Fish Sticks and Counted Cross-Stitch

I had a weird experience last week.  I had a 'fish sticks' moment.  I don't quite understand it ... so perhaps you can help me?  Let me explain ...

The last three weeks (well, all year, but especially the last three weeks) have been extra long and busy at work.  On the May 5 / 6 weekend, I facilitated a 'Retreat and Refresh' weekend for some of our volunteers (senior peer counsellors) ... which I really enjoyed preparing for and doing, BUT it was two very full and mentally-intense days on top of three long weeks without a proper weekend break in sight.  I was so tired by the end of that Sunday, I couldn't sleep.  The little hamster in my head just kept running and running on its little wheel ... all the while screaming 'I need to sleep!  I need to sleep!'.  This is not normally a problem for me.  It has been said (by insomniac partners) that I could easily be sold with a 100% guarantee for my ability to sleep on demand.  Did you know it starts to get light outside around 4 am now?  No, I didn't wake up early ... I WAS STILL AWAKE!

Consequently, Monday May 7, I was seriously dragging and even contemplated 'pulling a sicky' ... but had yet another busy week ahead, so went to work as usual.  By 2 pm that day, I suddenly realized I could see and hear people talking to me, but their words were not making sense.  I suspect I wasn't making sense myself at that point.  We lock up our office at 3 pm (although that is 3 or 4 hours away from my usual day's end), so I decided to pack it in and go home early.  My receptionist offered to give me a ride home, but Mondays after work are my usual grocery shopping time.  I debated on whether to stop at the grocery store ... needed necessities like cat food and toilet paper ... or just go straight home.  And I truly couldn't decide!  My brain was totally incapable of making such a decision at that time!

So my (wise and kind) receptionist made the decision for me, packed me into her car, and drove me to the grocery store where I promised to pick up the small handful of important things that couldn't wait and then catch the #55 bus home.  Which I did.  Once home, I put away my groceries, fed the cat, and thought to myself, 'I'll have fish sticks for dinner tonight'.  So I put the frying pan on and looked in the fridge and then in the fridge's freezer for the fish sticks.

No fish sticks.

I had no recollection of buying fish sticks.

Which ... if I had been able to think about it ... was not really a surprise because I NEVER BUY FISH STICKS!!!  Sometimes I make my own fish cakes, but I do not buy nor do I eat prepared/frozen fish sticks.  I can't even remember the last time I ate fish sticks ... probably childhood.  My partner used to say they were made with fish factory floor sweepings ... not a very appetizing concept.  I often remember him saying that when I walk past the frozen fish in the frozen foods section at the grocery store.

Anyway, there I was, looking for fish sticks cuz I had it in my head that I was going to have them for supper.  I could not shake the idea, and since I couldn't reconcile that idea with the apparent lack of fish sticks, I found myself so frustrated that I started to cry.  And when I realized I was crying over non-existent fish sticks, turned off the frying pan and went to bed.

Over-tired?  Exhausted?  Yup.  But WHERE DID THE FISH STICKS IDEA COME FROM?????

I still didn't sleep well that night, but managed to sleep over 12 uninterrupted hours the next night, made it through the rest of my workweek, and enjoyed a lazy 3 day weekend last weekend.  And now I have a 4 day weekend ahead of me. 

I'll be fine now.  I promise!

I should have been crocheting last weekend as I have an outstanding order for a crocheted bunny, but I had a serious urge to do some counted cross-stitch.  It's hard for me to do counted cross-stitch ... it's an eyesight thing.  Or rather, the LACK OF good eyesight thing.  I need really good light and lots of concentration, and even at that, I'm largely stitching by feel ... thank goodness Aida cloth has all those nice little holes you can actually feel with the tip of your sewing needle!  You wouldn't think it's a good thing to take on when my brain was clearly suffering overloadimminentshutdown, but I find counted cross-stitch the exact opposite.  Focusing on making all those tiny little stitches neat and orderly is actually RELAXING!  Why do you suppose that is???

The cross-stitch project is a 'Winged Lion' adapted from the ancient Book of Kells and in a needlepoint pattern in the book 'CELTIC NEEDLEPOINT' by Alice Starmore.  (I'm a BIG fan of Alice Starmore!)  I'd share a picture, but Blogger is being a Bitch at the moment and I don't have the patience to make it play nice today!  Sorry.

So ... am I weird????

Have a great long weekend, all you Canadians!  (Sorry, all you Americans, you'll have to wait another week.)

PS:  I just looked out my window, and IT'S SNOWING!!!  I love the North!