Break winding down

I'm sad to see it go.

I didn't get as much work-work done as I wanted to (I'm in, trying to grab a few minutes before PONIES or at least NEW PONY, to read a few more chapters on this book I'm reviewing) but also didn't have as much fun as I would have liked.

I will say I caught up on my sleep. And I think my body is telling me it wants 8 hours of sleep a night, based on the time I go to bed and the time I spontaneously wake up. Well, it's going to have to make do on 6 most of the time because (a) I cannot go to bed any earlier; some nights I am still grading at 8 pm or still at a meeting and (b) I can't not exercise, and putting it off to the afternoon would mean it didn't get done a lot of days.

What I need is something like the TARDIS only with more time on the inside instead of more space.

And I don't like only managing on 6 hours of sleep; there's a new study out claiming sleep deficits kill brain cells and my reaction to that is "Me lose brain? Uh-oh." (Maybe that's why I've not been so creative lately: my stupid schedule killed that part of my brain).

Yesterday I did have my own personal Winter Wrap-Up: I pulled all the weeds and grass and junk out of most of the garden area, and cut down the trees that have been trying to invade. (Well, most of them. The big ones I had to leave because I couldn't find my folding saw). It's still too early to plant as we might get a freeze next week, and I really want another bag of mushroom compost for the place where the beans will go, but I'm mostly ready for when planting time comes.

***

I may not finish Basketweave over break, but I'm really close to finishing the second sleeve. Having that done will spur me on to do the rest of the finishing (collar, zipper band, sewing up).

I also made plans for two other projects.....I watched a lot of Pony re-runs this week. So I pulled out my Mr. Ed pattern and the cranberry and gold yarn I bought a long time ago for a Big Mac. (Disclaimer: he will not in any way be show-accurate (and there is a show-accurate pattern for sale on Ravelry) but you know? I don't really care. If he's red and has gold hair and big green eyes and an apple flank insignia*, that's enough for me. And I like the floppiness and cuddliness of the Mr. Ed design.)

(*I think "flank insignia" works better than "cutie mark" for a boy pony)

I also found (after calling on St. Anthony to help me - I'm bad about putting books back in places they don't go) my Amigurumi book with that Friends Forever fawn in it. Because after looking at my Minuette/Colgate minifig up on the mantel all week, I decided I wanted to make one (well, eventually) in crochet form. I have the right yarns (pale blue, darker blue for the mane, and sort of a cream color for the other part of the mane. In the show she sometimes almost looks like that's a grayish color in the other part of the mane but I like the cream better.)

Yes, I don't need more ponies. Except I kind of do. It's funny how much power this silly thing has to make me happy. I can't quite explain why it does - when asked, I kind of wave my hands and talk about how it's cute, and there are pretty colors, and the character and "set" designs are pleasant to look at, and the stories are good....but I think there's something more to it. I think the fact that the fundamental values promoted by so many episodes (kindness, honesty, generosity, the value of hard work, that making people happy is good, being true to who you are is good, it's best to deal with a jerk by not becoming one yourself, courage, sticking by those you care about) are important virtues and ones that I sometimes see being neglected in other areas of our culture. So I think part of it is that it's a nice escape for me - an escape into a world that is in some ways better than our own, where ponies tend to behave better than people. (I can only hope that all the children who watch the show are positively influenced by it, and may behave better as teens/adults as a result). It's funny: I would never say the show is "preachy" but it does a good job of bringing home or reinforcing whatever value it wants to teach.

And yeah, I get that it's fundamentally a show to drive toy sales, but they've done such a good job with making it seem like something more.