I can write faster than anyone who can write better, and I can write better than anyone who can write faster.  -  A.J. Liebling (1904-1963)

Well, I think I've done everything I could do to fix the lemon.  I took the bobbin assembly apart three times, threaded the needle and bobbin three times, checked and re-checked the instruction manual, and sat and thought about it for awhile.  I can't think of anything else to try.  I've thought about it logically, and have concluded that the sewing machine is inhabited by a demon.  Exorcism is the only answer.  Unfortunately, I'm not a Catholic.  I'm a Southern Baptist, and Southern Baptist exorcists are not exactly thick on the ground.  About the closest thing we have to exorcism is what is called "The Laying On Of Hands," where the elders of the church put their hands on your head and pray for your healing.  This is usually done for people who are sick or extremely distressed.  I'm extremely distressed, but somehow, I doubt that I would qualify.  And even if I did, healing me wouldn't fix the lemon.

Speaking of healing, there are many people on the crochet and quilt sites I belong to who are ill.  I mean to say, even disabled.  The thing is, you wouldn't know it by their posts unless you knew it by their posts.  What I mean to say is, they are almost scary in their cheerfulness and caring about others.  They will occasionally mention this test or that that they have to have, or that they are not employed outside the home because they're disabled, but they rarely seem down, and are always there to cheer someone else up, pray for someone else, offer to do something for someone else.  Most people consider me perky, but I'm a piker compared to these guys. 

I'm closing through Monday, so we will have to celebrate Mother's Day on a different day.  I can't forget to pick up Mum's corsage tomorrow before I go to work.  Of course, with the lemon down for the count, her present won't be ready, but luckily she's a very understanding mum.

Time to check my emails, then go to bed.

Buona notte.

Socks:  Blu e rosso

I am not young enough to know everything.  -  Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

It's 12:26am and my sewing machine doesn't work.  The spool thread decided to somehow - and don't ask me how - wrap itself around the bobbin thread.

This is the same sewing machine that just came back from the repair shop.  In Iowa Falls.  I think it might be a lemon.  The sewing machine I mean.  Actually, this sewing machine is the reason my mother gave up sewing.  I thought I was made of stronger stuff.  I thought I could deal.  But this machine is tough.  Maybe tougher than I.  Apparently, I won't be machine quilting anytime in the near future.  Which sucks, because I had plans.  Big plans.  I was going to join the twenty-first century and try making a rag quilt.

Singer used to make good sewing machines.  Now they make the kind I have.  I think the company changed hands once too often.

Well, back to ye olde drawing board.  Horse and buggy, here I come!

Socks:  Barefoot

If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?  -  Will Rogers (1879-1935)

I'm a tiger when I want love.  I'm a snake when we disagree.  -  Jethro Tull

Life is certainly not for the faint of heart.  I don't remember who said that, but it's been true for me.

When people have a parting of the ways, it makes me sad.  Sometimes it's a definite non-meeting of the minds, and sometimes it's just a case of bad timing.  

I'm ready to start on the snow-covered tree branch and cardinal now.  I want to do the border today as well.  Then I have to get the exchange fats and charm ready to mail tomorrow.

I took Suzy out to do errands today, and we shared our twice-a-month Big Mac Combo.

I think my blog entries are getting kind of dull.  I will try and come up with something juicier.

If I think of anything else today, I'll check back in with you.

Buona sera.

Socks:  Nero e rosso 

Everybody pities the weak; jealousy you have to earn.  -  Arnold Schwarzenegger

I realized today that I have 8 (eight) UFOs:

1) Can't divulge here.

2) Can't divulge here.

3) Can't divulge here.

4) Two potholders for exchange.

5)  Two 12" squares for exchange.

6) One "Louisiana" block for sick quilt.

7) One "Spinning Star" block for encouragement quilt.

8) Mystery Pattern on Crochet Depot.

Well, what of it?  Tex has:

If a man does his best, what else is there?  -  George Patton (1885-1945)

I've learned a lot so far in my foray into landscape quilting/fusibles:

1)  Don't believe the instructions on the fusible sheet.  Experiment on scraps.

2)  Don't try to figure out the instructions on the landscape pattern.  You will become frustrated and confused.  Just figure it out yourself.  You've got a brain.  Use it.

3)  If a fabric doesn't look like it's the right colour, but it's close, try layering it on top of another fabric.

4)  If the colour is right, but just too dark or bright, use the wrong side.

5)  You're going to be doing a lot more cutting than you thought, so be glad, be very glad, you spent the bucks on ergonomic scissors.

6)  Don't make any final decisions on the fabrics until daylight.  Colours at night are not true.

7)  Be thankful you have too much fabric for one person.  That gray fabric you got half a yard of when you only needed a fat for the sheep can end up being a pond in the snow.

New people are moving into the jinxed house across the street.  I wonder if they know its history?

Mum and Rex have been working all day on the pickup, washing, polishing, and generally spiffing it up.  I took Suzy for a ride since I had errands to do at drive-ups.  She always loves to go places in the car.

I'm closing again tomorrow night, then off Tuesday.  At least that means I don't have to work Deli.  I've gotten so I detest it.

I'm the Welcomer on The Depot now, and Andrito has set up a board for me called "New Arrivals."  This site is the best for crocheters.  Lots of things to do, and really nice managers, too. 

I've still got the Giant Acorns wall hanging for my aunt and uncle in Texas on my mind.  After I clear the decks, that will be my next project.  Although...I was also thinking stained glass.  There's this fusible black stuff you can use for stained glass quilted wall hangings...

Buona sera.

Socks:  Rosa e blu.

Instead of having "answers" on a math test, they should just call them "impressions," and if you got a different "impression," so what?  Can't we all be brothers?

If you're a cowboy, and you're dragging a guy behind your horse, I bet it would really make you mad if you looked back and the guy was reading a magazine.

"Eddies," said Ford, "in the space time continuum."  "Ah," nodded Arthur.  "Is he?  Is he?"

Richard was looking at the bird as if it was the most extraordinary thing he had ever seen in his life, and the bird was looking at Richard as if defying him to find its beak even remotely funny.  -  Douglas Adams

I do not feel obligated to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.  -  Galileo Galilei

Well, Blogdrive finally admitted that my username and password were correct.

I'm chatting on Crochet Depot now.  Our first ever chat!  Very fun.

Do these colours look kind of faded to you?  They look kind of washed out to me.

I am working on several projects now.  Three which I can't discuss here, a Mystery Pattern, a potholder exchange, and a squares exchange on Crochet Depot, fat exchanges and a charms exchange 3 Sisters Cyber Quilting, Quilters, and Kayann's.

I miss role play, though.  I blame my very strange schedule at work.  It seems like I'm always ready to fall asleep.

The birds are out in full force these days, yakking and stuffing themselves. 

Mum and Rex and Suzy came by today to show me their new pick-up.  It's white with a gray interior, and very nice.  It'll be great to haul wood in, for Rex's woodart projects.  Did I mention that he's an artist in wood?

I got a pattern for an Australian Bush Quilt that looks really interesting.  I can't start anything new, now, but it's definitely a keeper.

Buona Sera.

Socks:  Barefoot

I believe humans get a lot done, not because we're smart, but because we have thumbs, so we can make coffee.  -  Flash Rosenberg

Did you know that they have tornadoes in Scotland?

Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, burn their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking, nauseous puddle water.         --  The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674

Way too much coffee.  But if it weren't for the coffee, I'd have no identifiable personality whatsoever.  --  David Letterman

A few days ago, I watched one of those msn videos.  It caught my eye because it was about super-neat people.  They interviewed a woman who cleaned her house everyday for at least six hours.  She put her baby in the ktichen sink to feed him so that he wouldn't mess up her floors, and it would be easy to just rinse him off that way.

The woman's husband was in the background.  He had a kind of glazed look in his eyes as his wife explained how she couldn't abide a mess.  Needless to say, the family didn't include any pets that I could see.

When I was a child, I remember a family where the mother locked her kids out of the house all day so that they couldn't track anything onto her spotless floors.  If they got thirsty, they had to drink out of the hose in the backyard.  She came to the door and handed them their lunches in bags.  All the other kids in the neighborhood felt sorry for them, having a mom like that.  I guess the dad either didn't know, or didn't care.  Their are a lot of men who will sacrifice their children to their spouses.

The interesting thing about the video, though, was the reactions of the shrinks.  None of them seemed to think that the various neat-nuts were being excessive.  None of them seemed to care about the effects on the children.  One of the shrinks said that since the neat ones didn't get pleasure from the housework, it wasn't a compulsion.

Maybe they should've interviewed the kids.

Today, I'm babysitting Suzy, because Mum and Rex went to the Sam's Club in Ames.  It's about 45 minutes away and they don't trust the pup to be on her own for several hours.  They also don't want to lock her up in her cat carrier.  That's not as bad as it sounds.  The carrier was what they shipped Joseph in when the cats flew to Iowa, and it's big enough for Joe to stand up in.  Suzy can stand up in it too, no prob.  She has blanket throws in there, and that's where she goes when she wants to take a nap.  At night, they put it by Rex's side of the bed.

I'm going to give the pup a bath now.  I gave Rex coupons for bathing and grooming her as one of his Christmas presents.  More later.

Okay.  She was pretty good in the shower.  I sat in the bottom of the tub with the hose shower thing and as long as she could stand on me, she was okay.  Of course, my legs are shredded, but hey.

I just found out that the quilt site I belonged to is being shut down because the manager is having a hard time juggling family, school, and so forth with keeping up the site.  So, we're all joining other sites.  She gave us four different others so we wouldn't be siteless.

I talked to my aunt and uncle in Texas tonight.  They're doing pretty good, but their dog Rosie died.  She was such a cool dog.  I have pictures of her and me out by the pond in back of the house.  It must have been over eight years ago that I was in Texas.  I wish everyone I cared about lived closer.  Some day, though.  "When we all get together, what a day of rejoicing it will be..."

In the beginning of our conversation, Uncle Otha asked me if I knew who wrote "...Sail forth into the sea, O ship..."  I didn't, but I looked it up as we were speaking, and it was Longfellow.  The Building Of The Ship.  Anyone who likes ships should check it out.

Anyway, Aunt Billie sounded well, and Uncle Otha is writing a new book about the Cotton Belt.  He's getting all kinds of info from the descendants of the men who worked on it.  Aunt Billie's brother worked on it, and lots of other people who lived in Commerce.  I love history.  I can't wait to read this book.

Buona notte.

Socks:  Thick gray boot socks

Hawaii has always been a very pivotal role in the Pacific.  It is in the Pacific.  It is a part of the United States that is an island that is right there.  -  Dan Quayle

What a waste it is to lose one's mind.  Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful.  How true that is.  -  Dan Quayle

I get to go to lots of overseas places, like Canada.  -  Britney Spears

It's very cold, but still no snow.

I got home about 10:45 tonight, too late to do anything useful.

I finally heard from Ward, but there was bad news.  Billyboy died, apparently from eating Sago Palm seeds.  They're highly toxic, and animals like rabbits and dogs don't pick up on that.  Actually, I didn't know about the seeds, myself.

I finished the last book of the Left Behind series.  Did I already mention that? 

My hands are thrashed from wearing those disposable gloves at work.  I could sand wood with these hands, I swear.  Something's got to be done.

Gee, what an interesting blog update, Calypso.  ~snore~

I think I'll go to bedly now, and maybe tomorrow I'll be a little more scintillating.

Socks:  Fluffy pink slipper boots

I made a wrong mistake.  -  Yogi Berra

I've been thinking about people who aren't Christians, but say stuff like "I'm just not ready," "I haven't made up my mind,"  "I'm still thinking about it," "I'm doing okay as I am."

"I'm still thinking about it."  I think it's hard for most people to humble themselves.  To admit to God that they need Him.  Like the guy who can never say he's wrong and apologize.  He's afraid to lose face.  Afraid to be put in the position of being thought less of.

"I haven't made up my mind."  These people think they have all the time in the world.  They don't.  Actually, they're living on borrowed time.  And the clock is ticking.  Like a time bomb.

"I'm just not ready."  They're afraid that all the fun times will stop if they become Christians.  The fun times won't stop.  The destructive fun things will, but not the rest.  And they'll have new fun stuff to take the place of the destructive stuff.  Actually, I've had more laughs with Christians than with anyone else.

"I'm doing okay as I am."  Oh really?  Take a look at the world around you, Bunky.  You don't think we need some direction?  Wake up and smell the Starbucks.  Things are NOT improving.  And your life.  If something bad happens, think you could stand alone?

Christianity is the world's most exclusive club that wants everyone to be a member.  Come as you are.