Hump Day

I think this is one of those weeks where nothing you want to go right will go right. It's been a battle to accomplish the tasks I wish to at work. I've been working on designing my friend, Tom Thorpe's wedding announcements and his wedding package. They finally approved all of the design and now it's go time on the production of their wedding items and the equipment has been nothing but problems as I've tried to produce the printed items. I'm still sitting with the most important item unfinished and a completely non-functioning machine to print them on. I guess if adversity surrounds such a special event and you work your way through it, then it's totally worth holding onto for the eternities. Tom, I wish you the best because I'm not doing these again!

Work has been overload but in a very weird way. I'm bogged down with design and under very tight deadlines. The items I'm designing are not producing much work for the shop however because they are for one-time event or one-time print jobs or we have to subcontract the work. So the production staff has anxiously been awaiting for me to produce anything that will give them work, but I'm frantically trying to juggle some crazy design jobs that they will never see in production! I keep trying to figure out why I chose to live the life of a designer in a print shop with insane deadlines. I have to remind myself I could be working for a newspaper that has one day turnaround on projects. I guess things can always be worse! I cause much of my own stress because I like to feel like I'm accomplishing things, keeping on top of my game. Right now I feel I'm just keeping my head above water! I've taken some time to do some freelance illustration for my brother, who needed help out of a bind. I help him out with his freelance design when it comes to illustration. He's a self taught designer and he comes only once in awhile with questions on the profession and sometimes throws me a bone. This job has been for Pine Forest Camp, a camp in Pennsylvania that he's been associated with for years. They requested that a 'pine tree' character be illustrated doing various activities. The ones in the picture here are my favorites. The most challenging has been getting that tree to ride a pony. I've never drawn a tree on a horse, so it was interesting sketching him into life. "Giddy Up!" (FYI, as I was typing this, my brother emailed requesting the cowboy hat and gloves be removed as the camp's program is not western at all and those East Coast kids wouldn't relate. Bummer! I'll have to make alterations to my tree friend. A little less giddyup.)

I was overly stressed today and grumpy with the never ending pounding of demands on the job. I was anxiously looking forward to the day ending. Just before the work day ended I received an email through a social website that I have a profile on and found a quick note from Jean Hall, my childhood best friend's oldest sister. Jean had been grown up and married much of the time that Annalee and I were close. I saw Jean during my visits with their family and always admired her kind personality. It was nice to connect. Through her profile, I was able to connect with Annalee in which I'd lost her latest email and cell number. I've been a bad friend in allowing such long relations to weaken with distance and time. Thank goodness for the internet and the cyber social world!

Life is shorter than we can even imagine. While I've spent a good part of the day stressing about my job tasks, jumping through hoops for clients, I was reminded of what matters most as I took time to dine with some dear sister from church. With the amazing program in the church, the Relief Society, we lend service to those within and outside of the church, and at the same time we spend much time as women supporting each other. In the singles group, we've had a tradition of meeting once month for birthdays at local restaurants. It's an excuse to dine out and to be in the company of friends who share much of the same perspective in life. It was what I needed as I sat and chatted with the ladies and heard that we are all sitting in the same situation in life and all struggling to be good Christ-like women. It's uplifting just to be able to mingle for only a moment with other members of church. This week the Mid-Singles LDS conference will kick off tomorrow night. Needing the spiritual feast, I will attend the firesides and the service projects. My roommate has yet to talk me into the dances. I actually have a lot to do and will bypass the dances so accomplish more design work and baking some pies for the Sunday Pot-luck! (oh, I some times like to pretend I have domestic skills)

It's the close of another day!