The "Gods" Are Against Me!

That's my story... and I'm sticking to it.  There's just no logical reason.  Since the beginning of the year, I've had a run of bad luck... sort of.  It started with this:

You know the spring that holds your hair between the spoon and the barrel? Yep, it broke. Had to buy a new curling iron. That was in January.

Then my blow dryer sparked BIG TIME when I went to turn it on. Burning plastic smells terrible. Had to buy a new blow dryer.

Next, the motor on the CD player of my Panasonic Stereo died. So now I'm on the hunt for a nice compact stereo that doesn't cost and arm and leg.

After that, the EGR valve on my car took a crap and the failure burned ALL the oil out of my car. It could've resulted in catastrophe if it hadn't been replaced when it was.

On Monday, I was going to check the oil in the car and the yellow loop on the dipstick broke off! The dipstick was wedged in the tube. The BF was able to get it out. Trips to two different auto parts stores resulted in having to order a new one, which won't be here for a week. Had to shove the broken dipstick back into the tube so that I can drive the car to work.

I bought a desktop humidifier like this back in January for my desk at work. It's so dry there! Today, I went to the water cooler to fill it up and the cap broke off! I took it back to Walmart to swap it for a new one and air conditioners have replaced humidifiers. I opted for a refund... without a receipt, the clerk was going to give me $15. I paid $30 for it! I pulled out a photocopy of the receipt and I got a full refund. But, now I'm out a desktop humidifier. :(

To top off my tale of woes, I turned on my stitching lamp... hoping to put in a few since I haven't done much in the past week. The bulb blew!! Luckily, I have a desktop version that I can swipe the bulb from until I get a replacement.



Seriously? What else can break?!?

Now for some good news, LOL...

WORK

Did I mention one day is set aside each month to celebrate the birthdays of employees born that month?  Last Thursday was the designated day for March.  There was an entire cubicle filled with goodies:  fresh fruit, orange juice, chocolate milk, cookies, taco dips, BBQ, deviled eggs, and many desserts (I can’t remember what all else!).  I made Oreo bonbons and put them on a 2-tiered silver petit four server.  I thought it made a nice presentation.  :)


Until next time,

Marvelous Monday Update 3/18/13

Happy Belated St. Patricks Day!  I have a pair of "Irish" socks I received from a fellow stitcher a few years ago.  One is green and the other is orange.  I wore them yesterday :)  (The BF said I looked silly... can you believe it?!)


WORK
Did you know that March 6th is designated as Employee Appreication Day?  Yeppers. 

To celebrate, my employer handed out gifts to every employee.  In a reusable shopping bag was a picnic blanket, a lunch bowl with a pull out 3-section tray complete with fork and salad dressing container, and a drink cup.  Oh, but that's not all my new employer did for us.  They catered in an excellent lunch:  Yummy fried chicken, mashed potatoes/gravy, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, corn, and salad.  To top it off, management served up the meals!  For the morning break, they brought in fruit to snack on.  For the afternoon break, they brought in yum-yum-yummy cupcakes.  I have never worked at a place that actually celebrated the employees... bosses day, yes... employees no.  Incidentally, I passed my 90-day probation period last week.  Woo Hoo!

STITCHY STUFF

Last month, I was contacted by a stitcher (through another blogger) who was downsizing her stash and wondered if I would be interested in the Asian themed ones.  In exchange for doing backstitching and French knots on Yuku Haru that she stitched, Deb (no blog) sent me two Maia Geisha kits, a Janlyn Geisha kit, and 7 Asian themed books!  

I originally had planned just to buy the kits, but she suggested that she'd send it all to me if I'd just finish her project for her. I didn't realize how much backstitching there is, but it's okay since I don't mind it.  So far, I’ve done the collar/shoulders of the kimono and most of the hair.

My plan is to alternate Yuku Haru and JG until one of them is finished.  Speaking of JG, I’ve made a bit more progress.  Here’s what it looked like before…

… and now:

 

Other JG WIP photos can be seen HERE.

As Porky Pig says, “Th-th-that’s all folks!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Show of Hands

I started shoveling the driveway at 5am.  I left for work and got outside of town and decided to come home.  Another day off work due to inclement weather.  I spent the entire day shoveling and snowblowing the driveway.  I lost track of the number of trips out after #6.  My area got at least 8" of snow.  Here's what The Homestead looked like after the second to last cleaning.

The snow pile is taller than the bushes

and almost as tall as the lamp post!

 

This pile is about 5 feet tall and 10 feet wide

 

By the end of the day, I was so exhausted and sore!  The upside?  My pedometer said I walked over 17,700 steps and walked almost 6 miles just shoveling snow!

 

Until next time,

 

Marvelous Monday Update 3/4/13

After the week and weekend I've had, it's definitely a marvelous Monday!  So what's been going on with me?  Read on...

WEATHER
It snowed on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of last week!  I was up at 4am every one of those days cleaning the driveway so I could get out of my driveway without sliding into traffic.  Three out of the four nights, I had to clear the driveway again!  By Wednesday, I was very tired and quite irritable from the snow and lack of regular sleep.  To top off the week, I was working on the last pass with the snowblower and the shear pin broke.  Argh!  The snowblower was out of commission and I ended up shoveling the last bit.  The weekend was beautiful.  But, guess what?  Tonight, it's supposed to snow and we're due to get another 6-10" of heavy wet stuff.  Where I work (45min from home) is due to get up to 12"!

THE ENGINE LIGHT

Several weeks ago, the Check Engine light went on in my car. The BF checked it with his code reader and it said it was the EGR valve. A couple days later the light went off. It was off for a week or so then came on for a day, then went off. It came back on toward the middle of last week.  Since it kept going off and we did some research on EGR valves, we didn't think it was a dire problem.    The BF's light comes on and off all the time and it's not a serious problem either.

 

Then the car started idling and running really rough. So, I looked online for symptoms of a problem EGR valve. Mine matched, so I checked online for prices and got one from the local auto parts store. On Sunday, the BF dug into the engine and replaced the valve. 

 

Since the car needed an oil change, I checked the oil while he was finishing up putting the car back together. Imagine both our surprises when there was NO OIL in the car! Not even on the tip of the dip stick.  For those who might not know, that is NOT good.  Not good at all.  There was no evidence of leaking oil at work or at home so the BF thinks because the EGR valve was more than likely stuck open, the engine was burning the oil and sending it out the exaust.  I was very lucky we decided to replace the valve when we did since there was no oil in the car. The BF said I'd probably would've never made it to work today... and I would've ended up replacing the engine for around $5K, installed.  He put oil in the car and reset the codes. We drove it for about 30 minutes and it runs and sounds so much better!  I'm going to check the oil frequently for a while to make sure the car has enough. Since I've always had newer cars, I've never had to worry about checking the oil between the regular oil changes.

 

 

For fixing my car and the snowblower, I took the BF out to lunch at a China Buffet.  Good trade, don'tcha think?

 

STITCHY STUFF

I frogged the lazy daisy stitches on the January Hardanger SAL and redid them with four strands of DMC instead of the perle cotton.

 

 

I also started and finished the February Hardanger SAL.  The cutouts are a bit rough and the doves eyes aren't the greatest, but for the first time around I don't think they turned out bad.

 

 

I've also worked on JG, but there's not enough progress to show (maybe in my next post!).

TREASURE HUNTING
I have always wanted one of these.....

Singer Serger

So when I saw it at the thrift store, I had to get it.  Since I've never used a serger, it'll be a learning process for sure.  I am so excited!

 

Until next time,