Friday, June 28, 2013

Things That Go Bump In The Night

 
I have what most people consider to be an odd schedule. I'm generally awake before 4:00 am and in bed by 8:00 pm, whether I have to get up early or not. It's my internal clock and it refuses to allow me to sleep in. For me, sleeping in is 4:30 am - 5:00 am.
  
So, last night I'm enjoying my sleep when I'm awakened by a noise at a little before midnight. It was a scratching sound. And it was in my bedroom. We have a visitor but not a visitor you invite for tea and cookies...
 
We live in a rural area and it is not unusual for critters to find their way inside but we have things in place to prevent them from visiting. I'm not a fan of field mice and one of the first things I do each morning is to conduct a visual inspection for signs of visitors. If there's a sign, my husband has work to do.
 
Several years ago, I was sitting in a chair at our desk in the family room while putting my shoes on when I heard a rustling sound coming from the wastebasket beside me. I peered into the wastebasket and what do I see? A critter peering back at me. My husband looked at me oddly as I ran past him in the hallway to our bedroom where I immediately slammed the door shut. As if that would keep the critter from getting in. I've digressed... Back to last night.
 
I'm laying in bed listening to the critter with my husband's snoring in the background... All I'm really focusing on is the critter. I hate it when I'm awakened during the night because rarely am I able to fall back asleep and this disturbance really gets my mind racing so that I can't go back to sleep. And then it hits me... My body is telling me I have to use the bathroom. Well, I am not putting my bare feet on the bedroom floor, in the dark, to go to the bathroom, while we have a visitor. It'll just have to wait. I don't care how loud my body is screaming it has to go.
 
I did finally fall back to sleep sometime after 3:30 am. When I woke back up at 4:30 am I promptly woke up my husband and announced he had work to do.
 
So, what are you doing today? 
 
 

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Reconnecting

Good morning! It has been quite some time since I last posted to my blog. Not because I didn't have anything to share, but because I've been busy and just couldn't find the time or energy to write a post, something I want to change.
 
Seems as though my life revolves around schedules.
 

I'm drowning in meetings, reports, and deadlines that I have no time for me. I have not read a book in... Well, I don't remember when. And although I have gone into my sewing room a couple of times in the last couple of weeks, it hasn't been as much as I would have liked. So I thought, maybe the remedy to my problem is to schedule my ME time in my daily schedule.

So, what have I been up to the last couple of years?

 
First, we had to load this onto a trailer using a Cometto lifting device. Looks like something out of a Transformer movie, doesn't it? 

 
Once it was loaded to a Cometto 6-line trailer to transport to our site, the men decided they had to have a parade in case something happened...

 
Houston, we have a problem. This is what happens when 96 tons shift forward. I asked the 'men' what they thought they could do if the weight shifted... They all just stared at me with their hands on their hips. I'm glad I was not the driver when this happened. Just to give you an idea of the area, the access road is about 14' wide and the other side is a straight drop into the river. That's why I'm Project Controls and not someone who actually builds something.

 
Here is the Stator as it is being set into place. All 96 tons of it.

 
This is the second part of the Generator, called a Rotor. Luckily it didn't weigh as much as the Stator. If I remember correctly, this only weighed about 60 tons.

 
Two and a half years later... It's a hydroelectric powerhouse.

 
This is the project management team. We took this picture on a team building exercise where we drove 4-wheelers and trail bikes up a mountain to about the 3,800-foot level. We were there in June/July but there was still snow on the ground at this elevation. We had a great time riding the trails and feasting on BBQ.
 
Back to the present...
 
 
 
I've started reading a book titled City of Women, written by David R. Gillham. The story takes place during World War II in Berlin. I've set aside 30 minutes of reading time each day and hope to finish the book in a couple of weeks.
 
 
On the quilting side of things, I started a binding party a couple of weeks ago... OK, maybe it's been four or five weeks ago. I've made yards of binding in five different prints and have a couple more to do before I'm finished. I'll post pictures once these have been completed.
 
 
I also have come across a quilt-a-long that I want to participate in:
 
 
 
It's hosted by Michele Foster of Quilting Gallery and she has setup a group on Facebook where everyone can share their progress and ask questions if needed. My only problem is I want to do a scrappy version of the finished quilt and I'm not a scrappy person. I've structured and I'm having a heck of a time deciding what fabrics I want to use in my quilt. I'd love to hear some tips from you if you do scrappy quilts.
 
What have you been working on?