December Skirt

I think I deserve extra credit this month. Not only did I finish my skirt before the end of the month, but I actually wore it to church on Christmas. Even more impressive, I bought a sweater and necklace to go with it so I have a complete outfit.  I think I've pretty much perfected this skirt pattern after using it several times this year.

I still haven't decided on my sewing goals for next year. The next few weeks will be crazy with work and church responsibilities so I may not even think about sewing until the end of January.

This is my first attempt at blogging from my phone so I apologize if things look funny. If I didn't need my computer for work I'd probably hardly ever use it since I can pretty much run my life from my phone.

November skirt

I sort of finished a skirt for November. Here's a bad picture of it.  I'm in a hurry and don't have time to try to get a good picture.  The skirt isn't hemmed so it's technically not finished, but I made the pattern myself and this is sort of a first draft.  I'm not sure I'll ever wear it so I didn't want to go to the bother of hemming it.  I'm trying to decide if it's worth the effort of taking it apart and fixing the things I don't like.  It might just be faster to tweak the pattern and make a whole new skirt.  I'll ponder that next week while I'm laying on the beach in Hawaii.  

A Cold Gray Monday

Today has all the makings for a miserable day.  Alex and Ashley went back to college yesterday after being home for five days.  It's cold in the house and I'm too cheap to turn the heat on when I'm home alone.  It's foggy outside and I may not see the sun all day.  And oh yeah, it's Monday.  But it's actually a really good day, for the following reasons:

1.  Persimmons

This picture of our persimmon tree was taken a couple weeks ago on another foggy morning.  Now most of the leaves have fallen, leaving probably 100 or so bright round persimmons on a scraggly-looking tree reminiscent of A Charlie Brown Christmas.  I decided I better pick some of the persimmons before they too fall to the ground.  I have a confession to make - I've never picked a persimmon from this tree before.  I usually let a friend pick them and have them all, but he didn't ask for them this year so I decided to acquaint myself with these strange little fruits.  I picked a few then hesitantly cut one up and ate it.  It was heavenly!  Crisp like an apple, sweet like a pear, with a little bit of a tropical-mango-type flavor.  So I went back out and picked another 20 of them.  I still have no idea what I'll do with all this fruit but I guess I'll figure something out.

2.  Exercise

I'm still plugging away at my Couch to 5k workout.  It's progressing very slowly and I've repeated a couple weeks and taken a few days off.  Last week I was wavering between giving up completely and going in for a check up to find out why I'm unable to run any length of time without feeling like I'm dying.  Today I had a breakthrough.  It's not my legs or lungs that keep me from being a runner, it's my mind.  When I'm distracted by thinking of all the things I need or want to be doing, I forget I'm running and I can go farther.  When I concentrate on time, speed or distance I psych myself out and think I can't do it.  I'm still much closer to "couch" than to 5k, but I'm making progress, I'm challenging myself to do something hard, and most of all it feels really good when I've done something I didn't think I could do.

3.  Spicy Food

I'm feeling a little bit of a cold coming on.  Maybe it's allergies instead, or maybe I'm just coughing and sniffing because it's cold in the house.  Whatever the reason, my favorite cold remedy is a spicy kimchi-flavored noodle bowl (a distant relative of cup-o-noodle or top ramen).  That's what I had for lunch today, with a few drops of sriracha added for good measure.  It was a nice hot bowl of throat-burning goodness and it made me happy.  

4.  Hawaii

Rick and I are leaving for Hawaii on Friday to spend a week vacationing with his dad and step-mom.  I really dislike flying but I think I can put up with it this time so I can trade 50 degrees and foggy for 80 degrees and sunny.  

I'm sure there are more things to like about today but it's still early and I haven't discovered them all yet.  In the meantime I think I'll start packing and I'll eat another persimmon.

October Skirt

Ok, so I'm a few days late.  I should at least get partial credit, right?  Anyway, here's my skirt for October.  It still needs a little tweaking but I could wear it as-is so I'm counting it as finished.  Only two more skirts to go!

C25K

I got a new app for my phone last week:  C25K Pro.  It was the free paid app of the day in the Amazon Android app store, which by the way I love for providing me with several great apps that I wouldn't have tried if I'd had to pay for them.  The app follows the couch to 5K training program and promises me that if I follow it I'll be running a 5K in 9 weeks.  After a major struggle with my willpower yesterday morning I got out of bed and did the first workout.  It didn't seem too intimidating at the beginning - a 20 minute workout alternating 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking.  How hard can that be?  Of course if I'd done the math I would have realized the 20 minutes didn't include the 5 minute warm up or the 5 minute cool down.  Not that it would have been a deal breaker but I should have been more mentally prepared for 30 minutes of physical activity.

I think it went pretty well for a first workout.  My running shoes are a little old and worn out, and so are my legs.  I was walking/running laps around my gravel driveway which probably isn't the best idea but if I have to drive somewhere to work out then I won't do it.  I was a little sore and tired at the end but that was to be expected.

Today is my day off between workouts.  That's a good thing, because I can barely walk.  I'm kind of curious to see how tomorrow morning will go.  I'll be battling my willpower AND my sore legs.  I think I'll need the additional motivation of my sister-in-law's wellness program (http://icanchangeclub.blogspot.com/).  Thank you Katrina for giving my that extra little push!

September Skirt

Who thought I wouldn't get a skirt done this month?  Besides me?  Honestly this whole skirt project is not as fun as I thought it would be, probably because most months I procrastinate and have to cram the whole project in at the end of the month.  I even took the whole summer off so I shouldn't be complaining now.  Even though it's been challenging at times I'm still working on ideas for next year's projects.  (Hint:  I probably won't be making skirts.)  Here's what 2 hours of effort got me on the last day of the month:

No I didn't make the shirt, only the skirt, but the skirt looked really boring without it.  It actually is kind of boring - dark gray knit with an elastic waist - but I needed something fast (since it's the 30th and all) and something that will pack well and be comfortable to wear all day.

Just for the sake of giving out too much information I'll tell you that the mirror behind the dress form is angled not so you can see the back of the skirt, because obviously you can't, but so my disaster of a sewing room is not reflected in the mirror.  I took some "before" pictures of the room a couple weeks ago which I planned on posting, thinking that would shame me into cleaning things up a little.  It was pretty bad though, so maybe I'll post some pictures after it's all clean and pretty.  Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen!

How much do I love my daughter?

I love her enough to make this for her:

 

Ashley picked out the pattern and fabric. My "only" job was to put it all together. That didn't sound too hard a couple months ago. And it wouldn't have been if the wool fabric weren't so think and bulky, and if there had been a lining pattern, and if the girl at the fabric store hadn't given me the wrong interfacing, and if I hadn't had to come up with something to line the collar with that wouldn't make Ashley's neck itch. 

It all came together pretty well, considering the obstacles, until it was time for the buttons and buttonholes. The coat has 19 buttons. The fabric store doesn't stock more than eight at a time. It took me three trips to get all the buttons. But the worst was yet to come!

My sewing machine has a really nice automatic buttonhole function. I made a couple test buttonholes on a scrap of fabric and they looked awesome! Then I made one on the coat. Not even close to awesome. I ripped it out and made another one. Now ripping out buttonholes is not fun to say the least. It probably took about 15 minutes to take out all those tiny little stitches. Things really went downhill from there. I won't go into great agonizing detail, but in order to get 8 less-than-awesome-but-better-than-hideous buttonholes I ended up ripping out at least 8 unusable ones. There was a point when I actually considered having the coat held shut only with the belt.

This morning I sewed the last button on the last sleeve. It's finished. Parts of the process were even fun. I got to use my handy-dandy new buttonhole cutter (which is really just a sharp chisel). I learned some new things, like if you're going to use an awl to pull the staples connecting the buttons to the card they come on, you should keep your fingers out of the way; and those clear bandaids that come in the variety pack from Costco are waterproof and use some sort of superglue-type adhesive; and it's not a good idea to use rubbing alcohol to try to get that adhesive off your finger when you have an open wound.

I have never been so glad to finish a project. Now with only a couple days left in September I need to start working on a skirt.

Ticket to Ride

For anyone who has not played "Ticket to Ride" it's a really fun board game where you have to get your train from one city to another.  Sometimes the way you want to go is blocked and you have to find another route.  Sometimes the long detours turn out for the best because you get more points or because they include another route you need.  Sometimes you just can't find the cards you need to progress and the whole things seems hopeless.  I don't really want to explain the details of the whole game, I only want to say it's very appropriate that I learned how to play the game this month when I already had trains on my mind.

For about the past year I've envisioned my life as a train going full speed down a track toward a cliff, the cliff being the time when my kids leave for college.  I couldn't turn away because of course the train was stuck on the track.  (And I don't think a derailment would be good under any circumstances!)  The faster the end of August approached, the closer I got to the cliff.  I wasn't scared, but I was curious about how the whole scene would play out.  Would I suddenly have a parachute and drift safely to the bottom of the mountain?  Would the train sprout wings and take off into the sky?  Well the cliff came and went, and I'm still here.  It turns out there was a sharp corner and switchbacks along the side of the mountain, and I'm still going full speed, not sure where I'm headed next but enjoying the ride.

Ok, time to turn off my weird imagination.  Really, my life hasn't changed that much in the last couple weeks.  Sure, the house is a little quieter and I have to buy fewer groceries and do fewer loads of laundry, but I'm still so busy that I often feel overwhelmed with all I have to do.  I keep close enough tabs on my kids to know they're doing well.  I keep making lists of things I want to do whenever I have some free time.  I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be now that I'm technically not a full-time mom, but mostly I'm busy thinking about the paperwork piled on my desk, the floor that needs mopped, the emails I have to send and the bills I have to pay.  I don't have much time to worry about the future, I just need to take care of today.

The Last Road Trip

I guess this really wasn't the last road trip we'll ever take with our kids (I hope!) but it's the last one for quite awhile.  Unless you count the one next month when we load up the car with all their important belongings and then leave them (belongings and kids) behind at BYU.  I don't think that one counts. 

There is so much to see in California and I can't believe we haven't made more of an effort to see it all.  We decided to drive through the redwoods since we've never taken the kids there before.  As it turns out, all our kids really look forward to in the car is sleeping, listening to music, texting friends, and getting to wherever we're going.  So much for enjoying the journey!  

I was really excited to see this because I remember it from when my grandparents took me to California when I was young.  (Around 8 years old, maybe?)

The car really did fit through the tree but the picture is on my phone and I'm too lazy to transfer it to my computer.  Although if Google+ would play a little nicer with my blog I could get some other pictures on here.

After the Redwoods, we ate dinner at the Samoa Cookhouse in Eureka, spent the night in Crescent City, then drove to I-5 to continue our journey.  

Portland was great.  It was a little rainy, which surprisingly hardly ever happens when I'm there, but it was so nice to have cool wet weather in July.  We enjoyed the sales-tax-free shopping, and enjoyed even more the dinner with my brother and his girlfriend who we don't see often enough.

The next day we did more shopping in Portland, stopped at Multnomah falls, then drove to Pendleton to buy some wool fabric at the Pendleton Woolen Mills.  Ashley found some wool she liked and it was all on sale for $7 a yard so now I have tons of wool and a long list of projects.  At least I won't run out of things to sew any time soon!  If I get her coats done in the near future I'll post pictures.  Hopefully I can get at least one of them done before she leaves.  

Our next stop was Walla Walla.  We had a great time with my parents.  We went to the Sweet Onion Festival, saw Hairspray at the Fort Walla Walla Amphitheater, ate fresh raspberries to our hearts content, celebrated my grandma's birthday, and had the world's best milkshakes from the Ice Burg.  What more could you want from a vacation?  

The drive home was more direct and less eventful.  Our only side trip was to Voodoo Doughnuts in Eugene.  If you've ever craved donuts covered in cocoa puffs or grape tang, that's the place to go.  We came home to warmer weather, work, projects, lists, and the final countdown to college.  The kids have some fun things planned in the upcoming weeks but I think I just get to spend the time worrying about all the things I wish I'd taught them.

June Skirt

Just kidding, there's no skirt!  I decided a couple weeks ago not to do one this month but I haven't had time to explain why.  June has been a crazy busy month, pretty much like every other month.  There was graduation, then Dance Festival, then the Dance Festival cast party.  Not that I had a lot to do with any of these, but I had to worry about them because that's what I do.  The day of the cast party, when I was hours away from being able to relax a little, the camp director for our upcoming stake girls camp (as in 2 weeks away) had emergency back surgery.  She has an assistant, and I became kind of the assistant-assistant.  That was kind of stressful because I don't know a lot about organizing girls camp, but my plan was to spend a lot of time during our family vacation the next week making phone calls and sending emails to make sure everything was under control.  Oh what a family vacation that was!  Thirty one people, two beach houses, nine cases of stomach flu, limited cell service and no internet.  Not the best vacation I've ever had, but certainly one I'll never forget!  Now we're home and I have a week to get ready for camp as well as take care of some pressing work matters before I leave again.  I think I need about 4 of me to get everything done.

All that craziness is not why I didn't make a skirt, it's just why I didn't explain earlier.  The real reason is that my kids are leaving for college in two months and I want to enjoy every minute I have with them.  I'm going to take a "summer vacation", not from sewing but from self-imposed deadlines, so I can have the flexibility to do whatever I want this summer and enjoy this time to the fullest.

Graduation

Well it's official, both my kids graduated from high school on June 3.  I'm no longer a mother of school-age kids.  Some people have asked me how I feel about it, and that's really kind of like asking someone on their birthday how they feel about being a year older.  Today feels pretty much the same as yesterday, or last week, or last month.  The change has come gradually and it's not like their graduation was unexpected or anything.

I went to their school last week to pick up their diplomas.  Wouldn't you know they forgot to do it on the day they weren't working.  I guess it's the last time I'll respond to the request to drive to the school because they forgot their homework, lunch, diploma, etc.  I saw one of their teachers who said he'd miss seeing me around the school.  It actually didn't feel like my last time at the school.  It was a little startling to hear him say that.  Of course I've spent less time at the school as the kids have gotten older so I guess I never really thought about it.  The school and I didn't suddenly end our relationship, we've just gradually drifted apart.

The past 11 days since graduation haven't been that much different than the 11 days before that.  Graduation came and went, spring came, summer came, I've worked, I've played, I've laughed, I've cried.  There have been endings and beginnings, and there will be more.  Yesterday I read an article that expressed a lot of what I feel, not so much about graduation and my kids moving on, but about how life moves along and we change and grow through our experiences, never to be the same as we were the day before.  It's beautifully written and well worth the few minutes it takes to read. Warning:  grab a handful of tissues first.

May Skirt

I need a more creative title, but I can't think of anything at the moment.

I finished this month's skirt last night.  I used last month's pattern as a base because it pretty much fit, and made a lot of my own changes.  I even wore it today!

Kind of a boring straight skirt from the front, and it's even a boring gray.  I kind of have to stick to neutrals since I have a very limited selection of tops to go with these skirts.

The back is more interesting.  It's not the best picture, but I really like these pleats.  I was really proud of myself for figuring out (or remembering from high school algebra) how to draw an ellipse, but it turned out that was the wrong shape so I had to freehand the curve above the pleats.

I need to make a few minor changes to the pattern in case I ever want to use it again, but overall it's pretty good.

This is what I'm the most proud of - the inside of the zipper.  Ok, so nobody but me will see it, but it looks pretty awesome if I do say so myself, and there was no hand sewing involved.  It's not perfect, but for my first try with this technique I think it's pretty good.



Here's where I'm supposed to put how much it cost, but I kinda forgot to keep track.  It wasn't any great deal but I have a skirt I can wear so I can't complain.

Patterns and Plans

I know someone is dying to know whether I've made a skirt yet this month.  I haven't finished it, but yes there is a skirt underway.  Hopefully I'll have pictures in a few days.  Luckily I don't have any Memorial Day plans so I can sew all day Monday if I need to.  I'm really getting tired of skirts.  Really.  And I gotta say it would be more fun if I had tops to match them so I could actually wear them, but I'll work on that next year.  Maybe :)

Sort of related to the skirt topic, I read a book on the non-glamorous parts of the fashion industry (like manufacturing, selling wholesale, importing, exporting, etc.) and learned some things about sewing.  First, anyone can do it.  The people working in sewing factories, even the ones that make high-end expensive clothing, are unskilled labor.  (Not unintelligent, just lacking in education or language skills.)  A sewing machine is like any other kind of power equipment.  You have to learn how it works and then it's easy.  The reason people get frustrated with learning how to sew is not because a sewing machine is difficult, it's because the patterns are difficult.  Which brings me to #2:  Home sewing patterns are pretty low-quality.  They are made to fit a person who is standing straight up, shoulder back, arms straight down, who has no intention of moving.  The directions are confusing and are in such an order that you end up having to do a lot of hand sewing to make everything look nice.  I made some changes to the skirt pattern I used last month, mostly so it looks different, I incorporated some of the things I've learned recently, and I'm kind of excited to see how this skirt will go together.  Probably not perfectly because another thing I learned is that patterns are like recipes, you shouldn't expect to love them the first time you try them but you should make them over and over, incorporating changes each time, until you get something that is perfect for you.  Yes, I'm rambling, but through this process I think I've found my dream job.  I should have been a professional pattern maker.  Turns out they are the ones who take the designer's drawings and make them into a working pattern.  They use math, problem solving, and spacial relation skills but they don't need as much artistic vision as a designer.  Oh, and they make more money.  The best thing about this job is that once you have experience you can work as a free-lancer and work from home or from your own shop as much or as little as you want.  Sounds perfect for me.  Unfortunately, I'm not going to make the life-changes needed to get that initial experience so I guess I should cross that off my career list.  But it can still be a fun hobby.

Now for a more realistic career option.  I've toyed with the idea of becoming a CPA for the past 20 years.  I've met the education requirement in Utah but not in CA so it would require more school.  Then I'd have to have a year of auditing work which doesn't sound fun at all, then I could get a job doing people's taxes, which again doesn't sound fun at all.  It's definitely time to cross that off my list as well.  But I recently found out I could be a Certified Management Accountant, which ties in very closely with what I do.  I've met the education requirement, I sort of have the work experience, and all I have to do is take a test.  Not just any test, it's kind of like the CPA exam (some people say it's harder) and it will probably take me 2 years to do all the studying I need.  I haven't made a firm decision yet because the study materials I need are about $800 so I want to be REALLY sure before I move forward.  In the meantime I'm spending some of my spare time reading an old accounting textbook to see if it really interests me or not.  I think it does.  I'm going to put off that decision until at least September after the kids are gone.

My real career goal, at least 20 years ago, was to teach at a community college.  Per hour, it pays a lot better than teaching high school and I think part-time work is easier to get.  I can teach business or accounting classes because I have an MBA, but some kind of accounting certificate would make it easier for me to get a job (thus the CMA).  Whew, I feel so much better having some kind of plan for my future!  I may not actually do it, but having options and moving towards a goal feels so much better than just sitting around wondering what to do with my life.

Sorry that was boring, but my next post should have skirt pictures so that will be a little more fun!

Gravel

For the last few months it seems like all I've really wanted to do is complain.  I don't want to complain publicly because first I don't want to be negative, and second my life is pretty darn good and it would be in bad taste to complain about my petty issues when other people have real problems to deal with.  So here's my not complaining post.

Sometimes I feel like Atlas holding up the world - you know, when there is a problem so big it's all you can do to keep from being crushed by the weight of it.  I'm glad I don't feel like that now!  Instead, I feel like I'm being buried in gravel.  Just a bunch of little, petty, annoying things that on their own can easily be dealt with then tossed aside.  It's all the little things that only take a few minutes to do, but added together they'll take days (or maybe longer).  It's all the little decisions I need to make that then create other decisions and I don't know where they will lead, or should lead.  I guess I should expect this, since after all I'm at a major turning point in my life.  I think life is easier when you have fewer options - not better, just easier.

Anyway, there is a lesson I have to learn from this and I'm not sure what it is yet, but I'm determined to learn it well. In the meantime I'm going to go find myself a really big shovel.

Mom + More

This blog has been sort of challenging for me because the whole point is to write about myself and not my children.  Not that I don't completely adore my children, but I'm trying to figure out who I am besides Mom now that they're growing up and going off on their own.  I'm finding that I don't have a lot of interests or goals that aren't related to taking care of my family.  My personal skirt-a-month challenge has been great because I've had to actually learn things, practice, implement, and do something just for myself.  Actually just finding time for myself has been good (and difficult).  I tend to think that I don't deserve to enjoy myself unless the house is spotless, the laundry is done, the meals are planned, the checkbook is balanced, etc.

I need to find some more things to learn and enjoy, to fill my imaginary free time.  I guess there is really no such thing as free time, but I can make time for things that will make me a better and happier person.  Here are some of the things I've considered learning more about:  sewing, photography, economics, nutrition, astronomy, photoshop, interior design, landscape design, gardening...  hmm, in my mind that list was longer.  Some of those are more necessity than interest (like interior & landscape design - have you seen my house and yard?), and one I've already tried (photography) and failed to stir up any passion for it.  I've worked through so many photoshop elements tutorials that I'm getting bored of it, but there's still a little potential there since I should be making some photo books for some of my family's big events.  Nutrition is also something I'd like to learn out of necessity since I realize as I get older that I have to work harder to keep myself healthy, but I'm not really excited about it.  When I read articles on economics or astronomy, my eyes pretty much glaze over but occasionally there are math references that make me feel like I'm reading a language that I once knew but forgot and I get a little excited.

Overall, my list of new things to learn isn't all that promising.  If anyone has suggestions I'd love to hear them!

Hello! Can you hear me?

Does anybody actually read this, or am I just talking to myself?  Not that I mind talking to myself, I enjoy my own company.  I'm just wondering...

April Skirt

See, I really did finish the skirt.  I had a similar skirt that I bought with this sweater and t-shirt a few years ago, but somehow the skirt got too small for me.  I can't imagine how that happened!  Anyway, this new skirt is made from another skirt I bought a few years ago.  The zipper fell apart and one of the seams ripped out (I don't know why since it was a full skirt and definitely not too tight), so it's been sitting all wadded up in the bottom of my closet for awhile.  I bought the pattern a few months ago and it was fairly easy to make and it fit pretty well with only a minor alteration.  I had to buy a piece of black linen for the waistband, some interfacing (because I needed black - I have plenty of white), and white lining.  I think those few things cost me around $30, but now I have a skirt I'll actually wear.  I like the pattern but the proportions are a little off so I'm going to change the size of some of the pattern pieces before I use it again.  (The center front piece should be wider and the side front pieces narrower - it doesn't show in the picture.)    My other observations on my life based on this picture are that I need to lose some weight and my legs need to get a little sun.  If I'd had more time I would have photoshopped a tan :-)

Almost Done...

So it's almost the end of another month, and I know everyone (well ok, just Julie), is waiting to see if I've finished another skirt.  And the answer is... almost.  This one has taken the most time yet, and luckily Julie reminded me a week ago that I better get started.  Of course, a week ago I wasn't completely sure which of my options I was going to pursue, but I made my decision, gathered my materials, and got to work.  I'll finish it tomorrow and get pictures up.

I probably shouldn't wait until the last minute to finish next month's skirt, since I have a lot of other things happening in my life and I just won't be able to do another last-minute project.  I don't even know what kind of skirt to make, so if anyone has suggestions I'd love to hear them.  It should probably be something that would be appropriate to wear to a high school graduation.

"Anything worth doing is worth doing badly"

"Anything worth doing is worth doing badly."  That's my favorite quote from a college professor.  He was one of the accounting professors in my MBA program at the University of Utah.  He meant that it's ok to not be perfect, to try even if we fail, to do our best when we can and when that's not possible at least do something.  I have been so busy and overwhelmed for the past couple weeks that I really felt like I needed to vent and complain about everything that was wrong in my life.  Then I remembered this quote.  My problem isn't that I have so much to do, but that I think I have to do it all perfectly.

For today, this means that I'm taking a mom vacation.  I have work and church responsibilities that absolutely have to be done this week.  I won't take a vacation from loving my family, and of course I'm always available at a moment's notice if someone really needs me, but I don't recall signing a contract that says I am required to cook dinner and clean the house every day, especially when I'm busier that the other three adults who live in this house.  (Of course on the days I'm not busier than them, I will gladly do what I can to make their days easier.)  My mom vacation doesn't mean I'm punishing my family, it just means I've hit my limit and I can't do my mom  responsibilities perfectly today.

I also am not going to beat myself up over my church responsibilities.  Incredibly, the most stressful church job this week is providing refreshments for 200 teenagers on both Wednesday and Saturday.  It should be easy, I sort of have a budget for it and I'll get reimbursed for whatever I spend.  However, my plan has been to drive to WinCo and buy several 36-packs of fudgesicles, creamsicles and popsicles.  The problem is that WinCo is over 10 miles away, in the opposite direction from the church.  I can't buy enough for both days at once because they won't fit in my freezer so it would take two separate trips.  My solution is to buy the refreshments somewhere else, even though it will cost twice as much.  I still feel a twinge of guilt at using more of the budget than necessary, but I'm trying to let go of that.  I have a lot of other church responsibilities this week, but by not making two trips to WinCo I've freed up enough time that they don't look so bad now.

I picked up my work calendar this morning and realized I have a bunch of reports and quarterly tax forms due this week.  Unfortunately I can't do them badly, but what I will do badly is work during the afternoons and evenings to get them done.  I usually don't work when my family is home so maybe this really goes with the mom responsibilities, but I'm counting it as work.

So it looks like my week will be filled with lots of responsibilities, each of which will be done badly in some way, but they will all be done because they're all worth doing.  I feel better now and no longer have the desire to complain.

(By the way, my second-favorite quote from a college professor is "The time required to complete a task always expands to fill the time allotted."  That was from a statistics professor who gave us a huge assignment with only two days to complete it.)

I'm Thankful for Today

I've been running around all morning and I'm supposed to be somewhere right now, but I have food in the oven that I'm supposed to be bringing somewhere and it's not done yet.  That gives me a few minutes to write about nothing for the benefit of the very few people who will actually read this.

I've been so busy and overwhelmed this past week that I've felt like complaining a little.  I thought I deserved a few minutes to myself, or some time to read a book, or just some time that I didn't have to think.  When I start feeling like I deserve something then I know something is wrong and I need to change my attitude.  This morning I went to a funeral for a woman only a few years older than me.  It kind of gave me a reality check about what my life is all about.  I don't deserve free time or a full stomach or a roof over my head or good health or any of the things I either take for granted or want more of.  I'm just glad I have today to enjoy my family and friends because who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Now I'm thankful I have an understanding family and a car to get me to where I was supposed to be 35 minutes ago.  Happy Easter!

A Day in my Life... (or possibly the most boring post ever)

I kept thinking I wanted to write about a normal day in my life.  I kept putting off this project because every day seemed like it was going to be unusual in some way, and I was determined to use a typical day.  Turns out my typical day is decidedly not normal, so here goes!

6:40 - Woke up half an hour later than usual. I must have been tired and I didn't have any early morning commitments so it didn't hurt anything.

6:40-7:50 - It's surprising that my early morning routine takes so long.  I read my scriptures, ate breakfast with the kids, got an idea what their plans are for the day, checked my email and Facebook, then read the newspaper.  That’s kind of a lot.   I guess it’s not so surprising it takes so long.

7:50-8:50 - I don't think it should take me his much time to get ready in the morning, but apparently it does. Besides showering and getting dressed I did my one cleaning chore that I do every day without fail, I towel-dried the shower. It's time consuming, but it’s better than cleaning soap scum and mildew off the tile later. I also had to deal with the cat who was scratching the furniture and chewing on the corner of the tile counter top.

8:50-9:15 - Time to do all those other little chores that take more time than I think they should, like pick up dirty clothes, feed the pets, and run the dishwasher. Also time to load up the car for the day: shirts for dance festival practice tonight and serger and sewing supplies for sewing the dance festival costumes.  This dance festival is a church activity that is taking a huge amount of my time.  In June we’ll have about 600 teenagers dancing in a performance, and although I’m not in charge of any of the preparation I get to do a lot of little things relating to it.

9:15-12:30 - Sewing party for the costumes.  We had about 15 people at the church working on about 75 of the costumes and we didn’t finish.  I brought a few skirts home to finish and I’m sure I’ll be bringing home a lot more in the coming weeks.

12:30-1:00 – I came home for lunch, saw the kids (they got out of school early today), got the mail, checked with my email, and played with the cat.  Hey, I fit quite a bit into that half hour!

1:00-1:30 – I decided to start on this blog post so I wouldn’t have to do it all tonight.  I started it in Google Docs, then the internet decided to be stupid.  That happens a lot here so at least that part of my day was normal.  I did some of it on my phone and saved the rest for later.  It would be interesting to figure out how much time I waste every day waiting for the internet to work.

1:30-4:30 – Work.  I’m glad I can work pretty much as much or as little as I want, whenever I want, but I still don’t like doing it.  I like getting paid though, so I’ll keep it up.

4:30-5:15 – I put the dishes away while chicken was defrosting in the microwave, then I fried some chicken strips for buffalo chicken salad.  My dear husband was kind enough to make the rest of the salad.  I really hate cutting up lettuce and tomatoes. 

5:15-5:45 – Family dinner J

5:45-6:00 – More emails to deal with.

6:00-9:00 – I drove an hour each way to attend one of the dance festival rehearsals and collect some costume order forms and money.  It was a nice drive in the foothills and it’s always good to see the kids having a great time. 

9:00-10:00 – Phone calls, emails, and visits, mostly involving the dance festival.  I thought I’d have more time to finish this post but life took up too much of my time today. 

10:00-whenever this is posted – Finishing up this post.  I wish I had some time to make this more interesting, or at least proofread what I’ve written, but truth is I’m tired and tomorrow looks different from today but equally as busy. 

15 minutes after that – Getting ready for bed and hopefully falling asleep! 

If I weren't so tired, I'd make a list of things I didn't get done today.  It would include exercising, mopping the kitchen floor and doing the laundry, and it would be so long that my internet definitely wouldn't stay connected long enough for me to upload it.  It's ok though, I had a good day. 

March Skirt

Oh yeah, I did it!  Of course it kind of looks like a tablecloth on me, which is one of the reasons I photographed it on the dress form.  I broke one of my sewing rules with this skirt, which is don't try to make clothes out of quilt fabric.  Actually it works fine for kids' clothes, but adult clothes are supposed to have a more fluid drape and quilt fabrics are usually made of short fibers which don't drape as well.  This is a better quality quilt fabric so it could be worse, but the skirt has too much flare for this fabric, making it stick out like a bell when I wear it.  Oh well, it looks cute on the dress form so I may just leave it there.  And even if I never wear it, there were some benefits to making this skirt:

1.  I've stuck with my goal for 3 months. Only 9 to go!

2.  I came up with a pattern that fits reasonably well.  I need to tweak the back a little and maybe take out some of the flare, but overall it's pretty good.

3.  I learned a lot about making a really narrow bias trim.  See the strips along the pocket edge and at the bottom of the yoke?  It's some charcoal gray taffeta left over from a skirt I made for Ashley.  It doesn't look that great on the pockets but I didn't have time to redo it.  The yoke looks much better.  When it's only 1/8" wide any uneven stitches really show up.  I got in some good practice and now I'm practically a pro!

For the sake of record-keeping, I used about $10 worth of fabric and everything else was already on hand.  Technically the fabric was already on hand too, since I bought it for another purpose, but since I only bought it last week and I remember how much is was, I might as well count it as a cost.

I have to say that this project would have been much more enjoyable if my sewing room weren't such a disaster area.  I think I should resolve to clean and organize it really well next month and post pictures, but I'm not quite ready to make that commitment.

It's Almost April...

Yes, it's the day before the end of another month.  Besides all the personal things I need to do before March ends, I still have one very public (meaning public to my 4 followers) goal to accomplish by tomorrow.  That's right, I still need to sew a skirt.  I actually did start a skirt a few weeks ago but it requires a LOT of hand sewing that I planned to do while watching tv with my family in the evenings.  Then I got the flu.  Then we went on vacation.  Then I bought some new books (oops, reading shouldn't be an excuse to not sew!).  Anyway, the skirt looks about the same today as it did three weeks ago and even if I worked around the clock there are not enough hours left in the month for me to finish it.  So am I going to give up, use all my excuses, and fail in my skirt-a-month goal in only the 3rd month of the year?  Umm, I'm not sure yet, but hopefully not.  I have a plan B.  Last week I bought some fabric that might make a cute little dress or something for a soon-to-be-born niece.  Actually there's enough to make at least 4 baby dresses, or maybe 2 baby dresses and an adult skirt.  Not even a baby wants more than one dress out of the same fabric so I'm betting she won't mind if I use some of the extra.  Not that I have a pattern yet and the clock is ticking, but I'm hoping I can come up with something by today, then cut it out, fit it, and start some of the sewing before I go to bed tonight.  It's a good thing I have a stash of interfacing, thread and zippers - I shouldn't have to make a run to the fabric store today or tomorrow.  I'll let you know tomorrow how this turns out.  In the meantime, wish me luck!!

The Monster That Ate My Dream

I’ve told this story to my children several times, but it was only a story about what led me to change my college major.  It was only recently I realized there is an important moral to the story.  This is for my children and anyone else who has a dream:

In the summer of 1986, between my freshman and sophomore years at BYU, I decided to be a Costume Design major.  I read books on the topic and I’ve always been fascinated by costumes in movies.  The curriculum looked full of interesting classes in sewing, design and history of costume.  Most of the required classes overlapped with the other Clothing and Textiles majors and I’d already been taking and enjoying those classes.  My first class specific to costume design was a 1 credit class, predictably called “Intro to Costume Design”.  It was offered during the second block (or second half) of winter semester.  Finally, I would be taking a real costume design class! 

I remember that first day of class.  It was my first class in the Harris Fine Arts Center, in an obscure room that wasn’t very easy to find.  I walked into the room.  At first glance the room looked small, but I think that’s because the ceiling was high and the room was pretty full.  There were less than 10 students in the class.  There weren’t any desks or chairs, but there were a few stools at work tables along two walls.  We all found a stool and listened to the instructor introduce the class.  First, she said there was no textbook.  Yay!  Second, she told us we would be asked to help with costume changes for the BYU productions.  “Asked to help” really meant “your grade depends on this”.  This was a little problematic for me as I imagined the 20+ minute walk home alone late at night across a dark and deserted campus in sub-freezing temperatures.  It wasn’t a deal breaker though. 

Her next proclamation, however, changed my life.  She pointed to one corner of the room.  There was a huge structure made out of chicken wire with a face near the top of the 15 foot tall behemoth.  The bottom couple feet were covered with long strands of purple yarn attached to the wire.  It looked like a giant Barney zombie.  No, an UNFINISHED giant Barney zombie.  Our assignment, if we chose to accept it, was to spend most of every class time attaching yarn to this monster so it could be used in a play.  You know how during the Rose Parade the announcers always speak with high admiration of all the volunteers who happily and painstakingly apply poppy seeds, one by one, to make eyelashes on a character on one of the floats?  I’d shoot myself before I’d volunteer for that, and that’s the same way I felt about spending hours and hours tying yarn to chicken wire. 

I sat through the class, then walked straight to the Smith Family Living Center where I dropped the class and changed my major to Fashion Merchandising.  The next week someone from the theater department called to ask if I would help with costume changes that weekend.  When I told her I dropped the class she laughed and said I was the fourth person she called and the first three had dropped the class also.  I guess I wasn’t the only one intimidated by the monster.

That one stupid monster changed my major, the people I would meet in college, and who knows what else in the course of my life.  Maybe I owe that monster a great big thank you because I have a wonderful life and I wouldn’t change a thing.  But as my children get ready to leave for college and follow their dreams, I can’t help but wonder what monsters will stand in their way.  Will it be a difficult professor or the challenge of learning something new?  Will they face their monsters and defeat them, or will they turn and walk away?  I wish I’d tried costume design and decided I didn’t like it, but instead I let a monster eat my dream.

February Skirt

I did NOT wait until the last day of the month to make this month's skirt!  Actually, my plan was to make a red dress in the spirit of Valentines Day.  The pattern was easy but the fitting turned out to be more than I could finish this month.  I really needed to do a skirt anyway because #1 that's my rule and #2 I needed to try out a pattern for next month's skirt (which is going to take a long time and will hopefully be done next month!).  Here's what I came up with:

Ok, just like last month I took the picture before my skirt is technically done.  The waistband is only basted on, resulting in a little extra ridge right below my waist that I really don't need!  For the record, I did finish the hem in the January skirt before midnight on January 31, and I wore it in public this month.  

Here's the rundown of this month's skirt:  I've had this red knit fabric since before we moved into this house in 1997.  I bought 5 yards of it for something like $2 a yard.  I used less than a yard of it on this skirt, leaving plenty left over to try out the dress pattern I mentioned above.  I've been looking for a good, basic a-line skirt pattern.  On Monday I bought Stitch magazine at Barnes and Noble ($14.99) and one of the projects was a pull-on knit a-line skirt.  It took me more time to download the pattern than it did to make the skirt.  (I downloaded adobe reader 10, found out some pdf files are not compatible with google chrome, finally printed the pattern, read the printing instructions, printed the pattern again...)  The pattern was super easy.  The same pattern piece is used for the front and back.  There's no elastic in the waistband because the knit fabric keeps the skirt up, but I think next time I might add elastic.  I had to lengthen it a couple inches to make it knee-length, but otherwise I didn't alter it.  I made the size large because I didn't want it clinging on my stomach.  I'll definitely use this pattern again.

I bought some dark gray tights on Monday that look good with the skirt, but now I need a gray sweater to match.  The t-shirt I'm wearing in the picture certainly doesn't work with it!  In fact, after looking at the picture I'm thinking I'll give the t-shirt away.  I guess this means I should go shopping tomorrow!

January Skirt

This year I set a goal to make myself one skirt every month. To make things even more complicated, I thought each skirt should somehow represent the month in which it was made. This morning I woke up and realized it's the 31st and I was about to blow my goal in the first month. In my defense, it's been a really busy month and I already sewed a dress for Ashley so I think I could have justified starting in February, but I set the goal and I decided to stick with it.

My theme for January would be thriftiness, since I always try to save money in January to make up for all the holiday spending. Funny how it's easier for me to go on a money diet than on a food diet. This skirt used to be a dress that never fit that well to begin with. I cut off the top, hiked it up a few inches, put on a waistband, and look what I have! Ok, it wasn't quite that easy since I added darts and curves and had to figure out how to get a waistband out of the smallest part of the dress, but it wasn't that hard either. If you don't count the cost of the dress, which was a sunk cost several years ago, the skirt cost me nothing. I reused the zipper from the dress, used up a couple almost-empty spools of thread, and already had interfacing and a hook and eye.

I still have a few finishing details left (ok, I'll admit it, the hem is taped up) but I swear I'll finish by tonight. As a side note, I learned a few things about taking pictures of myself. First, you can't take a picture in a mirror using a flash. Duh. Second, I now know how to use the timer on my camera. Third, this would have been much easier with a tripod.

Crash and Burn

I took a blogging break so I could focus on the holidays.  Now two months later the pies are made and eaten, the leftover Christmas ham is gone.  The only things that still linger are a few extra pounds and our artificial tree which is disassembled but lying in pieces on the living room floor.  I have high hopes that it will be in the garage by tomorrow.

My to-do list has been topped all week by "update blog" but more pressing matters keep coming up.  My very-part-time job is only demanding in January, when I have to wrap up the year-end accounting, file all the quarterly and annual payroll tax returns, and mail the W-2's (to employees who inevitably want them the first week of January but fail to update their addresses until the end of February).  I'm now behind in my paid job because of my new volunteer "job" as Stake Young Women's president at church.  In the last week I've probably spent over 30 hours taking care of church business.  I think that will calm down as I get acclimated but there are some big events coming up such as Youth Conference next month and a Tri-stake dance festival in June.  Not to mention visiting all ten of the wards in our stake, one of which is about an hour and a half drive from my house.

With all that to do, I was forced to slow down this past week because something happened to my back.  I'm not sure what it was, I didn't move weird or strain it, I was just walking around the house on Monday talking on the  phone and it started to hurt.  On Tuesday I could hardly walk and I spent most of the day in bed.  I survived Wednesday and Thursday with lots of heat and tylenol, and by today I'm pretty much back to normal.  I'm too young to have my body parts wearing out on me!

So here it is, the middle of January, and this is what I have to do:
1.  Buy groceries!  I couldn't lift anything last week or walk long enough to shop.  Now we're out of everything.  (Yes I know Mormons are supposed to have food storage for times like this and we do, but it's pretty impossible to make homemade pancake mix or bread when you can't move.  I guess I should add some convenience foods to our food storage.)
2.  Catch up on work.  Those W-2's won't mail themselves.
3.  Sew a dress for Ashley.  Her winter formal is the 29th.
4.  Sew a skirt for myself.  Now that I'm spending all this time in church meetings I need more skirts and dresses.  My goal for 2011 is to sew one a month.  More on that later!
5.  Email about a dozen people about various items of church business (planning lessons, setting dates for meetings, coordinating schedules, etc.)

With all these pressing things to do, what am I doing?  Yep, updating my blog.  After a week of running hard and fast (when I wasn't stuck in bed) I need a day off.  Or at least a couple hours.  The list can wait until tomorrow.