The hardest part

The hardest part of living in the city is having a supremely awful day and having no where to go.

I have had a hell of a time of figuring out what is so difficult about city life at time but when I really have to put my finger on it, that is it.

I am searching for a job. I have a job, but I am looking for a new one. One that would actually pay me a living wage. I applied for a new position at my current place of business and was turned down. Oh they were impressed with my interview and really considered me but in the end went with someone else. I could have scream. Whoop de doo, they seriously considered me. The outcome is still the same if they had not considered me at all isn't it?

Then the drive home was a nightmare. Someone actually made contact with my car. Pulled over in front of me no less that 3 times. Just didn't did give a rats behind that I was actually in the lane. Then I was bumped from behind by a truck while stopped in traffic. OMG! REALLY??

And when I get back to the condo. Well here I am. In a condo. In the middle of a city.

I want to go out to the barn. I want to go see my goats (which I don't have anymore). I want to go and see my horse, who is 2 hours away. I can't. I am stuck. I am here. Yipty Do.

Today I hate the city.

Happiness Project

Over the past year I have been struggling to be happy here in Chicago. Sometimes I can't believe what a wonderful city I live in and then others I can't believe I live in a city. I have been going back and fourth between the two a lot, even in the same day.

I am not an unhappy person. I don't want to be an unhappy person. More than anything I want to be happy with my life, and it is a good life. I really have no reason to be unhappy. I still own a horse. I have two wonderful dogs. My partner is the perfect man I could hope for. I have a roof over my head and a job. I am not wanting for food. Although I could use a new car, mine runs fine.

So I started reading The Happiness Project.  I am also reading The Happiness Project blog.

Both of these are helping me to start thinking about being happy. That is a step in the right direction. I want to start my own happiness project. As Mary Dunbar suggested, I want to find my own special light.

We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light. ~Mary Dunbar

Crafting: Quilling

Heatwave!

It has been hot hot hot and continues to be. I am not a 90's girl, I am not really even an 80's girl. I love the 60's and 70's. Over that and I start to wilt. With temperatures reaching into the high 90's and with the heat index into the hundreds, I am so not going out there! Other than taking the dogs out to potty and going to work, I been hanging in the condo and crafting.

I recently found all my quilling supplies. Quilling, or paper filigree, is an old art form. Thin strips of papers are wrapped around a quill to make little  coils. Pinching those coils makes some basic shapes, which are then used to make designs. Often the designs are floral.

It is an art form that started back in Egypt.  During the Renaissance, French and Italian monks and nuns took the thin strips of paper left over from binding their books, and decorated books and other religious items. After that it was practiced mostly by ladies of leisure, as it was thought to not be too taxing of their minds. Okay really want to insert an eye roll here, but okay, ladies who didn't have much to do quilled.  

Early ladies magazines had patterns and directions for making many things including boxes, trays, ornaments, game boards and fire screens.Yeah, I know paper as a fire screen? I don't know but that is what I have read.

That  decorative box at the left is a very nice example of what one might do if they have a lot of time.

Quilling today is done a lot for card making and scrapbooking. Although it can be used for making jewelery, ornaments and wall decorations.
There are tons of pattern books out there and lots of kits too.  I am using these books:

The Book of Paper Quilling

Quilling Flowers

,

Quilling for Scarpbooks and Cards

I am still making my creation and will be sure to post the finished product. I actually lost my slotting quilling tool last night and have to either use a needle or wait until the one I ordered arrives.