So I have been bad about updating again......... also about taking photos of things I have finished, which is still mostly knitting.

Since coming back after Christmas vacation, I have not been very well, it seems to be stress-related, although the doctor has sent me off for cardiac tests as well, which so far have revealed nothing untoward. The project I am on has not been going well at all, and we have had a continuous series of unreasonable deadlines, enforced by managers yelling at us. Since I don't actually work for the company that is implementing the project, I was spared some of the yelling, but with me they adopted the system of progressively giving me more and more work - as soon as I met one deadline, they would follow it up with more and more and more, to the point where it was just imposssible. It all came to a head when, one day before a very large document was due, I was ordered to include new requirements that needed several days work of analysis. This was also on a day where our team manager had a major meltdown in the office and screamed for about three hours straight, the noise was horrific.

After this, I was on sick leave for a week - it wouldn't have been so long, except for the fact that the project manager actually emailed me and told me to come in and ensure that all my deadlines were met! Naturally I practically expired on the spot. I called my boss, who was absolutely enraged and told me to go back to the doctor and get a sick note for the entire week while he dealt with the project manager. It is actually illegal in France, and I think generally in Europe, to tell a sick employee to get back to work. Of course the project manager claims that he didn't know I was sick, that no-one told him....

My week at home was spent mostly in bed, it coincided with a very cold spell, we had temperatures well below zero, even in the afternoons. Actually it was as cold as it would be in Estonia sometimes, I remember thinking about this, and thinking how we would go out in the morning in Estonia and say, "oh great, it is only minus 5 today, that is not too bad at all", whereas minus 5 in Paris is quite unusual and feels much colder.

I have been back at work for three weeks now, and in fact this week will be my last week on this project. My boss told them I was not available any longer when they asked if I could continue, which actually was nice of him, although it is true that I did have holidays scheduled for the last week of March anyway. These have now been extended to two weeks, to allow me to recuperate a bit and get some rest, since I have weeks and weeks of holidays available to me in any case. And when I come back, I may not be on another project immediately, it could take a couple of weeks to sort out administrative matters. There are some other people, from a third company that often works with my company and the company whose managers scream, on this project and they are quite envious that I am escaping - their manager has just agreed to their staying for three months more, and I thought they would cry when they heard the news.

What will I do for my vacation? Well, I am still visiting cardiologists, and I have to do a bit of that still - even though it has been determined that I was having panic attacks, very frightening, some of the symptoms are like cardiac symptoms. But I hope to get away for a a bit and catch some sun, and I will certainly be choosing somewhere extremely quiet, with absolutely no risk of people screaming! More of that (holiday, not screaming( soon, I hope).

Happy New Year to anyone out there who is still looking at my blog! I didn't intend to have a six month break from blogging, this is just how it worked out with everything that happened in the second half of last year, mostly work-related. I hope to be back a little more regularly this year - although I am scheduled to go back to work on Monday and I see from my calendar that they have already arranged 12 hours of meetings for me next week, plus a document due on Friday.

No wonder I ended up with a horrid lung infection in December that took ages to clear - it wasn't really better until I spent a week in Cyprus over Christmas. That was a good holiday, I went to Le Meridien and swam in a heated pool every day and took walks on the beach with hotel cats. I hope to have another week away in March, to chase off the winter entirely. I've found I have to be a bit careful in winter after 2010, the "year of the three winters".

I haven't done a lot of stitching, mostly due to the work situation, stress and fatigue, but I have knitted a bit......... no challenges or anything this year, I am just going to take it as it comes and do what I feel like.

Not long after my last post, I got involved in all the hooha necessary to start my new project, and I have now been on site for two whole weeks, so the time for doing anything else is severely limited, given French working hours.

I don't know why everyone thinks the French work less than anyone else, I leave the house at 8am in the morning and don't get back until at least 7pm, and this is with a 30 to 45 minute commute - except on my second day, when something odd happened with the metro and it took an hour and a half to get home. Normally it is an easy commute, a bus to Etoile and then a few stops on the metro, although I may have to stand all the way. The bus stop is at the end of my street and the office is opposite the metro station, in a pedestrian area, so that aspect is entirely stress-free. I normally buy coffee and a croissant at the station and sit in a nice park outside the office to have that.

At the new project we have an office on the 27th floor of a tall building, so at least the view is good, although I do sit in a windowless cubicle with about four other people, it gets a bit crowded if anyone has visitors. In fact I sit next to someone I worked with about four years ago and was not keen on then, but she has matured somewhat (she's very young, not 30) and there is another one I used to work with on the same project as well. He used to be a giant pain as well, actually that whole project was horrible, but he is also much improved. Probably I am myself, in fact, given the conditions we had at the other project, where I was permanently tired and had people screaming at me all day long.

So I have not been doing much in the evenings and at weekends, except a little stitching and knitting on the days I do not have to finish some work. It has also been very hot for most of the time, and it is the period of the summer sales, so last Saturday and yesterday I have been shopping and spent a little bit of money - a new set of sheets, three pairs of shoes, a dress, a suit and, of all things, a colander! Plus a few books, but that is nothing exceptional.

I think the involuntary two month "holiday", plus having the wisdom tooth out, has done me a fair bit of good, so I hope it continues - having a summer this year is definitely a plus, even with the few days that have been too hot. We have a public holiday coming up, for 14th July, and that is a four day weekend, and I am having two weeks off at the end of August, I hope.

I met a friend from Melbourne today and her sister - they are doing the Grand Tour and had just flown in from Amsterdam - and we went to http://www.laduree.fr, where I had one of these:

I swear I am only having a very small dinner tonight! These violet flavoured religieuses from Laduree are my favourites, but I also like the chocolate and coffee ones from the local bakery. It's hard to choose at Laduree, there are so many wonderful patisseries...

And here are the two new Crazy January finishes!

This is Bird in Hand, from Blackbird Designs, on 32 count Lambswool linen, with Belle Soie Cranberry:



This one is Small Token by Blackbird Designs, with the recommended Crescent Colours threads on a 32 count linen, the name of which escapes me:


So that is five out of fifteen finished - there are some bigger ones left, so I hope I will continue to make progress.

You will notice that I am in the process of changing my blog template, it may change a few times, as I try out different colours and designs. I am no HTML programmer - I used to be an excellent Cobol programmer in my day, but HTML really doesn't grab me, and I just do it by trial and error.

Now I think it is time to do some stitching - it is very hot here today, we had thunderstorms last night, and I think it was 25 degrees all night.

What have I been up to? Well, I went to Spain for a week, I went to the hairdressers, twice to the beauty salon, and my new sewing machine was delivered:

The Brother Innovis 10 anniversary edition - so far I have been learning how to use it, but I've managed to shorten straps on summer dresses as well (since I need to wear them). It's funny, you don't need a pedal for this machine, although there is one, and I feel happier using that that flicking the "sew" switch. I'm old, I guess :)

I've also finally updated my sidebar to show my Crazy January projects, and there are two I have finished and need to photograph. The train journey to Spain was good stitching time, as were the afternoons when it was too hot for me to go out.

I went to Barcelona on two days while I was at Santa Susanna, and I can report that I found no really good stitching shops, nothing that we cannot get here. But there is a nice yarn shop right next to the Picasso Museum, with local hand-dyed yarn and Malabrigo far cheaper than in France.

Still the new project has not started, it is now supposed to be next week, although it can't be Monday, because my boss is on holiday today and has not told me that I should be anywhere on Monday - and I've arranged to meet a friend from Australia, who is visiting Paris with her sister. This is the longest time I've had at home for about four years, and certainly the longest time I have had unassigned, so I'm trying to make the most of it.

Oh, for "Cross Stitch", who asked where I got the Mademoiselle Paris pattern, it was at Des Fils et Une Aiguille in the rue Chabanais, but you can also get it at C Mon Mode online shop: http://www.cmonmonde.fr/Concours-de-Miss-cbfaaaaaa.asp

I finally had my last wisdom tooth out last Friday, and not before time, too - it was so painful for the preceding week that I was in the emergency room and had very large antibiotics and strong painkillers. The dentist there told me it was highly infected, and this really had to be fixed before it came out. Fortunately by Friday, it was much better, which was good, because it took nearly an hour to take it out. I think it was fairly exhausting for both the dentist and myself, but at least I could go home and rest afterwards.

I was clear of pain by Saturday morning, which was great, but I have to go back this week to have a crown replaced, as it came out while the wisdom tooth drama was going on (it was the tooth next to it). Then I am off to my office to do some administrative things, and then I am going home to pack for my trip to Spain!

Yes, Spain! I decided, basically on the spur of the moment, that I wanted to go somewhere with a swimming pool and someone else to do the cooking, and started looking up the cheap holidays on the internet. They get more expensive if there's only one of you, but I found a decent hotel about 35 kilometers from Barcelona, on the coast, and booked that. The nice thing about that is that I can go by train all the way - just get on at the Gare De Lyon, and at Girona, change to a local train and then another that stops 300 meters from the hotel. The latter train goes into Barcelona as well, so it's handy for a day trip.

No more pictures of finishes at present, although I do have three near-finishes - I have been spreading my efforts, rather lazily, though, as I haven't had any urgency about doing anything for the last few weeks. It's very odd to have so much time at home after not having any really for the past few years, and it will not be until June now that my new project starts.