TGIF and Saturday

TGIF because I'm wiped. I'm tired of doing my job and someone else's at work and only getting paid for my own job. I'm tired of the BS of people on the line thinking it's funny as all heck to throw a bunch of tenders in a huge pile and send them up to me to mess with. I'm tired of starting out with a partner, who goes on first half bathroom break and doesn't come back to the line, because they go see a supervisor and decide they want to do something else and leave me hanging. So, in order to get paid more for all the BS I put up with, until such time as I can afford to quit that stupid job, I'm going to work off a couple of points while learning the cone line. It will hurt more and all, but oh well. I'll survive. This does mean a pay hike to just over $13 an hour once I get the hang of things and points are down enough to actually get put on the line permanent.

That's the bad news. The good news is, I'm comfortable with things as they are right now, today will be halfway decent, weather-wise, to where we can take the truck to work, I'm progressing on the lap quilt some more, and I found out where my booboo is on the latest strip on the mile a minute scrap afghan. While this means the bad news of having to frog back (ie, you "rippit, rippit, rippit") to the booboo, it also means that the good news is, the darn thing will look correct now! And I didn't lose that much, just the last round, because apparently, I can't count and made the booboo right at the start, lol.

I kind of hope tonight is a short kill so we get out at a reasonable hour. Overtime is nice, but it would be even nicer to make a fast run to the store for staples after work when there are no people to speak of there, and avoid the crowds tomorrow. So with work going as it is, is it any wonder that I'm pooped? Urgh. Homesteading's easier than a real job!

And Saturday was not great, could have been better, but I'm not rehashing a lot of it because it's just stressful and I am trying to reduce the stress. Suffice it to say that saving up a downpayment is a necessary evil, though it will take a while and be a while before we can buy anything. Our credit scores are in the toilet, not because we owe a lot of stuff, but because we don't owe a blasted thing. I'm serious - no outstanding bills, no credit cards, nothing against us on the things. We live within our means entirely. Because of this, it apparently means we are a "bad credit risk." Seriously???? Folks who are living well beyond their means get credit card offers and all kinds of stuff darn near thrown at them with a big "TAKE ME!" sign attached. Us? We get told we don't have anything recent enough and hear no. I'm shaking my head on that one. You'd think the folks who live within their means would be a better credit risk because they refuse to use any if they don't have to absolutely do so.

Oh well ... didn't get a lot done on the lap quilt today at the laundromat because I was trying to solve sudoku puzzles. I was doing that instead because of all the people with uncontrolled small children in there and I didn't want to get anything spilled on it or have them grab it for whatever reason. I did get myself a corded mouse as backup today though, and good thing I did. My wireless mouse is dead. Time for a replacement and at less than $10, if this one goes out in a while, I won't care. Plus no changing batteries anymore. Last night at work sucked, I hurt, and I wasn't even on the cone line. It was just a crappy night at work and now I'm pooped again and need a nap in the middle of my day, so I'm off to have one. Yay me!

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This is not starting out good

My brain is not functional first thing in the morning, and hubby knows this. Today, for some stupid reason, I am expected to not only make financial decisions with no caffiene but get yelled at for not being mentally functional. All because we need to put new tires on the front of the car and he calls about pricing from at least two places then sits and reads off a bunch of numbers and expects me to be able to a - remember them all and b - choose what to get. I am not a gearhead. I am a non-gearhead and basically just go with whatever fits and is cheapest so it fits the budget. I do not need to be hollered at for not being able to think clearly. So yeah, the ole homestead is not a happy place this morning (well, my version of morning anyhow). Work last night was awful and I don't want to have a repeat. Let's just say if last night happens again, a supervisor is going to be up for harassment.

At least the needlework projects are coming along. The afghan is coming along in bits and pieces, and the lap quilt for Mom is about half done on the third butterfly, which I can identify as the Monarch. The others so far, I have no clue. Two others of the nine, I can tell what they are - the Swallowtail (pretty distinctive) and the Spring Azure (kind of easy tell which one is the blue one, haha). Honestly, the weekend cannot get here fast enough so I can sleep a long nap.

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It's a good day

We're getting a bit of overtime each night this week, and hopefully, we'll get the whole weekend off instead of working Saturday as had originally been stated. There is also a rumor that we'll get a four-day weekend for Thanksgiving, which would be nice. Granted, we wouldn't get paid for that Friday, but I'll take the extra day off happily. And we're supposed to be getting a 25c an hour raise soon. Unfortunately, our insurance is also supposed to go up $10 a week, so the raise will only cover the insurance hike, but at least that won't be coming out of our pockets in a way that will cost us from what we bring home now. That stupid garnishment is almost done as well, so in a couple more months, I'll get my whole paycheck to myself. That will be a big help and a blessing as well. I'm thinking of trying for the cone lines once my points are down a bit so that I can bid on it, but I'm not sure I could do it. Between tenonitis and arthritis and general age, it would be tough. But at $13+ an hour, it's extremely tempting.

More done on the lap quilt yesterday before work. I finally had to cave a few minutes early and go in the plant because it was raining and with getting dark as well, my natural lighting to work on it easily, so I don't have to hang my lighted magnifier around my neck, was getting shot to crap. I only lost about ten minutes time, though, so not too big a deal. And I got a bit more done on the afghan strips last night once we got home, so that's coming along as well. Life is good. Tiring, boring, but good. Now if I just had the oomph to go out and cut down what's left of the garden, lol! But it's either too chilly or too wet, and I don't like to be out in either.

Hubby and I talked a bit on the way to work yesterday, how if things were better situated, I'd have my stopwatch retired and be waving him off to work while I stayed home and did whatever needed doing like we did when I was off work for 18 months. We both enjoyed that, even as tight as it sometimes got financially, because we were both doing what we enjoyed. Add in that he got to come home every night to a clean house and a hot supper that he didn't have to do anything to other than maybe heat up in the microwave, and life was pretty good. It's why I work now, and what we are working towards. A place we own (well, are buying anyhow), that's affordable on one paycheck, where my online income and farmstead income sources pay enough to make up for the loss of half my paycheck. We figure half because if I don't have to have stuff for work, and my car/vehicle isn't running as often, costs in that respect will drop drastically. I bring home about $300 a week now with the garnishment coming out, and I can guarantee you that at least $100 of that goes to "convenience stuff," because of not having time to cook like I enjoy here at the house and all. That means $150-$200 a week in income from other sources and I'm done with the plant and any outside jobs. I just need to make it happen every single week. That's the kicker right there. But it's slowly happening, so we are happy with that.

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Progress on many levels

Let's see, making this short, as I have to pull together a bit sooner than usual so we can stop at the polling place on the way to work to vote. The mile a minute afgahn is coming along; I'm in round two of strip two. The pattern calls for nine strips to make a twin-sized afghan, so I figure to make it wide enough for a queen sized, I'm going to have to at least double that to 18 strips, maybe 20. Thank goodness they go quickly. The third butterfly is coming along quickly, so that's a help there. And the girls are more trusting, sort of. Tink meets me wherever I walk much of the time to get petted. She is making up for lost time on being a housecat. Raffles still hides most of the time. Bouncer could care less as he has his needs met and plenty of attention. Smudge is still a fraidy-cat, scared of everything, but especially afraid the girls are going to get him and eat him, lol. He would rather not eat when they are out if possible, but I feed everybody in the living room, so if he wants wet food, kibble or water, he has to brave the scary "other" kitties. Ditto for the litter box. So he spends a lot of his time where he always has - on the bed sleeping. Which is what I'd like to do, but work calls. Oh yes, and kitty toys have no fascination for the boys, but both girls think cat toys are the bomb. The ball track has been going off and on for days now, since they discovered it, especially Tink!!! For an adult cat, she loves toys a lot. Guess I know what the cats are getting for Christmas, lol!

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Going to be a long week

It's not posted yet, but it's predicted that we'll be working six days this week and next week. All so we maybe (MAYBE, mind you) don't have to work Black Friday. I've never understood the whole thing about Black Friday. I "did" it once, when we had a Friday off at work after Thanksgiving, and it was ridiculous. My then-boyfriend (not hubby), his son, my daughter and I all went to the mall in Fayetteville. I hated every minute of it. Too many people, too much noise, too much traffic. I'm not much of a crowds, noise, and traffic person. It's not that I'm anti-social, I am just not comfortable around too many people, and the human noise makes me grind my teeth and hunch in. Anxiety issues are not fun. Just makes me glad that my job is mostly close to, but not right next to, people. It can be boring, but it's better than being anxious that someone will want to talk and you won't have anything to say because you haven't got anything in common with them.

On the upside, I got the first panel done on the mile a minute afghan and the second one started. Hence why they are called mile a minute. You work a long chain, and then work around it several times to make a long, narrow panel. The rest of the panels are worked the same barring that the last round is a joining round to connect the panels together. It also means that you don't have to put a border around the thing, which saves time. I also got almost the whole first wing done on butterfly number three, which should be done and on to the next wing on it today while sitting at work. It's supposed to rain tonight, so even though the truck has no heat right now, other than the little 12V heater for the driver's side of the windshield, so hubby can see to drive, we'll be taking the truck. I love my car, but sometimes this mountain road gets rather slippy in rainy weather, and I'd rather not get stuck.

Fall back on time didn't do me a whole lot of good for sleep. Bouncer decided last night was a good night to live up to his name. All over the place, knocking stuff off the nightstands and dresser, kept me up for almost two hours. I'm wiped. Once again, I'm thankful my job is boring and reasonably easy, because if I'm sleepy, I can half-doze through the night. Hopefully, this time, I'll have some help. I'm a bit tired of being "good troop" and handling the whole job by myself all night. We miss bones and stuff, and it makes for a lot of harder work for those of us doing things alone when we're supposed to have a partner. But, it's time to get together for work and haul myself around to do the couple of chores I need to do (cat's litter box and I have to remake the bed - hubby stole most of the blankets again last night). Hugs, all!

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Change in plans

But a minor one. Turns out, there aren't enough squares to make a full afghan for the bed like I wanted. There are enough for a lapghan, so that's now a later project. I have more than enough other yarn in partial skeins around here, and in bits and bobs, plus a nearly full super size skein of an off-white color called "Aran," that I can whip out what's called a Mile-A-Minute afghan for the bed. What I really need is to be able to work from home so I have the time to pull it together in a couple of weeks. What I have is a full-time job, half a dozen things that need doing as well, including Mom's Christmas present (which is likely to be late, again, darn it). Oh well ... nobody ever said homesteading was easy, and now that DST is over with, and my sleep patterns are going to be all messed up again for a bit, and it's cooler weather, I'll have more time on the weekends to deal with playing catchup on needlework projects and on writing.

Hubby is outside working on the truck a bit, as it needs an oil change. He got the old oil draining and came in to tell me it's a good thing he decided to do it, as the old oil is nearly black, so who knows when the last owner changed the oil. Yeesh, when you have a high-mileage vehicle, you change the oil religiously, in order to keep it running. Period, or else your vehicle is going to boom on you in fairly short order. Engines are a lot more expensive and time-consuming to replace than oil. You can guess which one I'd rather do.

Dinner tonight is spaghetti, or what hubby calls "spit at Eddie," as a joke. Water is on, heating up so I can do dishes, then it's shower water and food while that all heats up, and trash still has to be pulled together so it can go out and get burned. Chores never end. There's always something to be done, which does keep a homesteader busy even in the down times. Also, there is that load of firewood to load up that we sold and will be paid for once it's delivered. Hubby will work on that once he gets done with the truck.

For more heat, for now, we also got another radiator heater for the front room. This one's digital and I wasn't too thrilled with that right off. But it works wonders. The living room went from barely 60F to nearly 70F in under an hour, and you can tell the difference. Even with the blackout curtains down to help hold the heat in the living room and out of the hall and kitchen, which hardly get used except for a minute or two at a time, some of the heat from the bedroom and living room are leaking to them, and it's still halfway comfortable in the kitchen. Doing dishes this winter is going to actually be nice. Improvements help a lot, even in small batches.

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Uneventful Saturday

For around here, anyhow. I know my family back home is getting some snow, and all we are getting is cold. And I do mean COLD. Freezing temps last night killed the last of my garden, so tomorrow during warmish temps, I will be out doing the clearing up for the year. I did pull the last of the watermelon radishes today when we got home, and the cold of last night just sweetened them up so they taste yummy. Never thought I'd like radishes, but when you have home-grown over the store-bought cardboard, there's a good flavor to them.

I do have the second butterfly done on Mom's lap quilt, and got the third one started a bit today while at the laundromat. However, with the lighting at the house not the greatest in the bedroom for stitching, unless I use my neck magnifier with the light, which is wonky, I'm going to have a bit of an easier project ongoing for home fiber fun. I've got a big box of finished squares, so I'm going to whip out another afghan for the bed. If there aren't enough squares, I'll just put a whacking huge border on the thing. It'll be faster to put it together from already-finished squares than to have to sit and make it up from scratch like I thought I would have to. I wasn't getting a lot done on the lap quilt at home anyhow. The living room is usually a bit too chilly to sit down there to stitch, so at home, I'm usually hunkering in the bedroom to stay much warmer. And with the light so poor down here, it makes it difficult to embroider. So, especially now that DST is ending, I really need a project for a bit that I can do in not-so-great lighting. And another afghan is always welcome.

So it's off to work on the afghan, because more warmth to bury oneself in during cold weather is just delightful. Hugs, all!

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