Prepping for maximum sanity retention

There are two options for how I will react when informed I need to go on overtime at work:

1. Weeping and smacking my head into my desk in frustration. Thoughts of sabotaging my computer run through my mind (which only demonstrates my desperation since we are on a network that resides offsite so I can log onto any computer in the building to work) and I begin to plot escapes that can only rival that of a prison inmate that has spent the last ten years in solitary.

2. A resigned willingness. There will be an obsessive cleaning and purging of all old materials from previous assignments and a mild panic when I realize I have other work to wrap up before I can start my overtime assignment. There will be pre-overtime overtime which is time squirreled away for when I need a couple extra hours off work. Which can only mean that its actually paid overtime and I am in need of the extra funds.

I'm firmly locked into reaction #2 at the moment. I have a house fund that needs a boost in the worst way so when overtime was mentioned, my ears perked up like a terrier going out ratting. So I sat down last night and made a list of all the things I would like to accomplish this weekend because once the onslaught at work begins, I will be the equivalent of a zombie. If there are things ready for me to work on in the evenings, I'll pick at them and get some work done. If not, then I will find myself far behind on the schedule I set for myself to get artwork done.

Not only does it keep me on schedule but it also keeps me sane. You know the old saying, "All work and no play makes Lynn a dull girl"? That could be revised to "All work and no play turns Lynn into a psychotic cranky person." Release outlets for the stress are a must.

I've got a plan. Here's how its going:

• I had my second sock knitting class today at the prettiest yarn store in the world and learned how to deal with gussets. I plan to finish the gussets between tonight and tomorrow because it requires counting and thought. Then I'll be to the foot and that's mindless stockinette. Perfect for zombie knitting. Here's how they look after class today:
  

They still look like gutted fish, don't they? It dumbfounds me that after two hours of class it looks very nearly identical to when I got there. Its annoying. Lynne-the-Sock-Knitting-Goddess assures me that its normal when you are learning. I still say its some weird magic trick designed to drive me over the edge. Regardless, I will soldier on. Its hellish cold here in Michigan and my feet need wool socks.

The realization that I took two hours to pick up gusset stitches and knit four rounds required comforting. This yarn followed me home today.

I don't think I want to make anything out of it. I think I want to leave it in a blob like this and just be mesmorized by it. I don't care if its weird. Its so pretty it deserves to be worshiped.

• I've made some progress on the Opposite Socks. I plan to cast on for the orange sock (its a rust orange, it looks kind of red in the picture) this weekend so that I can work on the pair like I'm doing with the first pair. I think this might prevent the Second Sock Syndrome I hear so much about from sock knitters. Which, from what I understand, results in an overwhelming urge to walk around with only one sock despite threats of frostbite or impalement.

• I've been steadily making amigurumi sushi. I've been crocheting the rice base for several pieces and I plan to stuff them tonight and stitch them shut. Then I need to make the fish toppings for them, which can be worked on during the week. They kind of look like big old....well....this is a PG rated blog so I won't say what I think they look like. Here they are:

I need to make sure I keep going on these because they are for a swap and my swap partner sent me mine today. Here it is, my amigurumi Breakfast of Champions:

To say this thrills me is a major understatement. I love the way the edges of the eggs are irregular like they would be in real life. So cool, so exciting. And she sent it packaged in a styrofoam take out box. I've been giggle snorting about it since I opened the box. :) Thanks Jenna!!!!

• Next week is the ATC Exchange meeting and Leann will be running the show since I can't make it. Here are my ATCs so far. Aren't they thrilling?

I will be working on these after I'm done with this post. I expect Leann would drag me from my office and beat me about the head with markers and glue sticks if I don't keep my pledge to do ATCs for every meeting. She can be such a scary bully, you guys just don't know. (If you know her, you know how comical this is because Leann is an easy going hippie that can't even bring herself to eat meat because its mean.)

• I have a new plan for my botany quilt with the leaves I showed you a couple posts ago. I abandoned the wire swirl for each leaf because I couldn't find a colored wire that I liked well enough. So I'm doing beads since I didn't need to buy any and I can piddle around with making each one a little different.

My plan was to finish this one by the end of February but that's not going to happen. My new goal is the end of March. Hopefully that one is doable.

• And for the evenings when I can move nothing more then my eyeballs, I have a new book to read. I highly recommend Alyson Stanfield. If you don't subscribe to her free newsletter, you need to. She is an art business coach and I've found a lot of her advice to be extremely helpful. She just released her first book and my copy came in the mail earlier in the week. I'm hoping it helps me to develop a plan of attack for showing my work next year.
  

I know it seems like a lot of options but they are predicting this assignment will last through the end of the month. Trust me, I will be a much less stressed out chicka if I have something pleasant to come home to and play with in the evenings.

Today involved some domestic duties. One of which was grocery shopping. Did you know that if you drop a container of Dannon Fruit-on-the-Bottom yogurt just right that the bottom explodes and splatters the filling about ten feet across the floor? That was a fun thing to learn. The little boy in the checkout line behind me about peed himself laughing. I was glad to offer him some much needed amusement.

So if the blog goes dark for a while, don't be alarmed. It just means that my brain has been sucked out my head. No worries.