multi-tasking | Bead Happily Ever After

Uh-oh . . .

Posted on June 10, 2011 by crystal

Friday Greetings!

Let’s begin with a pretty picture and then move on to a funny story, ok? 🙂

Our miniature lilac surrounded by some of my favorite irises.

Sometimes I’m amazed at how goofy I can be. 😉

I blame it on my multi-tasking gene.

For example . . .

I have one of those computer desks (It’s ancient!) that has a built-in space for the printer located right beside the monitor. It’s a convenient spot – no reaching under the desk, or walking across the room to fetch a printed document. I also like that the paper is right at my fingertips should I need to snag a piece for a hand-written note.

It all sounds innocent enough but, believe me; I can turn something simple into chaos at the blink of an eye. The other day, as I was selecting some vintage glass beads for a custom jewelry order, the phone rang. To complete the call, I had to get online and check a file. I absent-mindedly put the beads down on the stack of printer paper. (Bear in mind, the paper is halfway in the machine – all ready to print when needed. I should also mention that these were not only vintage beads, but RARE vintage beads.)

I finished my phone call and then decided I wanted to print the file I had been viewing . . .

All of a sudden (and of course a millisecond too late), I realized what was about to happen!!!!! The beads were on their way through the printer!!!!! I couldn’t stop them.

Ay-yi-yi!

My heart sank.

Usually, Sir Beads is my mechanical guru but he wasn’t home at the time. I couldn’t wait. I just had to see if I could salvage the beads – not to mention the printer!

I unplugged it, turned it upside down, and tried to figure out how to take it apart without breaking it. After several minutes of struggling, would you believe the small zip lock bag of beads popped right out? Incredibly, they were not damaged! I guess the slippery plastic bag helped them slide past the paper rollers without being crushed.

Next, while holding my breath, I tested the printer. It was ok, as well. Talk about lucky! The file I had printed was a crumpled up mess but that was “small potatoes”, as my Dad would say.

I felt pretty dumb relaying the story to hubby that night, but he just smiled and shook his head.

He’s used to it by now. 😉

Enjoy the weekend!

Hugs,

It’s in the Genes

Posted on February 3, 2010 by crystal

I say: Do you know what this is?

You say: Yes Crystal, it’s a cup of tea.
(You also think to yourself: Oh man, Crystal is losing it!)

Not to worry; I still have a few of my marbles left. 😉

This is a cold cup of tea because . . .

I am an incurable multi-tasker!!!

It’s true. I can’t tell you how many teabags I have failed to rescue before they’ve turned my cup of tea to lukewarm mud.

How does this happen? Well, right after I pour the hot water, I think – “Hmmm… while this is steeping, I’ll just check the mail, or maybe start a shopping list, or make the bed, or pay a bill”. My intention is just to do something quick, but one thing leads to another and before I know it, half an hour has passed.

When I finally return to my tea… it’s too strong and too cold. Lest you worry that it’s wasted; I do nuke it and add extra milk to try and rehabilitate it, but I really don’t enjoy it that way.

I fear I’ve passed this flawed genetic material on to my daughter. She, too, appears to be a multi-tasker. The other day, the subject came up as we were chatting and she said:

“Oh that happens to me too! I’ll be sorting laundry and then will realize I should go grab some dirty towels…but then I get sidetracked in the bathroom by stopping to clean the sink. As I scrub, my tummy rumbles and I remember (oooh yum!) I have cheese and crackers in the fridge! I’m off to get them…then decide to treat myself a bit and watch some TV while I enjoy my snack. One episode of CHiPs later and it hits me…I never started the washer! Ok, I’ll just put my snack plates in the dishwasher first…. Oh, but the dishwasher is full of clean stuff! Must put THAT away, of course…

And in the midst of all of this, I might be suddenly tweezing my eyebrows or checking Facebook. Or napping. It happens!”

Poor kid, along with a wonderful sense of humor from her Dad, I guess she inherited the multi-task bug from me.

I must be a “carrier”! How about you? 😉

Keeping the Plates Spinning

Posted on April 30, 2009 by crystal

Have you ever seen a performance on TV, or maybe at a circus, where there’s a man spinning plates on tall sticks? It’s quite a trick! If he doesn’t pay attention to all of them at the same time – one or more will surely go crashing to the ground.

With our busy lives, isn’t it the same for all of us? We’re in a daily struggle to keep all of the areas of our lives running smoothly so that nothing “breaks” from too little attention. Our “plates” are our families, jobs, homes, school, health, leisure, and of course our blogs!

Some days, it’s really hard to keep all those plates spinning! There are times when one of them seems to be wobbling a little more than the others and we want to shift our focus to just that one. The problem is when we take our eyes off of the rest of the plates – they all begin to wobble, too, and then we feel as if we’re running in circles, trying to keep everything going.

I don’t pretend to know the answers, but I sure would like to figure it out. How can we pay attention to all of the important areas (the plates) in our lives at the same time? One solution would be to eliminate a plate or two if possible, but you may say that ALL of yours are necessary. Another idea might be to rotate the plates – so that they all have a chance to spin, but not necessarily at the same time, or on the same day! They could be organized into “groups” according to importance. The family plate is important and has to spin every day, but laundry does not. So you could decide which “less important” plates to add to the daily spin. I think we sometimes get into the habit of thinking we have to do it all at the same time. Instead of trying to keep 8 plates going every single day, maybe having just 4 or 5 in a changing mix of categories would work.

Hmmmm, maybe that’s it! Certain plates spin on certain days! By the end of the week they’ve all had attention – but it was easier to deal with them in small groups than to try and keep the entire bunch going all at once.

I‘ll work on it and get back to you! 😉

In the meantime, what do you do to keep the things in your life balanced? 🙂

TV Time

Posted on February 4, 2009 by crystal

Because I’m a baby boomer, I literally grew up watching TV! What laptops, ipods, and cell phones are to today’s kids, is what televison was to my generation. We were “glued to it”, as my mother would say. I don’t know about you, but these days it seems harder to find shows that I’d want to be glued to! Oh, I know there definititely are a few, but they’re the exception and the endless commercials have taken some of the fun out of an evening in front of the TV

My solution has been to multi-task! Now I don’t mean that I dust the furniture or balance the checkbook while watching television, but I do like to have a creative project to work on – especially during all those commercials!!! I try to choose a fairly uncomplicated item so that I can relax and actually watch the show – without having to continually look away to check a difficult pattern. It’s really fun to have a little “something” to show for the time I’ve spent watching TV, too!

Sometimes I knit or crochet. I’ve also done cross-stitch, paper crafts, embroidery, and hand-sewing. The projects change, but that wonderful feeling of accomplishment is always the same!

I have a few things that I’ve recently finished, and I thought you might like to see one of them today.

May I present Exhibit A? 😉

This is a scarf that I worked on for an hour or two, every so often, over a few weeks.

It looks like confetti – in shades of pink, rose, lavender, violet, green, aqua and cranberry! I used a solid pink angora yarn along with a multi-color short eyelash.

The fluffy angora yarn gives the scarf a richer, more unique look/feel than the typical eyelash style.

It’s not extra-long but more of a medium length that drapes nicely to fill in the v-neckline of my winter coat.

What are you working on lately? Send in a photo! I’d love to post it here on the blog! 🙂