Yes, I’m one of those strange people who actually get shoes repaired. I have one pair that I’ve had for 7 years. I’ve had them re-soled 3 times and truth be told, I got them at a garage sale. Most people who have gone shop hopping with me during that time met the Zebra shoes. Well, they are officially dead.

I took them to be resoled one last time. It was a new shop, I had never been there before and I’m not sure I will ever go back again. He did a great job on the resole but he used a bronze polish on the Zebra shoes. Yes, he POLISHED my SUEDE shoes. Then he had the gall to argue with me about the fact that they were deteriorated suede when I brought them in. I have to admit though that they don’t look half bad as bronzed leather. I’m just not sure I can bring myself to wear them until I forget what they used to look like. Either that or until I need to wear a pair of spike heels that I can run in.

Oh, and yes, as a sample of how spineless I’ve become recently, I did pay for the re-sole even though he ruined the shoes. I guess I just wasn’t ready to let go of them.

The Louvre is open late on Wednesday nights but, I was worried that we wouldn’t have time to see the things that I wanted to see or that they had on their list. (What boy reading The DaVinci code doesn’t want to have his picture taken with the inverted pyramid?) We arrived at 5:15pm and there was no entrance line. Obtaining maps, we immediately headed for where we assumed the most crowded area would be – The Mona Lisa. The management of the Louvre has kindly placed signs with arrows directing people to the fastest path to the Mona Lisa. It’s fascinating watching people looking only at those signs and not letting their eyes stray to the sculptures and other artwork they pass between those arrows.
Just before entering the Louvre, my boys had been doing the childish – don’t touch me crap – that drives any parent nuts. I’ll confess that we had been doing the tourist rush to the Mona Lisa before we entered the huge gallery with French painters’ canvases (we had arrived at the correct floor for DaVinci’s work). One of the first canvases I saw was Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People.” I stopped in my tracks and stared and then I started to cry. This is where I panicked my boys. I stumbled backward in front of that bare-breasted woman with the Tri-color until I found myself sitting on a bench in the center of the room with those humongous Delacroix paintings surrounded by my teenagers saying something that could have been an apology for their behaviour. I really don’t know because all I could focus on was this incredible painting that exceeded the size of any wall in my home. I had seen it in textbooks but they didn’t do it justice. The only thing running through my mind was – “I can’t believe that I’m here – I’m really here! This is Paris and I’m in the Louvre.” I have no idea what my children did while I sat there having a meltdown but they were a lot better behaved for the next 2.5 hours. While we visited the Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, the Rembrandt room and the Rubens room.

So I have no homework to do this weekend. But I’m not sure what to do with my newfound time. I have stitching projects to work on, I have a quilt that needs to be completed before the contest deadline next month.
But here I am surfing the net and feeling lazy.

So today, I’m at the Stitching Station going out of business sale and I have $757 worth of sale merchandise sitting in front of me and I just couldn’t do it. I had all the remaining Fibers to Dye For, all the remaining Gloriana Silks, Victoria Sampler’s Q is for Quilter, a finished model (it had been a kit), several spools of Krenik, a stack of Mill Hill Beads for a non-sale total of well over $1000.

The only thing I needed in the pile was the #557 beads (which were part of a multipack, they were out of them in their own pack). and I did it. I walked out with just two packs of beads and left all the rest of it on the table. I spent $1.77 total.

I then went to Craft Center since I was told she would be buying the fixtures from Stitching Station and I want one or two of the Anchor cabinets. So Joy at Craft Center was surprised to see me (haven’t been there in years) was surprised to find out that she was buying all the fixtures at Stitching Station (she had mentioned wanting some but had been told no). By the way, she had the actual pack of #557 beads but I had no cash and she won’t run a credit card for under $5 so I ended up with a 9.99 laying tool (can’t ever have too many laying tools.)

All in all it was a great day of relaxing, stitching and reading and all for under $20. Dang that feels good!

Tonight is the last night of school. And I’m giving my book report on “Why we want you to be rich” to the class. If I had actually had any sleep in the last 48 hours I might be nervous about this presentation. See last night was month end and we had a glitch. So the options were, 1. Wake a vendor, convince her to help and stay all night fixing it. 2. Try it on my own and stay all night fixing it. 3. Give up and do it in the morning and lose 8 hours of productivity in both offices.

Well I went with option number 1 and by 7 am MDT the system was back up and running and by 10:30 am I was done with much of my regular Tuesday work and the office manager was freaked because I had a pizza box and 2 liters of Diet Coke on my desk and was dressed in the same clothes as yesterday. She sent me home at 11:00, she even offered to have someone drive me home. I think I’m getting too old for the 27 hour shifts.

Anyway when I got home, my DH had put together a bed in the basement where it was dark, quiet and cold. I did actually try to sleep but I was too wired thinking about the last night of school. It seems so strange that 2 years has gone by so fast. I remember 2 years ago trying to decide if I really wanted to do the MBA program. I think the best advice I got was – “What will happen if you don’t do it? You’ll be two years older and stuck in the same rut.” Thank you Margaret! About 12:30 when I was finally starting to drift off, my calendar beeped and I realized that I had a hair appointment in half an hour. Well my hair was looking pretty skanky and having a head massage during shampoo would be relaxing…. So I just finished having my hair done, and then I went next door and had a pedicure and manicure. My DD would have loved it. She has a thing about cute Asian guys and having one rub her feet would be heaven for her, I think. She leaves tomorrow for Anime Banzai in California. Well, I’m going to try and catch an hour of sleep before class starts tonight.