Other random things

My little sister Megan is working with me now. She's a good kid. I'm very happy that she needed a job. If only she had time for everything. She's a summer away from being done her degree, after that she'll have more free time than she knows what to do with. I found it really hard going from having no time to myself to having nothing but. I started working at McDonald's two weeks later.

My older sister finally popped. She had a 7lb. boy, Nathan Lucas. My mom made the terrible but amusing comment that they named him after George Lucas, except that his last name isn't Lucas and his first name isn't George. Mom's comments are funny, but not in the way she means them to be.

I tried to start a baby quilt for the new nephew this week, but found out after I cut and pinned the first pieces that I had taken the bobbin out of the sewing machine. I had stored it at Mom and Dad's over the moving/having-other-things-to-do-that-are-more-important-than-sewing period. I have a bunch of quilt-making stuff all over my table and no room to do other things there.

Now that I finished music theory and singing, I have time on my hands again. Guilt-free time to work on projects. I plan on working on the baby quilt which shouldn't take long, then my quilt, the spool-knit rug I've been working on for a while now, and maybe starting on the quilt for my mother-in-law. And working on the 3 or 4 cross stitch pieces I've been doing off and on, plus the embroidered pillow case, and maybe the knitted dish cloth I started around Christmas. I also want to make a quilt for my parental units at some point, and start crocheting an afghan. I'm so bad for starting projects. I get them finished eventually, it just takes time, a bit of boredom, some ambition and a lack of books. Not that I ever have a lack of books, but I get to a point where I've had enough reading for a while. I'm at that point now. I'll try to post pictures of things as I finish them.

The Census amused me

The Statistics Act guarantees the confidentiality of your census information. Only if you mark "YES" to this question will your personal information be made public, 92 years after the 2006 Census. If you mark "NO" or leave the answer blank, your personal information will never be made publicly available. If you are answering on behalf of other people, please consult each person.

I'm not quite sure why they have to wait 92 years. I also don't understand why people would choose no. Really, will my dessicated corpse care in 92 years if someone knows where I lived? By that time, identity theft won't be an issue.

Also, my favorite question from it:

Is anyone listed below a farm operator who produces at least one agricultural product intended for sale?
(crops, livestock, milk, poultry, eggs, greenhouse or nursery products, Christmas trees, sod, honey, bees, maple syrup products, furs, etc.)

I should sell sodden furs, or bee syrup maybe.

For your elsewhere-viewing pleasure

Mockery is an important social tool for squelching stupidity.

The awesomeness of my little sister.

Once again, I'm not dead

I'm out at the farm today. I planted some garden today (carrots, lettuce, squash and cucumbers) and I keep thinking of other veggies I'd like to put in (beets, zucchini, onions, garlic). Then my brain points out that if I put in lots, I have to do more weeding and picking. But my brain also points out that veggies are good. I wish my brain would choose one side or the other, instead of seeing all sides at once.

I also got to use my parents' monster ride-on lawn mower today. And by that I mean I was told to mow the grass with the mower that I've never used. I hate using machinery. Considering what a butch tomboy I was growing up, I'm a timid little girl now. I'm afraid of anything with a motor. If I can drive it, I can wreck it, at which point I'll have to replace it.

Since I doubt I mentioned it, the Regina Music Festival was on a couple weeks ago. It's a classical music competition. I entered in a couple classes with a girl a few years younger than me for lieder and accompanying, and we did okay. Small classes thankfully, which always makes me feel better. First by default is still first. And I got a first and a second in a couple solo classes, so I'm happy about those. The first couple classes I got semi-ridiculed and was all set to give up on singing. Now I'm okay with things again. I have to stop letting my temporary emotions take over my decisions.

I had my music theory exam yesterday, and I am so glad it's over. I'm never taking theory as a class again. Private lessons are the way to go. I'm so used to going at my own pace now that I'm not in university. And I'm finding a different teacher. The one I had was okay, but she didn't mention some things, and others she just assumed that the way she thought they were was right. And as I was re-reading the course while studying, I realized that there were some things in the book that she never even checked for. Since Harmony (the basics of writing classical music) is all about syntax and stupid rules that nobody in their right mind actually follows when writing music, the least she could have done was follow them. So I have a sinking feeling that I'm probably going to lose a lot of partial marks. As long as I pass though, that's all that matters.

I also only have 2 voice lessons left. It feels kind of silly, having nothing to aim for now that the music festival is over, but I'm trying to set myself a couple goals for it. I'm hoping I have enough ambition over the summer that I'll do some singing once in a while, so I want to find things to work on. Otherwise I'll lose everything I worked on this year.

Another goal I have this summer is to try to write here more. We'll see how that goes. If I'm out at the farm tending my garden it should help, computer access and all. Keep your fingers crossed.