CarpeAcum

Since I have to do without pictures for a while, I'll have to be introspective rather than demonstrative. I have been thinking for the past couple of days about what it is that I want to be sewing, and why I'm not. I realized that a lot of the "sewing" I've been doing has been fulfilling the need to get some stuff out of my sewing room. I have a pile of flannel that I'm not doing anything with, but can't stand to throw out. I have a bunch of bags I'm sewing as a business, and I'm looking forward to having them completed as well. By next Friday, as it turns out. I don't even have all the fabrics I need yet. The designer has been really good about turnaround time, but the company she's working with seems to not understand the idea that I'm not devoting all of my time to this. Still, the pieces should be done on time. They just added a website component to their list of things to do, but that's not my problem. I never signed on to do instructions, and I'm happy to work with them, but I think their timeline is completely unrealistic. We'll see what happens with that. Hmm.

No subbing all week. It's finals week at the High School, and teachers just can't be sick. So there. That leaves me with planned time off, which has been kind of nice, since finals week also means a late start, which means sleeping in. It's been lovely, but now it's over <sigh>. The HS here starts at 7:20, which I think is totally unreasonable. It's even worse when I have to get up at 5:30 to see if there's a sub job available.

Tomorrow's a runaround day, but I may not be chauffeuring in the afternoon. That would be special!

Bridget brought over all the outstanding bags today. We sat together and made a list of each thing she has done, and what I've completed, and what I still need to buy. She wants everything done in the next week or so, and she goes on the road on Feb 22. Ack!

The rest of the day was meh. One piano lesson situation resolved itself, so that's a big relief.

I finally made it to Costco, and sometimes that's all you can ask of a day.

In sewing news, I cut some more strips to make clothesline baskets. I am planning a couple of bigger baskets, the kind you might leave out with your knitting inside. I have to see if I can make the sides straight up.

I'm in desperate need of a new book. I can't seem to get engaged in anything. I even started an old favorite last night, but no go.

Today, I made pulled pork. I used the crockpot and put a boneless pork shoulder in with some italian dressing and let it cook all day. I made mini sandwich rolls with the Artisan breads recipe, cooked a big pan of green beans and two bags of steak fries. My oldest brother was here, and my mom and other brother and his wife came over too. I also made a pan of brownies (which may or may not be all gone [!]).

I had great plans for the day, but I got other things done instead. I got two books loaded onto my brother's Kindle, which took longer than you might expect.

Because we had spent some time cleaning over the weekend, it wasn't too hard to get ready for company. I mostly worried about the cooking and the kitchen, and let the rest take care of itself.

I stil can't figure out why pictures aren't working. I used to be able to just plop them in, but it's not working now. Rats.

I tried resizing photos, and I tried linking to them or loading them to a photo album. I've been having problems with the compose window, too. I bet they're all related. The bottom line is: no photos yet .

I played bridge today and came in 2nd! Not bad for me.

Last night, I made two night shirts, all except for the hemming. I'll hem them tomorrow. I don't like to turn on the iron for such a small job. It takes so long to cool down that it's not worth it.

Another lazy day. The Beard has been working on the war zone that is our back yard--I should have taken before pictures. Every inch was covered by pine branches. Some of the branches are 4-6" in diameter. He worked all day and got down to the ground in a couple places. Yuck.

While he worked outside, I cleaned inside--it seemed like a fair trade to me! I also, you know, did dishes and laundry.

I started thinking about what I want to be sewing, and what I *am* sewing, and how they bear no relation to each other. I have been in my sewing room every day in 2012, which was one of my goals (yay, me!). However, instead of finishing a tote bag that is a Christmas present, or a jacket that I could actually be wearing, I've been working on a succession of crafty and quilty projects that aren't really on the top of me "let's get this done" list. It's partly because the time I'm spending in the sewing room is brief and kind of forced. The quilt squares thing is because I want that laundry basket *out* of the sewing room and back into laundry circulation!

So today, I cut out a couple of night shirts. I need to replace some of mine that have become holey, and it's a quick and easy way to make a non-stress garment. I have no worries when it comes to nighties .

I still plan to figure out how to get pictures to post. This is my weekend goal.

Punkin stayed the night last night at a friend's house. She and this girl met when they were 3 and in the same class in preschool. They have since moved about 30 minutes away, and she goes to a different HS. We went to pick her up, and had a lovely dinner with all. It was fun to catch up with the parents, and the girls had a wonderful time doing high school girly things. And also Skyrim--they both love Skyrim.

Today was a day that just got away from me. I hate it when days are broken up into 1 hour chunks--I never seem to have time to get anything started.

Punkin is off to play Skyrim overnight at a friend's house (!), and The Beard and I had a lovely dinner at Red Robin, sitting on high stools in the bar. The dining room was really crowded, and since it was just the two of us, we could sit with the grown ups. Then we watched Persuasion and had some time to just talk.

I cut out a few more flannel squares. It seems to be a never-ending project, but I *can* see the bottom of the basket!

I subbed for the choir teacher again today. It went much better than yesterday, but I am pooped. The last class of the day has 65 students and they're all full of energy. While I'm in class, it's an energy boost, but as soon as class is over, I'm trashed. I don't remember being like that when I was younger, except when I was pregnant.

After school, Punkin had piano and then dance, and during her dance class, I passed out in the car. I kept waking myself up with a snort, or with my head falling over .

Last night and tonight, I made catnip toys for the cats. I cut some circles from colorful fabric with my Sizzix cutter, then I put a pinch of catnip in the middle and sew a triple stitch all around. Quick and easy, and the cats *really* like it. Jake in particular, rolls around and noses it and drools on it. He also likes to steal everybody else's toy. Typical male .

Today went exactly as advertised yesterday, with the exception of dinner. By the time I got around to making dinner, I only had time for sandwiches. But it was dinner, and all were satisfied.

I had a couple hours this morning to do some laundry and household business--that always makes me feel accomplished. Then it was run run run all day until about 9:20 tonight.

No school on Friday, so I vow to figure out picture posting by Sunday--that will give me 3 days. Surely I can figure it out by then?

Teri asked in the comments (almost two weeks ago? Has it seriously been that long?!?) if the students ask me about my knitting when I'm subbing. They often do. I made Punkin a hat (at her request--she selected the yarn and approved the pattern and loves the result). I worked on it at school, and was subbing in the Spanish classroom one day. I finished the hat during our snow days last week, and Punkin wore it to school on Monday. One girl in her class remarked how cute it was, and Punkin told her that her mom had made it. "Oh, yeah," piped up another girl. "She was working on that during Spanish last week." They notice more than I think. Punkin said that a discussion ensued regarding my speed in knitting. I'm actually quite a slow knitter, but when you can get in 2-3 hours of solid knitting a day, it looks like it goes fast. I like to knit when I'm the substitute teacher because I can watch what's going on in the classroom. If I'm reading, I'm oblivious to the world, but with knitting, I can glance down when I need to and keep an eye on the little darlings. Also, when I have to watch the same movie 2-5 times in the same day, it makes the watching a little easier. Knitting is perfect on those days, because if I start reading or surfing the web, the kids figure they don't have to watch, either.

The choir teacher called me in the middle of piano lessons to ask me to sub for him tomorrow, so I'm putting in a full day at school tomorrow. At least tomorrow isn't a day full of lessons, too. Tomorrow is chauffeur day (chauffeuse?) after school. I still need to go put in some sewing time, so I'm off to do that before it's time to turn in. Also another load of laundry ;-)

I actually did do some little bit of sewing-related sorting last night. I'm pretty proud of myself. I have turned a full laundry basket and a square cube into just a square cube and a bunch of flannel squares. I cut them 6.5" and 9.5" and I have a LOT. It's all leftovers from flannel pants I've made, and I think they'll make great receiving blankets, or even a quilt. Right now, I'm just trying to get away from the "crammed in a laundry basket" stage.

I had a pretty productive day today. I got to the store, I made pot roast in the crockpot (The Beard even remarked on how easy the cleanup was!), and I got some more squares and sorting done. Also, you know, laundry, dishes, vacuuming, etc. Is that *ever* done?

Tomorrow, I am teaching a half day--guitar and choir! Yay! And it's the last half of the day, so I don't have to be there at 6:50. It's a more sane 10:30. Then, after school, I have 5 lessons, but then the evening off. And leftover pot roast for dinner--easy!

I had a terrible day today. I had such plans! But I had a rotten night, so I slept in to make up for it, then I felt terrible when I got up, and by the time I got dressed and stuff, it was time to go to the dentist (I don't hate the dentist, but it is a 30 minute drive there, and another one on the way back--just time consuming [he's the son of the dentist that I started seeing in 1970, so it's worth the drive to me]). So I got teriyaki on the way home, and soothed my stomache and my nerves with food. I haven't gotten into the sewing room yet, and today may be the first day this year (!) that I haven't. I might still go putter around.

Tomorrow is a new day, with no mistakes in it!