What Now

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) Wow, I never realized how difficult it was to keep up with a blog when you aren't seated in front of a computer 8 hours a day!

2) I'm haven't been really sure what to do with myself around here lately. Oh, I have plenty to do, but I don't know where to start! I've finally caught up with laundry for the first time in probably 6 years, though. It's nice to have clean clothes handy when you need them! :) There is still a lot to be done. I never realized how much stuff got pushed aside while I was working. I look around, see everything that still needs to be done and I kind of just go catatonic. Our main issue is just not having a place to put everything. Our house is not conducive to proper storage. I have a feeling we're just going to have to go on a massive, heartless purge of stuff soon or we won't have enough room to live!

3) Looking for a job is not at all fun. Thus far I haven't been able to find anything available in my field that I'm really qualified for. There are a lot of jobs available for people who know AutoCAD, but that wasn't a course I learned in college. There are also a lot of jobs in graphics available for people who build web sites, but I don't know enough about that to do it for a company. There was one job I found that sounded perfect in every way, though. I read the description and realized I was qualified in every way for the job, so I got really excited! I opened up the listing to see where the job was located, and it turned out to be the job I just left. BOO! Oh, and they're paying more for that job now. Nice, huh? Well, I'll keep looking. I keep having nightmares that I'm going to wind up working fast food or something. Literal nightmares. It seems I worked very hard to get a degree that qualifies be for nothing! Hopefully I'll find something good someplace where I can use my mad skillz, yo.

4) I didn't thought I'd miss my Sprocket friends as much as I do. I miss talking to Andrew. He was fun.

5) I got to have lunch with Sara the other day and that was lots of fun! I'm hoping we can make it a regular thing while I am not working! We ate and shopped! It was quite girly and enjoyable!

6) I've picked up a couple of my other hobbies lately, which is good because I think I'm starting to get pretty bad carpel tunnel in my hands from crocheting. I find it sad that I get injuries from something I do while sitting fairly still. It doesn't seem fair! I still crochet, but I have gotten out my jewelry stuff again, and I've been working on some Steampunk pieces that I think are turning out really nice! I'm still learning about the style, though, but I'm not doing so bad thus far. However, I've dismantled many watches and clocks for the gears. Honestly, I think I almost enjoy pulling apart the clocks as much as I enjoy making the jewelry. Seriously, if any of you have some old mechanical watches you want to get rid of, send them my way. I also have some stuff to paint with, but I've never been really good at painting. It's fun and messy, though. I'm also thinking about working on some intaglio prints, but actually producing them without the proper equipment is hard. Now, if I could just figure out how to get an etching press in the garage, I'd be in business!

7) I've also started cooking more, which I love to do. I'm a pretty good cook, but I haven't had much time to do it until now. I'm not doing anything fancy, but I have plans! I even bought a food torch! I've used it a couple of times on store bought creme brulee, and that was an experience. I almost caught the curtains by the sink on fire! I still haven't quite got the hang of making the flame shorter. Heeheehee.

8) I've also been doing some genealogical research lately. While going through some things I inherited when Pappa died, I found a box with my great grandfather's pocket watch in it. I'd never really thought much about it, and if it wasn't for my recent foray into tearing watches apart, I probably wouldn't have thought to even check it out. I opened the back to see how it worked (no, I wasn't going to tear this one apart) and found the name of the company that made it and actually found a lot of information about the watch online. Not the specific watch, but the company that made them and the line of watches it produced. It was interesting. That watch made me realize that I didn't know anything about my great grandfather! I don't know why it didn't dawn on me before, but I didn't even know his name. My dad never spoke about him, even though he's talked a lot about my great grandmother. I talked to my mom and she gave me what info my dad had collected about him, which wasn't much. She also told me some unsavory stories about the man, which more than explains why I'd never heard anything about him. I won't go into detail, mainly because I don't know very much, but suffice it to say that there is a reason I'm related to almost everyone in North Alabama. With some research, and the help of family and friends, I now know that my family tree isn't a tree as much as it is a kudzu vine. I'll be untangling it as much as I can. :)