made by Leeloumade by Leeloumade by Leeloumade by Leeloumade by Leelou

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

A morning of gratitude

Despite the fact that I woke up at about 2:30am last night from restless huskies deciding they did or didn't want to be on the bed (and it was HOT last night!) and couldn't get back to sleep, I'm in a pretty fine mood this morning. I turned the brightness down on my iPad and read some more of my book until I managed to drift back off to sleep. If you're curious, I'm reading Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison. I read to escape, and her writing is a great mixture of "not TOO fantasy that it's off-putting", good writing (I'm a HARD critic, I tell ya), and just plain fun. Go read some Kim Harrison. You won't be disappointed if you're looking for a fun escapist read. I'm also reading Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton, but I've been leaning more toward the former lately because it's juicier and more "accessible". Not that Pirate Latitudes is a drudge to read, it's a great swashbuckler that's tons of fun, just a little more involved.

Wow, that was a tangent. Sorry, guys. Anywho, I guess both huskies decided they wanted up on the bed with me, abandoning their custom bed I slaved over a week or so ago. Waking up with two huskies snuggled up with me always gives me the warm fuzzies in my heart. Not a bad way to wake up. So! For a mid week pick-me-up, here's a few things I'm deeply grateful for today:


  • Waking up to snuggly huskies who wag their tails when I open my eyes and say "good morning!"
  • A nice hot cup of good ol' English Breakfast tea with half 'n half to go with my cheesy scrambled eggs and bacon.
  • Bacon. 'Nuff said.
  • Thinking somebody turned the radio on to a lovely classical music station and discovering it's my sister practicing a Chopin piece on our baby grand piano. I left my door open so I could listen. I LOVE that my sis and I have been musicians our whole lives. It gave us an identity and a safe haven, and something to be proud of. We both play piano and cello. My sister was always the better pianist (she can sightread anything you put in front of her), but I was always the better cellist. She won't argue. We both played in drumline through high school too. Please schools, PLEASE don't cut the music programs. It saved us.
  • My neck wasn't quite as sore as usual this morning. I won't lie, it's been pretty bad lately. So those times it doesn't seem as bad, and I actually DON'T have a headache are to be savored. 
  • And finally, when I called the Sew & Vac place to see how my machine was coming (I really was just wanting an update, I wasn't nagging or pushing), they said "it's on the bench as we speak. It should be done in an hour or two". 



Let me reiterate that last one. It should be done in an hour or two. This makes me incredibly happy for multiple reasons. I love my machine (a Viking Victoria), I can really start cranking out those pouches again:

and the greatest reason of all: He didn't find anything super-duper wrong with it! This makes me want to do the crazy-person laugh. I completely dismantled my machine, put it back together again (including computerized components), and all he needed to do was give it a clean and tune. I don't know whether to be proud of myself, or feel like I was FRIGGIN LUCKY and dodged a bullet. Gift horse? Mouth? I ain't lookin'.

And finally!

  • You guys. I'm being serious. Waking up and reading your comments makes me feel like a million bucks. It's one thing when your friends and family say "oh, that's great! Cute!" or "I love your writing!" But it's another completely when someone you've never met tells you. Thank you. 

On that note, I want to share some of the beautiful projects people have made with my free tutorials! (The names are Ravelry usernames. Thank you for your permission to use your photos, guys!)
Boogie earbuds by Papersavvy 
Boogie earbuds by Ronni-licious 
Boogie Earbuds by FiberHound


TWO sets of Boogie Earbuds by WimpWoman!
All Twisted Up Yoga Socks by GoldenHamster. Beautiful! If you're on Ravelry, you can click on her photo to see her Ravelry Designer page. Wish I could crochet!
All Twisted Up Yoga Socks by MadMomma
There were so many beautiful examples, I wish I could include them all here. Thank you, you guys for sharing your finished projects and allowing me to post them here!

Okay, one last feel-good thing of the day. The other morning, I woke up and had an e-mail all the way from India, regarding my Nikon L120 review

Hi,

I am Febin Kurian from Chennai - India. Recently I was in search for a good digital camera. While searching on internet I could see your blog on Nikon L120 and that made me to zero in to buy one Nikon L 120. I sending this email to thank you for helping me to buy a very good camera. Thanks once again.

I am attaching couple of snaps that I have taken using Nikon L120


Regards 

Febin

And these were the photos Febin attached.



Wow! Especially the one of the Tiger Lilly (Is that what it is? Help me out people!). Beautiful photography. When I wrote back to Febin, they said they would be honored if I would share their photography, and gave me a link to see more of it. I must explore that sometime. :) Then they made me promise to share my photography as well, so I may have a new photo-penpal! How exciting!

All of this makes me feel so dang good. I feel like I have friends all over the world. Blogging has opened up all kinds of possibilities, and I've made all kinds of wonderful new friends. Okay, now I'm just gushing. Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday, and I've gotta hurry and get ready for work! *ZOOOOM*

9 comments:

  1. What a HUGE relief about your machine!!! YAHOOOOOO!
    And I'm so totally happy Bonz got the two of us connected! LOVE reading your blog and seeing what you're doing!!
    KZK

    ReplyDelete
  2. Me too! I feel such a connection with fellow crafters/husky owners. Bonz and her crew have been so wonderfully friendly and supportive, and I really do feel like I have a "real-life friend I just haven't met in person yet". One of these days, we'll have to get the lot of us together for some crafting fun! And wine. That too. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad to hear about your machine! :D I love, Love, LOVE the Kim Harrison "The Hallows" Books. Such a good read.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yay! It didn't cost you an arm and a leg to get your machine done! And u really need to teach myself how to knit. Someday...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mada: aren't they fun? I feel like I kind of "outgrew" high fantasy and such, but these don't feel like that at all. Maybe it's the direct integration with the real world, maybe it's her writing style, but i do love them. Every time a new one comes out I must have it! :D

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jenna: if you ever want to learn, I have a whole slew of great resources that will get you on the right track. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a great post! Isn't it great to focus on the good things? I especially love the husky love!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello! Just found your site and I'm really enjoying wandering through your archives. Especially love, love, love the newly upholstered chair, it's gorgeous! Keep up the good work!
    Jules

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks you guys!
    Jaclyn- some days, you really do have to find your little happinesses where you can. There's a lot to be grateful for, and with daily stress it's so easy to forget them.

    Jules- thank you and welcome! It's crazy to think that I've written enough postsnow that there's even an archive to read! How time flies. It encourages me to write more regularly too. :)

    ReplyDelete

Talk to me!