Stupid, smiley, and safe

So here's a random post for you.

First: I discovered somethng this week about my sewing machine that has made me feel quite stupid. I'm thrilled to have discovered it, though, so I'm not hurting my own feelings too much by calling my own intelligence into question. Oftentimes I come across an instruction that says "Move your needle a few clicks to the right." For almost four years now I have been convinced that my needle can only move to the left. I am pretty sure my machine can do anything I ask of it, except move the needle position to the right. Unless you put it in stitch width selection mode. Because then increasing the number moves the needle to the right and decreasing it moves it to the left. This has helped me sooo much already with top-stitching; I cannot believe I haven't figured this out before. I'm going to pull out my old Singer and see if that was doable on it. I don't know why people don't tell a person these things....

Second: I came home from work yesterday and my mom said "You have a package in the dining room." I wasn't expecting anything, and I had no idea who would be sending me anything. I searched my brain for any giveaway I may have won, or for any reason I'd be receiving something. It took me a few minutes to open it because I try to figure out the surprise before I open the box. This really annoys people, by the way. So I finally opened it and here's what was inside:

 Definitely having ideas for that box....is it so me or what?

One dozen yummy, sweet, yummy cookies in rainbow smiley face colors, and a matching coffee mug. Mine recently bit the dust and I keep forgetting to get a new one, so yay!

Digging though I found a cute little note from my aunt and uncle in Indiana (fun fact: they're from the same town that Jim Davis, creator of Garfield, is from. Well...that's a fun fact for me, not sure how fun it is for you). They sent me a little congratulatory gift for winning the Philly MVB competition. Isn't that the sweetest?!?!

And finally, I was doing my pre-bed blog browsing and I saw a great post that Reba over at R.Kay Design just wrote. It's a very handy list of safety tips to keep in mind when you're hacking into your fabric and then pinning and stitching it all back together. Most of it should be common sense, but sometimes, when you've been doing something for a long time, it's easy to become complacent, and that's when an injury can happen. Check out the post here for a sewing safety refresher.

So that's what I've got for now. Have a good 'un!