New job, new computer, new look for my blog

I know, I haven't been here forever. But now I have a new job, I bought myself a new computer, so I guess I can go back to keeping my blog. (Happy Darla? lol) It seemed like a good time for a new look for my blog as well, so I hope you like the pink. Although my blog is called the Purple Needle. Maybe I should change it to purple? lol

I do have a new job, as most of you probably know. I'm working in a call center, and getting the hang of these calls has been much harder than I anticipated! Especially writing the notes in the system afterwards. It's too easy to write a novel when all that's needed is the essence of the call. What prompted the call, what they asked and what you did to resolve it. It's easy to get distracted by all the extraneous information they give you in the process of asking a question. So a 20 minute call might end up as 2 lines in the notes. Friday was the first time I felt like I was really starting to understand. I've had someone sitting next to me for the last 2 weeks, and I think tomorrow she's going to make me sit alone. Yikes! Pray for me!

Now, the best part of a new job is the paycheck, of course! I love it! I'm making enough to support myself, but as I'm still living in my mom's condo, I have almost more money than I know what to do with. At this point, I'm about to receive check #4, and I've been taking care of some of those expensive things I've wanted to do and not had the money to do. Chances are I'll never have this much freedom with my money again, so I'm enjoying it! I've bought some stash, some clothes, paid some bills, some other stuff that I just wanted, and of course my computer. I think with this week's check, I'm going to get my chessboard finished. (Another matter entirely that I'll address in a minute.) But pretty soon here, I'll have to get a little more serious about saving and putting more money towards my loans and such while I have the chance.

My chessboard. I want to set it into a table. I'm finding that it's much more expensive than I was hoping, especially if I go custom. I went and spoke with the guy at a local furniture store, and he said my best bet might be to get a ready-made table and get a piece of glass cut to fit on top. I flipped through his catalogs, and found a few things that I think will work. But then I was surfing the web and found this: oak game table That's exactly what I want! Except instead of their board, I want a piece of glass with mine under it. So I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to end up with, and all I can say is that I can't afford to spend a zillion dollars on it. Any ideas?

As for my current stitching, it's a bit sporadic. Currently, I've been switching between Elf Fairy, Savannah's Curtsy, and Genie's Blue Blast. I've done a ton of buying lately though, so I think my next starts will be SB's Heart Blooms and TSL's Epiphyllum #2. Although I want to finish something before I start anything else, so I think I'll probably concentrate on EF or on Terry Nolan's United, since they are the closest to being finished.


Finally, a personal PSA prompted by my new job. Ready? Here goes:

Do NOT NOT NOT ever ever ever allow or encourage your son, your brother, your grandson, your nephew, if it arises for some reason, your boyfriend, or any other man in your life to sign a paternity declaration for a child he knows is not his!! In fact, he shouldn't sign it if he has any doubt at all that he is the father. A paternity declaration is a legal document. It has responsibility attached to it. 18 years of responsibility. And it takes a court order to rescind it. It's not a favor to a girlfriend. If she's embarrassed that her baby's father isn't around, that's too bad, and perhaps she should be embarrassed. If he wants to help her out, buy her some diapers or some food, or babysit for a while so she can nap. Do NOT sign the paternity declaration!

Now back to your regularly scheduled blog. I promise to try to be here more regularly and I hope you'll be here too!