Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The Move is Over!!

The move is finally over, and we're putting our stuff away!  Today was the day to empty the totes and carts in preparation for the movers to come and pick them up.  I have a whopper of a bruise on my left knee area, and a smaller one on my wrist..

Bruise, also called a contusion, a type of relatively minor hematoma of tissue[1] in which capillaries and sometimes venules are damaged by trauma, allowing blood to seep into the surrounding interstitial tissues.

A bruise is a common skin injury that results in breakage of blood vessels under the skin. Blood from damaged blood vessels beneath the skin collects near the surface of the skin resulting in what we recognize as a black and blue mark.  The shades of color of a bruise are red/blue when it's fresh, turning blue/black/purple after a day or two, then going to greenish-yellow and finally fading away.

I should try to coordinate my outfits with the color of the bruises I got while moving stuff in our office.  Or maybe that's a little crazy! 

Our new office is much bigger than the old one, well at least it's wider and longer.  We were on three floors before, and now we're on one, so it would stand to reason that it looks bigger.  The acres of space between me and, say, the ladies room, is huge!  So my feet are feeling the effects.  Anyone know a good foot massage technique??



And all the bending and stretching!  I washed down about 75% of the work surfaces and shelves and conference tables on Saturday.  Oh, my aching back!!


But things are getting there.  Today when I left the office I didn't feel that my cubicle was in any way horrible or disgusting looking.  :-)  It's starting to feel less like a storage space and more like a work station.  Progress indeed!

Now I only hope I can get motivated to work on some of my sewing projects this weekend.  I have to finish the bargello from hell


and get back to the Phone Guy's Wife blocks


Happy sewing (I hope!!)


Sunday, June 24, 2012

Stash, Resource Center, and Other Miscellaneous Terms

Our office move is done, and during the move we discovered how much stuff we had accumulated over the 25 years our company had been in the building.

We donated enough three ring binders to my granddaughter's school to provide all the incoming kindergarteners with their portfolio binders at no charge, plus binder clips, book ends, file folders, pens and pencils and paper for the teachers.  My SIL drove over twice with the back of the station wagon full. 


This was not surprising because we had over 100 people in our location two years ago, but when we moved out we were down to about 60.  So there was a lot of stuff sitting in desks and file cabinets.  The other location we merged with was about the same.  So putting things away yesterday involved cramming and being creative!  All conference rooms have their own supply of supplies... is that a redundancy or an oxymoron?  Oh well, we don't have to buy some things until next fiscal year!

I brought all my personal things home because the movers would not be responsible for lamps, pictures of relatives, or chotchkies.  Combined with the fact that we're painting the two upstairs bedrooms and having carpeting installed makes our garage look like a warehouse.

SO--- imagine what I was thinking when I got this call last weekend:

"Hi, Sue, what are you doing Tuesday night?  Can you come to church at 6:30?  Someone donated 11 boxes of fabric to the quilting group and we have to go through it."

Hmmm...  11 boxes.  Big boxes or small?  Of fabric.  Could be anything.  Could be good.  Could be junk.

So I met the other ladies in the Loving Hands Quilt Group after work, and got the answer.



Six of the boxes were pretty good sized.  The other five were wide but only about six inches deep.  They were all full of samples of drapery and upholstery fabric.

OK, not what we normally use for quilting!!  I guess when some people say fabric, it's a generic, all-encompassing term like paper or fish.

There were some poly-cotton pieces that can be used for general use quilts.  We do make some to send to charity that need to be sturdy.  Some of the recipients of our work live in less than ideal conditions and normal quilt fabric wouldn't last or keep them warm.  So one box was filled with small pieces that can be sewn as is, and one was filled with larger pieces we may cut up later.

A quantity was designated for another group who can turn them into crafty projects, and some was set aside for a lady who makes small purses and tote bags.  Some of the pieces were backed with some sort of coating that would surely gum up the average sewing machine, so a bunch was tossed out as not suitable for anyone we know.

But I am the lucky owner of several stacks of things picked out by the group as likely candidates for tote or travel bags.


These are a few of the things I came home with, and now I just have to find a place for all of this while I finish up a few other projects to make room for the NEW projects that will surely come to mind when I take the time to tear all the tags off these pieces!!  <sigh>

Today we worked on our quilt projects after church, and Jean came in to look through the boxes we set aside for her.  She kept commenting on how pretty things were, and asking me if I didn't want to look at some of her rejects.  Nope!!  Not looking!!  I know they're lovely but I cannot.  I. Cannot. Bring. Home. One. More. Scrap.

For now...