First Friday in December

Thank goodness I made it to Friday in one piece and in charge of my sanity (well, mostly) . When this week started, I REALLY had my doubts! Let's give y'all a brief review.....

Michael's district manager has been a real turkey. On Monday he accused Michael of stealing from the cash drawer in front of customers . On Wednesday, Michael showed up five minutes before his shift was to start and the district manager accused him of being late. These two incidents were just the "icing". Michael had enough and walked off the job. I know it's just a stupid job at a convenience store, but it helps out tremendously with finances, and given the state of the economy and Michael's health - I know also that it would be tough for him to find another position. Mind you, this is only the second time that I have known Michael to get angry. Both times involved others accusing Michael of lying, stealing, etc. He's a very proud man and having his good ethics questioned really irritates him. (Give me credit, I didn't freak out and even was OK with his decision to walk out.) He wrote an e-mail to their HR department right after he returned home at 6 am. By 5 that night, a VP was on the phone with Michael and begged him to return to work on Thursday. He did and things appear to have calmed down. The district manager is clearly different towards Michael now. Let's hope and pray it stays this way. One good thing: The district manager is not spending as much time in that store now.

The announcement was made at my office that there will be no bonuses or raises in 2009. Morale, as you can guess, is not great around here going into the busiest month of the year. That may be one of the reasons that they're backing off on their demand that we work tomorrow. Honestly, I'm not jumping for joy over the lack of increased income, but I am content to have the job. It's a blessing I hope to continue for a long time.

OK, Catherine, this blog is supposed to be about QUILTING, you're saying. I have done a bit of that this week. I decided to make small tote bags for each of my assistants at work - seven needed. Found a very easy pattern and in two hours have made three of them. They're very cute - I may make one for myself this weekend with cat fabric. Managed to get the binding materials cut for my brother's quilt. Purchased the backing materials for the two Christmas wall hangings I hope to quilt this weekend.

Debating in my mind whether or not to sign up for Stash Pot Pie again next quarter at Best Friends. When the events at Michael's work happened, I looked at our checkbook and about had a coronary when I saw how much I spent on fabric, quilting, meals out and what I consider non-essentials. I really need to cut back. Heaven knows I have enough fabric to keep me busy for decades and enough patterns to keep a whole army of quilters happy. But will that keep me from going to the Open Houses this weekend at Best Friends and SewEzy? Let's see how much will power this old girl has! It's supposed to snow tomorrow - good enough to keep me home? We'll see.

Hugs,
Cathy