Iz adktd...

Iz adktd to lolcats. U kun bee 2, http://icanhascheezburger.com

An yis, I no mai hooman's been neglktin teh blog. Mebee soon she rite.

Mgs

Psst. Wenz I gits oposble thums Iz spel bter?

kthnxbai

Poor Hector

...is dead. I came home from work this evening to the very traumatizing sight of Hubert (goldfish) eating the very last remnant of Hector. He had a long (for a snail) life and a good life, and a few of his (or her) offspring are living elsewhere. I'll miss his huge presence in the aquarium, that's for sure.

Mercy, Please!

OK God, you win. Joke over now, please?

Cutting News

I am absolutely knackered today. Yesterday was the members-only sale at the fabric store so I worked an eight hour shift. Aside from my 15 minute (paid) lunch break, I was on my feet the entire time. And 90% of the time I was cutting fabric, which is a bit more strenuous than it sounds, as some bolts (especially drapery, vinyl, batting, etc) are quite large and heavy. I had fun, though, and it was still a little less stressful than a full-day day camp with 25 kids running around. I think a lot of the staff thought I was going to keel over by the end; little do they know that this job is RELAXING compared to what I was doing before. A think a few coworkers have me pegged as young and inexperienced, which is a little irritating as I have TONS of experience dealing with people. Anyway, I have to wait for June to do the fun all over again.

I did get some fabric yesterday (the manager has to cut our fabrics so they are all cut a few days before the sale and we just pay for them the day of and take them home). I got the most delightful green plushy stuff to make myself a nice furry top. I'm looking forward to it, although the sewing process will be rather messy with the little plushy bits flying everywhere. I'm really enjoying using my creativity to help people with their projects and at the same time my own creativity and experience is being stretched and informed. There are a few techniques and materials that I really want to try out on my own sewing. Like invisible zippers.

I hear that I have a new niece. My sister hasn't actually called me with the news, but I did find out from someone else this afternoon that my new niece was born in the last few minutes of Saturday. There doesn't seem to be the same amount of family hoopla over the second child, and I know by the time I get around to having kids no one will notice.

So I'm going to take my aching, aching bones back to bed and do some of the copious readings I have to get through (a few left over from last week, actually). Then later I will have a long soak in the tub with nice bath salts to try to further smooth away the pain. I have a ton of Greek and Latin homework to do, but it will have to wait for tomorrow-- I just can't think straight and my hands hurt so much (from the general ache and pain-- I wore my wrist braces as a preventative measure yesterday when cutting fabric and that kept me from experiencing any direct pain from that yesterday. For which I am glad-- I find cutting more fun than putting away, although I did some of that, too!)

I'd Rather Be Sewing

I've been rather neglecting this poor little blog, but then I've had a good excuse. I've been busy.

First off, I have a new job.* Yup, I'm working again! It's not what I would classify as a highly intellectual job, like those I've been doing for the past five years. It's in retail. Before you scoff, though, let me explain something IT'S A FABRIC STORE! If you know me, you know I love my hobbies, and one of those is sewing! Before Christmas I dropped off my resume at the fabric store I frequent, not knowing if they were hiring or not. Turns out after New Years they were. I got called for an interview (which was more like having a chat about sewing with a friend over a cup of tea!) and then I was offered the job. I was (am) so excited!

I'll be working two or three shifts a week and they're really understanding about my schooling. My first shift was four hours on Monday. Now the first shift of any job is usually somewhat lackluster. You don't know anyone so socializing is sometimes hard, you can't really help the customers too much because you don't know anything and you feel like you're trailing along behind the manager (or whoever is in charge of you) constantly asking questions. I spent the first hour being trained on health and safety and seeing where everything is. There is way more in that store than I realized. Then I spent three hours peeling sale price tags off of Christmas decorations because a sale had just ended the day before. I was at the front of the store, so I greeted customers who were coming or leaving. And I was able to point people in the right direction. The other new hire used to work at a different fabric store in this chain so she already knew the ropes. I was eager to start the 'real stuff' but I always do my best with whatever task I'm given. The manager was busy with Christmas inventory and wasn't able to train me and the price stickers needed to be taken off (family: where is that little niece when you need her?) so I did it without flinching or complaining. And like I said, I was able to interact a little bit with customers. But it was today that was really fun.

One interesting thing I noted today is my level of confidence. Even though I know a bit about fabric, there's a whole awful lot to remember and know when you're working in a fabric store. How to write the invoices, where everything is, sale dates, discounts, etc. And have you ever tried to put a fabric bolt back on a table not knowing where it comes from? It's a good way to learn where the different fabric collections are located. But despite all the not knowing, I'm not nervous. The 20-year old me of a scant eight years ago would have been very anxious about making mistakes and doing the littlest thing that might not be correct. But my mistakes aren't flustering me and don't dint my confidence in the least. It's kinda neat to look back and see how much my confidence has grown since my university days (let alone since my highschool days!). I just KNOW that I'm good and more than capable for this job.

What I loved the most about today (my second shift) was what I did all day: cutting fabric and helping customers. Most people are really friendly and it was great to chat with people about their projects. I learned a few things, too, which I expected. There's a lot of people out there with different sewing experience from me and I can learn from all of them. The woman I was mostly working with today was great, too. She was really helpful and when she found out that it was my first shift at the cutting table she helped me with the invoices and was really patient and helpful.

This job is so completely different from my past work, and it's going to be a really nice change:

1. I go in, do my shift, and leave again. And when I leave, work doesn't follow me home. There's no reading to be done, exhibits to plan or even essays to mark. And the four hours fly by!
2. If I want my work to follow me home, it will do so in the form of sewing. Which is not mandatory and is not stressful. Eventually I will have the opportunity to sew one garment a month (fabric supplied!) that will be put on display in the store for a month before I take it home and start to wear it. I am REALLY looking forward to this. It'll be fun!
3. It gives me an excuse to sew. There's a lot of fabrics I haven't worked with and there's a lot of garment techniques I've never tried. The discount will help...although I'm trying to be really careful! I don't want to bring my entire paycheque home in fabric! I am making myself finish up a few things that I've been dragging on, and then I have plans for two new tops.
   
4. We're encouraged to wear what we sew to work, so I can use it as an excuse to do more sewing.
   
5. It's fun to be around all the colours and textures of the fabrics! It appeals to my artistic sense and it's fun to think of things that one could make (not necessarily me) with different fabrics. It inspires me, too.
   
6. I love socializing with the public and with coworkers and there are lots of opportunities for that here! After all, in my workplace now I know I share a common hobby with all my coworkers: sewing!

I was told early on that every day people will come in wit unusual requests. And I got a good assortment today of the kinds of things I need to learn to do. One of the first people in was looking for heavy duty vinyl. I remembered where it was so I could help them out there, and I learned how to cut it (not too difficult, but I was smart enough to know not to use the fabric scissors on it!). I learned that we don't carry cotton lawn but we do carry some batiste and I know where it is now. There's a big "buy one get two free" sale on, so I learned to cope with copious amounts of fabric-- I had two people buy six meters of fabric! I learned how to cut fabric with stripes or plaids. One customer wanted to buy an entire spool of bias binding, so I had to unroll it all, measure it, write up the invoice and roll it back up again (she was most understanding!). Another lady bought a type of clear elastic that I had never worked with before that I might incorporate into a project sometime. It took four of us at the cutting table, though, to find the end of the elastic, which was buried deep in the spool. You think finding the end of the scotch tape is hard...

(A little note for my little sister who, when she was little (like 3 or 4), would practice ripping my mom's fabric scraps like they do in the fabric store: I don't think we get to rip fabric. I overheard one customer complaining about how she hates it when someone rips her fabric, and I've never seen anyone there rip the fabric, so I suspect it's not cool to do. Too bad.)

Anyway, it was fun today and the four hours flew by. I work four hours again on Monday and then Saturday, which is the BIG members' sale, I work eight hours. It looks like Mondays and Saturdays might be my usual days, which is fine. It's nice not starting until 10. I don't have time to sleep in, but I don't have to get up early, either.

So, that's my excitement! I should start photographing my creations and putting them up on my website. And if you like fabric in the least, come by when I'm working-- I would love to show you what we've got!

-----
*secondly off, school's started up again. I'll have to write about that later.

Happy January

As the days begin to lengthen
So the cold begins to strengthen.

That's one of my Dad's farmer adages, and if you pay attention to the world around you at all, you will know that it is true. At any rate, we are now over the hump. The darkest days are behind us, the hectic-ness of December is over and now we are in peaceful--if somewhat boring--January.

January is the time when one buys a new planner/organizer. It takes me several tries to find a planner that works for me. You have to find one that fits your style and your needs. And no sooner do I--or anyone else, as the overheard conversation at that metal paper fastener store would indicate--find one that works than they discontinue it. Fortunately it looks like I've found something that will work for the coming year.

I'm finding it so hard to motivate myself to do anything these days. Even after exams were done, I was busy, busy, busy right up until Christmas. But once I went to the folks' for Christmas something happened. I started to relax. And WHUMP, all the postponed fatigue from the last four months came crashing down on me like the snow sliding off the metal roof. I feel like I am buried underneath a giant snowbank and there's no moving until the snow melts naturally. Very frustrating, as there is less than a week until classes start now and there's so much I need to get done!