but I'm not going to make excuses or dwell on it. Stuff happens and gets in the way of your best intentions, let's move on.

I had a painful accident at work a couple days ago involving normal office supplies. Who know how dangerous a simple 4" 3-ring binder could be! I was cleaning out old files as we were in the process of moving offices, and we use these binders for some of the larger order files. These were old, old files, extra copies, not originals, so were being thrown away, while saving the binders for future use (yea, thinking green and recycling!) I had finished cleaning out one of the larger binders and pushed up the release to close the rings without realizing that my arm was in the way. The thing clamped shut on the edge of my wrist and I couldn't get it off - and MAN it hurt. I said a choice bad word or two, struggled with it and managed to get free of it. Already blood was starting to run down my arm a little bit, so I grabbed a tissue, wiped if off, and put some pressure on the stinging wound. OUCH! Since I was still moving and unpacking boxes, I tried to put a band-aid over the area and go on with work, but it wouldn't stick well. After a while, once the bleeding had stopped, I got a new one and some ointment and that one did stick better. As the day went on, I noticed how sore the area was, particularly when I bumped it or tried to type. By the next morning, it wasn't really hurting all that much but it's swollen and very bruised - and the marks from the little ring "teeth" looks like an insect or snake bite.

My caution to anyone who reads this - beware the danger of your "normal" office items!