Boundaries

A few people know about my New Year's Resolution to start using boundaries.

The reason for this is that I take on way too much with everything I do outside of work. I am a "Yes" girl. If someone needs something quickly I am the go to girl. Say I have a sewing client that needs something urgently, I get it done for them, usually at the expense of my relationship with my husband or my sanity. I have spent many nights staying up until 2 or 3 on a work night to complete projects.

Sometimes I donate time to help friends/groups on their projects with no compensation whatsoever. The main problem with a lot of this work is that it is usually nearly thankless and the majority of the time I feel taken advantage of. I am lucky to be able to do so many things well and help people that need it, but it gets very irritating.

So the resolution was to help me learn to say "No" or "Enough" when I feel tired or beat down and just can't handle any more.

I have really worked on this a lot and it definitely has helped my sanity. It is hard to say "No" to someone who needs help, but I just can't keep killing myself trying to get things done for people and feeling like crap afterward since I only got like 4 or 5 hours of sleep at night for days.

What really brought this on was last year when I was in Roller Derby and I was asked to make award sashes for the end of season award ceremony. I worked on them for a month and the number of sashes doubled during the project. 30 beauty queen style sashes with sequin trim and hand cut sparkly letters. I got them done and nearly lost my sanity in the process. Did I get a thank you or recognition for the 90+ hours I put in (this is time outside a full-time job)? Of course not. I knew after that I had to change something.

Anyway, don't get me wrong, I like doing things to help people, but there has to be a boundary or limit. Does anyone else have problems setting boundaries/limits?

Ouch!

Who know teeth whitening was this painful?

I went to the dentist and had impressions and trays made and got the whitening gel and all that. They said to do the top and bottom teeth at different times so they aren't all sensitive at once. I started the top teeth last week and the bottom ones today. The bottom ones are way more sensitive than the top ones apparently. Ouch! My teeth feel like they are throbbing, not the gums, the actual teeth. A weird feeling indeed. Luckily they are only sensitive for a couple of days.

The top ones are pretty damn white, I only have a couple of nights left to wear the top tray.

Oh, and FYI, if you plan on doing this, be careful. I was using too much solution in the top tray and it was getting on my gums and they felt like they were on fire and bleeding for a couple of days. My toothbrush was like a torture device!

New Assignment

I started a new temp. assignment this week. It is a lot longer commute, but the pay is better too.

It's a pretty low key office. There are only like 5 people in the office and there will be a lot of down time. It's a possibility that it may turn into temp to hire.

The only downsides would be the drive and also apparently in winter they require you to wear suits every day. I have never worked anywhere that wasn't casual or business casual. I would probably have to spend a significant amount on a new work wardrobe, and I'm not sure I'm willing to do that.

We'll see what happens with the assignment.

Of sleeping dogs and nakedness

I always sleep naked. Yep, I admitted it. The only exceptions are when I have guests overnight that might throw open the bedroom door at any minute and be shocked by the glory of my nakedness, or when I stay at someone's place (it's just gross to think of being naked on someone's sofa that might have had god knows what going on on it the night before, ick).

Rufus sleeps with us too. He's a really spoiled dog.

Anyway, the other morning while I was sleeping in peacefully I awoke to the sound of a camera shooting pictures right at the end of the bed. I was thinking, "Oh my god, has J gone off the deep end and decided to start a porn career without warning me?"

I turned over enough to see him with the camera at the end of the bed and of course had to ask, "What the hell are you doing?"

He says, "He he he, you should see what Rufus is doing he he".

So, later I looked at the pictures he took and saw this...


Yep, the dog has no problem at all being naked and showing it all off.

This is a better representation of him in normal sleep mode. Did I mention he's spoiled?

Peaches

Peaches are my favorite fruit and unfortunately I have a hard time finding great tasting ones. The ones at local grocery stores aren't usually ripe, or they aren't very sweet.

Anyway, in the last couple of weeks I have gotten some of the best peaches I have had in years. The first ones were from a little roadside stand in Canton, Texas. Those were so good! The second ones were from the Dallas Farmers Market. I got them last Sunday. They are as good if not better than the first ones. It really does pay to go around and sample all the peaches before you buy. J and I tried peaches from probably 6 different stands before we found the really great ones.

Anyway, if you like peaches and are anywhere near a farmers market or roadside stand, I recommend picking some up, especially if they give you a sample first.

Oh yeah, and the ripening in a paper bag trick really does work. I keep mine in one and they are the sweetest, juiciest peaches ever!

Yeah for Peaches!

Another Picture

I just wanted to post a picture of the socks blocking because you can see the stitch pattern a lot better. Well, also, because my sock blockers are so cool! I got them at Leggy Creations.

Sockapalooza Sendoff!

I got my sockpal's socks done just in time and sent the package on August 2nd. There are all the goodies in the box that went with the socks.

Here are the finished socks. I love them! I will definitely make a pair for me too. The Claudia Hand Painted Yarn was really nice to work with and after I blocked them they were just super soft!

I hope she totally loves them! Yeah!