I have definitely been neglecting this blog for the last few weeks.  This blog and anything else I might be working on that's not needlepoint related.

The shop is mounting it's Spring Show on Tuesday and I've been swamped with work for two months, which is a really good thing.

I've had a few orders, too, which is an even better thing, since it's special orders that pay the bills and keep the doors open.

The lovely and elegant Lady who operates the place asked me not to cash my last pay check until Tuesday (I picked it up last Thursday) because she has no money in the bank.  Every penny has been sunk into the new furniture and designs and decorations she's using for the new show.  If customers don't show up and love the new designs, she's sunk and so am I.

And storming the Capitol isn't an option.

On a normal workweek, I might have a footstool or child's rocker to paint and design for.  For the past two months, I've had no less than six pieces of furniture in my office at any given time.  In fact, I injured my right hand because of all the furniture.  For two weeks, I woke up in the morning with my right hand curled into a claw, the tendon from my middle finger to my wrist so tight and sore that it was very painful to flatten my hand.  Tylenol and an icepack helped but it wasn't until I could figure out how I injured it that I could actually hep myself.

It had to do with the way I hold the big brush when I put base coats on the furniture.  I changed my grip and all the pain went away.

Typing was one of the things I couldn't do easily, so I didn't try.

I've also, of necessity, been logging more hours in my office than normal, trying to grind out all the stuff they need for the shop.  I actually got most of it done but there are a few things I still need to paint and deliver by Tuesday.  I can bring them in after the show opens, that's not a problem; they just needed the big things that the show is hung on.

It's been really fun doing all the new stuff.  I can honestly say that this time I didn't do anything that I wouldn't like to have myself.    Of course, I'm not finished.  I may still come up with some designs that I only think are so-so.

And the customers don't care how busy I am, they want their orders right away.  I try to get them done quickly because the cash flow must be maintained but sometimes I JUST DON'T FEEL LIKE IT.

Sometimes I dont' want to paint anything, I just want to do something else, like write or read or do needlepoint but like anyone else with a job (yuck), I have responsibilities.

And storming the Capitol isn't an option.

I hope our politicians understand that for every Tea Partier who draws a sign and gets himself down to a demonstration, there are thousands of us who are with him in spirit but are working too damn hard just trying to keep our heads above water (or at least our snorkels above water) to take the time to join him.

Last Monday evening I went to the University of Minnesota with my parents.  They had been invited to a reception and talk by Jonah Goldberg and they thought I'd be interested. I was.

Of course, by the time they picked me up, I was wishing I'd never said I'd go because I was exhausted but so were they.  It was a beautiful evening and we hauled ourselves to Coffman Memorial Union.

All three of us are former Gophers, although my Dads the only one who graduated.  Mom and I both found better uses for our time.

The gathering was small; it was a conservative event on a college campus, after all.  The bar where the reception was held was lovely!  Small, tastefully decorated with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Mississippi and downtown!  Good food and an open bar.  You can do that when the guests are all conservatives; we're known for our self control.

When we arrived there were less than a dozen people yet in attendance and one was of course Mr. Goldberg.  I wouldn't have recognized him because I don't watch the nightly news.  I get all my news via internet and radio while I work.  The news is worse than caffeine for me; if I have any after 5, I can't sleep.  My mom recognized him right away and introduced herself and then me and dad.

Mr. Goldberg was much younger than I would have imagined (by that I mean much younger than me.  I always expect famous people to be older than I am and I always forget that I'm so old hardly any of them really are.)  He was also quite tall.  He was charming, friendly and funny and honestly behaved as though he were delighted to meet us.

He loved my StarWars bag.  Later on, during his talk, he referred to himself as a nerd.  During the Q&A, I considered testing his nerd hood by asking the crucial question; James T. Kirk, or Malcolm Reynolds?  but I didn't.  ( The answers Kirk.  Always has been, always will be.)

My mom couldn't get over the fact that we didn't know anyone else who was there.  Here in Minneapolis, where we conservatives are outnumbered about 10,000 to one, you'd think we'd all know each other but we don't.  Of course not, by definition, conservatives are too involved in their own lives and families to spend time hunting down like minded individuals.

But we actually did know a young couple we ran into after the talk.  Steve and his wife, Erin aren't friends of mine but of my sisters and we had met many times over the course of the last few decades.  We talked briefly after the event, which we all enjoyed.

Jonah Goldberg's speech was about Conservationism vs. Environmentalism.  One believes in taking care of the earth's resources in a rational way that doesn't entail making everyone poor and the other is a pseudo religion that thinks the world would be better off if several billion people could be eliminated.

He was informative, charming and very funny.

As usually, I was the most severely under dressed person there.  Erin might have been wearing jeans, too but it really didn't matter.  No one cared and the only reason I even noticed is that some of the women were wearing really pretty business suits, including one gal who's outfit was light blue linen.  I'm a total sucker for anything light blue.  In fact, with my jeans, I was wearing a light blue sweater.  All anyone ever notices is my StarWars bag.  I got three compliments on it; all from guys.

When was the last time three different guys complimented you on your purse?

That bag is a much better, more accurate and louder expression of who I am than any tattoo on any person you'll ever meet.

Now I'm just rambling.

I gotta go take a shower.

 

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