Uplifting

Where I work, we have a lot of fun, but not many of the kids are actually striving. Cruising is a major mindset.

This past weekend, our school has hosted a speech and drama competition, and the vast majority of the kids there are focussed on doing their very best. Striving is a huge part of their nature, and the competition and the teams pushing each other on is so inspirational. And the Mass where everyone there is a trained speaker and has just done nearly 48 hours of religious education of one kind or another - its like a completely different thing to the standard Sunday affair.

Its being with those kids who are prepared to work and who want the rewards it brings that brings into focus my everyday clients. It makes me re-assess where I am and what I am doing. I wonder if I shouldn't be brave, and seek a job at a richer school with kids who have academic ambitions. I know it would be more stressful. I'd have to mark more, prepare more and there would be many more parents breathing down my neck.

Which actually reminds me of why I'm not looking for that kind of job. Tonight son#1 and I cooked an elaborate dinner, then went out to the garage to work on his latest project. We spent ages setting up his brother with a new something (ask me not what) on the internet. Right now, I want to have that time to spend with my sons. Not someone else's sons! And everyone seems mostly satisfied with my present work.

Perhaps when my kids don't want to spend so much time with me, I'll consider a better harder job for me. Daft thing is - it'll pay the same as now.

End of a good thing

Tomorrow it's back to earning my living, and the boys go back to school too. Its been a great holiday, I think in part because we had no great ambitions to achieve anything. We did do a few things - the vege garden has several new plants, and less weeds, the house got cleaned, we visited some people and made lots of extremely good food. But it all just flowed along rather than being strained over. That's what we will miss when school starts - its all stress and deadlines. Dead lines.
As of tuesday I will be a separated woman - he will have his payment, and I will be sole owner of the house. I will also have a mortgage - did you know that translates to death grip??!! Lovely.
One of the things I finished in the holiday was son #2's blanky. It is a length of material, cut in half and sewn together to make a large rectangle. Then pinned to a polar fleece blanket , stippled and bound.

Cheap blanket - $20 - cheaper than batting

I discovered the power of the blue tape.
Works better than white or green!

The whole room was full of blanky

Used Leah's tip on zig zagging the binding
GOOD TIP.

One very happy customer - the best kind!

I should note the blanky goes round him twice in this photo. I only stopped stippling when thread ran out, and the size is pretty consistent, and LARGE. I have several new skills thanks to Leah.

So now I have to bind the asian fabric quilt and the holiday projects are finished. FINISHED.

The first day of the holidays

I  did a load of washing.

I went to put the irrigation on in one of the gardens, and when I turned the tap, the fitting snapped. I found a spare fitting, and fixed it. And put the irrigation on!

I cleaned the oven. (I don't like this job. It takes ages, is lots of work, and smells disgusting. I used to do it every holiday so it never got too dirty, and wasn't such a horrific job. I've been lazy for at least a year, and it feels great to have the job done, but that doesn't mean I enjoyed doing it.)

I finished quilting my asian fabric quilt, and tomorrow I will go and see if there is suitable binding in the local quilt shop. If there isn't, I am going to the neighbouring town on Tuesday, and they have 3 quilting shops so I have options. You have no idea how unusual that is!

I finally bought a new ballet album off itunes. Then I gave myself a class; then I used the music I liked to make a playlist for using next time. I've never used the playlist function before. I will use it again.

I walked the dogs, cooked the dinner, cleaned the kitchen with help from the boys, and then watched a movie with them. I'm off for a shower, and then to sleep.

So far, holidays are busy, hard work, and immensely satisfying.

What I learned: when tidying up the threads from quilting with an easy threading needle, do not put the needle in your mouth if you are chewing gum. Just saying...

Wagging the quiltalong, and sulking the report

I haven't done the last couple of assignments for the quiltalong. The first one was to practice quilt as you go. When I was trying to describe how I felt about this to a friend the only word I could use was
"despise": I despise quilt-as-you-go. I dithered for a while about doing it anyway, then decided I would listen to my inner voice (and outer voice too), and not learn to do something I would never do on a real quilt.

This week is quilt a UFO week. I know it is weird, but I don't have any UFO's. The part of quilting I like the best IS the quilting. Piecing is okay in a neat freak kind of way, but it is the quilting that I like, which means nothing sits around waiting for that to happen. As long as work isn't biting me.

Which it is at the moment. I have this Very Thick report to produce, some of which requires a large number of weasel words. I looked at the last section in the weekend and just about cried. Today my very lovely department helped me produce some suitable weasel words that press all the pc buttons, and I am nearly done on the hard stuff. I think the report is a good idea, just there is a lot of overkill in it at present. I will feel better about my whole life when I hand this report in.

Working girl

I done been working hard this afternoon on the new year 10 scheme. Even if I say so myself, and as I am the only person who has seen it so the only person with an opinion, it looks damn good. The thought of teaching this is actually quite exciting, which is more than I can say for the year 9 scheme. And I wrote that too.

Perhaps I should change it?

Certainly, as I am the only one in the department willing to do this work, its up to me whether I give myself another job.   .      .       .     No. So there's another decision! Go me!

Went to buy food today and was declined - not enough money. Its the second time in the last month or so, which shows I am a Very Slow Learner. I should see what is in the account before I go mad with the putting stuff in the trolley.

Went to the sewing shop BEFORE the groceries - we have fabric, but no wine. Priorities, priorities :)