I'm taking a VB class and I was really excited about it, but last week when I had class I was performing one of many sacraments to the porcelain Goddess and had to blow off class. So now, I've got two assignments due -- one overdue -- in the course of a week and buttloads of reading to do and of course, the damned book I ordered online, isn't here. I swear I thought I would save myself all kinds of money by getting a used book through Amazon, and now, 10 days after he mailed it, I'm still waiting for the damned thing to show up. Of course, knowing how my post office works, I will never get a notice that the book arrived and will merely have to arrive and harry the post person until the thing shows up.

In the interim, I'm bartering with my husband for study time at the library. It's kind of like asking Mom and Dad for the car when you're a teenager. It's that humbling.

And I've got my quilting class, which I can already tell I hate. I hate being told what colors I have to use. I personally hold a deeply entrenched aversion to the color red and while I have found one red fabric that doesn't make me want to run screaming from the room, finding the other red fabric to supplement the other 6 colors has been a complete and total bitch. I've spent hours pondering the outcome of my bed quilt. I don't want something average and bland. I don't want some cute freaking calico to go with the rest of my stuff and heaven forfend if I get anything red with stars. I've picked fabric themes, colors, with the particularness only a virgo could muster.

I know that my current frustration with the idea of the quilting class harkens back to the hell that was junior high home ec sewing where, despite the fact that I'd sewn a few things before I arrived, I had to use some kind of marking wheel and carbon paper and precisely sew over each line, which I failed to do miserably and which was pointed out to me in front of as many of my peers as possible my Nazi Home Ec teacher. Up til that point, I'd had Barbies adorned in some gorgeous fashion.

I didn't sew again until I went to college and wanted cool clothes and realized that I actually had it in me to sew. Not only did I have it in me, but I wanted to sew. I made some gorgeous clothes. In fact, I designed patterns for my son and did a beautiful job of it. I even made him a backpack once because I was too broke to buy him one, but I had the fabric and thread to make one, so I did. His preschool teachers who'd demanded said backpack were impressed blind by my skills. It was astounding to me that people could be so impressed after Ms. Nazi HomeEc.

Anyway, I'm back to VB, kids. Piecing code and quilts...school should be interesting.