Forgetfulness

Ay, what a week. Why does it seem like the older you get, the more weight you put on, the more forgetful you become and the busier you get?! I'm not even married or have kids! I would give anything to be a twenty-something now. I wouldn't have taken all that time for granted and moaned about being "soooo bored!" Now I moan about being "sooooo busy!" and not having enough time to do everything I want. Lately, the things I feel like I've been missing out on are stitching, movie viewing and checking out local events. I don't see much of those things happening until June! My class does finally end at the end of this week. I need to take my final and state certification exam by Friday night. After that, I am free from class obligations...woohoo! I cannot wait...it will be a huge weight off my chest. But freedom does not arrive that easily. I'll have a couple of events to attend between Saturday and Wednesday of next week and then I leave for a long weekend to visit family in Texas. Freedom begins the Monday after Memorial Day. So for the time being...still busy and a tad stressed. I miss my lazy evenings and weekends!

I have been able to squeeze in a little bit of stitching. I finished the stitching on my HoE Freebie Exchange and had started another freebie piece in case I changed my mind on the original freebie I picked. Now the original freebie has grown on me and I think this current freebie would be a good little christmas pillow ornament instead. The colors I picked scream "holly jolly" to me. It's a very quick stitch and I decided to use Gloriana thread. I've never used silk thread before and this Gloriana floss is dreamy! It's very soft and hasn't knotted at all. I haven't been able to progress onto my personal stitching though...not enough time for that. Now I just need to decide how to finish my Freebie piece for my HoE partner. Decisions, decisions...

This weekend, I drove to Alameda to pick up my framed Love You Mom project from The Urban Forest. They have framed a couple of pieces for me in the past and done a good job plus they are the framer that NiaH recommend to their customers. I loved the overall look of the project and the pale gold lattice frame really looked good with the colors of the piece. However, I was a little disappointed. If I'm going to drop $60 to frame a small 7x7 piece of needlework, I would really like it to be perfect. I am very selective about what I take to a finisher since I don't have a lot of extra money to spend. This was a special piece since it was for my mom and for Mother's Day but when I received the framed piece, there was a small little chip in the finish of the frame right in the front and a small little dark mark on the stitched piece itself. Both aren't completely noticable but I know how I turned my piece into her and I am also a completely neurotic perfectionist when it comes to my things and things I am giving away. So I was less than thrilled. Of course, everytime I go to this shop, the framer is never there so I couldn't voice my complaint to the person who actually did the work and see if they could fix it or tell me what to do. I did tell the lady who was manning the store at the time and she touched up the nick in the frame so it wasn't as noticable but it is still noticable to me. I am a little frustrated and don't know if I should let it go or call up the framer and let her know that I wasn't 100% happy with the work done. I do kind of feel like she is the only experienced needlework framer around here. NiaH exclusively refers her and the other needlework shop near me couldn't even name one framer that she knew of. I don't anticipate having anything to frame in the near future...Fairy Moon would be the next project and she only has 40 stitches in her at best right now. Do I really need to be all that specific to a framer that when I pick it up, I expect there to be no chips in the frame and no marks on my needlework?!?! I couldn't very well leave my piece there to take up this discussion with her at a later time as Mother's Day was the following day and I couldn't show up empty-handed. It put me in a tough spot of sucking it up and dealing with it but I guess I'm not dealing with it very well if I've talked this much about it already. Oh, and since I was all preoccupied with the disappointment of a less than perfect piece, I wrapped the gift and forgot to take a picture of it framed beforehand. I told myself to take my camera to my folks for when my mom unwrapped the gift, I could take a picture. And you know what?! I forgot again! Next time I head to the folks, I'll remember to take the camera to snap a shot to share. I was doubly bummed out that I forgot to bring the camera since my brother came by the folks with Mondo, his wanna-be-a-bunny chihuahua. Mondo cracks me up!

In other news, I am totally debating whether or not I want to try this exercise program called the Bar Method. There is a studio very close to my job and it has received rave reviews. The only problem is that it's very pricey. I can deal with pricey if I see good results and am commited to the program. Ummm, commitment would be my other problem. I'm lazy and love to go straight home and veg in front of the tv, stitching and snacking most of the night which is why I need something like the Bar Method. Ideally, I'd like to tone and lose 10 pounds but it's not really the number on the scale that bothers me...it's the jiggles. I am seriously debating trying their introductory offer when I get back from Dallas and immerse myself in the program in that month and see what results come into play. I think I can realistically try to go to the classes 3-4 times a week. If I don't like the program, don't see results or think that it's way beyond the means of my pocketbook, I'll probably just sign up with a local gym that has a cheaper and unlimited yoga program per month. It would be cool if I could go to the Bar Method class at 6am on weekdays before work but that would be hysterically funny as I can't even get up before 7am! How do people get up that early to workout?!

And my goal for the week is to go see My Blueberry Nights before it leaves the theater. I've been saying I would go see it for three weeks now and I am scared it will leave the theaters before I see it. It's a small, unadvertised movie about a lovelorn waitress played by Norah Jones of all people. She is not why I want to see this movie though. It is directed by Wong Kar Wai. If the ex left anything to me (besides loads of frustration), it's an appreciation for movies that are "outside the box". Wai directs films that pull at the strings of emotion and make you think. Normally, his films are in mandarin and subtitled in english but this movie is all in English. I've been dying to see it since it's come out but it's only playing at small obscure theaters in the city that aren't all that convenient to me. I must check this one out! Maybe today?