Deadline Monday

I spent the whole weekend doing exactly what I wanted to do. It consisted of sewing, reading, spending time with family and more sewing. The only problem is that today is delivery day for a huge project that I've spent so many overtime hours on but not this past weekend and I now that Monday is here I feel guilty.

That's not fair.

So to counter the guilt, I'm cutting blogging and newspaper time down to log in to my work VPN and start throwing some code in there. An hour won't help much with the deadline but at least I'll get a handle on how much the rest of the group completed on the project this past weekend while I did what ever I felt like doing.

Business Plan

These two words on their own aren't so bad. 

Business: "Ain't nobodys business but mine and my baaby." 

Plan: oh I've got a plan. 

But together they are very scary and I don't know where to start. Or I didn't know where to start that is as of last night. 

Business Plan.

I've decided to do something that was comfortable to me in order to get the ball rolling. Now hold on! No one said anything about going into debt for this studio. I'm not planning to run off to the bank with my shiny new Business Plan and slit the throat of my dream before I even have the first workshop. Part of my needing to put together a plan is to help me determine how long I can stay afloat with "out-of-pocket" funding and I also need my other half to SEE what's in my head. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it is down right hard to extract computable information from an IT professional.

I've become a crunching numbers nerd over the last 3 years out of necessity. Dave Ramsey told me to put all my expenses down on paper to construct a budget. I did it but my ability to add numbers was not so hot so I needed a spreadsheet to do the math. I have literally tracked every $ for the last 3 years and categorized it. 

Anyway, I'm telling you this because I'm going to tell you this. My Business Plan doesn't have to be anything more than a spreadsheet to start with. I began by listing all my "start up"/one time expenses in one section and then all my re-occurring expenses in another and projected increased expenses like inventory and workshop preparations and then calculated quarterly taxes, things didn't feel so overwhelming anymore. I obviously had to make another section in order to map out the income. I might have aimed sales goals a little high for the first month or even the second but by the third or fourth I think it's pretty realistic. I believe by month number four I could break even for month number five.

What does that mean? That means that with a little love for 3 months, month 4 or 5 will pay for itself. Here's the problem...Time. Like I said. I aimed the sales a little high not because I'm fudging numbers but because I'm over allotting time spent in the store. I will need some help in that area. If I can't dedicate enough time to the store then it will definitely take longer to break even and will cost more out-of-pocket cash. More out-of-pocket means work harder and longer at my REAL job to supplement my new bills and means less and less time spent in the store.

Putting these numbers down on paper (spreadsheet) has helped me to realize a dollar amount for expenses and has nether increased my excitability nor concluded demise of my dream. I think there is wiggle room. I've now know that this won't be easy. It's going to take hustle. I think I will refer to this adventure as double dutch. I'll stand near the ropes, lunging and rocking in place to "feel" the rhythm of ropes turns. Then once confidence is high enough, and I've siked myself up enough, and I think the timing is precise, I'll make the leap! 

Vintage Lingerie Patterns are Romantic

Okay not vintage lingerie, that's gross, but patterns, that's awesome. I found another inspirational site today at http://www.etsy.com/shop/Mrsdepew a woman named Anna Depew's shop on Etsy. 

She has a website as well and a blog: http://afewthreadsloose.blogspot.com/ where the first entry I read opened my eyes to darts-made-easy. I wondered about this and without and technical training I would have never known.

I'm just gaga over the talent people possess in ways I've never dreamed of. The idea of slipping on an article of clothing that was trendy in an era that I didn't not experience is so romantic to me. I am such a sucker for nostalgic. Is this a learned behavior or innate?

My mom and dad both love vintage. My mom has her thing for pottery, accessories and furniture. She recently purchased a lovely vintage crocheted collar and can spot a McCoy from across the room. My dad supplemented his income in the 80's and 90's during the recession by refinishing antique furniture. His romantic draw to the design and quality lead him to re-create several pieces and either sold them or kept them. He also just purchased an 1890's - 1910 era shot gun that he's refinishing. I begged him not to try to shoot it. He said he wouldn't because he would have to use a special type of gun powder or something or it would blowup in his face if he did. AHHHHHHHH!

So my point is, did I learn this from them or is it in the genes? Both my mom and dad love to "make" things. That must be a gene I was lucky enough to receive and I'll be doing a little shopping on the above Etsy site over the next couple of days I presume.

Being Realistic About the Present

I'm reading Start by Jon Acuff as of last night. I think I have the momentum and enthusiasm it takes to make a career move or as I'd like to put it, a career addition but I don't think I have enough knowledge at this point to make it successful.

Over a year ago I started reading Entreleadership by Dave Ramsey who referred me to Jon Acuffs previously published book Quitter. LOL. Don't do that in the middle of your book. That's when I jumped into Quitter but didn't quite get all the way through it so that's 2 unfinished books. Hear me out, I don't want to quit my day job. 1) I need it. Which Jon suggests in his book and 2) I love it. Dave's book Entreleadership does not apply to only entrepreneurs. Anyone can benefit from his leadership teachings if they are a volunteer, a boss, a parent. These are all leaders where others benefit from your success. So  now that I'm sure that I don't want to quit my day job I think it would be wise to hold off on reading how to run a business until I read how to "start" a business. 

Enough of this "starting" business (pun intended), let's finish something, want-to? So Jon Acuff says in the first 50 something pages about being realistic about the present and be wildly unrealistic about the future. There is a balance that should happen when starting a business or in my case, a craft studio. I must evaluate the risks involved to gauge how successful or damaging the venture will be. 

Money. This is a HUGE risk for me. I have a ton of things I could more appropriately spend money on. I won't go into detail but lets be realistic. Putting "pause" on other things that deserve funding so I can have a second career/glorified hobby is selfish and irresponsible.

Time. This is not free. This comes at a higher price than $ itself. I spend 50+ hours a week in an office 50 hours give or take for sleep which leaves 68 hours left. Minus an hour and a half a day for getting ready for work and driving and another hour for blogging and reading the news paper and or budgeting. Minus cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping etc. This calculation proves that dedicating time to my family is limited. Dipping into that wouldn't be fair to them or me. Cutting back somewhere else though...now that would be ideal but not realistic.

As awesome as the whole thing sounds, lets face it, I don't know how to start a business and it is not a good idea to rush into it. Jon points this idea out when he suggests that there are two ways to fail at a business 1) is to never start and 2) is to jump in all the way immediately. The now-or-never idea will sink the ship. The boat can take on water and sustain for a while or even forever but too much too fast will not end well. So to counter this effect I'm signed up for a workshop to cover the basics of getting started though Seminole State College. I hope to get a few of my questions answered there and then figure out what I don't know so that I can either research those aspects or work with SSC's business consulting program to fill in the gaps. 

I'm still going to take a look at the store today with W but my new thoughts of being realist about my present are weighing heavy. On the flip side of that coin, if I am overly realistic then I cannot be wildly unrealistic about my future. I will be too afraid to dream so I'm not giving up yet. I'm just saying I'm going into this with a little more careful footing than yesterday.

Two New Inspirational Finds

Yes, I made these! and Sky Turtle

great descriptions of sewing processes, lovely outcome and lots of inspiration.

One Simplicity Pattern, 3 Yards of Fabric, 2 Completed Articles of Clothing and 1 Weekend

I finally got around to picking a fabric for my pants Saturday after work. I know I said that I wanted linen and that I would dye the fabric a beautiful emerald green but I never made it to JoAnn's or Michaels. These two stores are on the other side of the Interstate and I have no other reason to drive to that side of town but on Saturday I stopped in my local fabric store and found two remnants...

One a lovely grape color knit with silvery fibers that make it glittery. I don't think it was a full yard but I could  not pass it up for $3.50. Then I found a similar color in a loose woven/feed sack/linen looking fabric and the remnant was 1 2/3 yards. Just enough for my pants and the knit for a knee length skirt.

I woke up yesterday around 5:50 am and got started. It really only took me an hour to cut out both pattern pieces and sew the skirt. Knit is just too easy to work with. I decided to go with a 1/2 inch seam allowance because I've made this pattern before and it was a bit loose even for knit and it turned out fabulously!!! I wore it it church later that morning.

I started to serge the linen around 5:00 but stopped in order to take a trip to my moms house and rummage through her embroidery floss in hopes of finding the same color to finish the napkins I started last weekend. I never found the color that I lost last week and I've been carrying the two finished napkins around in my purse so that I could match the color on the napkin to a replacement color at a store but again, I never made it to the craft store. Then I dropped off a pasta and spinach cheesy casserole in heavy cream for my grandma and raced back home to feed my family, my mom, my sister and her husband. It's a lot of fun to have everyone together.

After dinner my mom asked about the pants I said I could probably finish them quickly if she wanted to sit with me by the machines. I sewed the inseam, then the "outseams". Then I sewed the waist band on and tried them on. The fit was pretty good. I would lower the waist band a bit next time since my torso is smaller than  most clothing and patterns are fitted for but the fit will do. Honestly, I wish I had washed the fabric first in case it decides to shrink up but I'll wear them this week and then wash them just so that I get 1 wear out of them.

Anyway, I felt really good to complete the articles. Sewing a 1 hour skirt sounds like a workshop for the studio to me...

Budgets

I've spent the last 45 min. budgeting instead of blogging. Does anyone use spreadsheets to calculate how money is expected to go out vs. how much money "actually" goes out. I usually map out 4 to 6 months down the road. Re-occurring expenses go in first and then I leave blank rows in the spreadsheet for the more spontaneous purchases. 

The problem is, I do not have a lot of discipline in the spontaneous purchases category. I have done an excellent job of "tracking" my expenses for the last 3 years but I have failed to stick to a projected budget. Don't get me wrong. I don't believe I'm out of control with spending. I will admit to NOT saying no as frequently as I should. It's easy to say yes when when the consequence is a temper tantrum from a preschooler or a sour-puss face for the rest of the day from a teenager.

Everyone eventually gets over it (including me) but back to the real issue. Spending. The biggest spontaneous spend for us is eating out. Eating out will cost anywhere from $35 at a fast food chain or $60+ at a middle-of -the-row-sit-down joint and everyone orders water. I imagine this a very common category for lots of families. Especially large ones. I believe it is our #1 category for spending leaks. Food is expensive. Period. It is just as easy for me to "over spend" at the grocery store. Seeing these trends in my spreadsheet's "actual" column makes me physically ill.

I've been trying to plan out the meals for the week and only purchase those items that will make up meals to get us to the next pay period in order to see the savings in the spreadsheet. The trouble with saving money is not only does it take discipline but it takes major planning. Planning meals and their ingredients for the week that will ultimately satisfy the group takes careful planning that takes time as well as the act of preparing the meals. I have a window of 45 min. to prepare a meal before the kids start to get antsy.  That's a lot to think about. I hoping that careful meal planning will literally pay off in the end.

Does anyone have any techniques that help them to achieve their spending goals? Techniques other than couponing. I just can't do coupons.  I feel like I'd have to make too many stops to benefit from them - I could be wrong but I just don't have that kind of time.

Nice Thoughts

Rather than complain once again about work related stress levels I choose to spare you reader from any negative thoughts and leave you with something more positive from tiny buddha :

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another."

~ William James

Sign Me Up... To Teach

I spoke with a new friend last night about things that are happening with the woman at church. She described the self defense class that occurs twice a month and a romantic dance coming up soon. Both of these things sound awesome and I'm thinking that's exactly what I need - me time. Well, the romantic dance will be "us time" but you understand. 

She and I spoke for a while longer and she peaked and interest in jewelry making. I mentioned my studio idea and what-not and she just grinned from ear to ear wanting to learn. She asked me to teach a group of the woman at church. My limited knowledge and simplistic design techniques are perfect for teaching beginners. Any one workshop should only be about 45 mins long and allow for attendees to finish the project or they will be less likely to do it again. I'll be thinking this through today and planning for the event. The church will allow us to use what ever space we need for the workshop so I won't have to wait for the studio space to get started. I'm feeling like I can use this experience as a dry run for future workshops in determining whether they will be successful or not.

I'll keep you posted.

Dying to Sew

Yesterday I left work late because I was on the brink of a break through when parsing an XML response for a new line of insurance my company is going live with in the next couple of days. Stress is high and I'm just really burned out.

With that said, the need to blow off steam if evident. I started working on a small project this past weekend of embroidery because I bought a silly used "how to" book the week end before last and read through it cover to cover for one week before I actually got started. I posted a pick of one out of 4 table napkins completed. It took about an hour and 1/2 to complete the second one while watching Star Trek: Into the Darkness on Sunday night, but last night I didn't sew. 

I was home a half hour later than usual and cleaned up after teenagers who made pizza immediately after school and attempted to make muffins but gave up once they realized all the eggs in the fridge were hard boiled. Do not fear, I didn't miss the opportunity to yell about this. Once the kitchen was spotless, I began to start dinner and vacuum the bottom of the pool while waiting for the jambalaya and shrimp to heat up. Then once the food was ready to simmer, I back washed the pool pump and put fresh DE powder, stabilizer and chlorine in. The water will be sparkling tomorrow! I served the children the dinner and by the time I cleaned up afterward it was almost time for baths. I've come to realize that utilizing my time well does yield a sense of completion but doesn't do a thing for the stress.

We had about ten minutes before bedtime and I searched frantically for the periwinkle colored embroidery floss I used to hem the napkins and serve a nice "handmade" border but I couldn't find it. I looked under the coffee table and around the craft room in case it stuck to someones sock and hitched a ride into the next room from where I last left it but no luck. I can't start napkin #3 without hemming it first. I was using the hemmed corner as a guide for the "short - long" stitch design's placement.

This was adding to my stress and once I peeked at the floor, if you know me, then you can only guess that I started with the sweeping because I found lots of dust and anything else you can think of on the wood floors. (I have an obsession with sweeping: I think its a meditative mechanism)

For the next 30 minutes I used my time pushing a Swiffer around. The first time was dry the second time was wet with a lovely lavender scent. Well, the house was clean, progress reports were checked and I was too tired to do anything else but finish The Scarlet Letter - which I did - finally. 

Today is a new day and that needle and thread are still waiting for me. I plan to look for the floss again today during my lunch hour and see if my luck has changed.

The Studio Name

I think its OK to say, now that I'm NOT going to name the studio what I had settled on over a week ago. And to think I almost bought the alias. 

Procraftination.

I did a little Google search and discovered that the URL with .com is purchased by a gal already through July of 2014. That's no big deal since it's a blog that hasn't been updated since 2011. The problem is the Etsy store. There seems to be a young lady that hand makes sanitary products and calls her store Procraftination. Now this is over the top. I just can't be that green and I do not want to be associated with those search results. That name is clever but it doesn't make sense for that type of product. It would be like producing a line of dog food and then call it "Easy Street". I mean, I don't know,  that was the first thing that popped into my head, but you get the point. 

I could alter it and go with the more literal version of Procraftynation but that sounds too Aryan. 

I'm back to the old drawing board these days.  It will come to me. The perfect one. I am taking suggestions. And please nothing with Monkey in it. That's been used way too much around town already and don't be disappointed if I don't blurt out the Studio name right away. I have to keep some things under the hood until it comes to fruition. =)

Weekend Work

I'm feeling very guilty this morning about not being able to keep my eyes open any longer last night around 9:30. I have a lot of work yet to do that is very very hard since I've never serialized XML before (on my own) and the conversion is not going too well. One system admin left yesterday due to a panic attack and the developers came in to my office looking for direction because they are still getting hit with other tasks while under the gun. We totaled like 15 new requests within the last 2 days. Internal requests. Meaning, support for the other departments that we've asked, no begged, to only interrupt with "mission critical" tasks. We grabbed the top 4 tasks off that list and each of us dedicated a half hour to 1 of them to try to pacify some of the mounting tasks.

Needless to say, I will be working into the weekend and won't be crafting or sewing. Any who, I will spare the reader any more complaints at this point and I will start working. I have an hour to work before work. 

Grandma's Groceries

I picked up E from school and G from her BF's house then raced home after work. G helped to make dinner and serve the other kids. I wondered if the mormon ways were setting in and I wouldn't have to make dinner any more because the oldest child is expected to take care of the younger children. Probably not though.

We finished our chicken salad sandwiches and left over veggie pasta smothered with homemade alfredo sauce, and decided to get italian ice. But before the ice, I thought it would be a good idea to stop into Target to get a few groceries to take to Gma's house.

Target is always stressful with all the kids in tow because they all go in different directions. I have to watch the bigger ones just as closely because they think this is the ideal time to tease the smaller one. Anyway, we grabbed a few things that ended up not fitting in the hand basket - as usual - and headed to checkout. 

By the time we climbed into the van I felt exhausted but we were still on a mission to get Italian ice. I decided that it had gotten a bit too late to just show up at Grandmas house unannounced so I called. She said she was already in bed and didn't need any groceries. I was not surprised that she rejected my offer so that's why I didn't want to call first. However, this was not going to ruin our ice cream experience.  

We arrived at the ice cream shop and carefully selected our flavors then climbed back into the van to head over to my moms place so that our trip into the next town was not in vain. It was a nice visit and I distributed some of the items that were intended for Grandma to my mom and went home. It was disappointing that Grandma didn't want us to stop by but not surprising. 

This morning I poured a cup of coffee and remembered that I ran out of half and half yesterday AM.  I didn't even think to get anything for us while we were at Target. Thank goodness I bought some for Grandma cause there it was in MY fridge waiting for me.

Chauvinists

There seems to be a species of chauvinists out there that just cannot fathom the fact that a woman might be in charge and that she may even be responsible for completing the task at hand. 

I have encountered a being in his natural habitat within the last week. Although, I do not care for the sight, I cannot avoid him. Yucky comments were made without any foreboding thought and snide replies to questions I've asked like "Uh, I thought I just explained that". EXCUSE ME! It is my job to understand requirements and interpret those business needs into functionally sound software on physical machinery that will support it. It is common for me to ask the same question different ways to get the customer to answer the same way each time ensuring the idea or workflow is solid. 

The other irritating characteristic of this creature is that he constantly bypasses my authority or abilities. He will not accept that I write the code. He happens to be an ex-coder and due to this experience he feels that he shares the pain of our team developers but will only look at the male programmers when speaking to this. Comments such as, "...Up really late working... but you especially know how that is.", while turning from me and referring to a more masculine team member. 

I joke about this but it's very insulting. I've been saying things like, "I won't be able to complete that task today because I'm a girl." On the inside I'm thinking WHO DOES THIS GUY THINK HE IS! Here's what I'd like to say...

"With all due respect, Sir, I have worked very hard to get to where I am today. Which happens to be a leader of a fantastic integration and software development team. I am a proud mother of 4 children where each of them receive individual emotional attention and love. I am a wife to wonderful and supportive man where I am treated as an equal, a partner, and a friend.

"I clean a house for 6 people (occasionally), make dinner every night, clean and chemically balance our swimming pool and spend 50 hours a week thinking of how to use everything I know in order to solve problems technically. 

"Please do not forget that I find time to sew, paint, create jewelry and spend an hour or two with extended family. In addition to this, I alternate between reading about building a small business (my studio) and untimely classics. I worry about our foreign affairs and try to stay on top of politics. 

"There is one last thing that I am naturally wired to do, and that is to pay close attention to others feelings and how my actions could potentially make or break the spirit of those that I encounter. This last characteristic is by far the most important for me. It defines who I am no matter what I do or have accomplished. It is not a characteristic of being a woman either. It come from a delicate balance of nurture vs. nature. That means good morals and values instilled as a child, inheritance of good genes and blind luck. Unfortunately, not everyone is quite as lucky."

A Quilters Knot

Below is a great tutorial on hand stitching/quilting.
The technique used for knotting is very different than what my grandma taught but it looks tidy. I'll try this but hand stitching a quilt is a little too ambitious for me. I would end up with a UFO as my mom explained this past weekend to me is an unfinished fabric object. I tried to Google this but was unsuccessful in locating any information on the crafting acronym. I did find lots of crafts to make UFO's though. Cool but not what I wanted.

http://www.sewmamasew.com/2010/05/learn-how-to-hand-quilt/

Surging Thoughts

I'm keying on a foreign laptop instrument this morning in a dark dining room. My longtime fruitful desktop bit the dust yesterday during a handful of brownouts.

In case you were wondering, brownouts are the opposite of surges (too much voltage). Too little voltage or loss of voltage can shut down your electronics and then to make matters worse, they can be followed by spikes/surges that can literally "fry" the tiny parts in your machine. Put a couple of cycles of these events together and you could be left with a heap of useless machinery. These guys happen just as frequently as power surges but they don't get the same recognition. I think it's discriminating.

I refuse to believe there is anything wrong with my desktop other than a fried power supply, which is the part with a moving fan on the back of a desktop. If you haven't seen this part inside the chassis then all it is is a box with lots of wires protruding from it to plug into the various components inside the desktop providing a power source distribution. The main power cord's female end is plugged into the back of the box and then into a wall outlet. Thus providing the necessary low voltage direct current (DC) conversion before distributing to the tiny parts inside. This device "wears out" after many years of use. It can get weighed down with dust or depending on user habits - leaving the machine on during non-active times vs. shutting it down - it may get continuous use - for years. 

One other contributing factor is the desktop's environment. This power supply runs the cooling systems inside the machine which is critical to keeping the machine safe and running. Providing adequate ventilation and air-conditioning for your desktop means that the internally cooling system does not have to work so hard and draw so much power. In my previous life, as an A+ hardware student and technical support, I would come across desktops that were caked with a brown sticky substance that turned out to be second hand smoke deposits. Yuck.

So how do you prevent total annihilation you ask. Surge protectors do a good job of regulating the voltage and grounding your device but not do nothing when the power drops out. Purchasing a UPS  (uninterrupted power supply) ranging from $60 - $100 can save your machine. Is it worth the insurance? Yeah. This device provides a couple of functions that can give you peace of mind. One, of course, is the surge/brownout protection and two, a battery backup. If the power goes out or drops out completely, then the device will continue to provide continuous power for about 6 to 7 min. for a lower end model. This gives you enough time to get to the machine and safely shut it down or wait out the outage. These devices should be replaced every two years.

The last question you might ask is, why weren't you using yours? I admit I have one but I use it for the TV, WI and cable box. These devices seemed worthier. I've learned my lesson - buy a second one if needed. Now I have to replace my machine and fast. I was planning to buy the machine I use at work from my employer because I've had it for 3 1/2 years already and all the developers will be receiving brand new AWESOME machines soon anyway. But I don't have the new AWESOME machine yet so I may be stuck with a work laptop for a little while at home.

Making Pants

I'm really struggling with choosing a fabric for my Kwik Sew pants pattern. 

I originally wanted linen so I perused the isle of expensive linen at a local shop yesterday and thought the choices were too drab. My mentality on clothing is that I do not have a large wardrobe so I need to make every article count. Plain just won't do. Especially if I'm planning to dedicate time to constructing the piece. I quickly rationalized spending the same dollar amount on 2 yards of brightly colored woven to make them FUN. The pattern is for easy wide-legged, mid-calved slacks with a drawstring. Light and flow-y with COLOR!  A ream of purple, gray, white and gold in an elegant pattern of repeating octagonal designs caught my eye at first. I touched it an thought it would be great for slacks however, not this time of year...too much white. I wouldn't be able to pair it with a white shirt - a gray shirt maybe - but I don't have a gray shirt. I moved on to the next ream and the next making up every excuse as to why that color or pattern won't work. Looking at the time made my heart sank. I had already used 20 min. of my lunch and had nothing to show for it. With a lowered head I preceded to leave the store.

I tried to describe my dilemma to my mom last night but I couldn't pinpoint the REAL problem with words. The trouble is the way I feel about clothing and that does not translate easily into words. Sewing for me is about using or wearing the creation to reflect my personality. Not about hand-making or perfecting the stitch. I realize now this doesn't have to be true for every project. Plain Jane is perfectly OK in ones wardrobe because it leaves room for accessorizing with jewelry or hair or just taking it easy one day and dropping the idea of making a statement completely - which is also making a statement I might add. 

So linen it is. Linen has a certain elegance to it. It's heavy woven fibers drape with ease. It moves with the body gracefully and can be just as casual as it is dressy. Although, as my mom pointed out, it should be dry-cleaned, I don't care. An iron will do. I'll be stopping by the fabric shop today...again...and picking up a couple of yards. I will also pick up a box of emerald green fabric dye. Well, you didn't think I would completely abandon my love for color did you?

Resumes

I've spent my morning writing a friends resume. I'm not a qualified resume writer but I guess since I have a job and I don't mind doing it then that makes me qualified. I hope it works! Good Luck.

The Family Ties

I know I said yesterday that I would have to make up with my family for being such an A to them on Labor Day. We all had some time apart to reflect (me), and I tried hard to figure out how to make things right. But you know what? They welcomed me Home just like any other day. No even one mentioned my rude behavior. It was as if things were okay. No one was seriously hurt. That's what makes Family amazing. No grudges, no judges. Just unconditional love. I took that as my forgiveness and tried to savor that feeling to shed the guilt of being human once in a while and accept that I was selfish and ornery for that one day. Although, I cannot pretend that it didn't happen, I can say that it was simply over by the next evening. Acceptance and forgiveness are powerful and without the distribution of such gifts some of us would not be able to move on.

This blog is titled for K and T. The idea came to me after hearing about their Fam sitting around the T.V.  on Labor Day watching re-runs of Family Ties with Michael J. Fox and thinking how great things were when sitcoms were wholesome. I love you guys.

Weekend Funk

I'm not sure when it happened exactly but somehow I fell into a funk this weekend and just couldn't wait for it to be over. I was very grumpy and felt that I couldn't find any personal space and E whined ALL weekend. My funk was at it's peek last night because yesterday felt like I should have been at work.

I'm feeling refreshed today though, as I am up and moving around this morning, whilst everyone else sleeps. I think I was off my new early schedule and worried a lot about work. There is a lot of pressure there. I plan to get ready this morning, as usual, and walk into work with a get-er done attitude to work off some of the pressure and NOT bring it home tonight. I owe my family one. 

Needless to say I didn't get much of anything done this weekend other than clean the bathrooms and brush down the pool. Oh yeah, I did get groceries and found a moment to finish a dress that gathers around the collar and arm holes. I don't understand why the pattern wanted me to gather with baste stitches. Elastic seems like the better choice. I guess it was trying to keep things simple but it's a knit maxi and it should move with you. A lot. Oh well. I'm still trying to figure out how to use patterns to create clothing that fits well.

I think I'll make a pair of khaki drawstring pants from a pattern I bought about a year ago sometime this week. Its a Kwik Sew I think and It contains instructions for either a maxi skirt or slacks. I made the skirt last year and it was surprisingly too big. I think I know where to make the pants smaller to get the fit. I'll stop by the fabric shop to select a lovely shade and weight of linen today. That will definitely put my funk to rest.