I’ve been at a conference. This involves lots of work and fun and the eating of strange foods. #2 son was in town for a few days and #2 daughter is here for the conference, so that also has been fun.

A lot of our conversations last night were just silly, though. How sure footed is a llama, exactly, and at precisly what stage do you prefer to eat bananas? Stuff like that. However, the Computer Guy shared with me his experience of thought.

This was interesting in and of itself, of course, but it was also interesting to me because we’ve been discussing this recently around the house. Some of us think all the time, and some of us claim to be able not to think.

I say “claim,” because to me this sounds like saying,”Oh, my heart only beats when I’m exercising. When I’m at rest, it doesn’t beat at all.” I think that the brain is always thinking, basically. That’s what it does.

The Computer Guy says that thoughts take up space in his mind and it’s a relief to write them down and get them out of his brain. A couple of our family members say that they can be conscious but not thinking. Sort of meditative, perhaps. I don’t know. I can’t imagine it.

Why should our experiences of thought be different? If it’s a simple physical process, a matter of electricity in the brain, you’d expect it to be fairly uniform.

Or not. I was interested to learn, when I did a writing project for a surgical hospital, that human bodies are not alike inside: the organs are in different places in different people.

Perhaps, if we had more consciousness of our circulatory systems, we’d find that blood flow was different from one person to another as well.

Today I’ll be hanging out with #2 daughter till she leaves for the Big City. There’s work I would like her to have input on, but that may not happen. We should also visit her grandparents, but I don’t know about that, either. We certainly ought to try to eat proper food.

This afternoon, I will go back to the conference. I don’t think anyone else from my team will be going, so of course I don’t want to go, but I hope I will go anyway. I’m sure I’ll have fun if I do.

I decided to make #2 daughter a nice hanging pocket organizer for her birthday. I had this one nearly finished, patchwork and all, when I noticed how completely crooked the top row of pockets was.

I had to start over, of course. You can see the second attempt below. I hope to finish both of them up this week. The crooked one can stay in my sewing room.

I’ve sewn a couple of things since I was last here: a nightgown in very cool cotton lawn and a nightgown-like top in green rayon challis. 

Nightgowns are great things for practicing sewing skills. They have little fitting to worry about and your audience, if any, is likely to be uncritical. If you have little skill, you can wear them even if they turn out badly. If you have lots of skill, you can use them to practice new things like pintucking or special buttonholes. You get a lot of wear out of them, and if you use quality fabric, you can really save, since a good quality nightie will set you back at least $50.

NIghtgown-like tops are comfy, but less defensible than actual nightgowns. This one is a new pattern (I’ll go look up the number at some point) with interesting collar options. I’m auditioning it for some expensive fabric I splurged on.

Both these garments are large floral patterns. My daughter tells me not to wear these, because a large-scale floral makes you look like a sofa. I see their point, but I like them, so what the heck.

Does the existence of these garments mean that I have finished objects and should be rejoicing, or that I am no further along in my tailoring class and should be ashamed of myself? Probably a little of both.

My big plan this weekend is to be very lazy, because I will have #2 son and #2 daughter home this week and will be presenting at a conference next weekend. This means that I should spend as much time quietly alone with a book as I possibly can, to recharge my batteries, so to speak.

Extroverts find it energizing to be with other people. They can enjoy time alone for a while, but then they need time with others to recharge and refresh themselves. Introverts are the opposite. I figure storing up some alone-time energy now will make the upcoming friends, family, and colleagues time more enjoyable.

Accordingly, I got some work and housekeeping out of the way early on and will now settle down to read, sew, and perhaps bake cookies if I feel really energetic. 

Work has been very busy and is looking to continue being busy. This is good. We’re working through E-myth Mastery, getting things under control so we can continue to feel excited about the continued growth of the company, rather than as though we’re on the verge of a precipice.

Apart from work, life has ben very pleasant. Friends, family, garden produce, walks with the dogs when the temperature dips down to something tolerable. No complaints.

Here are some florentines I made as part of my summer studies. They were delectable. I’ve also made financiers and chocolate croissants and other tasty things. This week I’m supposed to do macarons, but we’ll see. It’s hard to think about baking in this heat.

My tailoring class is not going that well. I’ve watched the instructional video on interfacing the jacket correctly several times but haven’t yet gathered up the courage to do it. Maybe today will be the day.

Yesterday, #1 daughter and I went up to the Next County to the shopping mall. I got a hair cut and we had brunch (quiche and melon — quite good) and sorted out the next steps we need to take in our business.

Later, #1 son came over for dinner and told me how his band gets together and decides what the next step should be, but then no one does anything. They talk about the same next step for months on end.

This doesn’t work.

Equally, watching the same lesson for weeks on end and never attempting it doesn’t work.

After watching the lesson yet again yesterday I went to check on my courses for next term and discovered that the software upgrade means I’ll have to redo my online section completely. I’m not sure where I’ll find the 40 hours needed to do this, but I will have to, sometime in the next six weeks. 

Clearly, if I want to accomplish any of these things, I’ll have to quit lolling around in the evenings.