A-Quilling I Shall Go

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I think I've just about perfected my quilled balloon birthday card.

Sunday afternoon I sorted out all my quilling strips of paper. I bought a tube of "Scrappin' Sticks" at the scrapbook store a while back and these are all the 1/8" strips. (There are more colors, I've already used some.) I'll use the 1/4" strips for something else - paper weaving, maybe. I wanted them separated by color because to make the balloons, I glue two strips together to make them 24" long.

When these are gone, I'll try cutting my own strips. I'm worried that most of the cardstock I own is a bit too heavy but we'll see. If that doesn't work out, I'll buy packages of quilling paper, either by the sheet or already cut in strips. It's dirt cheap so I think buying it in strips makes sense - saves time.

Then I started making balloons. Next I'll cut all the paper for the cards, stamp the Happy Birthday and start gluing the balloons onto the card. I really like mass-producing like this because it's so mindless once you get going. I watch a lot of craft shows on HGTV while doing stuff like this. Warms my heart.

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Yesterday, it finally happened - I'll have help at work. I was told about it late Friday afternoon but the person who will be helping me was off that day so she wasn't told about it until Monday afternoon. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but so far, no shoe. She's an excellent employee, very nice and seems happy with the change. She and I are meeting this morning to get organized. She'll still be doing her other work so I don't really know how much time she can give me. But I'll take whatever I can get - two hours day minimum would mean a lot. She's someone I know I can work well with and I'm relieved the training will be less than if we hired a temp, which was the other direction we were going.

I also asked my boss if I can take Friday off. I've had it on the calendar for a couple of months but then it became clear I really wouldn't be able to - my choice, based on workload and people depending on me, being the only one in Accounts Receivable these days. This week I decided I really need a Stefani Day, and that's a good one to take off - the day before my 50th birthday - so I asked him via email. I've been stretched so thin, I was afraid I'd cry if I asked him in person. I told him who could provide back-up for me, blah, blah, blah - and he wrote back. "Of course you can have the day off!" I laughed at how I went overboard in selling him on the idea.

He knows I've been swamped. The other day, I went into his office to hand him some papers, opened my mouth to speak and my eyes filled with tears. He felt so bad, "What's wrong? What happened?" I excused myself, went to the ladies room, dabbed my eyes, took a deep breath and went back in his office. "That was just me being overwhelmed. So the thing I emailed you about..." and went right back to business. When I got back to my desk, I emailed Steve, "I hate being a woman!!" Steve told me that night that he thinks it's ridiculous that women always feel so bad about crying at work. That's just how we are wired, he says. No one thinks less of us for doing that. I was shocked! I know he's an enlightened male - but I didn't know he was that enlightened! He was a little insulted when I told him that, I think. We laughed.

I think the promise of this help has prompted me to let my guard down, to slow down the plate spinning. Last night, Steve had dinner with his daughter and Simon went to a friend's house so I had the place to myself. I parked my butt in the comfy recliner and watched Tivoed shows for four hours straight, then went to bed. My friend Sherry, who works in our Buffalo office, drove to Rochester yesterday to take me out to lunch for my birthday. I had such a big lunch, I didn't really eat dinner, just snacked a bit later on.

And today, I find myself finally looking forward to my Stefani Day on Friday. I'm going to go visit a fine art store I found online that carries the kind of PVA (glue) I've been looking for. They had some other neat stuff so I was putting together an order when I accidentally saw their address - downtown Rochester! I'm also toying with the idea of going to see Brokeback Mountain again - yes, that's how much I loved it. But Pam and I are planning on watching it together again when it comes out on DVD so I'll probably skip seeing it in the theater a second time.

What I think I'll do instead is go see the Extreme Materials exhibit at the Memorial Art Gallery. It's art made out of odd things, like duck sauce packets, dog tags, cable ties, window envelopes and peach pits. (Those are all separate pieces, by the way.) Wacky stuff. It's near the art store - and the gallery opens at 11:00 so that would be perfect. Then I'll take myself out to a lovely lunch.

Wow - I'm getting so excited!! I can't wait - can't remember the last Stefani Day I had.