Jim's toss pillow :)

One of Jim's gifts this Christmas was this cross-stitch "toss pillow". Well, not exactly a traditional size toss pillow, at 14" by 32"... LOL... It's firm enough to support his lower back or the whole length of his back, yet smooth and comfy to rest his arm on or take a nap - and he tried all those things while enjoying the Christmas TV programming! OK, OK - he slept through the day!! It took me quite a long time to complete it (almost a year...) and that was before I had an Etsy shop. I have another pillow like it in the works, but sadly it might take awhile before I'll finish it... I might just have to work on it one day each weekend... LOL

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How cold is it, really...?!

It's a sunny, yet frigid Tuesday morning here in East Tennessee! I have to brave the 32F weather and go to the Post Office to mail out some packages. My toes are going cold just thinking of that :(

On January 1 and 2, 2010 my shop will go in "Vacation" mode, so I can get my inventory updated - though necessary, it's such a boring thing to do. I have been working on a couple new cross-stitch cards that need photos taking before inventory day... Oh, well it will be a fun couple of days - and then I return to work on the 4th! I was hoping to go to 3rd shift, but apparently that will not happen. Our 2nd shift team will get another technician, though, which is great because too many times we had to run by ourselves a "two techs" loop.

Well, got to go. Happy New Year, everyone :)

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Check it out!

I've decided to have a little SALE in my Etsy shop, starting today and ending December 31st! ALL my existing cards - cross-stitch and paper crafts - are on SALE for 25% off for the next 8 days, so why not check it out and see if you can find something you might like...? The discount will be refunded to your PayPal account upon completion of transaction :)

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Happy New Year card

In a few short days, we will celebrate the beginning of a New Year with our friends and families - may it be a better year than 2009 was!

This card took me a longer time to complete than usual; looking back, I realize just how very tired I was due to work... Now, I am really looking forward to our Christmas shutdown in 3 days. It will give me a chance to rest and to hopefully complete a few of the projects I have in the works. Anybody else out there that is working on a few (and I mean more than two... LOL) projects at the same time...?

Got to go and grab some more coffee; the one cup I had this morning at breatfast with Jim was hardly enough! Y'all keep warm now :)

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Brrrrrr...

It's getting colder by the hour... Temps have been dropping 4 degrees in the last 3 hours. It's a chilly 27F right now. I was hoping the weekend will be a tad warmer, especially now that I know I don't have to work :)

Still working on a new card; not sure what exactly possessed me but I've decided to work on 3 cards at the same time - which means it works far slower than I like it. With a bit of luck - and if I am not too tired after work tonight - the cards should be done by morning... Well, I am hopeful :)

Going to finish my laundry now, then get myself some breakfast before I attempt to get some rest - again. My grandma always said "You know you're getting old if you cannot sleep as you once could". I think I'm there! LOL

Y'all be good and stay warm!

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What a mess!!

The planned combining of Machining lines 4 and 6 started yesterday morning, with the transfer of machines from line 4 to their intended - and final - location to line 6. On paper, things were looking effortless... Needless to say, reality is completely different! Line 6 does not really have enough floor space to accept all the machines from the 4 stations (Rack Housing, Cylinder Tubes, Valves and Mounting Brackets).

As it is, the Valve stations on both lines are inoperative. Yes, we did bank quite a few thousands of valves in the last week, but apparently not enough for the daily ship-out orders. It's a mess at this point, and it is likely that in the next week it will only get more and more confusing and frustrating for us, Production Techs. I can only hope that this will all be ready for us by January 4th, when we return from Christmas shutdown - I get a headache just from getting moved from one line to another, trying to run the needed parts... LOL

Well, a pot of fresh coffee is waiting for me. I am trying to get a few New Year's cards stitched and listed in my shop, so I will be working on that for a few hours :)

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Ready for Christmas...?

Well, I'm not! Looking forward to Christmas shutdown on the 24th. We will have 10 days off to celebrate Christmas and the New Year, and then it will be going back. Quite possibly, after the 1st of the year I will go back to working 3rd shift - which is much better for me, especially when my February/March school term starts :)

We had some peculiar weather 'round here - it was (and still is...) in the high 50s temp; for the last two days we've had a warm drizzle (not quite sure what happened to the cold and the snow... Don't get me wrong, I love the warmer temps, but it just does not look like Christmas when it rains outside!

I have been trying to replenish my shop, but it seems I am too tired to focus on that, no matter how much coffee I ingest, I cannot stay awake long enough to do anything of any importance. Oh, well, hopefully I'll feel better in 10 days (yep, I am counting down the days to shutdown... LOL) Tomorrow night I will get out my Christmas tree, and attempt to get it decorated before Christmas...

Well, I'll get going - y'all stay warm and enjoy your Christmas celebrations :)

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Winter is here

... and I'm just not ready for it! LOL... I love the snow if I don't have to drive in it; the cold does not bother me much if I stay inside; ice on the roads would not affect me if I would not fear hitting a patch of black ice when driving home from work.

This afternoon we have a fire/tornado drill at work. Which means we'll have to all rush to get outside in the cold, until the siren goes off. Then we get to hurry and get into the tornado shelters we have in the plant - again, until siren goes off. Though I realize the necessity of such drills, it really interferes with work... LOL

Well, a hot pot of coffee is calling my name. Y'all stay warm now!

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Stormy weather

It was raining so hard last night when I left work, I got soaked before getting to my car! Needless to say, driving wet - even with the heater turned ON - did not do a lot to my spirit... The hot shower, however, changed all that! LOL

I am looking forward to our Christmas shutdown, December 24th to January 1st. We're returning to work on January 4th to some plant changes, lines moved around - getting re-assigned, possibly. I guess change is good...

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Newly listed cards

I love Winter and Christmas time! I am lucky enough to live in an area of East TN where it does not snow too much, or gets extremely cold - and I like it that way :)

I was able to stitch these little beauties - as well as a few others - during our Thanksgiving long weekend. "Mistletoe" has a few pearly white seed beads; "Snow Happens" just makes me laugh each time I look at it.

The plant seems to be getting ready for the new Chrysler and Nissan lines we will be getting after the 1st of the year. One of the five machining lines is completely done with the Lexus production, while a second machining line will be moved half-way across the plant and combined with another smaller line, so that the Camry production will come from one line only. The move will start December 19th, last weekend before the Christmas shutdown and should be completed before we return to work January 4th. Hopefully, things will go smoothly - a move like this can set us back due to engineering being unable to reprogram the machines... LOL

Well, I will return now to my coffee and my stitching. Y'all be good now :)

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