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12 in 12 in 2012

I got an idea at the start of December that I've been mulling around in my head for awhile. I've decided to do it and I'm just now getting around to putting my idea out there in writing. Once it's out there I can't turn back.

The idea is to do 12 new creative things in 2012. Thus "12 in 12 months in 2012". Now I could have said I'd do a new thing each month but sometimes, with work, things get away from me and I might not have time to try something one month. So "12 in 12 in 2012" is for learning and/or doing 12 new things throughout the year. Below is a list of some of the things I'm thinking about.

1) latch hook -- I've done one latch hook project over a decade ago so it's not exactly new for me. I've owned 2 kits for awhile and always thought "someday" I'd do them. Well that "someday" will be this year. And once I'm done with the latch hook part I'm going to finish off the project as well. I have too many half-finished projects lying around because I didn't do that last step. No more. Since I've got all the supplies this will be easy to do and I won't have to spend any money to do so.

2) cup cake decorating -- I've been thinking about this a lot lately. When I was little my mother use to make these great cakes and decorate them beautifully. I don't have kids of my own but that doesn't mean I can't try something like that. I have no supplies for this except the pan to make the cup cakes in. I've been looking around for cake decorating tools and I've found some. The problem is money. I wonder if I could just borrow my mom's stuff.

3) bead work -- When we went up to my sister's for Thanksgiving the year before last she took me shopping to a local cross stitch place. On the wall was a finished project that looked beautiful. It was simply the word Joy in big read letters and a green tree to the left. I looked through the racks and found the pattern. Unfortunately the pattern looked duller than the finished piece on the wall. When I looked closer to the project I noticed that it had been done all in beads instead of cross stitch. I thought it was stunning and I've wanted to do that for awhile. Unfortunately I didn't buy the pattern when I was there and I could never find it anywhere else. I told my sister about it and she got me the pattern and some beads so I could work on it. It's a Christmas themed project so if I start it early enough I might be able to get it done before next Christmas.

4) paint by numbers -- I painted a carved toy box that looks like a kids block for my nieces and nephews for Christmas. I filled it up with Happy Mean toys that they also got to unwrap. Even though I found some of it to be a pain in the ass, when I was all finished I missed painting. I found it relaxing and soothing. I wanted to do it again. I'd like to do a Paint-by-number kit so I could have a finished piece of artwork to hang on my wall. I've looked around at some and find them intimidating. I'm going to have to see if I can find something simpler and that I also like. This will require me to shell out some money but since I'm in no hurry I can save up for it.

If I wan to do 12 things I'm a little bit short with this list. I'm sure I'll find other things to do creatively throughout the year. Maybe I'll find so many other things I won't do any of these things on my list. I just don't want to waste another year doing nothing with my life. I might not be able to travel around the world and see a lot of places, but I'm going to try and explore my creativity with doing things right here at home.

Going, going . . gone

I've been feeling older lately. Not the "Oh, my back hurts" kind of way. More like the "I just can't keep up with those young whipper-snappers" kind of way. Mentally, emotionally, socially and professionally. I feel like a wanna-be, has-been, and now a never-was. Life is passing me by including all the perks, advantages and opportunities that come with it. I think I'll just dig my grave in the backyard and lay down in it. Maybe then I can get some decent rest.

Sometimes it sucks being a girl

There's something about "being a girl" that people seem to think they can mess with me, blow me off, or just ignore me. I experienced that the last couple of weeks and it make me so frustrated.

We had a huge hail storm around here last October. I had to have a window replaced and I finally got around to getting someone out to look at my roof. I made arrangements for them to come out and replace my rood on April 1st. Based on that date I should have known things weren't going to go well. I got a call the Wednesday before saying the shingles I ordered (which were previously on back order for 2-3 months) were in and the guys would give me a new roof on Friday.

They showed up on Friday about an hour before they said they would and I was unable to get my car out of the garage. So I had to work from home and listen to a lot of pounding and stomping over my head all day long. By the end of the day they had ripped everything off the roof and replaced some bad plywood and that was about it. There was a small bit of drip edge applied but my new roof now consisted of plywood and roofing paper. One of the guys said they'd be back on Saturday to finish up. What time? 10am. At least I could have the chance to sleep in.

But on Saturday they never showed. I went to my parent's house in the afternoon and they hadn't shown up yet. By the time I got home later that night they still weren't there. Because a cold front was moving in and the wind was blowing the roofing paper was flapping in the breeze...and tearing off.

Monday morning I called the office to ask what was going on because they still weren't back to finishing my roof and they said someone would call me back. Nothing. I called again in the afternoon and left a message with the office for someone to call me. Still no call back. I was hoping someone would tell me what was going on because there was a storm moving in on Wednesday and I still didn't have a roof.

Finally late Monday night someone called me. The story was they were originally told my shingles were in so they sent the guys to tear down my roof. While they were doing that they got another call saying that in fact my shingles were NOT in the warehouse. Since the job was already started they let the guys finish. But, as luck would have it, he said he got call that day and my shingles were delivered. He would send the guys out on Tuesday to finish the job. Sounds good to me. Finally I know what's going on.

While I was home on Monday someone did come out to my house and stomped and pounding around on my roof. When I asked about that he said he sent someone out to "check up on things". Which I guess is a nice thing but he had to replace almost all the roofing paper and this time he completely staples it all down so it wouldn't blow around.

So Tuesday came and unfortunately nobody showed up.

I called the office again three times that day and no one returned my phone call. Not a word. Not a message. Not a peep.

Wednesday morning came and I called the office 3 times before 11 am. I was going to continue to call every hour until someone told me what was going one. Not only did we have a storm coming in that night but another big one scheduled to hit that weekend. And I still didn't have a roof.

Around 11:30 a group of guys finally showed up to my roof . . . and sat on my front yard and ate lunch. About 12:30 they finally got started on my roof. Finally! I got a call that afternoon to tell me that there was another mix up and the shingles that were said to have been delivered on Monday didn't actually get there until Tuesday. He said there were out there now putting the shingles on. I knew that already because I could hear them pounding away. The guy called me from my roof but he didn't know I was inside my house. When I got home from an eye doctor's appointment and the last light of the sun could be seen from the clouds . . . and the first rain drops were starting to fall . . the guys were packing up and I could see shingles.

I talked to one of the guys and they said they were all done . . . except they weren't. It seems they were 6 bundles short of shingles and they would have to come back tomorrow to finish the job. The part of the roof that didn't get shingles was "well protected and weather-proofed" so the rain that night shouldn't be a problem. Fortunately it wasn't.

On Thursday afternoon they came to finish the job and once again were cleaning up when I got home.

So from the initial estimate of "it should only take one day to do a roof your size" to having them come out on three different days to get the job done I finally have a new roof. But between the run around trying to get answers and nobody wanting to talk to me I really hated the fact that I was a girl. My parents used the same company (and same sales guy) and they got there roof done in a day. But then again they were dealing with my dad and not some little chick that doesn't know anything.

I hate getting that attitude from car repair shops, home repair companies and the like. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I don't know anything or I can't understand anything if you explain it to me. Give me a break. I'm a girl, but I'm not stupid. Sometimes being a girl can be a benefit. You can flirt and act coy to get a little something extra or a discount at a store. But other times people treat you like you are incompetent just because you are a girl.

With some other things that I was having to deal with at the same time I made a post on Facebook that simply said "I can't do this alone anymore". And I meant it. I want some guy in my life that can handle all these things so I don't get treated like this again. Apparently being a guy means you can get things done by other people. And having a guy in my life means I could get things done with a lot less hassle and I wouldn't be lonely anymore. And if I did have a guy in my life "sometimes it sucks being a girl" wouldn't be all that bad. If you know what I mean.

What this blog is all about

There's this thing called life. Lot of things happen in it. And for me sometimes figuring out what I feel or think about something means I have to talk through the jumble of things floating around in my head. That's what this blog is for. It might be political. It might be personal. It might be offensive. And it most certainly will be boring at time. Can't help that. It's just going to be what I think and feel, hope and dream. If you don't like that you don't have to read it. I won't be offended . . . as long as you're honest.