Today was notable. When I got to work, the power was out, so I schmoozed with my co-workers, then went to the file room and cleaned. I really liked it; I loved the half dark, the cool and the silence. I wished that the power hadn’t come back on, in some ways. But, neat of neat, got my first royalty statement…huzzah! How did I do? I could buy a paperback book. New-used.

Then I went for lunch with a couple of friends, which was wonderful, partly because I get to spend time with one of them (the husband is one of my faculty members) but never really with the wife, who I think is awesomeness itself. So that was really wondrous. I am lucky that in my job I have met some really fine and brilliant people.

Then I got to leave a half hour early because the power needed to be shut down again.

Then…

My tire went flat. As a pancake. The one time I could go home early, I have to change a tire, with the help of a very nice man. Bah.

Then I realized it was really a blessing. The half hour gave me time to get to the cheap and reliable tire place before it closed. So, thank God. Another example of what seems to be ill luck, but really is a blessing.

Three things that make me happy:

Jean Reno. I just watched a very silly movie called “Just Visiting”, where he plays a 12th century count who gets sent to the year 2000. I could listen to his voice for ages. And he is just…one of those people you love to spend time with.

The fact that I was able to clean out one of my filing cabinets so that I could dedicate it to my patterns – if you’ve ever tried to stuff a used pattern back into an envelope, you know what a pain in the arse that is. Now I will put them in large envelopes and file them when I am done. Bonus – now it’s way easy to find my patterns when I want to refer to them. I do that a lot, if I see a fabric on eBay I think has potential, or if I want to know if I have something, like, if one of my patterns has a close enough equivalent to trunk hose for me to work with.

Getting books in the mail. I love opening a mail box and seeing a jiffy bag, especially this time of year, when I tend to buy tons of books used. I often forget what I’ve ordered, so it’s always a slight surprise. I especially am a sucker for Dorling Kindersley. What’s not to love about huge picture books? Especially since the one I’m getting for the holiday, Weapon is filled with full color, drooly pictures of swords. Yum. Buying books is my vice, my comfort food, my retirement plan.