Insomnia, take yawn

Here I sit at quarter to two in the morning. W-I-D-E Awake! Not really sure what caused this crazy alertness to set in, but I have bounced around some websites, played some solitaire and have been Facebook chatting with someone I just met at work. Interesting night/morning I guess.

In recent news: I can SEW again!!! My Grandma came over this afternoon to try and diagnose the issues I had been having with the old sewing machine she had given me of hers about 2 years ago. When she got here, we started in right away in project diagnosis. She was positive that I had flipped the fabric the "wrong" way and sewed in on the machine. But when SHE tried it out, she found the same issue I had been facing when it came to the Blind Hem sewing on the machine. You DO have to sew it backwards because the machine is wacked. But the good news is that we figured out how to use the machine to do it anyway, regardless if sewing the right or wrong way. I hemmed a total of 5 pairs of pants tonight - three of them myself, AND I re-covered a pillow that I had been waiting to do for quite some time now.

In other news, is anyone ready for the holidays? Friday during the day - at work, we saw snow flurries flying by the windows and I was a little excited. That, and trying to come up with some sort of "christmas wish list" for my mom and mother-in-law, can prove to get one in the holiday spirit. Did you know the Salvation Bell ringers are already out ringing?! I didn't realize it until I saw them out today!

In workplace news: Last week I experienced a couple firsts. One: I was asked for money from a homeless person while walking to my car, in the skyway, leaving work. That was awkward and boy, can some of those people spin a tale! Not to say that it might not have been true, but still...and then the next day after that, it was a chilly morning, and finding homeless people was like an Easter Egg hunt...there were a few sleeping in some of the most random, "creative" spots, and finding them was a little startling. I can only imagine this is only a start to what will be to come later this year after the snow flies.

Second "first" was venturing out to Shamrocks


OMG. INCREDIBLE burgers and SWEET POTATO FRIES!!! A coworker introduced me to the place and I love it. the atmosphere was great too. They have live bands on the weekends. I am sure it would be fun to check out then too! If you are ever near downtown St. Paul, I highly recommend this place. Delish!

Well, I think that is about all for the quick update! Stay tuned.

-LD

Cricket...cricket

HELLO BLOG READERS! I am BAAAaaaCK!

Not sure why it has taken me this long to get back into the blogosphere, but it has. Oh wait, that's right, I have been INSANELY BUSY!!!

Work is going swimmingly. I am flowing into my new role and team quite nicely and beginning to be recognized by people other than my immediate coworkers (score!) I spent most of the afternoon touring three of our stores, getting a better feel for the customer service area in each of them. My eyes were opened to the wide variety of appearance that exist out there, and we only hit three stores...it kind of makes my head hurt that there is some severe lack of ownership and direction given to stores in this one key area of the building.

I took part in helping in our first ever company sample sale the other week. Wow, that was amazing. And I thought the sample sales at my prior job were nice. Especially if you or anyone you know likes to hunt/fish/camp/boat/wear clothes...did I hear Christmas gifts anyone?! Pretty sure it was awesome. That, and ALL of the money raised is going to two different local charities! That made me even more excited!

Let's see...Derick found a fish tank/stand set-up someone was selling on Craigslist. He talked me into looking into it - which we decided to go ahead and purchase from the guy. Picture this: one entire wall in your home dedicated to fish tanks. Yes, we have that set-up going on right now, but not quite the ENTIRE equity of wall space. This set-up will feature six 40-gallon breeder (type of 40-gallon fish tank) fish tanks 3 across and two high. We are assembling a team of able bodies to help us drain, tear down, pack up and get to our garage for a massive clean-up, overhaul and potential re-build of the existing tank stand wall unit. This, my friends, is a massive undertaking, and quite the water changing happening in my living room. Lord, give me strength...It is going to be awhile until this process is complete, especially if we choose to re-build from scratch the wall tank stand. The living room right now, I think, is the cleanest I have seen it, with the exception of when we moved into the house. Seriously. Full of tanks still, but clean.

And then there's babies. Is everyone in the world pregnant or just had a baby? Seriously. I know we are at that age when all our friends are having kids, but it really does feel like EVERYONE, female, of course. Sorry Arnold...is having kid(s). It always seems that way at one's place of employment too, doesn't it? Like, I am afraid to drink the water for fear of waking up one day to find a baby bump. Sheesh! Not that we are against kids or having kids. The book has been opened on that subject, as it appears my hubby is more ready for kids than I am. I guess sometimes he doesn't consider that I already have two kids to keep track of and pick up after...him and Tucker keep me pretty busy already. We'll get there, just not quite there yet. One of my friends just had her baby a week or so ago. CUTEST little freaking thing ever! I am so excited for them! It is their second child, and their little boy is the cutest too. He already told me that he loves me - second visit. I am so "in!" haha. I do find myself thinking of her kidlets though - whenever I am out shopping, I am always like, ooh, he would like this, and these would be SO cute for her! I am such a sucker. Wait for my sister to get married and start popping out kids. It's on!

So, there you have a brief update...